Vendors I Know: Veronica Sheaffer

Veronical's latest custom creation.  I stole this image straight from her blog.

Veronica's latest custom creation. I stole this image straight from her blog.

I met Veronica when she hired me to coordinate her wedding a couple of years ago.  She was the one with the insanely hand-made wedding.  It was beautiful.  She made her own dress.  She made her mother’s dress.  She made her bridesmaids’ dresses.  So, it was no surprise to me when she went into business making bridal gowns.

I think Veronica’s work is gorgeous.  She has seasonal collections of dresses and she also does custom work.  (Another client of mine is having Veronica make her gown even as we speak.)  She also makes and sells accessories.  And she does it all with a sassy and fun attitude.

If you can’t find the dress you are looking for in the bridal boutiques, consider looking Veronica up.  She may be able to fix you up with a dream dress.

To Cocktail or Not?

Or you can greet your guests with cocktails before the ceremony as they did here.  Photo by Paul Grigonis, pplusgphoto.com.

You can greet your guests with cocktails before the ceremony as they did here. Photo by Paul Grigonis, pplusgphoto.com.

A couple of recent client weddings have skipped the usual cocktail hour between the ceremony and the reception.  There have been various reasons for this choice, but I think one of the most important reasons is the five-hour time slot imposed by so many venues.

If you are venue shopping now, their time restrictions are an important thing to know before you sign a contract.  Some venues will give you the whole day until their closing time.  At least one I know of divides the day into two slots so they can do four weddings every weekend.  Most, however, seem to like to give you any five hours you want, plus set-up and clean-up time.

You can definitely have a wonderful wedding and reception in five hours.  If it seems a little short, one of the things you can jettison is the cocktail hour.  If you were planning to take photos during the cocktail hour, that means finding another time for them.  Doing them before the ceremony might not be an option if you and your fiance are not seeing each other before the ceremony, so if that is the case, your options are more limited.  If not, consider doing photos before the ceremony and going straight from the ceremony to the reception.

Talk to your planner or coordinator about how to make the day’s schedule work best for you.  She or he should be able to tell you what your best options are.

Wedding Planning Tips (first of a series)

Photo by Magical Moments Photography.

Photo by Magical Moments Photography.

Every wedding planner has a calendar or timeline laying out the important steps necessary to plan a wedding and reception. The timeline is an important part of planning your wedding, but there are other equally important things to think about in order to have the wedding you really want. Here is one of them:

Consider the most important things about your wedding day. Right at the top of your list should be, “Ending up married to each other at the end of the day.” Keep that as your main focus and then, when something goes wrong, you will know that the day is still a success, as long as you are married (to the right person!) by the end of it. Also, if you are throwing a party, make sure you are inviting people you really want to spend the day with; and then throw a party they can all enjoy. It isn’t about impressing people or feeling rich for a day. It should be about having a good time with the people you like best, and sharing your happiness with them.

Very Successful Wedding Show!

Committed 2012 was last Sunday, and it was a successful and very fun afternoon.  This was the first year the of the show’s existence, so the fact that a couple hundred guests showed up was very heartening.

What everyone said was that this was much nicer than most bridal shows.  It felt more like a party than a trade show.

The Stephanie Rogers Bankd.

The Stephanie Rogers Band.

Music was provided by Cage+Aquarium (doing an all-vinyl set) and the Stephanie Rogers Band.  There was food provided by several caterers, including FIG, City Provisions, and Pure Kitchen.

Setting up the truffles.

Setting up the truffles.

Katherine Anne Confections and Bleeding Heart Bakery provided delicious sweets.

Mignonette's booth.

Mignonette's booth.

Models from Mignonette showed off some gorgeous and highly unusual bridal dresses and vintage tuxes.

Collective Resource.

Collective Resource.

Collective Resource was very successful at composting the entire event.  The ratio of compostables to garbage at the end of the event was about 75 to 1, maybe more.

And here was my set-up:

My area.

My area.

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