After she gave us tons of tips for our recent column on holiday video, Ashley Chiles of Ladyflash Productions was nice enough to share even more great advice, this time on weddings. She’s joined here by wedding photographer Ashley Garmon. Together, these two pros have seen plenty of Austin weddings. They know what works and what doesn’t. Here is their advice on making your ceremony and celebration memorable. Plus, you can enjoy their words, and their work, in this video.
— Start planning early, Chiles says. Six months to a year in advance is ideal. “Find your most stylish, savvy, resourceful friends who’ve been married and ask for all of their wedding tips,” she says.
— Chiles recommends working with a wedding coordinator, ideally for more than just “day of” assistance. “They are one of the best investments you can make,” she says. “I cannot tell you how many times I have seen things fall apart during clients’ events because they simply could not anticipate unforeseen details nor be in charge of coordinating multiple people to be in multiple locations and all show up on time.” Consultants can help with managing details, timelines and vendors, in addition to the design aspects of the wedding, she says.
— Be realistic about how much wedding you can afford with your budget, Chiles says. If a professional with whom you want to work is out of your budget, ask her to refer you to her assistants or to a less-expensive, up-and-coming vendor. As you’d expect, Chiles is passionate about making photography and video priorities in your budget. “It does not make sense to spend loads of time and money creating a beautiful and memorable wedding, only to have a less-than-fabulous record of it,” she says.
— “Don’t have an outdoor wedding basically between May 10 and October 10 in Texas,” Chiles says. “It is just too hot! It absolutely kills your guests and vendors, and does not make for good photos and video, as you and your groom will be sweating, sticky, and miserable. If you want the outdoor option, choosing a location with both outdoor/indoor areas for your party is key.” Garmon adds: “Always have a rain plan. Pay for the tent reservation. It is not an option to do otherwise!”
— In choosing vendors, look for people whose work you love and whose personalities mesh with yours, Chiles and Garmon recommend. Do you feel comfortable with them? Could you imagine spending several hours with them? “Ask your coordinator, your venue staff, your friends and other vendors for referrals and recommendations,” Chiles says.
— Make sure you understand your contracts with the venue and vendors, Chiles says, “With photos and video, make sure you are clear on whether you will be purchasing the copyright to original photos on disc or unedited videotapes,” she says.
— “Invest in lighting at your wedding,” Garmon says. “You spend thousands of dollars on flowers and linens, not to mention all of the time that it takes making these decisions. It’s a shame if they aren’t showcased at the wedding. Or worse, if no one can see them.” Get recommendations from your wedding coordinator and the pros handling your photo and video on lighting that will create the right ambiance at your wedding as well as look great on camera, Chiles says.
— “Limit the length of your ceremony and discuss the wording of your ceremony with your officiant,” Chile says. “I have seen some officiants ramble on endlessly and repetitively with guests literally falling asleep. I have also seen officiants make bizarre and very non-PC references.”
— Overbearing family member? Give her a task like putting together gift bags for out-of-town guests to make her feel useful, Garmon says. “Oh, and do not put yourself in charge of doing these things,” she adds. “You won’t have time and it will stress you out in the end.”
— “Do not get drunk at your rehearsal dinner and go to sleep early the night before the wedding,” Garmon says. “Being puffy and hungover is not the best way to start your wedding day. You’ll also probably be much more nervous and perhaps grumpy.”
— Don’t have your bridesmaid luncheon on the day of the wedding. “It’s just too much to try to pull off. This is a lovely tradition that is better held the day before the wedding,” Garmon says.
— “Don’t get a massage on your wedding day,” Garmon says. “This will dehydrate you and also might also make you a bit puffy.”
— Scenes of the bride getting ready are a staple of wedding photographs and videos. So, if possible, choose a pretty room for getting dressed, Garmon says. And pay attention to other details: Hang your dress on a wood or satin hanger, and have your bridesmaids dressed before you put on your dress. “Your photos and videos will look so much better!” Garmon says.
— “Don’t have your hair done in some crazy updo that doesn’t suit you,” Garmon says. “This just looks odd. You should look like yourself on your wedding day, just the prettiest, best version of you. That being said, if you are tragically having an outdoor wedding in the summertime, do not wear your hair down. You will look a mess by the end of the reception. It’s not pretty.”
— “If you can, try to convince your fiance to get a manicure,” Garmon says. “Gnarly fingernails are distracting in the photographs, particularly your ring shots.”
— “Bring a copy of the invitation to the wedding or mail it to your photographer ahead of time,” Garmon says. “It really adds to the story to have a photo of the invitation.”
— Finally, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” Garmon says. “Take a deep breath and remember that this is supposed to be fun.”
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/consumer/entries/2007/12/13/working_not_ready_wedding_tips.html
Saturday, December 29, 2007
You're the Wedding Planner. Now What Do You Do?
George Mason University students waited expectantly as the guest lecturer plugged in her curling iron. The topic on the syllabus: updos.
The stylist attached a mop of shiny fake curls to sophomore Brittney Tobin's long blond hair, swept it up onto her head and pinned on a bridal veil. "Is there a veil on my head?" Tobin squeaked, wide-eyed, fluttering a hand in front of her face.
"It's every girl's dream to have a class about weddings," Tobin said later. "It's a dream!"
Sure, a dream. Until the bride freaks out, the best man gets plastered or the altar boy topples over in the middle of the ceremony. And everyone expects you to fix it.
If there's one thing assistant professor Maggie Daniels wants students to know in her semester-long class on wedding planning -- apparently the first in the country at a four-year college -- it's that this is not just fluff.
Daniels teaches crisis management and event planning for what has become an enormous business, estimated at anywhere from $80 billion to $161 billion a year nationally. Spending on weddings has nearly doubled in the past 15 years. In just four years, almost every expense increased more than 20 percent as people added days of events, gifts for all the guests, elaborate lighting and all sorts of other extras promoted by magazines, TV shows and the rest of the marital-industrial complex. More than a third of couples outspend their wedding budgets.
With that booming industry comes demand for wedding planners who know their peau de soie from their charmeuse, who can coordinate timing and such details as flowers, music and hors d'oeuvres, who can whip recalcitrant groomsmen into shape.
And who can, when the inevitable crisis hits, take the bullet.
"A wedding planner has to be a superhero," Tobin said. "People think of their wedding as the perfect fairy tale. If it's not, someone's going to get the blame. It's probably going to be you."
It wasn't easy to convince college administrators that this was a legitimate course of study, Daniels said. "I fought for this tooth and nail." She produced the event-planning and cultural research to back it up. Once approved, she needed 10 students to enroll. Seventy signed up.
This semester, 100 students are taking it. They're a mix of dreamy fiancees, people looking for a fun elective, tourism-and-events-management majors rounding out their degree and hard-core future wedding consultants.
"What happens very frequently is students come into class doe-eyed," Daniels said. "Part of my objective is to make them understand it can be enjoyable, but the bottom line is, if you want to make a living at this, it is a hard job, a very, very hard job. Your weekends are taken away from you. You're dealing with a lot of different emotions," and it's difficult to launch a lucrative business.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/02/AR2007120202098.html?hpid=sec-metro
The stylist attached a mop of shiny fake curls to sophomore Brittney Tobin's long blond hair, swept it up onto her head and pinned on a bridal veil. "Is there a veil on my head?" Tobin squeaked, wide-eyed, fluttering a hand in front of her face.
"It's every girl's dream to have a class about weddings," Tobin said later. "It's a dream!"
Sure, a dream. Until the bride freaks out, the best man gets plastered or the altar boy topples over in the middle of the ceremony. And everyone expects you to fix it.
If there's one thing assistant professor Maggie Daniels wants students to know in her semester-long class on wedding planning -- apparently the first in the country at a four-year college -- it's that this is not just fluff.
Daniels teaches crisis management and event planning for what has become an enormous business, estimated at anywhere from $80 billion to $161 billion a year nationally. Spending on weddings has nearly doubled in the past 15 years. In just four years, almost every expense increased more than 20 percent as people added days of events, gifts for all the guests, elaborate lighting and all sorts of other extras promoted by magazines, TV shows and the rest of the marital-industrial complex. More than a third of couples outspend their wedding budgets.
With that booming industry comes demand for wedding planners who know their peau de soie from their charmeuse, who can coordinate timing and such details as flowers, music and hors d'oeuvres, who can whip recalcitrant groomsmen into shape.
And who can, when the inevitable crisis hits, take the bullet.
"A wedding planner has to be a superhero," Tobin said. "People think of their wedding as the perfect fairy tale. If it's not, someone's going to get the blame. It's probably going to be you."
It wasn't easy to convince college administrators that this was a legitimate course of study, Daniels said. "I fought for this tooth and nail." She produced the event-planning and cultural research to back it up. Once approved, she needed 10 students to enroll. Seventy signed up.
This semester, 100 students are taking it. They're a mix of dreamy fiancees, people looking for a fun elective, tourism-and-events-management majors rounding out their degree and hard-core future wedding consultants.
"What happens very frequently is students come into class doe-eyed," Daniels said. "Part of my objective is to make them understand it can be enjoyable, but the bottom line is, if you want to make a living at this, it is a hard job, a very, very hard job. Your weekends are taken away from you. You're dealing with a lot of different emotions," and it's difficult to launch a lucrative business.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/02/AR2007120202098.html?hpid=sec-metro
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Being an Educated Bride is Being a Savvy Bride
Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) November 27, 2007 -- Bridal season, the time when couples across the tri-State get engaged, is drawing near. This January, bridal shows will draw thousands of newly-engaged couples.
"Ironically, more clients book wedding planners after bridal shows because they leave them so overwhelmed," said Kathy Piech-Lukas, president of Your Dream Day. "It's important to know how to use all of the wedding planning tools out there and understand exactly how they work."
Going to a bridal show is the most efficient way to taste cakes from 10 different bakeries in one hour
When going to a bridal show, Piech-Lukas suggests wearing an outfit that has pockets. This way, the vendor's contact information doesn't get lost in the mass pile of literature. Go into the bridal show with a shopping list of what needs to be booked for the wedding. Determine which wedding vendors and categories need to be booked beforehand and only visit those vendors. Bridal shows are a great way to sample multiple wedding cakes in one location.
Bridal shows and wedding magazines, such as The Knot Ohio, Southwest Ohio Weddings and Cincinnati Weddings, are a great way to get decorating ideas, create wedding planning timelines and manage a wedding budget. Featured weddings in all of these magazines showcase some of the best work across the state and give brides great decorating ideas. Your Dream Day offers a complimentary copy of each of these magazines with a free meet-and-greet consultation.
Piech-Lukas also advises brides to do their own research for wedding vendors and not to rely solely on a list from another vendor or an ad from a magazine. "Planning a wedding is an emotional time and an emotional purchase. For wedding vendors, it's a business and their livelihood."
Wedding vendors pay to be in print publications and listed on websites like The Knot, Cincinnati Weddings, Southwest Ohio Weddings, Perfect Wedding Guide, Bride and Groom Planner and the Wedding Day Planner. Although it may initially be by invitation only, vendors may pay hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands, to exhibit at smaller bridal shows at reception halls, be on exclusive referral lists, or participate in a networking group for wedding vendors. Publications given to brides by reception halls, which have colorful advertisements, are also typically paid placements.
