Christina Friedrichsen, Winsor, Ontario, CanadaVendor: Wedding WriterWebsite: Intimate WeddingsAbout Me: Christina Friedrichsen is the author of Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style and owner of IntimateWeddings.com. She wrote Intimate Weddings after planning her own 50-guest wedding. She wants other brides to feel confident in their decision to have an intimate wedding – even if their ideas buck convention. She wants couples to feel a sense of validation and to hear about all the wonderful things a small wedding can offer them. IntimateWeddings.com provides brides with a slew of planning articles, as well as a place to find small wedding venues. The Intimate Weddings Blog is chock full of fresh ideas for planning a small wedding, as well as real weddings and a slew of creative DIY wedding ideas that cut costs without sacrificing quality.
An increasing number of couples are opting for weddings with a conscience. Whether it’s by having an eco-friendly wedding or choosing wedding favor donations in lieu of traditional wedding favors, it’s clear that couples are giving back.
Here are some ways that you can use your wedding as an opportunity to give:
1. Instead of traditional favors, choose wedding favor donations. Simply make a donation in each guest’s name to the charity of your choice. Place a card on each place setting letting guests know about the donation.
2. Donate your flowers to a nursing home or hospital.
3. Donate your leftover food to a local food bank. Make arrangements beforehand for the food bank to pick up food after the reception.
4. After the wedding, have your bridesmaids donate their dresses to Operation Fairy Dust, an organization that takes gently used gowns and gives them to underprivileged teens for proms and graduation.
Nancy @ Nancy Liu Chin Designs, San FranciscoVendor: FloristWebsite: Nancy Liu Chin DesignsAbout Me: A San Francisco native, Nancy graduated from the University of California - Berkeley's Haas Business School where she studied finance and marketing. Beyond running her floral studio, Nancy is a huge fan of Top Chef, loves to travel to exotic locations, is an avid reader of contemporary fiction and considers herself on Team Edward (Twilight fan!), entertains friends in her loft style home in San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood, and can be found at SF Giant's home games. Nancy and her husband, Kevin are a dynamic pair and can be frequently seen walking their white Bichon Frisee, Chin Chin around the city and lounging at cafes sipping Italian sodas.
In the next post of the Real Grooms Series, I asked our resident “groom”, Danny Lai, to give his advice on what really matters most during those hectic yet important planning stages of the wedding. Danny tells me that the best advice you can get (regarding what matters most during the planning and the actual wedding) are from people who planned their own wedding. Of course, we all know that each experience is unique and different but it sure is refreshing to hear a male’s perspective. Don’t you agree? Here’s Danny answering the question - What’s important during the planning stage of a wedding?”
Advice will vary, depending on who is giving it, especially depending whether it’s a bride or groom. As a newlywed groom, I learned some important lessons while helping to plan my own wedding, and thought it would be useful to share. These are my opinions only, my simple thoughts on what was actually important to us.
Kate Parker, New HampshireVendor: Wedding PlannerWebsite: Kate Parker WeddingsAbout 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.
Christina Friedrichsen, Winsor, Ontario, CanadaVendor: Wedding WriterWebsite: Intimate WeddingsAbout Me: Christina Friedrichsen is the author of Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style and owner of IntimateWeddings.com. She wrote Intimate Weddings after planning her own 50-guest wedding. She wants other brides to feel confident in their decision to have an intimate wedding – even if their ideas buck convention. She wants couples to feel a sense of validation and to hear about all the wonderful things a small wedding can offer them. IntimateWeddings.com provides brides with a slew of planning articles, as well as a place to find small wedding venues. The Intimate Weddings Blog is chock full of fresh ideas for planning a small wedding, as well as real weddings and a slew of creative DIY wedding ideas that cut costs without sacrificing quality.
Christina Friedrichsen, Winsor, Ontario, CanadaVendor: Wedding WriterWebsite: Intimate WeddingsAbout Me: Christina Friedrichsen is the author of Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style and owner of IntimateWeddings.com. She wrote Intimate Weddings after planning her own 50-guest wedding. She wants other brides to feel confident in their decision to have an intimate wedding – even if their ideas buck convention. She wants couples to feel a sense of validation and to hear about all the wonderful things a small wedding can offer them. IntimateWeddings.com provides brides with a slew of planning articles, as well as a place to find small wedding venues. The Intimate Weddings Blog is chock full of fresh ideas for planning a small wedding, as well as real weddings and a slew of creative DIY wedding ideas that cut costs without sacrificing quality.
Creating the wedding guest list is a breeze for some couples. For others it’s the source of some serious conflict.
The first thing to consider is whether you want a large wedding or one with a more intimate feel. Chances are you’ve chosen the latter and the task of creating your wedding guest list will be a little more challenging. (Can we really leave Aunt Hilda off the list?) However, first think about who you really want at your wedding.
Another factor that will come into play when creating your guest list is who’s footing the bill. If your parents are major financial contributors, then naturally they’ll have more say in who to invite. If you’re paying for the majority of your wedding you will have more control over the guest list.
Some questions to ask yourself when creating your guest list:
- Who are the important people in our lives?
- Is it necessary to invite co-workers?
