Sep 2, 2013 | Budget Planning, Day-of Coordinating, Eco-Friendly Events, Weddings
Here is a tiny taste of a wedding I did early in the summer. It was in the back yard of the bride’s parents’ home, and it was lovely. Professional photos are coming in a couple of weeks. This is just a teaser.
The guests entered from the side yard.
This is how the tent looked after it was set up for the reception.
The centerpieces were potted herbs.
The guests took home the individual plants from the centerpieces.
The back yard setting was a beautiful place for a wedding.
Mar 31, 2013 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
If you hire a good planner, this is all you should have to think about on your wedding day. Photo by MWD Photography.
I’ve written a lot about do-it-yourself weddings lately, and here are my final thoughts (probably) on the subject. Should you plan and manage your wedding yourself? Yes–and no.
Most people can do much of the planning themselves. Hiring vendors is not difficult. You will probably also want to plan the decor yourself so that it reflects your taste. Of course, if you’d rather not handle all the details yourself, by all means, hire a wedding planner.
The place where a lot of people get stuck in the planning process is scheduling the wedding day and the logistics of making everything happen. It turns out that these are special skills. And so you will likely want to have a professional planner on hand. One of my favorite parts of this job is taking a tangled mass of good ideas and turning it into a usable plan. Actually, I really like seeing the smile of relief on my clients’ faces when I do that.
Even if you are able to do the scheduling and logistics yourself, actually managing what happens on your wedding day is another matter. I like to use a theatre metaphor to describe it: You are the star of the show; you can also be the director and the producer. But you need a good stage manager to make sure that you shine.
This might be predictable coming from me, but I have seen enough problems and near-disasters to know that it really does make a difference: Make sure you have someone with practical, hands-on experience managing your wedding day. Don’t try to do it yourself.
Mar 11, 2013 | Budget Planning, Eco-Friendly Events, wedding planning
Do you have leftover wedding supplies that someone else can use? I have the solution! Photo by hannahelaine photography (hannahelaine.com).
I have only the sketchiest details so far, but I know about another really interesting event that I think you’re going to want to put on your calendar, whether you are currently planning a wedding, are recently married, or are, yourself, a wedding vendor.
The Chicago Green Wedding Alliance is sponsoring a giant garage sale for wedding items. If you have items that might be useful for someone planning a wedding, you can donate them to the CGWA for the sale on April 21. Not only will a portion of the proceeds be donated to charity, but it’s a highly sustainable, green way to re-use wedding items.
I’ll have more details soon and will post them as they become available. But mark your calendar now.
Nov 26, 2012 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
Will your invitations look the way you imagine them if you do them yourself? If so, then go for it!
If you want to choose just one item to do yourself for your wedding, invitations could be on the list of choices. As with most things you’ll want for your wedding, invitations do require a certain amount of skill, but if you feel up to the challenge, you can probably pull it off–depending on what you want.
If you must have traditional, engraved invitations or letterpress invitations, you’ll have to hire a pro. Some of that equipment is very expensive!
But if you want something more casual, there are lots of options. One of the easiest things you can do is go to a stationery store, paper store, or even an office superstore to find paper or cards you like. Then you can run them through your printer. The hard part is figuring out what you want the invitations to say, laying it out and formatting it.
You can also do your own graphic design, including the text, if you have the skill. This is beyond what I can do, so I have no idea what goes into it. I have seen it done, however. Sometimes, a friend or family member can do this part.
You can also do the design yourself and take it to your local printer for reproduction. That saves on design fees but means you don’t have to slave over your printer for hours. Some printers are also not up to the task, so be sure to do a test run or two–and have plenty of spare ink on hand if you are doing the printing yourself.
Leave plenty of time if you are planning DIY invitations. Save-the-date cards should go out six months in advance, and invitations should go out six to eight weeks before the wedding. Plan on spending several weeks getting invitations ready before your projected mailing date. And don’t forget that it takes time to address, stuff, and stamp the envelopes!
Oct 22, 2012 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
You might look at the cost of professional photography and think you’d be better off without a professional photographer. You might be right. Or you might be very disappointed. It all depends on how important photos are to you.
Here's a photo I took with my point-and-shoot camera and limited photography skills.
If having high quality photos of your entire wedding and reception is not your first priority, you can ask a friend or relative to document the day for you. Someone with good photography equipment can probably take decent photos for you.
But if having professional quality photos is important, it’s difficult to get them without paying professional prices. Professional wedding photographers have equipment and skills that ordinary mortals lack. The best consistently take copious, excellent photos that capture the essence of your day. They are on the spot and don’t usually miss any important moments. It’s also important that they are not guests, but are hired to work for the entire time, so they will be alert and sober until the time they leave. They know what to look for and how to take good (and often stunning) photos of your wedding.
The same cake in a photo taken by Agnes Malorny, professional.
As with all DIY projects, think this one through before you make a decision. There is a definite difference in quality between amateur and professional photos. Decide what is important to you, and then pay a professional if you can’t live without those photos.
Aug 20, 2012 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
How many cake plates do you need? Photo courtesy of Artisan Events.
When you see the total cost of rental dishes, you might be tempted to go to Ikea and buy dishes instead of renting them. Depending on your circumstances, that might be a good choice–or it really might not be.
I know someone who bought enough dishes to serve about 50 people at her wedding. They got married in their own home, had a good caterer, and had places to store all those dishes after the wedding. It can work.
On the other hand, if you are having 150 guests at a rented venue, you might run into some unexpected difficulties. For example, keep in mind that everything may need to be washed before it is used. Your catering staff probably won’t do that for you without an additional charge. Next, think about what will happen to all those dishes at the end of the night. The kitchen staff will scrape them and pack them up in whatever boxes you provide for them. Then you or your representative will have to pick them up from the venue the day after the wedding and take them somewhere to wash them. And then you’ll have to figure out what to do with 150 place settings. That might not be how you planned to spend the first day of your honeymoon.
This is not to say you shouldn’t buy dishes, but you should think it through all the way to the end before taking the leap.
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