Non-biased surveys, like The Knot Best of Weddings, are the best resource for good wedding vendors. The Knot conducted a massive survey of 25,000 recent brides and grooms - the first of its kind - to capture detailed feedback on every wedding business that couples hired for their wedding celebration. Newlyweds were asked to rate their vendors on multiple criteria, from creativity to professionalism, and to comment on their experiences. The resulting ratings - and detailed feedback - were aggregated by the editors of The Knot to create this one-of-a-kind publication highlighting the best wedding resources in each region according to local brides. The survey was administered by Harris Interactive. The Bride and Groom Planner also conducts a survey of its members at www.myweddingsurvey.com. All vendors, regardless of whether they advertise at the Bride and Groom Planner, are reviewed on the website. Cincinnati Magazine also conducts a "Best of City" survey which has awarded select wedding vendors, like Fabulous Bridal, the coveted award.
Your Dream Day, which is a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants, the International Special Events Society, and the only wedding coordinating company that is a member of the Better Business Bureau, was named a pick in The Knot Best of Weddings 2007 and believes that these survey resources and referrals from your wedding planner, friends and family members are your best bet. Your Dream Day is located in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio and also designs events throughout Ohio and the United States.
"Bridal consultants like Your Dream Day prescreen all 800+ vendors offering wedding services in the tri-State and does not accept kickbacks from any vendor we refer. The Association of Bridal Consultants strongly frowns on its consultants accepting kickbacks. Referrals are made solely on budget, personality, and style fit for our clients. We want our clients to get the best bang for their buck and demonstrate why it's a necessity, rather than a luxury, to have a wedding planner on a couple's team of vendors. If we don't demonstrate cost savings and time efficiency to our clients, we're not doing our job."
Upcoming Bridal Shows in the tri-State include:
Wendy's Bridal Show, January 5-6, 2008, Cincinnati Convention Center, 10 to 5 p.m., $10 per person.
Dayton Bridal Expo, January 5-6, 2008, Dayton Convention Center, $8 per person.
Cincinnati Wedding Showcase, January 12-13, 2008, 11 to 5 p.m., Sharonville Convention Center. $10 per person.
Dayton Hara Bridal Gala, January 19 & 20, 2008; 11 to 5 p.m. Hara Arena, Dayton.
Dayton Bridal Expo, January 27, 2008, Dayton Marriott, 12 to 5 p.m., $8 per person
BridalRama Winter Showcase, February 9 & 10, 2008, Cincinnati Convention Center. $10 at the door.
Wedding 101, taught by members of the Association of Bridal Consultants. December 7, 2007 and March 2, 2008. $25 per person. Pre-registration required.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/11/prweb571215.htm
"Ironically, more clients book wedding planners after bridal shows because they leave them so overwhelmed," said Kathy Piech-Lukas, president of Your Dream Day. "It's important to know how to use all of the wedding planning tools out there and understand exactly how they work."
Going to a bridal show is the most efficient way to taste cakes from 10 different bakeries in one hour
When going to a bridal show, Piech-Lukas suggests wearing an outfit that has pockets. This way, the vendor's contact information doesn't get lost in the mass pile of literature. Go into the bridal show with a shopping list of what needs to be booked for the wedding. Determine which wedding vendors and categories need to be booked beforehand and only visit those vendors. Bridal shows are a great way to sample multiple wedding cakes in one location.
Bridal shows and wedding magazines, such as The Knot Ohio, Southwest Ohio Weddings and Cincinnati Weddings, are a great way to get decorating ideas, create wedding planning timelines and manage a wedding budget. Featured weddings in all of these magazines showcase some of the best work across the state and give brides great decorating ideas. Your Dream Day offers a complimentary copy of each of these magazines with a free meet-and-greet consultation.
Piech-Lukas also advises brides to do their own research for wedding vendors and not to rely solely on a list from another vendor or an ad from a magazine. "Planning a wedding is an emotional time and an emotional purchase. For wedding vendors, it's a business and their livelihood."
Wedding vendors pay to be in print publications and listed on websites like The Knot, Cincinnati Weddings, Southwest Ohio Weddings, Perfect Wedding Guide, Bride and Groom Planner and the Wedding Day Planner. Although it may initially be by invitation only, vendors may pay hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands, to exhibit at smaller bridal shows at reception halls, be on exclusive referral lists, or participate in a networking group for wedding vendors. Publications given to brides by reception halls, which have colorful advertisements, are also typically paid placements.
Non-biased surveys, like The Knot Best of Weddings, are the best resource for good wedding vendors. The Knot conducted a massive survey of 25,000 recent brides and grooms - the first of its kind - to capture detailed feedback on every wedding business that couples hired for their wedding celebration. Newlyweds were asked to rate their vendors on multiple criteria, from creativity to professionalism, and to comment on their experiences. The resulting ratings - and detailed feedback - were aggregated by the editors of The Knot to create this one-of-a-kind publication highlighting the best wedding resources in each region according to local brides. The survey was administered by Harris Interactive. The Bride and Groom Planner also conducts a survey of its members at www.myweddingsurvey.com. All vendors, regardless of whether they advertise at the Bride and Groom Planner, are reviewed on the website. Cincinnati Magazine also conducts a "Best of City" survey which has awarded select wedding vendors, like Fabulous Bridal, the coveted award.
Your Dream Day, which is a member of the Association of Bridal Consultants, the International Special Events Society, and the only wedding coordinating company that is a member of the Better Business Bureau, was named a pick in The Knot Best of Weddings 2007 and believes that these survey resources and referrals from your wedding planner, friends and family members are your best bet. Your Dream Day is located in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio and also designs events throughout Ohio and the United States.
"Bridal consultants like Your Dream Day prescreen all 800+ vendors offering wedding services in the tri-State and does not accept kickbacks from any vendor we refer. The Association of Bridal Consultants strongly frowns on its consultants accepting kickbacks. Referrals are made solely on budget, personality, and style fit for our clients. We want our clients to get the best bang for their buck and demonstrate why it's a necessity, rather than a luxury, to have a wedding planner on a couple's team of vendors. If we don't demonstrate cost savings and time efficiency to our clients, we're not doing our job."
Upcoming Bridal Shows in the tri-State include:
Wendy's Bridal Show, January 5-6, 2008, Cincinnati Convention Center, 10 to 5 p.m., $10 per person.
Dayton Bridal Expo, January 5-6, 2008, Dayton Convention Center, $8 per person.
Cincinnati Wedding Showcase, January 12-13, 2008, 11 to 5 p.m., Sharonville Convention Center. $10 per person.
Dayton Hara Bridal Gala, January 19 & 20, 2008; 11 to 5 p.m. Hara Arena, Dayton.
Dayton Bridal Expo, January 27, 2008, Dayton Marriott, 12 to 5 p.m., $8 per person
BridalRama Winter Showcase, February 9 & 10, 2008, Cincinnati Convention Center. $10 at the door.
Wedding 101, taught by members of the Association of Bridal Consultants. December 7, 2007 and March 2, 2008. $25 per person. Pre-registration required.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/11/prweb571215.htm
Destination weddings ask guests for more commitment
It wasn't long ago that attending a friend's wedding meant spending a Saturday night eating prime rib and dancing to cover versions of “Louie Louie” and “Brown Eyed Girl.”
Now, it might involve three days in Mexico or a long weekend in Maine. There could be scuba diving, cruises, square dancing or a marshmallow roast at a national park.
With a growing number of couples opting to exchange vows far from where they and most of their guests live, saying “yes” to an invite has taken on a whole new meaning.
“Destination weddings” can be fun. And time-consuming. And terribly expensive. Those most likely to be invited to a lot of weddings - people in their 20s, say - also tend to have the least seniority at work and the least disposable income.
Some guests, of course, are happy to pack their bags.
“I love the opportunity to travel and go somewhere I wouldn't have gone, or just to have an excuse to go somewhere that I like,” says Tamar Kummel, a massage therapist from New York City. She plans to attend a friend's wedding in California and another on Cape Cod later this year.
“If you didn't have this invitation, you'd never go,” she says.
But there's a downside. Kummel's boyfriend, Sean Harris, who works at an investment banking company, has a limited number of vacation days and sees a three-day wedding extravaganza as a drain on his time.
“He finds it really inconsiderate of people,” Kummel says.
What's a modern wedding guest to do? A primer:
-- Do you have to attend?
“People who are having a destination wedding absolutely expect certain people can't attend the wedding for financial or schedule reasons,” says Carley Roney, co-founder of the wedding planning Web site TheKnot.com. But she advises against mentioning your finances when you decline. “It's such a guilt-tripping kind of thing,” she says. “Come up with a very appropriate reason, even if it has to be a white lie.”
Joanna Hanak of Broomfield, Colo., knew that some invited guests wouldn't attend her wedding last fall in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “We told people that we didn't expect them to come, but wanted them to know they were welcome,” she says.
Hopefully, guests will get plenty of warning.
“Couples should give their guests at least three or four months to plan by sending out detailed Save-the-Date cards,” says Lei Lydle, founder of the Atlanta-based WeddingBasics.com, which publishes bridal Web sites in several U.S. cities.
That's especially important if the wedding falls on a holiday weekend, when travel can be difficult and expensive.
-- Must you stay where the bride and groom suggest?
The couple will likely offer information on a range of accommodations, and they may have blocked rooms at several locations.
“In a situation where the bride and groom have not been so thoughtful,” says etiquette expert Samantha von Sperling, founder and director of Polished Social Image Consultants in New York, “go online and book your own accommodations and then you can call them and say, ‘I'm sorry but I couldn't afford the place you picked, so I've found something else just down the road. But I promise I'll be there and be on time.'"
-- Do you have to attend every planned event?
Destination weddings often involve a raft of events, including a cocktail party to welcome guests and a brunch the morning after the ceremony. If three solid days of bonding with relatives, co-workers or strangers doesn't appeal to you, Roney says it's fine to opt out of a few daytime events. But if you're skipping something, let someone in the bridal party know so that no one waits or searches for you.
-- What if you've got kids?
If children are invited (with destination weddings, they often are), your hosts may have some childcare planned. Ask whether kids are welcome at all the weekend's events, then ask if baby-sitting is available during any that are grown-ups only. If nothing has been arranged, you might contact the hotel where the wedding is happening or where you're staying and inquire about baby-sitting services.
Some guests, like New Yorkers Michele Clarke-Ceres and her husband, Rudy Ceres, see destination weddings as an opportunity for a private getaway sans kids.
“We take advantage of taking time away to just spend time alone,” she says.
-- Do you have to bring a gift?
“You can definitely scale back,” says Roney. “But unless they specifically say, 'the present is your presence,' you should buy a gift, even if it's a $30 something off their registry. People who are in that age range where they are going to a wedding every weekend can chip in with a group of people and do a group gift.”
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=61551§ion=Features
Now, it might involve three days in Mexico or a long weekend in Maine. There could be scuba diving, cruises, square dancing or a marshmallow roast at a national park.
With a growing number of couples opting to exchange vows far from where they and most of their guests live, saying “yes” to an invite has taken on a whole new meaning.
“Destination weddings” can be fun. And time-consuming. And terribly expensive. Those most likely to be invited to a lot of weddings - people in their 20s, say - also tend to have the least seniority at work and the least disposable income.
