Real Wedding Friday - Michele and Paul Stephens

Michelle and Paul's first wedding anniversary is coming up this month! The beautiful and statuesque couple was married memorial day of 2008! St. James Catherdral and Hotel 1000 were the perfect locations to show off Seattle to this East Coast couple's friends and family. Michele and I started working together in January of 2008 to put on this intimate affair.

Michele and Paul, thank you for letting me be a part of your day. I hope your first year of marriage was as full of love and joy as wedding day!

Wedding Planning: Ethereal Events
Ceremony Location: St. James Cathedral
Reception: Hotel 1000
Photography: Barbie Hull
Florist: Flora Nova
Videography: Aaron Horton
DJ: Piano Joe
Dress: Cynderellie's Closet
Hair & Makeup: Erin Skipley

Mishap Monday - RSVP nightmare!

It's a huge mishap for Brides and Grooms to not pay for postage on their guests RSVPs. It is a simple gesture that lets your guests know that you will be taking care of them come wedding day! It's thoughtful and considerate.

For you 2009 summer brides, when you do send out your invitation make sure you stamp every envelope or postcard you send with the appropriate postage for when your guests will be returning it. The price of postage is going up Today, May 11th from $0.42 to $0.44.

You can combat this price increase by buying forever stamps at the $0.42 price. These "forever" stamps will work no matter how high the cost of postage gets. I recommend buying far more than you need so you can use them on your RSVP envelopes or postcards and thank you notes too! With the Forever stamp you won't have to worry about not receiving an RSVP due to inadequate postage. Saving money and stress anywhere you can adds up to a lot of savings!

Mishap Monday - Did you receive it?

The postage on a wedding invitation varies quite a bit depending on the invite. There can be a huge difference in paper weight, number of inserts and envelopes, invitation shape, ribbon detailing, crystal gem stones, etc. All of it makes a difference in the cost of sending it to your guests. The one thing that does not differ from invitation to invitation is it is a huge mishap to have the wrong postage!

Make sure you take all of your invitations to the post office to be weighted for correct postage value before you put them in the mail. This will relieve a huge amount of stress about whether or not your guest received their invitation!

Invitation in picture is in the Yummies line by Mmm Paper.

Stamp photo from US postal service website.

Real Wedding Friday - Lisa & Mike

Lisa & Mike were married at the beautiful Bell Harbor Conference Center on a sunny Friday in September! It was a magical day for a wonderful couple. I'm so glad I got to be part of its success!


Photos by the wonderful 1000 Words Photography

Dear Wendi Wednesday...Green Weddings

In honor of my birthday and of course Earth day, I have saved this question:

Dear Wendi,

How can I make my wedding earth friendly and green?

Thank you so much for this questions! I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on green weddings, but being that Mother Earth and I share a birthday today, April 22nd, I have a pretty great connection to the topic.

Green weddings are so easy to do! I love working with environmentally conscious companies and clients. Many options don't cost any more then non-green products. You can be environmentally friendly with almost every aspect of your wedding. You don't necessarily need to go over board, but a few of these ideas can make a big impact on your wedding day, and benefit the wonderful earth we all share! Here are a few of the ways.

Invitations:
Using invitations made of recycled paper, out of cotton or bamboo with soy ink is a really earth friendly thing to do. The bamboo and cotton are grown quickly and easily specifically for the purpose of harvesting into paper, saving our trees and rain forests. The non-toxic soy ink is a great substitute for the harsh alternatives.

Also, ditching the inner envelope and RSVP envelope saves a lot of un-needed paper. Opt for a postcard reply card or an online option. Brown Sugar Designs has a great collection of green options!

Flowers:

Flowers grown locally and in season are great way to help the environment. There is little transportation involved causing less carbon emissions.

Also, double using flowers from the ceremony for reception causes you to use less. The bridal bouquet makes a wonderful centerpiece on a sweet heart table, and the brides maid's bouquets can be used as arrangements on the bar, guest book table, around the cake, and many other places. This will reduce your flower order significantly. Using the flowers from wedding day at a brunch the next day, or letting your guests take them home to enjoy extends the life of the flowers.

Lastly, wrapping the bouquets with handkerchiefs or organic ribbon is a beautiful alternative to wasteful one time satin ribbon.
Food:

Using an organic green caterer is a great and green idea for your wedding. Organic caterers buy directly from local farmers. This garuntees freshness and quality, which is so important for your wedding day meal. It also cuts down on green house gas emissions and supports the local economy! Green caterers don't stop there! Most compost all left over food, and packaging associated with the making of the meal. There is little to no waste left over! Two fantastic organic and green caterers in Seattle are Herban Feast and Ravishing Radish!

Transportation:

Having your ceremony and reception at the same location cuts down on the amount guests travel. If you have to travel between two locations think about green options for shuttling your guests. The less cars on the road the better!

Favors:

A donation to your favorite charity is a great option for a green wedding favor. There are also many companies that offer tree saplings or flower seeds that are customizable for favors. Edibles are also a fantastic favor. They are an unexpected treat for your guests!

Additional: One last thing you can do if you are truly looking to make your wedding environmentally friendly is purchase a Terra Pass. A Terra Pass helps Fight global warming by reducing your carbon footprint today - It helps individuals easily and affordably balance their environmental impact from their driving, flying, energy use, and more.

