Pre Wedding Prep
Sticky Note Seating Chart
So you've got your RSVPs and now all you have to do is plop people down at tables, right? So you pull out your layout and your pen and start writing people down; only to realize that those two people can't sit together and now there's one too many at that table, and one too few at this other table and you need a place for two people together but you only have one setting left. Soon your nice neat layout looks like a football play diagram for the Super Bowl...yikes!
Reality is your seating chart will change again and again...and again! So let's do something a little less permanent. First start by writing all of your guests names on a sticky note. Then get a poster board or a bunch of sheets of regular lined paper and write down table numbers. Now you can place each guests name at a "table" with the freedom to move them over and over again. You can adjust tables easily, move multiple people around and get a good visual of who your tables will include! Plus side to this as well is that you can write down names as the RSVPs come in and be continually working on the seating chart, saving yourself that last week headache!
During The Big Day
You've Got It Covered...Right?
You've prepped, you've made lists and you've got every last detail figured out, right? LIke most brides, you may have everything done ahead of time but once you start listing out everything that needs to be done the day of the wedding, you start to realize that you need about 10 more hands and arms than you've got...and if you can figure out how to make yourself be two places at one time, that would be very helpful. So who's going to bring the programs to the church? And you HAVE to make sure the license gets there...and home in one piece. And the rings.... And the Hall just told you they won't setup your intricate favors like you thought they would, so some has to go ahead to the hall and do that. Like most brides, you're going thru that last minute "Um... who does all this stuff?!" feeling. I've got good news - you can pay a small fee to hire a day-of coordinator who will take care of ALL OF IT! It'll free your family and friends and will be the best money you spend on the wedding!
The biggest complement I get is when I receive a call or a visit from a wedding guest and soon to be bride right after one of our weddings. To hear her tell me..."wow, I didn't know I needed you until I saw everything you did" is music to my ears. Because yes, you don't know everything there is to do until you're at the end of your rope! So for a small fee ($450-$600 is a drop in the overall bucket of a typical wedding budget) you can have piece of mind and actually ENJOY your day! Sounds worth it to me...
I paid for those!!
The day has gone wonderfully, everything was beautiful and you've enjoyed yourself totally and stress-free (because you hired that day-of planner, didn't you?!). You look around the almost empty hall near the end of your night and one thought hits you... wait a second, I spent thousands of dollars on these flowers and they're just going to throw them out?! That's right... I hate to tell you this but all of those wonderful flowers are usually tossed as soon as you walk out the door. You paid for them, right? So why not enjoy them and let your guests do the same?! Give them something to remember - send them home with flowers!Ahead of time ask your florist to make sure your flowers are created in such a way that they can be taken home. So even if they're in a nice rented bowl, the florist can create the actual arrangement inside a plastic container that can be taken home with guests. So as people walk out the door, have them take the flowers home to enjoy them (but leave the rented vases or bowls, please!).
You'll be amazed to see how beautifully they will look in other people's house and it will give them wonderful, fresh flowers for days after the wedding is over!
After The Wedding
The Dreaded Thank You Note....
You and your new husband or wife have had the time of your lives and now you've sat down in your new place and opened all of those gifts and cards and are blown away by your guests generosity. Before you start planning what to do with your new-found riches, you realize with disdain that you have to write a whole lot of thank you notes....
Let's face it, something like 99% of people don't really enjoy having to sit down a write 100+ thank you notes. Your hand cramps, it takes up a lot of time and you think you've gone cross eyed by the end of it all. And etiquette says you only have 3 months to get them all done (Not a year like some myths say!!).
So tip #1 - set a daily goal. Tell yourself you will write 5 notes per day. It wont' be overwhelming, they won't blur together and you'll be surprised just how quickly you will get them done.
Tip #2 - you know who's coming to the wedding and chance good that they're bringing a gift. While I would stop short of telling you to pre-write the actual thank you (because yes, that is tacky), why not get all of those envelopes out of the way?! There's no reason you can't have those done ahead of time -then you can just write the note, slip it in and it's ready to go!
Just remember - try to send all the notes out at once - not as you get them done. You want all guests to receive them at the same time so just make a pile and let it accumulate until you're finished. (Another reason to get them done in a timely manner because who wants to look at that sitting on their counter for a year?!)
Hope these tips help you on your way!
Jennie :)
