Pro Wedding Planner Tips: Little Wedding Trade Offs

5 EQUAL IMPACT DETAILS, ONE JUST HAS A SMALLER PRICE TAG 

Detail #1: PROGRAMS

Unless you are planning to have a program that doubles as a fan for those sweltering + sunny wedding days, you can 100% skip them. Most of your guests will glance at them before the ceremony, and leave them at their seats right after. 

Instead: 

Try making a single timeline or program sheet. You can make one with a themed border to maybe pair up with the look of your invitations? Add a little flare to compliment your wedding colors? Have cute little embellishments to showcase the day? Set a large framed program near your guest book and gift table, or by the entrance to the ceremony. Your guests will see the flow of the day, and you’ve only spent a fraction of what you would’ve spent to print hundreds of programs. Way to go you! 

Detail #2: BOUQUETS + ARBOR FLOWERS

Not over the moon about flowers? Just luke warm? Worried your bouquet might outshine your dress and block half of it for photos? You understand the floral impact, they are beautiful, but man they add up quick and can bust into your budget. Yet, you don’t want to go the route of fake flowers, and let’s face it, you aren’t particularly a strong enough green thumb to handle growing your own wedding flowers. 

Instead:

Now, before you chance it with ordering in bulk and hoping that you and your squad can put your centerpieces and bouquets together after the rehearsal dinner (caution!) - consider doubling up your impact, and just trimming things down a bit! Most florists make a bridal bouquet, and a bridesmaid bouquet. They are visibly different in size and wildly different in cost. If it's just the same to you, see if your florist can make just a slightly larger bridesmaid bouquet for you instead of quite a bit larger bridal bouquet. Also, talk with your florist about making your arbor flowers easy to remove. That way your wedding coordinator can easily take those flowers, and pop them right over to your sweetheart or head table. Bam! One display, two functions. There are a ton of little tips and tricks you can do with flowers, but for now we are keeping the rest in the wedding planner tip vault! 

Detail #3: FAVORS

Like programs, these tend to be things that we are very often cleaning up a lot of at the end of the night. People get excited and hit the dance floor, are all lined up for your big send off, and leave their favors at the table. 

Instead: 

If you are thinking that you should have favors to say a thank you to your guests that have travelled into town for your wedding, consider having a little local token for them at hotel check in. If you are expecting a large number of out of town guests, it’s likely that you’ve blocked some rooms at a local hotel. Guests will be excited to have a special welcome item when they arrive, and it will feel well thought out. Also, since they will have their favor already at the hotel, they will be less likely to forget it. AND- if you just do a little thing for your out of town guests, you are spending a fraction of what it would be for your entire guest list. If you want to have something a little more all encompassing, make a donation to a charity that is near and dear to your hearts. Post a small sign or framed note that says something to the effect of: In lieu of favors the Bride and Groom have made a donation to _____ Charity. A cause that is important to them because _____. Whoop! High impact + less dollars! 

DETAIL #4: OFFICIANT

Think about the weddings you’ve been to. Is there something that’s blown you away in the ceremony? Was it the officiant that was managing things? Or more of the content of the ceremony? While it is 100% necessary to have an experienced speaker perform your marriage ceremony, it’s not 100% necessary to tap into your wedding budget for it. 

Instead: 

Think about the people in your life. Is there someone you know that has officiated a wedding before? Someone that you think is a great speaker and isn’t afraid to manage a crowd? A person that is confident enough and might be willing to make it official? I’d bet money that you’ve got someone that fits this description. We are always telling our couples that if they are thinking they want to save a few dollars AND have a more personalized ceremony, ask someone that knows you to be your officiant! 

DETAIL #5: BAR SELECTION

This one is a little prickly, just because I know most people feel passionately about the wedding bar selection in one way or another. All I ask is for you to think about your guest list a bit. Do you have mostly family coming? Are they big drinkers? Is it going to be a lot of friends that like to dance the night away? Will there be a good number of kids running around? While I can see the motivation for having a full bar, I am not fully convinced that you need it. Alcohol at a wedding can end up being one of your biggest expenses- don’t let it catch you off guard! 

