Allegry Alert

As I was meeting with one of my sweet brides this weekend, a really good question came up.  Turns out the happy couple has picked a cake flavor which includes nuts and as far as they know, no one has allergies but what to do about it.  Should the DJ make an accounment, should there be menu cards that let people know...what is the right step?..?

It is a known fact that anyone who suffers from a food allergy is on top of this.  For the happy couple it might be hard to know if any of their 180 guests suffer from any allergies but the important thing to remember is to make sure that all of the staff serving is asks and lets people know about common allergies like nuts or shellfish.  By all means be considerate of the issue, and do your best to inform the caterer of any known issues. 

It is an important thing to think about, when picking your menu but it might not affect your final decision.  Though you should do your best to make sure that the menu choices are clearly described and remind the caterer to have their waitstaff ask if there are any allergies.   My couple has picked a pistachio wedding cake and to be on the safe side, having the DJ announce the flavor might be a wise choice. 

What, Why & How we price

What, why and how much a vendor costs honestly depends on the service they provide.  When you are looking at vendors, the cost can be determined due to their experience, travel, the service, and the product, and of course most vendors won't charge the same amount.  I always make a point to remind my couples that you have to compare the skill level, experience, product, but not just the price when looking at DJ's, or photographers.  It is important to always know WHAT you are paying for.  

When it comes to ESTOccasions & estoPrints, WHAT you pay for really depends on WHAT you need.  A wedding of 50 people may have the same needs as a wedding of 175 but there it will be a different level on the planning side.  The differences change the pricing & we have no problem showing our couples what they are being charged for. We understand the cost of an entire wedding & making sure everything is clear leads to a less stressful planning process.

When we sit down for our couples free consultation, we ask what we ask to make sure we can give you a custom package for your wedding needs.  If your ceremony & reception site are close to each other or in the same venue, the cost is less for you.  If you need chair covers and switching an entire room over in 45 minutes, the cost is higher because we will bring in the staff to make it happen.  This is WHY we ask what we ask.  Our years of experience have taught us and showed us that our clients are happier when they are able to have a custom package instead of just a random set price.  Once we create a package, we don't suprise our clients with price changes.  It isn't okay in our books to give you a package and then change the pricing later on.  We also don't take kickbacks from our vendors.  We recommend vendors because they fit our couples style, budget and we feel they would be a good fit for them.

HOW we do this, well you first sign up for your FREE consultation & we then we sit and chat.  We ask about your upcoming wedding, what needs to be done, the look you are going for and what type of budget you are looking to stay within.  We take this information, use our years of experience and create a package just for you. 

Like I said before, vendors charge for different reasons.  The cost of flowers might be similar but the design & skill level is one of the reasons why pricing can be different.  Don't base your vendor choice ever on just price, it should be vendors you would like to be around on your wedding day, vendors who meet your style, needs, wants and have a price you are okay with it.

Big Open Field, sure why not?

Winter Weddings

I personally LOVE winter and LOVE winter weddings.  I think there is something magical and wonderful about snow.  My favorite wedding of all time is when Phoebe gets married in NYC during the snow storm.  Now of course it isn't something you can really plan for, snowfall or no snowfall.  A few weekends ago it was 50 degrees and sunshine, so needless to say no one has mastered mother nature yet.

Be understanding though if you are looking to book a winter wedding.  Prices from vendors will of course be better but there is always the chance for a huge storm, or last minute guests who can't make it.  As long as you prepare yourself mentally at least that things may change, you will be okay.  It is a risk that I see more and more couples take just for the financial benefit.   Make sure you venue can handle lack of power, and make sure your vendors have some sort of weather clause in their contracts too. 

I had an amazing winter wedding this year, and it included snow on the wedding day.  So everything ran about 1/2 hour late but everyone was safe and took their time driving.  Guests were smart and arrived early and it was a huge success.

How Pink?

