Why Hire a Day of Coordinator
The wedding date is nearing and you start to panic thinking about everything there is to do before the wedding happens and everything planned for the big day. Will all my vendors show up on time? Will my groom make it for the first look? Will the reception be setup exactly how you planned? OK now take a deep breath. The solution is simple and will allow you to relax on the day of your wedding and enjoy what the day is supposed to be about, YOU and your Future SPOUSE. One thing is for sure is that the amount of stress and panic that you have will immediately be calmed by hiring a Wedding Coordinator who has done weddings time and time again. Not everyone executes weddings as a career so it’s best to find someone that can get the job done. I can only vouch for Honorary Bridesmaid with how I ensure your day runs smoothly by doing the following things:
It’s not just Day of Coordination, it’s the entire month! I want to make sure every detail is fine tuned for the big day. Starts with ensuring your guest count is accounted for, final payments for vendors have been completed, and decor is ready to be setup.
Rehearsal is so important and helps work out any kinks you may think will happen. Run through the ceremony as many times as you want until you are satisfied with how it looks.
Good Morning! Hope you’ve slept well because I will be seeing you bright and early to ensure you have a cup of coffee or a mimosa and are being pampered like every couple should be. While you’re enjoying your wedding parties I will be a text or phone call away. The ceremony and reception will be getting transformed and the vendors will start to arrive. Updates can be given upon request or just sit back and enjoy your day.
Flowers. Photos. First Looks. It’s time for things to start getting real. Suits and dresses are being put on, corsages pinned, and getting ready photos taken with all your wedding party. The ceremony and reception are ready. Next step is doing a first look at the alter, first touch, or ripping the bandaid off and having an intimate moment before you say I do. Throughout the pictures I will be checking in to make sure you have everything you need. Need your train fluffed, tie fixed or even some liquid courage to loosen up that smile, I got you!
Let’s Get Married! Guests have arrived and they are waiting for you to walk down the aisle. I will be there to fluff that train, straighten your veil, do a lipstick check, and calm any nerves you have.
Congratulations! You are now MR. & MRS., MR. & MR., or MRS. and MRS. now it’s time to welcome your guests to the amazing party you’ve created. While guests enjoy cocktail hour, you will be swept away for a few more photos and back to have drinks or hors d’oeurvres.
Party time! Let’s kick the reception off with a great bridal party and newlywed entrance. During this time dinner will start to be served and mingling can happen, thanking all of your guests for coming. Speeches will take place, cake/dessert cutting, and finally dancing! Every detail will be checked to make sure it is going exactly how you wanted the day and you won’t be stressing about any of the timelines.
Getaway exit. You’ve had your fun and everything must come to an end, unfortunately. Don’t sweat the cleanup of centerpieces and candles. The night was about you and the last thing newlyweds should be doing is cleaning up their reception. Go enjoy yourselves more with a nightcap with some of your closest or head back to the hotel.
One last thing. I hope your day is magical, but if you need help Honorary Bridesmaid is there to be right by your side. When looking for a coordinator/planner make sure you have that connection during your consultation and they see your vision. Happy Planning!
How to Choose the Perfect Venue
Congratulations on your engagement! Now is when the fun of planning starts. There will be a few things you will need to figure out before you start searching the internet for the venue you envision. The prep work will make your life a ton easier once you know the answers to the questions venues will start to ask when you start your adventure of touring.
First thing you will need to figure out is how many people you intend on having come to your wedding day. It’s helpful to start to create a list of everyone you know, your fiancé, as well as if you want either of the parents to create a list of any people they’d like to invite. You’d be surprised how many people are on the list once you get a count. Don’t be afraid to take some people off if you haven’t spoken to them in years or have cousins twice removed. Remember this is your day to celebrate with your closest family and friends. By getting all of these names on a list also try to get addresses and phone numbers so you won’t have to worry about that later on in the planning process. When you get the final count, look back and count the people you believe will come to your wedding. Twenty percent is usually the amount of people that will not be able to make it and to make sure you don’t get a venue larger than you need it’s best to account for several less people. This number is important for venue size, guests for catering, and beverage minimums.
Second, Budget. Budgeting for a wedding can be difficult, but you also don’t want to spend something that’s going to take you 20 years to pay off. When thinking about what you want have an ideal number in mind and have a hard no pass number. You may come to find planning will have you pick certain things that are more important than others when it comes to the wedding day. Average cost of weddings for 2023 is $25,000-$35,000. This does not mean it can’t go below or well above that number.