Instead: 

Offer a limited hosted bar- meaning pick a couple beer options, one red wine, one white wine, a cider or rosé maybe and if your venue allows it, make one type of hard alcohol available (pick a classic like vodka or whiskey) along with standard non-alcoholic options. Your guests will be happy that there is still a variety, without pining over the loss of all the costly top shelf liquor. The bonus here is that you can write out your bar menu to make it seem ultra customized by adding in a little blurb on there. Something simple like - “Brides choice: Rosé  & Grooms Choice: Whiskey + Coke”, is easy for guests to understand what options they have at the bar, but still makes it circle back to it being a day celebrating you! Gosh this is making me thirsty! 

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An extra tidbit? We’ve just tested out a little wine experience that I think could be so fun to apply to weddings. This company brought several wine samples to our office, and was able to direct us through them. We took our time with each, and felt like it would be such a great experience for our couples. The best part was that the company can help pair wines with what you’ve got picked for your dinner menu at a competitive cost + boom, you’ve got a hand selected wine menu for your wedding! Like cake tasting but for wine!? Yes Please! Email us if you want more details! 

Think you’ll give one of these wedding trade-offs a go for your big day? Comment below and let us know what you think! 

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Who is It’s Your Day Events?

We are a Seattle, Bellingham and Bremerton, WA based wedding planning, wedding coordination and design agency. What we do is at times difficult to picture because the services we offer are intangible. When you are scrolling through beautiful photos, with stunning flowers, and amazing cohesive design; the magic behind that is the planning, design, and coordination. This is what we do.

We professionally organize, plan, and coordinate the details.

We dot the i's and cross the t's.

We triple check it all once more. 

Then, when the day comes, we watch the wonderment and happiness on your face as your wedding day unfolds, just as you dreamed it would.

Contact us for any wedding planning, wedding coordination or design needs!

GET TO KNOW SEATTLE WEDDING FLORIST ~ HOLLY YEE

Hello There! In this blog, I interviewed Seattle/Woodinville, WA based floral architect, Holly Yee, of Holly Yee Floral Architecture. We absolutely love her style and she is always a pleasure to work with. I met Holly through Wedding Network Seattle, where she had joined the committee alongside me. There is something about Holly that makes her so easy to talk to and she has an incredible talent that is impossible to gloss over. For a team get-together (back in 2019 when we were allowed to do such fun things), we went to Holly’s studio in Woodinville for a super fun floral workshop. We definitely have it on our ‘must do again’ list.

I asked Holly a few questions - read on to hear what she had to say!

Holly Yee - photo by Char Beck

Q: How long have you been in business?

A: I officially started my floral design business in 2011 in Colorado where I was living at the time. My business started as “Designs Abloom” and then became “Polkadot Blossoms” for a hot minute, before I settled on “Love Letters Floral Design”. I renamed my business with the move out to Washington to something more personal and that embodied the word “architecture” as I do a lot of drawing/drafting.

Ashley’s comment: (that is over 10 years of expertise, folks)!

Q: How did you get started in floral design?

A: I first started working with flowers back in the early 90’s. I lived on kauai for about three years when I was in elementary school and during that time I took a lei making course at a local community center. I discovered that I really enjoyed making things using a medium as beautiful as flowers. I think I was 11 years old at that time. 

My family and I moved back to Wisconsin and in high school I had received a corsage for a midwinter dance. Afterwards, I remember taking apart the corsage to see how it was made. For the next formal dance at my school I decided to sell boutonnieres and corsages, and promoted my business by hanging up fliers in the hallways.

I then did the flowers for my first wedding during this time when my cousin got married. After that my journey into the world of flowers slowly evolved until I decided to make a formal business in 2011.

Q: What do you love about what you do?

A: I enjoy a lot about floral design! Most of the time people think that getting to play with flowers is the best part. But I prefer the conceptual design over the production part. That’s really the area where I get to be most creative and imaginative. Plus, it involves collaborating with the client and working together to come up with some amazing designs for their event. Plus, the after-glow from a wedding - when you’ve done a great job, the client is thrilled, and the event turns out beautiful - cannot be matched. It makes up for the sore hands and tired body.

