Wedding Planning Blog

This wedding is one of mine from 2006. I was inspired by a butterfly vendor I met last night to post it. Stephany and Vance were the sweetest couple and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. If you like butterflies, you are going to LOVE this wedding.

Thank you to A Magic Moment for the beautiful pictures and to Raining Roses for the stunning decor.

Their ceremony was absolutely beautiful. We were able to start just in time for the sunset. Check out the custom aisle runner with butterflies.

Don’t you just love the butterfly place card holders?

Napkins are a great way to incorporate your theme. Custom-printed napkins are very affordable.

The Ritz-Carlton made the couple a beautiful butterfly ice carving to liven up a food station.

If you have questions on this post or any other wedding-related topic, please leave a post for me here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

Afton from Indianapolis asked me that question during last week’s webinar. Its a great question. Why shouldn’t the men be able to express their sense of style on the wedding day. Normally, I would think its a great idea, but one thought makes me hesitate. How will the photos look?

What looks good in person, can sometimes be very distracting in photographs. When I look at wedding photos, I like for my eye to be drawn to faces. My concern is that if there are too many shapes and patterns in those neckties, that’s all anyone will look at in the wedding album.

You must realize that this advice is based completely on personal preference. I suggest getting all of those neckties together, trying them on and taking a photo. See what you think. If the varying shapes and shades don’t bother you, then go for it!

Check out the Groom’s Guide to Attire on PerfectWeddingGuide.com.

If you have questions or comments on this or any other wedding-related topic, please leave a post for me here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

I can’t recall the last time I put an exclamation point in a headline. That should tell you how enthusiastic I am about these boutonnieres.

Many, many times throughout the years, I have walked up to a groom or groomsman to pin a boutonniere on their lapel only to be met with a wrinkled facial expression and a smart comment about not wanting to wear a corsage. A lot of men don’t like to wear flowers! I have always been in search of really cool, non-floral boutonnieres. A few weeks ago, I stumbled on a website that made me dance in my seat. Check these boutonnieres out.

I spoke with Erin Rosenow, the creative mind behind these gorgeous boutonnieres. She said that she was inspired to create these unusual boutonnieres because she felt that the boys and some girls too, didn’t want to always wear a rose or an orchid. “Weddings always seem so geared towards the bride and I thought something personal for the groom would be really sweet.” Rosenow said.

The price ranges for the boutonnieres vary between $30-$125 depending on the materials needed and Rosenow says she loves custom requests.

“That is pretty much what most of this business is all about,” Rosenow said. “I just finished a wedding where the groom loved this certain cartoon from Japan in the early 80’s so I had to track down something that would work for him. It was tough but in the end they were really happy.”

You can check out more of these cool boutonnieres at http://www.rosenowfloral.com/frittsrosenow/

If you have questions or comments on this or any other wedding related topic, please leave a post for me here or email me directly at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

I met a bunch of wonderful brides from California, Indianapolis, Arizona and Colorado this past week during my webinars. As usual, they had some fantastic questions for me.

Lisa, from California asked: I know wedding vendors take deposits when you book them. Do I need to plan on having 50 percent of my overall budget available now to pay them?

This is an excellent question. Many of you who are planning your weddings are very focused on your budget and not going into debt. Bravo! That is the best plan. Coming up with large sums of money for deposits, however, can be difficult especially if you aren’t planning to use credit cards. Here was my advice for Lisa:

Lisa is planning her wedding for June of 2010, so she has plenty of time to spread out payments. In order to avoid having to layout a full fifty percent of her overall budget right now, I advised her to contract the vendors who can only do one event on her wedding day… her location, her photographer, and her entertainment. Those vendors, once they are booked, they are gone. Vendors like florists, invitation companies, pastry chefs and gown salons, can do more than one wedding in a day, so it isn’t as urgent to contract them immediately and pay deposits.

I encourage all of you to be upfront with vendors regarding your feelings on payments. Shop for all of your vendors early. If you like one of them, but you are not able to make a full 50 percent deposit right away, tell them you need to work out some sort of payment arrangement. Suggest that you give them a small payment to hold the date and then a larger payment in sixty days. You may also mention that you are trying to stagger all of your vendors’ payments so you don’t have to empty your bank account entirely.

Be aware that not all vendors will go for it, but if you have listed your priorities, you will know which vendors you are willing to let go if they won’t work with you versus those that you will have to figure out a way to pay right away.

If you would like more information on planning your wedding budget check out this article on PerfectWeddingGuide.com If you have any questions or comments on this or any other wedding-related topic, please leave a post for me here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Have a wonderful weekend. I understand that I am being taken on a grand adventure. It’s a surprise. I will report back next week when I return on Wednesday. My regular blog will be here Monday and Tuesday, so you won’t miss me while I’m gone.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan