Archive for the ‘Traditional Weddings’ Category

Invitation Etiquette 101.

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Some of the most frequent questions my clients ask are in regards to their invitations. Most of the time it is the same questions that every couple has asked before them so I figured I should share them and save everyone some time.

Can I email my invitations? No, in my opinion, under no circumstance is it appropriate to email your wedding invitations. If you are concerned about budget there are plenty of simple, budget friendly options available. If you are concerned with going green, again, there is recycled paper available.

My parents aren’t contributing financially to our wedding, can we still include their names? Of course you can! In most cases your invitation wording can be anything you’d like it to be, even if it includes or omits your parents’ names. Stylist and I chose to simply write “together with our parents” instead of separately listing our parents’ names and that is totally acceptable, too.

Can guests RSVP online? This question is tough to provide a straight-forward answer to. If you are allowing your guests to RSVP online because you think it is easier and more convenient for them, then I say go for it. However, if your 80 year old grandmother is going to be stressed out about using the computer than you can’t expect her to RSVP online. Also, I caution you to make it an all or nothing thing… you can’t have some people mailing in their response and some doing it online, it will cause some type of organizational disaster for you.

How should I handle guests being invited to the reception only? If your are hosting a wedding where not every guest is invited to all wedding-related events I would handle this very carefully. For reception only guests, send them a ceremony invitation and also a card outlining the times of the reception. For guests that are invited to all events send them the same ceremony invitation as the reception only guests and also a dinner and RSVP card. Again, this can be a little tricky so make sure the wording on the reception only card is clear so the guests don’t also show up to the dinner.

Any other invitation questions? I am happy to answer them!

Posted in Advice, Etiquette, Stationery, Traditional Weddings | No Comments »

When and Where to Skimp.

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Saving money and planning a wedding tend to go hand in hand and I understand how difficult it can be to stick to a budget. This is why I preach to prioritize. Decide what elements of a wedding you can’t live without and from there create a realistic budget. How to create a budget is a whole other post but today you’ll learn traditional elements that I feel can be omitted without much notice.

Favors. I have a very strong opinion about them. If you don’t have the budget for a substantial favor skip it and use the money some place it will make a larger impact. Guests will surely not miss the 10 m&ms wrapped in tulle. (yep, I said it.)

Ceremony Programs. If your ceremony is short, sweet and to the point you don’t necessarily need to provide the details on paper. During less formal (used for lack of a better word) ceremonies guests can usually follow along just fine. The one time I would say it’s inappropriate to skip the ceremony program is if the ceremony has customs or activities that most won’t be familiar with. A program will make these guests feel more comfortable.

Ceremony Decor. I advise my clients to think wisely about their ceremony decor. Often times the decor at a ceremony is only appreciated for a short amount of time, even though a large part of your budget may have been spent on it. So,while choosing your decor try and visualize where you can re-purpose the items to make a greater decor impact.

Have you found other ways to prioritize your budget? Please share!

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A Traditional Fall Wedding.

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

As I mentioned yesterday, this week is dedicated to the fall wedding craze, and I am starting off with the traditional fall wedding.

I feel that in recent years, traditional weddings in general are getting a bad rap. So many brides want their wedding to be anything but traditional and I don’t understand why. To me, there is a beauty in keeping elements simple and embracing a style that is timeless. See for yourself.

Traditional Fall Wedding

P.S. From the tech side of things, I am not that skilled at creating inspiration boards (as I am sure you guessed since I hardly ever post them) but I must say, using Style Me Pretty’s Style Circle made the process much more enjoyable!

Posted in Fall Weddings, Traditional Weddings | 1 Comment »

Tips for Toasting.

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Quite frankly, I have seen so many terrible toasts at weddings. You know, the ones filled with embarrassing college stories, rambling on and on and on about complete nonsense, and the ones that completely forget to even congratulate the bride and groom.

Today, I am setting the record straight and providing tips for giving a meaningful and appropriate toast.

1. Unless you are an incredible public speaker I don’t suggest you wing it. You shouldn’t write down your entire toast and read it from a piece of paper but you should take down a few notes to ensure you stay on track and don’t fumble.

2. Make it short and sweet, ideally less than 5 minutes. At most weddings there are many toasts to be given and guests sometimes have a difficult time remaining engaged if one participant carries on for too long.

3. A toast is not a speech. Your time on the microphone is not meant to share embarrassing childhood, high school or college stories. It is also forbidden to mention any previous relationships, no matter how relevant you feel it is to your toast. It isn’t.

4. Focus on the couple. The toast is not about you, it’s about the bride and groom. Face them when you are toasting and remember to congratulate them before you end your toast.

5. For bonus points, if you are the best man, tell the bride she looks beautiful. I just love that!

Happy toasting!

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There is nothing wrong with cookie cutter!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Yes, you read the title right, it is okay to be cookie cutter!

Seriously, how many times have you heard someone refer to a wedding as totally cookie cutter? I have heard it a million times and even out of my own mouth.

After I wrote my style post last week I began thinking about the term cookie cutter wedding, it’s negative connotation, and the whole concept in general. After much thought I began to realize that cookie cutter is a choice and completely acceptable. Our culture has created a mold for what a wedding can look like, so why not use it?

Now, I am not preaching that you should copy someone’s wedding exactly, but don’t feel pressure to make your wedding nothing like anyone elses. Some brides get so caught up on not being cookie cutter that they exaust all of their energy coming up with crazy ideas, but not because they want to but because they feel they have to.

Your planning process should be enjoyable and spent creating a day that suits your style and personality and if it ends up cookie cutter, so be it!

I know some of you may think my concept is crazy, so I challenge you to make holiday cookies this season without a cookie cutter and let me know how it goes!

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