- Are we including guests simply out of guilt? (i.e. They invited you to their weddings.) Read more…
Sarah Parrott, Rhode IslandVendor: Invitation DesignerWebsite: Parrott Design StudioAbout Me: I am the designer & printer behind Parrott Design Studio, specializing in custom letterpress and screen printed wedding and event invitations, stationery, and paper goods. With a background in non-profit marketing & art history, I began the studio in 2006 in my small apartment in Providence, RI. Since then I have moved to a studio built my fiancé, acquired a Golding Jobber letterpress, & have been happily printing ever since. I grew up in Portland, Maine, and I have always had an affinity for the ocean, mountains, birds, gardening, & the simple life. When I am not printing, I can be found somewhere outside with my fiancé & playful pup.
Love the soft, long waves. My hair can actually do this, so this ’do may be a possibility. Maybe a flower instead of the bow. Though the bow is very sweet. I always wear my hair down, so I will most likely be wearing it down for the wedding. Though half tied-up is a good compromise. Plus, I decided to wear my hair up for my sister’s wedding this July, just to say I wore it up. And it is hot in July.
Christina Friedrichsen, Winsor, Ontario, CanadaVendor: Wedding WriterWebsite: Intimate WeddingsAbout Me: Christina Friedrichsen is the author of Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style and owner of IntimateWeddings.com. She wrote Intimate Weddings after planning her own 50-guest wedding. She wants other brides to feel confident in their decision to have an intimate wedding – even if their ideas buck convention. She wants couples to feel a sense of validation and to hear about all the wonderful things a small wedding can offer them. IntimateWeddings.com provides brides with a slew of planning articles, as well as a place to find small wedding venues. The Intimate Weddings Blog is chock full of fresh ideas for planning a small wedding, as well as real weddings and a slew of creative DIY wedding ideas that cut costs without sacrificing quality.
From Christina: One week after Ashley and Gideon’s wedding, Gideon was deployed to Iraq. He will not be back until the fall.
I was moved by Ashley’s words. They really highlight the true meaning of a wedding. So often the meaning gets buried beneath layers of veneer that we call details. But that veneer is stripped away pretty fast when your beloved is about to go to war.
My thoughts are with Ashley and Gideon -wishing Gideon a safe return to his adoring bride.
Christina Friedrichsen, Winsor, Ontario, CanadaVendor: Wedding WriterWebsite: Intimate WeddingsAbout Me: Christina Friedrichsen is the author of Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style and owner of IntimateWeddings.com. She wrote Intimate Weddings after planning her own 50-guest wedding. She wants other brides to feel confident in their decision to have an intimate wedding – even if their ideas buck convention. She wants couples to feel a sense of validation and to hear about all the wonderful things a small wedding can offer them. IntimateWeddings.com provides brides with a slew of planning articles, as well as a place to find small wedding venues. The Intimate Weddings Blog is chock full of fresh ideas for planning a small wedding, as well as real weddings and a slew of creative DIY wedding ideas that cut costs without sacrificing quality.
The handwritten note is dead. Paved over by pixels. Bludgeoned by bytes. It’s been gone for years. Thrown to the curb like the things found at the back of closets during spring cleaning. Or is it?
According to The NY Times , handwritten typeface is back with a vengeance. Apparently, the word of sleek graphics have left us longing for the DIY approach to lettering. We’ve all seen this trend in the world of weddings too, where calligraphy is all the rage. Heck, you can even turn your own handwriting into a font.
Sarah Parrott, Rhode IslandVendor: Invitation DesignerWebsite: Parrott Design StudioAbout Me: I am the designer & printer behind Parrott Design Studio, specializing in custom letterpress and screen printed wedding and event invitations, stationery, and paper goods. With a background in non-profit marketing & art history, I began the studio in 2006 in my small apartment in Providence, RI. Since then I have moved to a studio built my fiancé, acquired a Golding Jobber letterpress, & have been happily printing ever since. I grew up in Portland, Maine, and I have always had an affinity for the ocean, mountains, birds, gardening, & the simple life. When I am not printing, I can be found somewhere outside with my fiancé & playful pup.
When I begin to feel a big overwhelmed about all the should and should nots of a wedding, I stop and look at these photos and remember what really matters.
Christina Friedrichsen, Winsor, Ontario, CanadaVendor: Wedding WriterWebsite: Intimate WeddingsAbout Me: Christina Friedrichsen is the author of Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style and owner of IntimateWeddings.com. She wrote Intimate Weddings after planning her own 50-guest wedding. She wants other brides to feel confident in their decision to have an intimate wedding – even if their ideas buck convention. She wants couples to feel a sense of validation and to hear about all the wonderful things a small wedding can offer them. IntimateWeddings.com provides brides with a slew of planning articles, as well as a place to find small wedding venues. The Intimate Weddings Blog is chock full of fresh ideas for planning a small wedding, as well as real weddings and a slew of creative DIY wedding ideas that cut costs without sacrificing quality.
If you’re having children at your wedding, you might want to consider a designated kids’ table, complete with babysitter. (Read this if you’re considering not having children at your wedding).
It doesn’t have to cost a bundle to keep the little ones entertained. Some ideas include:
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