Radio Interview with Simply Celebrations & Events

I had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed on Empire Radio Now last month. If you want to know more about my company and what I do for couples planning their wedding day, check out the interview. Give me a call if you would like help with your wedding planning.
https://empireradionow.com/nancy-skipton-2-22-17-wedding-and-event-planner/

Wedding Website - How do I make one for my wedding?

So you are planning your wedding and you need to let your guests know details about:

• Where to stay during your wedding
• Where you are registered
• give your guests directions to your wedding ceremony and reception.

A personal wedding website is the best place to do all of this. But you say "I don't know how to make a website!" And I say "You don't need too." And you can match your invitations to the same look as your website depending on which design you pick. One company gives you this option - Wedding Paper Divas.

Wedding Paper Divas offers FREE wedding website templates to match more than 30 of their bestselling wedding invitations. This means that you can now easily create an ad-free personal wedding website complete with online RSVP capabilities and more—and keep it FREE for one year! Get started now to ensure that everything will be beautifully designed and perfectly coordinated as you prep for your big day.




Click "Create Site" to check out what WPD has to offer.
 

With Wedding Paper Divas templates, you can put together your own wedding website easily with your own photos, online guest RSVP, share your story of how you both meet and became engaged...and so much more.

Wedding Paper Divas makes it easy for you to get it done and check one more thing off your list.

5 Creative ways to “number” your reception tables

Your ceremony is over and you are married. Wow! The first part of your day is complete. Now comes the fun part….your reception. While you and your husband have pictures taken, your guest will be heading to the reception. Once they arrive, where will they sit? If the food at your reception will be served buffet style, open seating works perfectly. However if the meal will be plated, you will need to do place cards and perhaps also assign tables. Doing the seating chart is a fair amount of work and is straight forward…..not a lot of room for creativity. You will need a list of all your guests, which entrée they will eat and where they will sit. Place cards and table numbers do not need to be fancy or expensive, but these can be a place you show your creative flair or continue the theme of your wedding. Here are five ways to be uniquely you with your table assignments:

• Name tables instead of numbering – use your favorite wines or types to label your tables: Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, etc. Your place cards could be bottle shaped or the color of each wine type.

• Label your tables with names of states you have visited together or lived in – each table could have a story about being in that state: the state where you met each other, where you each grew up, where you vacationed together or went to school. Place cards could have a ribbon matching a color in the state flag or a picture of the state plant or bird. You could do cities instead of states. Have fun with this!

• What if you and your groom are big readers, you could use favorite author’s names or book titles. You can really take off with this one. Your place cards could be bookmarks with the guests name, entrée and author/book. You could include your names and wedding date and their place card can double as your favor. Your guests now have a keepsake from your wedding to use again in their favorite book or magazine.

• Add some bling to your guest tables and use gems as the names. You could go really glamorous with this one. If your base table cloths are white or ivory, you have a great “canvas” for adding some color to your tables. The Diamond table could have rhinestones around the center of the table and the place cards can have a “diamond” glued to it. Think your birth stone, his birthstone and then your whole bridal party for gems to use. Craft stores have rhinestones in many colors and shapes.

• Let’s say you love to garden. What is your favorite thing to grow? This one has lots of options. Pick your favorite culinary herbs and spices for table names. Try flowers, vegetables, fruits, or shrubs. Your place cards could have a picture of the plant, vegetable, fruit, etc. Your favors could tie in with corresponding seed packets for your guests. Or choose wildflowers and there is actually handmade paper that has wildflower seed embedded in it. The paper can be used for place cards and table sign, and then the really cool part: seeded paper can be planted and the seeds will produce wildflowers. From table décor to place cards to table sign into a guest favor. Eco friendly and creative too!

Part of the fun part of wedding planning is being able to infuse the personality of you and your groom into the day. Be uniquely you all the way to your reception tables. I would love to help you create unique ways to name your tables. Seating charts can be a chore and you can hire me to do these for you.

Wedding Invitations –3 Local Design Companies to Choose

A beautifully designed and custom wedding invitation sets the tone for your wedding day. It gives your guests a glimpse of what they will experience on your wedding day. Your invitation is the first look for your guests and you want to show them your style as a couple.


There are three local companies I want to showcase because I personally know each of them and know they will take great care of any of my wedding couples. All of these three ladies can create a fabulous invitation and other wedding papers for your day with style and grace and with some of the best customer service you will ever receive.


Paper Passionista is a wedding paper company privately owned and operated by Gayle. She knows the wedding industry from more than one perspective. She has planned weddings, owned a wedding retail store and now offers mobile invitation design. She comes to you for your convenience. Her website has many options for you to consider. Take a look and give her a call for a consultation. http://www.paperpassionista.com/


Paper Fling is a retail location based business in Kirkland owned by Ruth. I have worked with her several times and my couples loved her designs and her customer service. She will guide you through the process step by step to create your wedding invitations based on your wishes and your budget. She knows how to work with couples and has done some beautiful invitations for bridal couples of mine. This is her website and she is waiting to help you with your design. http://www.paperfling.com/index.html


Valerie's Invites is one more company for which I trust to refer my clients. She can do completely custom designs or assist you in choosing a customizable design from one of her many suppliers. Just as the other two companies can, Valerie can help you with menu cards, place cards, table cards or ceremony programs. See what she has to offer here:  http://valeriesinvites.com/


I only recommend companies that I have checked out in person and that have worked with clients of mine. These ladies do excellent work and will take great care of you.

 

20% off from Wedding Paper Divas on Invitations & MORE

Do you need save the dates, invitations or other wedding paper such as menu cards, place cards, or ceremony programs? Now is the time to see what Wedding  Paper Divas has to offer you. Take advantage of the opportunity to buy your wedding papers during this great site wide promotion. Offer expires 8/5/2014 at 11:59 pm (PT). 

Shop now for 20% off

Enjoy 20% off your order using the code SUMMER14 at checkout There is no minimum purchase required for this promotion. This promotion code cannot be combined with other offers. Offer not applicable to previously placed orders, shipping, taxes, rush processing charges, and excludes photo books, calendars, gift certificates and items from their Thermography, Letterpress, Foil Stamping and engraving collections and our professional printing service. Offer is valid only on Wedding Paper Divas.

To take advantage of this offer click the shop now link below and get started.

Shop now for 20% off

Here are a few examples of their beautiful invitations:

Call or email Nancy if you need help with planning your wedding paper for your wedding.
206-601-6957
Or
nancy@simplycelebrations.com

How Will You Create Your Wedding Invitations?

There are so many ways for you to create your wedding invitations or other wedding papers such as  Save the Dates or ceremony programs.

• You can order them online and design your items there.
• You can also go to one of the many retail locations for invitations and wedding papers and have an in-house designer help you create your invitations or other items.
• If you have the DIY talent and desire, you can create these yourself from scratch.

How you go about this depends on a few variables.


If you are crafty and have the motivation and the time to make your own, this can be very satisfying and rewarding. This direction has personalization and customization written all over it. However if you run screaming when some one mentions crafting and you have nightmares about using a glue gun or a decorative paper punch, this might not be the best way for you.


Designing and ordering online has its benefits and its pitfalls. Where you go matters. Customer service, ability to customize and the number of options vary from company to company. You may have to proofread your invitation online and not get to see, touch or feel the quality of the paper in person until your full order arrives. Some online companies will send you samples or proofs via snail mail. However this method is very convenient and usually less expensive than going to a printer who specializes in wedding invitations and wedding papers. There are some really great companies online if you chose this method.

You can go to a craft store (i.e., Michael's, Joann's, Hobby Lobby) and buy the boxes of pre-made invitations and, using their templates, print your own invitations. This might be for you if you are not looking for something very unique or customized. One drawback here: your at home printer may or may not be able to "process" the paper if it has a raised border or design on it. You may want to buy one box first to be sure your printer can handle the invitation first. Otherwise this seemingly cost effective method might get expensive fast and also it is labor intensive for you to print your own.


Going to a wedding invitation designer is frequently more expensive than all of the above methods. But if you are a person who wants to actually touch the different types and thicknesses of the papers, this way might be for you. The designers I know will show you all different types of qualities of papers as well as embellishments and a huge variety of fonts and font colors. The designer will walk you through every step by your side in person. If you appreciative this in person experience, this is the best way for you.


