Wedding Planning

One of the first most important things to do when starting to plan your wedding is to establish the budget.  Brides come to me with tear sheets from wedding magazines that show, often, very extravagant high end weddings.  While they are truly beautiful, they are often out of reach for many brides.  You need to education yourself to the market in which you are planning your wedding much as you would if you are new to an area and were planning to buy a house ~ you need to know what the average cost of a house will be ~ not the national average but the average where you live.

I always like to start with the budget.  After we have a realistic working budget, I ask the bride to prioritize each category:  are flowers the most important or is it the food?  Once we have that accomplished, we can move on with the knowledge in the back of our heads of where we want to spend our money.

Two areas where are think brides get added value is:  lighting and linens.  Lighting can transform a room from just average to warm, romantic and stunning.  Linens offer a great bang for your buck. They enhance the look of the flowers and the room tieing everything together.

Stay tuned for more practical tips for planning your wedding!

Sandals/Jamaica

My sweet husband treated me to a surprise week in Jamaica for my birthday!  As a wedding planner, I am always interested in seeing venues that host weddings & honeymoons.  Sandals is not only a wonderful honeymoon location but it is also a great destination wedding location.  As a representative for Sandals Honeymoons, it was great to get some first hand experience in one of their first rate resorts.

The Jamaican people (at least the ones working at Sandals in Ochos Rios) couldn’t have been any nicer, friendlier and helpful.  We made many friends in the short week we were there.  The food was fabulous, all you can eat and drink is available.  Many opportunities to experience different cuisine.  We also had a great time at the piano bar, one night, where we sang along and closed the place down!

If you are thinking about a Sandals honeymoon, please contact us and we can point you in the right direction.  Once you have paid for the Sandals honeymoon, you can leave your wallet in the safe in your room and enjoy all you can eat and drink without worrying about tipping or paying the bill.  My husband especially liked that part of it.

We also took advantage of the Red Line Spa and had massages.  I also had a manicure and pedicure.  Again, totally enjoyable with a friendly staff that couldn’t do enough to make us feel comfortable and pampered.  It has been hard getting back to reality but it was a wonderful opportunity to experience, first hand, this adult vacation and we look forward to trying another Sandals resort in the future.

As they say in Jamaica ~ “no problem, man”!

Priscilla of Boston

When you go to the new Priscilla of Boston shop in Cameron Village on June 21st, you will find a wide selection of gowns including Melissa Sweet gowns.  Please let me know if you decide to go to the new shop as I have an added incentive for you!

Wedding Professionals

Excuse me for getting sentimental but I work with the greatest wedding professonals in the world!  I have been looking back on the last 14 years that I have been in business.  During that time I have forged some great partnerships with wedding professionals.  These people have enriched my life in so many ways ~ both professionally and personally.

I have never met a group of people so willing to step up to whatever challenge faces them.  Everyone is willing to step up to the plate and help each other.  Its this “can do” attitude that I love.

What other profession is like that?  I can’t think of a single one.

So if you will please pardon my waxing nostalgic, I love all the wedding professionals I have the privilege of working with and those that I have yet to meet.

A Non-wedding event!

Every once in awhile I get the opportunity to plan a 60th birthday party, a 25th anniversary party or some other non-wedding event.  As much as I love doing weddings, it is fun to step away from that and have the chance to help put together another kind of party. 

This weekend I had the opportunity to plan a political event at a private home. It was great fun to select food, linens and pull all the details together.  Weddings are always fraught with emotion and that comes with the territory but doing an event such as a political fundraiser, relieve me of that emotional component. It helps keep me grounded.  I love planning a great party with good food and fun people. I always want guests to leave feeling they were well fed and well informed. 

When I come back to doing weddings, I am refreshed and have a better prespective. It keeps me from getting stale.  After all, variety is the spice of life.

Ask the Experts

Back by popular demand!  We are offering another seminar called “Ask the Experts”.  This will provide brides with all the information they need to take with them to the various wedding shows they will attend.  We will help “prep” them.  In addition, there will be some surprises. 

