Is A New Year’s Eve Wedding A Good Idea?

We just started 2013, but that doesn’t mean someone out there is looking to plan a New Year’s Eve wedding for this year. But is it a good idea?

A New Year’s Eve wedding can be a blast. It’s hard to imagine anyone not having a good time with all that good cheer going around. Symbolically, what could be better than starting the year off with your new status? On the other hand, it’s not a wholly positive thing. If you’re thinking of having a New Year’s Eve wedding, make sure you consider some of these issues.

Vendors and venues may not be available, and those who are available will probably be more expensive. During most of the year you’re only competing with other brides and grooms for dates, but on New Year’s Eve there are many more opportunities for professionals. They need to charge a premium for their services.

Time of day If you’re getting married on New Year’s Eve your party has to last until after midnight. If you were already planning on having a nighttime wedding, that’s not a big deal. But, if you wanted a more casual, earlier event, you’re out of luck. If you want to start the wedding early enough for older relatives and those with kids to enjoy, then you’re talking about an extra long reception.

Anniversaries You will never in your life be able to celebrate your anniversary with something that’s both special and affordable. On the plus side, you will never forget your anniversary.

Guests This depends on who your friends are. Some may be psyched that you’ve saved them the cost of planning a big New Year’s Eve out. Some may be aggravated that you’ve decided how they should celebrate New Year’s Eve. Some people will already have the time off of work, others may find it impossible to get the time off.

Planning time Depending on your job, you may automatically have the week before your wedding off and not need to take vacation time. At the very least, you’ll have the day after your wedding off. Unless of course, you’re in the service industry, in which case, good luck with that. Keep in mind, too, that if you’re planning a normal sized wedding with the standard fixings it will take longer to plan. That’s because of our first point about vendors and venues. You’ll need to get the date locked in early.

What do you think? Are you a fan of New Year’s Eve weddings? Tell us in the comments.

 

(Reblooged from GroomsAdvice.com)

Bride’s Biggest Budget Buster…

I’m always looking to help my clients save money without sacrificing style. Getting the biggest bang for your buck on wedding day comes by combining the ceremony and the reception. Not only is it easier on your guests (particularly if they are mostly from out of town), but it can save a bride BIG bucks! Most venues are prepared to handle both the ceremony and reception for your big day. Here’s a quick list of how this simple, convenient decision can save you some real money!

*Floral decor can be reused for both the ceremony and reception

*Transportation costs reduced for both you and your groom, as well as your guests

*Shortened time frame for photographers, videographers, and event planners with fewer travel expenses.

*Avoid the rental fee of a church, or other location for the ceremony

*Uplighting and staging can also be reused for both the ceremony and reception

 

(Reblogged From Circle City Designers)

Planning A Wedding…While At Work

Wedding planning might be a full-time job, but chances are you’ve also got that other full-time job — you know, the one you had long before he put that ring on your finger. Even if you’ve hired a hands-on wedding planner, you probably still need to decide on some things yourself. How to deal? Plan for some serious, um — let’s call it multitasking. Here’s how to find the time do it all without winding up in hot water with your boss.

When to Do What

Finding Vendors: Daytime 
Researching vendors online — checking out sites or reading other to-be-weds’ recommendations — is an obvious one for that spare five minutes before you have to run into a meeting. One caveat: Make sure the volume on your computer is turned off, or at least way down! If a digitized version of “Wedding March” starts blasting, you are so busted.

Finding Inspiration: Daytime
Here’s another instance where the Internet is your best friend — browse for gowns, bouquets, and more online. You’re more likely to have an aha moment the more you see, so spending time online is a good way to get through the doldrums of your work day (like mid-afternoon, when lunch is ancient history and it feels like the end of the day is never going to come).

Know your priorities

Sure, you might need to finalize the guest list today, but don’t do it at the expense of a huge work project. In the long run, you’re much worse off compromising a work deadline than a wedding one.

Visiting Vendors: Free time
Unless you’re just doing a drive-by to check out their digs, keep actual vendor visits to your days off or weekends.

You’re going to want to visit most vendors as a tag team, so you’ll need your fiance with you. More importantly, if you really like the vendor, you can talk much longer without worrying about going over your lunch hour. Better to play it safe and plan visits for when you know you don’t have work commitments.