Q: You used to live in Colorado. Is there anything you miss most about Colorado? What do you like about Washington?

A: Yes, I lived in Colorado for 11 years before moving to Washington at the end of 2018 for my husband’s job.

Oh goodness - what do I not miss about Colorado?! It’s a beautiful state and a fantastic place to live. There are so many adventures to be had in Colorado, especially in the mountains, there are tons of glorious, sunny days, and the atmosphere/vibe of most of the cities and towns in Colorado is outdoorsy, welcoming, laid-back, and fun. It was an amazing place to live!

The thing I miss most are my friends and family back in Colorado. I had forgotten how hard it is to move to a new place, but I think Covid made it exponentially harder with living in lockdown most of the last year. I miss having an established community and interacting with people in person!

But I am really appreciating the natural beauty of Washington. The trees here are SO tall! And the little critters that are everywhere - birds, spiders, snails, frogs - are fun to discover. I love watching them, listening to them, and photographing them. I’ve also developed a great appreciation for the masses of crows. They are so loud and interesting. And sometimes they congregate by my studio before they head home for the evening. I can always tell when they are outside, because it gets really, really loud.

Q: If you weren’t a florist, what else could you imagine doing?

A: I used to be in the nonprofit sector planning fundraising events. If I wasn’t doing floral design, I would probably be back in the event planning world. But this time I would want to go into planning surprise parties, if that could even be a business niche. Pulling off a fabulous surprise is so much fun!! I’ve been doing that a lot in my personal life and just love it!

Q: What is your secret sauce that makes you so awesome at what you do?

A: Oh goodness, well I am super creative, I have a really good eye for design, and I love coming up with fun ways to make arrangements unique. And I have become really skilled at drawing proposed floral arrangements during the conceptual part of my process. It’s fun to look back and see just how close my sketches were to the actual physical arrangements. Sometimes the arrangement that I sketched several months in advance looks almost exactly like the arrangement that is made for the specific event. 

Ashley’s comment: I have seen Holly’s sketches and they are AMAZING!

Q: What is one thing you wish all couples would ask before booking you?

A: I can’t think of a question per say that I wished couples would ask before booking, but in an ideal world everyone would understand how much work, effort, and time goes into floral design. I think as humans we are bad at estimating how much time things take, and we tend to over simplify and underestimate things. It’s like when I watch the Great British Baking Show. You think, oh, a cake or some cookies or a muffin...that shouldn’t be that hard to make. But then even with 4 hours of alotted time to make the said pastry, the contestants are running around, stressed, and working really hard. Sometimes it’s like that with floral design.

Ashley’s comment: This is a really good point!

Q: What have you been doing to cope during these strange times?

A: I’ve been taking time to be creative in other ways. I recently learned how to use a sewing machine. I started making jewelry again. And practicing my photography more.

Q: Is there a wedding venue that is on your wishlist that you haven’t shot at yet?

A: I really want to work at Rein Fire Ranch. It’s just a lovely venue. Twin Willow Gardens was also on my list, but I am excited to say that I will be working there this year for the first time.

Q: Anything else our readers should know about you?

A: I am excellent at 80’s/90’s music trivia! ;)

Ashley’s comment: A kindred spirit!

There you have it! Reach out to Holly if you have any questions of your own :)

Photos by Char Beck

Cheers,

Ashley

Principal Wedding Planner and Co-Owner of It’s Your Day Events

Who is It’s Your Day Events?

We are a Seattle, Bellingham and Bremerton, WA based wedding planning, wedding coordination and design agency. What we do is at times difficult to picture because the services we offer are intangible. When you are scrolling through beautiful photos, with stunning flowers, and amazing cohesive design; the magic behind that is the planning, design, and coordination. This is what we do.

We professionally organize, plan, and coordinate the details.

We dot the i's and cross the t's.

We triple check it all once more. 

Then, when the day comes, we watch the wonderment and happiness on your face as your wedding day unfolds, just as you dreamed it would.

Contact us for any wedding planning, wedding coordination or design needs!