Some guests, of course, are happy to pack their bags.
“I love the opportunity to travel and go somewhere I wouldn't have gone, or just to have an excuse to go somewhere that I like,” says Tamar Kummel, a massage therapist from New York City. She plans to attend a friend's wedding in California and another on Cape Cod later this year.
“If you didn't have this invitation, you'd never go,” she says.
But there's a downside. Kummel's boyfriend, Sean Harris, who works at an investment banking company, has a limited number of vacation days and sees a three-day wedding extravaganza as a drain on his time.
“He finds it really inconsiderate of people,” Kummel says.
What's a modern wedding guest to do? A primer:
-- Do you have to attend?
“People who are having a destination wedding absolutely expect certain people can't attend the wedding for financial or schedule reasons,” says Carley Roney, co-founder of the wedding planning Web site TheKnot.com. But she advises against mentioning your finances when you decline. “It's such a guilt-tripping kind of thing,” she says. “Come up with a very appropriate reason, even if it has to be a white lie.”
Joanna Hanak of Broomfield, Colo., knew that some invited guests wouldn't attend her wedding last fall in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “We told people that we didn't expect them to come, but wanted them to know they were welcome,” she says.
Hopefully, guests will get plenty of warning.
“Couples should give their guests at least three or four months to plan by sending out detailed Save-the-Date cards,” says Lei Lydle, founder of the Atlanta-based WeddingBasics.com, which publishes bridal Web sites in several U.S. cities.
That's especially important if the wedding falls on a holiday weekend, when travel can be difficult and expensive.
-- Must you stay where the bride and groom suggest?
The couple will likely offer information on a range of accommodations, and they may have blocked rooms at several locations.
“In a situation where the bride and groom have not been so thoughtful,” says etiquette expert Samantha von Sperling, founder and director of Polished Social Image Consultants in New York, “go online and book your own accommodations and then you can call them and say, ‘I'm sorry but I couldn't afford the place you picked, so I've found something else just down the road. But I promise I'll be there and be on time.'"
-- Do you have to attend every planned event?
Destination weddings often involve a raft of events, including a cocktail party to welcome guests and a brunch the morning after the ceremony. If three solid days of bonding with relatives, co-workers or strangers doesn't appeal to you, Roney says it's fine to opt out of a few daytime events. But if you're skipping something, let someone in the bridal party know so that no one waits or searches for you.
-- What if you've got kids?
If children are invited (with destination weddings, they often are), your hosts may have some childcare planned. Ask whether kids are welcome at all the weekend's events, then ask if baby-sitting is available during any that are grown-ups only. If nothing has been arranged, you might contact the hotel where the wedding is happening or where you're staying and inquire about baby-sitting services.
Some guests, like New Yorkers Michele Clarke-Ceres and her husband, Rudy Ceres, see destination weddings as an opportunity for a private getaway sans kids.
“We take advantage of taking time away to just spend time alone,” she says.
-- Do you have to bring a gift?
“You can definitely scale back,” says Roney. “But unless they specifically say, 'the present is your presence,' you should buy a gift, even if it's a $30 something off their registry. People who are in that age range where they are going to a wedding every weekend can chip in with a group of people and do a group gift.”
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=61551§ion=Features
'Wedding planner to the stars' focuses on details, details and also details
Jackie and Adam Sandler. Shaunie and Shaquille O'Neal. Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. Heidi Klum and Seal. Jami Gertz and Tony Ressler. Janice and Billy Crystal. When these high-profile pairs have a star-studded soirée to host -- anything from a wedding to a bridal shower, a bar mitzvah to a birthday or business bash -- they all leave the preparations to one party planner: Mindy Weiss, owner of the Beverly Hills-based Mindy Weiss Party Consultants. But if you think her job is just about selecting flowers and ordering cakes, you're sorely mistaken.
"I have several roles," said Weiss, 48. "I become a decorator, a mom, a best friend, a sister, a therapist. I wear so many different hats.... When they hire me, they're hiring the 10 other people I can be to help them."
That 10-for-the-price-of-one mentality might be why Brad Delson, lead guitarist for multiplatinum rap-metal group, Linkin Park, and his wife, Elisa, turned to Weiss to help them plan their September 2003 wedding. Despite the low-key nature of their nuptials, held at the Skirball Cultural Center, it stands out in Weiss' mind because, like her, the Delsons are proud, practicing Jews.
Although Weiss said her clients run the spiritual and religious gamut, she admitted to feeling especially at ease when it comes to planning Jewish weddings, which comprise about 50 percent of her party-planning business.
"There's some comfort in Jewish weddings," she explained, "because I'm familiar with them. It's a little easier for me."
Still, with Weiss masterminding more than 120 events annually -- weddings make up the bread and butter of her business -- she does plan plenty of non-Jewish affairs, the sum total of which have established her as one of the most famous party planners in the United States and garnered her a sort of stardom that nearly rivals that of her clients.
She has her own publicist, she's a regular on the talk-show circuit -- "Dr. Phil," "The Today Show" -- and she is the go-to wedding planner for beautiful spreads in glossy magazines like In Style, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and, of course, all the bridal rags. Not to mention that in 2003, ABC turned to her to plan the $3.8 million televised wedding of Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter (the famed couple from the 2002 reality show, "The Bachelorette"), an epic event that courted an estimated 17 million viewers. Last week, Weiss celebrated the grand reopening of Owen's Market, a 50-year-old Beverly Hills-adjacent fixture on Pico Boulevard she bought, renovated and reintroduced as a specialty food market.
During the peak wedding season, Weiss and her team of eight employees plan and pull off about three weddings a weekend.
During the stressful, prewedding planning stages, especially important to Weiss is her relationships with her clients. "We really become like a family," she said. "They're calling us every day; we know a lot of their personal business. There are a lot of sensitive things: prenups, who they're inviting, how they feel about Aunt Shirley. You learn a lot about a family."
Details, Details, Details
Weiss grew up in Cheviot Hills. The middle of three sisters, she recalls a childhood filled with intricate celebrations planned by her mother, Marian Hersh.
"In my house, every occasion was decorated and celebrated," she said. "They were so creative and elaborate. Of course, we didn't realize it then. We just knew we always had really fun parties ... Chanukah in the house was amazing."
Not to mention her bat mitzvah: "[It] was ridiculous," Weiss said. "The theme was, 'From Lollipops to Roses.' My mother planned everything. She made me sing my candlelighting ceremony; it was to the theme of 'Fiddler on the Roof,' and she made the songs up, all of them."
Still, Weiss never dreamed that she would turn her innate sense for unique get-togethers, something she considers to be "in her blood," into a career designing parties for the rich and famous. "I was planning on going into radio, television, film -- doing something creative behind the scenes," she said.
But after graduating from Cal State Northridge in 1981 and marrying her first husband, Joey, that same year, Weiss landed a job at William Ernest Brown, an upscale stationary store in Beverly Hills. There, Weiss met her best friend, Janis Gurnick, and, after three years, they left to start their own invitation business. It was a choice familiar to many working women at the time: "We both got pregnant and decided to work from home," she said.
The two women were happily selling custom invitations until one day around 1992, when a client came in and asked Weiss to plan a party. "I insisted I wasn't a party planner," she said, though she eventually agreed to do it. "From that one party with 260 guests, I got 10 calls to do more events. I thought, 'Hmm ... maybe this is a good place for me to be.'"
As it turns out, one of those calls came from Brooke Shields, who was planning her 1997 nuptials to Andre Agassi (the two divorced in 1999). Weiss took the job, landed in her first tabloid spread and hasn't looked back since. She's now a regular in the pages of Us Weekly, OK!, In Touch and all the other gossip glossies.
When Weiss is not busy working, she says she's most likely found spending time with her brood -- her two sons from her first marriage, Jordan, 23, and Jesse, 16, as well as her second husband, realtor Robert David, and their son, Alex, 9. They gather together for Shabbat dinner every Friday night; Sundays are "family days," when they dine with her sisters and their families. "My favorite thing is to spend time with my family," she said. "That's my number one priority."
Ever the professional, though, Weiss did take on the Herculean task of planning two bar mitzvahs for her older sons and foresees one more on the horizon.
"I drive my kids nuts with their parties," she laughed. "It's details, details, details."
And yet, it's those "details, details, details" that make a wedding -- or any event for that matter -- planned by Weiss special.
"They don't want their wedding to look like another wedding," she said of her clients. "We're always trying to find ways to make it unique. It's hard when brides and grooms are on the circuit -- they're sometimes going to 10 weddings a year."
But, according to Weiss, there are endless ways to personalize a wedding, and one of her favorites is through special foods and recipes. "It's nice to add something from the family," she said. At one wedding reception, she served matzah ball soup as a first course. "We put little recipe cards above the serving plate," she recalled. "The bride, that's what she remembered growing up. It was her way of pulling her grandmother in."
Which is fitting, Weiss said, because a harkening back to heritage is something she has seen more and more of lately with her rock star clients, especially the Jewish ones. She notes, for example, the renewed popularity among Jewish couples of the bride circling the groom seven times.
"A lot of them are being considerate to the guests and doing programs that explain all the Jewish traditions: what the chuppah is, why we drink from the same glass of wine, why we break the glass. I think that's really nice," she said.
Still, the most pronounced wedding trend Weiss observes has nothing to do with cakes or colors -- it's the involvement of that formerly silent partner: the groom. "I'm not doing one wedding where the groom is not involved," she said. "I used to meet them at the wedding. A lot of brides and grooms today are older. They're getting married in their 30s -- some of them are paying for it -- and they both want to be involved."
As for her professional advice for couples undertaking the endeavor as a team, Weiss cautions them to remember that "the key word is compromise. It's a big lesson in the relationship."
Then again, having a top-notch wedding planner like Weiss, who has more than 15 years' experience under her belt, does help to smooth out any kinks.
"It's not only about the wedding," Weiss said of her role. "It's my responsibility to try as hard as I can to make planning the wedding a great experience."
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18648
"I have several roles," said Weiss, 48. "I become a decorator, a mom, a best friend, a sister, a therapist. I wear so many different hats.... When they hire me, they're hiring the 10 other people I can be to help them."
That 10-for-the-price-of-one mentality might be why Brad Delson, lead guitarist for multiplatinum rap-metal group, Linkin Park, and his wife, Elisa, turned to Weiss to help them plan their September 2003 wedding. Despite the low-key nature of their nuptials, held at the Skirball Cultural Center, it stands out in Weiss' mind because, like her, the Delsons are proud, practicing Jews.
Although Weiss said her clients run the spiritual and religious gamut, she admitted to feeling especially at ease when it comes to planning Jewish weddings, which comprise about 50 percent of her party-planning business.
"There's some comfort in Jewish weddings," she explained, "because I'm familiar with them. It's a little easier for me."
Still, with Weiss masterminding more than 120 events annually -- weddings make up the bread and butter of her business -- she does plan plenty of non-Jewish affairs, the sum total of which have established her as one of the most famous party planners in the United States and garnered her a sort of stardom that nearly rivals that of her clients.
