Most brides and grooms will collaborate on the wedding plans – centerpieces, colors, photography style… but what about the “after” plans? Honeymoons are just as important to discuss with each other.

Find a time to sit down and talk about what you want out of your honeymoon (besides a little romance!):

1. Location: Do you get seasick? Then a cruise isn’t for you. Do you really hate bugs and creepy crawlies? I wouldn’t suggest camping or an outdoor excursion. These are the things you need to think about to maximize your honeymoon time! Even though the beach is a popular destination, if you’re fair skinned or you get really uncomfortable in hot weather, don’t give in to the beach hype! Find a place that the two of you will enjoy. Think of this as your first big project as a married couple (after the wedding planning, of course!).

2. Directly After the Wedding?: More and more newlyweds are waiting to go on their honeymoons. Gone are the days when you leave your wedding reception and go straight to the airport. Some will wait a week or so because of better rates or they need to ask for time off of work. You need to sit down with your honey and decide if you’re going on your honeymoon directly after the wedding or waiting a week or two.

3. Time of Year: To go along with determining  if your going on your honeymoon right after your wedding, you need to figure out what time of year you’re actually going on your romantic getaway. The desired location will help you figure this out. If you want warmer weather, wait until the summer months if your destination is in the United States. Do some research on weather patterns on different locales to make sure you’ll be there during your preferred climate!

4. Length of Honeymoon: The length of your honeymoon is also important to discuss. You may want to vacation for a week and your new hubby may have asked to be off of work for two weeks. The length of your stay will also depend heavily on your budget!

5. Honeymoon Budget: As you know, we’re all about budgets. And “budget” doesn’t translate as cheap or sub-par. A budget is simply a tool that will keep your spending on track so there’s no sticker shock when you get home. Decide on the elements of your honeymoon. First, figure out the total amount that you want to spend for your honeymoon. Next, break it down into categories: transportation (airline tickets, rental car…), lodging (hotel, cabin…), food and beverage (dinners, celebratory champagne, snacks…), and activities (hikes, theme parks, guided tours, spa days…). You can alott a certain amount per category. If you want to spend a little more on the room and fly coach instead of first class, go for it! Different aspects are more important to different people…all the more reason to sit down and discuss all of this together! Once you’ve created your budget, do your best to stick to it. We know that a few things may pop up here and there that you didn’t expect or you may find a last minute activity that you had no idea about. For these surprises, create a miscellaneous category. Trust us, once you get home and realize you can still afford the down payment on your first house, taking the time to create a budget was worth it!

Do you have any advice for honeymoon planning?

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

A new month is here! We can’t believe it’s already April and wedding season has started. We’re so excited for all of our brides and we know it’s going to be a wonderful year.

In honor of the girls that support our brides, listen to problems, and share the inside jokes, we dedicate April to the bridesmaids!

So here’s to you, loyal bridesmaids! We’ll post some great bachelorette party ideas, duties for the Maid of Honor, cute gift ideas for bridesmaids, and things that they can do on the wedding day.

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Spring is here (almost!), and for those of us in Memphis, we’re welcoming the warm weather with open arms! The sun starts to shine, flowers and tress start to bloom, and weddings can take place outdoors.

In honor of the long awaited Spring season, we will dub March as Floral month! We’ll start off with a great money saving tip:

Use your bridesmaids’ bouquets as centerpieces! Why do you need to have seperate flower arrangements when you have such fabulous bouquets?? All you need to do is have your bridesmaids put their bouquets in a vase that has been pre-filled with water. Wah-lah! A beautiful centerpiece!

You can also use the bouquets for the head table flowers. Just have some vases placed on the table and add the bouquets!

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Photography is an important element for any event – it captures little moments in time. When we sit down with our brides and ask them about the importance of certain areas of their wedding, photography is usually about an 8-9 out of 10. With so many great photographers to choose from in Memphis (and the rest of the country!), you need to sit down with your fiance and talk about what you want. Here are some things to think about:

Photographer Style:
Do you like a more journalistic approach? Less posing, more sporadic, real moments? Or maybe you want more planned poses. What about a photographer who’s more involved with the shots as opposed to a photographer who captures the moments that just happen? Each photographer is different, as is his or her level of involvement.

Photo Style:
Do you want your wedding photos to look more colorful? More vintage? Black and white, color, or a mix? Do you want artsy photos or personal ones? This will also help to determine your photographer. Check their portfolios and let them know which photos you like and why.

Photos Captured:
Think about which moments you want captured during your wedding. Are there certain family members you want included? Certain design elements? Let the photographer know! If you want great bouquet and centerpiece shots or more shots of you and your guests having fun, let him or her know.

After-Elements:
What do you want done with your pictures? An album? Framed canvas? Slideshow? DVD? Make sure the photographer knows up front what you want. This will save time and heartache if he or she can’t fulfill what you’re wanting.

When you meet with photographers (and really any vendor) for the first time, be specific. They don’t know what you want or expect unless you tell them. Communication is key!

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Some brides absolutely love being in front of the camera. Others are a little camera shy and they aren’t really used to the attention. That’s perfectly ok!

So how do you fix that? Easy! When you hire your photographer, use him or her for the engagement pictures too. That way, you can try different looks and poses with less pressure to get the “perfect” shot. This also gives you a chance to get to know your photographer and his or her shooting style.

Once the day of your wedding arrives, you’ll know what to expect from your photographer, which angles work and which ones don’t, and you’ll be a lot more comfortable. We don’t want you to feel awkward on your wedding day!

How did you deal with being camera shy at your wedding? Leave a comment and let us know. Hey, it may even help other brides out there!