I'm sure there are many more, and I would love to hear about them. I love increasing my Rolodex of green vendors and products! If you have a green idea or company please share it with us! I know that this is becoming a way of life and not just a hot trend!

Mishaps Monday - Oops! Wedding Dress Week 4

This is the 4th and final week of mishaps devoted to the Wedding Dress! So, let's recap what we have learned:

1. Don't buy a dress a size too small.
2. Make sure there is continuity between your wedding dress and the rest of the wedding, especially with formality and style.
3. Wear all appropriate undergarments to your fittings.

Week 4's mishap is all about wedding day.

On your wedding day you are generally in your dress for 6 to 10 hours worth of time. There are pictures, the ceremony, and all of the reception for you to enjoy the most exquisite gown(s) you've ever owned. You are the center of every one's attention through out dinner, dancing, toasting, and more. All this time and celebration in a traditional white or off white gown also allows for plenty of opportunity for spills and accidents.

On my wedding day, the first thing I did after arriving at the ceremony site for pictures is run my dress into a greasy path marker. There was a huge black smudge on the lower right portion of my skirt. Before freaking out, my maid of honor, mother, and bride's maids went to the restroom with my emergency kit to work a little magic. Shout wipes, oxyclean spray, and a little elbow grease were my best friend that day! The stain didn't fully come out until going to the dry cleaner after the wedding, but the products in my emergency kit made a huge difference for my dress and mental state!

To avoid the mishap of a devastating stain, make sure you pack your emergency kit with these 3 things!

1. Wine away - this miracle products neutralizes red wine and lifts it out of fabrics almost immediately. If you for some reason can't find wine away,which I buy in the wine section at the grocery store. A trick of the trade is pouring white wine on red will also neutralize the red.
2. Oxyclean spray - I don't know how it works, but it does! This is some powerful stuff. From food stains to pen ink, it helps with everything. I carry around a small sample size bottle in my kit.
3. Shout wipes - These are great for everything as well! I use them often to get dirt off the bottom of my bride's dresses, especially the long trains. They can get pretty dirty during pictures.

A dirty dress can lead to a break down. With these 3 products in your emergency kit, you are sure to avoid this mishap all together!

Real Wedding Friday - Not a wedding!

This week's Real Wedding, is not a wedding at all. I'm featuring a fabulous surprise birthday party I planned in March! The Birthday girl, Laura Thompson, has one of the best brothers and sister-in-laws, and girl could as for! Roderick and Kimberly Thompson contacted me to help them plan the surprise birthday extravaganza earlier in the year. The guest of honor, Laura lives in Seattle, and the party planners Roderick and Kimberly live in Washington D.C.. They are not familiar with all the fantastic bars and restaurants Seattle has to offer for such an occasion. That is where I came in! I love working on projects like this!

Roderick was the best man in a wedding I coordinated in September. He and his (wonderful wedding planner as well: Serendipity Special Events) wife Kimberly wanted the perfect swanky, hip location for this cocktail party. I scoured every club in Belltown and Pioneer Square for the right fit! Roderick and Kimberly feel in love with Ibiza! It has an amazing VIP area with tables and soft seating, perfect a celebration such as this. Here are some of the fantastic pictures Kimberly and Roderick shared with me from the party!

Dear Wendi Wednesday...Down side of Down Home!

This is the last week of the At Home Wedding series. Last Wednesday I discussed the benefits and joys associated with an at home wedding. This week I look at the other side, the drawbacks.
If you have any thoughts about either side, or had an at home wedding I would love to hear about it. Drop me a note!

Dear Wendi,

What are the potential drawbacks of an at home wedding?

Dear A.S.,

As you know I love the idea of at home weddings, but there are some logistics that need to be discussed beforehand. There is the potential to need bringing in everything. From tables, chairs, silverware, glasses, serving pieces, linens, dance floor, tent, etc. depending on size of the event and what you already have. I don't know many families that have (on the small side) 30+ matching sets of china, or enough wine glasses for guests to have multiple glasses through out the evening.

It's a smart idea to bring in bathrooms for guests. You may not want to invite that much traffic into your home. There will probably be multiple trips by everyone at the party. If you are on a septic system you could potentially be inviting huge problems. (There are rental companies that specialize in this. Your wedding coordinator will know of a few in your area.)

Also, with all the foot traffic there is a possibility of damage to lawn or grounds- 100 people or so on your lawn all at once, a dance floor and tent poles can all cause serious damage. This may be a serious blow if you have just upgraded the landscaping for this event.

Parking can be incredible tricking for an at home wedding. The seen from "Father of the Bride" with all the cars parked on the front lawn stands out as a perfect example of this potential problem. Hire a valet to park the cars or shuttle guests from a near by parking lot to avoid the chaos of this.

Lastly, an at home wedding often doesn't have multiple locations for a ceremony and reception in case of rain or excessive sun. No back up plan is a serious concern! Most of the at-home weddings I have done have been partially or totally outside. If there is no tent reserved or room large enough to hold all the guests there is no backup plan!!! You have spent thousands of dollars and months of planning, for it all to be washed or scorched away.

There is nothing better than a well thought out professionally executed at home wedding! Make sure you take the right steps to make sure yours will be memorable for all the right reasons!