Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wedding Photography
Wedding Photography was by far the biggest splurge for me. You don't want to cheap out on the one thing that you have left after the wedding! Wedding photography prices have a huge range. From my experience, and mind you, this is only my opinion, there is no statistical data to back this up, but I believe that wedding photography prices average about $2,500.00. I personally paid $3,000.00.
When you are looking for the perfect photographer for your big day, take your time, and look through as many portfolios as you can. I recommend selecting a wedding photographer after you pick your wedding date, so that you can include a professional picture with your save the date.
Now, before I sign off, I need to leave you with one HUGE wedding photography tip!
MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRACT, YOU HAVE THE RIGHTS TO THE PICTURES!!!!
I have friends that have been screwed. When the wedding is all said and done, and you are want to print your pictures, you will have to pay PER PICTURE!!!! Do not make this mistake. Negotiate it from the beginning in your wedding photography package.
When you are looking for the perfect photographer for your big day, take your time, and look through as many portfolios as you can. I recommend selecting a wedding photographer after you pick your wedding date, so that you can include a professional picture with your save the date.
Now, before I sign off, I need to leave you with one HUGE wedding photography tip!
MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRACT, YOU HAVE THE RIGHTS TO THE PICTURES!!!!
I have friends that have been screwed. When the wedding is all said and done, and you are want to print your pictures, you will have to pay PER PICTURE!!!! Do not make this mistake. Negotiate it from the beginning in your wedding photography package.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Wedding Planner??
To hire a wedding planner, or not to hire a wedding planner, that is the question. When I began planning my wedding, I did not even play with the idea of a wedding planner. There was no decision for me. I just thought, who needs a wedding planner when you can save money and do it all yourself. Well, I am not sure if I was wrong, because I have nothing to compare it to, but I think I might have been wrong.
There are two major benefits that hiring a wedding planner brings.
1. The wedding planner has many connections and therefore is wealth of information on where to go for the best vendors and prices. Maybe the wedding planner even has discounts with vendors.
2. The stress on the day of the wedding would be minimized!
Now, to elaborate on theses two points: Here is an example of my logic.
Vendors without a wedding planner cost $10,000.00.
Vendors with a wedding planner cost $8,000.00.
Wedding planner cost $2,000.00.
Logic: Either spend 10,000.00 and have no help, or spend 10,000.00 and have help! With the wedding planner's connections for great pricing, you will make up the difference to pay for the help! Trust me you will want it on the wedding day when you are wondering who is going to set the centerpieces on the tables!
So, I don't know for certain if I would hire a wedding planner if I could go back, but I would at least think about it!!!
There are two major benefits that hiring a wedding planner brings.
1. The wedding planner has many connections and therefore is wealth of information on where to go for the best vendors and prices. Maybe the wedding planner even has discounts with vendors.
2. The stress on the day of the wedding would be minimized!
Now, to elaborate on theses two points: Here is an example of my logic.
Vendors without a wedding planner cost $10,000.00.
Vendors with a wedding planner cost $8,000.00.
Wedding planner cost $2,000.00.
Logic: Either spend 10,000.00 and have no help, or spend 10,000.00 and have help! With the wedding planner's connections for great pricing, you will make up the difference to pay for the help! Trust me you will want it on the wedding day when you are wondering who is going to set the centerpieces on the tables!
So, I don't know for certain if I would hire a wedding planner if I could go back, but I would at least think about it!!!
Monday, October 4, 2010
A few Pictures, More to Come
Engagement Parties
Believe it or not, I did not have an engagement party! I covered pretty much every other base than that one. Although that one is not the responsibility of the bride. I still have to give my mother and bridesmaids their due credit, as they asked me for a list of people I would like to have for my guest list and time just kept moving, and it never happened!
Even though I didn't have a party, you should! This is a time to celebrate! MILK IT! The attention is on you, and you deserve to have party after party!
Traditionally the brides parents should throw the party, but we all know that when it comes to weddings these days, tradition gets thrown out of the window! A close friend, relative, or whoever offers can throw the party.
