Week 31 – Weight Weight Weight

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Well the weeks are rolling by really quickly now as I was totally oblivous to the fact that I had forgotten to do my blog.  However I  have some good excuses for that besides working 7 days a week ….. no not really, that is the only excuse I have.

Well for the last few months I have been looking at myself in the mirror and looked at how much weight I have stacked on since sitting in a chair all day on a computer.  I said to the mirror “Mirror Mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all”, the mirror never answered me back and I wondered why lol

Since I went to my bridal dress fitting in January I knew it was time to start doing something and because I am quite a stressed out person as it is with my job I had to take immediate action, so I have enlisted the services of a personal trainer to assist me in dropping a few kilos, making me feel better within myself and just put me back on track with eating as that has blown totally out of control.

My diet over the last few months has consisted of eating minimal amounts of good food and living off caffeine as I have done over the last 17 years in the hospitality industry which would be roughly about 5-6 cups of coffee a day, anything high in sugar such as coke and chocolate biscuits and heaps of chips chips chips.  Therefore I have developed the secretarial spread

As I went to visit my personal trainer Rita Horton from Bellissima Fisica at her beautiful open aired training facility, I thought to myself oh why bother do I really want to do this.  However, for 3 weeks now I have been caffeine free (should be attending CA – Coffee’s Anonymous), yah for me, but I don’t know if my fiancee is liking that with my mood swings and my diet has done a complete 360.  No more SUGAR.

I visit Rita twice a week and she has placed me on a nutritionally balanced diet.  She has given me extra curricular activities to do when I am not with her, but I have to admit sometimes I am a naughty girl.  But to totally change my lifestyle in 3 weeks, something that I have been used to for all my life isn’t going to happen all of a sudden.  I am starting to feel so much better within myself.

My recommendations:

• 80% of Brides end up doing some form of exercise to lose weight for their wedding whether it be joining a gym, doing bootcamp or just basic forms of exercise.
• My recommendation would if you don’t want to do a lot of exercise at least do something to de-stress as we know how stressful this event can make us.
• Avoid eating a lot of junk prior to your wedding as this will cause break outs on your face.

Well that’s it for this week and lets hope shed heaps over the next couple of weeks.  Visit Rita’s page on facebook at Bellissima Fisica. Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Week 33 – Know what you are looking for

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Well I have many excuses for not blogging, but I won’t go into them, but I will try and make up for it this week with 2 blogs.  On the weekend I participated in a Wedding Expo in the City and met many many Brides and on the odd occasion was thrown the question “Why should we hire you over some of the other exhibitors”.  It is a difficult question to answer when there is other people in the Industry there.  However I have also been interacting with Brides on a particular Facebook Page and have been hearing some very sad stories of late, with wedding suppliers letting them down.  I also met with a lovely couple yesterday who have been let down by there venue. I am very passionate about the Industry and this upsets me as this is a couple’s special day and they need to know they can rely on us as suppliers to ensure everything goes perfectly without them having to worry.

Therefore I thought I would give you a little background on myself and my business, as for me I know the people in the Industry and I know who to select for my wedding and have started making some progress with this.

I come from 17 years in the Industry from starting off as a Waitress in a venue, to moving up to Wedding Coordinator and then managing 2 Venues.  Prior to that I worked in the Corporate World.  As a Wedding Planner I am of the belief that a Certificate of  Wedding Planning does not make you an experienced Wedding Planner if you start your business just after you have graduated.  This piece of paper does not teach how to handle a Brides emotions, deal with the mishaps of a Wedding Day and other organisational tools required.

I am down to earth and will not sugar coat anything I tell you how it is whether it be you are hiring me as a Wedding Planner, Decorator, to do your Floristy, to make your Stationery or the other services we offer.  This honesty and my experience over the years and since relaunching my business 11 months ago, has got me to where I am.

This blog is not meant to be controversial and have a go at other suppliers, far from the case and it is not meant to frighten Brides at all as there is a lot of businesses in the Industry who are very professional, but in the recent months I have just heard to many sad stories.

