Get Personal for your Wedding Day.

One of my bridal couples in 2009 took personalization very personally! This bride and her groom came up with some of the best ideas for making their wedding all their own. Even as a trained wedding planner, I was so impressed with their ideas that I feel compelled to share with other brides. Here are just some of the amazing ways they expressed their individuality on their wedding day:

Reception table personalization – Brides and grooms are always looking for ways to name their tables in a unique way that brings out the couple’s personalities. This bride and groom decided to name their guest tables after pets they had owned during their lives and after states one or both of them had lived in. This may at first glance seem hard to pull altogether, but it really worked. They had tables for a horse, a childhood pet of the bride. There was a table named after their pet cat as well as Washington state and New York state tables.

Menu Cards – Each table had a different menu card even though the menu was the same at each table. One side of the menu card gave the details of the salad, entrees and dessert. The other side of the menu card listed the name of the table, either a state or a pet. Then a short paragraph followed telling a story about the pet or the significance of the state to the couple. Then there was a section about the centerpiece which was a two tiered mini wedding cake. There were instructions to have a designated person at each table to cut the table’s cake right after the couple cut their own cake. Each table had a different flavored cake and guests were encouraged to visit other tables to find their favorite cake slice.       

                                                                              

Favors – Can you guess what the favors were? Think states and pets! Each table had cookie cutters in the shape of that table’s pet or state. How cool is that!! It gets even better when you know that on top of each table’s centerpiece cake was a cookie in that shape with either the state’s abbreviation or the pet’s name. On the head table was the Washington state cookie cutters as favors with a cake topper cookie in the shape of the state and labeled “WA”. Such attention to detail!

Flowers – The wedding flowers in general were the picks of the bride and what she loved in her color scheme. One special touch was two free standing arrangements of a specific pink flower which held significance for the groom’s family. A member of the groom’s family had passed away way before her time. The pink floral arrangements were first placed on either side of the ceremony arbor and then moved inside by me to either side of the wedding picture table. This touch meant a great deal to the groom’s fam

ily and included in memory a missing family member. Very touching way to honor loved ones who could not be there!

Wedding picture table – The final idea that I found so wonderful was a table of framed wedding pictures of family, friends and other relatives. The parents of the bride and groom had pictures from their wedding day along with grandparents, aunts, uncles and close family friends. This was done to honor and recognize the many long term marriages that this family had. The pictures were all dated and had the names of the wedding couple pictured. Some pictures dated back to the 1940s. One of the pictures even caught the eye of a random person staying at the same resort where the reception was taking place. This lady told me she recognized a woman in one of the pictures. She gave me the name and I checked my guest list. Unbelievably, this person (not a guest at the wedding) knew this wedding guest from two decades ago. After checking with the named wedding guest, a reunion ensued between the two women. This story still touches my heart.

This couple took their story and their history and artfully incorporated these aspects into their wedding ceremony and reception. Think of special moments in your lives and share these stories with your wedding guests. These memories will create new moments for you as a couple and make lasting impressions on your guests.

Planning tips for you at Bridal 4-1-1 workshops

Bridal 4-1-1 Workshops

Wedding Tips from Professionals

Planning Advice for your wedding

Q & A with up to 16 different vendors

Wedding Checklists, Giveaways, DIY Advice

If you are planning your wedding and have questions or concerns, these workshops are for you! Every bride has questions and sometimes no one to ask. Come listen to wedding professionals with answers. The workshops are designed to help you learn to interview potential vendors such as photographers, florists, DJs, wedding planners, officiants, caterers, etc. The workshops will provide you with information to make wedding planning decisions with ease, choose the best wedding dress or wedding flowers for you, and connect you with wedding professionals with DIY solutions.

Each workshop is a series of four 2 hour sessions with up to four wedding vendor presentations each session. Sign up for one session or all four. The first workshops will be held in Tacoma and Seattle/Tukwila starting in March 2011 . Future workshops are planned for Auburn, Gig Harbor, Sumner and other upcoming locations .

$10.00 per person for each session through January 31, 2011. Starting February 1, $15.00 per person.

Call 206-601-6957 or email nancy@simplycelebrations.com

For more information and to buy workshops, go to www.bridal4-1-1workshops.com

Find Your Perfect Place for Your Wedding

Now that you are engaged, you are starting to think about where and when to have your wedding. You have probably already thought about how your dress will look and what colors you like for flowers and bridesmaid dresses. The venue you pick for your ceremony and reception will affect many other decisions. You can determine ahead of time what you want for color scheme and style of wedding and then find a location that FITS what YOU want.

