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10 Ways to Guarantee Guests Will Love Your Wedding

Danielle — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 13:00:29 +0000

While planning a wedding, sometimes we can get swept up in the details that we love and we can forget about those who will be attending the wedding. While the wedding is for the bride and the groom, it's also a big party to celebrate with family as friends so keeping your guests in mind can help make the event enjoyable for all attending. By adding a few simple touches to your perfect day you can be assured that your guests will not only have a good time, but they'll remember your wedding for a lifetime to come! And who doesn't want that? Here are a few great ways to guarantee your guests will love your wedding.

10 Ways to Guarantee Guests Will Love Your Wedding

{photo by Jose Villa}

1. Tote Bags for Out of Town Guests - Hosting a destination wedding? Supplying guests with a welcome tote can be a wonderful surprise after a long journey! Fill it with goodies, water bottles, welcome brochures, and tips for fun local things to do during their stay. 2. RSVP Song Request Cards - When guests send in their RSVPs leave a little spot so that they can request their favorite song! Not only does that make them feel like they're already a part of the wedding, you can veto any songs you don't approve before it even gets to the DJ! 3. Fan Programs - Whether you're outdoors or inside a church, depending on the time of year your guests can get hot and uncomfortable. By choosing gorgeous fan programs you can create a way for your guests to know what's going on and stay nice and cool. 4. Edible or Usable Party Favors - If you're considering party favors for your guest try and think of things that your guests can use. Chocolates and other edibles are always nice especially if the cocktail hour and dinner hour aren't close together. As are gifts like seeds to plant, etc. Sometimes little trinkets that we love will just leave our guests wondering what they're going to do with them. Need ideas? Check out this great article.

{photo by Krista Mason}

5. Interactive guest book - Instead of having your guests simply leave their signatures make your guest book fun! Consider a photo booth or have each guest leave their thumb print. There are so many different ways you can allow your guests to interact at your wedding. 6. Flip Flops for the Dance Floor - the number one rule at a wedding is to have fun! So when guest want to get down and boogie they want to be comfy. By having a nice selection of flip flops available for them on the dance floor you can be assured that no one will be sitting out.

{photo by Teale Photography}

7. Vases for your bridesmaid's bouquets - no bridesmaid wants to have their bouquet tossed on it's side while she enjoys the reception! By placing vases at the bridesmaid's tables they can rest assured that their bouquets will be just as beautiful as when they were walking down the aisle. Plus they'll create beautiful centerpieces! 8. Keep the wine flowing - while it's not necessary to have a full bar, consider stocking up on wine and beer for your guests and perhaps one signature cocktail for your big day. That way guests won't feel pressured to purchase drinks at the bar unless they really want to.

{photo by Krista Mason}

9. Let them eat cake - we all know that sometimes the wedding festivities take some time, but try not to make the guests wait too long to cut the cake. Or consider having some cupcakes on hand to give to those who might not be able to stay all night to wait for that special moment. Everyone will be happy! 10. A safe ride home - Having the options for your guests to take a taxi or shuttle bus from your venue to their front door will assure everyone arrives at their homes safely. Plus it'll be one last thing you'll have to worry about!

What is one thing you love to see at weddings?

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What To DIY For Weddings – And What Not To

Danielle — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:25:46 +0000

We have a lot of brides tell us after they've ordered their invitations and wedding stationery and assembled them themselves that they would have much rather paid a little extra to have us assemble their stationery for them. Not only was it time consuming, but many enlisted the help of family and friends who didn't quite have the same vision of perfection like our brides. With this information we thought we'd compile a list of what we thought were great for what to DIY for weddings and what we should leave to the professionals!

What To DIY For Weddings - And What Not To

What to DIY - Wedding Planning/Coordination What NOT to DIY - Day of Wedding Coordination

Why? Planning your big day can be a huge task but if you don't have the budget for a wedding planner I highly suggest investing in a day-of planner. This will not only save you and your family unnecessary stress, it'll also cost you a fraction of what a full wedding planner costs. Plus what bride doesn't want full control of all of the details up until the last minute. Then you can give complete control to your day-of planner so you can relish in the fabulousness that is your day!

What to DIY - Cake Topper What NOT to DIY - Cake

Why? While you might be the best baker in your family or circle of friends, baking your own cake is a huge undertaking. Stick to the simpler construction of some cute DIY cake toppers! You can keep the personalized touch and tie the cake in to the theme of your wedding. Better yet, opt for cupcakes if you're looking to cut corners on the budget!

