New Reception Trend

Are you one of today's brides who wants to forego the feel of a formal reception and instead dreams of a reception that looks beautiful, elegant & romantic, but has the feel of being fun, upbeat and casual? If so, count yourself in the majority! My clients are seeming to follow this new trend in weddings. Brides are looking for a way to offer their guests a fun celebration that includes more than just dancing.

In our area, there is one DJ who can deliver the whole package ... dancing, games (a multitude of choices!) ... anything to keep your guests entertained in an interactive fashion. Shawn from Event Team Entertainment can deliver it all!

Don't be afraid to think outside the box ... your guests will have a great time that won't soon be forgotten.

The Photography Puzzle

Let's face it, choosing a photographer for your wedding can be a very daunting task. There are sooo many out there; how in the world do you narrow it down to "the one"?

Once you've gotten referrals from those you trust most (your Wedding Planner, your family, your friends), the next step is to take a look at each photographer's style of photography. Which style most resonates with you & your fiance? Which pictures strike you, and why? Whose style seems to fit best with the vision you have for your wedding?

The next step is to take a look at your budget and compare it to the packages offered by each of your favorite photographers. Who fits best within your budget? If you have one all-time favorite photographer and you can't afford their top packages, consider one of their lower packages where you end up with all of the images on DVD so you can print the individual photos later as you are able.

Finally, it's important to meet with your photographer ... you are entrusting the future memories of your wedding to this person. You want to know that they understand your vision, that they "click" with you personality-wise, that you have good rapport. There may be (and are!) many, many amazing photographers out there ... but possibly only one who is the "right one" for you! Often you can judge a lot about the personality of a photographer by their blogs ... are they fun, are they serious, what do they love?...

I am lucky to call many of the "best of the best" photographers my friend; but these amazing photos from my own wedding were taken by my friend Jenny of Jenny Hill Photography. If you don't yet have a photographer, check her out!

And tell her I sent you ... :)

Holiday Cards!

We all love getting fun holiday cards from our friends & family. And let's face it -- us brides are eager this year to send out our own cards with some of our fun engagement and/or wedding photos. So which place am I using this year? Shutterfly!

There are a million and one places to get holiday greeting cards done, so why Shutterfly? It's fairly simple ... I have used Shutterfly in the past and trust the quality of cards, photos and photo books they produce with my personal pictures.

But let's be honest ... the fact of the matter is that they have AMAZING cards to choose from! Seriously, people. You need to see it to believe it ... go check out their selection of Christmas cards while you still have time!

Already have your Christmas cards printed & mailed? Take advantage of some of the other things you can do with your wedding photos on Shutterfly ... check out their photo gifts section where you can create a keepsake box, an ornament, or some fun playing cards.

OR, and how cool is this? ... go create your own canvas art for your new home together!

That's the fun thing about your wedding photos ... they look gorgeous in that amazing coffee table album your photographer creates for you AND they can be used for all kinds of other fun things.

Memories live on forever through pictures ... that's why I love my photographer friends so very much!

Yo-Yo of Emotions

Planning a wedding? Let me assure you, bride to bride, that at some point in the planning process you will be the bride in this picture.

Sorry ... that's not exactly the kind of "assurance" you were looking for, is it? It's simply hit me anew that as a Wedding Planner, I am always somewhat "immune" from the emotional part of the planning that my brides experience. However, as the bride myself right now, those emotions have hit me in the past few weeks like a freight train I didn't see coming.

There's no getting around it ... whether it be family members who question who did & didn't make your guest list; or someone questioning the details of your planning, or the location of your venues; or a disagreement with your fiance on a part of the wedding; or financial stresses; or .... you get what I'm saying ... the list is infinite in its possibilities.

Here's what you need to do ... take a deep breath, surround yourself with your best "cheerleaders", use your Wedding Planner as a buffer/mediator/counselor/temporary bff, go do something fun that has nothing to do with your wedding, and, most importantly, stop and remember why you're doing all of this ... you're head over heels in love with that man standing next to you, and soon you're going to pledge to live the rest of your lives together. How awesome is that??!!

