While the summer is peak wedding season, there are a whole bunch of reasons why having your wedding in the winter might not be such a bad idea. Of course the weather is always a factor... but if you don't have a lot of traveling relatives then why not? Thunderstorms are a risk for outdoor summer weddings anyway! Consider the discounts offered by many vendors in the winter time because business is slow. From a photographer's standpoint, winter wedding photos can be really gorgeous! You could feature hot winter beverages like Irish coffee for the cocktail hour, or arrive in a romantic carriage. You will also have less "competition" with other brides in that during the summer, some people have a wedding to attend just about every weekend, while in the winter you might be the only wedding they attend at all! You can work in fun themes like Christmas or New Year's Eve. There is a lot of opportunity for setting your wedding day apart by choosing to host a winter wedding.
Not all couples decide to hire a videographer to document their wedding day, while others believe it is an absolute necessity. A DVD copy of your wedding could come in handy for out-of-town relatives, or for reliving the memories once a year on your anniversary.
There are certainly some extremely talented videographers in our area who offer a variety of unique services and specialty effects for your wedding compilation. (Please email me for more detailed contact info.) However, if you are interested in having the memories captured but are not feeling too fussy about having a 100% professional movie, consider hiring a student!
We are fortunate enough to be in an area that is saturated with colleges and universities that almost always offer some type of audio/video coursework. By looking for a student, you will save a great deal of money (since they are amateur and usually just starting out in their media careers) and the work they produce is often just as professional, if not more so, than professional videographers.
Sure, you run the risk of hiring someone who may not have top of the line equipment, or someone who may get distracted and accidentally miss the cutting of the cake, but then again you could also get extremely lucky and find someone who has a lot of passion and creativity to offer! Remember, we all started our careers as not fully experienced individuals, and someone somewhere along the line took a chance on us. Look at where we are now!
If you and your spouse-to-be are perhaps more laid back and casual about videography, try contacting a media or visual arts department at your local university, or putting an ad on Craigslist. You can always ask for a demo reel, or a link to their YouTube account which is a great place for them to display their work. If you aren't too concerned about a pristine movie, take a chance on a rookie; it's a win-win situation because you save $$ and they gain a professional reference if they do a good job!
This afternoon I had a lovely meeting with a bride-to-be about the possibility of being hired as her wedding day coordinator. She asked me some really great questions, one of which was "What happens if you are sick on the day of my wedding?"
I had to stop and think for a moment because that was a question I had never been asked before. Luckily I had a solution for just such a situation, as my younger sister is extremely skilled and has plenty of experience in the hospitality industry, and she would make a reliable replacement in the unlikely event of an emergency.
I wanted to share with everyone that knowing what questions to ask as you are interviewing the vendor candidates for your wedding is so important. The questions that should be addressed can be found on the Internet; there are plenty of helpful sites with information about what to ask each particular vendor (photographers, planners, caterers, etc). You could even jot down a list of questions for the interview, that way you are fully prepared to cover all your bases. Doing your research can really help you to narrow down the possibilities and choose the vendors that are the right fit for your wedding day!
"Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them."
-Sydney Smith
Valentine's Day is coming up, which means many of you are going to pop the question to your lady. Diamond rings are beautiful and certainly might be expected since they are the traditional engagement ring. But some women are not as enthusiastic about diamonds as you might think.
There are a lot of humanitarian concerns associated with diamond rings and depending on your (soon to be) fiance, you might want to consider diamond alternatives.
Engagement rings made from gem stones such as sapphire, garnet or jade can be truly breathtaking and might be a better option for you. There are even eco-friendly diamond hybrids out there. It's important to know that most jewelers are willing to work with you if you have something specific in mind. I would suggest looking for an image on the Internet first and bringing it with you if you have a setting or stone combination in mind.
Now some ladies might be adamant about having a traditional ring, while others might really appreciate the effort it took for your to have a ring custom made for them. If you are going to propose, then you obviously love this woman and know her extremely well. Does she tend to wear a lot of gold or silver jewelry? If it's silver, you may want to purchase a white gold ring for her. Use what you know about her, along with any hints she may have dropped, to choose the right ring.
(And if you are wondering how to figure out what size the ring should be, just swipe one of the rings from her jewelry box and trace it on a piece of paper to bring with you to the store.)
A story for my women friends...
Today I attended a "goodbye" party for a friend of mine who got a great new job and is moving out of state. I asked what I could bring to the party and the hostess said that pastries would be wonderful.
Last night I went out to the store and bought puff pastry sheets and all the ingredients to make "Strawberry Napoleons" which include layers of strawberries, vanilla pudding and whipped cream... a recipe which I found on the side of the box. Everything went very well this morning when I made the whipped cream from scratch and layered all the ingredients. Then, just a few minutes before leaving my house, I went to cut the long pastry layers into smaller party size pieces and the whole thing promptly fell apart.
Chaos ensued as I tried to salvage the mess in between tears, cursing and chucking handfulls of pudding mush into my sink. Finally I had to call it quits and drive to the local bakery to buy pastries. I cried the whole way to the bakery and ordered a box of mixed pastries with bright red cheeks and a runny nose from crying.
Sitting in my car, trying to compose myself before going in to the party, I decided I needed to calm down. I began thinking of you brides-to-be out there and how stressful your lives must be. I've never been a bride, and while I do my very best to provide you with useful tips and information, I think it's important for me to acknowledge the fact that planning a wedding is an emotional process and it's not all Martha Stewart perfect.
I guarantee there will be times that you, too, will fall to pieces over the silliest little thing. I think that it's ok to have a breakdown from time to time. There is so much pressure involved and so many things to juggle.
So in reflecting upon today's catastrophe, I've decided that it's ok for us ladies to cry once in awhile over something stupid, or maybe for no reason at all. Crying made me feel better, so I must have released some tension or something.
Be patient, take a deep breath and take a break from being perfect. At the end of the day, the whole point is that you and the love of your life will be married and that is a wonderful thing... all the little speed bumps along the way are what make life interesting and make for a really good story for the grandkids years down the road.
One of the smartest things I noticed at the "Bridal Extravaganza" was that several brides had created return address sticker labels with all of their contact info. Rather than standing there filling out raffle slips at just about every table, they were able to just peel off a sticker to attach to the slips. What a time saver!
Stacy LaCombe-Kraft
