Destinys Event Planning's Blog

Guest List and Budget

destinyseventplanning — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:53:48 +0000

Now that you have chosen the date and picked the colors and dresses you will need to start thinking or your vision for your wedding or event. Will it be a larger or small affair? Formal or Casual or Evening? Religous or Secular? Traditional or Non-Traditional? You do not have to answer all of these at this point but you will need to answer the one about the number of folks you would like to attend. Make your guest list. I always suggest to my couples that they each make a separate list to start out with. Then pull both of them together so that you can discuss any issues with guests on each others lists. This will cause less confusion and arguments later if you get all of these issues out-of-the-way up front and each person knows who they are going to invite. Communications is key in the planning of any event and Key to everyday life as well. Be honest with your fiance if you don’t feel comfortable with a guest on his list tell him and he should do the same. You may want to sit down with family members as well to make sure that you haven’t forgotten anyone. You may not think this is easy to do but trust me with the stress of all things wedding and events you can easily over look someone without realizing it.

Also, you will need to decide how many people you want in your bridal party. How many bridesmaids? How many Groomsman? Flower girl? Ring Bearer? JR bride and groom? Try to keep you budget in mind when you are doing this as well. The more people you have in your party the more bouquets you will have to purchase and this may greatly affect your budget for this area of your event.

Now that you have chosen those that will be directly involved with your wedding plans you need to ask those people if they would participate. Dont stress over this simply make the call and ask. Most people will accept, but remember that if you would like someone to participate they will have to pay for their dress, shoes, etc so this may be an issue. If you are determined for a person to be in your wedding and you know that they don’t have the funds that will be needed you may want to consider purchasing their items, but then again this could cause issues with other members of the party.

Now decide who is paying for what and how much people are going to contribute. If the bride to be’s parents are taking on the traditional role of paying for the wedding. The bride to be will need to talk to her parents before going out and talking with vendors so that she will know what her parents have to spend. If there is going to be a mixture of different people paying such as bride to be, groom to be, both sides of parents, grandparents, etc. You will need to sit down with everyone and see how much they can help you and then put the number together so that you will have a total budget number for the wedding. A budget is so important in that you can keep track of what you need and have already purchased. It keeps you on track so that you don’t have to spend where you don’t need to spend.

Check out this page on my website that will show you a breakdown of a wedding budget.

http://www.destinyseventplanning.com/planningtools.html

Next will be vendors and the issues that you might encounter.

Picking the Dress and Colors

destinyseventplanning — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:02:03 +0000

Now that you have the date. You will want to find a dress and pick the color/colors for your bridesmaids dress. Keep in mind when you pick this color that you will use this color throughout your wedding and reception. It used to be that you only picked 1 color. Now you can have 2 or even 3 colors as long as the pallets are coordinating. Now that doesn’t mean they have to be in the same color family. It really sounds more complicated than it is. For you dress of course most of us have had a style in mind since we were teenagers. Ok well maybe that was just me. If you do not know what you prefer always start with magazines. Dont jump and rush off to a dress shop until you have some kind of idea what you like. Such as fabric, lots of beading or no, length of train, etc. If you rush to the dress shop whether it be a small local shop (which I highly recommend) or if it is a national chain you will end up feeling overwhelmed by all of the choices and will probably leave with more questions and confusion than when you started. Once you get an idea of what you like then go to the bridal shop and try on a few. Keep in mind that the sales associate is there to listen to what you want so make sure they hear what you are saying if you do not like something. This is important so that you can make sure that you get the dress that you want. Dont be afraid to ask for a different associate if you feel your consultant isn’t hearing what you are saying. It is also important that you take someone with you. However, do not take to many people. If you choose to take a number of people with you keep in mind that everyone will have an opinion and those opinions may not match yours. This may create a more stressful time than is needed. I would suggest that you take your mother and a close friend. Most of you may be thinking how will I know when I have found the right dress. Trust me when I say YOU WILL KNOW. It will knock you socks off and you will just know. It may sound silly but it is so very true. Now, I have had some women actually second guessed their dress once they have purchased the dress and this happens but in then end the majority of them always come back the dress that they purchased in the beginning. So, if you get these feelings don’t stress and feel free to go back to a shop and look again. Try your dress on again also and then make your decision. Another suggestion that I tell my brides is that once you have made the purchase put that in the complete column and don’t keep looking around on the web or in stores at gowns.
Now for the bridesmaids: Lets start with the color. This is really a hard choice. If you don’t have a specific color in mind then you may want to talk to your girls and see what color they like best. However, if you have a favorite color then you may choose to go with that color. I also tell my brides that this is a good time to get your future husband involved in the process. Since most wedding these days have at least 2 colors. Not necessarily in the dress colors, but withing the flowers and decor. Talk this over with him and see what he thinks. If your favorite color is Pink and he isn’t a huge fan of the color, see what color he would prefer. He may suggest a brown. These colors not only look great together you get him out of wearing that pink. He will truly love you even more than he does already. I am not at all saying stick to his answer and nothing else but this will be a good way to get him involved and for both of you to start comprising. This will happen a lot during your planning processes. Especially if there is a tight budget to deal with.
Now for the style of the Bridesmaids dresses. This is entirely a personal choice for the bride. You can have them all matching or you can simply have them all the same color. Some brides who have bigger ladies in their party as well as small ladies they let the girls pick the style and only specify the color. This way you don’t have someone who is uncomfortable. You want everyone to look and feel their best and this may be a way to do that.

I truly hope this has helped in some way instead of adding more confusion to the process of choosing a dress and colors.

Choosing your Date

destinyseventplanning — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:46:02 +0000

If you have recently gotten engaged I know you are all excited. Which you should be and congratulations on the engagement by the way. You start looking for dresses, picking dates, flipping through magazines, getting ideas, etc. Within a week or two you start to feel overwhelmed and don’t know which way to turn. Here are my suggestions to help you clear your head and get you started in the right direction and on the right path to having a great wedding day.

It really doesn’t matter if you have 2 weeks or 2 years to plan a wedding although the time constraints on the 2 weeks will clearly be more hectic. The process is still the same, and unless you plan to go straight to the court house and have no party afterwards there again the process is still the same.

First - Step back and take a deep breath and try to clear you mind of everything.

Now, you will wont to first pick your date. As, with everything Wedding nothing seems to be simple, but try to consider these things. Do you have out of town guests you would like to attend? If so keep this in mind when choosing the date. Also, are their any dates that are important to you or your fiance? Would you like to get married around the time you meet? For my husband and I of 16 yrs, we choose the Saturday closest to his grandmothers birthday since she had passed and wouldn’t be able to attend. Just our little way of remembering her. If you answered NO to the above questions then do you have a favorite month, or time of year? Is someone in your family in the military leaving for duty? These are all great things to consider when choosing the date. If you want to include your parents in this process; Invite them all to dinner and discuss this after dessert. (I would only choose this option if both sides are on good terms. No need for unwanted drama with the stress of your wedding upon you).

Check back next week as we continue the process together.

Topic Ideas needed????

destinyseventplanning — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:21:12 +0000

Let us know what you would like to know more about. We are here to help. We want to talk about the things that are important to you. Just let us know what you need. Each topic idea will be discussed.

Getting Started

destinyseventplanning — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:18:29 +0000

Getting into the blogging thing. I hope it will help those of you that are planning events. New blogs will be posted every week. Have a topic let’s hear it.