Is "Engagement Season" a Thing???

Isn’t this time of year wonderful?  It’s full of champagne and sparkly things… No, I am not talking about the holidays, it's officially the beginning of ENGAGEMENT SEASON, folks.

Yes, according to many sources and surveys the time between late November and mid February holds the record for the most engagements of the year.  According to wedding bells 2015 survey “35% of all engagements occur between December and February with December being the most popular month to pop the question.”  To be exact, it was observed that 1 in 5 engagements happen in December. WHOA!

After getting engaged it is natural to want to jump in with both feel and start nailing down the fine details of that wedding that you have been dreaming about since the "Barbie Years".  This is great – I hope your planning enthusiasm stays at maximum capacity throughout your engagement, but the holidays can be quite busy and stressful already, and now you have a wedding to plan?

Let’s take a look at a few more statistics according to the wedding wire survey:

- the average length of an engagement is one year 10 months – with 67% of weddings occurring between June and September.

- The average expected cost of a wedding is in 2015 was $30, 717 with an average number of 129 wedding guests and 75% of brides admitting that they will “Likely spend more than anticipated”

So, what does it all mean?

First of all, don’t freak out – these are just numbers and like everything in life, you get to set your own path. Here are three things to keep in mind as you get used to your new bling this holiday season.

1.  You don’t have to have a plan for your wedding yet – geez… you just got engaged!

Over the holiday season you will likely see a lot of your friends and family.  These well meaning and excited folks tend to have a lot of question – likely that you don’t have answers to.  It may be helpful for you and your fiancé to come up with your stock answer. Example: “We are really excited to get planning, and we will likely shoot for a summer 2016 wedding”

This will give everyone enough information to satisfy that you have thought about a wedding date, but that you need more time to nail it all down.

2. Just relax and enjoy, your engagement over the holidays

With "engagement season" falling directly in line with the holidays, it is a VERY busy time of year.  There will be plenty of time to pour over budgets and spread sheets in the months to come.  Allow yourself to enjoy the holidays and leave the wedding planning for a time when things slow down to the normal pace.  For now, buy yourself a wedding magazine (or two or five) and just enjoy the romance of day-dreaming for a bit.

3. I don't mean to be frivolous…but tend to your nails! ;)

You are about to have everyone and their monkey ask you to display your new bling – this means photos, social media posts and people you barely know paying an unusual amount of attention to your hand – so be proud to show it off and put your best finger forward. 

Once the dust from the whirl-wind holidays settles down a bit you can relax and start your planning process (Think about getting in touch... I'd be happy to help you with this!!!) 

Do you expect to get engaged this season?  Are you planning to pop the question? 

Let us know your tips or tricks on how YOU plan to survive the holidays and getting engaged. 

Already engaged and need some tips to get the planning ball rolling.  Check back next week to see my early planning guide with some great do’s and don'ts for getting started.

(Thanks to Britton Images for the above photo) 

   

Spend or Save: A guide to putting your hard earned wedding dollars to good use.

Let's talk about money and wedding budgets...

Of course we would all love to have Kate and William size budgets for our own royal wedding, but unlimited budgets are often not within our means.  So, we take to spreadsheets to help us determine where we need to spend our money to get the most bang for our hard earned bucks!

One of the first thing that I do with new clients is have the "budget talk" - sure... not as much fun as the cake tasting or the design meeting, but one that is absolutely necessary to start us off on the right track right out of the gate.

If you do a quick google search you will find hundreds of pre-fab budgets that pop up that provide you with a magical percentage of what you should be spending on each element of your wedding - and this is a great place to start.

But more importantly, I believe that you need to look at your own personal goals first and determine your own personal "save V.S spend" for each area of your wedding.  Not a flower person? cool... let's save some money here and go a different route.  Huge foodie: ok SPEND here and we can sacrifice in areas that are not as important to you.

For me, my top three "spends" are as follows:

1. Photography:  To me this is an area where you can not afford to try and save cash.  After your wedding is over and the last thank you note is sent out, it is these photographs that remain.  They capture all of the planning and all of the wonderful things that happened on your wedding day.  It is worth the investment in a GREAT photographer.  SPEND

2. Wedding Planner:  (yeah, yeah... I know, I know...stay with me here) Spending your money on a well trained, WPIC certified, experienced, professional planner that suits your style can save you time, money and many many headaches both during the planning process and during the wedding day itself.  I understand that not every couple needs a wedding planner for the full planning process - but I believe that every couple should have at least a month-of-planner who will not only be there for you during the most hectic time of the planning process (the month of) but will also protect the hard work and the investment that you have put into this wedding.  By managing the day-of, your wedding planner/coordinator will make sure that everything runs as it is supposed to, so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labour! This is important: SPEND

3.  Food:  Everyone loves to eat... and talk about food.  After the wedding is finished, most people will forget what the centrepieces looked like and which flowers you had in your bouquet, but they will always remember if there was lots of yummy food.

