My Guide to Bridal Shows

My first experience with a bridal show was an awful one. I don't know if there was one definite thing that made it horrible, in fact I'm pretty sure it was several things. During my visit to a bridal show I made several mistakes from when I arrived and not preparing for all of the information I was going to have to carry around. I was lucky enough to have the Mister to accompany me and carry everything and since I am an introvert, he also started the conversations with most of the vendors we wanted to talk to. At the end of it all, I vowed never to return to one EVER again. [Spoiler alert! I'm going to another one!] I don't want anyone to be discouraged from attending bridal shows upon reading this. In fact, I want to encourage people to visit them no matter what stage of planning you're in. Not only are bridal shows a wealth of information, but many vendors offer discounts and many times you can be entered into drawing for free stuff! So here are my tips!

Source: My photo, Agape Creative Studios

Who - It's important to consider exactly who to bring with you to the bridal show. You're going to want to bring someone who is interested in your wedding planning and someone who can help you think things over and keep you from booking things impulsively. Bringing friends can be fun and it can make a great girls outing. Bringing family members such as your mom, mother in-law or sister can help make them feel included but they can easily overwhelm you with their own opinions if they're out spoken. Bringing your fiancee along can be fun, but remember that some guys aren't too interested in things like that. First consider if your guy would be okay going with you in the first place. If he doesn't don't take offense! I'm sure he will help in other ways! If this is the case sit down and discuss with him what you'd like to get out of the experience and what your plan of action should be if you find a vendor your're interested in. If your mister does come, remember that he may find other guys that were drug to the event by their significant others and catch up on the score for the big game. (There always seems to be a game of some sort that fall on these days.) If your man stands by you the whole day (congrats!) make sure to reward him! Treat him to a guy movie or beer after and let him know how great it was to have him by your side.

What - So what exactly should you bring to this? Remember that many vendors are going to want your information! So bring a pen (and your willingness to write the same info many times) or even prepare ahead with label sheets containing your information. It should be your name and contact information (mailing address, phone number and email). Bonus points for adding your wedding date also! This will save you time and save your wrist! I also recommend bringing a bag of some sort or have extra room in your purse. Most bridal shows provide you with a bag to store your goodies, but if they run out you don't want to be stuck lugging piles of paper from booth to booth. Lastly, you're going to be on your feet for several hours, so make sure you have shoes you're comfortable in!

When - When you attend the show (and which show if there are multiple in your area) really depends on how good you are with crowds and what features they have through the day. (I should note that the Mister compared it to a girls version of Comic-Con). Sometimes there are several different shows put on during different times of the year. Make sure to look into which vendors will be attending the upcoming show and which will meet what you're looking for. For example there is a local bridal company here in Fresno that put on a bridal show twice a year. One is smaller than the other which would be better suited for those who tend to shy away from big crowds but may not have some of the smaller vendors in attendance. If you choose the bigger show and are not a fan of crowds, try attending earlier in the day when less people are likely to be there.

Source: Premier Bride Showplace

I plan on attending another bridal show and hope to apply these tips. I anticipate having much more success this time around and will report back on how it goes!

Does you have any bridal shows local or travel to attend any? What was your experience? Do you have any other tips I may have missed? I'd love to hear your feedback!

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{Wedding Planning} : What I Leaned From Planning My Dream Wedding

Did you like the sneak peek I shared with you? A big thanks to Cassi Claire for those beautiful images. Also for this incredible graphic she made for my facebook page.

Amazing, right?

After planning our wedding for the past 17 months, I'd like to think I learned a thing or two. Overall I am happy with the result but there are definitely a few things I would have done differently.

{Wedding Day Advice}

Be Prepared for the Unexpected...

Everyone always tells you that things will go wrong. Deep down I knew this, but truly didn't believe that much could possibly go wrong after all of my meticulous planning. Well- let me tell you...I felt like a million things went wrong! Starting with the day of the rehearsal, I left an important bag at my florist, an hour away from my house! She called me and left a voicemail which I received shortly after driving the hour home from our initial meeting. I for the life of me could not understand why this was happening on a day when I had so much to do, but, of course, it ended up working out. My dad offered to drive me there to pick up the bag, and then we went to lunch. It was a perfect little father-daughter afternoon on my last day as a single lady and one of my most treasured moments from the weekend : )

Other things went wrong too. During the ceremony, our reader read the wrong passage first and then abruptly stopped in the middle of the second reading and just sat down, I forgot props I made and pictures I wanted to get, and we had about 10 minutes to take bride/groom photos but the funny thing is that everyone kept commenting how flawlessly the entire day went. Nobody knew the difference when it came to the readings and thanks to our awesome photographer, we only needed 10 minutes to nail the shot. So I guess the take away here is that nobody even noticed all the little things I thought went wrong.

