Components of a Wedding: BEFORE you go Gown shopping

Would you go into a retail store, try on 20 pairs of jeans, find the PERFECT fit and then walk out without purchasing them but hoping that in 4 months the jeans would still be there?

I don't think you would.

So why should it be any different for a wedding gown?

It baffles me when Brides expect a dress to stay for a year or even a month.  It's still retail ladies, and we all know how fast fashion changes.

Please don't take this to the extreme and think that because fashion changes so much you should wait till the last possible minute to buy your gown because something might come along that you like better... Most Wedding Gown Experts will tell you 6-9 months before your wedding is when you should start (and finish) wedding gown shopping.

So here is the point.  If you are going to go spend your time and the time of your friends and family trying on dozens of gowns why would you not be ready to purchase the one you fall in love with.  Or worst yet, why would you go gown shopping sans a crucial opinion (i.e., if you can't buy the dress without your mothers consent, why go unless she will be joining you)?

So make yourself a list of people whose opinions (or approval) mean the world to you. For the sake of everyone's sanity, I hope that list isn't more than 5 people, for most people its one or two names.  Those people should be with you when you try on gowns.

If someone from your "important people" list cant make it you need to ask yourself the following:
"If I find a dress I absolutely love and know that it has to be my wedding gown without any doubt, will I be ok buying it without this person? Or will I not be able to purchase the dress and risk coming back at a later date and not be able to get the dress AND have to start the process all over again?"

If those aren't things you are willing to do, you should probably not be going in to try on gowns.

Now I get that sometimes really important people live far away or someone is visiting and that's the only time they can come.  There are always going to be exceptions and extenuating circumstances.  What I am saying is that if you are going to try on gowns, be prepared to fall in love and buy it.  Don't go into it with a closed mind thinking its going to take 5 or 6 attempts. COMMIT!

Components of a Wedding: Photos

Don't miss a single snapshot.  Here is a list of pictures to take on your wedding day.  Please feel free to add your favorite poses in the comments!

Pre-Ceremony Photographs

1. Groom with each Groomsman
2. Groom with all Groomsmen
3. Groom with Best Man
4. Groom with Ring Bearer
5. Groom with his Parent's
6. Groom's Parents
7. Groom alone
8. Bride with each Bridesmaid
9. Bride with all Bridesmaids
10. Bride Full Length
11. Bride 3/4 Length & Close-up
12. Bride with Maid of Honor
13. Bride with Flower Girl
14. Bride with her Parents
15. Bride's Parents
16. Placing Garter on Bride's leg
17. Mom adjusting Bride's Veil
18. Bride alone (casual)
19. Bride with Groomsmen
20. Groom with Bridesmaids

Ceremony Photos

1. Groom's Mother escorted down aisle
2. Bride's Mother escorted down aisle
3. Ushers unrolling aisle runner
4. Bridesmaids going down aisle
5. Maid of Honor going down aisle
6. Flower Girl & Ring Bearer in aisle
7. Bride Kissing her Dad on Cheek
8. Bride & Father going down aisle
9. Exchange of Vows
10. Lighting of Candles
11. Placing of Rings
12. The Kiss
13. Newlyweds returning down aisle

After Ceremony Photos

1. Receiving line after Ceremony
2. Bride & Groom leaving Church
3. Bride & Groom entering Car/Limo
4. Bride & Groom with Bride's Entire Family
5. Bride & Groom with Bride's Immediate Family
6. Bride & Groom with Bride's Parents
7. Bride & Groom with Groom's Entire Family
8. Bride & Groom with Groom's Immediate Family
9. Bride & Groom with Groom's Parents
10. Bride & Groom with Wedding Party
11. Bride & Groom with Best Man & Maid of Honor
12. Bride & Groom with Flower Girl & Ring Bearer
13. Bride & Groom Full Length
14. Bride & Groom 3/4 Length & Close-up
15. Bride with Groomsmen
16. Groom with Bridesmaids

Reception Photos

1. Cake before cutting
2. Wedding Party entering Reception
3. Best Man Toast
4. Wedding Party Toast
5. Bride & Groom Toast each other
6. Bride & Groom Cutting the Cake
7. Feeding each other Cake
8. Bride & Groom Dancing
9. Bridal Party Dance
10. Bride Dancing with her Father
11. Groom Dancing with his Mother
12. Bride throwing Bouquet
13. Groom removing Bride's Garter
14. Groom throwing the Garter
15. Garter & Bouquet Recipients
16. Various Candid Photographs

Components of a Wedding: Undergarments for your Gown

Finding your Wedding Gown could arguably be the most important task for a Bride to accomplish.  Going into this task a Bride has no idea what to expect.  I've been doing some Wedding Gown consulting for a few months now, and I think these tips will help in your hunt for the perfect Gown (and accessories).