Determining your own personal "spend VS save" is an important part of getting the most out of your wedding day.  Keeping these top tier items in mind when planning your full wedding budget will ensure you get the balance right.   What are (or were) your "spend VS Save" priorities for your wedding day?
Tell me all about it in the comments!

"The Initial Meeting" - What to Expect and How You Can Prepare.

As I am sure that you have noticed, most wedding vendors encourage you to book an "initial meeting" before you book their services (I, myself am one of these vendors and say it many times on my own site).  But, what does this mean? What can you expect to get out of this meeting?  And how can you make the most out of this opportunity?

First of all, the initial meeting is free of charge and allows us to meet before signing on the dotted line.  For me, I approach this meeting like a coffee date with a new friend rather than a formal job interview.  It is a chance for us to sit down and get to know each other.  I don't believe in hard sales lines or pitches, for me choosing a Wedding Planner is like choosing a really organized best-friend that will help you though an emotional, expensive, complicated and really important milestone in your life - you have to find the right FIT.

I have always had an amazing working relationship with all of my clients.  I genuinely CARE about their weddings and I truly want the best planning experience for my clients.  During the initial meeting  I will ask about your lives together, your hobbies, jobs, families... anything that comes up, really... I am a great listener.  I try and guide this meeting in a relaxed and informative manner so that we can walk away from it feeling like we truly know each other.

Of course, since we will also be sharing a business relationship, I will go over my company history, and talk with you about my process as a designer and a planner.   Together we will discuss what areas of your wedding you feel that you will need most help with and how, as a professional, I can help you in the most beneficial and cost efficient way.

We will discuss the wedding packages that I offer: Full Planning, Partial Planning, Month of Coordination, and pretty much everything in between.  Every wedding that I work on is unique and each couple deserves an individualized approach to planning.  During this initial meeting we can discuss what is going to work for you, your vision, and your budget.

I will show you some photos of weddings that I have worked on in the past and talk to you about my goals for these weddings and the role that I took in planning them- this will give you a better understanding of the work that I do and how I take a unique approach to each wedding... no cookie cutter weddings here.

So... How can you prepare for this "Initial Meeting"?

I really appreciate it when clients take the time to review some of the information that I have posted online, my Blog (yay you are already here!!) , my Facebook page, and my Website are all really good places to start.  You can also check out my reviews on wedding wire from some of my past clients.  By reviewing these sites ahead of time,  we will have have more time during our initial meeting to talk about how I can help you, and will need to spend less time talking about what I have done in the past.

Write down any questions that you have for me in advance so that we can go over your list together and make sure that when you leave this meeting you have all of the answers that you were hoping to get - of course if you forget something you can always email me and I will be happy to answer! ;)

I think that choosing your wedding vendors - especially your wedding planner - is a truly personal experience and the decision needs to be based on your comfort level with your planner and your confidence that they are going to be the right person to really listen to your needs and guide you though this process!

Want to know a little more about who I am and how I became a wedding planner? Check out this blog post for a glimpse into this or my FAQ section on my site.

Still have questions? Get in touch any time to set up your initial meeting - I look forward to hearing all about you!

So, you’re engaged? Now what?

Congratulations, you are about to embark an amazing journey; planning your wedding.  I know it can be stressful and maybe a little overwhelming, so just to get you started, here are just a few tips that will start you off on the right track:

1.   Determine your wedding budget:  This is SOOOOOOOO important and I can not stress this enough.  Before you book ANYTHING (and I mean ANYTHING) – sit down with your fiancé (and anyone else who may be involved in the finances of your wedding) and have a frank conversation about your hard lines in terms of budget. Do a little research and see how much you will realistically require to cover your needs (according to Wedding Bells 2015 Survey the average Canadian Wedding with 129 guests cost around $30, 717 including the honeymoon).

2.   Although you may already have good idea of the style of wedding you want (and some of you may already have a fully stocked pinterest board) if you haven’t given it much thought, now is the time start thinking about it.  Get a few magazines, browse online, look at what others have done, find out what you like and more importantly what you DON’T like – building this vision will help you to pick the right vendors/locations. 

3.   Start writing out a rough guest list to determine the scale of your wedding – a rough estimate at this point is all you need.

4.   Hire your wedding planner – research and hire a well trained, WPIC certified wedding planner who is right for you (check out my blog post about initial meetings and how to be prepared to meet your vendors) and they can help guide you throughout the planning process.

5.   A good way for you and your wedding planner to start booking vendors is to first focus on what I like to call the big three: Your Ceremony Venue (and Officiant if it is not included with your location), Your Reception Venue and your Photographer.  Once you have these three things in place you have your wedding, and you can slowly build from here.

Other Blog posts that might be of interest to you as you start this planning process:

http://caramiaevents.blogspot.ca/2014/11/can-i-get-quote.html

http://caramiaevents.blogspot.ca/2012/07/why-do-you-need-wedding-coordinator.html

(photo Credit: Renaissance Studios Photography) 

What's in my Emergency Kit?

You may have noticed that in my description of services,  for any wedding that I am coordinating on site, I include the use of  my “emergency kit”.  You may be asking: What exactly IS this emergency kit? What exactly do you have in there anyway? 

So, the long and short of it is that my emergency kit is carefully put together to help me solve any issues/problems/emergencies that may come up throughout your wedding day;  Did the hem on your wedding dress come down?  No problem!  Did the groom lose a button? Solved! Did the father of the groom lose his boutonniere before the ceremony? No problem, just give me a couple of minutes and I can “MacGyver” a new one! 

So just to give you an idea of what exactly is in that 'Mary Poppins' bag of mine, here is a list of some of the items I carry to each and every wedding:

On my person at ALL Times (don’t tease me about my 'fanny pack' style belt it is a necessary evil  for 'QUICK draw' fixes)

• Cell phone

• Advil

• Scissors

• Pens

• All day of paperwork (contact info, schedules, floor plans etc) 

• Bobby pins

• Straight pins, safety pins

• Hair clips and elastics 

• Breath mints

• Moisturizer

• Lip balm

• YOUR lipstick

• batteries

• Band-aids

• Double sided tape

The "Mary Poppins" Style Emergency Kit: 

Here is a list of some of the items you can find in  my 'Mary Poppins' bag (pictured above) -  I will have this bag handy during the ceremony and reception (usually stashed away out of sight - but close enough that I can get to it when I need it)

Makeup

•  Foundation in many shades

•  Loose powder (And brush)

• Eyelash glue

• makeup remover/corrector swabs

• eyeshadow in various shades

• q-tips

• makeup sponges/brushes

• Lip conditioner

Personal Care:

• Extra nylons (in various colours)

• Advil

• Poly to go

• Sunscreen

• Bug Spray wipes

• Hand sanitizer

• Fabreeze

• Moisturizer

• Razor (hey... you never know what you will forget to pack if you are staying at a hotel the night before)

• Powder

• Mints

• Spray deodorant

• Spare toothbrush, tooth paste, mouthwash and floss

• Feminine hygene products

• Lint roller

First aid

• latex gloves

• instant icepack

• antibacterial wipes

• antacids

• pain relief medications

• band-aids

• steri-strips

• antibiotic ointment

Nails

• clear polish

• nail glue

• white polish 

• neutral polish

• nail file

• nail clipper

• nail polish remover

• false nails

Sewing

• snaps

• buttons

• needles and thread in various colours

• ribbons in various colours

• double sided body tape

• scissors

• elastic

• Velcro

• Straight pins, safety pins

• Chalk (to cover stains on bridal gowns)

Floral repair

• zip ties

• floral tape

• floral wire

• wire cutters

• pins

Hair

• comb

• brush

• bobby pins (in various shades and sizes)

• hair clips (in various shapes and sizes)

• elastics

• hair spray

• veil comb

Tool kit

• hammer

• Various nails/screws/hooks

• screwdriver

• wire

• duct tape

• clear utility tape

• electrical tape

• double sided tape

• batteries

• AV cords and connectors

• Staple gun

• Pliers

• Twist ties

• Glue dots

• Various types of glue (glue gun, super glue, white glue, fabric glue)

• Flashlight 

Office Supplies

• pens

• tape

• sticky notes

• dry erase markers

• scissors

• backup power charger for cell phone and electronics

And yes...  it all fits! 