*A Word About Contracts Be careful what you agree to in your contracts. Agree to the minimum you think you will need. Vendors will always let you add more services, but not all vendors will be flexible in removing services from an agreed upon contract. For example, the minimum number of people to reserve the room we got married in was 50, which we knew we would have. So when the hotel asked us for an estimated number of guests we told them 125-150. They went ahead and listed 125 on our contract as our minimum number of guests and held us to that number when it came time to pay the final balance. Luckily, we were only 3 people short, and they allowed us to use those 3 people to count as vendor meals, but then the night of the wedding, an additional 4 people (who we already paid for) just didn't show up. Live and learn.

On the other hand, when I originally met with our florist, I ordered church altar pieces. After meeting with our church, they expressed a preference for a different florist, one they usually work with. I called my wedding florist and asked to remove the altar pieces from the contract and they did it no problem. Just something to be aware of.

*People Will Surprise You People will disappoint you. People who I thought wouldn't miss our wedding for the world weren't there, people who told us they were coming, just didn't show up and people came to our wedding, stayed over in the hotel and didn't give us a gift. It happens. There were also those people were amazingly supportive, and sometimes its the last people you expect it to be.  Your true friends and family will support you no matter what and those are the people you want to celebrate with.

Thank you for reading, following and encouraging me during this process. I will miss blogging here each week!  I hope you will keep up with me over at The East Coast Bride or on Pinterest.

Personalized Wedding Invitations

This past week my fiance and I have been working on our guest list...one of the toughest tasks thus far in wedding planning. On the positive side, it has made me start thinking about the invitations. I'm really excited to pick how ours will look and figure out ways to make them personalized to us and our wedding location. I love paper goods so the invites are important to me. They are also one of the first impressions your guests will have of the wedding and include some very important details for making sure everyone makes it to your big day (or weekend)! I don't really know what I want to have them look like beyond going with our venue (outside, bed and breakfast near Mount Hood in Oregon) and fitting with our personalities and wedding color palette. So, I did some searching for inspiration. I like a wide variety of styles, from casual and quirky to more formal and traditional, colorful to black and white, and so on.

Here are some of the invitations that are inspiring me...

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At first glance these seem more traditional, but when you look a little closer, there are some great details and unique aspects like the accordion-folded invite.

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I love when maps are included!

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Liking the calligraphy and lace on these.

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These are super fun and personal - they used their dog! And took inspiration from chalkboard writing since the couple met in grade school.

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Incorporating the mountain that will be the backdrop to our vows. ?

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How did you pick your wedding invitations?

The Second Most Important Attire {Grooms Wear}

The bride's dress usually steals the show, but I think the groom also needs to get a little love in the attire department and what he is sporting on the big day.

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My Mr definitely had an opinion about what he wanted to wear, which I love. No, he did not pick out a powder blue suit, but he did have an opinion on what the groomsmen wore and how coordinated all the guys looked. We decided to rent the suits for the guys as our bridal state is spread throughout the state. To help us in the decision making we also brought along the best man so we had a final decision maker.

Source: Left, Right

I am very pleased to report that both guys picked the same suit and tie the minute that we walked into the tux rental shop. I automatically loved what they picked and couldn't be happier with the choice. Here is a little inspiration board that I put together before we went searching just to give the people at the store an idea of what we were looking for and styles the guys preferred.

 

 Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

Here are a few tips that will help make getting your groom outfitted an enjoyable and easier processes:

• Bring a swatch of the fabric that matches your dress. You wouldn't believe how many shades of white there are out there. Having the swatch with you will allow you to see how your dress is going to look next to your groom and the groomsmen and ensure that you compliment each other.

• Along with a swatch of your dress also bring a swatch of the bridesmaids dresses. This will make it easier to match colors and ensure they don't compete.

• Book an appointment! Not only does this ensure that you will get in and out of the store in a reasonable time, but some store give you a kick back because you booked an appointment. In our case, the whole party got their shoes upgraded.