What to DIY - Cupcake Stand(s) What NOT to DIY - Cupcakes

Why? Just like the cake, please know that having you or a family member/friend baking the day before or days before the big day will not save anyone time or money and will lead to more frustration! Show your creative flair by creating a one of a kind cupcake stand to wow the guests and make your cupcakes shine.

What to DIY - Seating Charts and Guest Books What NOT to DIY - Invitations and Wedding Stationery

Why? Printing, assembling, and addressing invitations and creating your own wedding stationery can sometimes end up costing you more than you expected. Specialty cardstock can be pricey as can envelopes and if you don't have the right printer or cutting tools you can be left with a pile of smudged, misshapen paper. By investing in a stationery designer and printer and having everything assembled you can reduce the stress and enjoy gorgeous invitations for everyone to cherish. Still want to DIY some stationery? Put your time and effort into an awesome seating chart! There are so many amazing ideas out there and you're sure to have more time creating a great work of art if you don't have to take care of all of the stationery. And there are so many wonderful alternatives for guest books out there. Most are easily re-created by a DIY bride to fit their wedding.

What to DIY - Dance Lessons What NOT to DIY - DJ & Emcee

While I cherished my dance lessons with my husband, there are so many other ways to learn out there that'll save you a bit of money. YouTube video tutorials, friends, and family can help you out with that first dance. But one thing I couldn't skimp on or turn to an iPod or laptop for would be a DJ. Not only can the emcee make or break your wedding reception, a live person is really needed to feel the crowd and get your guests moving!

What did you DIY for your wedding?

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Keeping Your Addresses Current with Postable

Adrienne — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:01:50 +0000

In an age that is quickly saying goodby to paper and mailed items, it is getting more and more difficult to keep up with family and friends addresses. We came across this wonderful site that helps with this problem!

What can you use this app for?

Postable will be a godsend to anyone who has a major event coming up like a wedding or a reunion, as it allows users to handle a 5-10 hour task in a matter of minutes. Postable is deceptively simple: users simply generate a link and send it out to whomever they need contact information from. As people respond to the link, Postable creates and updates a virtual address book with the most current information. Of course, the app is useful even if a user doesn’t have a major event: birthdays, holidays and anniversaries crop up throughout the year, all events for which an e-mail simply won’t do. Entrepreneurs might also find this app useful for the touch of customer service it will add, allowing them to send out thank you letters and other important mailers, especially if they send the address book link as a matter of course. From the creators: "We created Postable to solve a simple problem: nobody seems to have anybody's mailing address anymore. Email addresses and phone numbers don't help when you want to send somebody an actual piece of mail. Whether you're getting married and need to collect hundreds of mailing addresses, sending out Christmas cards or even if you just want to have a complete, up-to-date address book once and for all, Postable makes it extremely easy. We are fanatical about privacy and will never use any piece of information submitted to this site for any reason other than to provide you with an amazing Address Book."

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Choosing the Right Shade {Tips and Tricks}

Danielle — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:45:18 +0000

Picking the perfect colors for a wedding can be tough work. There are so many things to consider when bringing an idea together and taking it from imagination to reality. One major thing to consider when choosing the right shade or color to go with your wedding is that not all seafoam greens look the same.

Where to go

There are many brides who see a color they love, ask what the name of it is, and then order that color without making sure it matches the Pantone Matching System. For our stationery customers we highly recommend reviewing our ink color chart before making their final decision. Here are some great places to check out color swatches to find your true color:

What to look out for

Be aware that some computer monitors will show a slight variation between the color you see on the screen and the true color. So if you have any doubts about selecting the true color feel free to ask your stationery designer to match your Pantone color with a swatch book to the print out if they are printing it. Or just ask for a sample to be sent to you. We want to be sure that it’s the color you absolutely love! And we love when our brides send us in a color card or fabric swatch to make sure that the color we print is a great choice. Even paint chip samples from the hardware store work great!

Great tips and solutions

We, and most other stationery designers, are happy to send cardstock color swatch chips before our brides order, and always like to send a full printed mockup so the customer can see exactly what their product will look like in person, before all of them are printed and shipped. I definitely wouldn’t risk buying in bulk without asking or getting a sample, because the colors on digital images can show up so much more differently than in print, so I wouldn’t want our brides to do this either! Check out blogs like The Perfect Palette or this article on Up Market to help choose the perfect shade for your big day. While these sites might not always be geared towards brides, they are geared towards creating the perfect color palatte and can come in handy when choosing the right shade or color.

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