The holidays are fueled by thoughts of family and tradition, and the result, according to wedding planners, is that nearly 1 in 4 couples become engaged between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

With so many brides-to-be entering 2013, time is of the essence in planning summer nuptials.

The Wedding Café aims to help.

Tanna Dang, who co-owns the one-stop bridal shop in Ward Warehouse with her husband, Bryson, has been there, saying that before getting married in 2004, "I was the one trying to do everything on my own, researching every day, buying books and magazines, and those are expensive! That’s why we have so many resources at the cafe now."

The Wedding Café is launching a 10-week bridal workshop series starting Wednesday featuring some of Hawaii’s top wedding vendors. The weekly sessions will cover everything from securing a venue to trends in florals, cakes, fashion, makeup and hair, and picking photographers, videographers and musicians.

The series ends March 27 with special workshops for grooms and bridesmaids — no brides allowed.

Save for a workshop on cakes and catering trends; the workshops are free.

The Wedding Café also offers a series from July through October for year-end brides. Dang promises it will be fun for all, rather than nerve-racking.

"We do a lot of games and prizes, and the grooms end up really liking it. I know they do because they’re always standing up for the games where they actually have to answer questions about what was discussed, like, ‘If you have 200 people at your reception, how many pieces of cake do you need?’

"When we started in Manoa, we had 40 people attending workshops. Then it grew to 50 to 70 people sitting on the floor. Now, in the conference room, we’re getting about 150 to 200 people every week. We try to make the workshops as practical and efficient as they can be. We know couples today are busy. They’re working, sometimes at two jobs, they have kids, so we really want to maximize their time."

Here’s a glimpse at some of trends in invites, florals and video, from a few of the workshop vendors.

FLOWERS

The Pantone Color of the Year, Emerald, does not have to apply only to fashion — brides are also swayed by trendy hues.

At Su-V Expressions, florist Sue Tabbal-Yamaguchi said: "I’ve been seeing a lot of blues and greens, from lime to sea-foam greens to sky blue. People are influenced by what they’re looking at in magazines and advertising.

"There are still people who will pick their favorite colors. There’s a lot of pink and purple, but it’s about 50-50 between picking what they like or picking a trendy color."

Roses, peonies and orchids remain favorite flowers, although tropical flowers are also becoming popular. Trendy blues and greens are well represented by cymbidium orchids, hydrangeas, bells of Ireland, delphiniums, hyacinths and irises.

"What’s also trendy now are patterns," Tabbal-Yamaguchi said, describing tables that might have striped linens and polka-dot tableware, with spotted flowers playing off the patterns or colors. "It’s really fun."

Planning the floral theme of weddings usually begins six months ahead of the big day, and Tabbal-Yamaguchi generally orders flowers about three weeks to a month before the ceremony, depending on the blossoms used.

And while 99 percent of brides are unwavering in their choice, another 1 percent is prone to constantly changing their minds. Tabbal-Yamaguchi said she does her best to be accommodate last-minute wishes, like that of one bride who wanted a simple green wedding with terrarium decor. At the last minute, she was inspired to go vintage and opted for flowers in apothecary jars.

Eco weddings with simple flower designs have been popular for five to seven years, but Kim Kardashian’s short-lived marriage in 2011 left a lasting trend toward more glam weddings. "After that I saw a lot more purples and lavenders, and crystals seem to be coming back."

Weddings destined to spark new trends this year are those of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux.

Although Tabbal-Yamaguchi said she’s busiest in summer, there also tends to be a flurry of sudden weddings in December, so she now leaves that month open. "For some reason, that month is always crazy. We don’t ask why. When they say they’re getting married in a few days, we just say, ‘OK.’ I always make sure to order extra white roses in December."

And husbands, don’t think you’re off the hook after the wedding.

"I know they’re happy when the husbands call me for anniversaries. Some husbands will always order flowers on their anniversary day, Valentine’s Day or their wife’s birthday. It’s nice that they want to keep the romance going and not take it for granted. I like those kinds of husbands."