As soon as the details are finalized, I will let you know.  Keep coming back to the Blog so we can update you.  My job is to arm the brides with the best information so when they are choosing their wedding professionals, they are well informed and will make good decisions.  Because as we all know, there are no “do overs” when it comes to weddings.

Seminar in Asheville, NC

Sally and I just got back from two days in beautiful Asheville, NC.  We attended an ABC seminar at the Renaissance Hotel where Samantha Goldberg (”whose wedding is it any way?”) and Greg of The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants spoke. 

One thing I have learned over the years is that there is always something new to learn!  After fourteen years in the business, it was fun to hear some new approaches to my business.  It is re-energizing and I came away feeling great and with a renewed commitment to the business that I love.

Sally and I also had some time to explore Asheville with its distinct personality and abundance of creatively talented artists.  We also found some fabulous places to eat.  Tupelo Honey Restaurant with wonderful, authentic fried green tomatoes and Bouchon a fabulous French Comfort Food restaurant with a quaint courtyard that made you feel like you were in Paris.  Asheville is a unique and a jewel in the mountains of North Carolina.

Ask the Experts Seminar

Our Ask the Experts seminar was a huge success.  We once again held this event at the beautiful Umstead Hotel & Spa.  Kate & Rachael Price of Tre Bella Gowns & flowers spoke about how to choose the right gown for your shape.  Who to bring with you to look at gowns, the formality of the wedding dictating the choice of gown.  Rachael addressed the flowers.  What to bring with you to the initial interview with florists and how to incorporate the “look” you want to achieve.

Kristine Dittmer and Mel Nathanson of Kristine Dittmer Photography spoke about what to look for in choosing the wedding photographer.  They explained what real “photojournalism” means versus the fact that is now a “buzz” word that doesn’t necessarily mean the photographer is a photojournalist.

I spoke about how to go about choosing your wedding planner as well as addressing some of the most frequently asked wedding etiquette questions.

We ended with a drawing for some wonderful items ~ including wedding planning books, etiquette books, floral arrangements from Tre Bella.

A very informative evening and we have received very positive feedback.

Look for our next seminar ~ date to be determined.

Ask the Experts Seminar

I just returned from a much needed break in my hectic life.  While I love every minute of planning weddings, everyone needs to re-charge their batteries so as not to “burn out”.

Now that I am back. I want to tell you more about our seminar.  We have Tre Bella participating.  The 3 Price sisters have created two businesses ~ wedding gowns and flowers.  At our seminar, they will discuss choosing the gown.  They are the only bridal boutique in the state to feature Melissa Sweet and Priscilla of Boston.  Once the gown is chosen, how does the bride decide on design for flowers?  Rachael Price will discuss flowers and show examples of how to create a “look” that will carry through the entire event.  There will be gowns to look at as well as samples of wedding flower arrangements for your reception. Bring your questions, as we will have a Q&A after each presentation and also at the end of the event.  We are also having some interesting door prizes so bring a business card too.

Please sign up as soon as possible as space is limited and only pre-registered guests will be able to attend.

Looking forward to an informative event ~

The Carolina Inn Wedding Show

An Elegant Affair participated in the prestigious Carolina Inn Wedding Show last Sunday, February 7th.  It was a wonderful event.  We received many compliments on our booth.  We will post photos from the show on the website very soon.

It is always fun to be able to meet with brides, their friends and moms to discuss there plans.  It is such a happy time in their lives.  I love all the enthusiasm and fun they bring to the show.  After all, that is what keeps us all going ~ the wonderful response of the brides.

Our booth was a contemporary look with vibrant colors and minimalistic flowers. It was a clean look and more importantly, it is something that any bride could achieve without having a huge budget.  Many times at the wedding shows, brides see such over the top and extravagant displays, it is hard for them to visualize how they can have such an event with a more limited budget. An Elegant Affair’s approach is to provide a display that is clean, contemporary and totally something that brides can achieve.  We have many brides taking photos of our booth which is such a compliment.

Please call us for a consultation ~ we would love to help you plan your special day!