What does this have to do with wedding planning? Well, I won’t lie you to, it really doesn’t have too much to do with the planning part. Here is the scoop…

These books are about four fabulous women who own a wedding planning business. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is pure fluff! You will not be learning any secrets of the trade here, just good reading about 4 adorable gals and their quest for love as they plan weddings. It’s full of silly romance that just had me melting. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones that had me all lovey dovey when I started the series last year, but I truly believe it’s because as a lover of all things wedding, it’s another way to get my fill. So go pick up The Bride Quartet Books, only books 1 through 3 are out…I’m on pins and needles waiting for number 4 which should be this month! If anything, it is a great book to snuggle up on the couch with in front of the fireplace or even take with you on your honeymoon!

And I’ll be honest with you – I was a bit embarrassed to write this post, as these books are not filled with deep thought provoking literature, just a good fun read about an industry I love working in. A few friends and colleagues talked me into sharing these books and I am glad I did. Thanks much – you know who you are. And if you have read them, let me know what you think!

Photo source: Amazon.com

I’m sure you received some great word of mouth referrals from your just married BFF, then you hit up Wedding Wire as well as visited your favorite blog to see who designed that stunning wedding you saw posted last week…but now that you have names, how do you select the one person that will be managing your big day?

Laura Hunt Photography

Here are my tips on how to find the best wedding planner, and what to ask…

1. Listening Skills – You call up a potential planner and she yaps on and on about this wedding she did and that venue she loves and never gives you the opportunity to share what YOU are looking for. As the client, you need to be able to express your wants and desires and a good planner will ask you the right questions to find out what your needs and hopes are for your wedding day and let you do the talking.

2. Trust – Once you’ve got a planner that listens, meet with them. A lot of planners have complimentary consultations so you can get to know each other better. Meet up over coffee, chat about all things wedding, and do a gut check. Does this person seem trustworthy? Do you get that good vibe and are your personalities clicking? Are they on time and do they seem organized, poised and confident? Remember, this person needs to manage you, your wedding party, your family, and your guests as well as all the vendors making the magic happen – do you get the sense they can handle the job?

3. Experience – This one goes a little deeper than the question “How many weddings have you done?” Make sure you also ask about the type of weddings they have experience with, for example if your wedding is on a boat, ask if they’ve dealt with anything similar. Or ask about any tricky or atypical situations they may have been in and how were they resolved? This will show you their problem solving skills in action.

4. References – A good planner will have quite a few references and will be open to sharing them. Past brides of fabulous planners love to share rave reviews so get those email addresses and use them. Ask those past brides how the overall experience was working with that planner.

5. Design Aesthetics – Even if you are simply hiring a planner for Month-Of Services, make sure that your design vision and your planner’s vision somewhat match. If there is a situation on the day of your wedding and the planner needs to make a call about something, you want to be able to trust that their design aesthetics are relatively aligned with yours. If you’re looking for a planner to manage logistics and design it is even more important that you like the look and feel of their events.

One last piece of advice…don’t forget to breathe! Planning a wedding is a huge job –which is how us wedding planners came to be in the first place. Good luck!

Planning a wedding can be much tougher than it seems, and when you are looking for help you would probably like to turn to your best friend.  You should make Stephanie Anderson from One Fine Day Event Planning your new best friend.   She works closely with her brides to make their wedding special and unique by focusing on their visions and coordinating with the vendors to make sure the day goes without a hitch.

Focus Photo Tahoe

Stephanie started in event planning in college with an internship for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and assisted in coordinating their star-studded events.  After college, she worked in the hotel industry helping grow their wedding business.  Eventually, she decided to branch out on her own and formed One Fine Day Event Planning, based in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe.  Aspiring event planners need to be able to multi-task (how many brides do you think can you juggle at once?), stay organized, and work on a number of different styles, and Stephanie possesses each of these qualities.  Her events are formed around the inspiration boards she and the brides create using ideas pulled from a variety of sources, with these boards focusing on what the bride wants incorporated into her special day.

Catherine Hall Studios

For Stephanie, the best part about her job is being able to work with every client on their vision, creating the look and feel of the wedding, and putting all the pieces together to make sure the wedding runs smoothly and is exactly what the couple wants.  One tip she has for brides is to determine first the number of guests, and then make an excel spreadsheet with your budget and estimate the number of dollars you intend to spend on each category (flowers, cake, venue, etc.).

Focus Photo Tahoe

One Fine Day is the perfect choice for every bride because packages are offered regardless of how much (or little) you already have planned.  If you have all your vendors, then Stephanie will be there to coordinate with each vendor and give them time lines for the wedding day and be their go-to person day of, taking the pressure off the bride.  For brides who are just starting the planning process, Stephanie is happy to help with vendor suggestions.  Packages of all types range from $1,500 to $7,000, and everything is customized around your needs.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or do not know where to start, you should give One Fine Day a call.

Stephanie Anderson

http://www.onefinedayevents.com/

sa@onefinedayevents.com

Lake Tahoe: (530) 386-1609
San Francisco: (415) 350-9639

I was not entirely surprised this weekend when I came across Google’s dabble into the wedding planning industry. It makes sense. Wedding planning is a collaborative process with so many people inputting information and can often be overwhelming without the right organization. I already use Google Docs to organize and collaborate on work. Why wouldn’t I use it to organize my wedding?

For those of you that have not heard, Google has entered the wedding industry by customizing their google documents to provide couples with over 20 pre-existing wedding templates that cover everything from gathering addresses for your invitations to your wedding to-do list. The photo above is an example of Google’s Form that has been prettied up to work as a contact form that pulls information into an address spreadsheet.

To add some additional flavor to the templates, Google has partnered with StyleMePretty.com to provide tips within the wedding templates.

Although most of the templates are pretty standard, one of my personal favorites is the wedding album. It is a simple way to showcase your wedding photos and add editorials.

All in all, I have no doubt that wedding couples have been using Google docs for awhile now to organize their wedding details, but Google has decided to streamline the process. They just made wedding planning a bit easier, and prettier!

I can further explain my experience, but I recommend that you just check it out for yourself. You might just find something useful!

Google Docs: Planning a Wedding

Heather’s energy is infectious and her attention to detail and sophisticated designs never fail to impress. That is why I asked her to provide you with some inspiration for choosing your colors for your upcoming wedding.

ROYALTY REDONE By Heather Ferrai

When predicting the wedding trends of the future it is often helpful to study the past. History has a tendency of repeating itself- why should color trends be any different? In medieval Europe, the color that an individual wore represented their rank amongst society. The blue dyes that were used to create beautiful royal purple garments were rare and very expensive; therefore, the color purple was worn only by the wealthy and the aristocracy.

Fast forward- centuries later and the color purple is still associated with royalty, riches, and luxury. Purple combines the passion and energy of red with the stability and calm of the color blue. Are you convinced yet?

When selecting your wedding colors it might feel like the biggest decision of your life- similar to when your mother only allowed you to buy one new marker from the art store… but which color will it be?!? In most cases a front runner is selected and then an accent color is assigned. This is a great compromise, but a trend of the past. Narrow it down, process of elimination, eeny meeny miny moe- do whatever it takes to select just one color. My suggestion, purple. Add dimension to your color scheme (black, white, and purple) by selecting two additional shades of purple to work with. Ideally these additional two colors would be within the same color palette as the initial purple chosen- a shade lighter and a shade darker.

The variation of purples should been seen throughout the wedding design- from invitations, to florals, to your bridesmaid dresses. You will be pleasantly surprised at the cohesiveness of the design on your big day.

Two of our bloggers, Erin Frank and Megan Peters will be attending the Wedding University on 1/31 at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley.

We highly recommend you check it out. But, In case you are not able to attend, have no fear! Our bloggers will cover the event for you so that you can get the latest scoop on all your wedding planning needs.

Planning the perfect wedding can be exciting and fun. But with so many details and decisions, it can be stressful, too. The Wedding University will help you evaluate options, make decisions and design a wedding celebration that truly expresses who you are.

The leadership team at The Wedding University is dedicated to making wedding planning more enjoyable for engaged couples, by educating and pampering them. The teachers are among the most knowledgeable wedding professionals working today, brimming with fresh, creative ideas and ready to answer your questions about everything from wedding etiquette to choosing flowers, menus and music. Ideas are illustrated with examples that allow you to see how concepts can be brought to life or modified to meet your needs. It is an event not to be missed!

Check back here next week for highlights from the Wedding University!

With one proclamation, I was back to square one in the wedding dress search. I was in Alla Prima on Hayes Street, being advised by Maggie, the owner, and by many accounts, the lingerie queen of San Francisco.

A couple of months ago, the nice and knowledgeable gals at Alla Prima had given me a proper bra fitting. Turns out Victoria’s Secret is wildly misguided and woefully understocked. I’d been wearing a 36D my whole life, and walked out of there as a 34F.

So when my first round of dress shopping produced a backless sheath dress as the winner, I wanted to make sure that everything would look great.  And I knew exactly who to ask.

Apparently, for those of us who are well-endowed, there is no “foundation garment” that will support the girls but allow for a low-backed or backless dress. It just doesn’t exist.

“I have so many brides in here crying their eyes out two weeks before the wedding because the foundation garment is the last thing they think of,” says Maggie. “Sometimes they’ve even had their final fitting – how could someone possibly do a fitting on them without knowing what bra they’ll be wearing under the dress?” She went on to point out that if a bride is a B or A cup, she can certainly get away with the NuBra or some other such contraption. (I know, I know, the grass is always greener.) And I know from my own shopping experience at several Bay Area bridal stores that most bridal dresses are cut for a woman with a B cup.

So consider this post part public service announcement, part call to arms. Shouldn’t there be more options for the many, many women who’ve got their junk in the front? Ideally, there would be a foundation garment specialist working with every wedding dress shop. “There is a huge market out there that has been completely ignored,” Maggie pointed out. “They’re just waiting with baited breath…” Myself included. And please, ladies, no matter your bra size, think about the undergarments before you buy the dress. No bride should be in tears over a bra.