Spring Has Sprung!

Spring is finally upon us and so begins the start of the wedding season! Spring is such a wonderful time of the year to plan a wedding. With various, beautiful flowers in season and favorable temperatures, there's no denying the genuine beauty that this season has to offer!

In past years, brides have been known to incorporate the traditional pastel colors into their wedding's theme. With each wedding season that passes, bride's are becoming more bold and creative with their color schemes. Hot pinks and turquoise, bright yellow and lime green are securing their place in a lineup of popular and preppy accents to any spring wedding.

If you're inspired by the natural beauty of this season and dream of having a spring wedding, there are a few details to consider:

1.  Ceremony/Reception Location: If you are planning on having your ceremony or reception in an outside setting, remember the saying "April showers bring May flowers..". The weather during spring months can be unpredictable. Have a back-up plan. There's nothing more comforting than knowing your wedding day is safe from Mother Nature's fury no matter what! Take the time to research alternatives for your wedding location if inclement weather should occur.   
2. Transportation: We all remember how memorable it was to gather our friends together, find the perfect dress and arrive in style at our high school's Prom. And it was indeed in the Spring. If you plan on using special forms of transportation on your wedding day, such as limos or coach buses, be mindful of Prom season and reserve your vehicle early! 
3. Flowers: There are many beautiful flowers that come into season during the Spring months like Lilies, Roses, Tulips, and Gerbera Daisies. Incorporating these seasonal flowers into your centerpieces and bouquets will not only tie in the springtime theme, it will also save you money! Seasonal flowers are, logically, easier to come by and in greater quantities. 

**Are you planning a Spring wedding? If so, what color palette are you using?

The inspiration board below captures the fun and colorful feel of a spring wedding and was inspired by one of our current brides. We love her use of lilies and a pairing of bright yellow and malibu blue! So beautiful!

Turquoise and Yellow Spring Wedding by Emily Weddings, Inc. featuring shoes

Eight Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner (from eleGALA.com)

Here is an article that a dear friend sent me. I absolutely love it and think that you all may find it very interesting. This article is on eleGALA.com. Enjoy!

Eight Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner

An etiquette and protocol expert explains why hiring a wedding planner will help you avoid some dreadful mishaps…

Article contributed by Luxurious Wedding Etiquette & Protocol Expert, Claudia Lutman

Congratulations! You are engaged and you are elated. Your wedding day is going to be the most important day of your life and you envision everything is going to be perfect.
You want to be involved. You have planned parties that have wowed your friends. You want to take a hands-on approach to the planning of your wedding and the prospect excites you.
Yes, the thought of planning a wedding is very exhilarating. But in reality, it is like solving a Rubik’s Cube. Getting all the pieces to work together and fit together precisely to complete the design is the objective.
It may look like a seamless process but it is not easy. A wedding requires Synergy – the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
Much like a movie, a wedding has to be produced, scripted, edited, and directed. As a visual feast for the eyes, a wedding has to have a flow and a tempo. It needs to be as pleasing for your guests as it is for you.
As the star of your movie, can you envision yourself being the central character, producer, editor, director, and run interference for all minor details on your wedding day?
If you are having more than 25 guests, the idea of working with a wedding planner should appeal to you. As the creative director for the most important day of your life, your wedding planner will help you avoid some dreadful mishaps that could ruin your day.

Reason # 1:

A Theme Is More Than A Hodgepodge of Great Ideas
Your ideas are fabulous. But they are only the foundation of your theme. Remember: They are only ideas and pictures ripped out of magazines. Brides have ended up blowing their budget on one item to the detriment of the whole wedding. This is where your wedding planner becomes your magician. Knowing all the tricks and resources, your wedding planner can create a theme that runs through the whole event. They see the whole picture. If budget is a constraint, they will advise you how to economize and still achieve a similar look.

Reason #2:

Is Your Budget A Guideline Or A Blueprint For Bankruptcy?

A budget is an essential part of your wedding planning. Even a million-dollar wedding has a budget. A budget will give you perspective and it will center you. It will be a great comfort to you when you want to know where you stand financially. Expenses tend to mount up quickly, and your budget will always give your a realistic assessment. I have witnessed brides being so out of control that they end up randomly buying items that have no rhyme or reason. That money could have been spent elsewhere to make the wedding a better experience for the guests. Being realistic about your budget is essential. Don’t fool yourself with a figure knowing you can go over it. You will only be hurting your chances of selecting the best possible vendors. Your wedding planner is your accountant and will believe the budget you give them. They honestly try to work within your parameters. Therefore, decide on a realistic figure so your wedding planner can recommend the vendors who will deliver the best work within your budget.

