Wedding Planning Blog

This past weekend I had a wedding in Savannah, Georgia. It was at the Mansion on Forsyth Park. It is a gorgeous property with a beautiful outdoor courtyard where couples love to tie the knot.

Outdoor weddings are very popular, particularly here in the South. The drawback is the weather. You cannot possibly predict exactly what the weather is going to be like. There are some months that are better than others in every city, but strange things happen.

Friday was beautiful… a little warm and humid, but that isn’t unusual for Savannah. Saturday morning was beautiful and a bit cooler (that was a definite warning). Saturday afternoon, was completely over cast with predictions of rain and tornado watches. UGH! This is the least favorite part of my job; making the rain call.

The rain call is easy when it is actually raining. But overcast skies are a nightmare for wedding planners and ceremony sites. We never want to disappoint the bride, but we have to protect the guests as well. Over the past sixteen years and the hundreds of outdoor weddings I have done, I have been put in a few bad spots.

One year we had a wedding at a resort in Orlando. The skies were gray, the radar predicted all kinds of storms, so finally the bride agreed to move the wedding inside. Guess what? It didn’t rain - not one drop! One of the groomsmen actually came up to my staff to ask if we could hose down the courtyard with water so the bride would think that it had actually rained. They were afraid of how she would react to the bone-dry ceremony site. Well, we didn’t soak the courtyard. The bride was disappointed, but she kept it in perspective. She took photos in the courtyard and all was well.

Another time, my bride insisted that the wedding take place outside, in spite of the fact that it had been raining all day. It stopped for a while and the sun came out (which, if you know anything about Florida, you would know that the sun turned all that rain on the ground into a steam bath), and she insisted we stay outside. The guests were not happy. It was unbearably hot, and we were surrounded on all sides by storm clouds. The bride made it down the aisle to the alter and the sky opened up. It rained like someone was dousing the ceremony site with buckets of water. Guests were running, and decorations were blowing away. It was terrible.

It was from that time on that I started preparing my brides from the moment that they choose an outdoor location, that they may have to relocate inside. I always tell them that I will do everything in my power to keep them with plan A, but must have a good back up plan B as well.

When we choose our ceremony decor, we choose it with the backup location in mind. When we make a photography list, we do it with the back up location in mind. Every step of the planning process keeps plan B in mind. It helps when the wedding day rolls around so that the bride is not as disappointed. Usually the bride is quite cooperative when I come to tell her that we have to move inside, because she has a vision of what it will look like already — plus I keep my ceremony doused with buckets of water in my back pocket at all times.

Fortunately, for my beautiful bride Courtney at the Mansion this past weekend, the courtyard was covered by a tent, and the staff was so helpful that they offered to cover the guests with umbrellas for the short leap between the lobby and the tent. We were all prepared for the rain. And guess what? In spite of the horrible clouds, it didn’t rain!

I have a beautiful wedding coming up in two weeks at the Portofino Bay Hotel here in Orlando. We are working on all of the final arrangements — including the wedding party agenda.

Nearly ever time I work a wedding when we fall behind, it isn’t because of a vendor, the bride, or her family… no, it is usually because of the wedding party. Giving your wedding party an outline of the weekend is key to making sure things happen on time, and honestly I think the wedding party appreciates it as well.

Here are my top things that I include in that agenda:

1. Rehearsal Time. It is so challenging to get the entire wedding party together for the rehearsal. Everyone is busy reconnecting with old friends and having a good time that they don’t want to be interrupted. Give them advance notice as to when they are needed, and if you are really smart, the time you give them will be fifteen minutes prior to when you want them to be there.

2. Hair and Makeup Appointment time. No one wants to be first to get ready on the wedding day, so I suggest making it a bit of a party. Plan a nice, simple breakfast or lunch for the girls in your home or hotel room and have them do their hair and makeup there, all together. If you want a real treat, hire a professional to come and do everyone’s hair and makeup. You will be able to relax together and have fun while getting ready.

3. Boutonnière Time. give the groomsmen and ushers a specific meeting location and time to get their boutonnières. I suggest setting this time for no later than a half hour before photos are to begin… and adding in that extra fifteen minutes isn’t a bad idea for them as well.

