Thank You Card Etiquette

There’s so much focus on the lead up to your wedding day that it’s easy to forget that you will still have wedding-related things to do after the big day has come and gone. The one thing that every newly-married couple must do is send out thank you cards.

• When to send them: The general rule of thumb is no more than 8 weeks after your wedding date. This gives you enough time to decompress, but isn’t so long that your guests will feel like they are never going to get a thank you. You can send them earlier, with some couples choosing to send them as soon as gifts are received, even if it’s before the wedding date.
• Who to send them to: Your thank you cards should obviously go to anyone who has given you a gift, but you might not want to stop there. If a family member or friend was particularly helpful in planning, they should get a card even if they didn’t get you a separate gift. You can also send a card to your vendors who put in extra effort to make your day perfect. Every guest should also get a thank you just for attending and being part of your big day.
• What to send: Most couples choose a thank you card that matches the rest of their wedding stationery. When you plan a save the date and invitation, have your wedding stationery designer produce a thank you card at the same time. This saves the delay of printing later on. You can send different cards, though, and some couples choose to send a wedding photo with a note on the back.

Sending your thank you cards can be a big task, but it helps to see it as a way of extending the enjoyment of your wedding day. Use the time to think about all the special moments that made your day so perfect.

If you need help planning your Arizona wedding, or would like more advice on thank you cards and other etiquette questions, get in touch today!

 

Photo: Flickr/treespacestudio

 

Coping with the Cost of Weddings

You may have seen the news that the average wedding now costs over $29,000. The Knot’s Real Weddings Study showed that in 2013, the cost of weddings hit an all-time high. If you’re planning your Arizona wedding, you might be worried about how you’ll cope with these rising costs. Here are a few ways to handle the cost of a wedding.

Set a Budget

Whatever you can afford, setting a budget will help you stick to it. The worst part of any wedding spending is the part you haven’t prepared for. Knowing what you can afford to spend on all the elements of your wedding — from cake to venue, dress to entertainment — can make planning less stressful and keep you out of lasting debt.

Work with a Planner

You might think that doing it yourself will be cheaper, but that’s often not the case. An experienced Arizona wedding planner will be able to negotiate discounted rates. She will also know the ins and outs of planning, and know where to cut corners if your budget is getting tight.

Don’t Compete

The best way of handling rising costs is to not get hung up on competing with other couples. Creating your own wedding that is perfect for you as a couple can help keep costs down. This means doing what you really want for your big day, not what you feel you have to do because somebody else did it!

If you want more advice about keeping on top of wedding costs, or want help planning your Phoenix wedding, give us a call today!

 

Photo: Flickr / lotsemann

Wedding Themes for 2014

One of the first steps to the wedding planning process is deciding what the theme will be for your big day. The theme you choose dictates the venue you choose, the dress you wear, and how you are going to decorate for your wedding ceremony and reception. Keep your focus on the theme throughout the process to ensure the cohesiveness of your wedding day. Here are the most popular wedding themes of 2014:

http://www.pinterest.com

Vintage

If you are choosing a vintage wedding theme, lace is a definite must. Find a gown with a slight modern twist. The perfect color palette for this kind of wedding is muted. Focus on ivories, grays, rose, and golds that are soft and pretty. A faux canopy is a romantic touch to vintage wedding theme reception and ceremony decor. Floral details should surround you. A traditional style wedding cake with vintage cake toppers perfect for this theme. Adding vintage decor to your ceremony and reception is the perfect touch.

http://www.greenweddingshoes.com

Rustic

A rustic wedding theme starts with the location first. A wedding with a gorgeous landscape (like a garden or vineyard) is the perfect starting point to get ideas for decor that looks like it could be a part of your home or garden. Pretty chiffon dresses in neutral colors will be fitting for this wedding theme. A rustic wedding is perfect for the Arizona desert backdrop.

http://www.greylikesweddings.com

Romance

A romantic wedding theme will always be a trend year after year. Think a gorgeous modern gown with a dramatic twist (fit-and-flare or mermaid), a groom in a black tux, and the bridal party in matching floor length dresses. The perfect color palette will be something regal with gold and silver accents, or light pinks to add to the romance. If you are choosing a romantic wedding theme, spare no expense with the flowers. The perfect venue for this wedding is a ballroom or modern style museum. An indoor wedding is the perfect way to beat the Arizona heat.

