Apr 28, 2014 | wedding planning
3-year-olds are cute, but they are rarely dignified. Photo by Happy Buddy PhotoArt.
What could be cuter than a 3-year-old girl dressed up and carrying a basket of flowers before the bride? What is more adorable than a 4-year-old boy in a short-pants suit carrying the wedding rings on a lacy cushion? Nothing! But is this really what you want at your wedding?
I have seen children in weddings as young as about 2 and as old as teenagers. I won’t tell you not to invite your youngest relations to be in your wedding party, but I would like to sound a note of caution.
Small children are cute, adorable, and entirely unpredictable, especially under the age of about 5. I remember a pair of 3-year-old flower girls who ran wildly down the aisle when they were supposed to proceed with solemnity. I also recall a very young ring bearer who had been so over-rehearsed and bribed to be good that he broke down in tears before he had to walk down the aisle. And I have seen a lot of small children in weddings who had to walk with a parent.
If you don’t mind the utter unpredictability of very small children, and if you don’t mind being upstaged by their cuteness and their antics, you’ll probably enjoy having them participate in your wedding. If, on the other hand, you want everything to be perfect and predictable at your wedding, you might want to reconsider inviting the youngest children to participate.
Apr 21, 2014 | Eco-Friendly Events
Photo by MWD Photography.
April brings Earth Day and Arbor Day, and I have heard it called Earth Month. What are you doing to celebrate our natural world? How are you bringing sustainable intentions to your work and your play?
Here are some of the things I do to make my business sustainable: I ride my bicycle whenever I can, including to meetings with my wedding and events clients; I use compact fluorescent light bulbs in my office; and I plug my laptop and printer into a power strip and turn it off when I’m not working in order to reduce my use of “phantom power.” When work is over for the day, I am interested in landscaping with native plants. I’m working for the day my yard is a haven for native birds and insects.
There are, of course, many things you can do to make your event or wedding more sustainable. You can check out my series of posts on the subject if you want more specifics. I’d love to hear what you are doing to celebrate Earth Day. Join the conversation on my Facebook page.
Apr 14, 2014 | wedding planning
Wedding planning is about more things than will fit in your 3-ring binder. Courtesy of sprungphoto.com.
I ran across this really interesting article by Gemma Allen on the Today’s Chicago Woman’s website from last June. Here’s the concluding paragraph that, I think, about sums it up:
“If you think about it, wedding planning itself can be good practice for a good marriage, since so many realities of life are involved: relatives, friends, control, financial consequences and, of course, each of your own unique psyches. In all of that controlled chaos, if you can also make time to begin the emotional planning for the rest of your lives together, you are much more likely to live happily and blissfully.”
I noticed this reality when I was planning my own wedding a decade ago. In the midst of all the details, I realized that this other person I was working with on this major event was going to be there for all the other decisions we would have to make as our lives went forward together.
And planning a wedding is excellent practice in decision-making and communication under stress. It can be a difficult project to tackle even under the best circumstances, and downright daunting when there are extra obstacles, such as difficult family situations or a lack of funds. And how you and your partner handle the inevitable difficulties and setbacks says a lot about your relationship.
I think when I was getting married, myself, I summed it up this way in my own mind, “Getting married is good practice for being married.” So, as you are planning your wedding, keep in mind that you are also planning your marriage.
Apr 7, 2014 | vendors, wedding planning
There are a number of good general music companies to look into if you want a band for an event. One I would not hesitate to recommend is Stitely Entertainment. They are the booking agent for a number of different bands, as well as smaller ensembles and DJs.
Jeff Stitely is a terrific drummer who also knows talent. Being a fine musician himself, I think he attracts others of the same quality. I am also impressed with the way he runs his business. Other people agree: If you look at his website, you’ll see that he has won just about every award in the wedding business.
There are a lot of excellent musicians in the Chicago area, so you have a lot of good choices. But if you don’t want to sift through all the options, you can start at Stitley Entertainment.
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