Third, Date. When choosing your wedding date you may want to be open minded. Choosing a specific season may be a better option than a specific date. This will allow more availability with venues and other vendors. If you do choose a specific date try not to get discouraged if a vendor is not available. Most will recommend other photographers, florists, DJ’s, catering, that may be available for your date and within your budget, date, and guest count.
Now that you’ve done all the prep work it’s time to start planning tours based off the criteria. Start with selecting venues that are striking your wedding dreams. You’ll want to visit your favorites first and make sure they are exactly what you thought they were. Social media has been a great tool for many to check out venue pages to see how different weddings are setup. At the venue some details to take into consideration are if they offer all decor, catering, and setup/teardown. If they do not, there are more vendors you will have to find instead of it being a one stop shop. Most couples enjoy being able to choose whomever they want for vendors because it allows personality to shine through. There is neither a right or wrong way of deciding how you want your wedding to be. Another question is if the venue offers a ceremony space, wedding and reception can take place indoors/outdoor, or if there is a bridal party/groomsman get ready space? These are all questions to consider while shopping for the venue space and what you envision for the wedding day.
When you do find that perfect venue it will just click and feel like its exactly the place you see yourself getting married, as well as looking back at pictures dreaming about how great that day was. Once the decision has been made book it without hesitation. Dates go by incredibly fast and I’d hate to see you miss something that felt so right. Happy Venue Shopping!
What to expect when shopping for your Bridal Gown
What to expect when shopping for your bridal gown
While working at one of the best salons for bridal in Carmel, Indiana we came across so many brides that weren’t sure of the process of bridal shopping. The process doesn’t just begin when you walk into the doors of the salon. It begins as soon as you start envisioning what you will wear when you marry your one true love. Typically you start Pinteresting what dresses are standing out to you. It could be a fit and flare, mermaid, ballgown, sheath, trumpet, simple, laced, beaded, sleeves or no sleeves, the list goes on and on. But most, don’t know exactly what they are looking for until they try on the one that speaks to them. Here is where I will help you prepare for a great bridal experience.
First thing to do is to create a budget for what you want to spend on your dream dress. With this budget include if you want a veil, jewelry, or shoes to go with it. You may also want to include alterations which can also add onto the bill. Not too often does a dress fit exactly to the bride when it comes from the designer so plan accordingly.
Next is where to shop. Larger cities are usually easier to shop so you can get multiple locations in within a day. One thing I will recommend is that please do yourself a favor and just book 2-3 appointments. The chances of you finding your dress within those appointments is highly likely if you’ve been doing your homework on what you think you may be looking for.
Plus size bride over here! Make sure that if you are considered plus size in bridal which is a normal jean size of a 10/12 to make sure they have extended sizes and plenty of styles for you to try on. Some bridal salons carry the extended sizes, where as some do not and that is a complete buzzkill when you’re excited to try on dresses but you can’t. So many lines have them now and some stores have sister stores that just carry extended sizes.
For the Day of Shopping…
I highly recommend starting the day with a light to medium breakfast to soak up those mimosas you may be feeling to get rid of the nervousness of shopping for the big day. Also, after two appointments if starting early, schedule a lunch for you and your girls to go over everything you’ve tried on.
Which brings me to my next helpful tip. Shopping is much less stressful if you have a group of 2-4 people with you. Remember that the people you bring with also have opinions so make sure you trust all of them with what you are envisioning. When you are at a bridal salon most will ask what type of dress you are looking for and what details you were thinking of. The consultant knows the inventory of the store and usually has thought of the perfect dress with all the details described. Some will allow you to browse with them or you can stay back and trust the process of the bridal consultants thinking while you enjoy the company of the group you’ve brought sipping some champagne.
One of the most asked questions when booking an appointment was “What do I wear when trying on gowns?” Don’t overthink this too much. We recommended wearing full coverage panties and your choice of wearing a strapless bra or no bra. Reason for no bra was because most gowns come with a B cup already sewn into the dress.
After you’ve found “The One” you will have the consultant take your measurements and show you a size chart for the designer you’ve picked. If this is your first time shopping in bridal please do not sweat the bridal sizing. Your dress size is two sizes larger in bridal than your normal jean size.
Most important tip! Please have fun and do not sweat not finding your dress at the first place. It is out there and when you finally put it on, it will all make sense.