Tip #44: Floral Preview

Tip of the Day
Before you contract a florist, ask if they do a floral preview so you know what your bridal bouquet and centerpieces look like before your big day. This ensures that you are getting the look you envisioned when you ordered them.

Tip #65: Where to hold your rehearsal?

Tip of the Day

Does your venue include a 1-hour rehearsal in your rental fee? If not, consider another location to hold your rehearsal like a local park or where you will be holding your rehearsal dinner? If you are doing a rehearsal at another location, it may be a good idea on the day of your wedding to have your wedding party know where they will stand and to know where they will walk in from.

Tip #64: Favors? What to give to guests

Tip of the Day

Thinking of something to give your guests as a thank you, find something that means something to you and your fiance. Is it your grandma's favorite homemade jam or your father's famous BBQ sauce to your favorite candy. Do you want your favor to mean something or last forever, why not a pack of seeds or a tree seedling?

Tip #63: Floral choices

Tip of the Day

When you meet with your floral designer its great to know what type of flowers you like and colors you like to see in your bouquets, centerpieces and for your other floral needs. Make sure to be open to ideas if your floral choices are either out of season or out of your floral budget. Before you go into a floral consultation make sure you know what your floral budget is first and make sure to tell the florist your budget so they don't show you things that you will love, but are out of your budget.

Tip #62: Not your average votive candle

Tip of the Day

Using votive candles for wedding, but want a different look, there are several options on how to illumnate your venue(s). Think about using a frosted votive holder, colored candle or ribbon around the votive holder. A key to the use of any kind of candle for your wedding is to use unsceneted candles. Scented candles can be overwhelming for your venue and/or guests.

Monster Truck Party

This party was featured on the Amy Atlas Blog.

Thank you so much to Jennifer from JP Photography for all of the amazing photos.

To mark the huge milestone of turning 5, my youngest son Jackson said back in January that he wanted a Monster Truck birthday party after attending his first-ever Monster Jam show with his dad and brother. So, for the last five months, I researched what goes on during this shows as I've never been. After speaking with my sorority sister of mine Jennifer Billingsley and her amazing graphic designer brother Jeff Peabody, who own Honeycomb Events & Design about my thoughts for party printables, I was blown away with what Jeff came up with. The invitation was the key to the theme of the party. We both decided that we wanted to focus on the elements from a monster truck party rather than the monster truck itself to really make the party standout and that was the theme for all of the party printables.

For the dessert table, coming up with a concept was as simple as watching my boys playing with their little monster trucks in the mud and then running them along the deck. I loved the pattern that they left behind and that got me thinking. Why not paint the toy monster truck tires in black and brown paint and "drive them" all over the plywood painted board. The effect was instant only after one paint incident. The next step was deciding what else to put on the board that would really make it stand out. After looking back at the invitation, I thought of the number 5 shaped out of Washington State license plates. Thanks to friends and family for donating their plates, the design came out great, thanks to the handy work of my husband.

 I happened to be at JoAnn Fabrics looking for some sort of checkered flag linen (I didn't find what i was looking for and ended up finding it on Ebay when I found the brown linen fabric that I thought was the same color was mud. It was a very durable fabric that worked really well under the checkered flag fabric.

As I call myself an amateur baker, I wanted fun and unique sweets to complete the dessert table, so I began with popcorn, homemade chocolate pudding dirt cups, license plate and tire sugar cookies and chocolate dipped Oreos and chocolate mini donuts. I researched via You Tube to create three flavors of pie pops (cherry, blueberry and Nutella), frozen lemonade push pops.

Since I had a wedding the day before, there was no time to make cupcakes and cake pops so I outsourced them by using Puyallup's Wanna Cupcakes (Orange Dreamsicle mini-cupcakes and strawberry lemonade, orange dreamsicle and chocolate cake pops).

To decorate around the house and outside (luckily we had beautiful weather on party day. This was only the second birthday where we actually had sunshine). For the front yard, we used small checkered flags to line the driveway and then used the banner to attach to my old car's tires that we used as a photobooth.