For Brides who don’t know where to start I host group Wedding Workshops and I educate  you on the pitfalls you can come across when planning. This workshop has proven to be very successful with past Bridal Couples. If you would like to know more just email me at firstclassevents@bigpond.com.au

TODAY’S TIP –  When selecting a Supplier:

• Ask around about the particular supplier you want to go with, get reviews and check their testimonials
• Have a list of questions ready for when you go for your consultation
• Make sure the images they are using are not royalty free, they are actual images of there work
• Read the fine print in the contract

These four tips are just to start you off, but are important.  I hope today’s blog has opened your eyes as it was truly educational for me on the weekend when I went to the Expo myself.  Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Week 35 – OMG!! …. Out of Control

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Well I have been out of action for a week as like other Brides-to-Be, I work 7 days a week and long days and time is flying by rather quickly.  I have finally lost the plot and my head is spinning out of control.  Yes yes I am a Wedding Planner, but planning your own wedding does not make it any easier.  I have decisions to make as well.

OMG the decisions decisions desions, where to next.  So at this point I have a Groom, Venue, Theme – that is all that is confirmed and the wedding is 28 weeks a way.  I said this to my fiancee the other night and it just sounded so terrible, saying 7 months so much better.

So where to next.  I did a Wedding Workshop on the weekend discussing these very things with my Bridal Couples and I said stop REMAIN CALM.  Ummmmm I don’t know if I can do it.  I was meant to have my Save the Dates out 4 weeks a go and that hasn’t happened yet.  I went for my first Bridal fitting a few weeks ago and was meant to do a follow up and that hasn’t happened.  My bridesmaids and I decided that we would go dress shopping for them and that hasn’t happened.  So when is this all going to happen.

So here is just some of things I need to start thinking about:

• Getting on top of my wedding budget
• Celebrant
• Photographer
• Floristry
• Stationery
• Wedding Vows
• Ceremony Location
• Wet Weather Location
• Permits
• Wedding Dress
• Bridesmaids Dresses
• Suit Attire
• Rings
• Hair & Makeup
• Wedding Cake
• Ceremony & Reception Music
• Entertainment
• Bonbonniere
• Menu
• Seating Plan
• Transportation
• Honeymoon
• and the list goes on.

So no wonder we go crazy as a Bride and lose control.  On top of our normal work and social commitments we have to plan a wedding which is a full time job in itself.  Did you know the average wedding takes over 200 hours to plan by the time you make phone calls, go to appointments, make your decisons, finalise and complete the wedding planning process.  Something to think about.  Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 274 – “Who’s In, Who’s Out” – Choosing your Bridal Party

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Since we have been engaged we have been discussing how many to have in our Bridal Party.  Chris knows how many attendants he wants, I have just being a little unsure.  I want to make sure I make the right choice and I don’t want the bridal party to be huge.

So choices choices.   As I am a more mature bride with a small circle of friends, many of them in the industry, the choice of a bridal party has been made a little bit more difficult for me.  As this is my second marriage I have learnt from my previous wedding that this selection is very important.  With my previous selection I had a lot of problems with one particular attendant, amplifying all of the stress that I already had with her being quite a diva leading up to the wedding, sometimes making it near impossible.  Also pretty much after the wedding we never ever heard from the groomsmen ever again.  Silly mistake and I don’t want this to happen again.  So I do believe we have narrowed it down to our Maid of Honour, Bridesmaid, Junior Bridesmaid, Bestman, Groomsmen and Pageboy, an intimate Bridal Party.  If you are having difficulties making a decision here are some tips for you.

TODAY’S TIP:  Selecting your Bridal Party

• Write a wishlist of your attendants.
• Consider family politics.
• Think of their responsibilities, how will they cope with these.
• Evaluate your needs and expectations of these attendants.
• How many will you talk to in the not so distant future.

Hopefully these tips will assist you in narrowing down your most obvious choices. Remember once you ask someone to be an attendant you can’t go back.

Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 275 – Budget Breakdown

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Over the last few days I have been going backward and forwards attempting to breakdown my wedding budget, which is proving to be a lot harder than I thought.  When it comes to my clients I am pretty good at telling them how to breakdown each area.  With me I am driving my self insane and before I am finished I will be certainly wearing white to the wedding but not in the way of a dress

My spreadsheet is a mess having written over it so many times with how much money I will allocate to each area.  I pretty much know how much the reception is going to cost, that is the easy part and will certainly be determined by my final numbers, however doing the breakdown for the rest is certainly fun.  When I am sitting here doing the budget I have a little Chris sitting on my shoulder watching over me and whispering into my ear “Do what you want to do Lisa, but you know our maximum budget”.  Damn, grooms and their budgets LOL  Well I am slowly getting their and hope to have my budget complete by the end of the week.

TODAY’S TIP – When doing your budget breakdown I ask my clients to tell me what the 3 most important things are for their wedding day and that is where that money should be sent.

Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 276 – Wedding “Bills” – Who’s Paying!

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

So with a wedding date, venue, guest list, what comes next. Some times this topic can come first, but who pays for what. In the case of my wedding, Chris and I are paying for everything.

In decades past it was tradition that the Brides parents pay for everything, but not anymore, far from the case. I would say a very small percentage of weddings I have taken part in that it has being solely the brides parents that have paid for the wedding.

I have found the most common options today are that the couple pay for everything or it is now split up between the brides parents,  grooms parents and the bridal couple will take on the remainder.

This is certainly a very sensitive topic and needs to be approached with due care  At the end of the day you can not make someone pay for something they don’t want to and you will never ever make everyone happy. Lesson learnt previously.  Discussions about money always causes disagreements whether it be for a wedding or not, but especially a wedding as it is such an expensive event.  If people won’t contribute and that means you have to pay for something else, so be it.   Don’t give yourself undue stress by having confrontations about who is paying for what, if it is easier for you to walk away from it, do it.  You will have many other things to worry about.  This just means you have more control over your wedding because you are paying for it.  I know this seems easy for me to say, but I have experienced this to many times taking part in many weddings and it really causes strain on family relationships and with the bridal couple.  It is just not worth it.

This is the way Chris and I see it.  We are paying for it all and we will have the wedding we want with no one else’s input. Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 277 – “Am I Invited” – The Guest List

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Like most bridal couples family politics and finances play a huge role in determining who receives an invite to your wedding, unless you have unlimited funds.

Chris and I are very lucky in respect to he does not have a lot of family, however on the flip side I am Italian and that is the complete opposite, I know the world.  For me I have had to consider family, friends and my colleagues in the Wedding Industry on my side of the guest list.  This has become really difficult as we have already completed our non negotiable guest list, but I am just trying to trim back where I can due to finances.

However only recently I was placed in the predicament when a someone I know said to me “Oh you will have to let me know when the wedding is so I can place it in my diary”.  Oucchhhhh, did I feel so bad, I was not inviting this person due to number restrictions and many other issues.  So now what do I do, this person is expecting an invitation to my wedding and I know there will be others that will expect one as well.

This is where as a Bridal Couple we will need to tread lightly so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.  Here are some things you may want to consider if you are having diffiuclties in selecting who to go on your guest list that I found very useful:

• Does this guest know your engaged.
• Have they met your fiance.
• When did you last speak.
• How often do you see them.
• Would you be offended if you weren’t invited to their wedding.
• Will they be a part of your lives forever.

Until next time.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 278 – Location Location

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Today we take a step back as I refine some of the details about our Wedding Reception location.  Naturally before you can have a wedding date you need to check with your ceremonial area/church, etc and your wedding venue to see if they have the date available that you require.

Planning well in advance will assure you get the date you want and minimise stress.  Due to the popularity of a venue and if it is peak season you will need to book a venue at least 1 – 2 years in advance.  That’s why as soon as Chris and I got engaged and we knew roughly when we wanted to get married we started investigating dates immediately.

