Everyone feels differently about the details, the planning and the actual wedding day. That is a given. Sometimes, I have the perfect opportunity to ask our Bliss brides and grooms exactly how they are feeling and they allow me to share these feeling with our readers! Below is a mini-interview that I asked our fab bride, Anne, to share with us! By the way, how awesome is she for taking the time out of her busy week-before-the-big-day schedule! Love it!

The drop dead gorgeous Anne and her hubby-to-be Aaron!

How many more days until your wedding?

3!!!!!

Now that there are only a few days left, how are you feeling?

Surprisingly calm and prepared! We did a lot of work ahead of time, so now it’s just down to the last few details. It also eases my mind to know that Amanda and Bliss Weddings will be there to take care of all the details, timing, vendors, etc. so that I can enjoy the day.

What was the biggest challenge you faced while planning your wedding?

Trying to make the vision in my head come together for real. I had this idea of the style and look that I wanted for our wedding, but to make it actually happen was a lot harder than I anticipated. Besides that, just the large amount of time it actually takes to get everything finished.

What was the easiest?

Before we even started planning, my fiancé and I knew exactly what we wanted and what we did not want when it came to the ceremony and reception. That way, we had already made a lot of the important choices before we even began planning.

What are you most looking forward to?

Well, besides wearing my dress, I truly am looking forward to marrying my fiancé. After that, I can’t wait to see all our family and friends and to see how everything we’ve been working on for the last 7 months come together in one day.

Of all of the details, what is your favorite?

I would defiantly have to say our candy buffet. We spent a lot of time perfecting and personalizing it. It was so much fun to pick out the candy, the jars, and to make it look really unique. We think it will add something really special to our wedding.

How would you describe the overall feel and mood for your big day?

Extravagant yet laid back. We really want our guests to help us celebrate and to enjoy themselves. We are confident that we have done all the work, and it will all come together beautifully. And if things don’t go according to plan, that’s fine too, we are just so happy to be getting married to each other and look forward to spending our lives together!!

Any words of advice for brides-to-be about planning their own wedding?

Do as much as you can ahead of time, don’t save it for the week of the wedding. Also, learn how to delegate responsibilities. There is only so much you can handle without going crazy, so make sure to assign tasks to people you trust, then stop worrying about it, they will take care of it. And finally, remember that there is only so much that you can control, and the rest is out of your hands; don’t’ stress about what you cannot control.

Liene Stevens, the CEO of Blue Orchid Designs in Arizona and the brilliant mind behind Think Splendid, a blog for wedding & event professionals, wrote a great post about the behind the scenes costs to keep in mind when hiring the perfect team for your wedding day. I couldn’t resist sharing this tidbit of info with all of you! If you are a bride or groom in the mood for a little bit of insightful inspiration, head on over to The Blue Orchid Designs blog today!

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Yuck. Money. The subject no one wants to talk about but we all have to deal with, especially when it comes to weddings. And it’s no secret that weddings are expensive – even an intimate, backyard ceremony with a handful of guests can stretch the wallet fairly quickly. I wanted to get into the reasoning behind some of the common pricetags and help put some of the sticker shock at ease.

But it’s just some pretty paper: Invitations
A good rule of thumb when budgeting for invitations is this: a decent (read: nice quality, but not necessarily elaborate) invitation should cost around the same price as a greeting card. While we may buy greeting cards here and there as the occasion calls for it, you normally don’t purchase 150+ greeting cards all at the same time. If you want a custom invitation, you can expect to pay more because you are compensating the artist for her designs, proofs, revisions and edits, assembly and general labor.

All you’re doing is pushing a button: Photography & Videography
If all you want from your wedding are pictures that look like snapshots your slightly inebriated Uncle Frank took, then there are plenty of moonlighting hobbyists-who-call-themselves-professionals to choose from. If you want art and photographs that will capture the emotion of the day, then realistically you need to expect to pay more. Photography can easily be one of the most spendy parts of the wedding and for good reason – when all is said and done, that is what you will have left (well, that and your spouse of course!). I have met many, many married women who regret going cheap with their photography. Also, the final product usually doesn’t come out of the camera ready to go – a lot of behind-the-scenes editing and design goes into producing great photos. If you’re having video, you can count on hours of editing, including finding the right moments to splice things in, cueing the appropriate music to match, etc.