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Since the moving of offices took up a lot of our time in December, we skimped on the blog posts (sorry!). So we’re going to post one more about shopping for your wedding dress. Now, on to the post!

All brides are different, and the method of finding a dress for one bride may be completely out of the question for another. Nevertheless, we have advice for each type of bride.

We mentioned in a previous post about scheduling a dress consultation during the week, earlier in the day – preferably in the morning. Take pictures that inspire you. It doesn’t have to be of a dress necessarily. It can be a pattern, design, color, or shape. This will give the consultant an idea of your style and personality.

The next, most important thing that we tell our brides for just about anything: be open! You may think you like one style, color, or fabric, but once you try it on, it may not be what you thought it was. Some brides think they want a full ballgown, but once they actually wear it, they opt for an a-line shape instead. So don’t completely shut out an option when looking around.

If you’re not sure what type of dress you want, go to a larger store to try on a variety. They have more dresses in stock than a smaller, specialty boutique. Once you narrow down the dresses you like, you can go to a smaller store to find “the” dress if you didn’t find it there.

Image from MadBrewLabs.com

Always remember to take the price of alterations into consideration for your budget. We can’t stress this enough! If your wedding dress budget is $2,500, don’t buy a dress at $2,500 expecting that to be it. You need to include alterations which can run from $30 for simple corrections, all the way up to $300 or more for complicated changes.

And if you don’t find your dream dress at the first few places, don’t worry! You’ll find it. Like everyone says, you just know when it’s your dress. If you can’t see yourself as a bride walking down the aisle in it, that dress is  not yours.

Happy Searching!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

When you’re trying on your dress, you’re tempted to buy the matching veil, tiara, necklace, and handbag. You’re caught up in the moment, and the bridal consultant is fitting you with the finest matching accessories in the store. Before long, you’ve got an extra $2,000 tacked on to your original purchase!

Think about this:

Before you buy everything at a wedding store, check online! You can look on wedding message boards for brides selling their gently used accessories, eBay can also be a good place to find a veil. In fact, at the time of this posting, there were over 16,000 listings for wedding accessories! Your veil/tiara combo is bound to be in there somewhere. 

I would go to a wedding store and try on veils to help determine the length you want first. Then, you can narrow your search a lot more easily online. There won’t be any “Oh no! It’s too short!” incidents.

You can also find small business owners who make veils in different designs. We were browsing the internet looking for some non-typical wedding veils, and we came across Kristen Elizabeth. She designs and makes lace wedding veils. Here’s one of her designs:

Veil by Designs by Kristen

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Photo by Creation Studios Photography

Our theme for December is the Dress! We’ll feature new designer collections, how to shop for a dress, how to accessorize, alteration tips, and more! Our first dress blog will be on Friday, but for now, we’ll start off with a little tip:

If you’re the type of bride that wants a little more attention while shopping for a dress, schedule an appointment with the bridal shop. The best time to go would be early in the day on a week day. There won’t be as many customers, the consultants will be more eager (it’s the start of a brand new day!), and you’ll just feel more productive. This leaves your day open to get some other wedding to-do’s crossed off your list!

If you don’t find the dress on your first appointment, don’t get discouraged! Take notes on what you liked about certain dresses, and what you didn’t like. This will help the consultant the next time you go in.

As always, Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Photo by Visio Photography

Yes, we do mean “bring your own beer.” Many couples (and famlies!) don’t realize how much money can be saved by providing your own alcohol. If the average bar tender (in Memphis, TN) runs about $150 for a night, can you imagine what the alcohol markup will be for your event?

We always try to suggest that you bring your own alcohol. Figuring out how much of each type can be daunting, but all you need to do is go to your local liquor store and ask for a little help. Before you go, you need to think about this: how many of your guests are wine drinkers? How many are beer drinkers? What about mixed drinks? Percentages are ok to give the liquor store attendant.

You shouldn’t feel like you need to have an open bar. If you want to, go for it! If not, guests are perfectly happy with beer and wine. It’s ok to set limits.

If you’re providing your own liquor, let the caterer know. They may employ a bar tender to work your event, or you may need to fine your own. This is an important question to ask: what will the bartender provide, if anything? Make sure you have bottle openers, cork screws, napkins, ice, cups, stir sticks, and any other accessories you want. The bartender may provide some of these, and the caterer may provide the rest…just be sure to cross your T’s and dot your I’s!

So, you’ve decided to bring your own alcohol. Who’s going to bring it to the reception location and when?

Many people forget to take into account their guest list when creating a budget. This next tip is true for any party.

The guest list can affect your budget. You’ll spend more money with a guest count of 200 than with a count of 100. Food cost isn’t the only thing that you need to consider when increasing your guest list. Here are a few other things that need to be changed as well:

• Church/Ceremony Space – If you have a larger count, you need to have the right amount of space to accomodate everyone.
• Reception Space – The same thing goes for the reception: more people equals more needed space.
• Reception Seating – You’ll need more chairs for more people
• Tables – You need to create more seating space and if you’re serving a meal, you’ll need space for people to eat.
• Centerpieces – If you have more tables, you’ll need more centerpieces.
• Tablecloths and Linens – With more tables comes added tablecloths. Don’t forget to add those! If you’re using chair covers, those need to be increased as well.
• Dishes/Utensils – More people? More utensils! You’ll need to let the caterer know you’ll need more plates, forks, knives, glasses, etc. If you give them the final guest count and they supply the dishes, they’ll know what to increase. If you’re renting everything seperately, you’ll need to update your rentals.
• Cake – You’ll need to increase the serving size of your cake, add more cake plates, and maybe add on a few more napkins if you’re not using linen napkins.

Brides normally think of the typical items to increase (programs, favors, etc.) but they forget about the technical additions. Hopefully this list will help!

Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners