I was browsing my favorite wedding blogs yesterday when I came across a super wedding planning tip over on Wedding Planning in Exile. Bride in Exile wanted to mix and match letterpress printing and flat printing on her wedding invitations and RSVP cards but found that most wedding invitation printers aren’t keen on doing up matching designs in different printing styles. Not one to be deterred, Bride in Exile outlined her wants (and her budget) on Etsy’s Alchemy advertising board where buyers can post requests for custom handmade items and sellers can bid on the opportunity to make the goods. Needless to say, she got what she wanted at a price that worked for her.

Of course, the Alchemy board isn’t just for wedding stationery! You can post requests for anything under the sun, from wedding favors to custom wine glasses for your wedding reception to your wedding gown. It seems like requests get a lot of attention from Etsy sellers, making this one of those resources I wish I had known about (wish it had existed?) when planning my own wedding.

In the past week, I’ve seen a new trend talked up on two different wedding reality shows. On both Rich Bride, Poor Bride and Whose Wedding is it, Anyway? couples have been advised to get and have chosen to hire living tables.

What’s a living (or strolling) table? Well, it’s a person who dresses up in a costume and stands inside a hole in a table on casters decorated to match the costume. The table is then set with a selection of hors d’oeuvres, or desserts that guests can help themselves to as the table wanders through your reception or party.

Here’s what it looks like:

(more…)

Oh, Amy Atlas… I couldn’t have afforded an event planner to handle my wedding, much less one highly sought-after in New York City like yourself, but when it comes to dessert, I can certainly aspire to be you. Atlas, you see, specializes in creating perfect dessert tables for high-end events, and perfect they are.

Here, custom yellow and black chocolates, licorice mints, and lemon cupcakes complement a graphic tiered cake. This table of sweets was designed for a company party, but would look utterly smashing at a modern wedding with a yellow and black theme.

Beware dieters! The close-up shots of the various sweets are gorgeous enough to make a girl salivate for something sugary, and there are more colorful candy pics from Amy Altas’ portfolio after the cut!

(more…)

The gorgeous Gigi searched the site for an answer to her query but found no satisfaction. To prevent other brides-to-be from suffering a similar fate, I shall repeat her question and my answer here.

Who am I supposed to tip the day of my wedding? And how much? We are getting married in Florida at a resort. Do we tip the person who works at the resort and is running the wedding? Let me just mention that my wedding is a mere 21 days away and I just got an e-mail for the girl who I have been working with since May of last year when we chose this location. She wrote that she had a family emergency and is leaving Florida next week. She assures me the girl who is taking over is good but does she deserve a tip? I know to tip the photographer and DJ, but how much? The bartenders will get tips throughout the night from guests, but do we give them one at the end? It is a buffet so there is no wait staff….I know I am forgetting someone…PLEASE help me.

I’ll admit right now that I’m a big tipper. You might even say that I tend to be an overtipper, unless service has been extra, extra shoddy. Service staffers aren’t usually paid particularly well, and if I can help make up that difference, I’m pleased to do so. That said, tipping only gets really confusing when you’re dealing with wedding professionals!

It’s important to remember that gratuities are always appreciated, but are never required. Some people won’t tip vendors who own their own businesses — photogs, florists, and bakers come to mind — but I see nothing wrong giving a small gift to a vendor who has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Sometimes it’s better to write a gracious letter of thanks instead that your favorite vendors can show it to future customers.

(more…)

Having been to a lot of weddings over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that a great deal of stress can be added by choosing the wrong vendors, and a great deal of stress can be avoided by choosing the right vendors.

But sometimes it’s hard for us to know quite when to be ruthless about ending a relationship with a vendor who isn’t following through. Here are five signs that it’s time to cut the cord and find someone else to do the job you need and want done.

1: You dislike them so much you avoid working with them. If you don’t want to be in the same room with your florist, photographer, wedding planner, or caterer, don’t be. It doesn’t matter how popular, talented, or highly-recommended this person is if you can’t stand to be around him or her. You want to be surrounded by people who make you feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible on your wedding day.

(more…)

You know how sometimes your inbox gets so full that you’re tempted to just delete it all and start afresh? That happens to me all the time, but I just can’t do it because half of the stuff I’m sitting on came to my attention because you were nice enough to e-mail me about it. The other half is stuff I stumbled upon on my own and bookmarked while researching things like unusual guestbooks, wicked cool tuxes, and barbecuing brides.

This explains, in a nuptial nutshell, why I’ll occasionally sit down and compose a post made up mainly of links like those outlined below.

• Fairytale wedding? No thanks! Plenty of modern brides are marrying their Prince Charmings but staying true to their Cinderella roots, according to the Post and Courier. But don’t expect to stop hearing about the proverbial $30,000 just yet — the average cost of a wedding has only gone down by $28. That’s what, one less boutonnière?
• If we’re going to have a serious discussion about scaling back, how about we start with the dress? Usually I hit up Nordstrom when I want to spend a lot (not a little) on a dress, but now I know, thanks to Dream Wedding on a Budget, that brides can do it the other way around. Introducing the $98 wedding gown!
• “Makes The Perfect Wedding Present!” No, oh goodness, no. It most certainly does not.
• Thank goodness we have MSN to remind all the single ladies not to become raging witches when their friends tie the knot, am I right? (PLEASE NOTE THAT WAS SOME SERIOUS SARCASM!) The article’s author experienced a mix of jealousy, loneliness, anxiety, depression, confusion, and even terror when her best gal pal got engaged. She claims that the majority of XX-carrying humans feel the same, but I have my doubts. Care to weigh in?
• The Wedding Report says that California same-sex marriages could generate $1 billion the first year. I’m going to guess that the sound I’m hearing is the thunderous footsteps of a raging stampede of vendors desperately rushing to target an untapped demographic.
• And finally, a drawing that I believe originally appeared in Indexed by Jessica Hagy: