Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As you are aware, October is breast cancer awareness month.

If you are looking for a great charity to donate to or participate in, I suggest Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, supported by the American Cancer Society.

Direct from their website:

"Every Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is a powerful and inspiring opportunity to unite as a community to honor breast cancer survivors, raise awareness about steps we can take to reduce our risk of getting breast cancer, and raise money to help the American Cancer Society fight the disease with breast cancer research, information and services, and access to mammograms for women who need them. Since Making Strides began 20 years ago, breast cancer death rates have declined more than 32 percent."

You can donate directly through their website or get involved personally by participating in one of their walks.  Find a walk near you at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

You may be able to find a local fundraising event in your area as well.  One of my friends is hosting a Pampered Chef Fundraiser where up to 30% of the sales will be donated.  I'm sure there are many more like this in your area.

Get Involved!  Think Pink!

photo credit:  Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Appointments with Wedding Professionals - Why Do They Make It So Inconvenient?

Do you think there is a conspiracy theory between wedding professionals in making appointments with you as inconvenient as possible?

Do you feel like it’s so labor intensive to get everything finished?  Are you finding that you and your fiancé are so frazzled and at each other’s throats because it doesn’t seem like the appointments can be made when the both of you can attend together so you want to blame the wedding professionals for making these appointments so problematic?  (Okay.  That was a long, run-on sentence)  Anyway, are you asking why the appointments can’t always be made on the weekend?

Well, let me try to explain why this may be the case.  Think about what day of the week your wedding occurs.   Most likely, it will be on a Saturday or Sunday, right?  When will your wedding professionals be working for you?  That’s right.  On a Saturday or Sunday.  This means your wedding professionals are most likely currently working at another wedding or event that is also being held on a Saturday or Sunday, and that is their first priority.  Therefore, that makes them unavailable for appointments on the weekends most of the time.  They are not purposely making it difficult for you.  In fact, several wedding professionals are willing to schedule evening appointments if the both of you can’t come during the weekday.  Keep in mind, they just want to give the same attention to their current clients as they will with you when it is your day.

We try our hardest to make appointments at the best times possible to be convenient for all parties involved.   However, that’s not always the case for the reasons I mentioned above. 

Stop for a minute and look at that drop dead, gorgeous ring on your finger, look at the love of your life and think about your commitment to one another.  Planning for that commitment is getting you one step further to your goal – getting married to the man of your dreams.  Yes, there will be bumps along the planning process road, but how you handle them will be what counts.

So stop frazzling about things that are not in your control.  It will get done.  You will get married. 

Dear Brides:  Does this sound like you?  Are you and your fiancé stressing out about the wedding planning?  Please share and comment.

35 Ways to Wow Your Guests at Your Wedding

This list is just a start of many ways to “wow” your guests and make your wedding totally you.  Remember, use your creativity, imagination and “Wow Factors” to find even more ways that suit your and your fiance’s unique personalities.

1. A list of trivia questions about you for each table to answer

2. Favors that relate to your hobby or special interest.  Make them edible, if possible.  Everyone likes to eat something.

3.  Childhood photographs of you and your fiancé displayed in an album (also could double as your guest book) or in various frames on a table

4.  Add your parents’ and grandparents’ wedding photos

5. A fantastic theme based on your hobbies, interests, etc.

6. Decorating your Sweetheart Table with mementos or collectibles

7.  Put together a collage of your love letters from a long distance romance

8.  A groom’s cake in honor of your fiancé’s hobby

9.  Choosing your favorite flower for the centerpieces

10.  Playing your favorite teams’ theme song

11.  Doing the silly line dance you and your friends learned in college

12.  Cardboard cutouts of the friend who introduced you but couldn’t be at the wedding

13.  Performances by your professional singer friends, family or guests

14.  Sharing your love story during your ceremony or reception

15.  Giving your guests “table tasks” to do throughout the reception

16.  Playing a game

17.  A special thank you friendship dance with all your guests

18.  Play or dedicate a song to a friend as an inside joke

19.  Wear an item of clothing or jewelry from a beloved family member and share this with your guests

20.  Name your tables to represent one of your favorite Wow Factors

21.  Choose your favorite poems as non-traditional ceremony readings

22.  Photo booth with props for silly photos – can rent or DIY

23.  A scavenger hunt using disposable cameras to “hunt” for images

24.  Announce birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, etc.

25.  Give a dance lesson at your reception

26.  Write special vows that unite your family and friends

27.  Include special ethnic traditions and dances

28.  Play a song or speech together

29.  Make a donation to your favorite charity

30.  Treat your guests to your favorite wine or dessert and tell them about it

31.  Play your guests’ wedding songs

32.  Include your signature animal, team, hobby or activity in your wedding theme

33.  Take Polaroid photos of your guests for your guest book

34.  Have your guests write thoughts and wishes for a “time capsule” you’ll open on your 10^th wedding anniversary

35.  Serve your special homemade brownies at the wedding and give your guests the recipe

      Dear Brides:  Don’t know how to determine your “Wow Factors?”  Shoot me an e-mail at: pwilson@smoothweddings.com and I will send you worksheets for FREE to help you find your “Wow Factors.”