She has her own publicist, she's a regular on the talk-show circuit -- "Dr. Phil," "The Today Show" -- and she is the go-to wedding planner for beautiful spreads in glossy magazines like In Style, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and, of course, all the bridal rags. Not to mention that in 2003, ABC turned to her to plan the $3.8 million televised wedding of Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter (the famed couple from the 2002 reality show, "The Bachelorette"), an epic event that courted an estimated 17 million viewers. Last week, Weiss celebrated the grand reopening of Owen's Market, a 50-year-old Beverly Hills-adjacent fixture on Pico Boulevard she bought, renovated and reintroduced as a specialty food market.
During the peak wedding season, Weiss and her team of eight employees plan and pull off about three weddings a weekend.
During the stressful, prewedding planning stages, especially important to Weiss is her relationships with her clients. "We really become like a family," she said. "They're calling us every day; we know a lot of their personal business. There are a lot of sensitive things: prenups, who they're inviting, how they feel about Aunt Shirley. You learn a lot about a family."
Details, Details, Details
Weiss grew up in Cheviot Hills. The middle of three sisters, she recalls a childhood filled with intricate celebrations planned by her mother, Marian Hersh.
"In my house, every occasion was decorated and celebrated," she said. "They were so creative and elaborate. Of course, we didn't realize it then. We just knew we always had really fun parties ... Chanukah in the house was amazing."
Not to mention her bat mitzvah: "[It] was ridiculous," Weiss said. "The theme was, 'From Lollipops to Roses.' My mother planned everything. She made me sing my candlelighting ceremony; it was to the theme of 'Fiddler on the Roof,' and she made the songs up, all of them."
Still, Weiss never dreamed that she would turn her innate sense for unique get-togethers, something she considers to be "in her blood," into a career designing parties for the rich and famous. "I was planning on going into radio, television, film -- doing something creative behind the scenes," she said.
But after graduating from Cal State Northridge in 1981 and marrying her first husband, Joey, that same year, Weiss landed a job at William Ernest Brown, an upscale stationary store in Beverly Hills. There, Weiss met her best friend, Janis Gurnick, and, after three years, they left to start their own invitation business. It was a choice familiar to many working women at the time: "We both got pregnant and decided to work from home," she said.
The two women were happily selling custom invitations until one day around 1992, when a client came in and asked Weiss to plan a party. "I insisted I wasn't a party planner," she said, though she eventually agreed to do it. "From that one party with 260 guests, I got 10 calls to do more events. I thought, 'Hmm ... maybe this is a good place for me to be.'"
As it turns out, one of those calls came from Brooke Shields, who was planning her 1997 nuptials to Andre Agassi (the two divorced in 1999). Weiss took the job, landed in her first tabloid spread and hasn't looked back since. She's now a regular in the pages of Us Weekly, OK!, In Touch and all the other gossip glossies.
When Weiss is not busy working, she says she's most likely found spending time with her brood -- her two sons from her first marriage, Jordan, 23, and Jesse, 16, as well as her second husband, realtor Robert David, and their son, Alex, 9. They gather together for Shabbat dinner every Friday night; Sundays are "family days," when they dine with her sisters and their families. "My favorite thing is to spend time with my family," she said. "That's my number one priority."
Ever the professional, though, Weiss did take on the Herculean task of planning two bar mitzvahs for her older sons and foresees one more on the horizon.
"I drive my kids nuts with their parties," she laughed. "It's details, details, details."
And yet, it's those "details, details, details" that make a wedding -- or any event for that matter -- planned by Weiss special.
"They don't want their wedding to look like another wedding," she said of her clients. "We're always trying to find ways to make it unique. It's hard when brides and grooms are on the circuit -- they're sometimes going to 10 weddings a year."
But, according to Weiss, there are endless ways to personalize a wedding, and one of her favorites is through special foods and recipes. "It's nice to add something from the family," she said. At one wedding reception, she served matzah ball soup as a first course. "We put little recipe cards above the serving plate," she recalled. "The bride, that's what she remembered growing up. It was her way of pulling her grandmother in."
Which is fitting, Weiss said, because a harkening back to heritage is something she has seen more and more of lately with her rock star clients, especially the Jewish ones. She notes, for example, the renewed popularity among Jewish couples of the bride circling the groom seven times.
"A lot of them are being considerate to the guests and doing programs that explain all the Jewish traditions: what the chuppah is, why we drink from the same glass of wine, why we break the glass. I think that's really nice," she said.
Still, the most pronounced wedding trend Weiss observes has nothing to do with cakes or colors -- it's the involvement of that formerly silent partner: the groom. "I'm not doing one wedding where the groom is not involved," she said. "I used to meet them at the wedding. A lot of brides and grooms today are older. They're getting married in their 30s -- some of them are paying for it -- and they both want to be involved."
As for her professional advice for couples undertaking the endeavor as a team, Weiss cautions them to remember that "the key word is compromise. It's a big lesson in the relationship."
Then again, having a top-notch wedding planner like Weiss, who has more than 15 years' experience under her belt, does help to smooth out any kinks.
"It's not only about the wedding," Weiss said of her role. "It's my responsibility to try as hard as I can to make planning the wedding a great experience."
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18648
You're the Wedding Planner. Now What Do You Do?
After months of working with a difficult and exacting bride, you open the cake box shortly before the reception. The bakery, which is closed, sent a cake for someone named David, in honor of his bar mitzvah. At GMU, Would-Be Consultants Learn Tricks, and Trials, of the Trade
By Susan Kinzie
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 3, 2007; Page B01
George Mason University students waited expectantly as the guest lecturer plugged in her curling iron. The topic on the syllabus: updos.
The stylist attached a mop of shiny fake curls to sophomore Brittney Tobin's long blond hair, swept it up onto her head and pinned on a bridal veil. "Is there a veil on my head?" Tobin squeaked, wide-eyed, fluttering a hand in front of her face.
"It's every girl's dream to have a class about weddings," Tobin said later. "It's a dream!"
Sure, a dream. Until the bride freaks out, the best man gets plastered or the altar boy topples over in the middle of the ceremony. And everyone expects you to fix it.
If there's one thing assistant professor Maggie Daniels wants students to know in her semester-long class on wedding planning -- apparently the first in the country at a four-year college -- it's that this is not just fluff.
Daniels teaches crisis management and event planning for what has become an enormous business, estimated at anywhere from $80 billion to $161 billion a year nationally. Spending on weddings has nearly doubled in the past 15 years. In just four years, almost every expense increased more than 20 percent as people added days of events, gifts for all the guests, elaborate lighting and all sorts of other extras promoted by magazines, TV shows and the rest of the marital-industrial complex. More than a third of couples outspend their wedding budgets.
With that booming industry comes demand for wedding planners who know their peau de soie from their charmeuse, who can coordinate timing and such details as flowers, music and hors d'oeuvres, who can whip recalcitrant groomsmen into shape.
And who can, when the inevitable crisis hits, take the bullet.
"A wedding planner has to be a superhero," Tobin said. "People think of their wedding as the perfect fairy tale. If it's not, someone's going to get the blame. It's probably going to be you."
It wasn't easy to convince college administrators that this was a legitimate course of study, Daniels said. "I fought for this tooth and nail." She produced the event-planning and cultural research to back it up. Once approved, she needed 10 students to enroll. Seventy signed up.
This semester, 100 students are taking it. They're a mix of dreamy fiancees, people looking for a fun elective, tourism-and-events-management majors rounding out their degree and hard-core future wedding consultants.
"What happens very frequently is students come into class doe-eyed," Daniels said. "Part of my objective is to make them understand it can be enjoyable, but the bottom line is, if you want to make a living at this, it is a hard job, a very, very hard job. Your weekends are taken away from you. You're dealing with a lot of different emotions," and it's difficult to launch a lucrative business.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/02/AR2007120202098.html?hpid=sec-metro
By Susan Kinzie
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 3, 2007; Page B01
George Mason University students waited expectantly as the guest lecturer plugged in her curling iron. The topic on the syllabus: updos.
The stylist attached a mop of shiny fake curls to sophomore Brittney Tobin's long blond hair, swept it up onto her head and pinned on a bridal veil. "Is there a veil on my head?" Tobin squeaked, wide-eyed, fluttering a hand in front of her face.
"It's every girl's dream to have a class about weddings," Tobin said later. "It's a dream!"
Sure, a dream. Until the bride freaks out, the best man gets plastered or the altar boy topples over in the middle of the ceremony. And everyone expects you to fix it.
If there's one thing assistant professor Maggie Daniels wants students to know in her semester-long class on wedding planning -- apparently the first in the country at a four-year college -- it's that this is not just fluff.
Daniels teaches crisis management and event planning for what has become an enormous business, estimated at anywhere from $80 billion to $161 billion a year nationally. Spending on weddings has nearly doubled in the past 15 years. In just four years, almost every expense increased more than 20 percent as people added days of events, gifts for all the guests, elaborate lighting and all sorts of other extras promoted by magazines, TV shows and the rest of the marital-industrial complex. More than a third of couples outspend their wedding budgets.
With that booming industry comes demand for wedding planners who know their peau de soie from their charmeuse, who can coordinate timing and such details as flowers, music and hors d'oeuvres, who can whip recalcitrant groomsmen into shape.
And who can, when the inevitable crisis hits, take the bullet.
"A wedding planner has to be a superhero," Tobin said. "People think of their wedding as the perfect fairy tale. If it's not, someone's going to get the blame. It's probably going to be you."
It wasn't easy to convince college administrators that this was a legitimate course of study, Daniels said. "I fought for this tooth and nail." She produced the event-planning and cultural research to back it up. Once approved, she needed 10 students to enroll. Seventy signed up.
This semester, 100 students are taking it. They're a mix of dreamy fiancees, people looking for a fun elective, tourism-and-events-management majors rounding out their degree and hard-core future wedding consultants.
"What happens very frequently is students come into class doe-eyed," Daniels said. "Part of my objective is to make them understand it can be enjoyable, but the bottom line is, if you want to make a living at this, it is a hard job, a very, very hard job. Your weekends are taken away from you. You're dealing with a lot of different emotions," and it's difficult to launch a lucrative business.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/02/AR2007120202098.html?hpid=sec-metro
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Our Town: TRPA's public relations chief a chocoholic music lover
Julie Regan married the same man three times, she tells people. Regan and husband Kevin Regan, an artist, eloped in 1993, moving from Delaware to Lake Tahoe to tie the knot.
The couple was married at Regan Beach (apropos, no?) on Valentine's Day. She said she wore hiking boots to hike over a snowbank and slipped into her heels before the ceremony.
In June of that year, they had a large wedding at her parents' farm in Delaware, then an Irish Catholic wedding in November to satisfy her husband's parents.
Regan, who is the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's communications and legislative affairs chief, now manages communication, public education, media outreach, customer service and legislative affairs for the environmental organization. She's worked at the agency for four years but has worked in the communications industry for 20 years.
In her spare time, Regan cross-country skis, bikes and kickboxes. She also recently earned her green belt in tae kwon do.
Her husband, along with her best friend of 12 years, Kathy Strain, tried to guess Regan's answers to a series of questions. Let's see how well they did:
What's your favorite food?
Julie: "Anything chocolate would be my favorite food. I do enjoy excellent gourmet meals, but anything chocolate would have to be favorite."
Kevin: "Julie's favorite food. Um, let's see ... We lived in Key West and had a lot of fresh fish - so sushi. We'd go out in our boat and dive down and get lobsters and fresh oysters."
