psa :: to wedding guests
Dear Wedding Guests:
When you go to a wedding, please do not take the centerpieces AND vases from the reception, UNLESS you are told it’s okay by the bride or wedding planner. Often taking the FLOWERS is okay. But NOT the glass vases. Either way you should always have permission.
Vases, tables, chairs, and even votive candles are often rented by the bride and groom. And actually need to be returned OR paid for. So not only did you enjoy dinner, cocktails and dancing on your friend’s dime, but now you have also cost them extra money to reimburse what you just stole.
Thank you.
ps I should add that melting candle wax on the linens because you are “bored” will not be received well.
pss Feel free to enforce these everyone-should-know-better rules at a wedding you are attending.
Read More »thoughts on the royal wedding…
It’s five days to the wedding of the century, Prince William and Kate Middleton … and we are looking forward to seeing these nuptials. Unfortunately our RFP to be the official wedding planner, was turned down. Or rather completely ignored.
Big Announcement:
If you are a local Evansville/Owensboro resident be sure to tune into WTVW Fox 7 AM Evansville to watch the Royal Wedding live (4am) and then at 7:15am where I will co-host, live, with Lauren Matter for a wedding wrap up! It will be good times, for sure!
This wedding will be so different from Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding. Let’s face it, we pretty much watched that wedding and consistently asked ourselves, “How did this old dude land this beautiful girl?” I am still convinced it was pretty much an arranged marriage.
That’s why this wedding is going to be so lovely. William and Kate are “young”. They met at University, fell in love, both are adorable and it will be exciting to watch them together. After the untimely death of Princess Diana, Britain could use a pick-me-up.
And whether you care about the Royal Wedding or not, it will affect the wedding industry with trends and design. You can practically hear the knock-off designers sharpening their pencils right now in preparation to sketch Kate’s dress as she walks down the aisle. Let’s see, she is married on a Friday, I expect to be able to buy her dress on the black market by Monday.
So yes, I will watch this fairy tale unfold, because watching two people in love commit to each other is what we do, every weekend. This one just has a little more pomp and circumstance!
Catch you on Friday! I’ll be the one on TV with bags under my eyes from getting up at 4am!
Read More »blocking hotel rooms for your wedding guests…
You are planning a wedding and anticipate a lot of out of town guests. As a host of your wedding, it’s nice to be able to “block rooms” with local hotels so that your guests will: 1. Know where to stay that is convenient to the location of your wedding reception and 2. Take advantage of a reduced rate.
Great.
The challenge arises that most people do not know how hotels operate. They are in it to make money. Blocking TOO MANY rooms thinking that all your out of town guests will come, does not help the hotel … make money. They frown upon that idea.
So here are few quick tips when blocking rooms:
- Do not over estimate the amount of rooms you may need. You can always go over the block, but it can get sticky when you go way under.
- Negotiate the cut off date for the room block. Some hotels it is 30 days in advance (period). This is because they can fill ALL their rooms every single weekend at a full rate.
- Tell your family to book their rooms early. Don’t want to miss the reduced rate you negotiated.
- Read the contract carefully. Does it say that YOU have to pay for rooms that aren’t booked by guests? It shouldn’t.
- Do not expect the hotel to be able to block all the rooms on the same floor. I understand that this is convenient for you, but with so many other public people booking rooms, this is often a request that a hotel cannot guarantee.
- Talk to someone LOCALLY at the specific hotel. Do not leave it up to a customer service representative from a 800 number. The information will not trickle down. Seriously. NOT trickle down to the local hotel.
- Check, Double Check and then Check again. Again, statistically with so many employees of the hotel, it is very likely there will be confusion and mistakes. So always, always … double check.
I learned of a horror story of a wedding that my favorite hair stylist was a part of in Louisville. While there were many problems along the way, the short story is: on the day of the wedding (while the family was AT THE RECEPTION), their rooms were booked to the public. The hotel staff took all their belongings, dumped them into trash bags and left their stuff at the front desk. Thinking, they simply did not “check out”. They strolled in at midnight with no rooms, wadded up clothing and feeling helpless.
