Posts Tagged "wedding planning"
Should Wedding Planners Sign Vendor Contracts?
As a wedding planner, I do not sign vendor contracts on behalf of wedding clients.
When it comes to your wedding vendors, a wedding planner’s job is to assist you with finding suitable vendors for your event. This may include researching and making vendor recommendations, prepping you to ask the right questions when you meet with vendors, and accompanying you to primary vendor meetings, as well as, reviewing vendors’ contracts and negotiating some services (not price) where applicable.
However, as the client, you make the final decision as to which vendors you will hire, not your wedding planner, so it is your responsibility to sign all vendor contracts. In essence, our job wedding planners is to be an advocate for you when dealing with vendors. Once you have determined which vendors you will hire, the majority of us will manage your vendor relations by acting as a liaison between you and your vendors. This includes corresponding with your vendors to arrange, confirm, and finalize your services.
If you are a wedding planner and have been signing vendor contracts on behalf of your clients, please stop immediately. By doing so, you are assuming liability of the respective vendors if they do not deliver the services they were contracted for. Another way to put this in perspective is that just as you have been hired by the client to provide planning services in preparation for and on your client’s wedding day, it is the same for vendors. In other words, wedding vendors will be providing a service to your client, not you and so your clients should always sign vendor contracts.
*Originally published in July 2009
Read MoreSunday Weddings
The most popular day of the week to host a wedding is on Saturday, but there is no rule stating that you must get married on this day. Excluding holiday weekends, you may save some money by choosing a day other than Saturday to host your wedding.
So, what other days are bridal couples hosting their weddings?
Sunday weddings are the next popular wedding day to get married. There are a couple reasons why bridal couples choose to get married on Sunday. The most likely reason is that they have a specific weekend and venue in mind that they wish to get married, but the venue they wish to host their nuptials and celebration may have already an event for Saturday, so the couple opts for Sunday as the alternate day.
Another reason couples may chose Sunday for their wedding is that many wedding venues offer special rates for events hosted on non-competitive days of the week. So, if you are working with a tight budget, choosing a non-competitive day like Sunday to get married is one way to get the best for your money.
One thing to keep in mind about Sunday is that it marks the start of the week for the majority of people, so do not be surprised if your wedding ends earlier than anticipated, especially if it takes place in the evening or if your RSVP count is low because people are unable to attend. The most logical explanation as to why guests leave early is that they have to get ready for work the next day or to get back home to get the kids to bed for school.
If you want your wedding guests to fully enjoy everything you have planned and of course in consideration of your out-of-town guests, I would suggest hosting your Sunday wedding early in the day. For example, you could have a late morning or noon ceremony, followed by a luncheon reception. In this way, out-of-town guests can travel back home late that afternoon or early evening and be back home at a decent time to get ready for work the next day. In addition, you will save more money by having a luncheon reception in lieu of an evening dinner reception.
One last thing to note about Sunday weddings, particularly if you want a church wedding, is that you will be restricted to certain times, considering worship service take place on Sundays. Of course, if your church has multiple services, this is another thing to take into consideration, which poses a challenge for event logistics–setting up your ceremony decoration in between services and having to break it down and clear the area before the next service starts. My suggestion: you will need a team of professionals to work both your wedding locations and equally important, who are great with event logistics.
{Original article published in August 2009 and content has been updated.}
Read MoreWhen to Send Thank You Notes
Today, I wish to discuss the time frame that you should send out “thank you” notes for gifts received at your engagement party, bridal showers, and on the day of your wedding.
For engagement parties and bridal showers, you should send a “thank you” note out within two to three weeks of receiving the gifts. As for wedding gifts, there are three different times that you may receive gifts from people–before your wedding, the wedding day, and after your wedding.
If you receive any wedding gifts before the wedding date, you should immediately send a “thank you” note upon receipt. For wedding gifts received on the actual wedding date, ideally you want to have all “thank you” notes mailed within three months of the wedding. If you receive any wedding gifts after the wedding date, you should send a “thank you” note within two to three weeks of receiving the gift.
Please remember that each “thank you” note must be personalized. The best way to do this is to mention the gift by name in the note, tell the giver how you will use the gift, and sincerely express your appreciation for the gift and their attendance at your wedding (if they attended). Lastly, your “thank you” note must be handwritten. Never send out a generic “thank you” note.
Editor’s Note: Originally published in October 2008 and previously republished in July 2010.
Photo from After College
Read MoreSeating Logistics: Accessibility, Noise Levels + Family Dynamics
When assigning seats for your wedding reception, please take the following into consideration:
- Accessibility – Are there any guests that are physically disabled? If so, assign them to a table that is close to an entrance/exit point. For example, if your grandmother uses a walker to balance, then you do not want to assign her to a table that is on the opposite side of an entrance, nor do you want to place any disabled guests in an area where they may have a difficult time getting around the room or to their assigned table.
- Noise Level – One of the key things I pointed out when I discussed the benefits of creating a floor plan, was that by creating a floor plan you will have a visual of the room’s layout including a designated area to where the band or DJ will be located. Obviously, this is important because you will want to avoid assigning any guests to tables near the band if you suspect they may get annoyed with the noise level of the band, for example, any elderly guests and even guests who may bring their infants.
