Dear Wendi Wednesday...Can you hear me now?

Dear Wendi,

My DJ is trying to get us to rent microphones for the ceremony. My fiance and I kinda feel like we'd feel awkward with microphones while saying such personal things, and our officiant says she projects her voice in church every Sunday without a sound system... Do you think it's okay to do without?

Thanks,

H.A.


Dear H.A.


I think your DJ is smart to suggest a sound system with a microphone for the two of you for the ceremony. A lapel mic on the officiant is best. It will pick up her as well as the two of you. Second would be a hand held mic held by officiant. It can be uncomfortable for you or your groom to hold the microphone while speaking.

Often emotions take over during the ceremony and you are no longer able to speak loudly or even above a whisper. Your vows are really personal, between the two of you, but you did invite everyone to experience/witness this wonderful event with you. Your friends and family want to hear what you say, without a sound system your guests miss a lot of what is said by everyone. This is really the most important part of the whole day. It's meant to be heard by all. Ultimately it's up to the two of you.

All the best,

Wendi

RSVP Who?

It's a common mistake for your guests to forget to put their names on the reply card. This leaves you in a bit of trouble when trying to do the seating chart or know who is having what for dinner. You know 2 people will be attending, but not sure who they are.

A quick and easy way to combat this is to pencil in a small number on the back of every reply card. Then on a separate sheet of paper or in a spread sheet write the names of the guests and the number that corresponds with the reply card. This way when you receive # 46 with no guest names, you will know that you sent it to Mr. & Mrs. Smith or whom ever. It keeps you ahead of the game with little room for errors!

Real Wedding Friday: Sarah & John Gibbons

All images by the incredibly gifted Clare Marie Photography! She is one of my favorite photographers to work with! Check out her site here.

Wedding Planner: Ethereal Events
Photographer: Clare Marie Photography

Videographer: Mill Stream Video
Florsit: Loves Me Flowers

Rentals: AA Party Rentals

Catering: Ciao Thyme

Cake: Ashley Rodrigez

Ceremony Location: St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Medina

Reception Location: Private Residence Hunt's Point

Dear Wendi Wednesday: What's the deal with disposable cameras?

Wendi,

I just had a random question that I keep forgetting to ask you. What are your thoughts on putting out disposable cameras for guests? I've always thought it was a fun idea, knowing that the pictures would be terrible and goofy, because the guests might have fun with it and there's always the slight chance of getting a decent picture. However I don't know if it's considered tacky, or if it might cause problems for the real photographer or anything. Just wanted to get your thoughts on that. Thanks a lot!

-N.A., Seattle



Hi N.A.,

Thanks for the email. I think that if you like the idea of the disposable cameras, then let's go for it. Your expectations of the pictures is pretty accurate! I do like to suggest putting together a "strategy" for your guests and the pictures they take. I think it is beneficial to put together a list of shots, like a scavenger hunt of pictures. Meaning, on each table we will print guest cards with 5 or 6 specific shots for those guest to capture. We can do 2 or 3 different scavenger lists on different tables so you get a variety of shots. Some examples of this might be: Take a picture of

• The B&G dancing,
• The Bride & Groom kissing
• The cutest shoes at the table
• Every couple at the table
• The cake
• Parents of the Bride
• Parents of the Groom
• Children at the table
• Etc.

To avoid guest disturbing the professional photographer, I would suggest not having the "key moments" on the scavenger hunt list. So, no cake cutting photo op, or father daughter dance moment, etc. Your photographer is also a professional, so they are used to cropping shots, using different lenses, or asking people to move aside for him/her to do their job. This shouldn't be a problem.

Lastly, it is important to designate someone near the end of the night to take "good quality" pictures with the remaining film on each camera, so there is not a bunch of leftover pictures on all the cameras before they collect them for you. These pictures I hope will be worth keeping! If there are some not full cameras, then take them on your honeymoon and capture more amazing fun memories. You will get them developed far faster than the 6 to 8 weeks your photographer can take!

All the best,

Wendi

Not just a Party!

Common Mishap:
Marriage License
This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of you becoming a legal married couple. It's the difference between getting married and throwing one heck of a party. It's also a common mishap for couples. Please read carefully!

'Washington State law requires a three-day waiting period before the marriage license becomes valid. This means that you must wait at least three full days after the application is filed before the marriage ceremony can be performed. The license is valid for only 60 days. The marriage ceremony must be performed before the 60-day expiration of the license.' - State of Washington's website

Your state may be different. Click here for more Washington information. Also you can check out a previous blog post I wrote about this with tons more information.