Kathy: "You know, she makes a killer homemade mac and cheese. But I think that's one of Kevin's favorites. I'd have to say sushi, because that's what we usually have when we meet for lunch."
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20071221/NEWS/807773438
The couple was married at Regan Beach (apropos, no?) on Valentine's Day. She said she wore hiking boots to hike over a snowbank and slipped into her heels before the ceremony.
In June of that year, they had a large wedding at her parents' farm in Delaware, then an Irish Catholic wedding in November to satisfy her husband's parents.
Regan, who is the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's communications and legislative affairs chief, now manages communication, public education, media outreach, customer service and legislative affairs for the environmental organization. She's worked at the agency for four years but has worked in the communications industry for 20 years.
In her spare time, Regan cross-country skis, bikes and kickboxes. She also recently earned her green belt in tae kwon do.
Her husband, along with her best friend of 12 years, Kathy Strain, tried to guess Regan's answers to a series of questions. Let's see how well they did:
What's your favorite food?
Julie: "Anything chocolate would be my favorite food. I do enjoy excellent gourmet meals, but anything chocolate would have to be favorite."
Kevin: "Julie's favorite food. Um, let's see ... We lived in Key West and had a lot of fresh fish - so sushi. We'd go out in our boat and dive down and get lobsters and fresh oysters."
Kathy: "You know, she makes a killer homemade mac and cheese. But I think that's one of Kevin's favorites. I'd have to say sushi, because that's what we usually have when we meet for lunch."
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20071221/NEWS/807773438
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wedding Planning Survival Guide Part 1
So you've chosen your rings and you set the big date. Now how do you make your wedding happen without ending up in a padded cell?
Many brides do not get the luxury of enjoying their wedding day because of all the stress. We're here to tell you how to get through this so you can "enjoy" your special day.
Here are some important survival steps that you must make before you tie the knot!
Planning Your Wedding
Till death do us part. That may be true for your wedding, but not for your hard earned cash!
Fact: The average cost of a wedding in the United States is $22,000.00. Average age of the groom is 29 and the average age of the bride is 27.
1. Plan it well. Get out a calendar to organize things so that you can flow along and on schedule. The calendar will cover every thing from start to finish.
According to experts, here are the "must hit deadlines"
1. One year ahead: Announce your engagement. Begin booking vendors, caterers and wedding planners. Make sure you book your site at least a year out. If your DJ or band is really popular, you may even need more than a year.
2. Nine months ahead: Finalize the guest list and by now, you should be selecting your wedding gown. If you are hiring a consultant, now is the time to finalize the contract.
3. Six months ahead: Register for gifts. Order your wedding cake and flowers. And send out your "save the date" cards, but make sure they only go out to people you know will definitely make the guest list.
4. Four to five months ahead: Plan your honeymoon. Grooms should be picking out their formal wear.
5. Two months: Buy your wedding rings and arrange for the transportation.
6. One month: Confirm the guest head count and call all the guests who have not rsvp'd.
7. Two weeks: Confirm, confirm, and re-confirm. Check on all the details of the reception, the ceremony, the flowers and everything else. The seating chart for the reception should also be finalized at this stage.
Budgeting
Not everyone can afford an expensive wedding, but regardless of the cost, here are some basic know hows as to what percentage should be spent on what.
1. 50% of your wedding should be spent on the reception.
2. 10% should be spent on flowers.
3. 10% on clothing.
4. 10% on music.
5. 10% on your photographer or videographer.
6. 10% on favors, invitations and gifts.
The three advantages to hiring a wedding consultant are:
1. Experience
2. Contacts
3. Assistance
Wedding planners can tie up all the loose ends and be in charge of the day so that you can relax and enjoy your wedding. However, wedding planners can add $5,000 to $15,000 to your wedding costs, so if you want one, make sure you hire a good one.
Tips for locating a good wedding planner:
1. Do they appear organized? Can you look around this wedding consultant's office and see organization in detail? Or are they just someone who thought they did a good job on their cousin's wedding and therefore they now call themselves a wedding consultant? Anybody can print up some business cards and call themselves a wedding consultant.
How do you avoid running into an inexperienced consultant? Contact professional groups like the Association of Bridal Consultants. Most wedding industry groups have these sorts of organizations. There's even an American Disc Jockey Association.
But what if you are the take charge kind and you would rather spend all that money on a nice honeymoon? One of the benefits of doing all the planning yourself is that you will be involved in every aspect and if you enjoy this kind of thing, it can be very fun. Keep in mind though, that you can split the difference. You can do part of it yourself and hire a consultant for just the wedding day which is what a lot of brides are doing today. This way you can plan the wedding and be totally free to enjoy the day of the wedding.
Wedding day coordinators run around $800 - $1000 for the day of the wedding only. And while you're walking down the aisle, they are running around making sure the DJ shows up, the centerpieces are right, etc.
Who to Invite and How
The Reception: What about that annoying uncle your mother says you have to invite? Sometimes guest lists can take on a life of their own. Before you know it, you have twice as many people on the guest list as intended. Experts say " be ruthless". If you haven't sat down with someone for a meal or visit in the last two years, then they probably don't belong on the guest list.
When inviting people from your work, follow this rule of thumb: For an office size of about 4-5 people, invite them all. In larger offices, just ask your best pals.
The guest list myth: Perhaps you have heard that you should over invite by 10% to make up for "no shows". This is a big no no. You could be surprised and everyone shows up - its not all that uncommon.
Once you've narrowed down the guest list, how do you let everyone know? Well, you have a lot of choices. The sky is the limit for creativity for your invitations. For the average wedding about $500 - $700 is spent on invites and stationary. Make sure your invitations make a statement. The invitation is the first thing the guest will see and will give them the spirit and the style of the wedding. So you want to make sure your invitations reflect the event that is about to come. Keeping the envelopes to standard sizes will save on postage.
When receiving the rsvp's, lots of people sometimes forget to put their name on them when they send them back. A great tip for this is to put a light number on the back of each card. Keep a record of who goes with what number and you'll know exactly what rsvp belongs to who.
Addressing invitations can be tedious but it doesn't have to be. Have a party with just the wedding party. If all of you sit down together and do invitations, you can have them done all in one night. You can offer drinks and appetizers and have fun doing it.
Watch for part 2 of the Wedding Survival Guide which offers tips and advice for choosing your wedding gown, reception location and decorations.
Evelyn Whitaker writes articles for German Toasting Glasses http://www.german-toasting-glasses.com which specializes in custom engraved wedding gifts from Germany.
Wedding Planning and Event Planning
Wedding Planning and Event Planning degrees are offered by a variety of schools. Wedding planners are also known as wedding consultants and bridal consultants. Community colleges offer diplomas and associate degrees in applied sciences for wedding and event planners.
Colleges and universities offer bachelor degrees and master degrees in event planning through their business degree programs. Event planning universities and colleges provide students with skills and knowledge in managing staff as well as coordinating and planning events, such as banquets and dances.
The business of event/wedding planning is for those who like working with people, who enjoy planning large gatherings, and who are good at negotiating and networking. The event/wedding planner must be personable, a good listener, and a good delegate for their clients. They are the spokesperson in all facets of planning, including ordering flowers, hiring musicians, hiring photographers, finding a caterers, finding locations, choosing colors, etc., for their clients. Event and wedding planners look for the best services, best prices, and connections that will ensure successful events.
Event and wedding planners must be very organized and must be adept at handling financial arrangements they make for their clients, as well as their own finances. Studies may include English and communication skills, mathematics, management, hospitality, sanitation and safety, computer uses for planning and executing events, foods, marketing and sales, legal issues, travel industry, and more.
Knowledge of customs and traditions of various ethnic groups and various religious practices is essential for event planners. Professional planners should expect to regularly read current materials throughout their careers to keep abreast of the latest styles, colors, and trends for large and small events.
If you are interested in learning more about Event Planning and Wedding Planning Schools, colleges, and universities, please search our site for more in-depth information and resources.
DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.
Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved Michael Bustamante, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for SchoolsGalore.com
Notice to Publishers: Please feel free to use this article in your Ezine or on your Website; however, ALL links must remain intact and active.
M. Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with SchoolsGalore.com. Find Wedding Planning Schools at SchoolsGalore.com; meeting your needs as your educational resource to locate schools.
Wedding Planning Vocational Schools
Vocational Schools offer courses of study for wedding planners (wedding consultants, bridal consultants) for those who like working with people, who enjoy planning large gatherings, and who are good at negotiating and networking.
Too often, brides and grooms are busy with their jobs and don't have time to spend planning their weddings. The wedding planner, or wedding consultant, facilitates, mediates, manages, and fulfills dreams of their clients. Wedding planning is a stressful job, requiring patience and the ability to remain calm in adverse situations. On occasion, wedding planners may feel as though they are cast in roles as therapists, sounding boards, and "punching bags."
The wedding planner must be personable, a good listener, and a good delegate for their clients. They are the spokesperson for the bride and groom in all facets of planning, including ordering flowers, hiring musicians, hiring photographers, finding a caterers, finding locations, choosing colors, etc. Wedding planners look for the best services, best prices, and connections that will ensure successful events. Wedding planners must be very organized and must be adept at handling financial arrangements they make for their clients, as well as their own finances.
Knowledge of customs and traditions of various ethnic groups and various religious practices is essential for wedding planners. Professional wedding planners should expect to regularly read current materials throughout their careers to keep abreast of the latest wedding styles, colors, and trends.
If you are interested in learning more about Wedding Planning Vocational Schools, search our site for more in-depth information and resources.
DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.
Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved Michael Bustamante, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for SchoolsGalore.com
Notice to Publishers: Please feel free to use this article in your Ezine or on your Website; however, ALL links must remain intact and active.
M. Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with SchoolsGalore.com. Find Wedding Planning Vocational Schools at SchoolsGalore.com; meeting your needs as your educational resource to locate schools.
6 Tips for Choosing a Qualified Wedding Consultant
Many women choose to alleviate some of the wedding planning stress by hiring a wedding consultant. If you are thinking about hiring a wedding consultant, no doubt you want to make sure that you hire someone that is qualified in this field. It can be a bit difficult to know what to look for in a wedding consultant, so below are six tips that will help you pick out a qualified wedding consultant that will make your wedding go smoothly.
Tip #1 - Check for a Business License - One thing that you need to do when you are picking a wedding consultant is to be sure that they have a business license or a DBA registration. You do not want to just pick out anyone to do this for your wedding, so be sure that they are truly in the consulting business before you give them any money. If they have no business license, you may want to consider looking elsewhere.
Tip #2 - Check Referrals - Make sure that you get referrals from the prospective wedding consultant and check them. You may also want to ask your friends and family members if they are familiar with the services that this consultant provides. If the consultant cannot produce any referrals for you to look at, then this may be a clue you do not want them helping you with your wedding.
Tip #3 - Is the Consultant Organized? - Organization is a key factor when you are trying to find a qualified wedding consultant. The consultant is going to be in charge of organizing one of the most important days of your life, so you want to be sure that they are actually organized. If they seem scattered and disorganized, choose another consultant.
Tip #4 - Consider the Prices - No doubt you will want to take a look at prices before you make your final decision. After getting a price quote, you may also want to check around with other consultants to see if their rates are similar.
