Wedding Planning 101 - Part 2

We left off with you have a date night with no wedding talk...did you do it?? So, let's jump back into what our next steps should be with wedding planning. You have taken care of the 1st 5 important steps...and now we get to start in with some of the (hopefully) fun details of planning the biggest day of your life! You have your date set, a deposit on the venue, your guest list has been started and most likely you have been listening to people giving you all kinds of advice - hey now...that's not what I am doing!! haha. I am just giving you some tools...

• I would suggest, at this part of the planning, if you are going to do engagement photos now is the time! Decide if you are going to go casual (a photographer friend) or professional. The person you have do your engagement photos doesn't have to be booked to do your wedding - but it is a great time to scope out the person's work! Engagement photos will be used to...
• Get your Save The Dates cards ready! There are so many choices for Save The Date cards and I will have to make a separate post about them, because I have quite a few useful links! Some people may ask "Do I even need to do this?" Well, the simple answer is NO. But, they are nice to have - especially if you have people coming from out of town or if your are planning your wedding around a time when people might have a lot going on (summer time...holidays, etc). Plus, it's a pretty nice way to let the entire world know about your wedding!
• Have you narrowed down who your bridal party will be? This is probably a perfect time to do this because you are going to need some reliable help with the rest of the planning parts of a wedding! Once again, get ready to have people telling you who you just HAVE to have as part of your wedding party. This is another fun process that might get you back to eloping. You don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but come on...the truth is you can only have so many people standing next to you. My suggestion is to always keep the people who you know love and support you - no matter what - and those people who you know will honor your vows you will soon be taking. 
• Now, on we go to details, details, details! You need to choose your wedding theme - or at least wedding colors. You have MANY choices out there! 
• If you have chosen a place to get married where a package is given - and today quite a few venues offer this - from catering, florist options and cakes. Your work is a little less complicated. You still need to pick all these things out to personalize you day but...you don't have to go through the work of interviewing tons of vendors! I am basing this little helpful post assuming you have a venue that has a list of preferred vendors you have to work with.
  

Planning a Wedding 101 - Part 1

So...you just got engaged! You've told all your family and friends...you are super excited and then the reality sets in that you have A LOT of work to do! Where do you start? Here are some ideas...

• Buy a binder - the 3 ring type that you can add the sheet protectors in. You are going to need it!
• Set the date! Once you tell people you are engaged they are going to ask "When is the wedding?" Unless you plan to get married right away it's best (for your wallet/sanity) to give yourself at least 6 months to a year to plan your wedding...although after a month or so of planning you might decide you just want to elope!
  
• Figure out a budget! Are your folks going to help? Are you and your fiance doing it alone? This is my 3rd step because seriously once you start looking (and dreaming) you are going to have a thousand ideas going through your head! If you know your budget it will help keep you in check!
• Set a realistic guest list. You are blending families - and each parent will most likely want Cousin Al and Aunt Sally, whom you haven't seen since you were 2 at your wedding! If your parents are helping pay for the wedding - believe me, they are going to want a say to who is invited - or not invited! But keep in mind this is YOUR day. Once you have a general idea of how many people you are inviting...
• Find a ceremony/reception venue. I know a lot of brides are now looking a package places (where the ceremony and reception are at the same place) and this is a great idea for your budget. If you have your ceremony one place and reception at another it involves more costs (venue, transportation, transporting flowers, decorations, gifts, etc). Finding the place you are going to get married may also change your date...your original date could already be booked!

So, by now you have completed the 1st of 5 tasks to wedding planning! Exhausted yet? Well, maybe taking a breather would be a good idea about now...plan a night out with your fiance. You guys probably deserve it at this point! And NO WEDDING TALK.

Beautiful Button Bridal Bouquets

It's always fun to see alternative wedding ideas brought to life! I am a big real flower fan but, I have to say that there is something about these button bouquets that I really like! I am not sure if it was me that I would use them for my bouquet but, I think it's a nice bouquet for other members of the wedding party - for your bridesmaids and even junior bridesmaids or especially for your mom or grandmothers - if they are crafters, I think it would be especially touching! These button bouquets come all the way from Australia! Nic's Button Buds came to life after real-life bride Nic had been planning her own wedding, on a budget! She was having a wedding for 100 people with a budget of $6,000! I wanted to share Nic's Button Buds with you for 2 reasons: her creations are beautiful and her prices are reasonable!

What if it rains on my wedding day?

We all know the saying "April showers bring May flowers" and a question that has been asked over and over "Is it lucky to have rain on my wedding day?" 

