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Almost all of our clients want to personalize something for their wedding, and there are a couple of ways to do this. Of course, just really thinking out the details is a way to personalize your wedding. Picking some appetizers that you enjoyed as a kid, or an entree that you ate when your fiance proposed are two subtle ways to personalize a wedding. Using your favorite color or overall sense of style is another great way, one that more people will usually pick up on.
Then there is the literal personalization of items for your wedding, and there are a lot of options to work with. Personalizing items you will be using during the actual wedding is a great way to “brand” your event. Monograms, your wedding date, first names are all great icons that can be applied to almost anything: cocktail napkins, top of your menus, favor tags or stickers, a large decal or gobo image on your dance floor, or even a design on your cake. Then there are the things that you give to your guests that they will keep forever, or at least you hope they do.
Personalizing something that is taken out of the context of your wedding event isn’t always the best idea, as your guests don’t usually want to use something that has someone else’s name on it. Classic example would be the engraved picture frame with your name and wedding date on it for your place card holder. People don’t really have a need for a frame that is smaller than a 3 x 5, but then to have someone else’s name and date on it really limits its usability. If they had a photo taken of themselves at your wedding and wanted to display that they certainly could, but I can’t really think of another reason to use it. Etched candle holders with your wedding date is another passe idea, candle holders in general tend not to be too great of an option. If you’re having a welcome basket or bag, personalizing the welcome letter is a great idea to help start the branding process, but personalizing the bag itself is costly and usually not as pleasing for your guests.
Examples of personalized favors:
What a great color scheme to work with! As you can see, the darker the evening got, the more vibrant the colors -so fun. Hope you enjoy the photos!
![[I_0144.jpg]](http://www.weddingbeepro.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/i-0144.jpg)
Many brides will splurge more on their photography budget than any other aspect of their wedding. It’s actually difficult to give an average percentage spent, but the industry standard is 10% so I would generalize that to around 8-12%. That being said, some brides will spend 20-30% of their budget on their dream photographer, knowing they will have to make some major cut backs in other areas of their overall budget. The cost of a photographer varies greatly and depends on quite a few conditions:
Creative Fee/Coverage: Many photographers are not creating packages for brides these days. Instead they are offering their services a la carte, starting with their creative fee or coverage of your event(s). This allows the bride to choose their own post-production services: albums, proof magazines, digital negatives, online coverage for guests to view and purchase their own images, prints etc. What’s great about the creative fee/coverage option is it allows the couple to spend their entire photography budget on the photographer, not on all the add ons that come after the wedding. Many brides are waiting a full year or longer to purchase their wedding album to help offset the cost of a more expensive photographer. Some are even foregoing any albums and are purchasing their negatives and printing their own images. To these couples it seems to be more about the quality and relationship with the photographer than all the bells and whistles that a more traditional package will offer.
How much money should you spend on your wedding, and how should you spend it? Probably two of the biggest and most stressful questions a bride has to answer when it comes to planning her wedding. I often educate my clients about how much things cost today, so I thought it would be a good idea to share my advice with everyone.
Everyone will spend their money differently because each bride has different priorities. Some will splurge on their photographer and cut back on their paper products. There’s no right or wrong in this department, you just need to be aware of the costs involved and to always be prepared for extra expenses which always come up.
So on to the first to topic: Venue/Caterer Budget
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I had the pleasure of working with Jen and Erik on their wedding last weekend at the Wequassett Resort on the Cape (behind the scenes post). I actually worked very closely with Jen’s mother, Ronnie, throughout the entire process, never meeting either the bride or her mom before the wedding. We did everything through emails and phone calls, and Ronnie allowed me to design almost everything I wanted, with a few color and style parameters. One of the things I enjoyed most about working with Ronnie was her sense of humor. Kate Mann and I would be laughing out loud almost every time she sent us a new email. My favorite conversation about her flowers was preceded by an email from Ronnie asking for a special surprise for Jen.
Jen and Erik have a dog named Tiegen, a Welsh Terrier. Ronnie thought it would be great to “include” Tiegen in the wedding festivities, so she asked me to create a life-sized Tiegen for the place card table. Better yet, she asked that we used items that would give Tiegen her actual features and fur coloring, instead of a traditional flower topiary. Well, after saying yes, I had to figure out how to make this dog and get her to the Cape in one piece. After many KPW staff members’ hard work and creativity, Jen and Erik loved seeing their dog at the wedding! Here is Tiegen before the ceremony…ahh the things we do for our clients. 
