Kids or no kids that is the question!

Kids at weddings?... I am always for kids of course this is because I have kids and am from a huge close knit family so I may be biased. It is tough to tell people they cant bring their kids to a wedding, it is also tough if you tell them no but then they get there and there are kids attending. Its a tough line to draw and it is way easier to not even draw the line and just let everyone bring their kids, after all they are family! Weddings are a fun joyous occasion and whats more fun than kids. You can prepare for them and keep them happy (busy) by having a kids area or have fun stuff for them to do. If you in insist on not having kids at the wedding I advise having it very late in the evening and making a note of it on the invitation and be ready for people to ask if they can bring their kids and Good Luck!

July 11th wedding

July 11th-12th was a very busy weekend as we had two weddings to coordinate and both were for close friends. The pictures below are from my close friend Mollys wedding on 7/11/2009. It was at CI Shenanigans on Ruston Way in Tacoma, WA. It was a gorgeous day for pictures ( I will get some professional ones up here in a week or so) these are some from my camera (as you can tell). The setup was very simple as the location was gorgeous, like I always say location is everything!!! The food and the restaurant service was also amazing, I highly recommend them.
There are also a lot of parks along the water for pictures so it worked out great!
The Bride w/ friends


The ceremony view - GORGEOUS!

Guest book sign in, etc..

DIY - sign boards & programs

Saving $ w/ a destination wedding

Most of the weddings I help coordinate are on a tight and smaller budget, which is what I love because its a challenge and they are usually a more fun and happy group of people. Dealing with tight budgets the topic of a destination wedding always comes up as a way to save money (usually from the parents). Yes destination weddings can be amazing and fun and you will probably have gorgeous pictures but if you are thinking of doing it as a way to save $ be carefull, and think it through. Most people want to run away and have a small ceremony and then come back home and have a big reception, which is not saving you any money at all, infact that will be more expensive. The reception is where you spend all your money the ceremony is next to free. So if you are looking into a destination wedding to save money, go for it, but you'll have to ditch the big reception at home if you want to save $. Instead have a small reception when you come back or just have a website with pictures and info about the event so your friends and family who couldnt attend can still feel included.

NW Weddings & rain plans

Living in Seattle you always have to have a backup plan for the weather. I have a bride at the moment who wants to get married in a field and not have a tent or cover ready. So what happens if it rains?... We will cross that bridge the week before when the weather report comes out. Everyone who does event planning in seattle ALWAYS has a rain back up plan, its just a must! It is way easier and much more cost effective to book a location with a rain back up plan. Tents are expensive (like thousands each) and even if you get married in July or August, Seattle and the Northwest is very unpredictable, so be preparred and make sure there is room in your budget for a few tents, always be prepared! And remember if it does rain its good luck!

The Big Day!

It happens to every bride after planning for over a year you wake up one day and its your wedding day. Now what?... The day will go by so fast just make sure you sit back and ENJOY! Try not to stress out and just relax! Your friends family and guests will take their que from you so be preparred for something to go wrong and just let it roll off your back, because something almost always goes wrong. Whether its the wrong color flowers, the wrong flavor cake or a late caterer, things happen and its your job to take it all in stride. People wont know or remember that the cake was a different flavor or the flowers were wrong but they will remember if you freak out and turn into a bridezilla. So have a glass of champagne and show everyone how classy a bride you can be, shake it off and have some fun. You can call your vendors after the honeymoon and let them know how you feel.

Sulla Tips

I don't think I have given enough credit where it is due. The last few posts have been from some some advice that I love to share with my brides called Sulla Tips. I have some brides going though some tough times and said that they would read them to cheer them up and keep their wedding planning momentum going. SOmeone gave these to me when I was gettting married and I truly wasnt sure where they came from, just a word doc that I had gotten by e-mail. I do try and show thess tips off as I think they are great and thank you for helping so many brides out there! We cant THANK YOU enough SULLA TIPS!