Jaiden & Riley Andus

My cute cousin Jaiden and her good-lookin' now husband were married June 15th in the Provo City Center Temple June 15th, 2018.

Jaiden didn't want to have "wedding colors" so opted for the bridesmaids to be in black and have a lot of greenery and use the colors from the bouquet and decorations and it turned out to be very pretty. She had a more urban theme and the Bright Room was perfect for her vision. 

I helped Jaiden to find her florist and she bounced ideas off of me for food, decorations and set-up.

My favorite part of the reception was the fact that she used food trucks for her food to make it more of a party. If you know Jaiden, you know how fun, chill and go with the flow she is. She wanted her guests to have fun and feel like they were at a party. She had food trucks from Sweet Chimneys and Tacos Don Rafa. I loved that she had live music for the couples first dance which added a sweet little touch and set that apart. Her exit was AMAZING! She had confetti and yes it was awful cleaning up but made for some pretty cool pictures! Congrats Jaiden and Riley!

Here are some pictures from her special day.

Photography: Carly Jane Photo

Katie & Hunter Stutz

My cute sister-in-law Katie was married August 25th, 2017 in the Portland, Oregon temple. It was a beautiful summer day in Portland. I was able to assist Katie and Layne (my mother-in-law) from day one with all the wedding planning. I even went wedding dress shopping and was her helper for her Bridals that she had done here in Utah.

Katie's colors were blush and coral accented with navy and gold-her decorations and flowers were beautiful. She wanted a classic garden theme so we searched for tons of different venues all over Puyallup, Washington where her and her Hunter (her husband) are from. She decided to go with the Pioneer pavilion downtown Puyallup and it turned out great. Lots of natural light made the gold really accents stand out and it was great for a summer wedding so guests could go in and out as they pleased.

She had Honeybaked Ham cater different meats, cheeses, breads, crackers, fruit, salads etc. for food. Her cake was from Thriftway and of course it was delicious (that's where I got my wedding cake and she even had the same flavor).

Her decor consisted of: candles, flowers/greenery, Bridal pictures, chalkboards and signs etc. Her exit was Bubbles that the guests got to blow which was very kid-friendly which was nice for my one year old at the time. She was even one of my few brides who had a line which I think it always nice. She stood in front of that beautiful greenery backdrop and you can ask Katie yourself- she still had time for all the traditional wedding festivities like: speeches, dancing, cutting the cake, bouquet toss, garter toss, etc. and even got to sit down and eat! So brides, consider having a line so you can properly greet your guests.

Here are the pictures...

Photography: Kylee Ann Photography

Chelsea & Jacob Kendell

I was very fortunate to be able to attend my close friend and cousin Jake's wedding. I was fortunate because it was all the way in Orlando, FL and it's not a quick, inexpensive flight. It was on April 9, 2014 in the Orlando temple. I flew down a few days before to enjoy Florida with the fam and be apart of the rehearsal dinner and Bachelorette party. My cousin sure did get lucky with Chelsea because she is amazing. I have come to know her really well and am so stoked she is part of the family.

If you know Florida you know that it is extremely humid especially in August. It was definitely a climate shock. Luckily the temple wasn't too crazy on that Saturday.

I helped my aunt (Jake's mom) with the wedding luncheon after the temple. I called and scheduled a caterer, helped order the food, find a venue, decorations etc.

I also helped Chelsea find bridesmaids dresses along with a photographer in the Orlando area and find pots for the succulents (wedding favors).

Chelsea and Jake's colors were gold and white and it would be considered trendy and formal. It was at the Winter Park Racquet Club in Winter Park, Florida. There was a buffet-style dinner along with many wedding festivities including the groom singing and playing a song for the bride! It was very special.

After the reception the guests headed outside for an extravagant sparkler send off. Then the bride and groom got a special ride on the back of a boat for their grand exit.

Photography: Lens & Light Photography

Who's Invited?

It's a good idea from day one of being engaged to start thinking ahead and asking yourself, who is invited to our wedding? You want to start making a guest list as soon as possible because you'll be surprised how long it will take to compile this list. I remember adding people to the guest list weeks before my wedding because my parents had accidentally forgotten some people.

Here are a few suggestions, rules and tips for proper wedding etiquette: 

As far as who is invited start adding anyone and everyone you would want to include and once you finalize venue arrangements and food plans you can slowly start removing people from the list.  Consider all family-even second cousins, friends of your parents, co-workers, people from church etc.

To organize this list instead of writing it down on some random piece of paper that you will end up losing, you should put it all into an excel file with the name of the person: Example: Mr. & Mrs. Tyler O'Bryant or if you are going to address less formal Tyler & Jocelyn O'Bryant. You could even choose to add family at the end if the whole family is invited to attend. Then make sure you add their full address. You can even make this list in a Google document so it's all in once place, which might be easiest so that multiple parties like your parents and fiancé can view the list and add to it as well.

If you are sending out save the dates then you really do need to have a good idea of who is invited. If you do decide to invite other people last minute then you can send out announcements/invites. Just because you're doing save the dates doesn't mean you should ignore sending out announcements/invites. There is no rule to this so it is up to you in the end. But it is a good idea so you don't have that awkward oh I forgot you phone call.

Make sure to send everyone in your immediate family a save the date/invite if they live in a separate home than you. (This includes brothers and sisters who are already married if you have any.) Don't assume, "Oh, they're family and will just come." Especially if you're having a summer wedding. That is the busiest time of year and most families make plans and have prior commitments.

Since Ty and I got married in the summer and wanted everyone in our family to be able to come we called/texted/emailed them the date right away so they could plan accordingly and make travel arrangements.

Happy wedding planning :)

Save The Dates

Who's planning a destination wedding? Who's planning a wedding over a Holiday or during a busy time in the summer? 

Well, then I suggest you send out some Save The Dates. You don't have to, but it let's your guests know when the wedding is, and that they are invited. If they need to travel for it, it let's them know in advance so they can save money and book travel plans. 

When do you send them? 

A rule of thumb, is about 6 months prior to the wedding. The earlier the better. I had a friend send her's out in December last year, and her wedding is this August. 

What happens if the date or plans change? 

It is best to make a website with all your information. That way if something changes you can go on your website and update it. A lot of people use social media sites-like Facebook that you can create your wedding page on, if you didn't want to make a website. You can also spread the word by phone, or if you wanted, you could send out another mailing that explains what's going on.

What information goes on the Save The Date?

Usually you just put the date of your wedding, and location as in the city and state unless you already have your venue picked. You can also include your engagement photo or any other photo if you are going to use your engagements for your actual wedding invitation.

Along with my blog I am starting to design Save The Dates and Announcements if anyone is interested :D

Here is a sample of one that I did...

Picking A Venue

Picking a venue can also be extremely challenging in the wedding planning process. It goes hand-in-hand with choosing a date. Your date is dependent upon your venue. Right when you decide on your date, your next step is to pick your venue. You hopefully have somethings in mind before you get to this stage, but if you don't, no worries. This is the fun part where you research and visit all your different possibilities. Your options really are endless if you have planned well and/or are willing to be somewhat flexible. If you are planning for a summer wedding, an outdoor location is a popular pick. These locations can include: a golf course, someone's house, a garden, park, country club, the beach etc. If you are wanting an indoor wedding or planning for a winter or fall wedding there is always a church, hotel, museum or a famous building. For planning outdoor weddings, no matter if it's in the summer it's still a good idea to have a back up location in case of rain. Or you can make sure to have tents set-up or umbrellas for use. Also make sure that your location is easily accessible and user friendly for kids that maybe attending as well as your grandparents. You also might want to pick a venue that is not too far away from where you are wanting your reception if you are not going to have both with the same venue. If they are a little ways a way, you might want to consider having transportation from the ceremony to the reception. I recently attended a wedding that the ceremony and reception were at different locations and they were kind of far away from each other, and they didn't have transportation for the guests. While visiting all the venues make sure to ask questions and have questions in mind before you meet. 

Some questions that you should ask the venue's manager are: 
-How many people can this location accommodate
-What the rental fee and deposit is and when it's due
-How long do you have the space for
-What time can your vendor's be there to set up
-Do they have an in-house caterer or do they have a list of caterers to choose from
-Can you move things around for decorating purposes
-Is parking complimentary
-How many restrooms are there

There are tons more you can ask those are just a few. It's always good to take pictures of the locations so you can remember what they look like. After so many they will all start blending together. 

The venue's manager is going to want to know approximately how many guests you are planning for, and if you have a chosen theme or tone to your wedding. Those are all good things to know before you meet with the venue's manager. 

I will be discussing theme, tone and colors at a later date.