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Showing posts with label DIY Wedding Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY Wedding Design. Show all posts
April 28, 2012
November 25, 2010
Planning a Wedding Fit for Royalty, Even on a Commoner’s Budget”
Feature Article
By Tracey Baxter
Your budget is actually irrelevant! A wedding is a time for grace and that’s not a category that can be calculated on the balance sheet. The intrinsic value of proper etiquette at a wedding is immeasurable. So if you want to plan a wedding fit for royalty, the budget is the last thing that will be remembered. Invest some time at your local library or bookstore perusing the wedding etiquette section. Your wedding is a great opportunity to learn (or relearn) how to properly address invitations, how to delicately tell your neighbor that the wedding will be an intimate family affair, and overall how to be a delight to others.
Above all, remember, friends and family mean well! The devil is in the details as they say! What makes your wedding special to you is not necessarily going to speak to your best friend’s tastes and desires. It’s OK to disagree with others on what trend you should be following this season or what menu to offer. This is your wedding and the only thing it should be is a reflection of you and your fiancé’s love for each other. Remember you can agree to disagree without ruffling too many feathers just by saying “You might be right about that!” And then gently change the subject to a different wedding detail or other topic entirely.
Although it might be a given where Prince William and Kate Middleton will be wed, the ceremony location is perhaps the most important place to visit first. Kudos to Kate for her first public wedding planning step she’s taken since the engagement announcement: taking a personal look at Westminster Abbey where her ceremony will very likely be held. Without the ceremony site, there is no wedding. So don’t book too much until the ceremony location is secured.
Guests reign supreme especially when they are royalty and dignitaries from foreign lands. But every bride should take plenty of time considering her guests when planning her wedding. Yes, it’s your day but you want to convey to your guests that you truly desire for them to enjoy your day too. So how can you do that? Plan responsibly! Consider your event day timeline carefully by allowing plenty of time for travel between the ceremony and reception sites. Your guests want to enjoy every part of the event you have planned for them. If it takes more than half hour to travel from the ceremony to the reception site, and your ceremony will end at 4:00pm don’t plan your cocktail hour to start until 5:00pm. Your guests will have time to freshen up and safely arrive without missing a moment of the fun!
Don’t forget the smallest guests! With children in tow, some guests feel it’s challenging to attend a wedding. From individual fun buckets to a table of shared activities, make it easier for guests to relax by providing kid friendly entertainment and fun! This also keeps the kids from controlling the dance floor and thereby allows the guests without children to feel comfortable to enjoy the party too! What should you provide for the kids? Etch-a-Sketch, Rubik’s Cube, Mad Libs, and easy clean crafts in a back pack or bucket are a great start. Lining a kid height table with a stack of butcher paper with a canister of markers, crayons and colored pencils makes a fun table – and it’s sweeter with a centerpiece featuring big yummy lolly-pops for all the kids!
Traditional, trendy, theme-ey or timeless, your wedding above all else should be enjoyable for you and your fiancé. There may be many hurdles to jump but unlike Kate & Prince William you won’t have all the world watching and scrutinizing your every step. Keep your wedding stress perspective! Don’t let yourself get so stressed that you are prone to bride-zilla moments. Take time for yourself to relax and have ‘NWP’ days – Non-Wedding-Planning days that is! Recharge, regroup and relax so you are not overwhelmed. Plan these days into your wedding planning itinerary!
Your Wedding Planning Homework: Plan a spa day, shopping trip or movie night with your bridesmaids, sister, mom or other friends. It's time to relax and recharge your batteries!
By Tracey Baxter
Your budget is actually irrelevant! A wedding is a time for grace and that’s not a category that can be calculated on the balance sheet. The intrinsic value of proper etiquette at a wedding is immeasurable. So if you want to plan a wedding fit for royalty, the budget is the last thing that will be remembered. Invest some time at your local library or bookstore perusing the wedding etiquette section. Your wedding is a great opportunity to learn (or relearn) how to properly address invitations, how to delicately tell your neighbor that the wedding will be an intimate family affair, and overall how to be a delight to others.
Above all, remember, friends and family mean well! The devil is in the details as they say! What makes your wedding special to you is not necessarily going to speak to your best friend’s tastes and desires. It’s OK to disagree with others on what trend you should be following this season or what menu to offer. This is your wedding and the only thing it should be is a reflection of you and your fiancé’s love for each other. Remember you can agree to disagree without ruffling too many feathers just by saying “You might be right about that!” And then gently change the subject to a different wedding detail or other topic entirely.
Although it might be a given where Prince William and Kate Middleton will be wed, the ceremony location is perhaps the most important place to visit first. Kudos to Kate for her first public wedding planning step she’s taken since the engagement announcement: taking a personal look at Westminster Abbey where her ceremony will very likely be held. Without the ceremony site, there is no wedding. So don’t book too much until the ceremony location is secured.