An engagement party is a great way to introduce the bride's family and friends to the groom's family and friends, and vise vera. Also, it is a great way to take a moment and share wishes and blessings with the future Mr. and Mrs.
CUTE IDEA: Have each guest write down their wishes and blessings for the couple on a notecard. It makes for a great scrap-booking item!
You are excited about being engaged! So, share that excitement with the people you care most about!
Click on the earth to check out a cool site.
Even though I didn't have a party, you should! This is a time to celebrate! MILK IT! The attention is on you, and you deserve to have party after party!
Traditionally the brides parents should throw the party, but we all know that when it comes to weddings these days, tradition gets thrown out of the window! A close friend, relative, or whoever offers can throw the party.
An engagement party is a great way to introduce the bride's family and friends to the groom's family and friends, and vise vera. Also, it is a great way to take a moment and share wishes and blessings with the future Mr. and Mrs.
CUTE IDEA: Have each guest write down their wishes and blessings for the couple on a notecard. It makes for a great scrap-booking item!
You are excited about being engaged! So, share that excitement with the people you care most about!
Click on the earth to check out a cool site.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Destination Weddings
I know that I said I was going to talk about engagement parties, but I need to address something that I forgot to mention in the last blog.
First though, I am going to state it, so that it is on the record. I am going to try to attempt some sort of order and talk about wedding subjects in the order that I approached them with my planning, but I am not going to promise that it will be perfect. I may talk about some things that are more for the end of planning now, and things that are for the beginning later. In fact, maybe I will keep this going forever with COOL ideas!!
Anyways, moving on, I would like to talk about destination weddings. I promise I will address engagement parties soon. I actually started my planning with the idea of a destination wedding. I think my main motivation for this was that I thought that it would be cheaper. Wrong! It can be even more expensive. It all just depends on the type of wedding that you want to have. You could have an extravagant wedding at home or away from home.
I am NO expert on destination weddings, since I went the other way, but it does need be a topic that is covered. Obviously the first thing that you need to think about is whether or not you actually want a destination wedding. Here are some things to consider.
1. Can my grandparents or close elderly relatives make it to the destination that I have chosen?
2. Will I be okay with having a smaller guest list? (for most people this is the case)
3. Will I be able to adequately plan from long distance?
These were the main questions that concerned me while I was making my decision. The answers for me were NO! So, I went the other way. I do think, however that you can plan a wonderful wedding from a distance.
I did run into some package deals, where you could get a cake, DJ, Photographer, etc, for around $3,000.00. Sounds like a deal to me!
First though, I am going to state it, so that it is on the record. I am going to try to attempt some sort of order and talk about wedding subjects in the order that I approached them with my planning, but I am not going to promise that it will be perfect. I may talk about some things that are more for the end of planning now, and things that are for the beginning later. In fact, maybe I will keep this going forever with COOL ideas!!
Anyways, moving on, I would like to talk about destination weddings. I promise I will address engagement parties soon. I actually started my planning with the idea of a destination wedding. I think my main motivation for this was that I thought that it would be cheaper. Wrong! It can be even more expensive. It all just depends on the type of wedding that you want to have. You could have an extravagant wedding at home or away from home.
I am NO expert on destination weddings, since I went the other way, but it does need be a topic that is covered. Obviously the first thing that you need to think about is whether or not you actually want a destination wedding. Here are some things to consider.
1. Can my grandparents or close elderly relatives make it to the destination that I have chosen?
2. Will I be okay with having a smaller guest list? (for most people this is the case)
3. Will I be able to adequately plan from long distance?
These were the main questions that concerned me while I was making my decision. The answers for me were NO! So, I went the other way. I do think, however that you can plan a wonderful wedding from a distance.
I did run into some package deals, where you could get a cake, DJ, Photographer, etc, for around $3,000.00. Sounds like a deal to me!
1st Things First!
It may seem overwhelming when you are first starting out with wedding planning. There are so many things to do, and you have NO idea where to start. Don't worry. Every bride feels that way.
There is no specific formula that you have to follow, but there are some things that need to be done, or at least should be done, before you move on to other things. From my own personal experience, I would recommend three first steps.