For the backyard, we used the remaining flags for around the yard and then set-up a Refueling Station complete with pop, mini water bottles and Kool Aid.

A fun treat for all party-goers was the Body Art Station where we put on racing tattoos, face painted and sprayed painted hair black, red or green.

 For games, my husband and I created two Monster Truck inspired games, a tire toss and a Monster Truck race. The truck race was the hit of the party. Each racer was awarded with a gold trophy and our two overall winners were awarded with larger trophies. Another fun game we played was stacking the inflatable tires (pool rings). All the kids loved this game and then they each got to take one home with them.

As a thank you to all of the guests, Jackson gave his guests a checkered flag bandanna, candy and a monster truck and each attendee got to take home their very own Monster Truck VIP Pit pass.

A huge thank you to a former bride of mine who is an amazing photographer who came out before the party started to capture all of the party details. Thank you Jennifer Parsons of JP Photography!!

Vendors

Party Planner: Elegant Affairs

Party Printables: Honeycomb Events & Design

Photographer: JP Photography

Cupcakes & Cake Pops: Wanna Cupcake?

Checkered Flag fabric (Ebay): debsquilts56

Checkered flags: Oriental Trading Company

Tip #61: Ideas to decorate chairs for ceremony

Tip of the Day

Thinking of a way to bring a hint of color to your ceremony chairs, think about adding flowers, photo frames, ribbon. The ideas are endless. For something unique to you own wedding, think about what design/decor elements you are using for your reception that you can incorporate onto your chairs.

Review from Bride & Groom (7.21.12)

We hired Lori to be the day coordinator at our wedding in Idaho this past weekend and I am so thankful that we had her there! Not only was she flexible enough to travel from Seattle to Northern Idaho for our big day, but her package also included a few pre-wedding planning sessions where we were able to put together a wedding day timeline and talk about aspects of the day that I didn’t even know I needed to think about. We had an outdoor/indoor wedding that required a lot of coordination to set up the venue and Lori took care of all of that while I was getting my hair and makeup done. I should stop and say that the days preceding my wedding were full of last minute projects (i.e. the programs, assembling our wedding favors, getting last minute decorations) so by Friday night I was pretty stressed out, but Lori assured me that she would take care of everything from there and I knew I didn’t have to worry about anything on the day of my wedding.

My only regret is not hiring Lori to plan my entire wedding and only hiring her as a day coordinator. I think that the whole planning process would have been more organized and I would not have been doing last minute projects in the days leading up to my wedding if I would have had Lori helping me with every detail.

On our wedding day Lori came around with us in almost 90 degree weather while we took pictures and made sure we had everything we needed – even going back to our house to pick up our dog so she could be in our pictures! I wasn’t able to really see the venue or the church before the wedding but it looked better than I ever could have imagined and that was all thanks to Lori. The great thing about having her there on your wedding day is that you and your parents get to enjoy the day without worrying about the little details that usually stress them out (especially moms) like making sure the food gets out on time, that you have champagne at your table, or that all of the cleanup gets done.

Lori is so organized and prepared for anything. If you are looking for someone who genuinely cares about making your day as perfect and stress free as possible then you need to hire Lori. I promise you will be nothing but grateful that you did!

~Courtney & Evan Wilson, July 21, 2012

Wallace, Idaho

Tip #60: Seating Chart Poster

Tip of the Day

Instead of making hundreds of place cards but in need of some kind of seating chart, think about a Seating Chart Poster or two on an easel. These posters can be created very easily by simply using Microsoft word or another publishing software and then sending it off to a local printer. Seating charts should be large enough for guests to find themselves fairly easily.

Tip #59: Wedding Programs

Tip of the Day

Wanting a way for your guests to follow along as your ceremony progresses, think about creating a program that includes the ceremony and your bridal party. Programs can be handmade or you can hire a designer to create a program.

