Oct 13, 2014 | Weddings
At 11:00 on a Wednesday morning, the phone rang. A man’s voice, with a distinct Australian accent, said he and his fiance were looking for a wedding coordinator…for that Friday. “Two days from now?” I asked. “Yes,” he said.
The couple live in Australia but were getting married here and they had only been in town for a week. The day before he called, they had discovered that neither the venue nor the caterer nor the decorator would be able to handle all the DIY decor they were doing and they needed a day-of coordinator.
It’s not easy to find a last-minute wedding coordinator in summer or fall. Fortunately, the wedding was on a Friday, not a Saturday, so I was available. Even though it’s a little crazy to take on a project like that with only 48 hours’ notice, I wanted to help them out.
And it turned out great! Scroll down for some of my photos of the decor I put together for them along with some other shots of the room.
Ceremony and reception were at Room 1520. Food for Thought set up the chairs. Art of Imagination did the drapery and lighting. Ipomea was the florist.
I set up the sweet table/candy buffet under the big world map. (You'll notice a map theme.)
My assistant and I also set up decor in the bar area and entryway. Here's a taste.
The wedding cake came from Sweet Mandy B's. Yum!
Here's another view of the sweet table.
After the ceremony, we turned the room over for dinner.
Half the tables had globes as centerpieces.
Each one was unique.
There were also more traditional centerpieces on the other tables. Ipomea did a nice job with them!
Oct 6, 2014 | Budget Planning, wedding planning
Photo by Peter Coombs.
I try very hard to keep my prices reasonable, but I will be increasing my prices to keep up with inflation and increased costs starting January 1, 2015. If you want to book me for next year at this year’s prices, be sure to get in touch with me before the end of this year. If you hire me by the end of December, I’ll be happy to offer you current prices for any wedding or party in 2015. Email me now!
Sep 29, 2014 | 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 full-service 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. Also, on the day of your wedding, you should be able to focus on getting married, not on whether the flowers are delivered on time.
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.
Sep 22, 2014 | Budget Planning, DIY, Weddings
If you have the time and skill, you can go all-out and make a chandelier, as this bride did.
I’m still thinking about DIY weddings, and about when DIY is a good idea and when it is not. One of the most successful kinds of do-it-yourself wedding planning is in the area of decor.
There are some kinds of decor that are better left to professionals. Things like flowers (see my thoughts on that here) and lighting fall in that category. If you want to hang large objects from a ceiling, I would recommend hiring someone for that, too.
But there are lots and lots of things that are suitable for DIY: table runners, table numbers, card box, place cards, photo props, menus, programs, favors. Especially if you are planning unique decor, it may be easier and cheaper to make it yourself, rather than hunting down the perfect item at craft shops, second-hand stores, rental shops, and the internet.
Of course, it takes extra time–sometimes lots of extra time–and a little skill to do it all yourself. As always, plan carefully and leave yourself enough time. You don’t want to end up like a friend of mine who was frantically hand-writing place cards late on the night before her wedding. Plan to have it all done early and get help if you need it.
Sep 15, 2014 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
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 enough in advance so that they will have time to bake. 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. It’s also a good idea to have your volunteer bakers include a list of ingredients with their baked goods so that people with allergies can find out what is in each dessert. 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.
Sep 8, 2014 | Weddings
I just coordinated this very fun wedding at the Adler Planetarium (one of my favorite venues!) It was a gorgeous evening with the ceremony outdoors and reception indoors, all with beautiful lake and skyline views.
The ceremony was right next to this sculpture/sundial, which is the Adler's signature.
Kloeckner Preferred Flowers did the floral arrangements outdoors, as well as the ones for the tables.
The chuppah is all ready for the ceremony here.
Here's how the ceremony looked. How's that for a backdrop?
And a close-up.
Indoors, the tables were beautifully set by the Food for Thought staff.
In case you couldn't see the centerpiece well enough.
The guest book was a hand-drawn tree for the guests to sign with a thumbprint.
Did you catch the sign by the guest book? These people have a sense of humor.
Favors were handmade soaps, made by a friend of the family.
More amusing directions from the wedding couple.
The end.
Sep 1, 2014 | 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 and time, 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. If not, though, you’ll probably want to hire a pro.
You can also do the layout and 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 home 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. If you’re doing 300 invitations, also be sure you have a very sturdy printer. Most of the inexpensive ones won’t stand up to this kind of treatment.
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!
Aug 25, 2014 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
Today’s DIY topic is: Photography. I’ve updated the original post a little here.
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 work hard so they don’t 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.
If you have a friend or relative take photos, they may or may not have the same equipment. Unless they are professionals or truly talented amateurs, they probably don’t have the same skills. And you won’t know until the wedding day if they will be paying attention (and sober) for the whole evening. At some point, a friend or relative is going to stop working and start enjoying the party, which is an option a paid professional doesn’t have.
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 18, 2014 | Day-of Coordinating, wedding planning, Weddings
I do a lot of day-of coordinating, so when I get the chance to do full planning, I’m like a kid in a candy store. Recently, I was fortunate to plan the wedding of two really wonderful men at Cheney Mansion in Oak Park. I was pretty busy that day, so I didn’t get a lot of photos, but these few might give you an idea of what it was like.
The ceremony was on the lawn at Cheney Mansion.
The patio is ready for cocktail hour.
I didn't get a photo of the bar, but it was here in the beautiful solarium, right off the patio.
Dinner was inside the mansion. Food Obsession was the caterer.
Here's the head table. You can see the centerpiece and mantlepiece flowers from Mille Fiori.
Swedish Bakery supplied one of their delicious and beautiful cakes. (Can you see the cute cake topper?)
The DJ was from Toast & Jam, and Stitely Entertainment provided a trio of violin, cello, and guitar for the ceremony. I hope to have professional photos from Agnes Malorny to share with you before too long.
Aug 11, 2014 | Budget Planning, DIY, wedding planning
How many cake plates do you need? Photo courtesy of Artisan Events.
Here’s more on DIY for you.
When you see the total cost of rental dishes from your caterer, 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 might be a really bad one.
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 all your dishes may need to be washed before they are used. That’s 150+ full place settings. Your catering staff probably won’t do that for you without an additional charge, if they would do it at all. And it would be hours out of your life to wash them, even with a good dishwasher. You would also be responsible for delivering all those dishes to the venue on the day of the wedding, or the day before.
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 would have to pick them up from the venue the day after the wedding and take them somewhere to wash them for a second time. And then you’d have to figure out what to do with 150 place settings. That might not be how you planned to spend the first day (or two) of your honeymoon.
This is not to say you shouldn’t buy dishes instead of renting them, but you should think it through all the way to the end before taking the leap.
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