Choosing Your Wedding Invitations

When compiling your wedding budget, please do keep all your printed items in mind! Printing Save the Dates, Invitations, Direction cards, Reception cards, RSVP cards, Menus, Programs, Escort Cards / Place cards, Thank You Notes does add up, so make sure you've left some room in the budget for them all.

Keep in mind that the first bit of insight into the wedding that your guests will encounter is your Save the Date or Invitation. It sets the tone for the actual wedding and gives your guests a glimpse into the style/theme of the wedding. Whatever you've thought up for the printed items that get mailed, remember to keep the same style/tone in the printed items to be used on the wedding day.

Whether you prefer custom or pre-designed items, there are literally 1000s of choices to choose from! Cruise around the web looking at different stationers sites and save images (or clip from mag's) of materials, styles, wording, ideas that you love. Bring all of these with you when you meet with a stationer ~ it gives them great insight into what you are looking to create. Once you've picked a stationer or stationery company to work with, be honest with your feedback.

Lastly, keep in mind that you'll need to put postage on your Save the Dates and Invitation Suites + postage on your RSVP cards (this is a non negotiable {sorry} it must be done!) ~ these costs certainly do add up, so keep in mind when you are designing the size and weight of your suites.







{courtesy of the fantastically amazing ABCD Designs}

This post was originally published on June 19th, 2009

HIring a Wedding Videographer

It seems that brides and grooms have very firm opinions when it comes to hiring a wedding videographer ~ some are adamant that they want the video {"for their kids"} and some are adamant that they don't want any video. Personally, I fall into a different camp: while I don't necessarily want the whole wedding on DVD, I would love to be able to relive the vows, toasts and speeches. That said, hiring a wedding videographer is much the same as hiring a wedding photographer: do your research, meet in person and view lots and lots of past clients work. You want a videographer that isn't going to be too intrusive, but someone who gets the best 'scenes' and does fantastic editing.

When it comes to pricing, similarly to photog's, videographer's price is normally dependent on the final products that you receive from them plus how much editing goes into creating those final products. Decide on what you actual want / need and then discuss this with your videographer. Be sure that you are getting what you want and most importantly, will watch in the future!



{courtesy of bridalbuds.com}

This post was originally published on June 19th, 2009

Thoughts on Choosing a Wedding Photographer

The wedding day will fly by in a blur (seriously, I felt like my day was 5 minutes long!) but you'll have all these amazing images that will last a lifetime, so please, choose wisely. Photographs, video's and memories are all that you will physically walk away from the wedding with, so make sure you do plenty of research on your photographer and *try* to not skimp on the budget here. You want to look back at your images years later and fall in love with the whole day over and over again.

Luckily, with the Internet most photographers have a wealth of images for you to check out online. But, don't hire site unseen (this is applicable to all your vendors, meet in person first, if circumstance allows), since this person will be following your every move on the day of, you want to make sure that you are comfortable not only with their images, but with them as well. Decide what elements of photographs you want: more candid, more details, more 'artsy' angles/poses etc. Do you want 1,2, or 3 shooters? How long do you want your photog on the wedding day? Standard packages are 8 hours which would include getting ready through the reception (either end or close to ... I suggest close to, pictures of drunk guests are not pretty). Do you care more about the actual images or albums? Do you want an online gallery that friends and family can purchase images through? Or, would you prefer to get all the proofs? What kind of album do you prefer? Make sure that the package you decide on holds everything in it that you want. Some photographers will negotiate, and some will not. Keep in mind that you want QUALITY over QUANTITY in this case. These are images you get to look at for years and years.



This post was originally published on June 16th, 2009

Monday Musings: Mini - Vacation

I left NYC this weekend to spend some time with Mr.G whom out of September and October I will only see for a total of 10 days since he's a traveling machine for work! As always, I am on email if need be!


{via Shutterstock Images}

A Must Do For Wedding Planning

You've been on such a productive and awesome roll getting venues and vendors lined up, doing research on fantastic design, its time to take a break everything wedding related. The key to stress free wedding planning is to make sure that you take breaks and timeouts along the way. Don't worry about things not getting done on time ~ they will. Everything will come together as you've imagined and your wedding day will be incredible. But, if you don't stop to smell the proverbial roses along the way, by the time you get to the wedding day, you'll be wedding'd out and we don't want that at all.

Make sure during your planning process that you and your soon to be are spending time together and NOT talking about the wedding. Make sure you get some relaxing and fun beauty treatments, go and take some exhilarating exercise classes and spend time with your gals NOT discussing the bridesmaids' shoes/hair/accessories. Make sure you tell your parents that certain nights/weekends whatever are designated wedding free so they know that its not the time to discuss whether or not some long lost uncle gets to bring a date. By giving yourself some breathing room from the wedding planning, you're ensuring that you will have a relaxed approach to the entire day and process.







(courtesy of Grand Hyatt & Tap Natural Remedies)

This post was originally published on June 15th, 2009

Hiring a Wedding Planner

I will start this post off with a disclaimer: I am biased towards hiring some version of a wedding planner, simply because I am one! But, I will try to hit on key points to prove how valuable a planner is in your wedding planning process.

Regardless of when in your wedding planning you are, hiring a wedding planner can simply be one of the best investments made in your budget. Even if you want to plan your big wedding singlehandedly, please do entertain the idea of hiring a Day Of Coordinator, merely so you can actually be a bride on your wedding day (and your mother can actually be a mother on the wedding day etc). On one of the most incredible days of your entire life, I doubt you want to be getting phone calls while you are trying to get ready from the officiant saying "I am stuck in traffic, I am not sure when I will be there" ... why add to your stress when you don't have to.

Take your time when looking for a wedding planner/coordinator. Read wedding blogs, check out wedding directories, get friend referrals, read wedding magazines ~ wedding planners are listed everywhere. Check out their websites, read their blogs, follow them on Twitter. By doing so, you'll get a very good sense of who they are and whether or not they are someone you'd like to work with. Arrange consultations with a select few and bring as much information to the meeting regarding the wedding as possible. Be open to what the planner has to say and keep in mind (this applies to all vendors) that the wedding planner is interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them. Your relationship with your wedding planner should be a positive experience ~ you want to mesh well with them and look forward to communicating with them. You want a planner that will listen and understand your every desire and then find a way to make it happen.

Most planners are willing to negotiate (within reason) on pricing/services. The number one thing I hear all the time is that services are too pricey and clients can't understand why a wedding planner is so expensive. Trust me, regardless of what your planner charges you, the value of your planner is basically priceless. They are your insurance policy that your wedding will be the best that it can be.


{me in action on a wedding day, shot by Sarah DiCicco}

This post was originally published on June 11th, 2009

Notes On Hiring a DJ or Band for Your Wedding

Firstly, let's dispel a myth. Wedding Bands aren't necessarily more expensive than Wedding DJs. I've seen fantastic DJs that cost lots more than a Band. So, before the pricing scares you from one end of the entertainment spectrum to another, decide which appeals to you more. Do you prefer live music or do you prefer hearing the actual artist singing? Do you want an Emcee for the evening? Once you've narrowed down those factors, get pricing from both sides. Also, talk to your venue about what sounds better in the space - some acoustics work better for bands not DJs and vice versa. Whomever you hire, you obviously want them to sound incredible.

When interviewing your entertainment, ask the following:

What is their speciality?
If you have specific songs, will they play them?
Do they allow guests to make requests or not? (also, is this something you want?)
Can you give them must play and do not play lists?

You want to hire entertainment that you enjoy and that plays great music ... whatever the form.



(courtesy of beatlesagain.com)

This post was originally published on June 10th, 2009