I suggest you ask yourself a few questions before you decide on a venue:

Do you want to have your ceremony and reception at the same location?

How many guests will be coming?

Do you want to marry indoors or outdoors?

What time of year do you want to marry?

Once you know these things, you are one step closer to selecting the right venue for you. Maybe you have already searched online to see what venues are available that fit your criteria. Once you have found a few locations that appeal to you, now ask a few more questions

What will the venue look like at the time of year you are marrying? Which plants, trees or bushes will be blooming at that time?

What is the maximum capacity for the venue?

What are the permanent colors in the space such as walls, carpeting, and maybe even the chair colors? Will these go with the colors you want to have or will the colors clash?

For reception venues, do they have an exclusive in house caterer or do they allow other outside caterers to use their facility?

What is included in the fee to rent the venue? Are tables, chairs, linens or their sound system included? Can you use the whole venue or only certain rooms?

Do they have a preferred vendor list and do you have to use their chosen vendors?

Your budget and timing for the day can be affected by all of the above. When you go and look at a few venues, ask lots of questions before signing a contract.

If you would like a full check list of questions for selecting a venue, call or email me for a complimentary consultation. I offer many wedding services including researching and recommending vendors to brides.

Will you be working on your wedding day?

You have spent your time dreaming about, planning for and spending your hard earned money toward your wedding day. Friends and family have been invited and will attend to see you marry your groom. You have scheduled time off from your job perhaps before and definitely after your wedding day. This is the day you have been waiting for months, maybe even years! Will you still be working on your wedding day?

Maybe you will spend the week leading up to the day worrying, checking every detail, or calling all your vendors to confirm everything. Now your day has arrived and you are too tired or stressed to enjoy it. Getting married should be very fun and enjoyable. After all your efforts and money spent, YOU deserve to be able to celebrate it. Your guests and family want you to spend your day with them.

Hiring a bridal consultant who offers a Day of Wedding package could be one of the best decisions you make as your wedding day approaches. Many brides wish they had hired a planner either part way through their wedding day or the week leading up to their day. You don’t have to hire a bridal consultant….most brides can plan their own wedding fairly well. Brides who did hire a day of wedding consultant rarely regret having spent the money for this service.

Here are some of the things you will enjoy from hiring me as your “day of wedding” bridal consultant:

You will get a detailed "Day of" timeline for you and your wedding party. All your vendors like your photographer, caterer, videographer, and DJ will have your timeline and know when different events of the day are happening. (We are all on the same page.)

All your wedding vendors will be contacted by your planner to confirm their arrival/departure time and the details of their service at least a week before your wedding.

Your ceremony rehearsal will go well and any potential issues will be addressed that night. Your ceremony on the day of your wedding will be organized and run for you not by you.

All the little items like the guest book, place cards, ring bearer pillow, and toasting glasses are turned over to the consultant at the ceremony rehearsal not on your wedding day. (Remember - no working on your wedding day!)

           

Your vendors will be greeted at the ceremony and reception for delivery and set up.  Any problems that come up will be handled without you needing to worry about it. You can enjoy your day.

The corsages and boutonnieres will be pinned on family members and the wedding party.

Your DJ and bridal consultant can work as a team to oversee the schedule throughout the reception so your events happen as planned.  Meanwhile you can enjoy just being married and celebrating with your new husband, your family and guests.

           

Final payments will be distributed to your vendors if needed on the day of your wedding. These too can be given to the bridal consultant at the rehearsal. (If you are handing out checks/tips to your vendors, you are working on your wedding day!)

           

Your set up and breakdown will occur within scheduled venue hours per your contract so you don’t get unexpected charges after your wedding is over. At the end of the night, you will have “left the building” in grand style, perhaps in a limo that showed up on time. Your consultant can make sure clean up happens, all your personal items (guest book, toasting glasses, cake server, wedding gifts) have been returned to a family member. They will keep these safe until returned to you.

           

Just in case someone in your bridal party gets a headache or a blister from their shoes or needs tissues, a bridal consultant provides an emergency wedding day kit. You should see what is in mine:  Band-Aids, straws, mouthwash, hairspray, pain relievers, a pair of black sox, a needle and several colors of thread, tape….ask me what else I bring!

         

Consider being a guest at your own wedding and leave the stress, details, and all the rest to a bridal consultant on your day. The only job you should do is to be a great hostess who has fun and spends time with her guests and family. Let me work on your wedding!