Tip #5 - What is Covered in the Fees? - Before you take a deal because the price seems lower, you may want to check and see what the fees actually cover. Are the fees all inclusive, or are you going to have to pay more later for other services. Some deals may look great at first, until you find what else you will be paying for as well.
Tip #6 - Personality - One of the most important things you need to remember when picking out a consultant is their personality. You are going to be working quite closely with this person, and you need to be sure that your personalities mesh. If they seem overbearing, or you just feel uncomfortable, then you need to make another choice.
Having the right wedding consultant can make your big day much easier and less stressful. On the other hand, a bad consultant can make everything a disaster. Use these tips to help you make the right choice so you can enjoy your wedding day with peace of mind.
Yolanda is the owner of Yolandas Wedding Favors. She sells many different types of wedding gifts such as personalized cosmetic bags, spa slippers, glass mugs and many more wedding gifts. So if you are looking for wedding guest books, unity candles, toasting flutes, personalized bridesmaid gifts then visit Yolandas Wedding Favors.
A Wedding Planner, a Wedding Consultant, a Wedding Coordinator - Whatever the Title, Do We Need One?
We are asked this question often, by brides and by grooms.
For the sake of simplicity, let us refer to all as wedding specialists.
Actually the tone of the question varies between brides and grooms.
Brides get very emotional and excited about planning their dream weddings. Most want to plan it.
Grooms often would like to take an active role but believe, or thinks that their brides believes that it is the women who should plan the wedding. Many would like to, but do not volunteer because they do not want to "take away" the excitement their bride has toward planning their very special day. We are also asked by brides and grooms who hold jobs or professions, go to school or both and are pressed for time.
The question whether you need to hire a wedding specialist is rather complex. It cannot be answered with a yes or a no. Many factors need to be considered and they will influence the decision.
The first step to answering the question is to determine
What is a wedding specialist?
A wedding specialist is professional who is familiar with the wedding circuit in your region, usually possesses a lot of experience, creative ideas, know-how, sense of organization, attention to details and strong contacts with vendors and service providers. Most experienced wedding specialists have over the years learned what to expect, what to ask and how to negotiate with their peers.
Now, consider the following:
How much time and energy do you have to devote to planning your wedding and can you rely on friends and family to help?
Planning a wedding can and should be fun. You must remember however, and be prepared for the:
If you were to, to what degree you would like to engage the wedding specialist?
How much can you budget for the service of a wedding specialist?
Take into consideration that some wedding specialists charge:
Are you planning a destination wedding?
Unless your wedding location offers their services as part of the wedding package, this is the only situation where you must budget and hire a local wedding specialist. Hire the most experienced wedding specialist where you plan to have your wedding, because it is impossible to plan a wedding from afar.
The only exception is if you have friends and - or family in the region who can plan on your behalf. However, I do not recommend it.
Many brides and grooms do not want to miss the excitement of planning their own wedding but are not sure quite how to achieve professional results. Following are a few tips
WHAT PROFESSIONAL WEDDING PLANNERS, CONSULTANTS AND COORDINATORS DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW
As for most endeavors, there are tools You need to have.
You need information.
So, read as many books on wedding planning and as many articles as you can lay your hands and your eyes on.
The Internet offers many informative articles.
Attend as many Bridal Shows as you can
You need to be organized and you want wedding planning keepsakes.
So arm yourselves with a comprehensive wedding planning kit that includes:
The following tips are applicable to most of the vendors and service providers you need.
To save money and for easy negotiations contact vendors and service providers and request a quote over the phone before your first meeting because:
Your vendors and service providers team.
A wedding is a most important event and necessitates the participation and synergy of many vendors and service providers.
You want to assure that that your vendors - service providers have:
You also must be sure that you hire professionals not hobbyists.
Did you ever attend an event where every vendor and service provider came to do his job and go home?
I have! It was a disaster! I attended a wedding that left the bride and the mother in tears and the bridegroom and fathers so angry the wanted to scream.
The wedding ceremony was beautiful but the reception…
The couple came from church only to find the florist arguing with the bandleader about flowers on the stage. The photographer was literally, everywhere at the same time snapping pictures. The caterer started serving almost as soon as all were seated, leaving no time for formalities, toasts and congratulations.
You get the picture. It was really sad!
There is only one way to avoid such a fiasco.
You must hire vendors and service providers that:
How do we find a group of vendors and service providers that work well together?
Your best bet is to check out institutions that are no strangers to events.
Contact or visit the Chamber of Commerce, churches and synagogues and other such establishmentsin your region.
Find out if they have a list of approved vendors and service providers they work with.
Most churches use vendors and service providers for Church events such as certain holiday celebrations, fund raisers dinners, wedding receptions, special anniversaries (25)(50th), Communion, Baptisms quinceaneras, Sweet 16s etc…)
Even if you are not Jewish, visit Synagogues and Temples and ask for their approved list. Every Synagogue - Temple has such lists the institution uses for events such as holidays, fund raiser dinners, weddings, special anniversaries (25th)(50th), Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitsvahs, etc…).
One more group or individuals to consider is within your own circle.
They may not have credentials or special training but are experienced.
Find out if any of your friends or relatives have planned event at work or privately.
Check your list for couples who planned their own wedding successfully, parents who planned special life cycle event parties for themselves, their children other loved ones etc...
Pay special attention to people you know who can contribute to your success and just as you ask for bridal attendants, ask for their participation in the wedding planning. Most will be honored to be asked and eager to help.
I hope the information will help you make your lifetime event, an event for a lifetime.
Copyrights © 2007 All Rights Reserved Nily Glaser
Nily Glaser, the CEO of www.a-weddingday.com She writes important articles, and has presented workshops for wedding professionals all over the USA.
To read more of her articles CLICK HERE Her web site is very popular for its discount wedding gifts, bridal accessories, print your own invitations, favors and the very unique items offered including the exclusive line of wedding Accessories By Nily.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Where Have You Looked?
A few months ago, I was talking with a bride-to-be who was lamenting the fact that she could not find the exact look she wanted for her wedding and wedding reception. None of the flowers, floral arrangements or decorations that she had found in her colors were what she really wanted to use. I asked her where she looked for ideas, and she shot back a look at me that seemed to say, “Well aren’t you stupid.” Of course she had poured over bridal magazines and consulted a florist and even a wedding planner and bridal consultant. None of that had helped in her quest for what she considered the perfect flowers and decorations for her wedding.
Perhaps she wasn’t really asking for my advice. After all, it had been many years since I had a huge formal wedding. But since I have planned many large events myself over the years – for church, for clubs and for sales organizations – I couldn’t help but offer these ideas for finding the right flowers or decorations.
To find flowers:
1) Look through seed catalogs. The pictures there are always great places to find what flowers might be available.
2) How about garden magazines? They always show all kinds of plants and flowers and how they might be used inside and outside the home.
3) Decorating magazines or regional magazines often have floral arrangements in the pictures of dining or living rooms, or even in the bathrooms. Have you looked at those?
4) If you have time, why not visit a few model homes? Their designers often have created some beautiful arrangements.
To find other decorations:
1) Those garden and decorating magazines might help here as well.
2) Again, visiting model homes might help. Or, does your town have a design center where all kinds of local remodeling contractors, designers, and construction type vendors have showcased their ideas and wares in one location? Some towns have these, and they’re great places for finding ideas, samples and color swatches.
3) And regular women’s magazines – the ones usually read by your mother, your aunts or grandmothers and found near the grocery store check-out line – often have decorating ideas in them. Who knows? You might just find something there. (You don’t have to admit to finding what you want in magazines whose readership is over 35!)
Still not finding what you’re seeking? How about contacting a local art school and asking for some help? The teacher might recommend a student who could sketch a few of your ideas, and that would help you present them to your florist or wedding planner.
Just remember this:
1) Bridal magazines and bridal consultants are not the only sources of information about flowers and decorations for weddings or other celebrations.
2) It’s your wedding, and that means you’re the one(s) who should have the final say in what flowers and decorations you use, even if it means doing something no one else has ever done.
Haven’t found what you want for your wedding décor? Well, where have you looked? Don’t give up until you’ve looked everywhere!
Marilyn Mackenzie has been writing about home, family, faith and nature for over 40 years.
This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Prye.Com/ which is a site for Wedding Invitations.
Pursuing Online Bridal Consulting, Part II
Online bridal consultants have the ability to provide proper planning for the wedding ceremony and the receptions that will follow. The list of things that are achieved by a wedding planner when preparing for all weddings are amazingly enormous. It includes hiring a photographer for the ceremony, sending out all of the invitations before and thank you letters afterwards, all of the decorating for the wedding, giving advice on what to wear for the wedding day, planning for which types of foods that will be served, choosing which flowers are best suitable for wedding, as you can see, the list goes on and on and on right. Yes, the list is unimaginable for anyone not experienced in planning for huge, successful events such as weddings.
Online bridal consultants gain the success that they have because of lots of hard work and taking the time out to learn more all the time and creating a good, trustworthy, dependable name for themselves, right from the beginning of their online bridal consulting career. Word of mouth counts for a lot, when it comes to being a success with any type of business you are pursuing, so keep your customers happy and you will be that multitasking, creative and giving kind of online bridal consultant that you have always wanted to be.
One thing to remember with your online business is that your online business should be increasing and improving your lifestyle, not serving as a drain on you and your resources. Remember it is your business, do not let the business own you.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? Secrets of Article Marketing
Do you want to learn how to build a massive list fast? Click here: Email List Building
Want to learn more about driving traffic like I do? Download my free traffic guide here: Traffic Generation
Raymond Nesa is an experienced web marketer specializing in article marketing, traffic generation, and list building.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
How to Plan Your Wedding and Honeymoon
1. Weddings typically can cost you anywhere around $15,000 or more. The big question is: who foots the bill?
The 21st century has heralded a shift in the way these costs are handled. We have moved away from the days when the family of the bride would pay all costs associated with the wedding ceremony . Today it may come down to who can afford it or, who can qualify for the personal loan from the lending institution.
Weddings may, in most cases, be a one time special event deserving of all the pomp and pageantry associated with the memorable day. However, there are ways to cut costs and still maximize the moment. Careful planning and budgeting are key to getting the most out of this experience at a reduced cost.
What should go into a wedding plan? When is too much, too much?
There are many things which makes a wedding a wedding. The old adage, "Something New, Something used and something blue, is a reliable guide to save.
Knowing what you need and how much it cost compared to your allotted budget for each item is essential. Your check list should include: Bride Gown and accessories, Groom's wedding attire, wedding rings, flowers, wedding cake, wedding site, reception site, photography/video services, limousine, ceremony fees, decorations, licence, honeymoon/travel, music/entertainment services, invitations, wedding consulting fees, beverage/drinks and type of wedding.
Generally, all of these items should be carefully itemized and an actual cost should be obtained from the service providers. Your budget fro each service or product should be include to help guide you and/or your wedding consultants. From this list you can determine things like the size of your guest list, bridal party and reception, cake and amount you can actually allocate to each specific area.
A good example is: if you are purchasing a wedding gown and accessories which can easily run into $1,500 or more and your budget is $600, you can opt to rent a gown and accessory which typically at the high end is around $400.
Knowing where you would like to host your wedding and the type of wedding you want is also very essential. Many people typically choose a traditional wedding (religious). These can go into many different cultures i.e. African, Jewish, Islamic, Irish etc. Different types of weddings typically carry varying price tags depending on the culture and how complex the ceremony or extravagant it is.
