Happy Wedding Planning: Every Bride is a Luxury Bride!

Every Bride is a luxury bride, despite her wedding budget. Because every bride has one, two, maybe three items that are very important to her… and that is were she will SPLURGE and become that luxury bride.

These things are different for every bride, but we have a few suggestions that will give your event that luxurious touch.

Along with more bang for your buck; because after you have purchased catering for 141 guests, pay the florist for 14 guest tables centerpieces & 1 head table centerpiece there isn’t a lot of funds left over for extras….

5 great things to splurge on:

1. Professional lighting- great way to dress up a room, can cost less then other decor.

2. More Music time- for between your band’s sets or an after party for you & your friends

3. More Service- extra waitstaff can really make a great difference to your guests & your reception timeline…

4. Extra Time to Capture Memories-  adding additional time to your photography to capture all those moments & your grand exit!

5. Guest Entertainment- renting a photo booth is a great way to keep the guest going all night, and double as guest favors… more bang for your buck!

There are many great ways to splurge for your wedding day but remember not to break the bank doing it…. Happy Wedding Planning!

www.sweetdreamsweddings.com

Happy Wedding Planning: Best 5 Ways to Save!

When you start planning your wedding you will soon see that there are many options to choose from in each area of your wedding. So many cool little details you can add to personalize your wedding day experience. Again, every couple has to make decisions about their priorities. A good way to gauge how essential things are: Ask yourself ” Will any of your guests notice if we don’t have…”.

The best 5 ways to save!

There are many ways to d this but knowledge is the key… knowing where to spend & where to save!

1.Trim the guest list: the food & beverage costs per person in the largest wedding expense.

2.Have the wedding earlier in the day: a heavy hors d’ oeuvres reception cost less then a plated dinner, guest may drink less, lowering the liquor cost.

3.Skip expensive favors: write them a personal” Thank You” notes instead, or make a donation to a charity close to your heart on behalf of your wedding guests.

4.Cut out the full bar: offer wine, beer & a signature drink. Punch & lemonade are a cost effective non- alcohol options as well.

5.Have a Sunday wedding: Sunday or a weekday wedding really lowers the cost for venues & some vendors.

Hope these 5 tips save you money as we hopefully saved you time! Our next post is all about the best “Splurges”! Happy Wedding Planning!

Visit our website to see more tips and learn what your next step is in planning your wedding..

www.sweetdreamsweddings.com

Happy Wedding Planning: Creating the Budget!

Budgeting is always a sensitive topic! It’s not about your math skills or professionals charging on a percentage basis for their services… It’s about setting up a budget & keeping track of expenses.

This is important to stick to your budget but it is also good to have the room to allow around 10% over for a few splurges. Because every bride is a luxury bride, it just depends on what is important to her.

Now the budget should include contributions from everyone who wants to help with possibly the most expensive party of your life… not about who should pay for what part! But no matter who is footing what bill, everyone should feel included in the planning process… This is a family affair!

So set your wedding budget number & separate that amount by the percentage for each category of your event. Get your proposals & bids so if you do have family who wants to pay for a certain part and not a set amount, they can see what options are available. So if you have your favorite Aunt Sally call you and say she wants to pay for your flowers, you then have that budgeted 5% you can move to another category or move to your honeymoon… or even better save for something else that is important to you both!

So pick your “Top 3” most important category on your wedding day, like catering or wedding gown or maybe wedding entertainment! You can ask the others to do the same that are contributing to your wedding budget! This way you can help to curve over spending & not take on more debt then everyone can afford. We don’t ever want bridal couples starting their lives together in major debt!

When making the decisions about your priorities keep in mind the comfort of your guests, don’t skimp in the  areas that your guests leave your wedding complaining they are hungry, cold or waiting in long lines for the restrooms.

A Guideline to help with setting your budget. Each Wedding is different so you can change the percentages based on your priorities but remember to stay within your maximum budget!

42% Reception (site, food, drink)

8% Wedding Rings

8% Photography

6% Flowers

6% Rehearsal Dinner

5% Wedding Gown

5% Videography

4% Reception music

3% Grooms Attire

2% Hair & Makeup for bride & bridal party

2% Invites & Announcements

2% Ceremony music

2% Church/ Chapel/ Synagogue

2% Wedding Cake

2% Transportation

1% Favors

This will get you started

This will get you started… Come back next Thursday for best ways to cut costs!

www.sweetdreamsweddings.com

Real Wedding: Downtown Modern & Chic

Imagine a downtown four star hotel with modern artwork, chic furniture, fabulous open areas that would make the perfect backdrop for your modern-chic wedding.

The Nines Hotel downtown Portland was our bride’s choice… and it was the best location for her wedding celebration.

The bride chose to create the ambiance for her ceremony in the open forum by adding candle light to mark her aisle & adding texture to the backdrop with 9 foot pluums  she rented from WCEP. Being the area was open she used purple up-lighting on the pillars to dress up the room with her colors.

Here color pallet included purple tones, deep pinks & black… then took it up a notch with adding pewter accents. She also added textures to her decor with feathers, damask prints & pin-tuck linens.

Our beautiful bride personalized her tables with markers that said “love” in different languages.

Both her table markers and her escort cards were hand written by Alesia, of Alesia Zorn Calligraphy.

Her texture didn’t stop with linens or table centerpieces, she brought it in with her paisley cake and different flowered cupcakes by AK Cake Design.

With the large ballroom that she had her reception in we used purple up-lighting to dress the walls and created the couple initials on the dance floor to add that personal touch.

Using great linens, creative color pallet, with textures is the right combination for your modern- chic wedding! Don’t be afraid of using color & creative ways to bring your personality into your wedding day celebration.

Remember the first step to planning your wedding is to give us a call! Happy Wedding Planning!

Don’t Spend a lot of money on your first Business Cards!

When I first started out as a wedding planner, I designed my own business cards on Vista Print they were ok. Then as my business grew I created a brand for my business. I then hired a graphic artist to create my business cards, letterhead, note cards, mailing labels and envelopes, and a website to tie it all together. A few years later I did it all again. With the all the artwork and printing that goes into updating your materials, I’ve spent thousands of dollars. I want you to learn from my mistakes. Your first business card will probably not be your last, so don’t spend a lot of money on them.

You want your card to be neat and professional but it doesn’t have to be a work of art, you want people to hire you not your graphic artist. But it does need to speak of your business and what you do. I’ve seen cards from some wedding professionals who have used very fancy fonts that were almost illegible, don’t do this. Keep it clean lined and simple, be very careful when you select colors; dark backgrounds with contact information in a light color are more difficult to read than dark on light. You want a clean professional look to your marketing materials. I hope this information is helpful to you.

Happy Planning!