• Even if you didn't attend a bridal show, ask anyways about bridal show discounts and specials. Often times the salesperson will extend the offer to you even if you didn't attend. In our case, we received several gift cards and the Mr's tux complimentary. It doesn't hurt to ask!

• Ask if the store actually has samples available for your guy to try on. This was a big thing for me and my Mr. I am a very visual person an ordering an entire outfit from a small swatch of fabric scared me. Not to mention you don't see how the whole thing will look  until a few days before the wedding when you pick up your rental. We actually ended up changing where we got our grooms wear from because of this. The rental company that we ended up choosing actually does a grooms preview. Think second fitting for the groom. They will bring the shirt, pants, jacket and all the accessories that you ordered and allow the groom to try it out and make sure you are happy with what you will be getting for the big day. I am very excited to see the whole thing put together when we go back in September.

So, what did you do for grooms wear? Rent? Buy? I want to know!

Heather

{hiip} bridesmaids' gifts

August is half way over, which means I am getting that much closer to my wedding day! 2 1/2 months to go, people!! It feels good to look back and see how much I've accomplished during my many months of planning... and blogging.  And since the big ticket items are pretty much taken care of, it's now time to hammer out the details... not just make Pinterest boards about them ;-) I have 8 lovely bridesmaids, all of whom are very important women in my life. I want to show them my gratitude by giving them gifts that are unique, practical, sentimental, and have a handmade-loving touch. I imagine giving my maids a bag of some sort filled with goodies... perhaps even a piece of jewelry that they can wear that day.

As I was scouring the internet I noticed on facebook that many of my girlfriends back home in San Francisco were talking about how much they love their new "Hiip" bags. As I did some more research I discovered that these awesome bags were created by an old friend whom I went to high school with, Nicole Flowers. I went to her web site to see the bag styles and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only are these bags fashionably chic, they are also for a great cause!! Read more about the Hiip story and how Nicole is giving back to the community with every bag she sells. VISIT:  http://www.hiipsf.com/home/

Here's what Nicole had to say about how Hiip bags can be a fun and resourceful gift for brides & their maids, " It's ideal because it's the perfect kit for your day of planning: you can stock it with bra tape, lipgloss/stick, bobby pins, even touch-up cream; wear it around (hands-free for all the bridal stuff you'll be carrying!) to various appointments; and then use it as a clutch for the party. With so many colors and patterns to choose from, there will definitely be one that fits with the color scheme of the wedding.  All this while giving back to another in need making it an automatic karmic bonus on your special day."

I can't wait to surprise my girls with one of these bags and fill it with goodies for getting ready on my big day.... I may even customize them by having their initials embroidered. It feels SO good to give a gift that keeps on giving :) Thank you Nicole, for the contribution that you are to the San Francisco community.... and beyond!

What are you giving to your maids on your wedding? Have any creative and thoughtful gift ideas? Please do share!

xo, Taya

Get with the Program

We have officially six weeks to go until the wedding...holy moley! We've been knocking things off the to-do list left and right and next on my list is designing the wedding programs. I'm not sure I realized there were so many adorable options for programs! First I need to decide on a design direction.

I love the cute graphics on these programs. Silhouettes are really easy to do with some basic Photoshop skills, and I love the idea of some of the clip-art graphics. Sheet music is another sweet way to make them feel special (maybe with your first dance song?).

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I also love the look of these simple, type-based programs. Pretty, and to the point.

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For those of you who've been following me for a while now, you know that I love anything with a little personality or humor infused. I love the tongue-in-cheek wording of these programs. And, yes, this is the second cootie-catcher I've posted here. Dan and I did meet in middle school, after all :)

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I also need to decide how we are going to display and distribute the programs. The rolled programs are quite romantic, the rustic box is really charming and the backs of chairs feels nice and practical. Decisions, decisions!

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So, what do you think? What's your favorite?

The Lab + Pinterest = Bring Your Pinterest Board To Life

The Lab is a bridal experience unlike any other. Instead of traditional bridal faires, immerse yourself in inspiration brought to life, mingle with other brides & vendors all night long, find your wedding day style with our runway show modeled by SF Fashion Bloggers, and round out the night with a fabulous dance party. All this and more is definitely what you are in for when you go to The Lab. (Get your tickets now!)