DIY Stuff: Nighttime
Did you really think you’d be able to assemble programs at your desk? Or that your boss won’t notice you printing out 200 favor cards on the color printer? Wedding projects (like tying the bows on all those favor boxes) are definitely a nighttime activity — kick back with a glass of wine and a DVD of the last season of Grey’s Anatomy while you fold 300 sheets of vellum.

Making Lists: Anytime
Playlists, guest lists, and even to-do lists — whether you manage them online or on paper, keep these at your fingertips so whenever you think of something, you can update them.

3 Tricks for Not Getting Caught

Stay on Task

You want to fly under the radar — if it’s blatantly obvious that your work time has become wedding time, you risk the wrath of your coworkers or even worse, your boss. You can’t let wedding planning take up your entire day, but you can definitely let it replace time you would have spent instant messaging. The key: Stay on top of your normal tasks and goals, and don’t let planning affect your performance.

Go Online

Do not, we repeat, do not bring your wedding binder to work. A notebook full of decor ideas and fabric swatches is way too obvious (unless perhaps you’re an interior decorator). Leave the real deal at home and add ideas to a digital notebook (like the one on TheKnot.com) at work. You can save articles, photos, and gowns you like — and remember, if you really need something you can actually hang onto, you can always print out the pics.

Watch Your Back

It should be obvious, but use your best judgment when it comes to planning your wedding while you’re supposed to be working on your work (you know, the stuff they’re actually paying you to do). Don’t leave a wedding-related web page or document on your screen if you have to step away from your desk — close or minimize it. And keep more than one window open so if someone comes by it’s easy to tab over from your reception site’s floor plan to something more legit.

4 Ways to Max Out Your Free Time

Your Commute

In the subway? Read wedding magazines or go over your lists. On the train or a bus? Use a laptop or Blackberry to email or surf the web wirelessly or, if it’s not too loud, make a few quick check-in phone calls with vendors before their day gets too busy. Driving? Use the voice notes feature on your cell phone to record any sudden bursts of inspiration. No matter how you commute, use your iPod or CD player to preview potential ceremony or first dance tunes — you’d feel lazy sitting around your house doing it, but if you’re stuck in traffic, why not crank up Pachelbel’s Canon in D?

Your Lunch Hour

Plan to devote at least a few days a week to vendor phone calls. The key is to plan out your conversation beforehand and make a list so it can be swift and tactful. That way, you’ll still have time to enjoy that grilled chicken salad.

Your Workout

Don’t just watch CNN scroll by while you’re pedaling away on a stationary bike. Instead, use some of the time for wedding-related reading (for example, print out a bunch of ceremony or vow ideas to read over). If you go to the gym at the end of the day, that’s a good time to read back over your to-do lists, check off what you’ve completed, and jot down notes for what you need to do next.

Making Dinner

Whether you’re waiting for the oven to preheat or unwinding while your fiance does the work, use the time in between prep work and mealtime to hop online. A watched pot never boils anyway, right? Hit the message boards, Real Weddings, or gown search on TheKnot.com and make that spare 5 or 10 minutes count.

3 Things to Watch Out For

Limit Your Sources

If you’re asking your coworkers for a bit of wedding advice — even something simple like, “Do you like periwinkle better than peach?” — make sure they’re on your invite list. The more a work pal feels involved in your wedding, the more she’ll feel snubbed when that big square envelope doesn’t arrive. The exception: if you’ve already made it clear your guest list is going to be limited.

Get Your Apology Accepted

You’re running late handing in an update on a project, your boss comes over to check on you, and — uh-oh — you’re on TheKnot.com message boards. How do you deal? First, fess up. In this case, honesty is the best policy. Tell her the project’s actual status, and say that you just needed a minute to clear your head before plunging back into your work. Then try not to let it happen again. If you arouse your superior’s suspicions, you’ll be monitored that much more closely.