Tabbal-Yamaguchi will leave for a floral conference in Dallas, Texas on Friday, and will be back to share some of the latest European trends at The Wedding Café’s March 6 "Floral, Decor and Design Showcase."

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Su-V Expressions is at 725 Kapiolani Blvd. C-118. Call 593-8989. Visit www.suvexpressionshawaii.com.

INVITATIONS

In the age of Pinterest, a social networking site that lets users "pin" images, videos and other favorites onto a virtual pinboard, the day of the unadorned black-and-white invitation is long gone. With the abundance of photos and ideas circulating online, almost anything goes as couples view the wedding invitation as one way to assert their personality as a couple.

"A lot of brides and grooms pay for their own weddings, so they really want to represent themselves as a couple. They don’t want it to look like this person’s or their friend’s or sister’s," said Stacey Emi Shiroma, of Emi Ink, which specializes in custom invitations. "The invitation sets the tone for the ceremony as the first glimpse into the big day, getting guests excited about the wedding.

"Even though it’s one piece of the wedding that’s not physically at the site, you do want it to match, thematically, with the bridesmaid dresses, or flowers, or linens."

The four trends Shiroma is seeing are vintage, rustic and Asian- or island-inspired.

Vintage invitations are romantic, in colors of blush pink, nude or ivory, often finished with a touch of lace and pearl detailing.

Rustic pieces come in earthy or warm sepia tones mixed with soft pastels from pink to blue. Imagine the shabby-chic, homespun, country-cottage warmth of clothing and home decor by Anthropologie, translated onto paper.

Asian-inspired designs feature cherry blossom or other ethnic motifs, while island-inspired invitations are popular for those hosting destination weddings, tying in beach scenes or tropical flower or palm tree imagery.

Others are linked to the couple’s lifestyle, offering silhouette drawings of bicycles or a dog.

"Some people have a specific idea and request; others only have a very loose theme, like vintage," Shiroma said. "Some are inspired by fashion trends, like last year there was a lot of Tangerine Tango, the ‘it’ color of the year. Reality shows play a big role. We’ve been seeing a lot of over-the-top weddings. After Kim Kardashian’s wedding (in 2011), I saw a lot of black-and-white and crystals. Anything blinged out became popular."

Planning the invitations often starts six months ahead of the wedding, and they should be mailed six to eight weeks before the nuptials.

To save money, many couples have done away with the thick packs of envelopes and reply cards, opting for RSVP postcards or online RSVPs.

"It’s a way of going green, conserving paper and reducing the amount of materials being used. It’s clean, compact and cuts down on postage as well," Shiroma said.

The diversity of options makes Shiroma’s job challenging, but she said it also makes it fun. "Especially with Pinterest, when brides see something, they have to have it."

And, she added, "Don’t be afraid to go big and bold."

When Shiroma married in 2007, she had so much trouble deciding what she wanted for her own wedding that all she came up with was an ivory card with a simple pop of color. "If I were to do it today, it would be a lot different. I was too safe."

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For more information, visit emiink.com.

VIDEOGRAPHY

Couples still opt for tradition when it comes to their keepsake wedding video, when all people want is to be able to relive the day, according to Addy Gilliam, co-owner of 10th Letter Media with her husband, Julian.

Couples generally want to capture the morning’s preparations leading up to the nuptials, the ceremony and parts of the reception, with room to inject the couple’s personality and special requests.

But the real fun comes with a minidocumentary of the couple’s love story, played during the reception.

"It shows their whole journey as a couple," Gilliam said. "They’ve been gaining popularity. They’re edited in cinematic, documentary style, showing how they met. They might re-enact the proposal, and we incorporate a lot of interviews of the couple themselves, their friends and family.

"It’s labor-intensive, but it adds a nice touch to the reception."

The cost of one of 10th Letter Media’s love story videos is about $1,850, while shooting all day for a wedding day video generally runs about $3,500.

When it comes to shooting the reception, with its mix of alcohol and extended family, "we try to use our best discretion," Gilliam said. "There’s a fine line between something entertaining and something embarrassing, so we try to omit anything that might be embarrassing at all. Some receptions can get a little crazy."

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For more information and sample videos, visit www.10thlettermedia.com.