Ceremony Programs

For our ceremony programs, I kept with the black and white damask and tiffany blue theme. Originally, I had designed a program which also acted as a paddle fan, but, in my humble opinion, popsicle sticks look cheap and a bit tacky, which is what I used on the original program as a fan handle. The cool thing about designing a tacky program: I got a good idea of what I don't want and sought out more inspiration from photo galleries on various websites. As luck would have it, I found a beautiful program idea on http://galleries.weddingchannel.com/ . Here is the inspiration:

Photo Credit: SB Childs Photography

I added our monogram, switcherooed a few things and personalized it for our ceremony, and wahlah:

Best of all, fiance approves!

Some things you should include in your ceremony programs:

-Date

-Couple's names (or make an elegant monogram and insert it into your document)

-Location

-Ceremony time

-Order of Events (Including: Processional music, greeting, readings, poems, prayers, exchange of vows, ring ceremony, unity candle ceremony, any other ceremony, pronouncement of marriage, recessional music, etc.)

-Members of Wedding Party (Including: Officiant, parents of bride & groom, MOH, bridesmaids, jr. bridesmaids, flower girl, best man, groomsmen, ushers, ring bearer, readers, etc.)

-May also include: explanation of a ritual or tradition used in ceremony, a note thanking guests for sharing your special day, a tribute or memorial for loved ones no longer with us, or a quote or poem about love or marriage

Questions For the Caterer

I compiled a list of questions to ask our potential caterer at our tasting/interview today. I used a couple Knot books to help me with my list and then added additional questions I wanted the answers to. The two very helpful books are: The Knot Book of Wedding Lists by Carley Roney & The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner: Worksheets, Checklists, Etiquette, Calendars, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions also by Carley Roney.


To take a look inside the books just go to http://amazon.com/ and search each. Anyhoo, these are the important questions we will be asking today:

1. Do you specialize in any certain type of cuisine or menu?
2. Where is the food prepared?
3. Are you licensed?
4. When is the menu "set in stone"?
5. Do you have waitstaff/buffet attendants? How do they dress?
6. How many waitstaff would be needed for my event?
7. How often is food replenished in the buffet?
8. How is the charge for labor figured? Is clean-up extra? Is there a percentage service fee?
9. What is your cancellation/postponement policy?
10. Do you do liquor and have you a liquor license?
11. Do you guarantee estimates?
12. Are there extra charges involved with the cake, like a cutting fee?
13. Can we add hors d'oeurves to be served during cocktails after the ceremony, for how much?
14. Do you require an exact head count? When do you need that?
15. How much is the deposit to hold our date?
16. When do we pay the rest? Can we make periodic payments?
17. May I see the china, flatware, glassware, etc. or disposable-ware? Is real china extra?
18. Do you include linens, skirting?
19. Do you employ bartenders?
20. Will the waitstaff do the champagne toast?
21. How involved are you in a typical reception?
22. May I see photos of buffet/food arrangements?
23. Do you handle table-setting?
24. Do you provide anything else additional?
25. If we provide our own liquor, is there a corkage fee?
26. Do you have references?
27. What are the extra fees involved: service fee, gratuity, sales tax, etc.?
28. (and if you haven't done so already) When can we schedule a tasting?

Make sure you get your questions answered up front and get your deal in writing with the contract, which you should carefully peruse before signing. One thing that makes a HUGE difference in pricing: the service fee. We have seen caterers charge as much as 22% of the total sales + sales tax...ouch! Though some caterers have no service fee at all. A 20% service fee on a $5,000 catering bill is $1,000! So definitely find out about additional fees! As for us, I'll be back with an update as to how we liked the caterer later!

Mary Kay's Virtual Makeover

Fun, fun, fun! I used to sell Mary Kay and still use some of their products. I am absolutely in love with Mary Kay's Ultimate Mascara. Makes your lashes purdy! If you haven't been on their site, you must check it out simply for the virtual makeover application...so much fun! You just upload a pic of yourself sans makeup and add makeup and hair as you go. I made several different looks for myself, this one being my fave:

Just go to http://www.marykay.com and select the virtual makeover option.

Fabric-Covered Guest Books

I wanted every item that had to do with the wedding to reflect our personalities. So as I was browsing around looking for guestbooks, I couldn't help but notice that most of them were pretty plain and boring. Instead of the usual guestbook, why not cover it in a pretty fabric that matches your wedding colors and perhaps add some fru-fru details? I do this to cheapo plain scrapbooks and photo albums as well. I covered our guest book in a black, satiny fabric, added a black and white damask strip of fabric folded accordian-style, kept in place by a silver scrapbooking accessory (found at Hobby Lobby). This is our guest book:

I played around with some other albums and this is what I came up with for them:

Tips for fabric-covering books:
-Use a hot glue gun to make sure your pretty work stays put.
-Wrap the fabric around the cover of your book similarly to wrapping a present in gift wrap, folding down corners, etc.
-Run a line of glue down the cover of the book where it's bound, but keep the rest of the glue to the inside cover, folding the fabric around to the inside
-You might be tempted to pull the fabric super-tight to smooth your fabric cover, but make sure you can close the book and that it isn't pulled too tight
-Cover the ugly remaining fabric ends on the inside covers of your book with either a pretty peice of cardstock, cut to fit, or a contrasting piece of fabric with the edges either hemmed or glued under
-In order to be able to open the book, you'll need to make 2 small cuts in the fabric down the center of it where the binding of the book is, just cut until you get to the book, then you can fold the fabric in like wrapping paper and glue
-Be funky, unique, and creative: your guestbook, album, scrapbook, journal, etc. should reflect your awesome personality!