When I was a little girl, my room was wallpapered with different shades of pink and I even had pink tiles behind my radiator.  I had pink sheets, and I think I wore a lot of pink.  This worked for many years of my childhood but then as I grew and my taste evolved.  

Why am I discussing the color pink, well it isn't just about the color.  I know color a lot since it is a huge part of everyone's wedding. We design our flowers off this, invites, napkins, dresses and so forth but I guess I wanted to remind my couples and couples who are just starting to work with a color not over do it.  Pink might be your FAVORITE color in the world but what your soon to be spouses?  Whenever you are sitting there designing through your wedding day, remember to pause and ask how much is too much?  If you have more than your eyes can take in, then it might be time to scale back a tiny bit at least.  Make your favorite color stand out by using contrasting color,  or complementary colors. 

Like it

Recently I had a couple who create a Facebook Event for their wedding.  This was a first for me.  They did have invitations but this was a chance to invite people to share in their ceremony and just their ceremony since the venue had a size limit.  
Now while I fully understood this, it did make my heart beat a tiny bit faster when I learned of this.  The venue a different reaction and their heart might have stopped for a second. They were thinking about the food aspect of it all.  We didn't have an issue with inviting people to share in the ceremony but what if some of them came to the reception.  I hate to turn people away and didn't want any misunderstandings of course either.  For a venue to handle and extra person all of a sudden can be done, not recommended of course but I've seen it happen a few times.  My assistant and I have ended up sharing a meal because we gave ours to an unexpected out of town guest who decided to drive up at the last minute.  
In this instance though we could have ended up with about 35 additional people and didn't want any issues.  To avoid issues, we put an announcement onto the program, thanking everyone for coming and about the private reception to follow.  We felt it was the best way to handle it.  We did get 3 additional people who decided to attend anyways and they were super sweet about everything though.  They didn't demand a table and we ended up due to weather having a few people not make it, so it worked it out.  If you are thinking about doing something like this and making it a public event, make sure you let your vendors know before hand, like your planner and venue. Also make it clear to them what they are being invited too, and don't leave reception information onto the event board.  How do you feel about this?

Loving Challenge

Today is my last day in my own 7 day blog challenge. I am going to say I did well, I’m sure I could have done better but at the same day I didn’t falter and I didn’t just not do it.  So I did WELL and I”m gonna be happy with myself.   I didn’t plan on ending on the biggest love day of the year if you happen to celebrate this day but I did.   

As the mother of two boys, I found myself the Valentine’s Eve discussing this day.  Since I’m in the process of the divorce, turns out my oldest had a few questions for me.  Like who was gonna show me love tomorrow, and I told him I was gonna love myself, remind myself that I am a good person, that I am a good mother and that I can do anything I set my mind too.  I said you wanna know the secret to Valentine’s day and he said sure.  I said if you sweep a girl off her feet only on that day, then you will have to continue to sweep her off her feet on just that one day.  If you take the time to show love throughout your life and hers, you may find that one day doesn’t make or break you.  No matter how you plan on treating this day for the rest of your life, just remember to always treat the day the same way you do every year, it will keep you out of trouble.  

Mind you he is in middle school and while he likes girls it isn’t something he really wants to discuss with his mother but I did ask if he was set for tomorrow.  He said for me not to worry.  Such a grown up answer.   

My oldest asked what his mother ever got for Valentine’s day in middle school. My responce was simple, that a boy named Jason gave me a potted plant, that outlasted all the roses the other girls got.  This for some reason made my son laugh, he gave me a hug and went to read until bed time.  

I hope this day provides the love and caring that everyone needs.  So while I did say a few days ago this wasn’t my favorite day of the year, I refuse to be a Grinch about it either. I might have baked pink smooshed heart shaped cupcakes for the boys...they weren’t suppose to be smooshed but remember I’m not a baker. :)   Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Remember that tomorrow all the left over candy goes on sale.  I think that might be my favorite day...