In most cultures, the answer is yes! Maybe, it's just because people are looking for the silver lining! If rain is expected on your big day, you can be prepared and get some pretty cool props for fantastic wedding photos!


Hunter Boot Ltd has been making their specialty boots since the 1800's! Better know as "wellies" these boots are made in various colors. You have the Original - which comes in a standard or high gloss finish with multiple color choices like these below:

But, if you are just looking for some funky wellies in amazing print patterns for a little fun under your dress look no further than Wellies By Evercreature! They have the best selection of fun, whimsical patterns!

And if the weather even calls for a chance of showers you must have a wedding umbrella on hand! Even if there isn't a chance of rain an umbrella makes a nice wedding photo prop:

This beautiful photo is by Michele M Waite of Bellingham, WA

I told you about Bella Umbrella last year in this post and since then, the company has grown by leaps and bounds! They have created a niche for themselves as the go-to rental umbrella company and with good reason. Their umbrellas are some of the most beautiful, and now, most photographed for weddings! Umbrella rentals start at $10 for the most basic and go up to $30 for their fancy, decorated umbrellas!

Wedding Invitations

Have you heard of Pingg? If not, you better listen up because they are hosting an amazing giveaway ALL MONTH LONG! That's right my friends! 4 lucky brides will win 150 digitally printed wedding invitations and reply cards of their choice - brought to you by Pingg and Hello Lucky! 

So who and what is Pingg? Well, if you read their company "vision" you kind of get a taste of who they are:

"Our vision is a world where online invitations & announcements can exist in the same sentence as "cool" and "awesome" (or if you're British, "wicked awesome"). The time has come to elevate the online experience--yes people, to RAAAAAISE the bar artistically and technically-so that online and traditional postmarked invitations can live together in peace, harmony and celebration... like yin and yang... like Cheech and Chong."

I love that last sentence! Any company that compares themselves to Cheech and Chong has to be cool, right? They also have teamed up with artists, photographers, illustrators and other creative geniuses to bring a fresh perspective to online invitations announcements and then they raised the bar one more level by allowing you to also order the online announcement in a print version!

So how do you win? It's pretty simple and straight forward - and they will be 

picking a winner every Friday so get on this and enter today!

How to enter:
1) Send your Save-the-Date cards or Engagement announcements on pingg. Choose a design from pingg’s Wedding Collection, from your favorite designer or upload your own design.


2) Select “Wedding Invitation Giveaway” for your Event or Card Theme when you enter details.


3) Send to at least three recipients and You’re Entered to Win!


Eligibility for prize packages will end at 12:00am ET Friday, May 27th, 2011. All winners must be 18 years of age or older.


NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE CHANCES OF WINNING.


One winner will be randomly selected each Friday from the entries received. Claiming of prizes requires an email response to pingg from the winning sender email address. Winner may forfeit any and all winnings if verification cannot or has not been made within 7 days.

DIY Invitations

Calling all brides (or anyone) who wants to make their own invitations! Let me introduce you to Paper Presentations - a company based out of New York but, they ship anywhere. I found everything you need to create your own party invitations here - all at reasonable prices.

INVITATIONS

These Pocket Fold invitations come in 9 sizes, 30 pattern colors and 60 solid colors! Prices start at $14.50 for a pack of 10

A little modern twist to the standard pocket folds. This design comes in 5 sizes and prices start at $15.90 for a set of 10. Remember, this is just for the outer envelope! All other pieces are sold separately.

A very simple invitation holder that makes a bold impression - this is called the Pochette. It is available in 4 sizes. The 5x7 size starts at $12.90 for plain colored paper and $16.90 for pattern paper (in sets of 10)

  I love the layered invitation look. It's elegant and easy. These are perfect for invitations or you can use multiple sizes of paper to tie up for your wedding programs as well. They come in the 2 sizes shown and you can embellish with your own ribbon (suggested ribbon size is 3/8"). 

This company has too many goodies to list! You will find favor boxes, ribbons, envelopes, belly bands and so many other products to make invitations yourself. You can also download their entire catalog in PDF format (which makes looking at everything easier) and on their website you will find templates to download as well!

100% recycled and bio-degradeable

Wedding Invitation

New range out today - It is called organic and it's so tasty you could eat it! Made from a combination of grass card, banana skin papers and hemp - It is 100% recycled and biodegradeable, rough and very natural.

The wording used on the invite demonstrates how you can go against the grain and ignore formal wording traditions. This tells all invitees that they're in for a good knees up!