Before getting into any Gown, a Bride should wear a longline bra and a slip.  Here is why:

The Bra



Beyond the fact that a longline bra holds everything together and prevents bulges or rolls showing up on your Wedding Day (reason #1 a longline bra is important), there is another reason this kind of bra is a necessity.  A longline bra creates a foundation for a Wedding Gown (reason #3 a longline bra is important) and holds the dress up.  When you pair a longline bra with a properly altered Gown, it eliminates the "boob adjustment dance" so many women in a strapless anything do (reason #3 a longline bra is important).

The Slip (whatever poof you prefer)



Most Brides despise the idea of wearing a slip under their dress.  I've heard all the excuses you can think of. But the benefits from wearing the slip on your Wedding Day outweigh all of the whining.  Just like the longline bra (a good) slip will have some control to prevent the bulging and the rolls from showing up in photos (reason #1).  A slip gives the gown volume, if you so chose to have a poofy dress (reason #2).  A slip prevents the dress from becoming static city on your legs, butt and anything else you don't want it to cling to (like other people) (reason #3).  But the most important reason to wear a slip is because when you walk down the aisle, your dress creates a vacuum.  So you take a step forward and every inch of your dress gets sucked in and you can perfectly see the outline of your legs as you walk down the aisle.  But if you are wearing a slip, this will be prevented (reason #4).  I understand slips add extra layers and that they make your body temperature rise.  But wear it anyways, even if its just for the ceremony and pictures, it will be well worth it!

Every Bride should start with these basics when trying on Wedding Gowns.  The layers can always be removed if you end up in a backless Gown or a sheath skirt Gown.  Trust me, the Gown will look much better if you are wearing the proper undergarments.  And if you truly truly can't stand the though of wearing the undergarments try the dress on without it BEFORE you purchase it, you'll notice the difference!

Components of a Wedding: Finding a Theme

Finding a theme for your wedding isn't crucial.  Frankly, it might not even be a priority.  But the truth is, a theme makes everything come together.  A theme shows fluidity from ceremony to reception.  When your guests leave your beautiful ceremony and arrive at your reception, they should feel like it is the celebration of the joyous event they just witnessed.  They should not feel like they stopped at someone else's celebration.

Something I like to think about when creating a theme is using a common denominator between the first announcement of the wedding till the last memory the guests have of the reception.

Typically, I'll start with the invitation (or save the date card).  Sometimes it is as simple as a symbol or a phrase.  Taking the theme and incorporating it into the ceremony programs gives the feeling of connectivity from what your guests first saw to the first impressions of your beautiful day.  Bringing that theme to life with decorations in your reception hall will help complete that fluid feeling.  And if you really feel like going above and beyond, find a way to incorporate it into your thank you cards.

One of my favorite themes was a wedding I recently helped with (planning a wedding is the pride of a bride, I could never take that away from her).  On the invitations the bride selected the verbiage " [Parents Names] ask you to join them in a celebration of love, friendship, laughter and family".  Then I took that to the ceremony programs I hand crafted.  And as a final touch we thought of and created head table decorations.  Taking wooden letters, painting them the base color (bridesmaids dress color) and wrapping them with yarn in the accent colors (colors of the flowers).  Love, Friendship, Laughter and Family danced through the heads of all the guests of the wedding.

Components of a Wedding: Budgeting

Budgeting is crucial when it comes to planning a wedding.  There are tons of components to a wedding budget. Hopefully this can guide you in the right direction.


The first step is an overview.

BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Beauty Budget
Ceremony Budget
Reception Budget
Entertainment Budget
Photography Budget
Decorations Budget
Honeymoon Budget
TOTAL

Now you must break the different categories down. One at a time

BEAUTY BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Dress
Veil
Hairpiece
Shoes
Slip
Bra
Sash / Embellishment
Alterations
Bustle
Hair Appointment
Make Up
Pedicure / Manicure
Surprise
TOTAL

CEREMONY BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Venue
Officiate
Chairs
Unity Candle
Aisle Runner
Programs
Pianist / Musician
Changing Rooms
Surprise
TOTAL

RECEPTION BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Venue
Food
Eating Utensils
Tables
Chairs
Cake
Alcohol
Surprise
TOTAL

ENTERTAINMENT BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
DJ
Photo Booth
Transportation
TOTAL:

