wedding planning
what would you change (at your wedding)?
I twittered a question to the public, what would you change about your wedding if you could. Thought the answer would be interesting and even talked about it on Fox 7.
What would I of changed? Luckily, not the groom (tee hee). I would of seen each other before the ceremony. Our wedding ceremony and reception were at the same location and I would have loved to join in on cocktail hour with my guests. It was silly to put it off and I felt rushed.
Here are a few of the anonymous answers:
- My wedding was 1 1/2 years ago, but I wish I would have interviewed more photographers. My photos weren’t the best.
- I would have danced more and not worried so much about family drama.
- Broken traditions. I didn’t think outside the box on anything. Biggest thing would have been to have it outside, not church.
- Had a handler for my MIL. I would have had someone passing out a midnight snack as guests left.
- I wouldn’t have skimped on photographs!
- I wish I hired a wedding planner for at least the day. Too much going on and I stressed!
- I would have hired a videographer, and I would have left more time for pics of just me and my husband, sans bridal party.
- I wouldn’t have changed a thing about mine! Unless, I could have controlled the weather
- I would have changed one of my bridesmaids &I would have got a better cake.
- I would of chosen a different groom.
- Gotten 2 photographers…have one of hubby getting ready! Also I think I would of chosen my bridal party slightly different.
- Oh wow ONE thing? I wish I had a BETTER planner. That would’ve taken care of a few things, things I wish had been different!
- I am not recently married, it’s been 3.5 years, but I would have hired a better photog. I don’t really like the pictures I got.
- I wish we had chosen a navy pintuck linen instead of navy cotton w/ runner.
- I wish I had hired a planner instead of trying to do it all myself!
- Not use husbands cousin for flowers. Didn’t listen—flowers not as expected. Caution with family-creates for sticky situation!
- I would have hired a dj or band.
Soooo…… what would you have changed? Come ‘on, leave a comment… I know you want to…..
And brides/groom’s … I hope you learned a few things above!
a happy mother of the bride
I usually don’t post these in my blog content (well in the kudos section), but I received this lovely email from a Mother of the Bride at 12:15am this morning. (And a similar email happened to my planner friend, Emilie Duncan).
Maddy + Gregg’s wedding was yesterday and it was fantastic. Small, intimate and lovely. What was personal for me was that Maddy’s father passed away few years ago, so we were extra sensitive to this issue, but we still felt that he was there in spirit.
This is the email:
Saundra,
Mere words cannot say how terrific I think you are. You made it all come together perfectly for one of the best weddings my family and I as well as our guests have ever attended. This day would not have been as happy and stress free without you. I know from a professional standpoint we were pretty small potatoes, but I could see how much you love what you do, and I am so grateful for you accepting us as your clients. You absolutely ROCK. I know I was a skeptic a year ago, but change makes believers, and I am absolutely your biggest fan.
Thank you again for putting all the special touches in to this happy happy day. You kept my baby and me smiling and worry free. You can add us to your list of references prospective clients can call and I will sing your praises from the rooftops. It was an A HA day all the way.
Warmest and heartfelt regards,
Stephanie Heine
Heart you both back!
what kind of bride hires a wedding planner?
photo credit: studio b photography
Like with many of the different aspects of the wedding business, there are some serious misconceptions of what type of people hire wedding planners. The idea that these people may not have minds of their own or are incredibly disorganized cannot be further from the truth.
In the past six years of running an event planning business, I can only count on one hand where we had a few brides that were “challenged” in being organized and understanding the whole process. For some people, managing the sheer volume of details is very over-whelming. That does not make them inept; we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
99%t of our clients are Type-A personalities. They understand what they want, highly organized, accomplished, driven people who want to be intimately involved in planning their wedding but also really love to have an unbiased, third party input to bounce ideas around.
They are not weak. They are not mindless. They are not ladies/men who want to be led around. Instead they look at their wedding day as a financial investment in beginning their life together. And so, while spending their hard-earned money on professional caterers, cake designers, florists, photographers, videographers, or entertainment, they also understand the need for an event professional to pull all of this together so they don’t have to work or worry on their big day.
We have services that are Wedding Day Management (you plan your wedding, we are involved the last month and on the wedding day), Partial and Full Service Planning (we help along the way and we are there on your wedding day). With all of these services, we are simply implementing THEIR plans. NOT “our” plans.
planning your wedding with your BFF
Talking to the many brides this weekend that were planning their weddings at the same time as their BFF, got me thinking about the the benefits and challenges that you may encounter when planning your wedding at the same time. You know that each bride wants to have their own special day. And while you love your girl, you don’t want to feel that all your ideas are being taken! So how do you do that when you are both interviewing vendors and looking at venues?
Just last year we had two fabulous clients that were BFF’s. The first bride found me, Allison and then she recommended us to her MOH/BFF, Katie (who was getting married 6 months after her). The weddings were very similar such as; same reception venue, same photographer, same videographers, same cake designer, similar room layout, same planner, overlapping of guests and the girls also looked a lot alike (which led me to call them by the wrong name on multiple occasions).
Allison and Adam Frounfelter's wedding
What made it work so well with the two of them were these key reasons:
- Weddings were different times of the year. Allie – December and Katie – August
- They chose different decor/designers. Allie – Doug and Katie – chose us
- Different entertainment. Allie – Dave & Rae(2/piece) and and Katie – Big Slick (5/piece band)
- They had tremendous amount of love and respect for each other
Katie Hermann's wedding: decor/design by planning...forever events
These decisions made the two weddings stand out with individualism and uniqueness while taking advantage of choosing vendors together that they knew would work.
If you feel like your BFF may be copying some of your wedding ideas, then don’t tell her everything you are planning. You can have some surprises! And if she does copy you, then take it as a compliment. This a situation we run into frequently and that is why it’s so great to have a wedding planner to bounce ideas off of and he/she HAS to remain confidential!! Bottom line, talk things about and you both will have fun!
take a break from your wedding planning
It’s hard not to constantly think about your upcoming wedding. Combined with the excitement, anticipation and the one-hundred million tasks to complete, it’s on your brain 24/7. Even if you don’t realize it.
During these upcoming holidays we encourage you to take a break. A guiltless break, from planning your wedding. Here are a few reasons why:
- It’s Christmas! Hello? A time for giving and loving your fellow human being. Spend quality time with your family and friends. Donate time to charity….there are bigger things than your wedding and you will feel better for it.
- Give yourself a mental break. Don’t think about any details or to-do lists. The holidays are stressful enough without having this as just one more thing to worry or think about (see number 1).
- Enjoy talking about your wedding with your family. They will ask. But do NOT let anyone let you feel guilty that you haven’t found a DJ or picked out your dress. Just smile and excuse yourself to get another drink.
- Your brain is very much like a muscle. When you train/work out you have to let your muscles have a break in between the workouts so the muscle will respond better. Your brain is the same way. Relaxing your mind and compartmentalizing your planning will benefit you greatly. You’ll be more refreshed after taking time off and will probably be more productive!
So go pour some eggnog and play Chutes and Ladders with your three-year old niece. Enjoy the holidays, as we will!!!
planning…forever events studios will be closed from December 24-January 4th.
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