I just worked on a very nice wedding a couple of weeks ago, and I want to share some of my photos with you. The wedding was at the Kenilworth Club (one of my all-time favorite venues); Catered By Design provided the food and service; flowers were by Four Finches (another favorite of mine); Martini Lunch provided the dance music; and the cake was from Bittersweet Bakery. I hope to have the professional photos from Studio Finch to share with you in the future.
A professional at work. Photo courtesy of christytylerphotography.com.
There are plenty of elements of weddings that are suitable for Do-It-Yourself projects, and some that are totally unsuitable. When it comes to officiants, you can’t really do it yourself: Another person is required to sign your marriage license, at least in Illinois. The real question at hand is whether you should hire a professional or ask your cousin to get ordained at the Church of the Latter-Day Dude. I have to say that I have been at weddings with both kinds of officiants, and there are advantages both ways.
Professional wedding officiants, clergy, and wedding celebrants all have some training in the art of ritual, which is one of the keys to a good wedding ceremony. They can also elicit from you what you want in a wedding ceremony, and then follow through. They are generally very polished public speakers, who won’t mumble and “um” their way through your ceremony. Many of them are also trained counselors who can do pre-marital counseling, if you wish.
The advantage to having a friend or family member officiate at your wedding is that that person already knows you, will instinctively know what kind of ceremony you want, and will be able to add all sorts of personal touches because of your relationship. If you want a more relaxed feel to your ceremony, having a non-professional officiate might be the way to go.
And, of course, some people are lucky enough to have clergy in the family so that you can get the best of both worlds. If you do, be sure to ask them to officiate at your wedding. They will likely be more than happy to do so.
I just looked at the calendar and realized that it has been ten years since I booked my very first wedding. It has been a long and interesting road since those days. I can say with some confidence that ten years of planning and managing weddings has given me insight into the process that I didn’t have in the beginning. So, here’s a journey in pictures through the last ten years of weddings. Some of my favorites:
Photo courtesy of Artisan Events, Inc.
Photo by Magical Moments Photography.
Photo by Happy Buddy PhotoArt.
Photo courtesy of christytylerphotography.com.
Photo by hannahelaine photography (hannahelaine.com).
Photo by Peter Coombs.
Courtesy of sprungphoto.com.
Photo by Allison Williams Photography.
Photo by Agnes Malory Photography.
Too bad you can’t see the Van Galder bus fighting through traffic in this skyline view! Courtesy of sprungphoto.com.
One of the types of vendors I help clients with the most is transportation vendors. I’ve spent a lot of time researching various options for buses, limos, trolleys, and other ways to travel. One of my favorites is the otherwise unexciting bus company called Van Galder.
This is the company I recommend and hire when clients need to move a lot of people and need reliable transportation. While the company is based in Janesville, WI, they do a lot of business in Chicago.
One of my favorite things about Van Galder is that they don’t mark up their prices for weddings. It’s the same price whether it’s a convention or a wedding. (See my recent post about which vendors are more likely to mark up their services.) You get clean, reliable buses either way.
They also tend to have nice, friendly bus drivers, which is a bonus!
Rental dishes and linens are part of most big parties. Photo by Carasco Photography.
You are planning a big party or wedding reception, so you plan to hire a caterer to make things easier. Your caterer is handling rentals of dishes, furniture, and other necessities, because that makes it even easier for you. But maybe you’d like to know how much you are paying for this convenience.
There are three different ways that caterers generally handle pricing of rentals: pass-through, mark-up, and (for lack of a better word) kick-backs.
Pass-through is exactly what it sounds like: The caterer passes the exact price from the rental company on to their client. Some caterers do this as a courtesy to their customers, and because they make their profits in other areas.
Marking up rentals is a fairly common practice. The caterer adds a percentage or small amount on to the rental bill to compensate them for the time they spend managing your rental order. This is generally not itemized on your invoice.
A few caterers have arrangements with one or more rental houses whereby the caterer receives an amount equal to a percentage of the total rental bill from the rental company. Unfortunately for you, this means that the caterer has a financial incentive to steer you to the more expensive parts of the rental catalogue. You can be sure that no caterer who does this will tell you up front that this is their practice. (I’ve written about this subject in greater detail before.)
So, how do you know what your caterer does with regard to rentals? You’ll have to ask. Good interview questions to ask might be: “Do you mark up rentals? If so, how much is your mark-up?” and “Does your rental company give you any incentives to work with them?” If you don’t like the answer, you can negotiate with them or move on to a company whose answers you like better.
Kids are always the first (and last) ones on the dance floor. Photo by Magical Moments Photography.