It's all in perspective. Those people driving you crazy?... they really, honestly do love you. Those guests who never RSVP'ed?... it wasn't personal; chalk it up to the reality of living in a busy culture. The financial strains?... take a step back and see if there is a place to cut back. "Understated" does not have to equal "embarrassing" or "boring"... there are so many ways to get creative that cost little or no money.

And that, my friend, is what I will be showing you this week!

Your Own 15 Minutes of Fame!

So who doesn't love a personalized wedding website? ... It's your one chance to have your own personalized website, all about you and your wedding!

Better yet, it contains everything your guests could ever want to know ... all about your engagement, your Wedding Party, your ceremony & reception, After-parties, registries, directions, etc., etc.

However, there is that one touchy subject when you're talking personalized wedding websites ... those darn RSVP's. Do you dare use your website to capture your RSVP's?? Lots of brides do, but etiquette says no way. So what's the right answer?

Are you ready for my answer? ... because, dare I say, it flies in the face of all of that etiquette you've read. Here's the deal ... if your wedding is a formal affair, then by all means use the traditional snail-mail RSVP cards. It truly would not be right or proper to use anything else. If, however, your wedding is not a formal affair, feel free to throw those etiquette rules right out the window! I'm all about breaking rules when it comes to weddings. OK, not all rules, just some rules. Select rules. I'm just sayin' ...

The truth is, we're a technological society. We communicate online, we pay our bills online, we share pictures online ... we're tied to the internet. So, when being formal is not a concern, it only makes sense to allow your guests to use the most convenient way available to them to send their response to your invitation. And it will likely increase the percentage of your guests who RSVP at all (since that seems to be an issue in today's society). It will also take your guests to the one place where they're likely to get all of their questions about your wedding answered for them. It's a win-win.

So what did I do? ... While our wedding is going to have an elegant (yet rustic) look, the feel is going to be casual and fun. So for us the online RSVP made total sense.

There are many good options out there for personalized wedding websites; however, the one I loved most, the one we ended up using for our own wedding, is http://www.ewedding.com/. Love that site!! It is user-friendly (both for us and for our guests), it had absolutely everything we needed, and it allowed us to have our own domain name. How fun is that?

Cake-sultation!

In the last two weeks there have been a whirlwind of decisions made in our wedding-planning process. Venues? ... Check! Guest list? ... Check! (And that, my friends, is not an easy one!) Invitations? ... Check! Wedding website? Although still a work in progress, Check!


But by far one of the most fun decisions in the past week has been the cake. Truthfully, I had no idea what I wanted. The flavors were the easy part for Michael & I ... after all, we're working with Renae of Custom Cakes and all of her flavors are SO GOOD! How can they not be when every single thing she makes is made from scratch? Want a blackberry mousse filling? You'll find Renae down in her own blackberry thicket picking the berries. Want a hazelnut filling? You'll see her picking the hazelnuts, shelling them, and going to town with her tried and true recipes.

Want a flavor she's never tried before? No problem! In the past she's customized a Green Tea cake for one of my brides, and for our wedding she's customizing the one flavor Michael has always wanted for one of our tiers.

No, my friends, my dilemma was not the flavors; it was the design. I have been so busy with everyone else's weddings that I haven't had time to give thought to the details of my own.

Until I saw a picture of "the one" ... and fell in love!

I can already see it in my mind, standing tall and gorgeous on the ornate, tarnished silver cake stand Renae is letting me use.

While the cake pictured here isn't "the one", it is one of Renae's cakes.

I think you should call her and let her help you find "the one" for you!

I Got the Gown!

Yesterday I took one of my sisters & my sister-in-law with me to go gown-shopping. (And just to clear up any confusion, this is not a picture of me, nor is this a picture of my dress ... my dress remains a secret until "the big reveal" on my wedding day!)

There was no hesitation in my mind where I would go to find a dress ... my one and only stop for a dress was The Bridal Gallery in Salem. Angie, owner of The Bridal Gallery, is absolutely FAN-TABULOUS! I love referring my clients to her, so it was a no-brainer to schedule an appointment with her myself for my own gown.