So you’re like JLo in that movie: Wedding Planners
No, I’m not like JLo and wow, did she make my job look easy! Hollywood has a knack for doing that though, don’t they? The biggest thing you are paying the planner for is her time – the average wedding takes more than 250 hours to plan and there are only 52 weekends in a year. Both of these facts limit how much we can take on and commit to. It may seem like you are paying the planner for one day, but in reality 250 hours translates into more than six 40-hour work weeks. And that’s just for your normal, run-of-the-mill wedding. If you want something unique and special, even more time is involved.

They are just going to die tomorrow anyway: Flowers
Even flowers from the grocery store can be pricy – that is just the nature of a live element. When purchasing flowers, you are paying for so many things – the grower’s cut (planting, growing, watering, feeding, harvesting), the packaging and shipping of them in a manner that they will not wilt or die on the way to your location, and then the florist’s fees (design, watering, prepping them with special concoctions that prolong their lifespan, arranging, delivering, etc). Yes, a lot goes into those pretty bouquets.

It’s just some fancy chicken: Food
Hands down, food is usually the most expensive item on the budget, and again quantity plays a big role. A nice dinner for two can sometimes be a splurge and when you’re feeding 150+ mouths – well, I’ll let you do the math. It is also important to look at quality when you are choosing your menu, and quality costs more, just like it does in every other part of life.

There are lots of areas of weddings that I didn’t cover here, but I wanted to give a quick overview of some of them. The time-tested adage “you get what you pay for” has been proven over and over again with weddings. You don’t need to break the bank on your wedding or try to keep up with the Joneses – but it is important to go into the wedding planning process with an understanding of where your money is going so that you can best prioritize its use.

See the original post here.

Many trends in the world today are about going green. From food to fashion, cars to homes, in today’s society people are trying to be more conscience about the environment, so why not make your wedding attire “go green?”
There are many things that you can do to help your wedding become more “green” including: attire, food, transportation and decorations. With attire being one of the main focuses of the wedding, there are a few different options a bride and groom can select from. Rather than the traditional Cinderella ball gown, the bride can chose a simpler gown that can be worn again to parties or formal affairs. This goes for the bridesmaids as well. If the bride allows them to wear a classic cocktail length dress, in a solid color or a fashionable print, the bridesmaids are going to be able to wear their dresses again. Another going green bonus would be if the fabric is organic such as organic cotton or hemp. This way, if the bride still wants a traditional dress, she can look for one in eco-friendly materials. Prices for organic wedding dresses are also going to be much less costly with prices usually ranging from $300-$900. Same goes for the grooms and groomsmen. Many guys have formal black or grey business suits, which could be worn again to a wedding. Suit jackets, pants, shirts, vets and ties can all be found in organic textiles. Checking the labels on garments to find the fabric/fiber contents, shopping at eco-friendly clothing stores or searching the internet for organic wedding attire
are all great ways to find “green” wedding apparel.

Picture captions:

Eco-friendly wedding gown by Chrissy Wai-Ching

Hempsilk bridesmaid dress seen on the runway at Mercedes Benz Fashion week.

Wedding/Business suit. All pieces including: jacket, shirt, vest and pants are made from organic hemp.

Article by:

Kristin Morgan, Bliss Event Assistant

Photo sources:

http://mycorset.com/29-eco-friendly-vintage-dress.html

http://www.rawganique.com/Dept-Mens/organic-hemp-dress-jackets.htm

http://www.blueplanetwedding.com/blog/2008/09/14/eco-friendly-wedding-dress-frumpy-not-these-ones/

On your Wedding Dress….

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Whether its a strap made of flowers, or just a single bud, flowers are a unique touch to any dress!

You can use flowers as a way to accessorize.  I recently attended an outside Connecticut wedding where the bride wore a gorgeous beige flower in her hair.

On your Wedding Cake….

(Source)

This is a great idea if you are looking to cut your wedding cake budget. Using a few flowers to decorate a simple cake is elegant and classic.

On your Tables…

(Source)

Whether its your bridal shower or an outside day wedding, this is a beautiful and creative way to decorate a table.

On your Invitations….