Entrance into the Wedding Ceremony : Tips and Tricks

The Processional - the grand walk down the aisle.  Sure we are just having friends and family enter the wedding ceremony and take their places…what’s the big deal? This is a big deal! This is a small detail of your wedding waiting to be elevated to really draw out the emotional connection to your guests and speak volumes with just a walk. 

Let’s break down the different parts of entering the ceremony and where it’s nice to buck tradition and make it your own.

Pre Processional

During this moment, all guests have found their seat and are awaiting for the wedding to start. Typically, this is where you are able to insert those who you’d like to honor by having them walk down the aisle to take their seat, instead of being seated by an usher in the front two rows. We don’t suggest sending everyone down the aisle, but taking a look at how you can involve those who have a big part in your life is a nice nod to those individuals.  

For example, if you are trying to think of a nice way to honor and include the mother of the groom, maybe she can walk down with the groom, and he can then seat her in the front row to start the beginning of the ceremony. Another wedding planner tip would be sending down those grandparents who had made the long trip to the wedding, or a person that is representing someone that just passed that should have been in the wedding.

The Processional

I give this little speech during a lot of my consultations with our couples. I would say 9 times out of 10, when going over the walking order of the bridal party, I see them paired up. Traditionally, this was actually only done in a Catholic wedding. And if this is what we are going for, great! But, if we are talking secular, the symbolism of the groom (or partner #1) walking first and then his/their groomsmen/groomswomen all walking down single file represents that single part of the bridegroom’s life and those who have supported them up to this very moment. Now, when the bride (or partner #2) walks down after her/their entourage, that is representing her/their single life leading up to the moment of meeting their beloved at the altar. When the ceremony concludes, everyone recedes back down the aisle, after the couple, now paired up and together symbolizing the two lives have joined. It certainly might not be for everyone, but it is something to maybe consider. Our take on entering the ceremony is, traditional processionals have their place in every wedding.

How many on each side?

This brings us to another element of the processional, and also bleeds into the ceremony of how many on each side and who? This is reserved for you and you alone to decide on. It is not a popularity contest; this is for those who you want to stand up there in support of your union. We have seen up to 11 on each side, and down to no bridal party at all. If one side has 3 and the other side has 5, it still works! Don’t worry so much on numbers but take time to think about who you want up there. This is not a small ask of your friends, and with that it should be reserved for those who can take it on financially, and who have the time to devote to it and to you. 

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Prelude music cues

With all that - here is a sample Pre-Processional and Processional mock up … after we’ve helped out. (Wink)

Pre- Processional

• Officiant walks

• Groom Walks with his mom

• Grooms dad and little sister walk

• Grandma Rae and Grandpa Joe walk (Flew in from Ireland to be here)

• Grandma Betty and Uncle Eric walk (Grandpa Melvin passed 9 months ago, Uncle Eric, their son to honor in his place) * Maybe Eric could be holding a picture of Grandpa Melvin

Processional 

• Groomsmen/ Groomsmaids enter, each one following the other and greeting the groom as they arrive and line up at the altar

• Flowerboy and ring girl enter (Doesn’t  need to be children) 

• Bridesmen/Bridesmaids glide onto the aisle, slow and purposeful

• Bride steps out onto the aisle, Mom and Dad come from behind and link arms with her to escort her down the aisle to her husband/wife to be. 

It’s a lot to think about, but it really can have such an impact on your day and memories! Check back for more blogs about the latest wedding conundrums, and how we navigate through them to make it your day! 

—Christina 

All photo credit to Something Minted Photography

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Who is It’s Your Day Events?

We are a Seattle, Bellingham and Bremerton, WA based wedding planning, wedding coordination and design agency. What we do is at times difficult to picture because the services we offer are intangible. When you are scrolling through beautiful photos, with stunning flowers, and amazing cohesive design; the magic behind that is the planning, design, and coordination. This is what we do.

We professionally organize, plan, and coordinate the details.

We dot the i's and cross the t's.

We triple check it all once more. 

Then, when the day comes, we watch the wonderment and happiness on your face as your wedding day unfolds, just as you dreamed it would.

Contact us for any wedding planning, wedding coordination or design needs!