Hopefully this will put your mind at ease, that should a problem arise - I will have the solution.  Just as a back up, I also carry some larger emergency items in the trunk of my car, including a golf umbrella, step ladder and many other things... but that is a post for another day!  

Do you see anything that I am missing?  Leave it in the comments below... I would love to hear from you! 

Taming Wedding Inspiration Overload

Looking at wedding eye candy is a great and fun way to explore the possibilities and become inspired when planning your wedding.  I fully support (and participate) in a good daily dose of wedding eye candy with my morning coffee!  The possibilities really do seem endless!  The internet is FULL of sites that allow you to "like","pin","fave it","+Pin","love","bundle"  and more.  With all of the emerging ways (and new ones that seem to pop up every day) to view and store the wedding inspiration, it is easy to lose site of your own wedding amongst the chaos.  Is scanning through thousands of gorgeous wedding photos online starting to make you feel overwhelmed? Unfocused? Confused? Well, let's try tame that inner inspiration junkie!

1. Focus your searches

Before you start furiously "pinning" and collecting photos and ideas for your wedding take a few minutes to give yourself a road map to follow during your searches.  Write down your top 5 "must haves" for your wedding and focus your searches on what really matters to you.   Let this list of 5 things bring you back to centre when you start to lose sight of the event that YOU are planning.

3.  Pick your theme and don’t collect images that don’t fit.

Picking a theme can help you search strategically using key words that apply to your wedding.  Ask yourself, does the really awesome picture of the “hanging lanterns in the forest” REALLY go with your theme?  If not… let it go!  You will find plenty of great ideas that DO work with your theme and budget!

2. Keep your inspiration organized.  

Picking just one platform in which you store all of your wedding stuff can help keep you organized when planning your wedding.  Having everything stored in ONE place allows you to focus in on your ideas and see them all together and see what works and what does not.  Whether you choose an online site inspiration site like pinterest, a wedding planning site, a folder on your desktop or a simple binder… just keep it ALL in one easy to access location.

4. Know your own DIY limits.

Yes, there are some AMAZING DYI projects out there that can really give your wedding great personal touches… but before you hit the craft store, consider the amount of time, energy and creativity that you have to bring to the project.  If the project doesn't mesh with what you have to give, choose to either hire someone who can do it for you, or pass on the project and choose something that better suits your needs and ability.

**bonus tip:  before buying all of your supplies in bulk for your wedding DIY project, buy just enough to try a prototype and make sure that it comes together the way you want it to!

5.  Keep your budget in mind:

If your budget is unlimited, then by all means, let’s pull out all the stops!  If not though, remember that you don't have to have EVERYTHING to have an awesome and memorable wedding!  Refer back to your list of must haves often and focus perfecting them first.  If you still have room in your budget after all of the must haves have been taken care of… let’s bring in the extras!

Happy planning!

Why do YOU need a wedding coordinator?

Photo Credit: Courtney Dirks

One of the questions that I frequently get asked is:  Why do I need to hire a Wedding Coordinator? 

I have considered writing a blog post about this for a quite a long time now, but as a wedding coordinator myself, it always felt just a little too self-serving.  That being said, it is an honest question and it deserves and honest answer!  So, without getting all “sales pitchy” on you, I am going to try to answer this question today.

What are the benefits of hiring a wedding coordinator?

1.     A professional wedding coordinator is educated and certified in the field.  We are constantly networking and keeping an eye on the industry for the latest trends, new and specialized vendors, budget saving ideas, and more.  So, how does this help you?  Simply put: we keep ourselves up to date, so that you don’t have to be an expert in the industry to have a great wedding.   It also means that you do not have to do all of the research and leg-work that is necessary to connect with the right people to work on your day.  

2.     A professional wedding coordinator will be able to provide you with trusted vendor selections that meet YOUR specific needs and budget.  And the best part? You don’t have to spend hours and hours narrowing down potential candidates.

(Ethics reminder: WPIC Certified wedding planners (like Cara Mia Events) are bound by a strict code of ethics that forbids the practice of accepting kickbacks – we choose our vendors on merit and do not accept any payment from vendors for referring our clients)

3.     Let’s talk budget:  One of the things that brides and grooms often struggle with, is picking a total wedding budget and then allocating the funds efficiently to make sure that you have everything covered while staying within your original budget.  Wedding coordinators already have an existing knowledge of the cost and the different price ranges of services within the industry.  With this knowledge we are able to help you breakdown your budget in a realistic way that can get you the most “bang-for-your-buck”.  You want to make sure that you don’t run out of money before you have all of the elements covered.