4. Must Be Dressed By Time. Girls love to procrastinate putting on their dresses. They spend every last second making sure their hair and makeup are just right. Let them know they need to be dressed and ready no later than twenty minutes prior to the photographer arriving (if you are taking pre-wedding photos). When I give that time frame, the girls are usually ready by the time the photographer arrives.

5. Guest Arrival Time. I like the wedding party to be informed as to when guests will begin to arrive. It ensures the ushers will be at their places ready to seat guests and it gives the others in the wedding party a “last call” time for fixing makeup and using the restroom.

6. Post-Wedding Photo Time. Make a list of who is needed for the post wedding photos and make sure they get a copy of the time line. This will save a lot of time during the photo taking because you won’t have to track people down. The sooner the photos are done, the sooner you can join the cocktail hour.

7. Toast Time. Do your nervous best man a favor and let him know when he is going to be on stage.

8. Bouquet and Garter Time. You don’t want your wedding party in the restroom during this event!

9. Grand Exit Time. You definitely want your wedding party around to see you off.

10. Actual Event End Time. This one is a little bit selfish. If your event ends before the crack of dawn, you may want to continue the party with your close friends. If they know when the main event is over, they can get together and plan more fun at an informal “after party.”

If you provide all this information for your wedding party, they will have no excuse for being late. With everything running smoothly and on-time, there will be no excuse for you to turn into “Bridezilla!”

It’s the morning of another event Saturday. Early this morning I received a text from my client asking how much she should tip the caterer.

This is a very common question… who should I tip and how much? This is a very subjective question. I know how hard wedding vendors work to ensure a smooth and happy wedding day. I always suggest tipping, particularly if you feel that you received extraordinary service.

Who should you tip? Potentially everyone — Catering managers, servers, banquet captains, bartenders, the bellmen, photographers, videographers, floral designers, wedding planners, entertainers, everyone who works on the event.

How much? That is largely dictated by budget. Even a small tip is appreciated. It shows that you recognize a job well done and an extraordinary effort. I have seen tips of $20.00 to more than $1000.00.

My feeling is that the most important part of the tip is the thank you note. Take time to write a little note to each vendor you know personally to thank them for a job well done.

I’m going to share one of my little secrets with you… I like to give out tips prior to the wedding taking place. Before the reception begins, usually during setup, I take my clients’ tips and thank you notes and hand them out to each vendor privately and tell the vendor that this is a gift from the family in anticipation of a beautiful wedding day. I find that this makes the vendors even more eager to please. I have never had an instance where the family regretted the tip later. If you don’t have a wedding planner to do this, give the job to the best man. Traditionally, it was his duty to hand out gratuities.

So, when it comes to your wedding vendors, think generously… Not just with money, but with praise and thanks. It will go along way to making a spectacular wedding celebration.

Destination Weddings seems to be a topic on everyone’s minds. We at Just Marry! have seen a big increase in destination weddings here in Orlando and outbound as well.

A college student writing an article for Boston University just contacted me to ask me questions about the pros and cons of planning a destination wedding. As soon as the article comes out, I will link to it. Anyway, one of her questions was, is a destination wedding less or more expensive than a traditional wedding.

That is an interesting question!

My associate Aimee Bressler handles most of our inbound Orlando destination weddings. Her brides typically have fifty guests or fewer. Many of her clients say that they decided to do a destination wedding specifically so they don’t have to invite 250 guests to attend. Some of them do it for budgetary reasons, others do it because they don’t want to be “on stage” on their wedding day.

Aimee’s clients typically spend between $3000.00 and $12,000.00 on their entire wedding. That certainly seems like a big savings over an in-town traditional wedding.

Michele Butler and I typically handle the outbound destination weddings and the large in-bound destination weddings. Our clients for outbound weddings typically have ten to 100 guests and spend starting at $40,000.00. That’s a lot of money for ten people! The reason these couples do it, usually has something to do with sentimentality. They want to be married in a place that is very special to them and they want to share that place with their guests.

Our inbound destination weddings spend anywhere from $40,000.00 to $150,000.00 or more. These weddings typically have 150 guests or more. These couples usually say they marry here because the guests live all over the country, or all over the world, and they wanted to have their wedding in a location that was easy to travel to and had lots of things for their guests to do.

So, can you save money planning a destination wedding? Absolutely, but you have to plan carefully!