Honeymoons can be a another costly expense. Honeymoons can extend from that drive to another state to the extended Bahamas vacation or Carribean cruise. Many companies are now incorporating wedding and honeymoon packages in their vacation packages. This has its upside and downside. Marriage laws also vary from country to country.
June typically is noted as the wedding month. So, expect costs to be higher. However travel this and hotel charges during this time of the year to many destinations including the Bahamas may be less expensive.
If you know your budget then it may be beneficial to allow a wedding consulting firm to handle the arrangements. Statistics show that couples are so tired and stressed after the wedding 705 do not have sex on the first night of the honeymoon.
Hiring wedding consultant doesn't mean you lose control of your ceremony. It just saves you the hassle and stress of coordinating and implementing each individual activity and duty.
Your honey moon can be like any other vacation as far as proper planning is concerned. In order to save money, you must know what you want to do? Where you want to go? What you want to see? Consult with travel consultants in the country or area you plan to visit. Research well. Your trip does not have to be robotic or mechanical, but it can be cost effective and well organized.
TIPS
Below are a few cost saving tips for your special day:
Trim your guest list
Reduce the number of attendance in your bridal party and reception
Budget your honeymoon well
Choose the kind of wedding you like but can afford
Research: at least 6 months in advance
Book in advance: try the internet
Stay near home: try a friends remote cottage, town house or timeshare
Shorten your vacation stay
Travel and wed in the off season
Go on a Cruise: They are usually all inclusive
Bahamas Aficionados publishes Bahamas vacations tips, a fresh and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like YOU! If you're looking for the *best rated* Bahamas Vacation guide, the latest up to date information on the Bahamas and helpful support from an honest friend in the business come and grab a F-R-E-E subscription today at: http://www.rmsbahamas.com
email us at: rmsbahamas@msn.com
To post a comment on our website, click on intranet, log in as guest use the same password and post your comments.
About The Author
Sidney Strachan is a young entrepreneur. In 1998 he and Rudolph started resource Marketing Services a B2B service oriented company. He has written many articles and is presently about to release a book of poetry entitled On and On. His website is entitled Bahamas Aficionados. It is a site promoting vacations in the Bahamas while providing services for the pleasure or business vacationers. Services include organizing and arranging Bahamian weddings, specialty tours and seminars/conferences, providing business equipment for rental and many other business and vacation oriented services.
Planning For Your Dallas Wedding
Many happy returns for the betrothed couple! Before you begin a lifetime together, all of the plans related to your wedding day must still be worked out. The sooner you begin the process, the less you will need to concern yourself with the details later.
Arranging plans for your wedding day can involve a multitude of tasks from selecting a ceremony location to making your honeymoon arrangements and everything in between. The average cost of a Dallas wedding averages $26,000 for 150 guests, with many couples exceeding that figure as special touches are added, guest lists mushroom and venues are upgraded. Regardless of your budget and stress level, you can control costs and enjoy your day rather than being saddled with tremendous debt and heartache through careful planning. One way to ensure this is to hire a wedding planner.
What is a wedding planner and what do they do?
Known as wedding planners, wedding consultants or wedding coordinators, professionals who plan and direct weddings for a living can be invaluable to busy brides and grooms trying to plan a wedding amidst their demanding careers and hectic everyday lives. Whatever the title, you want to hire a true professional – one who has had proper education and training and has been certified. You also would be wise to seek a consultant who has solid experience and is active in professional wedding industry organizations. Ask to see portfolios and request references.
A good wedding planner will first assess the needs of her clients by asking vision-casting questions to determine important factors such as the style of wedding they desire, size of guest list and available budget. Once the vision is established, the consultant will help develop a game plan for the entire planning process, tailored specifically for the happy couple. Moving forward, the planner will work hand-in-hand with the bride in all of the planning details, keeping track of deadlines, payment schedules and budget adherence.
If you choose to hire a wedding planner, it is most beneficial to have them involved from the beginning, when they can save you time and stress by helping you devise a focused plan and by guiding you to wedding vendors that have been pre-researched.
Many brides feel they can plan the wedding solo, only to find themselves overwhelmed with all the details and later hire a wedding consultant halfway through the process. If a bride has the time and resources to do all of the legwork to plan her own wedding and is especially organized, she might just hire a wedding planner to orchestrate the rehearsal and wedding day. The planner can ensure that everything runs smoothly, coordinate the wedding party and vendors, relieve tensions, and allow those participating in the celebration to relax and enjoy themselves knowing that everything is being taken care of!
You may decide to plan the entire wedding yourself or have a close friend or family member help, which is sometimes part of the fun of planning a wedding. However, it can also become a major headache especially if you or your faithful helpers do not have the expertise of proper training. An experienced wedding consultant has the training and experience to do the ground work, and make sure that your day is as perfect as you had envisioned it, while you relax and watch it play out before your eyes.
How Can A Wedding Planner Save You Money?
The biggest misconception about hiring a wedding planner is that it will add to your expenses. While it does cost money to hire a wedding planner, she will be able to save you money by recommending wedding vendors that will provide service within your budget, review your contracts to look for hidden costs and possible discounts, and help you avoid making costly mistakes. In most cases, a wedding planner will already have well-established relationships with vendors, such as photographers and florists, who are sometimes willing to be more flexible with a planner’s client because of the planner’s ability to bring them repeat business, which can help in reducing some of your costs.
Here Comes the Bride!
Once your wedding plans are in place you can fully enjoy the day without worrying about the details. A wedding planner can help you stay on track and relieve you of much of the minutiae related to planning your wedding. Before you know it, the bridal march will be playing and you will be at peace and enjoying your special day thanks to some wise planning on the part of you and your intended.
If you are in need of a Dallas Wedding Planner please visit: http://www.celebrateeventsandweddings.com
Michael Brito is an internet marketing consultant and freelance writer for small business.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Start a Home Based Business as a Wedding Planner for Love, Joy, and Money
If you cannot get that old tune, “Here Comes the Bride…” out of your head, the only solution may be to start a home based business as a wedding planner. As a wedding planner, you work with other professionals to organize a celebration fit for a queen and a king. And, you get paid well for it. Now, what could be better than that?
Your job as a wedding planner may include consulting with the bride and groom several weeks before the wedding. It often means choosing the bridal gown and dresses for the bridesmaids and flower girl, as well as suits for the groom and attendants. In addition, you may be asked to help the bride and groom write their vows, and order engraved wedding invitations.
Other pre-wedding jobs include selecting a bridal bouquet and flowers for the reception, deciding where the reception will be held, working out a theme for the reception, finding a caterer, and booking a DJ or combo. Also, guests may need a babysitter, car or limo, and lodging.
How much money can you make as a wedding planner? In general, planners charge between 15% and 20% of the total wedding cost. Beginning wedding planners can earn upwards of $45,000 a year, depending on the number of weddings they plan.
To become a wedding planner, it is important to get some training. If you join a professional wedding planners’ association, you can get the education, a professional title, and job placement assistance you need. They also offer an apprenticeship program, workshops and seminars.
Here are a few of the best wedding planner associations:
1) The Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants. You can sign up for classes, a home study course, or a 5-day classroom course. Classes are held three times a year. If you take the course, work for one year, plan six weddings, and receive six letters of recommendation, you can receive a Professional Wedding Consultant title. If you want to become accredited, it takes two years of work, 18 weddings and letters of recommendation, as well as a certification project.
2) The Association of Bridal Consultants grants you the title of Professional Bridal Consultant, Accredited Bridal Consultant, or Master Bridal Consultant. Plus, you get insurance and can network with others.
3) The Bridal Association of America offers similar benefits.
4) The National Association of Wedding Professionals also offers great benefits.
Here are some professional titles you may want to have:
Accredited Professional Bridal Consultant
Professional Wedding Consultant
Bridal Consultant
Master Bridal Consultant
Wedding Planner
Wedding Facility Coordinator
To find clients and expand your business, it helps to have some credentials to show. These include a portfolio of photos showing weddings that you planned, a few letters of recommendation from clients, membership in a large wedding planners’ association, and a list of services you offer.
Last of all, here are 4 success tips from professional wedding planners:
* Keep costs under control and stay within your clients’ budget.
* Network with the best caterers, florists, event planners, honeymoon travel agents, and photographers in your area.
* Relieve any stress on the bride and groom as well as on the families.
* Send a thank-you letter, and a small gift to your clients a day or two after the event.
There is not room here to talk about the fun there is in planning a wedding. As long as you can organize, keep calm, and you have a sense of humor, you probably have what it takes to start a home based business as a wedding planner.
Find a business that is right for you at http://www.easy-home-businesses.com Siriol Jameson shows you how to make m0ney from home. Choose from over 40 guaranteed profitable businesses. Visit http://www.easy-home-businesses.com/work-from-home-businesses.html Get insider m0ney tips at http://www.easy-home-businesses.com/newsletter.html
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Trends in Planning Your Dallas Wedding
Trends
There are always new ideas that come into fashion. Some trends have more staying power than others. As a Dallas wedding planner I see many trends come and go in a single season, while others become part of the collective idea of what a beautiful wedding should be.
Wedding Logos
One interesting trend being seen more often is a wedding logo used on invitations, cakes, napkins, and even monogrammed guest favors. Usually an interesting combination of the initials of the bride and groom, but other symbols can be used. The use of a wedding logo can help create a unifying element that ties otherwise separate items together.
Hot Colors
Each year seems to bring a new set of popular colors for weddings. Occasionally it's the lack of color that sets the trend, such as black bridesmaids dresses with a single splash of color in a flower or other small element. This option makes for an elegant black & white theme throughout the wedding party. Since not all colors look good on all people, saving the bold splashes of color for the reception decorations is sometimes an excellent choice.
Donations
Some couples opt to share the celebration of their union by helping others. This is especially true of couples getting married later in life after having an already well established home life. Instead of getting another toaster they don't need, some couples opt to have well wishers make donations to a special group or organization that is important to the bride and groom. Perhaps a medical foundation that focuses on a something a loved one or friend is working through, or perhaps the volunteer organization where the happy couple met or worked together.
Signature Drinks
Another element that can be the “something new” in a wedding is a signature drink. A variation of a classic drink such as an Apple Martini or Cranberry Cosmopolitan can help establish a certain ambiance or mood for the evening celebrations. Sometimes it's a particular type of wine or other libation that is the signature. There are many vineyards and wine distributors that specialize in personalized label wines.
Lighting
One of the most interesting new trends in weddings is the use of accent lighting. An otherwise demure wedding reception can be made very dramatic with custom lighting, or an otherwise large impersonal hall more intimate and cozy. Most reception facilities can accommodate sophisticated lighting and can even offer suggestions on what works well in their space. This is where the wedding logo projected onto the dance floor or bold colors splashed with light around the reception room can really make the space uniquely about the happy couple. It is also a good idea to use light to draw guests attention to the other signature elements of the wedding, such as highlighting the cake, buffet, or large floral arrangements.
Summary
Finding that right balance based of a couple's personal style and taste is sometimes more challenging than you might imagine. Seeing the joy and happiness of the bride and groom when we find the perfect mix of signature elements makes the challenge worth all the time and effort. Not every trend is for every wedding, but a few of them mixed in the right way can make your wedding unique and something to reminisce about for years to come.
