Meet Our "Real Life" Brides

Take this opportunity to meet our "real life" brides. We will be following them and blogging about their experiences from getting engaged to getting married. We will be introducing you to our brides and learning about all aspects of their wedding planning including organizing/planning, career balance and everything in between. Make sure to check back often!

AMANDA:Engaged: July 24, 2007, Wedding: Still not determined (maybe March, April or May 2008)
Goals: Create a wedding on a limited budget that doesn't look like it, Maintain a budget and savings plan, Find creative areas to cut the budget, Find a great reception site, Figure out how to delegate projects to others involved, Create a timeline and figure out how to pull together a wedding in a short amount of time, Make sure that everyone is happy along with herself.
Action items: Find a suitable reception site, Decide on the date of the wedding, Decide if a caterer is needed, Send out Save the Dates, Find a photographer, Decide on bridesmaids, Find a church, Decide on colors for overall wedding.
Planning items accomplished: Budget set, Maid of Honor decided, Decided that will go to a flower market and have bridesmaids help with the arrangements, Decided will look for dress in NC.

JUSTINE: Engaged: July 19, 2007; Wedding: September 6, 2008

Goals: Work on negotiating skills to get better deal with vendors, Work on communicating with support team on what dresses she wants them to wear and to stick to her vision, Empower herself in decision making process even when others have a different opinion or view, Find a photographer by end of November.
Action items: Speak with DJ and reduce per hour pricing for his services, Contact Church to work on original pricing quoted and to reduce it with questions and negotiating tools learned, Communicate her vision, so when dress shopping comes, there are no conflicts and everyone is on the same page, Keep Empowering herself that this is her wedding, how to say NO gracefully when appropriate, and to trust her intuition.

YVONNE: Engaged: July 12, 2007; Wedding: June 21, 2008 to be held on Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
Goals: To drop 3 dress sizes by wedding June, 2008 wedding!
Action items: Give up fried foods, Stick to exercise routine including 3 x week exercise classes, Getting in .5 to 1 hour extra exercise on the weekends.
Planning items accomplished: Budget Established,
Ceremony and Reception Site Chosen, Save the Date Cards Sent Out, Wedding Party Attendants Asked Wedding Coordinator Hired, Rings Purchased, Accommodations Established, One of 2 Officiants Selected.
Biggest lesson learned so far: “Everyone has an opinion and will put in their 2 cents, so you have to do what YOU want when it comes to your wedding.”

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Dos and Don'ts of Gift Registering Gift Giving

The Dos and Don'ts of Gift Registering Rachel has talked before about gift registries and how they can lead to clutter (see older post) but now we wanted to give you a few quick tips on how to register.

Do: register at stores that sell merchandise you want and NEED
Don’t: Sign up at exclusive stores just because you think you should

Do: Register at several stores to represent a range of price options
Don’t: Sign up only at one site, limiting your guests’ purchasing power

Do: Register at specialty stores that represent your interest and hobbies
Don’t: Sign up only at one or two generalized department stores

Do: Enjoy the process as a couple
Don’t: Leave all the choosing to the bride