Thanks to the fabulous Stacey Kane for taking the time to get me this image!
Hello everyone! I know it’s been a while since I last posted a blog….it’s getting tricky with the season upon us now. I wanted to show you what we’ve been working on this week for our fantastic client getting married at the Wequassett this Saturday. Here are some photos… we’ll post more as we go along!
Chuppah preparations…. this is a big one!
Here’s another expert’s opinion on music for your reception.
Amy Serrago, of the band Nite-Time in NYC, agrees that if you can afford it, having both the band and a DJ is the best of both worlds!
A live band brings an air of excitement to any event. There is something about watching and listening to live people making music right in front of you that takes the whole experience up a notch, and your wedding is a once in a lifetime event. A professional event band should be able to cover all types of music, but this is an especially great choice if you are into rock, swing, Motown, alternative, and genres generally utilizing live instruments to create their sound. If your fiance proposed to you at a Bruce Springsteen concert, trust me, you’re band people.
Dave Dionne, a DJ in Maine who has been in the wedding industry for the past 23 years has given some great insight to this subject. Here’s what he has to say about the ongoing discussion! Dave Dionne:
One of the great wedding debates is whether to have a band or a DJ at your wedding reception. In either case you’ll want to get an experienced wedding DJ or band! A really good wedding DJ will have quite a few advantages over a band.
Music:
The total number of songs available to a DJ has no limits (especially for those DJs using a laptop computer and having access to the internet). A music playlist for your cocktail hour, dinner and the dancing portion of the reception can easily be put together by your DJ. That means having music customized to your reception reflecting your tastes. Bands on the other hand are limited in their potential song selections. They follow their playlist and are completely limited to the songs they know (and practice) as a band. Your DJ will supply music continuously throughout the reception. Some bands are notorious for their breaks. There’s nothing worse for the party than the sudden silence that accompanies a band’s break!!
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After working on the Cape this past weekend with one of my favorite photographers, Stacey Kane, we were chatting about a few moments in the wedding that we wished I had used some lighting for. The ceremony was under a beautiful Sperry tent at 6 p.m., so although it was still daylight, it was difficult to capture the remaining natural light because we had a “ceiling” over us.
One of my favorite decor elements of the wedding was a life-sized sculpture of the bride and groom’s dog, Tiegen. She was the showpiece for the place card table, and unfortunately she was in a very dark part of the cocktail hour tent and wasn’t given her full glory. So, after thinking about all of the lighting we’ve used in the past, from our studio or from hiring our absolute favorite lighting company, SBL Lighting, I thought it would be helpful to show you some images of weddings that used lighting as an important design element, as well as a few shots without lighting so you can see the difference. Enjoy the images!
Images below by Claris Photography
The reception space in the middle of the afternoon.
More than once a week I get a call from a bride looking for “seasonal flowers,” hoping to be able to save money on her overall flower budget. Every time I field this question, I answer with saying, “Other than peonies, lilacs, and lily of the valley, there really is no such thing as “seasonal flowers.” More and more resources online and in print tell brides to pick blooms in season in order to be budget conscious.
However, florists get their flowers from all over the world, many from South America and Holland. These blossoms include some of the most popular flowers available: roses, hydrangea, calla lilies, tulips etc. These flower farms grow specific types of blossoms for extended longevity and consistency.
Here are some photos of individual flowers and if they have a particular season I’ve mentioned it. Otherwise, you have free reign on all of these throughout the year.
Hydrangea- available all year, depending on color. Antique Green is available in the fall when the nights get cooler, although you can get a hold of it in the spring when it’s a light pink and green combo which is also beautiful. The periwinkles, purples and hot pinks are great in the summer, but are available for the most part year round. Mini green and regular green shouldn’t be a problem either. Photos from Sierra Flower Finder
Blue Hydrangea
Hot Pink Hydrangea
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Kate Parker, New Hampshire
Vendor: Wedding Planner
Website: Kate Parker Weddings
About Me: Kate Parker is the owner of Kate Parker Weddings, a wedding planning and floral and event design studio located on the Seacoast of NH. KPW specializes in simple and sophisticated weddings throughout New England and New York and also provides lighting services, paper products, custom out of town welcome baskets and music entertainment. Kate loves to work with as many details as possible- ribbon banding, monograms, favor tags etc to make each wedding unique and fabulous! She lives in Somersworth, NH with her husband Ryan, son Zachary, and chihuahua Lola. Although she doesn't have much free time, Kate loves to travel, read a good book, and entertain for close friends.
