Monday, August 17, 2009

VENDORS, VENDORS, VENDORS Part 2

So during my late night post last night I got tired and ran out of typing skillz. So here is the continuation of Vendor post...

DJ or Band... Of course every reception is going to have music. Ok I should not say EVERY but for the most part. Whether you decide on a band, a DJ, an Ipod whatever you need to cover some bases. First of all not all DJ"s are the same. Just like every bride is different and the style varies the same applies with the DJ. Some may like a DJ that really is energetic and gets out there on the dance floor and teaches people how to do certain dances or takes the mic and jokes and plays around. Some people like a DJ that more or less stands back plays the music and make the necessary announcements. No matter what your taste is one thing they have in common is they will be making some announcements. You MUST make sure they know what they will be talking about. Make sure you do a final meeting and discuss what you expect in terms of events to happen such as toasts, cake cutting, dances, and so on and the order and music you want played. Go over how to properly pronounce names. Most good DJ's will ask you these questions if they don't you may want to continue your interview process.
Same applies with a band. Be sure they are able to do these announcements in a professional manor as well. You do not want to find out last minute (at the reception) that the band did not realize they were doing the introductions or getting the guests ready for toast and so on. On the subject of bands, all of them will have a demo CD or clips of songs on their website. Listen to them. Look at their play list. Do they have the songs you want to hear? Can they learn them if they don't?

Cake.. YUMM.. cake tasting is one of the best things you get to do as you are planning your wedding. A few things to keep in mind when you venture out for this delightful excursion... Style of the cake, how detailed do you want it to be? Take some photos of cakes you have seen and love, show them to the baker. How do you want your cake displayed? If you think you are going to use a pedestal cake stand make sure that your cake is going to be able to safely sit on it. You do not want to go to cut the cake just to find out the stand is going to tumble over upon pressure. Are you thinking cupcakes? How do you want them displayed? Do you want flowers on your cake? If so your florist will need info on that.. will they be tucked in between the layers? What size will the space be? Do you just want some for the top? You will need to coordinate times between the cake delivery and the floral delivery to ensure that one or the other is able to put these flowers on the cake. As far as tasting goes.. most places ask for an appointment so set them up and go eat cake! Oh also most cakes come with "parts" that need to be cleaned and returned. Do not forget or they will charge you for them.

Stationary... You need to send out your invitations at least 6 to 8 weeks in advance. SO with that being said that does not mean go out and order them 8 weeks in advance. They need to be created and approved and printed! The sooner you can get them done the better off you will be. There are a number of amazing designers in this area and they all have a different style so LOOK AT THE WEBSITES! and BLOGS.. (broken record sez) You will save yourself some time if you find a designer that fits your style. Creating this stationary is a time consuming process as well. The designers want to really feel your vision and create something you are going to fall in love with. I think that this is also a very important element of the wedding because it is setting the tone for your event. Will it be casual and fun? Elegant? Traditional? Modern? Or an offbeat type of "your own style" event? Either way you go there is someone out there that will be able to make your paper goods how you want them to look. Other elements you need to think about are seating charts, place cards, escort cards, table numbers, programs, save the dates, and basically anything that needs printed. Obviously some of those items will come later once you have guest counts and such, but the Save the dates and invitations need to be an earlier priority. Don't forget postage for the invitations and the RSVP cards! Another fun thing is many designers can create coordinating stamps via zazzle.com or other websites.

OK.. I went back and forth with myself trying to decide if I would talk about the Wedding Planner... I decided that I will. Now I am not going to make this portion of the post an advertising section for myself I just want everyone to be informed and get an understanding here. Cincinnati has a group of amazing wedding planners. I feel pretty lucky to be a part of this group and I love the fact that we are all able to talk, learn from, and network amongst each other to better ourselves and our businesses. When it comes to hiring a wedding planner I always tell my "potential" clients to go out and meet a few more. Don't even book me until you have spoken to at least one or two other planners. I want my client to feel like they are hiring the person that they are most comfortable with and really is able to get the vision that they, the client, has. If they have no vision then this planner needs to be able to create it for you. Now depending on the package you may choose or service levels you need keep in mind that planning a wedding is not something you do in 6 hours. If I am planning a full wedding I am putting in at least 150-200 hours of time making this happen. If you are planning your own wedding chances are you will put in 250-260 plus hours. It is another full time job for the couple. So don't walk into a planners office and expect them to give you a quote that is anything less then what you are paying for photography. AT LEAST. Unless you are just using us for a day of / month of coordination. Even then we are still putting in 40 plus hours to make sure every detail is covered and the actual day of, we are there anywhere from 10-15 hours. Once again I will say "you get what you pay for" here. Look for an experienced planner that you feel good about. We are going to be around you ALOT so get used to our cute little faces and let your mind rest knowing that all of your bases are being covered. Will you talk to us everyday? Nope, chances are you will talk to us once a month sometimes even less depending on what level of services you are using. that does not mean that we are not working on your event. Many times we are able to work off of the info we gather at out initial meetings. Also keep in mind that we have worked with many, many, many vendors and venues. We know the good the bad and the ugly. We have budgeting experience. We can allocate your money to work for the event in the most suitable way. Mostly we have design knowledge. We are able to look at an empty room and visualize your desires without having a thing set up and be able to keep in in check with your budget. When you are meeting with a wedding planner ask questions! Ask for photos and references. Ask to see a client binder, we all have them and if the planner does not have one they can show you well then I would be concerned. I think we all have different ways of presenting ourselves but I know one thing we all are proud of the events that we create and are equally as excited to show you them and tell you about the process of creating it. Look at websites and blogs! Obviously if you are here you are a blog reader. I am pretty positive all of this areas wedding planners have a website and a blog. Because once again we are happy to show off our work. Will your wedding be perfect just because you have a planner? Probably not. BUT chances are you will not know about it! We are stylish problem solvers. I can not speak for every planner here but I know when things get stressful I work even better. My poker face is insane. I can look at the bride and she will never know that her centerpieces are an hour late. Because we already picked up her bouquets and delivered them to her for photos. We handle problems with ease. Anyways to end the final chapter of the VENDOR posts. Please do not be afraid to ask questions! You are a one time shopper. We do not expect you to know every detail about what you should be doing or how much somethings cost. We totally get the fact that you probably have never planned a wedding, heck some of my clients have never even BEEN to a wedding! So we know that any question you have is important. We want to educate you on what to do and help you along the way. Like they say in school.. "The only stupid question is the one not asked."
SP HAPPY PLANNING AND HAVE FUN MEETING TONS OF COOL NEW PEOPLE/VENDORS.

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