Guests reign supreme especially when they are royalty and dignitaries from foreign lands. But every bride should take plenty of time considering her guests when planning her wedding. Yes, it’s your day but you want to convey to your guests that you truly desire for them to enjoy your day too. So how can you do that? Plan responsibly! Consider your event day timeline carefully by allowing plenty of time for travel between the ceremony and reception sites. Your guests want to enjoy every part of the event you have planned for them. If it takes more than half hour to travel from the ceremony to the reception site, and your ceremony will end at 4:00pm don’t plan your cocktail hour to start until 5:00pm. Your guests will have time to freshen up and safely arrive without missing a moment of the fun!
Don’t forget the smallest guests! With children in tow, some guests feel it’s challenging to attend a wedding. From individual fun buckets to a table of shared activities, make it easier for guests to relax by providing kid friendly entertainment and fun! This also keeps the kids from controlling the dance floor and thereby allows the guests without children to feel comfortable to enjoy the party too! What should you provide for the kids? Etch-a-Sketch, Rubik’s Cube, Mad Libs, and easy clean crafts in a back pack or bucket are a great start. Lining a kid height table with a stack of butcher paper with a canister of markers, crayons and colored pencils makes a fun table – and it’s sweeter with a centerpiece featuring big yummy lolly-pops for all the kids!
Traditional, trendy, theme-ey or timeless, your wedding above all else should be enjoyable for you and your fiancé. There may be many hurdles to jump but unlike Kate & Prince William you won’t have all the world watching and scrutinizing your every step. Keep your wedding stress perspective! Don’t let yourself get so stressed that you are prone to bride-zilla moments. Take time for yourself to relax and have ‘NWP’ days – Non-Wedding-Planning days that is! Recharge, regroup and relax so you are not overwhelmed. Plan these days into your wedding planning itinerary!
Your Wedding Planning Homework: Plan a spa day, shopping trip or movie night with your bridesmaids, sister, mom or other friends. It's time to relax and recharge your batteries!
October 28, 2010
Color Your Wedding Wonderful -Part 1
By Tracey Baxter
Your wedding color choices should embody your personality. After all, that is the spirit of the event! Even if you want a light and airy feel to your wedding, if you don’t like yellow, you won’t enjoy the décor. So first think of colors that you love for the dominant color for your flowers and decor. If you love rich colors you can still achieve a breezy feeling by choosing lighter tones of your favorite shades.
Once you have narrowed down the main color, you have to decide how you’re going to accent it. You could search the internet for “orange weddings” and see what design boards come up. But if you want to create something a little more unique than everyone else’s color palette on the web, start with a color wheel. Remember from grade school ROY-G-BIV? Now take that concept and put it in a circle and you’ve got a color wheel. So let’s explore some color combining techniques.
Monochromatic:
If you want a monochromatic style, you’ll be using your main color in darker and lighter shades. On a color wheel, the darker shades are toward the outer edge of the circle and the lighter shades move in toward the center. Not getting that visual? Think about the paint department in your local home improvement store and what easily comes to mind is the array of paint swatch cards on the wall. The cards are typically arranged in monochromatic schemes with a dark shade on one end, a light shade on the other end and 2-4 shades in between. Find your favored color on a paint card and voila instant monochromatic scheme right? This is a fairly straightforward idea but you should still take the time to choose your shades wisely. To be sure to create an authentic monochromatic event, continue to check your color palette swatch against the linens, flowers and other décor you select. It’s easier to veer off the monochromatic path than you think. The danger in monochromatic schemes is they can look monotonous so carefully think of the space where your design will be used.
Analogic:
Analog colors neighbor each other on the color wheel. Because of this, they will have an harmonious feeling when used together. In simplest terms: red, orange and yellow are great autumn tones but technically speaking; they will work together because they are neighbors on the color wheel. Analogic color schemes are quite common.
If you want to try creating monochromatic and analogic color schemes, check out our post on 10/12/10 for links to fun and free tools!
October 12, 2010
Technical Tuesday... Wedding Colors
What colors are you using for your wedding decor? How did you choose them?
There are lots of 'rules' to follow or to break depending on your bent for drama ;) ... and of course some colors will blend well and others...well, not so much! ("Oh yeah, you blend"...Mona Lisa Vito played by Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny, circa 1992)
Naturally you want your wedding colors to be unique. But it's understandable that you can't add a degree in design to the wedding budget. So how can you be sure that your personalized color scheme isn't a personalized hot mess?
Here are a few great tools. No DIY bride should be without these! Visit Kuler and Color Scheme Designer for shades, monochromatic, and more!
Oh, and did I mention it's free to use these tools? That's right! Aren't free tools great!? No excuses! You can create a spectacular color palette for your wedding that is not a carbon copy of all that you find online!
