the Wedding Planner Thread

[maggieNomar 0]

Ok, so we've all seen my dress thread, but I figured lets make one where all of us brides can brainstorm & post ideas,deals, pictures etc.

Anyone up for it? Got any ideas? I've already said all of mine so far, lolz

Or anyone who's just had a wedding and wants to give some tips is more than welcome too!

i'll pencil in being the stripper for your bachlorette party

Dang Charles...if had known you were available....

[Fandango 1,440]

Are you going to dance to James Blunt? lol

Meanwhile, getting back to the thread, I've thought a lot about photogs, and I'm leaning towards hiring one, cos whoever's taking the pictures won't be in them (if it's a fam member).

I fig we'll hire them for the ceremony & some posed afterwards, but then just have a free for all afterwards. Because it's a destination wedding, I don't know how to go about picking one tho

we hired a photographer, and quite literally he was the one who salvaged our wedding during the evac. you saw a lil sample of my pix... they were photojournalistic style, posing to a bare minimum. They guy was kinda like a lil surfer dude, but was super accommodating. Inexpensive as well. We received a CD for digital images and also received proofs. Thought i would mention it since he is a Key West photographer.

http://www.tommynagel.com/

I'm gonna wind up dupe-ing your wedding, lol....sans evacuations, hopefully, lol

I'll check him out...

Oh, and I missed your post until now, Elen! I guess I was posting while you were. Those are really great tips and I'm sure going to come in handy to me and many other brides here

HA - care to fly out from TX to Key West? I've told ya before, I've seen your work & it's really great!

[kisschick1976 0]

For our invitations we wanted something that wasn't frilly, girly or lame. I found this website, they do custom graphics for invitations, greeting cards, thank you notes etc

http://unique-wedding-invitations-ny.com/

I thought it would be perfect! They could draw us as METAL as we asked them to and it would look like us, they even send it out to the printer of your choice! I contacted them to get a price, I've only got about 40 people on the list. These people wanted $500-$1000 just for the graphic alone. :lol:

Then I thought, Vikki, are you not an artist yourself? One who works with custom graphics for a living? One who has all the equipment at the house already? I drew out a basic design on a sketch pad, outlined it in sharpie and started from there in Paint Shop Pro 7. I've only been able to work on it here and there but it's really starting to come out awesome. I found a wedding invitation kit at Office Depot that includes 50 of each of the invitations, envelopes, reply cards, reply card envelopes ..etc for about $35.00. so I figure it will be $35.00 + ink + postage for our invites AND it has that extra personal touch that says THIS IS VIKKI AND JONNY.

So that's something to think about, if you want something unique for your invites, think about having an artist friend or family member to draw out a caricature of you and your spouse to be

I'm so proud of ours I will have to post it when it's finished

[MHandMB 0]

I was a wedding-aholic! I bought all of the bridal mags, was obsessed with theknot.com, and spent all my free time checking out pictures of flowers, table settings, etc.

At first, I was a little bummed because my best friend was getting married 3 months before me, and she had a HUGE budget- 5 times bigger than ours. I kept thinking of how our weddings would compare, but then I realized that they would be totally different because we're 2 different people, and I had to stop trying to compare my wedding with hers. So, I went about planning my wedding and comparison shopped EVERYTHING to get the most for my money.

The result? I LOVED my wedding. It was the most beautiful day. Several things that I had obsessed over (the color of the table cloths, the arch we had our wedding under) didn't go according to plan, but it was still absolutely breathtaking. You just get so overwhelmed that those little details don't matter as much as you think they will.

First recommendation: the flowers. I ordered my flowers from several different online vendors, and we assembled the bouquets, altarpieces, centerpieces, etc., the day before and morning of my wedding. We used bud roses and hypericum berries for the centerpieces; red, orange, and black magic roses, and red tulips and green hydrangea for the bouquets and other arrangements. My friend's mom said that if she had known how beautiful they would turn out, she would have done them the same way for her daughter;s wedding. I can give you the vendors' info, if anyone wants it. I did a sample small test batch with each company so I could be sure they were legit.

Second recommendation: the invitations. I ordered mine from notfromabox.com. They were stunning, and a fraction of the price I'd seen elsewhere. I went to Michael's and bought some wax and a seal, and placed a wax seal of the initial of our new last name on the closure of each invitation. It was a dramatic touch, and so inexpensive.

I'm trying to post some of my wedding pics, but they're just too big. Anyone have an idea of where I can save them so I can share them?

