Now that the wedding season is over, the holidays are on thier way. And what do holidays mean to me? Family, cooking, decorating...and engagements! The holidays, especially Christmas and New Years are probably one of the most popular times to get engaged. The newly engaged bride is extremely excited on starting the wedding planning process. Now I would be excited too, but don't let that excitement drive you into something that you may regret, or cost you more money later on down the line. I was reading one of my wedding vendor blogs, and I was shocked at vendors saying that brides thought that they booked thier services just from an inquiry from an email. She was in histerics days before the wedding because she "thought she booked a vendor. I just wanted to write a few tips for you new brides out there.
Contract:
1. If you do not sign some type of contract and put down some type of a deposit to hold your date, you have not booked anything!
2. Please read the contract thoroughly. Do not just skim over the contract and sign it. That fine print is what could get you in the end. For example, does a venue give you your money back if you decide to cancel? You probably think they should, but after a certain date, you probably would not get your money back. Sometimes they will say, it is non refundable. Why you say? Because they could have booked that date, and they have to turn down other weddings because of your event. They have to make up for that lost of business somewhere.
3. Make sure you pay attention to the the balance due date. Make a calendar of all your due dates, so you would forget.
Budget:
1. Make sure you set a realistic budget. I was looking at Beverly Hills Brides the other day, and a bride's budget was $2,500 for a dress, but she kept looking at $8,000 dresses. She set herself up for disappointment. This applies to all aspects of your wedding. You do not want to be thousands of dollars in debt just for a wedding. A large guest list can also blow a budget. If you have $5,000 to spend but your guest list is creeping up to 200, then your guests will be eating dinner mints and drinking water. $5,000 for 25 people, you can have those lush centerpieces you want or surf and turf menu, because you are buying less of it.
DIY:
1. Now I love DIY as much as the next person, but you have to decide DI WHY? Is that project going to take so much time and money, you could have just paid someone to do it the first time? I remember reading a blog, and the bride wanted birch tree candle holders. She said she was going to strip the bark off a birch tree and glue it to candle holders. First, taking the bark off a birch tree will kill the tree, and Second, if you do a little research, you will find places like Save on crafts sells birch candle holders at a reasonable price. Some things you could DIY to save money, if you have the time.
- Invitations, menus, save the dates, etc ( try Esty.com for cost effective invitation templates)
- Favors
- OOT bags
- Simple centerpieces, non-floral arrangements or silk floral arrangements
Items I suggest you do not DIY, or leave the job to your sister in law, cousin, brother, uncle, unless they are a true professional:
- DJ
- Flowers
- Cake
- Catering
- Wedding Planner
- Photographer
Yeah this is what happened when you don't leave it up to a professional
Cheaper is Not Better:
Now of course I just said, you have to have a budget, but the thing to a budget, especially a smaller one, you have to decide what items are more important, and allot more money for that. For me personally, photography ( you thought I would say cake :) is a big one for me. After the people are gone, the cake is cut, the wine has been drank, all you have is pictures to remember your day. If that person's thumb is in half of them, then it probably wasn't a good idea to book an inexperienced photographer because they charged $300 dollars. That being said, expensive isn't always the route either. Just make sure you do your research, ask for portfolios, look at websites and blogs, speak to the vendors, shop around. I think the best decision is to go with the vendor that does great work, you have a great vibe with, and fits in your budget.
Discounts:
Don't expect someone to give you a discount, and don't haggle with a vendor to lower thier price. Unless its some type of special going on, or you booked during an off month, or they just offer to give you a discount for whatever reason, you probably will not get a discount. I'm sure you wouldnt like your boss to haggle with you to lower your paycheck.
Communication:
In the days of all this technology, smartphones, texting, emailing, skyping, facebooking, it's almost impossible to have a lack of communication, but it happens all the time. Someone emails or calls you about critical information about your wedding, please respond back in a timely matter. If you need to, create a email just for wedding planning, so you can keep track of your emails. It is imperative that you have communication, give correct email addresses, home addresses, venue information. Things happen, I know, sometimes it's an emergency and your wedding is the last thing on your mind, but just shoot your vendors a quick email ( especially is it's close ot your wedding). You don't have to go into specifics, and vendors will be understanding. It's just not cool to say, you don't check your email often, and thats your reason. Wedding vendors are working to make your day special, and if you are making it seem like you don't care, why should they?
Ok so I won't do a Kevin Hart on you, but still LOL!!!
Respect your vendors time off:
Just keep in mind, even though we wedding vendors are there to make your special day come to life, we do have our own lives also. We have families and want to spend time with them. We want to go to the movies, and catch the lastest sequel of Twilight ( ok thats just me ;) Unless your vendor has given you permission to call them on a non work day, then respect that.
We don't do what this guy is doing either
Wedding ideas:
The worst thing to do is to not have some type of vision for your wedding. Even if you are Anti-Bride, you have to have some direction. Pinterest, The Knot, Project Wedding, Style Me Pretty, etc all have tons of wedding ideas for you to look at. Make a Inspiration board, to get an idea of how your wedding will look like. If you come into a design meeting with your wedding planner, and she asks you what is your vision for your wedding, and you just say "I don't know" well it's not much she can do. If you just start throwing out things you don't like, say you like everything pink, you like peonies, but you hate everything vintage chic, and mason jars, then even that little bit of information will get the creative juices flowing.
Hopefully all that information is a little bit of help to all the new bride starting out. Yes I am a cake baker, but I pay attention to all aspects of wedding planning.