- Family Dynamics – Simply put, are there any members of your family who have a difficult time getting along or being cordial with each other? If so, please do not seat them with or near each other. Sure your wedding is a time to bring people together, but not at the expense of your wedding day turning sour. Sometimes we like to think people will put their differences aside for such a special occasion, but I can tell you that it does not always work out that way.
{This is a re-post and content has been modified (floor plan layout added today). Originally published on our old blog in June 2009}
Read MoreAre Wedding Menu Cards Necessary?
Photo from Project Weddings
Menu cards are not only a nice touch and a great way to personalize your wedding, but they are extremely helpful at assisting your guests with food allergies to quickly identify foods that may aggravate their allergies, if not cost them a trip to the emergency room.
Even if you are having a buffet-style wedding reception, menu cards are extremely beneficial for this reason—to help guests avoid the foods they are allergic too. Think about it. Traditionally, buffets offer an assortment of food items, including shellfish, creamy pasta dishes, or special sauces, soups, all of which may contain ingredients that aggravate food sensitivities.
Are wedding menu cards necessary?
No. However, it is an extremely nice courtesy to extend to your wedding guests, specifically if you are not allowing them to make menu selections when they RSVP. If cost is a factor, then consider only doing a menu card per guest table in lieu of one at each place setting.
Trust me, menu cards are a hit with guests, especially if you are having a buffet and your wedding guests may not have the slightest idea of how to discern what is in what. Of course, those table menu cards will also get their palates excited as they wait in anticipation for their turn to go through the buffet.
FYI: The most common food allergies that people have are towards cow’s milk, shellfish, nuts, gluten, and soy.
Happy Planning!
Read MoreMarriage Proposals – Make It Special + Memorable
This evening while commuting back home from my college teaching gig, I chatted with my grandmother who I love and adore with all of my heart. We talk about a lot of things, but tonight we got on the topic of marriage and for the first time she told me about when my grandfather proposed to her decades ago.
Surprisingly, I never knew all of the details, but she was able to recall every single detail of that day when he proposed to her. What stood out to me as I listened to her, was the excitement I could hear in her voice over the phone as she remembered and recalled that very special moment in her life. My grandmother is in her late seventies and if my grandfather were still here with us (he passed away in 2004), they would have been married for over fifty years.
The fact that my grandmother remembered the details of her proposal as if it had just happen yesterday, including how my grandfather asked for her hand in marriage beforehand, to the way he genuinely and lovingly expressed to her that he wanted to marry and start a family with her (they had seven children, including twins), and how she felt at the moment was such a beautiful story for me to hear. In fact, it was pure joy in my soul. Clearly, I’m in love with being in love.
What’s my point?
I want to remind you guys who are thinking about popping the question to make sure it is a very special moment for the both you, a moment that you will someday share with your grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren. Ask yourself, will she (as well as you) feel just as excited 30, 40, 50, or even 60 years from now when she recalls and shares with her grandchildren how you proposed to her?
Get Inspired!
Photo Credit: Ron Bowen Photography
Read MoreFive Tips for Wedding Vendor Contracts
I initially posted these five bits of advice about hiring wedding vendors and signing service agreements back in April 2009, but I wanted to republish them for all of you recently engaged brides.
- Get it in writing! Before you pay a retainer or non-refundable deposit to any vendor for wedding services, it is imperative that you have all arrangements in writing in the form of a service agreement, signed by both you and the respective vendor. Never ever, pay a retainer to a vendor without a contract. If they do not have a service agreement for you to sign and you want to hire them, and then draw up your own written service agreement.
- Do not sign a contract until you have read every line. You absolutely should read every service agreement you sign to make sure you understand the vendor’s terms and conditions for services. If there is something that you do not agree to, then by all means let the vendor know to see if you can come to a mutually agreed upon term. This is not to say that a vendor should rewrite his or her entire contract for you because this is not likely to happen because contracts are designed to cover and protect the parties involved.
- Review all vendor contracts. Every vendor contract should at least include the following: your event date, the start and end times, including set up time, a cancellation policy and a service description including any custom details or special requests that you discussed. In addition, the contract should have both a fee and payment schedule. The fee schedule should clearly outline what is included in the base or quoted price, the price of any additional services if you requested any, and the cost of overtime should your event go over the amount of hours included in the service. The payment schedule should include your retainer, which is due at the time of signing the contract and it should clearly outline the due dates of remaining payments.
- Pay with a credit card. If possible, pay for vendor services with a credit card. In this way, if there is a problem and you think in full conscious that you deserve a refund for services and the vendor denies you a refund, you will have a much better chance of obtaining that refund than if you had paid with cash or check because you can file a claim with your credit card company. Another benefit to using a credit is that you can earn points, for example, for air mileage and in some cases, cash-back and this may help you pay for your honeymoon. Please note that when I say pay with a credit card, I am not saying use your credit cards to finance your wedding as in get in debt.
- Go with your gut instincts. If it is something that does not sit well with you about a vendor and or his contract, then by all means trust your instincts and locate someone else to provide that service for you.
Should your wedding planner sign your vendor contracts? Get the answer by clicking here.
Photo: Quick Purchase
*Also republished in January 2010
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