*sigh*
Should I mention this wedding did not have a wedding planner? I suppose there is no need.
ps You can see more about this subject and about how increased gas prices may effect your wedding on today’s Fox 7 Wedding Planner. Do you watch? It’s on every Wednesday at 6:55 am!
Read More »common guest faux pas at weddings
Today on Fox 7 AM Evansville we talked about common guest faux pas that happen at weddings. As planners, we see A LOT of them, but here are the highlights…
1. Arriving late to the ceremony. If the ceremony starts at 1:30pm you should be arriving NO LATER than 1:20pm. Seriously, I see people give more attention to arriving at a movie theater early than they do at weddings. But let’s say something happens beyond your control and you are strolling in at 1:34. If you see pretty girls lined up and a bride at the front of the church, kindly step to the side and wait. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, scoot by the wedding party and enter the church. If you wanted to see the bride’s face as she walks down the aisle, you should of arrived on time.
All of the guests will be focusing on the entrance of the church as the processional has already begun, so you’ll be seen by EVERYONE. Also you ruin the video and let’s face it, you’ve drawn attention to yourself at someone’s wedding. Instead, wait to the side until the bride has walked down the aisle and is at the altar. The guests will be turned around and you can slide on in, unseen.
2. Manage your children. Everyone should know that if your child starts to cry during the ceremony, please get up with crying child and leave as to not disturb all the guests. Most parents will do this. But I’d like to add, do not forget about your children at the reception. For some reason, I see parents completely relax and let their children run everywhere. And when I say run, I mean the 100 yard dash sprint. And fingers poking into the cake is not cute, nor sanitary. So please watch your child(ren). It may even mean leaving the reception to take them home.
3. You forget the gift. This is easy. Don’t say anything. Do not apologize to the parents of the bride, do not mention anything to the bride and groom. Just send the gift immediately when you get home. There is no need to draw negative attention to yourself.
4. You’ve drank too much. The best advice is to not get to this point, but I know that sometimes it can happen, to the best of people. So if you have had too much, or the bartender has cut you off, realize that they are doing this for a reason. And if other guests or staff is taking your keys from you and calling a cab, do not argue. Know that your friends are looking out for your safety and others.
ps Catch the TV version of this blog post with Saundra Hadley, Fox 7 Wedding Planner.
Read More »having a backup (heat) plan
We all know that for outdoor weddings, it is critical to have a backup rain plan.
But have you considered the other weather elements? Like oppressive, humid, glaring, blazing heat from the sun?
This year we have had an tremendous shift of venues for wedding selections. More people are choosing personal residences or outdoor venues for their wedding ceremony (and/or receptions).
It’s a fab idea, as bride and groom’s are looking for something different for their special day. The concern is mostly with the potential of rain, but you have to remember other weather elements. In southern Indiana, the humidity factor is a huge concern as it is oppressive to a woman in a beautiful, layered wedding dress and men in full tuxedos. This can lead to crabby attitudes, sweaty faces, heat exhaustion and fainting.
Keep these points in mind, when planning your outdoor extravaganza:
- Your elderly guests need to have shade and comfort.
- Outdoor musicians will not play in direct sunlight. It’s not the uncomfortably factor (although that should be a concern, imagine YOU trying to play a violin dripping of sweat and exhaustion for an hour), musicians WILL NOT expose their high dollar instruments to direct sunlight. It ruins them.
- Should you proceed with the outdoor, sunny plan; then make sure you are choosing garments to wear that will allow some coolness factor. This includes your wedding dress, groom/groomsmen attire, bridesmaids and parent attire.
- Prepare for helping the guests cool off: A shaded location to wait until the last minute to be seated for the ceremony, fans (electric and handheld), cool non-alcoholic drinks to refresh themsevles.
- Choose a short vow ceremony. Short…. very short.
- Have an inside backup plan to move the ceremony. You don’t want to think about this now, but once you step outside in full dress, you may change your mind.
- Do NOT choose a month that an outdoor wedding will almost 98% sure to be miserable. In this area, August is the worth month of the year with high humidity and heat.
- Encourage more casual dress for guests; open collar shirts and sundresses for the girls.