PHOTOGRAPHY BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Engagement Photos
Pre-Ceremony
Ceremony
Locations
Reception
Second Photographer
Photo Album
Rights to Photos
Prints
TOTAL

DECORATIONS BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Cake Topper
Cake Cutter
Champaign Flukes
Card Box
Flowers
Swag
Candles
Surprise
TOTAL

HONEYMOON BUDGET	GOAL	ACTUAL
Transportation
Accommodations
Excursions
Food / Drink
Passport
Surprise
TOTAL

I highly recommend always creating and budget for the surprise category.  You just never know what will happen!  With this budget you are able to track how much you want to spend and what you actually spent, making it easy to see if you need to start cutting back on something.

Components to a Wedding: Centerpieces

Centerpieces can be time consuming, but the ultimate product is gorgeous.  Once you have decided on what your centerpieces will look like the rest is a bit easier, but quite possibly labor intensive.  Sometimes it can include cutting 30-50 foot-by-foot pieces of foam board.  Other Times centerpieces can require hot-gluing silk flowers on 100 picture frames. Tying 200 tiny bows from ribbon.  Whatever the case may be, time is of the essence. A simple, yet time consuming task such as centerpieces is something you can give to a wedding day assistant to do.

Once you have purchased all of the components of the centerpieces and have a replica of what is desired, the task can be handed off to someone with a little more time.  This can leave you free to focus on more important things like picking the right first dance song and best cake flavors.

Get rescued by Jen!

Components of a Wedding: Decorations

Decorating can seem like an endless task.

Final details of decorating can leave you needing to tie 500 miniature bows out of ribbon or hot-gluing leaves to silk flowers.  And with busy lives, it can be impossible to find time to do those things.

Perhaps there are tasks you could pass on to a personal assistant.  

Someone to:

Pick up your supplies

Tie your bows

Assist with silk floral arrangements

All things arts and crafts related

Decorating preparations

Why should you do all the work? Get rescued!

Components of a Wedding: Planning

When it comes to Weddings, there can seem to be an infinite to-do list.  This will be the first of a series of blog posts regarding the different components of a wedding and how a Wedding Day Assistant can help you with your ever growing to-do list.

Components of a Wedding: Planning

He is down on one knee, ring in hand and you have just decided to say "YES!"  Making this one decision, you have triggered a whole chain of questions.  When will the wedding happen? Where will it happen? What time? Inside or outside? Where will the reception be? Who will be in the wedding? Big wedding party or small? Close friends and family or invite the whole state? Local wedding? Destination wedding? Time of day? What will your dress look like?

Whew.  Who knew this could be so challenging?

Perhaps you  need to be rescued BEFORE your wedding day.  Cash in your Wedding Day Assistant early!

Maybe you want an assistant to help you pick out your wedding gown because you know your friends and family will be too pushy or not honesty.

Maybe you want an assistant to help you get save the date or wedding invitations in the mail because you simply cant get together 8 solid hours to work on it.

Maybe you want an assistant to call all 8 of the potential venues you have found to get more info and see if they are available.

Is there a daunting task hanging over your head that you just cant bring up the courage to tackle on your own?

Let Jen rescue you!

Every Bride needs to be rescued!

Consider this scenario.

It's your big day.  You're getting your hair done at the salon, and then you will begin putting on your make up.  The groom, who was tasked to pick up the flowers has delivered them to the reception hall on the other side of town.  Then you discover that, you're MOH's parents, who are not so familiar with the town & so graciously delivered the last minute order of 200 cupcakes delivered them to the ceremony site on the opposite end of the town from the reception hall.

Being the troubleshooter she is, your MOH hops in her car, crosses town, picks up the cupcakes, crosses back through town, delivers them to the reception hall, picks up the flowers and brings them back to the ceremony site, just in time to meet you and the rest of your bridesmaids at the ceremony site.  She did it because she loves you, but wouldn't you have rather had her with you for that hour?

After the ceremony, the goal is simple, take a few quick photos with the parents and let them race off to finish decorations at the hall.  But wouldn't you rather them stick around to make sure you get all the shots you want to remember your big day?

The grooms men hold up the Bridal Party entrance & DINNER because they had to go on a booze run...

Its time for the mother-son dance, the song has started and no one knows where mom is!  Wouldn't it be nice to have someone in charge of keeping track of stuff like this?

Ummm... who was in charge of the marriage license????

It's the end of the night, your wedding party is three sheets to the wind, your feet hurt and everyone is exhausted.  Who is going to load all those heavy presents into the car?

Every Bride needs to be rescued!