We had a basic idea of the look we were going for and we also wanted to actually get married and have the reception all at one place for the convenience of our travelling guests and also have nearby accommodation for them.  Even though we would have loved to have had our wedding on a Friday, so we could party all weekend, we had to consider our guests travelling from interstate, therefore we had to remain with a Saturday wedding.  So silly me has booked our wedding for one of the busiest times of year in my industry.  I have weddings leading up to my wedding day and weddings straight after.  So no honeymoon for me.  Oh well.

WHEN SELECTING YOUR WEDDING VENUE HERE ARE A COUPLE OF VERY IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Capacity – Your venue must be able to seat the number of guests you are considering inviting.  A lot of people do get this wrong and what you have to also consider is that a lot of venues have a minimum number of guests for smaller affairs.

Car Park – Is there enough parking for my guests. Do they need to park a mile away from the location or will they have to pay for parking.  Your guests will not be impressed if they have to pay for parking, just speaking from experience.

Package Costs – When comparing venues look closely at what each venue’s packages include, they will vary hence the reason in price.

Terms & Conditions Hire – Read these very very carefully as you don’t want to be hit up with additional costs that you didn’t read about in the beginning, which will certainly add more stress to the budget closer to the wedding and to you in general as a bridal couple.  You would be surprised at the types of things that can easily be missed on your contract.

Events Manager – Straight away you will know if you are going to have a great relationship with this person who is going to be looking after your wedding reception on the day.  This is vital as is all of the wedding suppliers who you hire on the day, however this is the most important one. Simply for the fact you will be spending a large majority of your time here with your guests and this is the largest portion of your budget.

Chris and I reviewed some of these checklist points above and others and we have ended up booking a lovely vintage style venue, Topiaries Beaumont House at Samford.  It is everything we want for our Wedding.  Have a great day all.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 279 – It’s all in the name

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to 2012 and here starts another year with lots to do including planning a wedding.  Yesterday I started designing new business cards and I was showing my partner the proof when the topic came up about me changing my name on the card and especially when we get married.  The discussion was never finished.

We later went out to lunch and we started talking about this again.  My partner wants me to place my married name on the business card, but I was explaining to him that everyone in the industry identifies me with the current surname that I have and I didn’t know whether that would be a good idea or not.

From there a long discussion started about the importance of changing your surname when you get married. For my fiance it is very important I take his name, but how important is it for others.

REASONS TO CHANGE YOUR NAME

• If you don’t like your current last name you will finally can get a new one.
• People will expect it and start addressing by your fiance’s last name once you are married.
• When you have a family your children will take on your married name.

REASONS NOT TO CHANGE YOUR NAME

• If you are the last in the family with your name and you don’t want to give it up.
• If your name is interesting or exotic.
• If you have built your career reputation on it.

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES

• Hypenate your last names.
• Keep your maiden name as your middle name and then you can use either one.
• He could take your last name??

Either way you are not losing your identity when you get married, you are just changing your name and marrying the one you love.  Until tomorrow.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride

Day 280 – Why Save the Date?

Bonjour from Project Wedding HQ

Now I have my wedding date and my guest list, the next most important thing for me to do is to organise my Save the Date cards to go out to my guests to improve attendance.

WHAT IS A SAVE THE DATE CARD? 

A Save the Date is a basic card that is sent out several months prior to sending your official Wedding Invitation. Some bridal couples may see this as an extra cost, however this is very important for guests who are travelling from interstate or have a busy work schedule and need to place the date into their calendar. Guests who need to travel or want to book accommodate need to be able to budget and will need extra time to plan.

HOW DO SAVE THE DATE CARDS WORK?

It is recommended that your save the date cards go out at least six months to a year before your wedding day. On your card you should include the Bride and Grooms name, date and time and the location and maybe include a map.

So now I have to come up with something to reflect my wedding theme, without giving to much away before the formal Wedding Invitation. There are many many different designs and ideas for Save the Dates, I am becoming so totally confused and need to just narrow it down and do it or they will never go out.  I will keep you posted as to my design. Have a great new year everyone.

Au Revoir, The Savvy Bride