1. Choose a date
2. Choose a Venue
3. Get a wedding planner
Now, I am going to elaborate on these three steps. First of all, choosing the date and the venue kind of go hand in hand, as the venue has to have an opening on the date that you have in mind. In order to find a venue, I would recommend looking on some wonderful networking websites. The first is called theknot.com, and I also loved weddingwire.com. They both have MANY MANY resources available for your planning process. Example: Venue options! You can browse through venues and look at other brides comments and reviews. It is pretty cool. I live in Colorado, so for Colorado brides there is a catalog that contains a ton of venues and the price range, which is where I found my venue. The catalog is called wedding sites and services. If you are in another state, I would encourage you to find out whether or not your city offers something like this.
You are not just limited to venues that are designed or cater to wedding. It does make it easier, but there are other options. Many brides use a beautiful backyard, a park, or a housing development clubhouse. So, while you are in your search for a venue, keep that in mind. Paying per head can be expensive, and sometimes it makes it less to go this route.
Next, the date. The way that I selected my wedding date, which was August ninth, 2010 was sort of random, but I went with it. My husband and I started out by looking for dates in August, and then decided that the beginning would be better to avoid our college friends being out of town and back at school, as they would be in the later part of the month. Next we went for a cute date 8.9.10. It happened to be on a MONDAY. Weekday pricing is ALWAYS cheaper, for everything. You will get a discount on vendors, venue, everything! So, if you are willing to have a weekday wedding, I highly recommend that. We liked monday because we had the weekend before it to get ready.
Now, for the third step. The wedding planner. I actually used the wedding planner off of the knot.com. I printed it out and put it into my wedding notebook. Then, as I accomplished things, I checked them off my list. It worked wonderfully. They have the most detailed checklist! You won't forget a thing. The other cool thing about their list is that it breaks it down on a timeline.
I hope that these tips have helped you with the initial stages. Please check back in for my next blog, where I will be talking about engagement parties!!!
There is no specific formula that you have to follow, but there are some things that need to be done, or at least should be done, before you move on to other things. From my own personal experience, I would recommend three first steps.
1. Choose a date
2. Choose a Venue
3. Get a wedding planner
Now, I am going to elaborate on these three steps. First of all, choosing the date and the venue kind of go hand in hand, as the venue has to have an opening on the date that you have in mind. In order to find a venue, I would recommend looking on some wonderful networking websites. The first is called theknot.com, and I also loved weddingwire.com. They both have MANY MANY resources available for your planning process. Example: Venue options! You can browse through venues and look at other brides comments and reviews. It is pretty cool. I live in Colorado, so for Colorado brides there is a catalog that contains a ton of venues and the price range, which is where I found my venue. The catalog is called wedding sites and services. If you are in another state, I would encourage you to find out whether or not your city offers something like this.
You are not just limited to venues that are designed or cater to wedding. It does make it easier, but there are other options. Many brides use a beautiful backyard, a park, or a housing development clubhouse. So, while you are in your search for a venue, keep that in mind. Paying per head can be expensive, and sometimes it makes it less to go this route.
Next, the date. The way that I selected my wedding date, which was August ninth, 2010 was sort of random, but I went with it. My husband and I started out by looking for dates in August, and then decided that the beginning would be better to avoid our college friends being out of town and back at school, as they would be in the later part of the month. Next we went for a cute date 8.9.10. It happened to be on a MONDAY. Weekday pricing is ALWAYS cheaper, for everything. You will get a discount on vendors, venue, everything! So, if you are willing to have a weekday wedding, I highly recommend that. We liked monday because we had the weekend before it to get ready.
Now, for the third step. The wedding planner. I actually used the wedding planner off of the knot.com. I printed it out and put it into my wedding notebook. Then, as I accomplished things, I checked them off my list. It worked wonderfully. They have the most detailed checklist! You won't forget a thing. The other cool thing about their list is that it breaks it down on a timeline.
I hope that these tips have helped you with the initial stages. Please check back in for my next blog, where I will be talking about engagement parties!!!
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