Mignonette at Committed 2012.
Remember that fabulous offbeat, eco-friendly wedding show last year? Well, it’s coming up again this year and you do not want to miss it. Mark you calendars now for Sunday, February 24 at the Greenhouse Loft. I am not authorized to divulge further details at this time except to tell you that it will again be utterly fabulous. Need I say more?
Update: You can get a sneak peek at the show on the newly unveiled website.
The homemade sweet table can be both pretty and tasty.
Here’s another good DIY idea: Dessert! While I strongly recommend that you do not cater your own wedding, dessert is a completely different matter for doing it yourself. Better yet, get other people to do it for you.
I’m not talking here about making your own wedding cake. While I’ve seen cakes made by talented friends and family members, that’s a job that is probably best left to professionals. I’m talking about sweet tables.
We all know people who make fabulous cookies or pies or cupcakes. You can take advantage of this by asking people–instead of bringing gifts–to bake for your wedding reception.
DIY sweet tables, like all DIY projects, do require a little more advance planning and coordination. You’ll need to ask people to bake enough in advance that they will have time. Your caterer will need to be alerted to the DIY nature of dessert. People who bake will need to drop off their baked goods at a specified time. (Your coordinator and caterer will help determine the right time.) You’ll probably want to coordinate your bakers so that you have some variety. And you’ll have to be sure the quantity is sufficient.
If you feel like you can handle all these things, the DIY sweet table is definitely an option. It might not be as fancy as a sweet table from a bakery, but it can save money and be a way to have your friends and family closely involved with your reception.
A photo by Howard Kier of Magical Moments Photography.
I think there are more wedding photographers in the Chicago area than any other type of wedding vendor. One that stands out from the crowd in my book is Howard Kier of Magical Moments.
I’ve worked with Howard more than once and have been quite satisfied with the experience and with the results of his work. His photographic style is straightforward and unpretentious. His working style is easygoing and fun. You can see some of his work in my photo galleries.
Start with everyone in place. Photo courtesy of christytylerphotography.com.
I’m going to let you in on a secret that even most wedding professionals don’t know. It’s actually a trick I’ve picked up in my years in the theatre, and it works every time.
If you want to have a fast, easy rehearsal of the processional and recessional (and those are the only hard parts of most weddings), don’t start with everyone ready to walk down the aisle. Instead, do it all in reverse.
Start with everyone standing where they will be for the ceremony. Make sure you like the looks of how the bridesmaids and groomsmen (or whoever is standing up) are placed.
From there, walk the recessional. Once everyone is at the starting place again, have them turn around and walk the processional. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is. Once everyone knows where to go, all they have to do is walk. And just about everyone can handle that part.
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!
This was an exceptionally nice vendors' table.
If you’re throwing a big party, chances are that some of your vendors will have meal requirements in their contracts. Generally, photographers, DJs, and planners are all going to need a meal. That means, of course, that you’ll have to add the number of vendors to your guest count for catering purposes. But where will they eat? That’s a question to ask yourself early in the planning process.
Sometimes when I’m coordinating a wedding, the bride will arrange a place for me at one of the guest tables. Sometimes, there will be no arrangement at all. On rare occasions, there will be a vendor table.
Sitting with the guests is definitely an option. I always find, though, that I jump up so many times during the meal to take care of something that it is disruptive to my table mates. Depending on the timing of events, I might not even be able to sit down to eat when the guests do. For those reasons, I always advise my clients not to put me at a table with guests. Or, if that is the only choice, it might make sense to put me (and other vendors, who have the same issues) at the end of a long table, a little isolated from the guests.
If I have no assigned seat, I can always find a place to eat, so that is a viable option. As long as you have ordered enough forks and napkins, I can find a chair somewhere out of the way to eat.
But if you have the space and if it’s not expensive to do, the nicest thing to do is to set aside a vendors’ table. It can be in the least attractive corner of the room, near the kitchen, where you would not want to put guests. It will probably need linens, unless it is not in the reception hall. But it doesn’t need anything fancy. Your vendors just need a place to sit for 20 minutes and eat quickly before getting back to work for you.
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