Reason #3:

The Venue Event Manager
When the event manager from your venue tells you they can do your wedding planning, they are not lying. They will do everything under the sun to oversee everything they are responsible for; however, they are not responsible for 90 percent of the details that go into your wedding. Some brides are shocked when things go wrong. They thought their venue person would be on top of things. Not necessarily. If they have several events that day, they can’t be held responsible for letting you know your flowers haven’t arrived or your best man is held up in traffic. Imagine walking into a bald room instead of the floral intensive ballroom you paid for. Your wedding planner is your overseer. Their job is to make sure everything arrives on time and complete. If you have 15 tables, 13 centerpieces just won’t do. They will get the florist to fix it. If the videographer does not show up, they should be able to find a replacement for you. Things happen, but it is your wedding planner’s job to see that things are fixed and end up perfect. Your wedding planner is your fairy godmother.

Reason #4

Timelines And Other Annoying Details
Checklists. Do we know anyone who likes them? And timelines. “Who has time to think of these boring things? I’m getting married!” I recall one bride saying. Actually, you might not be getting married after all if the minister does not show up. Timelines are critical. Timelines are necessary. And timelines keep your wedding planner sane. They thrive on them. You, however, should never be subjected to them. These are the things a bubbling bride should be kept far away from. They will certainly kill the excitement.

Reason #5

Synergy Applies To Vendors Too
There are vendors who work so well together you almost get double your monies worth. Having a vendor with an attitude can affect everyone. Your wedding planner knows these things and will steer you in the right direction. By involving your wedding planner in the selection of vendors from the invitations on, you will be guided down the path of success. After all, synergy is what we are striving for!

Reason #6

What Are The Rules?
Brides need a go-to person for etiquette, wedding-related questions, and to keep the planning timeline moving forward. All brides need a liaison to help keep emotions and relationships from straining during planning. Your wedding planner is a combination of Martha Stewart and Emily Post. Do you really have the time and inclination to research, answer, and solve the problem yourself?

Reason #7

Overtime Charges Accrue Faster Than Champagne Pours
One hour of overtime with a location site or photographer can cost you plenty! Everyone is on the clock and so is your wedding planner. The difference is your wedding planner is on your clock. They keep everything in motion so extra costs are avoided. In the end, your wedding planner is the most cost effective choice you can make.

Reason #8

Frazzled Is Not Fabulous
Wedding planning and the events that lead up to your day will be stressful. You should have one job only. Keeping yourself relaxed and living in the moment. You need time to take in and enjoy this special day. Be with your loved ones. Be happy. Be kind. And mostly, be assured that your wedding is going to be the most fabulous day of your life.
Yes, all weddings have glitches. And yours will, too. But your wedding planner will make sure you never have to deal with or see them. You may never even know anything out of the ordinary happened. And that is the sign that you are a genius at wedding planning. You started out with great ideas, hired a wedding planner to bring them to life, and sat back like a pampered princess on your wedding day accepting all the accolades that you deserve.

Luxurious Wedding Etiquette Expert, Claudia Lutman, is an Elegala.com guest contributor. She always been interested in etiquette. As a child, she monitored the correct behavior of her family and friends, oftentimes to their chagrin. In her teens, she began collecting books on etiquette, which are proudly displayed in her “etiquette library” in her office. Claudia has found her niche investigating the origins of wedding etiquette protocol and then applying a modern-day viewpoint to the classic etiquette standards. According to Claudia, “Today’s bride faces many conventional and unorthodox challenges when planning a wedding that are not clearly defined within the classic etiquette standards.” Claudia Lutman transitioned from a Corporate Meeting and Event Planner for a Fortune 500 company to the head of Claudia Lutman Events, where Claudia saw the need to integrate proper etiquette and protocol into planning a wedding. Claudia Lutman’s advice appears in numerous wedding publications and she is a member of the International Special Events Society and the Association of Bridal Consultants.

What To Do When The Bride's Bustle Breaks

It would be absolutely wonderful if things went according to plan on your wedding day, and for some it truly is flawless. But more often than not, things don't go so smoothly, which makes it almost imperative to have a wedding day emergency kit nearby. Wedding coordinators have seen it all and usually have a few tricks up their sleeves to remedy whatever hiccup might happen on your big day.