Protect Yourself

Look up your company’s policy for computer use. No employer wants you to use your computer for personal reasons, but what you need to check out is just how extensively your online activity is monitored. If it seems like Big Brother is watching, you may need to scale back your at-work wedding planning — but don’t worry, you’ll still find a way to get it all done.
(Reblogged from The Knot)

Insight Into Vendor Pricing

Today, I thought I would just provide some clarification and insight into things regarding vendor pricing that I never knew about or understood when I was a bride…

Pricing: This is the big thing, because I don’t care how much money you have, you want to get the best price on everything. I thought it when I was a bride and I’ve heard many other people voice the same- “Why is everything SO expensive for a wedding?” Simply put- weddings are people’s jobs. It’s their livelihood and what puts food on the table. Prices that you are given are what the vendor has decided they need to charge to make a living- not all of the money that you pay vendors goes into their bank accounts to stay forever. That being said, vendors’ prices can vary because of QUALITY. It could be the quality of flowers, the quality of chivari chairs, the quality of equipment, or the quality of the service you’re getting.

Service fees: “Why the heck do they need an extra fee? That’s ridiculous.” A service fee covers costs for vendors. If they have any employees, that pays them. It covers any extra costs and materials for your wedding- like floral foam for your centerpieces, or tape to tape down electrical cords for your DJ. It’s there so you’re not being nickel and dimed for every little thing– because ultimately that wastes your time and the vendor’s time.

 

Delivery: Simply put, it covers gas for a vehicle to get to your wedding and deliver everything. If a truck or van needs to be rented, the delivery price covers that as well.

 

Tax: If you are getting anything that is an “object” you have to be taxed. Flowers, rentals, linens- the rule of thumb for me is if you can hold it, it’s taxed. (A service like planning is not taxed, because it’s all just paying for time.) You go to the store and buy anything- food, a dress, shoes- and you know that it’s not going to be exactly the same price that’s listed on the price tag. Unfortunately that’s how it is with everything, weddings included.

I could go on and on, but these are the general things that I myself had no clue about. I hope I was able to clear some things up for some of you! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! 🙂

How To Have Great Vendor Relationships

 

Let’s talk vendor relationships! A great vendor relationship is all about communication and trust. Sounds like we’re in couples therapy, right? But it’s true! You spend a lot of time with your vendors- some more than others- and communication and trust are the keys to having a great relationship with them! So here are some tips for having great vendor relationships!

Respond! Whether you’re emailing or calling with an inquiry or you’re trying to schedule a meeting, responding in a timely fashion is always great.   

Understand! At the same time, understand that not all of your vendors are going to be sitting in front of the computer waiting on emails all day. Often times, they’re out and about, going to meetings, prepping for weddings, and working at weddings. Give someone a day before freaking out about them not responding… and if it’s the weekend, give them until Tuesday, since many vendors take Monday off after a weekend of work! 

Communicate! It’s important to communicate your expectations and needs. Of course, it helps to start your vendor relationship with the communication of these things, but sometimes your needs will change along the way. If you change your mind about what flowers you want, your wedding style, or anything at all really, SPEAK UP! Your vendors can’t read your mind, so be sure you speak it! They all want you to have an amazing wedding too!! 🙂 

Spend Time With Them! It’s a good idea to spend some time with the vendors that you’re going to spend lots of time with- like your planner, your photographer, videographer, etc. If they’re going to be there on your wedding day with you, spending time with them will ensure that you’re comfortable with them, which will in turn yield a better wedding day for you. 🙂

 

Respect! Haha, this really is starting to sound like couples counseling isn’t it? 😉 Just as you want your vendors to respect you, be respectful of them as well. Respect the time that they have set aside for you for meetings, their hours of business (a.k.a try not to text them at 10pm), the role that they have in your wedding, and that they also have a life beyond weddings. It seems like common sense, but sometimes it’s not always remembered. 🙂 

Trust! You’ve hired your vendors for a reason. Trust their opinions and their expertise. When they tell you that your ceremony needs to take place at X time because the sun is setting soon after, go with that, despite what you thought. They’ve done weddings way more than you have, so they know what’s best. In fact, use their expertise to your advantage! There’s no reason to stress out about a certain decision- they might be able to give you some insight to help you decide! 🙂 

I truly believe that one of the best ways to have an excellent wedding is by having great vendor relationships- almost like being on a “team”.  I hope this insight will help some of you have great relationships with YOUR vendors, and thus, have GREAT weddings! 🙂