There are lots of 'rules' to follow or to break depending on your bent for drama ;) ... and of course some colors will blend well and others...well, not so much! ("Oh yeah, you blend"...Mona Lisa Vito played by Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny, circa 1992)
Naturally you want your wedding colors to be unique. But it's understandable that you can't add a degree in design to the wedding budget. So how can you be sure that your personalized color scheme isn't a personalized hot mess?
Here are a few great tools. No DIY bride should be without these! Visit Kuler and Color Scheme Designer for shades, monochromatic, and more!
Oh, and did I mention it's free to use these tools? That's right! Aren't free tools great!? No excuses! You can create a spectacular color palette for your wedding that is not a carbon copy of all that you find online!
July 22, 2010
Feature Article
“Manage Your Motif So You Don't Make a Mess”
By Tracey Baxter
Managing your motif means prioritizing your spending. Never before has DIY wedding planning been so easy to do. The web has numerous wedding websites, blogs and professional design boards just a click away. With so many inspirations, it’s also easy to get carried away and attempt to pull too many elements into one wedding. I’ve heard it before, “I just want this one last thing to pull it together…” Meanwhile, this bride had to increase her budget to accomplish this. Prioritizing from the beginning, this bride would have kept the budget in check and clearly communicated her wedding style without needing a single thing to pull it together. And really, will that one last thing pull it together? Not likely!
So many elements, where to begin? Bengaline, damask and pin tuck – Oh My! A Candy Buffet or a dessert buffet ...or both – but why? Using a notebook to collect and file ideas is an easy way to remember what you like. But pulling it together should not be an afterthought. It really should be the very next thing you do after determining your total wedding budget and guest list. Does having both a candy buffet and a dessert buffet even make sense? Maybe, if your overall theme is inspired by a sweet shop. Do you need trinket favors and a candy buffet? Again, this depends on the overall style of your wedding. But rather than taking on all the latest trends, let your personal style influence your décor and menu choices. This is your day so begin by examining who you are and what you love.
My advice to brides is regularly examine what you have collected in your notebook. While you are in the early planning stages you should weed your notebook regularly. Some ideas might have been added in the impulse of the moment. And some are truly things you will want to include in your wedding décor. Invest in the areas that make you say “Oh yes, I need this” and minimize or eliminate everything else. Carefully choosing elements you want most and doing them exceptionally well will be more appreciated by your guests. More importantly, you and your fiancé will be happier with the polished end result!
Your Wedding Planning Homework:
Start your wedding planning by figuring out who you are. How do you really want to celebrate your wedding? What elements are the most important? Let the answers to these questions be your guiding light.
Want to use this article in your E-zine, blog or website? You may as long as you include this complete statement:
Wedding Solutions Specialist Tracey Baxter publishes the "Aisle Do" bi-weekly e-zine. Get your Free Report: "5 Fun and Fabulous Reception Ideas for a Reluctant DIY Bride” at www.aisledoweddings.com
By Tracey Baxter
Managing your motif means prioritizing your spending. Never before has DIY wedding planning been so easy to do. The web has numerous wedding websites, blogs and professional design boards just a click away. With so many inspirations, it’s also easy to get carried away and attempt to pull too many elements into one wedding. I’ve heard it before, “I just want this one last thing to pull it together…” Meanwhile, this bride had to increase her budget to accomplish this. Prioritizing from the beginning, this bride would have kept the budget in check and clearly communicated her wedding style without needing a single thing to pull it together. And really, will that one last thing pull it together? Not likely!
So many elements, where to begin? Bengaline, damask and pin tuck – Oh My! A Candy Buffet or a dessert buffet ...or both – but why? Using a notebook to collect and file ideas is an easy way to remember what you like. But pulling it together should not be an afterthought. It really should be the very next thing you do after determining your total wedding budget and guest list. Does having both a candy buffet and a dessert buffet even make sense? Maybe, if your overall theme is inspired by a sweet shop. Do you need trinket favors and a candy buffet? Again, this depends on the overall style of your wedding. But rather than taking on all the latest trends, let your personal style influence your décor and menu choices. This is your day so begin by examining who you are and what you love.
My advice to brides is regularly examine what you have collected in your notebook. While you are in the early planning stages you should weed your notebook regularly. Some ideas might have been added in the impulse of the moment. And some are truly things you will want to include in your wedding décor. Invest in the areas that make you say “Oh yes, I need this” and minimize or eliminate everything else. Carefully choosing elements you want most and doing them exceptionally well will be more appreciated by your guests. More importantly, you and your fiancé will be happier with the polished end result!
Your Wedding Planning Homework:
Start your wedding planning by figuring out who you are. How do you really want to celebrate your wedding? What elements are the most important? Let the answers to these questions be your guiding light.
Want to use this article in your E-zine, blog or website? You may as long as you include this complete statement:
Wedding Solutions Specialist Tracey Baxter publishes the "Aisle Do" bi-weekly e-zine. Get your Free Report: "5 Fun and Fabulous Reception Ideas for a Reluctant DIY Bride” at www.aisledoweddings.com
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