Five Creative, Affordable, and Thoughtful Wedding Gift Ideas for your future spouse

Wedding’s can be stressful and chaotic from the moment you wake up for your big day (one of many reasons to hire a wedding planner 😊). What a perfect way to stop, take a breath, and appreciate each other by exchanging a gift with your person that will remind you of your wedding for years to come. Weddings also can be expensive, and a gift might seem like something not in the budget. A small, creative, and personal gift can be inexpensive and acts as a reminder of your love through all the wedding day stress. A list of five gift ideas to give to your soon to be spouse on your wedding day.

1. Go Homemade. Knowing your spouse spent time thinking and crafting up something special for the big day could be a great way to start a tradition. It can be something that is framed, hung on the tree every year, or saved in a box of wedding memories. A friend gifted me a heart shaped piece of wood she found at our woodsy venue. She engraved our initials and wedding date on it, I love the memories it holds.

2. A little treat. Any special holiday or even the occasional “just because”, I get my husband his favorite treat, M&M’s. Something that you know will always put a little smile on their face. Maybe a quick stop to your favorite local bakery, taffy shipped from your favorite beach vacation, or their favorite homemade dessert in mini form.

3. Itinerary. A honeymoon might be scheduled or not, but nothing is more romantic and thoughtful when your special someone plans a weekend away. It can be as small as pedicures, brunch in the city, cabin in the woods, or a beach getaway.

4. Pen and Paper. A handwritten card, letter, or photograph. Reading a love letter from that special someone on your big day is a great way to slow down and take a minute during the chaos of the day. You could even do a sweet memory, reasons why you love them, or a funny poem.

5. Souvenir. A reminder of the venue/location of where you tied the knot. The venue is one of the hardest decisions when planning a wedding. It is a big investment, shows the couples personality, and will be an everlasting memory. Something as small as a key chain, coffee mug, art from a local artist, or locally made wine that can be enjoyed years down the road.

A wedding should be a gift and memory in itself, don’t forget to take a moment and take it all in!

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Who is It’s Your Day Events?

We are a Seattle, Bellingham and Bremerton, WA based wedding planning, wedding coordination and design agency. What we do is at times difficult to picture because the services we offer are intangible. When you are scrolling through beautiful photos, with stunning flowers, and amazing cohesive design; the magic behind that is the planning, design, and coordination. This is what we do.

We professionally organize, plan, and coordinate the details.

We dot the i's and cross the t's.

We triple check it all once more. 

Then, when the day comes, we watch the wonderment and happiness on your face as your wedding day unfolds, just as you dreamed it would.

Contact us for any wedding planning, wedding coordination or design needs!

We Are Hiring! {Seattle Wedding Coordination Team}

 Hello and Happy Spring! We are currently in search of an awesome Seattle area based summer intern/apprentice to work with us starting in Mid-June.

The details:

The Intern will be responsible for assisting with weddings and events on weekends. Additional learning opportunities are available, such as blogging and social media contribution. 

The ideal candidate must be polished, self-motivated, loves weddings, enthusiastic, detail oriented and comfortable being on their feet/active most of the day. They must be able to self-manage and work independently. Growth opportunities are available if the candidate is a right fit to join the event planning team as an Assistant Coordinator. This is a Woman, Best Friend, Co-Owned business. All three of our regular employees started as interns.

You would be able to work from home on any assigned tasks, such as blogging or vendor research. The time commitment is approx 1-2 hours a week for non-wedding day work. Occasional attendance at staff meetings required, approximately monthly. On weeks we have weddings the time commitment is approx 12 hours.

This is an extremely part-time position with potential to grow. Currently, we are looking for someone to start as an intern/apprentice, pay is $15/hour for the duration of the internship (through end of 2021 with most seasonal work phased out by early November). We are seeking the right candidate to grow with us, to be hired on as an assistant planner for 2022 with further growth opportunities (associate planner, etc) in the years beyond.  