Angie is very patient, very knowledgeable and very honest ... and that honest part is a definite "must" for anyone helping you find that perfect dress. I walked in there knowing 100%, hands-down for sure that I didn't want a strapless dress ... and yet the one I fell head-over-heels in love with ... was strapless. Go figure!

I deferred many times to Angie's expertise in knowing which dresses fit not only my body type, but also my personality and my vision for my wedding. Funny thing is that my bridesmaids (minus one sister in Idaho!) and I had agreed on a dress that was very beautiful, one that I really liked after trying on several others. But Angie insisted on having me do one final walk-through in the store because, as she said, my smile didn't "light up" when I had that dress on. So one final walk-through, one final dress I hadn't noticed the first time through, and voila! My smile lit up in that dress!

When you're shopping for your perfect gown, don't leave the store with one unless your smile comes alive ...

And give Angie a call. You'll be so glad you did!

And for those of you who love the idea of a Trash the Dress photo shoot but don't love the idea of trashing your own dress, Angie now rents dresses just for that purpose!

I Feel Your Pain!

So, I'm on a fast learning curve, realizing how very good it is for me to be on this side of things ... as the Bride rather than simply the Planner! I thought I remembered much of what it was like to be a bride, but the truth is that I had forgotten some of the emotions and stress that come as a natural part of the planning process. Wow! I'm embarrassed to say that, a couple of weeks into it, I've already shed some tears.... the stress of planning a wedding while working full-time is challenging, isn't it? Not to mention trying to find that perfect venue and realizing what a "challenging" budget you have to work with. Creativity and thinking outside of the box become the name of the game.



Still working on finding just the right venue. We saw a beautiful, rustic barn, but are unsure since the size of the barn would mean a ceremony in a different location. Other barn possibilities have come and gone. Still more ideas are coming in.

In the meantime, another possibility emerged ... an amazing venue (with an owner I love!) that is nothing even close to resembling a barn. The idea of trumpeters emerging from turreted balconies flanking either side of the gorgeous fireplace as I enter the ceremony is ... well, rather tantalizing, to say the least!

Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

In the meantime I have two of your weddings to help make magical this weekend ... I so love what I do!!

Boy oh boy am I wishing I had a Wedding Planner for myself...

The Wedding Planner as a Bride!

So here I am on the other side of the fence ... me, the Wedding Planner, as my own client. And perhaps my own most challenging client at that! I hope that as I blog through my planning process, you, as a bride yourself (or simply a future bride!), will feel a kinship with me and realize that I am just one of you... a bride trying to create her perfect vision with the budget she has. And when you're building a house at the same time, that budget can get pretty miniscule!

Day 4 of being engaged and I know, with a little over 3 months to plan, that getting my venue is Step 1. Michael & I have whittled down our guest list and know we need a venue that can hold 100 ... not just seating capacity, mind you, but there have to be allowances for a DJ, a dance floor, a buffet, a gift table, an escort card table and a cake table. And let's not forget the photo prop area I plan to create! Whew!

In trying to find your perfect venue, there are several factors to consider: aside from budget and space, it's also important to find a venue that represents you as a couple ... your personalities, as well as your vision for the day.

For Michael & I, that means a rustic barn. Why a barn? ... after all, we're not cowboys, we're not farmers, and Michael doesn't even like country music (but I do!). We chose a barn because of what it represents. We love to take pictures of old, falling-down barns; we love all things old & rustic (even though we may differ at times on which things); we are not formal people, nor are our families. We want a venue that can be fun & casual, while also being dressed up to feel romantic & elegant.

Can those seemingly opposite words co-exist in one environment, you ask? Absolutely! In the world of weddings, there are no rules and everything is possible!

That's not to say that we haven't already had our share of naysayers, or people who give us that blank or quizzical look when we say we want to get married in a barn ... but guess what? This is our wedding, and we couldn't be more excited about our vision!

So tomorrow it's off to see three different barns ...

And for you naysayers, Now is this picture cool or what??