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Beach/Lake

A beach themed wedding will always be on-trend. Pull your inspiration for the color palette form the whites, blues, and greens of the ocean or lakes with some bright accent colors. Since this wedding will most likely fall in the summer months, choosing refreshing summer cocktails and refreshments will be perfect for the setting of the beach wedding theme. When choosing your dress, avoid thick fabrics and long trains.

For your wedding planning needs you can give us a call today to learn more about our services.

4 Wedding Invitation Etiquette Mistakes You Might Be Making

Wedding planning is an etiquette minefield, and the etiquette of weddings today is different than what your parents, or even an older sibling, faced when planning their big day. While there’s a lot of things that have gotten looser, there are still plenty of faux pas to be made. Are you making these four common etiquette mistakes?

1. Printed address labels. You have all your invitees’ addresses stored on your computer, but that doesn’t mean you can just print off labels during your lunch break. Wedding invitations should be hand-addressed, as this shows your guests that it’s a formal event rather than a work function. Also, always put a stamp on each envelope, even if you think you could get away with putting them through the franking machine at your office!
   
2. Location-free save the dates. Save the date cards are a popular addition to wedding stationery these days, but they’re more than just engagement announcements. They should give your guests the basic information to begin planning whether or not they can attend. This includes the date, of course, but also the city and state where you’ll be holding your wedding.
3. Including the wrong time. You want guests to arrive with enough time for them to be seated when you get to the aisle, but it’s never right to put the wrong start time. The time on the invitation should be the start of the ceremony. If you want to ensure nobody is late, change the phrasing to include a time for guests to be seated as well as the ceremony start time.
4. Ignoring save the date responses. When you sent out the save the date cards, you may have had some friends tell you they were unavailable on that date. In this case, don’t send them an invitation. While you might think it’s a nice gesture, they can feel bullied into giving you a gift or feel awkward telling you (again) that they won’t be able to attend.

When you work with a great Arizona wedding planner, you can avoid many common etiquette mistakes. To find out more about what we can do to help plan your perfect wedding day, give us a call today!

Handling Unsolicited Wedding Advice

You’re excited about your upcoming wedding. So are all your friends and family. Unfortunately, this excitement often comes out as unsolicited advice about what you should be doing in planning your big day.

Unsolicited advice is never easy to handle, and with the stress of wedding planning, it can be a recipe for disaster. It’s worth remembering that the advice is almost certainly coming from a desire to be helpful. As such, be polite in your reply.

At the same time, though, it’s worth holding your ground. Thank them for their suggestion, but remind them that you have things under control and that their idea might not fit in with everything else you have planned.

Another way to handle unsolicited advice is to tell the advice-giver that you are working with a fantastic Arizona wedding planner. If you’re still looking for the perfect wedding planner, give us a call today!

Are You Leading on Uninvited Guests?

Unfortunately, no matter how big your wedding, you won’t be able to invite every single person you know. Most brides fill their guest list pretty quickly with family and close friends, so it’s unlikely that friend from kindergarten you reconnected with on Facebook last month will be able to make the cut. Even though they might assume they won’t get an invitation in the mail, you still shouldn’t lead them on.

There are a few ways brides accidentally lead on their uninvited friends. One of the biggest mistakes is talking about the huge wedding you’re planning. If you’re chatting in the office about how huge your wedding is going to be, it’s only natural for your co-workers to think they’ll get invited.

Another common faux pas is giving out too much detail. If an acquaintance asks about your wedding and you know they aren’t going to be invited, be vague. Offer up the basics, which is probably what they’re asking for, rather than times and locations.

Whatever you do, be ready to stick to your guns. If somebody can’t be invited, know why and be ready to explain it to them. You’ll be far less uncomfortable explaining it to them before your big day than when they show up and can’t find their non-existent escort card!

Planning your Arizona wedding can be a struggle, and working with an experienced wedding planner can be a huge help. To find out what we can do to help you, give us a call today!