[Fandango 1,440]

I was a wedding-aholic! I bought all of the bridal mags, was obsessed with theknot.com, and spent all my free time checking out pictures of flowers, table settings, etc.

At first, I was a little bummed because my best friend was getting married 3 months before me, and she had a HUGE budget- 5 times bigger than ours. I kept thinking of how our weddings would compare, but then I realized that they would be totally different because we're 2 different people, and I had to stop trying to compare my wedding with hers. So, I went about planning my wedding and comparison shopped EVERYTHING to get the most for my money.

The result? I LOVED my wedding. It was the most beautiful day. Several things that I had obsessed over (the color of the table cloths, the arch we had our wedding under) didn't go according to plan, but it was still absolutely breathtaking. You just get so overwhelmed that those little details don't matter as much as you think they will.

First recommendation: the flowers. I ordered my flowers from several different online vendors, and we assembled the bouquets, altarpieces, centerpieces, etc., the day before and morning of my wedding. We used bud roses and hypericum berries for the centerpieces; red, orange, and black magic roses, and red tulips and green hydrangea for the bouquets and other arrangements. My friend's mom said that if she had known how beautiful they would turn out, she would have done them the same way for her daughter;s wedding. I can give you the vendors' info, if anyone wants it. I did a sample small test batch with each company so I could be sure they were legit.

Second recommendation: the invitations. I ordered mine from notfromabox.com. They were stunning, and a fraction of the price I'd seen elsewhere. I went to Michael's and bought some wax and a seal, and placed a wax seal of the initial of our new last name on the closure of each invitation. It was a dramatic touch, and so inexpensive.

I'm trying to post some of my wedding pics, but they're just too big. Anyone have an idea of where I can save them so I can share them?

thx for all the advice! As to your piccies, you could open a photobucket acct & upload them there.

[SierraYDiego 0]

Ok, so we've all seen my dress thread, but I figured lets make one where all of us brides can brainstorm & post ideas,deals, pictures etc.

Anyone up for it? Got any ideas? I've already said all of mine so far, lolz

Or anyone who's just had a wedding and wants to give some tips is more than welcome too!

Let me just say how HAPPY I am to be considered a "Bride"!!! HURRAY!!!

Ok, now on to ideas...I want to honor my Fiance's (LOVE the sound of that...my fiance!!) culture by serving

Almojabana at our reception along with playing Fonseca, Juanes, & Shakira music!!!

I am going to make my own gown, and headpiece which will save a lot of money. I will also make my own favors.

We will be ordering 2 sets of wedding invitations, one in English & one in Spanish for his family in Bogota. But we are not going crazy with the

lined envelopes and all that!

I want our reception to be very laid back & beautiful in a very tropical latin way!! We will Salsa dance and we will have all kinds of traditional Latin food

and drinks and desserts...Tres Leche cake!!

I have lots of friends who sing, so the ceremony/reception music will be covered!!

This is SO much fun to think and talk about!!

thanks LisaD for creating this thread!!

[msu17 0]

Ya, thanks for creating it! Its nice to think about the wedding and not the visa for a bit I'm making my own veil. I found tulle at a going out of business sale so I bought 15 yrds for 8$! Lots of extra to mess up on I wanted a string quartet at the wedding, so we called the local high school and they have the 1st chairs of each section do a little quartet thing. We can't technically pay them, so we just make a donation of our choice to the orchestra to offset their travel costs during the year.

I need help with centerpieces... Colors = blue (very vibrant) and white. I have NO idea what to do, any ideas?

[Sprailenes 47]

Its funny...I used to be a wedding planner in Canada. You'd think my wedding day would be a total breeze!

But I have no idea what to do about centre pieces. I know I would like to do them myself, and there's only going to be like 6-7 tables. Should I go big...should I go small? I am looking for ideas online but nothing is jumping at me.

My colours are sage green and pale pink (or white I'm flexible) haha.

I can only use non drip candles at the venue and they have to be in a hurricane. This sucks as I was plannig on putting about 6 votives (in little glass holders) on each table around the centre pieces.

Of course I have to figure out my centre pieces before I can figure out what to do about individual lighting on the table.

Why am I obsessing over this?

[eau_xplain 2]

issue the guests disposable cameras, or tell them to bring digital ones

We did this for the reception when we had our church ceremony. We put one to two disposable cameras per table. You can order them to have the couple's name & date of ceremony. It will come with "instructions" on what the guests are supposed to do with them. Everyone had a grand time with them and we ended up with so many fun pictures.