Responsibilities: 

- Assist Lead Planner at weddings (this is a multi-hats position and can include everything from placing table numbers to setting up chairs, getting the DJ a plate of food, to floofing the bride's dress before she walks down the aisle)
- Client and vendor communication
- Vendor research & networking
- Submit real weddings and styled shoots for publication
- Assist in planning market events, such as industry open houses

Desired Skills:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Must have own vehicle, cell phone, and laptop.
- Demonstrated ability to work well under pressure with limited time frame
- Detail oriented with exceptional level of accuracy and follow-through
- Demonstrated ability to exercise good judgment
- Works well within a team oriented environment
- Flexibility to work from home, some weekend availability required. 
- Ability to prepare written reports and correspondences, and presentations as required
- Agile at prioritizing and managing multiple projects
- Must possess strong communication, time management and collaboration skills; confident, self-starter, independent thinker
{Extra bonus point for candidates with previous event or wedding planning experience!!!}

We have weddings all over the Puget Sound, including many in Blaine, WA so if you are willing to travel you will have more hands on opportunities.

Compensation:
-$15 an hour to start (through 12/31/21)

Estimated assistance at 5-10 weddings in the 2021 season.
-Opportunity to be promoted

Please send your cover letter, resume and portfolio {if applicable} by email. Deadline is 4/30. We will contact if you if we would like to schedule an interview. info@itsyourdayevents.com

Cheers! The It’s Your Day Team

Photo by Char Beck

The Best Wedding Planning Resources

Hi! Mercer here! I got married a couple of years ago and tried a bunch of different resources for planning, ideas and registries. This blog is all about what I think are the most helpful resources for planning a wedding!

Creating Your Wedding Inspiration Board

One of the biggest things that couples worry about is what the style of their wedding will be - what it will look like, the vibe, the colors, the space and everything in between. The first resource that is no secret at all is using Pinterest to get some good ideas for your style and pieces of your wedding. However, I took this resource a step further by creating “live” Pinterest boards so that I could see everything together and add in notes and ideas. Also, if you plan on going to any bridal shows there will be a lot of samples that you can add to these boards! I bought Dollar Tree foam boards and began creating! Part of the job us as wedding planners is to work with couples to create these types of boards to help make a couples’ vision a reality! If you are using a full wedding coordinator, we are there every step of the way to make sure the whole wedding is just how the couple imagined!

Wedding Planning Organization

Whether you are planning your wedding by yourself or using wedding coordination services it is important to use a common platform to keep everything organized! You do not want to have to look in a bunch of different places to find the information you need. I tried a ton of different platforms and fell in love with Aisle Planner. You can keep track of invitations, addresses, timelines, budget, notes and everything in between! Everything is easy to use and interactive and it is all in one place. The other platforms I tried did not have the same smooth transitions between the different pieces of wedding planning and Aisle Planner has a helpful list of what to do next with planning! Ironically when I got hired at It’s Your Day Events I found out they also use Aisle Planner - it was meant to be! If you are an IYDE wedding couple then you will have all the resources of Aisle Planner to use! If you are more of the DIY bride there is also a free version that you can use! However, even if you are the most organized and planned couple I strongly suggest you get a day of or month of wedding coordinator because you want to be able to dance the night away and enjoy all your hard work!!

Registries

There are a lot of different online wedding registries and they all have different things to offer. I used a couple different stores but one of my favorite registry websites was Zola. This website allows you to connect other stores to one place, a honeymoon fund, home/decor items and you can even sign up for experiences while on your honeymoon for your guest to contribute to! I loved that this was an all-in-one registry that made everything very easy for us to use as well as our guests. They also offer 20% of anything left on your registry after your wedding.

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These are just a couple of ideas for resources that I found to be the most helpful while I was planning my wedding! Check them out and hopefully your wedding planning goes just as smooth and stress free!

Who is It’s Your Day Events?

We are a Seattle, Bellingham and Bremerton, WA based wedding planning, wedding coordination and design agency. What we do is at times difficult to picture because the services we offer are intangible. When you are scrolling through beautiful photos, with stunning flowers, and amazing cohesive design; the magic behind that is the planning, design, and coordination. This is what we do.

We professionally organize, plan, and coordinate the details.

We dot the i's and cross the t's.

We triple check it all once more. 

Then, when the day comes, we watch the wonderment and happiness on your face as your wedding day unfolds, just as you dreamed it would.

Contact us for any wedding planning, wedding coordination or design needs!