Here is a link to Elegant Affairs' Pinterest board with some of our favorite programs: http://pinterest.com/elegantaffairs/wedding-programs/.

Tip #58: Alterations

Tip of the Day

If you are need of any alterations to your wedding dress, make sure to purchase the right undergarments and shoes prior to have alterations done. When you go in for alterations make sure that you wear everything and bring your "dancing shoes" to try on too.

Tip #57: Renting vs. Buying

Tip of the Day

For decor and/or centerpieces, before you buy anything, make sure you ask your friends and/or family or Elegant Affairs if they have the items you are looking for instead of purchasing any materials. Another great place to look is Craigslist, Ebay of Etsy.

Tip #56: Rentals

When using rentals for your wedding, make sure to ask when they have to be returned. Some companies won't pick up rentals until Monday so you will need to store them. Check with your venue to see if they can be stored until pick-up.

Tip #55: Night before Wedding

Tip of the Day

It's important the night before your wedding to start your beauty routine by washing your face and washing your hair, as most hair stylists prefer hair that hasn't been washed on wedding day.

Tip #54: Reserving hotel rooms

Tip of the Day
If you think a lot of your wedding guests will be coming out of town or want to spend the night at a hotel on your wedding day, consider reserving a block of rooms. Best advice is to find up to 3 hotels that you like of different price points and reserve rooms. If the hotel ask for you to sign a contract make sure you are not on the hook for any rooms not reserved.

Tip #53: Late night snack

Tip of the Day

Another way to surprise your wedding guests at the end of the night, think about a late night snack. A Mashed Potato Bar with a host of toppings to S'mores or a French Fry Bar, find a treat that you and your fiance loves and would love to share with your favorite people.

Tip #52: Honeymoon Packing

Tip of the Day

If the bags didn't get packed for the honeymoon prior to the wedding, the big day is not the time to pack. There will be endless tasks and too little time to accomplish everything and packing should be at the bottom of the list. If packing cannot be postponed until the next day, the couple should have a friend complete the packing. Having a packing list composed prior to the wedding would help avoid any vacation items being forgotten.

Tip #51: Flower girls and ring bearers?

Tip of the Day

Debating whether or not to have flower girls and/or ring bearers, think about who you would want in your bridal party and if you have any family members or friends' children who can fill those roles. Don't feel obligated to have flower girls and/or ring bearers or if you choose to have to include everyone.

Tip #50: Floral Meanings

Tip of the Day
Wanting to know a little more about wedding flowers and the true meaning:
Rose - Love
White Daisy - Purity
Gardenia - Joy
Orchard - Beauty
Carnation - Distinction
Blue Violet - Constancy
Forget-me-not - True Love
Red Chrysanthemum - Sharing
Lily of the Valley - HappinessW
hite Lilac - Youthful Innocence 

Tip #49: What to do with images after wedding?

Tip of the Day

Can't figure out what to do with all of your wedding images that you receive from your professional photographer, friends and family. The most important thing is to do it now and wait years to scrapbook or make to make a photobook. There are great online companies (Shutterfly, My Publisher, my personal favorites) can take all of the guess work out of making an album with their layouts and all you have to do is place photos or have the program auto-post. These books make great Christmas gifts for bridal party, parents and grandparents.

Tip #48: Personalized hangar

Tip of the Day

A great way to display your wedding dress on your big day for the ever-important dress photo, try a personalized hangar. Its not only a great image but its a beautiful keepsake for the rest of your life.

Tip #47: Linen choices

Check with your venue and caterers about their linen choices before renting them. Also, make sure that your linens are floor length. You don't want you and your guests to see table legs.

Tip #46: Final venue walk-through

Tip of the Day

A great way to make sure all of your vendors are on the same page, do a final venue walk-through with your wedding planner, caterer and any other vendor who can attend so you address any and all questions, layouts, etc.

