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The cause of a lot of confusion, brides are looking for more than just table centerpieces theses days. Lighting, linens, lounge furniture, specialty candles, outdoor decor, the list goes on and on. Because of the growing complexity of wedding design I think there should be some clarity to how much should be spent on your flowers vs. your floral and event design. In general I would still allocate 8%-10% of your total budget to your flowers. This should include:
You don’t need to include all of these flowers on your wish list, but it shows you all of the possibilities. In terms of your budget, expect to spend around 50% of your total flower budget on your centerpieces. Depending on the number of members of your bridal party, your personal flowers can really eat into your budget as well.
Here are a few photos of examples of the more classic flower proposal and what you should expect for services:
Photo by Blush Imagery
Want to open a can of worms? Tell people you want a “no children wedding”. You’ll get a few supporters, but others will secretly scorn you. Namely, the ones on your guest list who can’t imagine leaving their little ones with a babysitter.
Having a kid-free wedding is one way to scale back the guest list for a small wedding, but be prepared for criticism. Judging by the comments on some bridal forums, there are some pretty strong opinions about kids and weddings. Some can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t allow kids. They argue that it’s anti-family not to invite children and that weddings are all about family. Others can’t comprehend why anyone would want little ones underfoot at such an “adult” event.
We had kids at our wedding. Mind you, there were only three – but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. That said, I understand why some couples opt for a “no children wedding”. Couples generally spend months orchestrating their weddings – not to mention saving for them. Along comes one tantrum throwing toddler, and “kaboom!” perfection is destroyed – especially if it happens during the vows.
Kids are unpredictable. They cry. They make messes. They bump into things and are known to stick their fingers into places that they shouldn’t (e.g. cake, nose, you get the picture.) But oftentimes, they’re also surprisingly well-behaved during special occasions and can add a lot to your big day.
If you are sure you want a “no children wedding”, how do you ensure that your adult guests won’t bring their offspring?
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:
When you’re choosing an officiant (be it hiring a wonderful celebrant, or asking a dear friend or family member to lead your ceremony), it’s important to make sure that they can legally officiate your marriage.
Case in point: when my mom and stepdad got married (ten years ago this November!), my stepdad was in charge of finding the rabbi. They met with him once before hand, and my stepdad decided that he was the one! When he showed up for the wedding - well, we’re pretty sure he had been drinking. During the ceremony, he went on and on about my parent’s May/December romance (uhm.. they’re less than five years apart!), and was just generally strange.
A sweet beginning to the ceremony.. walking my mom down the aisle.
My mom says that immediately after the ceremony, she and my stepfather retreated to a room to be by themselves for the yichud, a Jewish tradition. The rabbi knocked on the door and asked them for the check! “Made out to Cash, please,” he also asked.
Rehearsal dinners are always a blast. More low-key than the wedding dinner the next day, everyone’s super excited for the upcoming nuptials, and it allows the bride, groom, bridal party, and parents to have some quality time to relax, eat some good food, and have a fabulous time before the big day!
But sometimes people forget about the actual purpose behind the Rehearsal dinner – the rehearsal! It’s an important element of the wedding ceremony, and can really help to alleviate stress on the day of the wedding.
I don’t always suggest having a rehearsal – if you’re having a very straightforward wedding ceremony (no rituals or ceremonies in the ceremony itself, a minimal wedding party, no music changes or cues), it’s not always necessary. But I do recommend having a rehearsal if you have more than three people on each side of the wedding party, children involved in any way, shape or form, or any rituals or traditions that you may want to practice. It’s also a great way to have everyone in the wedding party get to know who everyone else is on the day of, which can make everything run really smoothly on your wedding day.
The whole bridal party! The people standing were “honored guests,” like grandparents and parents, who walked down the aisle and then were seated.
I love these sewn DIY wedding programs by Merriment. But I do not sew. I envy people who can sew.
A couple of years ago I went out and bought myself a really cheap sewing machine from Canadian Tire.
Before we met to discuss their ceremony, Sarah sent me a basic outline that included the elements and people that she and John knew they wanted to include in their ceremony. I melded this with my basic outline for structure, and so, going into our first meeting, I had a very good idea of what their ceremony was going to be like.
Here is the outline Sarah sent me:
Processional.
Circle of Love:
The bride & groom’s siblings and their family members will walk down the aisle, and place a flower along the edge of the circle, forming a Circle of Love that the couple will be married in.
Groom will enter with his parents.
Bride will enter with her parents.
Welcome Message.
Readings.
Three total.
Tree Planting Ceremony.
Blessing & Exchange of Rings.
Closing Remarks, Declaration of Marriage, & Kiss!
And here’s the outline that I brought to our meeting:
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.
Leah, 34 & Scott, 33
Alberta, Canada
Wedding Date: January 12, 2008
Number of Guests: 35
Wedding Cost: $5,000 including 7 day honeymoon backpacking in Cuba
Wedding Ceremony Location: Scandia Lutheran Church, Armena, Alberta
Wedding Reception Location: Ramada Inn, Camrose, Alberta
![[danny+web3.JPG]](http://www.weddingbeepro.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/danny203.jpg)
For a while now, I’ve wanted to do a series on wedding planning from the groom’s perspective. Finding the right person to write these articles was easy because I got to work with a wonderful couple last year, Emily and Danny, on their fabulous wedding at the Ritz Carlton. During our journey together, I watched how they worked and planned their wedding together. Afterwards, I got to know Danny even better, so it wasn’t hard for me to ask him to be our honorary guest blogger. He will be gracing us with a few articles from the male perspective. Join me in welcoming Danny. 
For his first article, Danny offers his advice to brides who want to get their other half involved:
A wedding is a very memorable and expensive event. For one special day, everyone important in your life will be together with you. But it only lasts a day, so every minute is precious. Every bride wants her wedding to be perfect -with no details missed or time wasted. High expectations are what make wedding planning so stressful, for the bride at least.
As a groom, you cannot change these expectations, and you should not try. The success of the wedding is a direct result of the wedding planning process and experience, and the most productive and enjoyable wedding planning experiences happen when both the bride and groom are involved. “Involved” is a tricky word, because for the groom, there’s a fine line between being helpful and just getting in the way. Here are some tips to support your bride throughout this process.
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