Taking place in Sonoma, CA on January 12, 2013 we will have one heck of a party for you to get inspired in the best way possible, by seeing it all right in front of you!

Want your Pinterest board to come to life by a team of the best vendors in Northern California? Pin your dream wedding and submit it. If we choose it, it will be one of our featured tablescapes the night of the event.

We have partnered with a group of FABULOUS bloggers to make this happen. Head on over to Snippet & Ink, Ruffled, City Sage, Weddingbee, (more coming tomorrow) submit a link to your pinterest board!

Here is a sampling of what your board should look like:

Comment the link to your board and we will check it out! Thanks so much and we can't wait to have you at THE LAB!

Finding Wedding Invitation Design Inspiration in Unique Places

Recently I have been playing around just a little bit with Photoshop. Once I started getting into it more I found the importance of getting inspired to create something on your own. This got me thinking even more about the places we turn to for wedding inspiration print design. Exposure to all types of design be it branding, poster work, typography aid in the final product of your wedding invitations. Here are a few ideas from ordinary places that would inspire some awesome wedding invitations.

Speaking of, I'l go ahead and show off my latest little project. The Lab is a bridal event I co-founded that takes place in Sonoma, CA each year. This year we are working on our look and creating our identity. I took a stab at the logo (which wasn't easy might I add) and finally, 200 versions later, I finally have something I am proud of and that I love. If you are planning on doing your own wedding invitations, get inspired in a variety of areas, maybe something you like online, branding you love, or the design of a favorite restaurant the two of you share. Then work and work and work at it. It will come along to be something that you are proud of. Don't give up after the 50th time. I tell you, it is worth it in the end!

So, what do you think?? Did I do a good job??

Dress Fitting Finale

Last Friday I flew to San Diego for a number of exciting wedding-related things, but the Kalista & Kyle-related wedding thing was my final dress fitting. Hooray! I zipped in for my 30-minute dress fitting, and slipped on my dress. It's like putting on a cloak of perfection, slipping into a wedding dress. I couldn't feel more beautiful, more glamorous, more sexy than I do in that little white dress. What IS it about wedding dresses?

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The dress fit like a dream, and the seamstress just had to take off another half inch from the bottom. I picked it up the next day, and proudly carried it on to the plane with me, only to stuff it into the overhead compartment. What happened to the closets on airplanes?!

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Anyways, it made it home in one piece, and now I just have to make sure not to wear it too many times before the wedding for fear of getting lipstick on it.

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In case you're confused, yes, I did have my final fitting 3 1/2 months before my wedding. And yes, I need to pretty much stay the same weight until the wedding. But I'm not too worried about it. That's the nice thing about a sheath dress. It's relatively simple and doesn't need a whole lot of tailoring, plus I can fluctuate a few pounds and there's still room.

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By the way, all of these dresses are by Jenny Packham. It's concerning how obsessed I am with her designs. But aren't they just to die for? It's a dream come true to be wearing one of them.

How many dress fittings did you have before your wedding? Did your size change a lot before your wedding day? Should I do another fitting 2 weeks before my wedding day?

Playing Catch-Up & The Other White Dress

Unfortunately wedding planning has taken a back burner lately to make time for other personal matters which means my to-do list is pretty much the same.  However, now that our wedding party has been made official, I can finally share my final product for my "Will you be my?" cards.

These cards were so much fun to make and once I decided exactly what I wanted them to look like, very quick to put together. I make cards as a hobby so these were made with a lot of tools I use normally (die cuts, embossing tool, etc.). I think my favorite part is the embossed dress on the front.

Speaking of dresses I've been trying to build of my stash of pretty frocks. When doing a bit of online shopping recently, I realized that I've become drawn to all things white! Luckily, I will have lots of events coming up that will require just that! Here's what I'm finding dreamy and oh-so perfect.

Source: Ruche, Ruche, eShakti, Ruche

 If something a bit fancier is your style, you'll love these dresses  as much as I do.

Source: Nordstrom, BHLDN, Modcloth, Bloomingdale's

The top options are casual enough to not be stuffy but versatile enough to be dressy with the right accessories. The bottom options are very chic and most would do well as receptions dresses. You can easily tie in other elements for your upcoming wedding like vintage jewelry or a pop of color from your pallet. I won't be having a reception dress but I love some of these options as inspiration for my bridal shower and rehearsal dinner dresses. 

How do you feel about white before the wedding?

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