Tip #45: Centerpiece preview

Tip of the Day

Unsure how your centerpiece will look if you are doing it on your own? Take all of your materials and place it on a table at your venue during your final walk-through with a sample linen and make sure that it is the look you are going for. This gives you a good chance to change anything to ensure your vision is executed on wedding day. Make sure to take a photo of your centerpiece to give to your wedding coordinator or decorator so they set-up your centerpiece just as you want.

Tip #44: Add a little flare to your table

Tip of the Day

Thinking of an easy way to add more color to your table, think beyond a white or cream linen and go for color and/or texture. Color can be added in the form of a full table cloth, runner, or overlay. This linen can go a long way in making a statment on your tables.

Tip #43: Renting a tux or suit?

Tip of the Day

If your groom and/or groomsmen are renting a tuxedo or suit, make sure that before leaving the store have everyone try on their attire down to the shoes and socks to ensure that everything is there and to make any last minute alterations.

Tip #42: Hair & Make-up pre-wedding consultation

Tip of the Day

If you plan on hiring a hair stylist and make-up artist for your big day, make sure you to have a consultation at least a week prior to your wedding with your artist(s) that will be there on your wedding day. Make sure to bring examples of what you want done with your hair and makeup.

Tip #41: Rehearsal Dinner

Tip of the Day
Love this tip from Martha Stewart Weddings:

Traditionally, rehearsal dinners were thrown the night before the ceremony after the bride, groom, and their wedding party had walked through the paces of the next day. But today those customs have expanded. "Many people choose to start off the festivities with a get-together that includes everyone," says Martha Stewart Weddings editorial director Darcy Miller.

Whether you choose to go big (dinner!), small (cocktails and light bites), casual (no shoes!), or fancy (killer shoes), just make it your own.

Tip #40: Buffet vs. Plated Dinner

Tip of the Day

When contemplating your wedding feast and deciding between a buffet or a plated dinner there are several factors to take into account. Price and meal choices should be the first two considerations. Make sure to ask your caterer what the differences are. Sometimes your ideal menu is only available as a plated dinner and you want a buffet or a plated dinner is out of your price range.

Tip #39: Holiday Weddings

Tip of the Day

Thinking about having your wedding on a holiday, make sure you do your homework first. Many venues are either close or have slightly higher rates for holidays. Also think about out of guest travel and accommodations as those rates could be increased also.

Fun Facts about Elegant Affairs Owner

In recogition of Elegant Affairs Owner/Senior Planner Lori Losee's birthday today we wanted to share some fun facts about the birthday girl.

1. Favorite Food: Belgium Waffle with raspberries
2. Favorite Beverage: Shirley Temple/Favorite Adult Beverage: Red Robin Strawberry Margarita
3. Was nearly a contestant on the 80s tv game show "Fun House"
4. Favorite Disney Princess: Belle from Beauty and the Beast
5. Secret Obsession: Fifty Shades of Grey (I guess no longer a secret)
6. Is a member of Team Edward (she loves Twilight so much she even named her dog Bella)
7. One skill that Lori would love to develop more is Cake Decorating.
8. Favorite vacation spot: St. John in British Virgin Islands
9. Biggest accomplishment in life: Her two boys (Grant & Jackson)
10. One thing Lori is looking forward to the most: Celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary in Maui with her family next summer.

Tip #38: Dessert Table plate

Tip of the Day

To avoid guets loading up on the sweets, ask your caterers to provide bread & butter plates to serve your sweet treats. This helps limit your guests to 1-3 goodies at a time so there will be plenty of treats to go around.

Tip #37: Dessert Table?

Tip of the Day

Can't decide between a wedding cake or pie and have a bit of a sweet tooth, why not try a dessert buffet where you and your guests can sample goodies from cookies, cupcakes, pies, etc.

Tip #36: Treating guests as they arrive to ceremony

Tip of the Day

A nice way to welcome your guests to your wedding ceremony is treating them with tray passed wine, champagane or a signature cocktail. Or serve your guests iced water, but dress it up by infusing lemon of cucumber or garnish with frozen grape skewers. Also, having a snack like popcorn or cheese and crackers is an unexpectant treat.