So think about what best fits you and stay tuned for a few related posts to come.


Let me know what you think about this post in the comment area below.

Maintain Your Engagement Ring

Everything worth having in life is worth receiving regular loving care. This goes for marriages, relationships, your home, your car and also for your jewelry. I learned the hard and stressful way when I procrastinated on my engagement ring maintenance.
As I stepped out of the shower one day in June, I looked down at my engagement ring as I often do every day. This time the view was shocking instead of full of lovely memories of my wedding day. I saw empty prongs with a missing center diamond!

The next few minutes were spent saying “No, No, No” and a frantic search around the tub, the drain and floor of the bathroom. No diamond in sight. My heart was sinking and my stomach was tightening. I had lost my diamond from my ring. Needless to say, not much got done for work this day. After searching all the floors of my home and the dismantling of the shower drain with no results, I made the dreaded phone call to my husband. With tears streaming down my face, my husband, being the calm loving man he is, assured me that we would get it fixed, repaired, whatever it takes. He called our jeweler and made an appointment for the following Monday to have the broken prongs looked at. Two of the four prongs had broken off at the top.

The rest of my day was spent scouring the house, the furniture, our bed, sinks, everywhere for the missing stone. I knew it was somewhere in the house because I looked at it the previous night before going to bed. Later when my husband got home from work he went under the house and cleaned out the P Trap in hopes the stone would be found there.  Ladies you do not want to have to do this. It is beyond icky!  Still no diamond found! The only good thing about this ugly activity was I knew then and there that my husband would do anything for me.

That night I went through the house one more time with a bright flashlight and all the lights in the house off….searching the floors and rugs. As I went through the half bath down the hall with my flashlight, I was feeling I would never sleep this night. Searching around the back of the toilet and toilet topper I saw a little glint. Could it be? In the cabinet over the toilet on the bottom shelf was a small round shiny object: MY DIAMOND! Yes! Yes! Yes! Happy tears and running through the house yelling “I found it! I found it!” One of my luckiest and happiest moments!

I was lucky that my center stone did not dislodge outside of my house. Don’t let this potential loss happen to you. Here are some steps to preventing this very upsetting experience.

1.       Twice a year inspections - My jeweler warranties the integrity of the ring if you bring it in for twice a year inspections. Add this to your reminders on your calendar so you do not forget to schedule this inspection. They will check your ring for wear and tear, for the integrity of the prongs and to check if the stone is still in the setting properly. At this same time you can usually get your ring cleaned professionally. It will sparkle like new!

2.       Regular cleaning at home – Clean your ring at home monthly.  It depends on the type of stone which cleaner you should use, if any. Ask your jeweler what the proper care is for your stone(s). A toothbrush is a good tool for a light gentle cleaning under the center stone and around the setting. Very mild dish soap is what I use. Rinse well.

3.       Remove when doing yard work or other hand work - Ladies, most of us wear our diamonds every day not matter what we are doing. We do house cleaning, yard work, as well as many other things. We risk bumping or harming our engagement ring during some of these rigorous processes. I know that I always feel weird without my ring on but I take it off now when doing yard work, scrubbing and some types of food prep as well. Have the same safe place to put your ring every time you take it off. When I told one of my friends about my experience, she shared with me that she had lost her center stone while gardening.

4.       Insurance – Most homeowner’s or renter’s policies have an extra “rider” you can purchase for jewelry. This can cover accidentally loss or theft…it depends on the policy. There are also separate companies who insure just jewelry. I found a really informative article on TheKnot.com about this subject. I encourage you to read it. http://wedding.theknot.com/getting-engaged/engagement-rings/articles/engagement-ring-insurance-101.aspx?MsdVisit=1

I hope my experience will end your procrastination to have your precious ring checked twice a year. See my ring below all fixed.

 

 

 

Ladies, don’t let my experience happen to you. I found my stone and was very fortunate.  Make the appointment to maintain your engagement ring so YOU don’t ever lose YOUR bling.