Glamping = camping + glamour

Even though glamping has been around for the last several years, it seems it is becoming the latest trend for honeymoons.

Think of it as a “high-end” camping experience.  You still get the great outdoors, but have the comforts of a four-star hotel.

Apparently, these glamping sites originally started back in Africa and Thailand, but have now been popping up in Europe and the United States.

For your honeymoon, you can find very intimate and secluded sites located in the most scenic, remote and spectacular corners of the world.

Here are some of the more luxury glamping sites you might want to check out for your honeymoon:

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort (www.wildretreat.com) on Vancouver Island in the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve in British Columbia.

Resort at Paws Up (www.pawsup.com) in Montana.  Both have elegantly furnished tents, which could lure even the most squeamish camper, but the resort is also dedicated to respecting the environment.

The Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle In Thailand.  Located west of Laos and south of Burma, this site offers honeymooners private panoramic views of Burma’s Ruak River and Laos’ mountains.  You could take a trek with elephants in the morning, an afternoon dip in your private hot tub, and end your evening with a choice of dinner at one of four gourmet establishments set up throughout the camp.

Dear Brides:  Would you consider “glamping” for your honeymoon?  Please comment and share.

photo credit:  Four Seasons Golden Triangle

Now, that's a great idea!

Direct from Preston Bailey, one of the fabulous celebrity event designers that I admire, posted this wonderful idea regarding grooms who want to do surprise proposals but want to be sure they purchase the “right ring” for their girl, soon to be fiancée. 

From A Merry Mishap, your groom can purchase a funky geometric designed ring that he can give you at the surprise proposal.  Then, after he pops the big question and gives you this ring, he can take you out to shop for the ring you really want.  

If you think this is a great idea, give your groom the hint.

Dear Brides:  What do you think?  Would you like to receive a ring similar to this in order to be able to have input into the ring you really want?

Grooms Helping to Plan Their Wedding

Have you noticed grooms are getting more and more involved in helping to plan their wedding?  No longer is it just the bride and her family.  He wants to get in on the action, too.   Take Brad Pitt, for instance.  He designed Angelina Jolie's engagement ring and is supposedly restoring an estate in southern France for the wedding as well as having a say on the flowers and ceremony.

As a wedding planner, I have seen many grooms be involved with helping their bride plan “their” wedding.  It’s not just the bride’s wedding anymore.

I actually thought this same thing when planning my own wedding 18 years ago.  My fiancé, now husband, was very involved in the planning of our wedding and I loved it.  I wanted him to be a part of it.  I always thought the wedding is just as much for the groom as it is for the bride.  So much so that I wanted him to also walk down the aisle – and, he did. 

There are still many grooms who say, “Whatever you want, dear.”  But, there are many now that say, “I want to help.”

Dear Brides:  What about you?  Is your groom helping you plan the wedding?  How involved is he?  Please comment and share.

photo credit:  Martha Stewart Weddings

Do You Think You Need More Than A Year to Plan Your Wedding?

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, you don’t need more than a year to plan your wedding.  Why wait when you don’t have to.  I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to wait a year or two if it’s absolutely not necessary.  I speak from personal experience.  You can read my story here.  

If you and your groom know what you want and are pretty decisive, then why wait.   You do have to be flexible and resourceful, though.  The latest technology certainly helps in planning weddings in less than a year.  Having a shorter engagement period also lends itself to not over-thinking everything and trying to micro-manage it all.  You wait too long, you may end up changing your colors, décor or whatever many times over.  This can become very stressful and possibly blow your budget. Who needs that?  Think of it like fixing Thanksgiving dinner.  You cook and slave for several hours, sit down, eat and in 30 minutes, it’s over.  You think you did all that work and it’s already finished.  That’s the way it could feel with your wedding planning.  If your engagement period is only six months, you won’t feel as bad with it all being over in a few short hours versus if your engagement period had been a year or two, thinking, “All this work and time and it’s already over?” 

Based on my own personal experience of planning my wedding for 150 guests in three and a half months, I have developed a very detailed planning calendar based on planning a wedding in six months or less.  If you would like a free copy, please use the sign up box on the sidebar.

Happy planning!

Dear Brides:  How long is your engagement period and are you running into any frustrations with planning it if it’s less than a year?  Please share and comment.