Have a great week!

Janet & Brian DeCastro

Janet and Brian were married on a beautiful June day in 2008. I had the pleasure of doing their day of coordination. We started working together about three months prior to their wedding. Janet and Brian had done all the work of getting their vendors hired on their own. I came in and tied up all the loose ends, handled the logistics and executed their dream day! They're such a wonderful couple, so full of joy, love and spunk. It was an amazing day! Here are the stunning pictures Tasha Owen took, and what they had to say about my services.

Wedding Wire Review:

5.0out of 5.0
Quality of Service: (5.0/5.0) Responsiveness:(5.0/5.0)Professionalism:(5.0/5.0)
Value For Cost:(5.0/5.0)Flexibility:(5.0/5.0)


'Wendi was our day of wedding coordinator and we can't speak highly enough of her. She was absolutely wonderful to work with. She listened to everything we had to say and all the concerns we had. Wendi offered her professional opinion appropriately and was very flexible with our schedule. If there was something that we didn't like or an idea that we wanted to try out she was more than willing and open to accommodate our needs. Wendi had a special way of putting Brian and I at ease and our entire wedding party just loved her. We received endless comments from our guests about how impressed they were with how smoothly our wedding day went.

Everything just seemed to fall into place. More than half of our guests were from out of town and have never been to Seattle. Wendi was very organized and her time lines were incredible and on point, yet she was very flexible and accommodating if something had to change.

We really appreciated how often she would check on how Brian and I were doing. We truly were spoiled and felt like we were treated like celebrities on our wedding day. Wendi took care of all the little details so that we wouldn't have to worry about it. She wanted to ensure that Brian and I enjoyed our special day.

We wouldn't think twice about recommending Wendi to any couple who is thinking of hiring a wedding coordinator. In fact, one of my friends who is getting married next year was so impressed with her professionalism that she hired Wendi at our wedding reception to plan her wedding for 2009.'

Wedding Planner: ethereal events
Photographer: Tasha Owen
Venue: Cedar Brook Conference Center
Cake: Creme de la Creme
Flowers: I Do Floral Design
Hair and Makeup: Jilladair Carlson
Transportation: Ashton Limo
DJ: I choose not to inform you due to the terrible service he offered.

Easier to follow

Hi All,

I have been thinking that my spontaneous and not so frequent blogging is not very beneficial to my readers. You never really know what to expect beyond a wedding related post or when. The goal of my blog is to be a wealth of information on wedding planning above and beyond beautiful pictures of wedding related items. There are SO many blogs that do that well, no need to compete. Here is what I have come up with for the following days:

Mishap Monday. I will share a common wedding mistake or mishap. They are intended to be light hearted stories of things that can and have gone wrong. My intention is for you to learn from the mistakes of others, or at least entertain you with a great story! All names have/will been changed to protect those involved. (If you have a great story, I would love for you to share it with me. You could be the saving grace of a future bride.)

Dear Wendi Wednesday. I will address the questions that I get asked most. If you have a question you would like me to address please leave a comment or email me @ wendi@etherealevents.com

Real Weddings Friday. No better way to end the work week than with pictures beautiful weddings coordinated by yours truly!

I will be starting this Friday 2/13! If you have any additional ideas or suggestions please let me know. I want to make this blog as beneficial and entertaining for all who read it. Thank you!

Abra Cadabra!

I'm always searching for new and fun ideas to spice up my client's weddings and events. I like having many options in and outside the box for my client to choose from. So, I was thrilled when last week I met with Nash Fung. He's what I would call an illusionist, but he calls himself an entertainer that does sleight of hand magic and mind reading.


To start his performance, he asked me what I thought of when hearing the word magician. "Jobe from Arrested Development." I answered. We were instant friends! For those of you who don't know Jobe, he is very flashy with little to no skill. He's a magician that pulls a dead rabbit out of a hat, or set himself on fire. Believe me, Nash is no Jobe. He has charisma, skill, showmanship and great magic. He's also really smart and funny. He relates the tricks to each audience, which was difficult since I was an audience of one. I was incredible impressed! He showed me probably a dozen different and dazzlings tricks. For one he throws a rubrics cube in the air all mixed up and when he catches it it's back to it perfect original state. Amazing!

I was lucky enough for him to teach me a card trick called Queen of Hearts! I have since used it to impress my husband, sister, mother, and friends. You also can learn a trick from Nash. He has an instructional video on his website to teach you a trick every month! Click here to go to it. If you ever have the need for an entertainer for your wedding or party, please consider Nash. You won't regret it!


pictures from www.nashfung.com