(Source)

Oversized jewels or printed flowers are a great way to embellish an invitation, place card, or menu.

Article by:

Melissa Maxon, Bliss Event Assistant

As wedding trends shift, brides-to-be are definitely upping the ante as far as favors and escort cards are concerned.  No longer are small boxes of candies on the top of my favorite list, especially when couples are giving guests a more personal and useful touch to remember their perfect day.  Those that are looking for the latest and greatest to impress their friends and family are turning to a more creative approach to wedding favors and in many cases, turning the favors into escort cards for a personal twist.  This Bliss girl must say one of her personal favorites has to be wine bottles as a guest gift with your guest names attached as a table assignment.  Let your guests celebrate the occasion one more time at home, or just keep a small reminder in their wine rack.

Couples are also staying budget friendly, while still adding that inventive touch.  A few ideas to mention are: a small donation to a charity in each of the guests’ names, different styles of beer steins for every guest, found at local resale shops, which also double as a drink glass, CD’s with the couple’s favorite tunes and songs from the reception, gourmet candy bars with personal wrappers, or maybe a Vegas twist with a lottery ticket for each guest.  The ideas are endless and making a gift special in some way to the bride and groom is really what guests appreciate, no matter the cost.  All in all, be creative and maybe even a little zany!  If you have an idea that you’ve never seen before, chances are your guests haven’t either.  Plus, it may end up being one of the more memorable aspects of the wedding- even more memorable than Uncle Ted’s rendition of Thriller…

Article by:

Amy Majka, Bliss Event Assistant

Photo Credits:

http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/46081/detailview.aspx?id=46081&type=3&wedding_details=Escort+Cards&pageindex=0

http://www.giftcds.com/order_cd_favors.html

http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/41619/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=41619&type=3&wedding_details=Escort%20Cards&pageindex=1

“The best part about it is that you can shorten it and wear it again!”  This is the infamous quote from 2007′s 27 Dresses, and I’m sure it is one of many brides’ favorites as well, when referring to their bridesmaids’ dresses.  However, the trend for bridesmaid dresses is currently taking a trial shift toward patterned fabrics.  Some think these are more practical because occasions that call for a dress more often than not lead women to be more inclined to go for a short, patterned dress rather than a long, solid-color dress.  Furthermore, the idea that a dress can be shortened to “modernize” it for future use is a myth.  Indeed, like to every rule, there are exceptions, but for the most part, dresses are cut to the style they are meant to be worn as.  Altering a dress just does that; it alters the entire style of it.  I am in a sorority at Michigan State, which requires an absurd amount of dresses.  I see multitudes of girls bringing their old homecoming and prom floor-length gowns up to school to be shortened, and they never look quite right.  So in conclusion, I think it is meant to be common knowledge that most bridesmaid dresses should be worn knowing that it is for a one-time, special occasion.  We don’t see brides altering their gowns to be worn again!  However, the patterned bridesmaid dresses are a nice alternative, especially in today’s economy where most women can’t afford to be buying a dress they probably won’t ever wear again.

Article Created by:

Alina Blackford, Bliss Event Assistant

Photo Credits:

http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/blogs/wedding_style_file/archive/2009/01/30/bridesmaid-dress-ideas-pretty-patterns.aspx?MsdVisit=1

http://www.whitelacewedding.com/50226711/trend_watch_patterned_bridesmaids.php

http://manolobrides.com/2009/01/29/lovehate-the-magic-eye-edition/

2009 has been an amazing year so far and May didn’t disappoint. We will be back to regular posting soon, with real wedding recaps, fabulous photos and so much more! Stay tuned and Happy June!!!

Are you looking for some new blogs to browse while you are at work sitting on the couch? Bride Tide has posted their list of the top 100 Wedding Blogs and Twitterers. Enjoy!

See the full list here.

So many of my clients are DIY (Do It Yourself) brides and grooms. In honor of all of the hard work, paper cuts and paint spills, here are a “few” of the latest and greatest in DIY wedding projects. I say a “few” because together, there are over 400 projects! If any of you have done or plan to do any of these, please let us know! I would LOVE to see pictures and hear your ideas.

Over 300 DIY Bride Projects

101 DIY Projects from Stylish Events

Photos from Stylish Events