I read an article in Salon recently about inviting kids to weddings, and it sparked a long, divisive conversation in a group of wedding professionals. Half the people in the conversation (or more) were of the opinion that children don’t belong at weddings. The rest of us thought the opposite.
The arguments against children at weddings were that they are disruptive to the proceedings and that parents get drunk and don’t supervise their children. As several people pointed out in the discussion, there are some underlying assumptions to these arguments that ought to be considered.
For example, what is your wedding all about? Is it an expensive performance that is expected to go flawlessly, like a stage show? Is the reception a boozy party for adults to let their hair down and get drunk? Or is it an inclusive family celebration?
I would argue that if you are putting on a performance, then you might want to avoid having small kids there. They can be unpredictable and spoil the illusion. If your reception is all about everyone getting drunk, then definitely leave the kids off the guest list. It’s not appropriate to have unsupervised children at a bar.
But if your goal is to have a party where your families and friends can come together to enjoy the company and celebrate your wedding day with you, then it would be very sad to leave the kids out. Sure, one of them is likely to do something unexpected, and some poor parent may be stuck in the church lobby with a wailing baby. But that’s what happens with children, and is no cause to leave them out.
Florists are unlikely to mark up their prices for weddings. Photo by Peter Coombs.
If you’re familiar with Consumer Reports, you probably associate the magazine with reviews for cars and appliances. Every once in a while, though, they do something else. Their June 2016 issue has some reporting on wedding pricing that I found interesting.
The CR team made phone calls to wedding/event vendors in several markets and asked for pricing on two identical events, a wedding and an anniversary party. They found that some types of vendors were more likely than others to have a wedding surcharge. Specifically, photographers and limo companies were most likely to increase their prices for a wedding. Some caterers also have higher wedding prices.
Interestingly, they found that florists, photo booth rentals, and bakeries did not generally have a mark-up for a wedding. (For bakeries, they only priced sheet cakes, not wedding cakes, which are notoriously expensive.) I was glad to read this research, since it matches my experience, as well.
I don’t rush to judgment on vendors who raise their prices for a wedding. In any field, there are always some people out to gouge their customers, but, for the most part, it’s likely that the extra level of service required of weddings is a good justification for higher prices. After all, you don’t want to skimp on service! But this information is helpful to savvy consumers on a budget who want to know where their wedding dollar is going.
You can read the whole article on the CR website.
I’ve worked on more than one wedding that used a school bus for transport.
Weddings and events often have a need to move people from one place to another. At a wedding, for example, everyone needs to get to the place where the wedding is taking place. If there is more than one location, then people need to move from one place to the next. And then everyone needs to get back home or to their hotel.
There are lots of ways of accomplishing these basic feats, from the mundane to the festive. And there are pros and cons to all of them.
At one end of the spectrum, everyone can be responsible for their own transport. At the other, the hosts of the event arrange to do all the moving of people from place to place. Most weddings, I’ve noticed, fall somewhere in between.
Sometimes, especially if there are far-flung venues or a majority of out-of-town guests, the couple will charter buses to get guests from place to place. Often, though, hired transport is only for the wedding party. This is usually one of three things: a limo, a bus, or a trolley. There are, of course, other options: horse-drawn carriage, bicycle taxi, public transit, etc!
If you’re thinking of hiring a limo, you should know that many limousine companies charge a premium for wedding transport. If you object to paying more just because you’re getting married, shop around until you find one who will give you their standard rate. Bus and trolley companies are less likely to charge extra, but it is always worthwhile to ask about their policy.
So, what kind of transport should you have for your guests? That is a decision you can base on practicality (Is it needed? Would it be very helpful?); budget; and your personal taste.
Need a menu printed?. Photo by hannahelaine photography (hannahelaine.com).
When you’re planning an event or a wedding, you might find that you need printing services. If you plan to send paper invitations, you’ll need invitations, envelopes, and reply cards. You might also want to have a program for your guests or a menu at dinner. And you could want signs to direct your guests to the location.
There are many options for all of these items, but some of them are expensive. Traditional engraved invitations, for example, are costly. They can also take several weeks to be printed. But it turns out that the place where you can get inexpensive business cards is the same place where you can get some or all of your wedding or event printing done: Vistaprint.
A recent client of mine used Vistaprint for her invitations, place cards, and signage, and she was very happy with the service–and, especially, with the turn-around time.
The only drawback to the service is the designs. If you like their designs, then it is a convenient service. If you don’t find one to your taste in their gallery, you can upload a design for them to print, but that means that you still have to get the invitations designed. It’s great if you are a designer yourself and can do the work. But if you’re already working with a designer, then you probably also want to use whatever printing services they recommend.
You might not think that a service that is primarily thought of as a business service would be good for weddings and events, but it turns out that under some circumstances, it can be both convenient and economical.
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