Shari Johns is the owner and founder of As you wish wedding & event planning of Dallas. She is certified by and a current, active member of the Association of Certified Wedding Consultants (ACWC) as well as June Weddings, Inc. (JWI). Her membership in these organizations assists her in keeping up to date with current events in the Dallas/Fort Worth wedding market. Shari has also served on the Board of ACWC for four years.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Importance of Choosing a Wedding Consultant With a Complimentary Personality
On your wedding day, everything should be perfect or at least, it should be as perfect as it humanly can be. After all, you don’t want anything stressing you out on your special day. The best way to make sure that your wedding day goes as smoothly as it possibly can is to hire a professional wedding consultant. With a wedding consultant by your side, you can concentrate on enjoying your special day. You won’t have to worry about anything but marrying your spouse and enjoying the festivities.
However, you can’t just go out and hire anyone as your wedding consultant. Even if she is the most celebrated and talented wedding consultant in the world, you have to make sure that her personality meshes with yours and your guest. After all, if she is cantankerous, difficult and rude to your guests that is what everyone will remember and talk about for years to come. It is as important to hire a wedding consultant based on personality as it is to hire a consultant based on skill and expertise.
Wedding consultants have a reputation for being unreasonable and snooty. Just like any creative professional, some are but most are not. In general, wedding consultants enjoy their work, love interacting with wedding parties and guests and take pride in creating special memories. Just be sure you end up hiring one of the good ones!
The best way to feel out a wedding consultant is during the initial interview process. Ask a lot of questions and gauge the responses to determine if there is a good fit. If she seems irritated by your questions or is blunt with responses, you can assume that this is how your guests will be treated on your wedding day. Find another wedding consultant and quick!
Always ask for reference and then make sure you follow up and call the clients to find out how their wedding day went with this particular consultant. Ask the reference if she was patient, friendly and accommodating. Also, ask how their guests were treated by the wedding consultant. If you do not get the positive answers you are seeking, you should consider looking for another wedding consultant.
When you interview consultants, be certain that she will be the one who will handle your event. Some larger corporations have several consultants and may send a junior consultant to your wedding unless you are specific. You do not want a stranger showing up on your wedding day to coordinate the events. You want the person that you interviewed and hired based on skill and personality. Make sure this is stipulated in your wedding consultant contract.
Remember that if you are uncomfortable or unhappy with your wedding consultant on the day of your wedding, it will show. Choosing the right wedding consultant, based on skill as well as personality, will ensure you have a wonderful wedding day and memories to last a lifetime.
Yolanda is the owner of Yolandas Wedding Favors. She sells many different types of wedding favors such as, love glass coasters, two peas in a pod salt and pepper shakers and many many more. Yolandas Wedding Favors also carries many different bridesmaid gifts such as spa slippers, photo tote bags and much more. Also if you are having a beach wedding then be sure to check out our beach wedding favors.
Wedding Planner: How to Choose the Right One for Your Wedding
If you watched “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin, the wedding planner played by Martin Short was a hilarious interpretation of a job that many now consider serious business. “Frahnk” (or Frank), as he was called, flitted about managing all of the details of the elaborate wedding. But, a real wedding consultant or planner can be an invaluable tool in making your special day a real joy instead of a real headache. Some people opt for a wedding planner in book form which outlines all of the necessary tasks to plan a wedding and gives you a timeline, but it will not do any of the jobs for you. A wedding planner can take care of all of the legwork for you so that you can go on with your work, school and other responsibility.
How do you shop for a wedding planner? Just as you should do when you look for any type of service professional, you can ask friends and family for recommendations. If you can get a word-of-mouth referral, this is better than all of the advertisements and glowing referrals provided to you by the wedding planner. If you don’t know anyone who has used a planner, you can always look in the phone book or the classifieds in the newspaper.
Once you have a few potential leads you will need to interview the wedding planner candidates. You are hiring them for an important job, and you need to have confidence that they share your “vision” for your special day. See how willing they are to take suggestions and see what they will do with the ideas that you already have. Do they have doubts about their ability to fulfill your needs? This is a yellow flag, but see why they have concerns before you make a judgment. Once you have interviewed a few planners you are ready to make your decision and get to work.
Most wedding consultants charge a fee of around 10 percent of the cost of the wedding. This is standard-and it is worth it for the peace of mind it will give you.
Eriani Doyel writes articles for and about Weddings. For more information on a wedding planner visit fleckwedding.com.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Wedding Planning Consultants - Protection from Hair Loss
Is it really necessary to hire a wedding planning consultant? Many people have successfully planned and implemented their weddings on their own, but many of these same people probably would not have done all the planning themselves if they had it to do over again. Planning a wedding is a huge task. We all know that, but most of us do not really know how massive the task is until we are facing the task ourselves. That is where a wedding planning consultant comes in.
Indeed, when a bride first begins to think of wedding planning, the process may seem quite straightforward, but it's when you really begin to get into the meat of it that you see how many little details there really are. Even a fairly small and intimate wedding can be overwhelming. There is everything from invitations, caterers, and wedding cake design to more complicated issues if you are planning a theme wedding. But an experienced wedding planning consultant is like a conductor at a symphony. They know from experience just what to put where and have proved over the years to have the temperament to be able to juggle all the details without going insane.
Moreover, a wedding planning consultant can help with many aspects of a wedding that you may never have even thought of. They can create the perfect wedding that you have always imagined, and at the same time they know enough about how the wedding industry works to give you suggestions that can help keep the cost at a minimum.
With a theme wedding it may be even more important to hire a consultant because all the rules change. We have all been to dozens of weddings that looked pretty much the same to know what the basic elements are, but planning a themed wedding changes the elements of a wedding and in doing so, changes the questions you have to ask. Without a wedding planner that is experienced in orchestrating themed weddings brides often end up with a traditional Victorian that bears little resemblance to the theme apart from one or two details in the wedding.
Wedding planning consultants take care of most all the details for you, from helping you pick out just the right invitations to go along with your chosen theme, to helping you decide what hair style goes best with your gown, and which hair stylist to use. Likewise, an experienced consultant will be able to take care of the details with the pastry chef and florist so that you do not end up with multiple clashing shades of the colors you have chosen for your wedding.
But a wedding planning consultant does more than take care of the details. Along with the size of the ribbons and the color of the icing the planner often serves as a therapist when the bride is overwhelmed, budgeting expert, and mediator when things go wrong. Furthermore, a good, experienced wedding planner is thoroughly versed in the religious practices of a wide variety of belief systems and as such is thoroughly equipped to guide a bride through potentially unfamiliar territory.
If you do decide to take on the job of wedding planning yourself, remember to create a 12 month checklist of all the to dos that you will have to attend to. It's a big job and in today's busy world your stress level and therefore the reduced strain on your relationship might make hiring a wedding planning consultant worth the time and money.
Jeanette Shinn is a wedding professional with over a dozen years experience making dreams come alive. Find more helpful wedding planning tips and unique wedding favors options at http://www.ExcitingWeddingFavors.com.
Poetry for Weddings
There are several ways that wedding poetry can be used. Wedding poetry can enhance more than one area of your special day.
You may want to use wedding poetry as part of your wedding announcements, invitations and thank-you notes. When you use wedding poetry in these ways you have added very meaningful words and thoughts. Another way to use wedding poetry is to incorporate it into the wedding ceremony or vows. Special wedding poetry can make the ceremony unique.
If you are giving gifts to the wedding party or wedding guests you may want to consider using wedding poetry. Wedding poetry makes these gifts even more memorable.
The bride and groom may want to use wedding poetry to include in their cards to each other. Wedding poetry is also nice when used in notes to parents or other special family members.
You might wonder where to find wedding poetry. There are several places to find wedding poetry.
If you are creative you may want to write the wedding poetry yourself. A friend or family member may have a talent for writing wedding poetry. You can even take classes in poetry writing and hone your skills.
A great place to look for wedding poetry is online. You will find many ideas for wedding poetry on wedding sites.
Look for wedding poetry in books at your local bookstore or library. You may find just the perfect wedding poetry when you do a little research.
Wedding consultants may have suggestions of places to find wedding poetry. You can also look through wedding magazines to find examples of wedding poetry.
If you know what message you want to convey but are not able to write the wedding poetry yourself there is another possibility. You may be able to hire a wedding poetry writer. There are talented writers who will write wedding poetry for a fee.
For those who want to use wedding poetry as a way to make their wedding even more beautiful, there are many ways to accomplish this goal.
Craig Thornburrow is an Author and Business Owner. Find all you need to know about Weddings at http://www.theworldsbestwedding.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Is a Consultant Necessary?
Before you say "I don't need a wedding consultant, thank you very much", let me ask you a quick question or two.
When you don't feel good you seek a doctor's advice, right? Or when you have a legal dilemma, you probably will go see a lawyer, and if you want financial advice you seek out a financial planner, correct?
Well, here's a news flash, those professionals are all basically consultants, wouldn't you agree? So lets just say to keep from having a wedding dilemma you merely consider hiring a professional wedding consultant, because weddings can be very stressful especially when you are trying to please a lot of people all at once and you want to stay within your budget.
Like aforementioned, weddings can be stressful and totally time consuming. To determine if you should seek the services of a professional wedding consultant, sit down with all parties concerned and see if you have the means to hire competent vendors. Also consider what the wedding will cost within a reasonable budget. Will you be able to arrange a schedule so your vendors, wedding party, and parents know when and where to do their assigned parts?
Yes, wedding consultants have a fee, but sometimes they can actually save you some of your hard earned money. A young lady who works with my wife recently got married and she of course handled all of her wedding arrangements. She told my wife about all the money her and her fiance paid for the DJ. They agreed to pay $400 for this guy to play music at their reception and he had over booked so he called her the week of the wedding and cancelled. So there she was having to book another DJ at the last minute and not surprisingly had to pay $600 more plus all the stress. Do you think a DJ would have done that to a professional wedding consultant? Probably not. So with that one example you can see how easily it is to have unplanned expenditures.
After talking over the need for a professional wedding consultant, you will need to discuss whether or not you can afford one. Because this is a formal occasion, not to mention the most important day of your life, you have only shot to get it right.
So, do you want to spend all of your free time putting this whole thing together yourself with little or no opportunities to enjoy the experience or maybe hire someone to take on the responsibility for the details freeing you up to relish the event.
With that said, let's look at some tips on choosing a competent professional wedding consultant. I don't throw out the term "professional" loosely because there are incompetent wedding consultants out there. For instance, the woman who after planning her own wedding, where everything went perfectly, thinks she is now a pro and gets business cards and a sign and basically becomes an accident looking for place to happen.
To find out if the consultant is competent, ask where they received their training. Then you can check out the agency or organization simply by asking for the phone number. If the state of residence requires a license that can be verified by contacting the appropriate state agency.
For further assistance find vendors in your area and ask them who they have worked with in the past. Their opinions are just that their opinions, but they can give you a good start.
This article was written to give you information on why you might want to consider hiring a professional wedding consultant, not to promote them. Just be aware there are always people ready to take advantage of you. Be diligent do your homework and remember, if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
By Bob Ragman, For a free wedding music tutorial and video goto http://freeweddingmusic.net/
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