Bigger and Better….

Well, the time has come - we've moved onto bigger and better website "things".

After years of painstakingly doing the website by myself, I finally made the VERY intelligent decision to hand it over to a professional…and boy, did that decision pay off!

Our new website officially hit the web yesterday and it's glorious!   Part of that new website is a brand new blog - a blog that is now fully integrated into the BDP home site.
New Blog - http://www.beautifuldayplanning.com/News.aspx

So check it out - I promise you won't be disappointed.  Bookmark our new site and we'll see you on the flip side!

~ Jennie ~

Why I'm Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

On this awesome holiday, I wanted to take a second to thank each and every one of you for your support.  You've helped me make my company into more than I EVER thought it would be!  I always expected to do maybe 10-15 weddings in a year, always be solo, and just have a nice small following.  But 2013 marked our best year yet - 31 weddings, 2 events, 2 planners and 4 interns!!  I had NO idea that my company held this kind of potential, but now that I know it does - I'm RUNNING with it!  Let's keep going and make 2014 even BETTER!

Like everyone else, I look forward to this Holiday as a reminder to be thankful for what I have.  So here it is, here's what I have that I am most thankful for…

- My awesome, supportive, loving husband who is always ready to help out (even if it means being my assistant on New Years…) and more than ready to step up and take solo care of our children Every. Single. Summer. Weekend.

- My beautiful, rambunctious, loving daughters.  They keep me on my toes, keep my world in line, and make me want to strive to do better every day.

- Yes, even my two crazy black labs… Let's face it - they were our first "children" and will also hold special places in my heart.

 - Nicole.  Without Nicole, my company wouldn't be what it is today.  She was my first intern, my first side kick, and my first official employee.  She does AMAZING work and I'm hoping to hold onto her for the rest of her life. :)

- Our Interns - all 4 of them did awesome this past year.  They made Nicole and my jobs easier - and kept us company during long setups, long drives, and even longer weddings.

- YOU!  Like I said, our fans and our support system is why we do what we do - and we couldn't be successful without you!

- Coffee.  I don't even need to go into detail on this one - most of you understand (especially if you're a mother).

This list goes on and on and on… but I'm not honestly sure how many of you are actually reading it on Thanksgiving but go back to EATING and thanks for sparing some of your time.  That, and the fact that my "littlest" blessing is now getting up from nap, means it's time to sign off and get some good food myself!

So again, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone - let's make it the best one yet!!

~ jennie ~

Wedding Trends

January 2014 will mark my company's 5th Birthday and the start of our sixth year in business.
Throughout these past few years, I've watched trends emerge, change, gain popularity, loose popularity, and come full circle yet again.  Here's just a sample of a few of these trends…and where I think we're going for 2014!

Trends of Weddings Past:
Chocolate Fountains!
Photo Booths
Wedding dresses that featured accent colors (not just your Grandma's white dress!)
Purple… if you got married in 2011 or 2012, you had like a 75% chance that your wedding colors included Purple.  Bonus points for using shades of purple as your only colors!

Trends of Weddings Present:
Photo Booths
Video Booths (gaining steam…)
Vintage Weddings
Rustic Weddings
MASON JARS!!  Centerpieces, favors, place card holders, hanging with candles, let's see how many crazy uses we can come up with for these things!
Including color into your wedding day style in other ways (example, shoes)

Trends of Weddings Future: (My guess at least)
Photo Booths (I just don't think they're going anywhere)
Continuation of the Rustic Theme
Continuation of the Vintage Theme
Explosion of the use of candles…candles...and MORE candles!!
Strolling Dinners
COLOR!  I see more brides getting away from the muted, "traditional" wedding colors and expanding into new territories!
Non-traditional head pieces…not just your normal veil any longer!


Let's see how "right" I end up being for this coming year!
~ Jennie ~

The "Fall"-ing Trend

Five years ago, when I started Beautiful Day, wedding season was wedding season....May thru August.  After August, things settled down and we go to “relax” a little before it picked back up the following Spring.  I mean, it’s not that we didn’t have ANY weddings, but we weren’t running like chickens with our heads cut off every weekend.  That my friends, has changed.

The past two years or so has seen a drastic shift towards Brides “Falling for Fall”.  I mean, let’s face it, we live in Michigan - you’re going to wonder about your Wedding Day weather no matter what time of year you choose.  More Brides seem to be realizing this and starting to appreciate the colors and beautiful scenery that a Michigan Fall can provide.  Coupled with the latest trends towards Rustic, Cider-Mill themed and colored weddings, and it’s really no surprise that more and more brides are moving into the cooler months.

Now I’m not sharing this trend just as an “FYI” (although it is an FYI, you’re welcome) but also as a heads up.  If you are one of these newer Falling for Fall Brides, get your vendors booked now!!!  Years ago getting married in September / October / November meant you could wait a while to book your vendors and venues and still have a good choice.  Not so much any more.  October of 2014 is currently in the lead as our busiest month next year... yes, that’s right - even more than May...or June..or July.....

