Theme, Tone & Colors

I promised you I would be talking about Theme, Tone & Colors at a later date and I picked today. 

Theme, Tone & Colors is another important aspect of your wedding. Everything revolves around it, so it needs to be one of the first things you accomplish on your to-do list. 

So first off, you need to figure out what you want your theme to be. It may depend on when your wedding is. For example, if you picked a December wedding, you may want to have a Holiday themed wedding. Some other options for themes when it's not around a holiday are: The Classic Black & White, Vintage, Modern, Beach, or you can do a Seasonal theme in which your wedding would be in the: fall, spring, winter, summer.  

Once you have your theme, you can now research and choose your tone. Some ideas for tones are: Romantic, beautiful, unusual, inspirational, and classic. Your tone can really go with any theme you choose. If you are wanting a Beach theme you can do that with a romantic or beautiful tone. If you are thinking more of a modern theme you can do an unusual or vintage tone.   

One of the first questions people ask when you get engaged are, "What are your colors?" So what are your colors? Well, there really is no rule to this. Except you probably don't want to pick more than four colors, unless you are wanting a rainbow wedding or something like that. I used four colors for my wedding, and my wedding planner was trying to make me pick three max. I told her no because they were all my favorite colors and I had this planned since I was a child. She kind of made fun of me and said that my wedding was going to look like a circus but she was wrong. It was far from that (at least I think so). I had the colors: red, yellow, pink and orange, and it went perfectly with my fun, bright, summer theme and the beautiful tone. Your colors usually depend on what time of year you're wedding is, so flowers and the season match. My wedding colors wouldn't have worked well in a winter or fall season. A popular trend right now is having two main colors with splashes of another color intertwined. Navy and pink with a splash of coral or black and white with a splash of mint green. As long as you incorporate the colors well, and they match your theme and tone it will work. 


Pictures from my wedding....

Thinking About A Destination Wedding?

Who wouldn't want to get married on a romantic beach in Hawaii or on a beautiful vineyard on the East Coast? What about at a luxurious resort on the Caribbean or the Grand Hotel in Italy? To me, any of those places sound amazing to get married. Destination Weddings have become a more popular choice amongst brides today. The reasons why? 1. It is easier to plan 2. If done right, it can be more affordable 3. Stress-free 4. More fun!!! Resorts and cruises have made weddings easier and more appealing to couples around the world. Who wouldn't want to get married in their dream location? I know, I would! For just a few thousand dollars a family can fly to Jamaica, stay in a all-inclsuive resort, get married, and have a weeklong honeymoon. You get to call the shots: Whatever you dream of you can have. Another good thing about it is, you can actually have quality time with friends, family and your sweetie up until the wedding. When you get there you usually sign some paperwork and you're free to go have your vacation. That's not even close to how it is in the real wedding world. I had a friend who had a destination wedding in New York and she definitely didn't have as much planning as I did, and she spent even spent less money. If you're thinking about doing it go through all the details of where, contact a wedding planner in the area to help you. Or you can do it all by yourself like my friend did and research out photographers, florists, cake options, venues, etc. 

The most important things to consider when planning your destination wedding are:
-flights
-weather
-children-attending/not attending-babysit?
-If you can really afford it
-If you're having a wedding party-ask if they can all come
-Research all the venues and prices
-Offer to pay for your guests meals, rooms and transportation
-Send your Save The Dates 6 months prior to the wedding

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. 


 

Choosing A Date

Choosing a date can be one of the hardest decisions of your wedding planning process. There are a lot of factors to consider when picking a date such as: when does your vendor or Temple have availability? Summer months and around Christmas time book up very quickly so when you have a few dates in mind call and see if they will work. If so, reserve it immediately. For Temples, they usually have a cleaning time when they are closed for a couple consecutive weeks and that typically happens in the summer, which makes it hard for summer weddings. Another factor to consider is when can family and friends make it? You don't need to be too concerned with everyone's schedules because it's impossible to pick a time when everyone is free. Remember, those who really want to be there will be. Weekends are obviously the best choice but if that doesn't work then pick a different day. Most people say to pick a date close to a Holiday so people who work can turn it into a long weekend, and it makes it easier for people traveling a great amount. It is also important that you give your family and friends enough time to arrange for travel plans in getting to where the wedding destination is. If you are wanting to get married in August then pick a date in March or earlier. For me, I always knew I wanted an August wedding, so I told my husband to plan accordingly (meaning propose at least 4 months before). I always say at least give people 4 months prior to the date to arrange for travel- especially in the summer months those weekends book up quickly. I got married on a Thursday in August and it was perfect. Most of all my family and friends were all in attendance and it was the best day of my life. If you are wanting to send out Save The Dates, those are usually sent out 6-8 months prior to the big day so plan accordingly. Lastly, this is such an exciting time in your life, and once you pick a date the sooner you can really dig deep and plan. Plus, whoever is doing your cake, flowers, announcements, reception, caterers, photographer they all need a date so they can see if they're available and if they aren't you can arrange for other plans.

To Men Who Are Considering "Popping The Question"

I love weddings, I love planning, and I love writing. People tell me I should become a wedding planner. Maybe someday I will. In the mean time I have decided to start a blog where I will publish trends, ideas, pictures, advice and anything else I see fit for future brides, grooms etc. My hope is for this blog to be a go-to place for brides, mother's of brides and anyone else who maybe planning their dream wedding. I would love to hear from my readers, so feel free to publish any comments you feel necessary.

Now for my first post I speak to the Men Who Are Considering "Popping The Question"

There's something special when the day comes and your man of your dreams gets down on one knee and asks you to marry him. I still remember the day my husband FINALLY proposed. It was one of the happiest days of my life, and one that I will always remember. No, there weren't fireworks or a romantic date planned like on The Bachelor but it was perfect for me and what I needed. I have talked with some girlfriends and family members of their proposal stories and if they wish their husband's would've have done it any differently and there were a couple of things they mentioned. First, make it a surprise. When you are thinking of proposing make sure to plan something that she will not only like but make it a surprise. I knew that my husband had already talked to my dad, but I didn't want to know that because I wanted the whole thing to truly be a surprise. So men, don't let her know or think that ANYTHING is coming so when it does she will be shocked and so happy. Second, they wished they would've had pictures of the whole thing. So men that brings me to my second tip, have someone take pictures or video of the whole romantic proposal, so one day you can show your kids, or have it playing at your reception, and of course so people can watch it on Facebook-we can't forget about Facebook. And last but not least, you don't need to be nervous. She is going to say yes-you have talked about it, maybe you have even looked at rings together. You don't need a whole long spiel. Say how you feel about her and ask her-you got nothing to fear. GOOD LUCK!

 I had to put this video up because this is exactly how I reacted when Ty Proposed.

 

Bachelor Brad Womack proposing to Emily Maynard

Bachelor Sean Lowe proposing to Catherine Giudici

Cute picture I found that I love