Observations from a recent Wedding
Written by Megan on August 13, 2008 – 8:06 pm -I attended a wedding a few weekends ago. Here is what I learned:
1. If you choose a site where the dance floor is in an awkward place, it will make a difference. Very few people watched the first dance, and it made the bride and groom feel separated from the guests who weren’t into dancing.
2. This goes with the end of number one, but make sure you pay attention to all of your guests at some point. Yes, you are the bride (or groom) and they could easily come up to you, but they did come to see you and celebrate your marriage. If you plan on spending the night on the dance floor, make sure you take the time to first visit with your guests who don’t plan on that. Also, everybody has best friends, but there are other guests at your wedding too! Keep that in mind.
3. It’s your first day being married. Enjoy it! Don’t worry about the small stuff! It’s ok to be around your new husband (or wife) during the entire reception. People will understand!
4. Photography is more important than you may realize. Don’t skimp out! That’s all I’ll say for now, as I think my next post will be about this.
5. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a dress, but try not to just “settle” on one. It’s the only wedding dress you will get, and you will regret it for a long time if you don’t get the one you really want. Many brides don’t get the feeling of finding the one, but you know what you love and what you don’t. It doesn’t have to give you an amazing feeling, but it should still make you feel good!
6. If you decide to write your own vows, make sure you actually take the time to do it. You only get one chance, so don’t wait until the last minute and forget to add things you wanted to say! And brides, if your groom isn’t comfortable with writing and reading his own vows it will show. Don’t force him into it. Guests will know if his vows are a modified version of something he found on Google!
7. I’m all for budget-friendly weddings, but you might want to think twice about a Sunday wedding. If you want a certain feel for your wedding that a Sunday can achieve then go for it! However, if you want a dance-all-night “traditional” wedding a Sunday just might not cut it. Guests have to work on Monday and their kids might have school, so they won’t stay as long as they would for a wedding on a Friday or Saturday. That’s just something to consider when choosing what day of the week you want your wedding on!
I hope that some of that advice helps one of you! As always, these are just my observations and obviously not everybody will agree.
My life is finally calming down. I am done with the big move, and I’m about all settled in. When I was packing, I collected all of my wedding stuff from throughout all of the rooms, and I started putting it in a big trash bag so I could move it to the new place. Well, I ended up filling up the whole bag! So, please, make sure you are more organized than me! I finally got a big plastic tub with drawers. I’d show you a picture, but for some reason I can’t get it to post. Anyway, that has helped a lot! I definitely recommend something like that to stay organized.
I better go finish unpacking. I feel like the boxes are reproducing every time I turn around! Good luck planning!
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Starting the Planning Process
Written by Megan on July 24, 2008 – 7:17 pm -Sorry it’s been a while. I am in the middle of moving into a new place, so life has been a little crazy! Wedding planning was put aside for a while, but I’m planning like a madwoman again!
Being at the beginning of planning a wedding can be a bit overwhelming. Getting started can be difficult, but hopefully some of the advice I have will help you out.
1. Choosing a Wedding Date – This can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Just take it one step at a time, and the date will soon be clear. First decide a general date frame that you would like to get married in. Choosing the year is usually pretty easy, and from there you should choose a season or even a specific month you would like to be married in. Then you should decide what day of the week you’d like to be married on. While Saturday is a popular choice, Friday and Sunday are gaining recognition.
Now you could make a list of all the dates of specific days that fall within your time period, such as all the Saturdays in August and September of 2009. Maybe there is a specific day that means something to you, like your dating anniversary or the anniversary of the first day you met. You could choose a date close to that. If not, then start the process by eliminating dates. If one of the dates is close to a holiday, you can either take it off the list or make it the date depending on your preference (some choose to get married on holiday weekends, while some choose to avoid them). Then think about your schedules and calendars. Is one date close to a family member’s birthday? Is one date already taken by a prior engagement? Keep eliminating dates until you can’t delete any more. Now that you have the dates narrowed down, you can see what your chosen vendors have available to help you decide on that one special date!
2. Creating the budget – You need to decide an overall number that you would like to keep the total cost under. Talk to everybody who will be contributing to the budget before deciding upon this number. Do some research on the cost of vendors that you are interested in and the cost of weddings in Kansas City. A wedding can be done on (almost) any budget, but make sure you are realistic about the costs and realistic about what you can afford.
3. Setting your priorities – When choosing vendors, it’s good to have an idea of what’s most important to both you and your fiancé. For us, photography mattered a lot, while music wasn’t too important. So we met with photographers before any other vendors, and we were more willing to dedicate more of the budget towards a great photographer. Try to figure out what your top priorities are, and start choosing those vendors first. You’ll be glad you did!
4. Deciding what you want – You may have no idea what you want in a cake maker besides “good cake,” but sometimes there’s specific things you want in your vendors. Take the time to discuss these with your fiancé and write them down (I swear by lists if you couldn’t tell by now!). This will really help you narrow down vendors based on what you want and what you don’t want. It will be a big help as you decide which vendors you want to meet with!
Of course, my advice is all based on advice I’ve been given or things I’ve had to learn myself. Every person is different, and every wedding is different. I certainly do not have all the answers. I just hope that what I have learned will help other soon-to-be brides. Please keep all this in mind for all of the advice I offer. Good luck, and as always, feel free to leave comments if you have any questions or there’s anything you would like me to blog about!
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Megan and Matt
Written by Megan on July 11, 2008 – 12:00 am -Hi! My name is Megan, and I am a soon-to-be Kansas City bride. My fiancé, Matt, proposed to me at a romantic picnic in the park. It wasn’t too fancy, but it very much suited our personalities and our relationship. He purchased my beautiful engagement ring from Helzberg Diamonds. Here is the picture of my engagement ring and its matching band.
Matt and I will be getting married on our six year anniversary, Saturday, October 10, 2009. Our colors will be pink and green. Pink is my favorite color and green is Matt’s. Our theme will be circles, because we both like the “Love is like a circle – it never ends” idea. I’ll share my vendors with you as I share advice I have for choosing each vendor.
I hope I can pass onto you what I’ve learned so far in the wedding planning process. I definitely suggest you check out the vendor reviews in The Kansas City Bio, a place for vendor reviews from real Kansas City brides. I also recommend that you think about joining The Real Brides, a group of former and future Kansas City brides who share advice and wisdom. Please let me know if there’s anything in particular you would like me to blog about. Have a great time planning, and congratulations on your engagement!
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Welcome to the Kansas City Brides’ Blog!
Written by Katie on June 11, 2008 – 9:02 pm -This is the first post in the KC Brides’ Blog! Check back for our regular bloggers soon- brides and couples in the Kansas City area, blogging about their wedding planning experiences (the good, the bad, AND the ugly)! They will fill you in on everything from cakes to reception venues, from bridal gowns to videographers, and everything in between. They will also have the opportunity to post pictures, share advice, and direct you to the resources they have used.
No worries! Like something a blogger has posted or have a question for one of them? You are welcome to leave comments, ask questions, or make suggestions.
Hope to see you back soon!
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