Sara & Don, Beautiful Day Planning, October 2013

So, my Falling Brides, get those vendors booked now!!  And while you’re at it, contact Beautiful Day to see how we can help make your Big Day perfect!

Hey, did you see we were featured online again?

Can't remember if I posted this or not, so thought I would again just to be safe. :)

Big thank you to Shannon with Clicking Through Life Photography (www.clickingthroughlife.com) for helping to get us all published!

Nina & Brett's wedding came out AMAZING and I'm so glad we are able to share it with all of you!  Over a year of planning, a lot of man-hours and a wonderful vendor team really pulled it all together!

Check it out!
http://fabyoubliss.com/2013/10/11/purple-and-gray-wedding-historic-meadow-brook-hall/

Day of Saves

Let's face it - even the most well planned weddings & events have things go wrong.  In fact, in 5 years of doing this, I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't had to use the emergency kit during a wedding.

Below are just a sample of some of the issues we've encountered in the past few years.  And guess what - many of the clients didn't even KNOW that these things had happened.  That's right - past clients - one of these incidents could have been YOUR wedding!

Beware of falling centerpieces.

30 Minutes before the reception begin, one of the 6 foot tall floral centerpieces crashed down onto the table, resulting in a whole lot of broken dishes and one gigantic mess!  On closer review, we realized over half the centerpieces were leaning and threatening to take the same tumble.

While on the phone with the florist, we quickly removed all of the other centerpieces so we wouldn’t have more ruined tables.  The venue’s staff quickly replaced the linens, and dishes, while we got the florist to rush back to the site to re-secure every centerpiece.  The evening went off without a hitch.

Who forgot the guest book?

During setup of the reception, we realized that the guest book wasn’t with the other reception items the couple had dropped off at the venue.  We touched based with the Bride’s mother, who confirmed that the book had been left at home.

No problem, quick run to the nearest Hallmark, and we had a whole new guest book ready to go before the guests even arrived!

The heel-eating floor grate.

We’ve got everyone lined up in the church’s entranceway, ready for the procession.  Just as the music begins, the first bridesmaid steps into the floor grate and her heel stuck...and I mean STUCK!

I quickly got onto the ground, took the bridesmaid shoe off, pulled the floor grate out of the floor and had to use all my might to get the two unstuck!  Unfortunately, the tip of her heel came off in the process but a quick dab of crazy glue from the emergency got that fixed and she was on her way down the aisle!

The sunset is beautiful, until it blinds half of your guests.

During dinner the beautiful sunset was shining in the floor to ceiling windows of the reception room.  The only problem with this beautiful site is that half of the guests were being blinded by the light!

One quick discussion with the manager of the hall, and one VERY tall waiter later, and guests were back to being able to see what they were eating.

Because the slideshow doesn’t work without the AV chord.

The Bride & Groom had prepared a wonderful photo slide-show to be played during their cocktail hour.  We had everything we needed - except they forgot the AV chord.

We were able to run back to the main hall, find the band and get a hold of the required chord.  When the guests and couple arrived, the slideshow was going playing away.

Monograms include your new last name, not your old one.

This couple had a photo booth that came with bookmarks with their new monogram on them.  However, it wasn’t the new monogram - it was the bride’s maiden name!

We got on the phone with the company, had all new bookmarks printed and spent a few rushed moments cutting them all and replacing the old monogram with the new one!

You mean the flower girls can’t drop petals?

Right before leaving for the ceremony, the couple found out that their church would not allow their flower girls to drop petals while walking down the aisle.  They were prepared to just have their flower girls walk down with empty baskets.

We ran to the local florist, got some matching flowers and using the emergency kit, created a beautiful and simple hand-tied bouquet for each of the little ladies.  After all, they couldn’t be without flowers as well!

Would you have the tools to hide that bodice?

Before the reception, one of the bridesmaids ruined the front of her dress; stained it beyond repair.

Some scissors, a needle and thread, and quick sewing and we created a draping out of her shawl that totally hid the ruined portion of the dress - while looking like it belonged there.

Save yourself the stress and headaches and ENJOY your wedding day!  Hire a Beautiful Day Coordinator today!!

Re-brand Update

If you're a fan of the BDP Facebook Page then you already know that we are currently working on a whole new Beautiful Day look, a whole re-brand of the company!

Although I love my current logo and marketing materials, I feel like the business has grown out of them.  We've become larger, more productive, and have increased 200% over the past two years.  I'd like to keep that trend going and in order to do that, I thought it was time to get an updated, more professional look for the business.

Currently, our new logo is DONE (No, I'm not going to show you yet, but if you check out that FB page above, you can at least see a sneak peak) - our business card designs are due this week and our new web designers have been kicked off on creating the first professional BDP website (to date I've always done it myself).  I am SO excited for these improvements have no doubt it will help us better serve our current clients, and help us attract even more business in the near future!

You're going to begin seeing the re-brand transition in the next month or so - as soon as the new website is live, we'll share it with all of you!  I hope you like what you see - a cleaner, more modern look for BDP!