I have had two different brides whose bustles broke on their wedding gown during the reception. It is a hard thing to watch happen. Most wedding gowns are heavy, and re-bustling them can be nearly impossible. Many brides use safety pins, which can hold well, but if you don't use just the right pins the dress can fall shortly after the dress is fixed. Other brides just throw their gown over their arm and continue to try to dance. This may be fine as a last resort, but who really wants to hold her dress all night? Others just let it fall where it may and risk the gown getting filthy as well as torn from people stepping or dancing on it.

While safety pins used to be my first choice for a quick fix, I have now found an even better option that I thought I would share. Ready for it?? Here it comes.

Dental floss. Yep, that's right. Dental floss. I learned a great trick from a friend this weekend and thought many of you may benefit from this little gem. Don't get me wrong, the best solution to this whole mess would be to have more than one bustle in the gown. When getting the gown altered you should wear shoes appropriate for both walking down the aisle and partying! If you lose a little weight before your wedding then get the dress altered or buy higher heels. With that said, if the bustle breaks on your wedding day then sew the bustle back in with dental floss and a sewing needle. Definitely use good judgment when looking at the fabric and try to sew exactly where the existing bustle was (it is usually in a place where the fabric is a little thicker). A caveat: this may not work for everyone's gown.

Dental floss is thick with a very strong hold. Some seamstresses may tell you that they have used dental floss in sewing gowns. Dancers will tell you that they have used dental floss to sew their point shoes because of it's strength. In looking this up, I found the following quote, "Glide floss is Teflon-coated. True to its name, it glided through the fabric, and the repair is very strong"- just what you need for a wedding gown fix!!

Hopefully your wedding day will run smoothly and be picture-perfect, but just in case there is a small hiccup with the wedding gown then I suggest that you make sure to keep Glide dental floss in your emergency kit!

Warm regards,

Emily Petersen

Lu Anne and OP's Wedding

Lu Anne and OP came to us just a few weeks before their event. OP would soon be the Captain of the USS Enterprise. They wanted to plan a party to celebrate with all of their friends the Change of Command. The plan was to throw a party after the Change of Command and in the middle of the party...surprise guests...they're getting married! It was so FUN!!! It worked out perfectly! I worked with some amazing vendors that night, and we all had a blast. Lu Anne wrote me a sweet review on WeddingWire. I was so touched by her review, but really loved this part of it...

"The very best part was when my now husband and I met in front of the Chaplin , we joined hands and looked out at the crowd....he looked at me and said "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen." Pretty high praise from a Navy captain who just hours before had taken command of a nuclear aircraft carrier in front of an audience of approx 1500 people....." SO COOL!!

Thank you Lu Anne and OP for letting us be a part of such a special day! Thank you also to East Beach Catering, Distinctive Event Rental, Char's Floral Design, Pike Media Resource, Patti Cakes, Calypso Nuts, and my wonderful assistant, Sara Beth!

Here are a few pics:

More from Joey and Jenny's Wedding

Here are a few more pics from Joey and Jenny's wedding at the Military Aviation Museum. Pics were taking by Julie Morgan. Thanks, Julie!

Matt and Allison's Wedding

I am just now getting a chance to sit down a post a few pictures from Matt and Allison's wedding. It was absolutely wonderful. We enjoyed being a part of their big day. Here they are:

Emily Petersen

Escort cards that double as favors

Trying to find ways to save money while not compromising on the beauty and feel of your wedding day? A great way to to do this is to have your escort cards double as favors. Think about ways to incorporate your style, theme, and colors into your favors and have them double as the seating cards.

I had one bride and groom choose a plane-shaped luggage tag. They placed each guest's name inside the tag. It was their escort card and favor. He flies in the Navy, and they had their ceremony and reception at the Military Aviation Museum. It was so perfect...so fitting for them.

I have another bride who is getting married next March, and she LOVES the spring! One of her colors is pink. She likes the idea of giving her guests a flower and thus is looking at escort cards that the guests can plant later and watch grow into cherry blossoms. Click here to see the escort cards/favors.

There are plenty of ways to make your budget stretch. Planners are perfect for knowing all the little ways to add to the look of your wedding without adding to the cost. Don't settle for less than what you've always dreamed of; have a planner guide you through all of these decisions!

Emily Petersen