How to Plan a Vintage Wedding

Vintage weddings are a beautiful trend for Arizona brides. Planning one is much more than just adding some lace touches to your wedding decor, though.

The first thing to consider when planning a vintage wedding is what era you want to use as your inspiration. Vintage means a lot of different things, so choosing one era — whether it’s 1940s or 1900s — and sticking to it will make your planning easier.

It’s also worth thinking about how important historical accuracy is to you. You should never forget that your event is a wedding first and foremost, though. Deciding that you want the food to be true to the time period is fine, but don’t feel that you must make every piece of your wedding fit your theme.

You can also plan a wedding that is vintage inspired without having to plan a strict vintage theme. Vintage inspired often means using stylistic elements, but not worrying about applying the style to every part of your big day.

Whatever your preferred vintage era, and whether you want a vintage theme or vintage inspiration, working with an experienced Arizona wedding planner can make the process much easier. To find out what we can do to help plan your vintage wedding, give us a call today!

Celebrity Weddings to Inspire Your Big Day

This year has given us some big celebrity weddings, with a few more highly anticipated nuptials still to come. Even if you aren’t up on all the latest celebrity gossip, looking at their wedding choices can help give you ideas for your own big day.

Several celebrity couples have chosen to go with a country house vintage style. Whether it’s the intimate French style of Keira Knightley or the Gothic inspired wedding of Avril Lavigne, these weddings draw on classic romance in beautiful venues.

Another big trend for 2013’s celebrity weddings has been a return to tradition. White gowns and tuxedos, seated meals and fabulous cakes have been the order of the day for Aaron Paul, Michael Jordan, and Jay Cutler.

When you plan your wedding, you don’t want to copy anyone else’s wedding, whether they’re a celebrity or not, but they can provide plenty of inspiration. To find out more about how to incorporate some of the year’s big celebrity wedding trends into your Arizona wedding, give us a call today!

How Many Guests Can You Expect?

When it comes to weddings, so much depends on your guest list. Your budget will often come down to a price per person, especially for things like the meal. The size of your guest list can also determine the venue you use. One question many brides ask is how many people they can expect for their big day.

When you create your invitee list, not everyone will be able to attend. The reasons can vary greatly, but in general most brides will have around 30 percent of their initial invitees say they are unable to attend.

This can be an opportunity to invite additional people, such as coworkers and distant relatives who didn’t make the first cut. It can also be a way of planning a slightly smaller wedding. (It can be dangerous to expect a lot of unable to attend replies, as there is always the chance that everyone you invite will be free and happy to come!)

You should also make a plan for plus-ones on your invitations. It is customary to invite couples, even if you only know one of them well. However, it is up to you when it comes to the “plus guest” part of your invitation. If you don’t state it, the assumption should be that you are only inviting the person whose name is on the envelope.

The best way to plan your guest list, and get an accurate number of guests, is to work with somebody who has done it many times before. If you’re looking for an experienced Arizona wedding planner, give us a call today!

Is a Receiving Line Necessary

The receiving line at a wedding can easily feel like a chore. The newlyweds and their bridal party have to stand up as all the guests line up to quickly pass and say hello. There’s always an inevitable hold up as a distant relative wants to get into a longer conversation, and by the end, everyone just wants to sit down and have some food. It’s no surprise that many couples are looking to skip the receiving line altogether.

If you’re planning on not having a receiving line, though, some of your guests might feel they don’t get a chance to say hello and give you their well wishes. If you have a large guest list, it can be difficult to get a moment with each and every guest.

The best solution to thanking everyone and having a bit of interaction with each guest is to give a brief thank you and welcome at the start of the meal. This doesn’t take the place of toasts or speeches, but is simply a way of offering thanks for everyone’s attendance. During the first course or dessert, the newlyweds can also visit each table to have a quick, more personal chat with all the guests.

Of course, you can also think about moving the receiving line to a different time in your wedding. An after-dinner receiving line can solve many of the problems of hungry guests getting impatient! To find out more ways to keep your wedding running smoothly, and keeping you and your guests happy, give us a call today! We can help with making sure our Arizona wedding is the day of your dreams!