Once the wedding is already planned, what are the benefits of hiring a day/month-of Coordinator?  

Simply put, there has never been a wedding (EVER) that went so seamlessly that no one had questions or concerns throughout the day.   Managing the day-of is a lot of answering questions, directing traffic, making sure that the transitions from one element to the next go seamlessly, and keeping a constant eye on timing.  It is a balancing act and even at the most organized event, there is potential that something could get off track.  When you have invested your money and at least 250 hrs (the time it takes to plan an average wedding) into organizing a great event, you want to be able to enjoy it.  You certainly don’t want to be working!  Hiring a day of coordinator to WORK your wedding day means that your only job is to enjoy!

Can’t I just get my friends and family to help out for the day-of?

 I think that it is WONDERFUL when a couple has supportive friends and family who are eager to lend a helping hand to make sure that you have the wedding of your dreams.  Without taking anything away from these great people in your life, putting a friend in charge of running your wedding day not only means that he or she won’t get the opportunity to celebrate along with you, there is also concern that they may not have the experience necessary to make decisions on your behalf and make changes to the schedule as needed and keep everyone informed.  It is a big job and should be taken on by someone who is working. 

In short, a wedding coordinator will make sure that you get the most out of the time and money that you invest in your day!  

5 Tips to Avoid Last Minute Wedding Stress

Now that the warmer weather has finally arrived and the first long weekend of the season is upon us, I am looking forward to the upcoming flurry of weddings and all the excitement that they brings!  For those getting married this summer/fall you are in the final stages of planning and the countdown has begun; a prospect that can be both exciting and a little stressful for most.  So, for today's blog post I have put together a list of 5 things that you can do to get organized and banish some of that pre-wedding stress. 

• First and foremost, if you haven’t done so already, hire a “month-of” coordinator to help you in the home stretch!  A month of coordinator will make sure that all those last minute details come together exactly the way that you have carefully planned them!  Just knowing that your coordinator will be there to manage the wedding day for you (with their emergency kit and tons of knowledge), goes a LONG way in eliminating lead up stress.

• Avoid procrastination and get your seating chart finished as early as possible!  This little “guest jigsaw puzzle” is often a challenge – especially when left to the last minute.  As soon as your RSVP deadline has passed start calling those stragglers and non-respondents so that you can begin plotting the tables early.  Having this guest information early means that you can also finish your escort cards/seating chart etc and knock a few more things off your last minute “to-do” list.

• Avoid wedding burn out and plan a few “wedding planning free” days – mark them in the calendar and make sure to spend this time relaxing (date-night, perhaps?).  I know it is hard when you feel like there is so much to do… but taking a break and letting your thoughts catch up with you will make you much more efficient when it is time to work.   

•  Create a wedding “command station” in your house to organize all of your wedding supplies (wardrobe, decor, cake knife, guest book etc).  Pick up a few Rubbermaid bins (or similar) and label them: “Ceremony decor” “Reception decor” “Wedding Coordinator” “Wardrobe” etc and divide your gear accordingly.  From this point on, every time you come home with a new wedding related purchase*, place it directly into the correct container.  You will be so thankful for this organization later when all you have to do is throw the pre-packed and organized bins in the car!                                                                                                             * note: make sure to clean/polish and remove any stickers or tags from all of your items before adding them to the correct bin.  Doing this one item at a time is less stressful than in bulk the day before your wedding.

•  Spend half an hour (now) organizing all of your wedding paperwork into a binder or accordion file (vendor information & contact, contracts, guest list, etc)- keep adding any new paperwork as you move forward.  When it comes time to meet with your coordinator 4-6 weeks before the wedding, take this binder/folder with you. Having everything readily available in a well organized binder will make the flow of information to your planner very efficient – which means you will have more time to spend talking about the things that are really important to you on your special day.  

Getting these few things out of the way NOW means that you can relax a little and enjoy the summer sun!
If you have any great tips or tricks that you can share, leave them in the comments below! 

Let’s keep this wedding season exciting and as stress free as possible! 

Have a great long weekend everyone and Happy Planning! 

* "Erase Stress" (left) image in the collage above is by: Alan Cleaver