Wedding Registry Tip from Jorge Perez

I was at the Wedgwood/Waterford showroom yesterday for tabletop market and Cari and I got a tour of the Spring 2010 collection. (You can see our four favorite picks at Brides.com.)

We were lucky enough to get a personal tour from the company’s national spokesperson, Jorge Perez. I think Jorge is my favorite person in the registry world. He has some amazing tips and what a personality.

One of his registry tips to brides and grooms is: Don’t forget to register for rimmed soup bowls. In addition to soup, they’re great for serving pastas and salads.

Not all of the four and five piece place settings will come with a rimmed soup bowl but you can add it to your registry along with matching platters, creamer and sugar bowl.

You can meet Jorge at a Bloomingdale’s event tomorrow night at 59^th Street in NYC. The Event is at 6pm on the 5^th floor. I’ll be there along with Ron Ben-Israel (and his cakes!) and the Countess from Real Housewives of NYC. The Countess will be discussing her new social etiquette book. Click here to get more details. I wrote a post on Wedded Bits with the event details.

Two Blogs to Add to Your Favorites List

I received two emails this week about two new blogs – well actually they are new looks not new new blogs – and they look fabulous!

Ruffled was formerly known as Vintage Wedding Glam. The new site has some great new features including a photo gallery, navigation bar and free (and exclusive) downloads. The site is sure to be a must-visit Web site for brides looking for wedding inspiration.

The Sweetest Occasion also re-launched this week and offers readers beautiful inspiration for all types of parties, including weddings, birthdays, casual dinners and any other event Cyd can think of. She’ll also offer detailed DIY projects so you can recreate some of her exquisite party details at your own soirees.

The Waiting Game

Cousins of mine went to a wedding this weekend and told me the guests were locked out of the reception site - for a limited time.

The ceremony was held at a nearby church and the couple provided transportation to their reception venue, but when the bus pulled up with their guests they were told that they had to wait outside.

My cousin said they all arrived at 8pm and were not allowed in until 8:15. She said the only reason they were upset about the wait was that it was freezing outside and not everyone had a coat over their tuxedos and evening gowns. The busses dropped everyone off and left before the guests realized the doors were locked.

I don’t know why there was a wait but if your guests will be arriving at your wedding venue – for the ceremony or reception – you should make sure that there is someone there ahead of time – your wedding planner, or someone from her team, or a relative or friend (not mom) who gets there a little ahead of schedule to make sure everything is in order.

After this snafu my cousins say that the wedding was a blast and they had a great time.

A Real Quick Tip

When working with your florist, instead of naming the few flowers that you like, why not name the few flowers that you don't like. By eliminating the ones you don't like and not limiting your florist to the several that you do, you are giving your florist more options to be creative.

This doesn't mean that you can't use the flowers that you like, but there are a zillion flowers that your florist is familiar with, when face it maybe you can name a dozen or two. And by eliminating the ones you don't like, your florist can design arrangments using your faves as well as other beautiful blooms you didn't even know of.

Oh So Suite

The reason you choose a color palette and theme for your wedding is so that every element of your wedding compliments each other.

When it comes to your wedding stationery you want to do the same thing. Work with your stationer to create a complete stationery suite. The suite includes all of your paper elements: Invitation, reply card, program, menu cards, seating and place cards, favor tags and any other paper detail you are planning on including.

It’s important that you bring your stationer your wedding inspiration and ideas. You can even bring a swatch and photo of your dress, the design of your cake and other finalized details to help them start designing.

The stationery suites shown here were designed by Kate Capone, owner of Oh So Suite, a design company specializing in custom invitations and complementary event essentials. Oh So Suite offers a variety of services, including: graphic design (creating monograms, stationery suites), Web site design (Wed-sites) and gift and favor design and production. They also offer letterpress, silkscreen, offset and digital printing options. In addition to designing stationery suites, the company also provides a “go-to” service where Kate can help brides and event professionals source items they are looking for. Visit ohsosuite.com to see Kate's complete portfolio and talk to her about creating your stationery suite.

DIY Centerpieces, Bouquets and Other Details

If you're planning to create your own centerpieces, bouquets, bouts, favors and other wedding details it's a good idea to do a dry run first. A dry run will give you an idea of how much each item will cost and how long it will take for you to complete one item, then you can multiply the cost and time needed by the number you need to make.

You have to decide if you really have the time to create all of these items or if it's worth the expense of hiring a vendor or buying the products. Remember that time is money and you may be saving on the cost of each item but you may also be spending 10 hours a day for a few days putting them together.

And when it comes to flowers, remember that they need to be watered and should be refrigerated. They will start to wilt in a few days so you can't make them that far in advance. When you do a dry run on anything flower related, make sure to note how long they look fresh - 1 day, 2, 3, etc...

Crazy (and Sad) But True Story

My aunt came to town last weekend and told me this story. She was talking to a vendor who was creating a slide show presentation for my cousin’s wedding:

Vendor: You know your photographer is gone?

Aunt Jill: Gone. Where did he go?

Vendor: I think Heaven.

Unfortunately, the photographer was in an accident and passed away and no one at his company let his clients know. I know this is tragic and I’m not making light of the situation but Jill was in need of help and I thought if anyone else is in a similar situation they should know what I told Jill and Kimmy.

Jill had paid 50% of the photographer’s fee upfront – the wedding is a few months away – and she paid it in cash. Thank g-d she got a receipt but she’s now working with his staff on getting her deposit back and since the photographer didn’t have another shooter working with him they are shopping for a new photog.

Here’s where the wedding planning tip comes in: Always get a receipt, even if you pay in cash! While of course this is a very unusual and rare circumstance these things do happen. If you pay with a credit card your credit card company will probably be able to help you get your money back but cash is different. The vendor you are working with may have a backup for you so you can still work with them but if not, you are entitled to get your money back and if the company refuses you can make a claim against the estate, but you should consult with an attorney if it comes to that. You may not need the lawyer to file the actual claim but you should confirm what the laws in your state are before filing.

Wedding Dress Shopping Tip

I just got back from working the National Bridal Market in Chicago and I'm exhaused. Dozens of wedding dress, bridesmaid dress and accessory designers are all there to show editors and buyers their latest collections. The dresses and accessories we saw are for Spring 2010 and will be in stores starting in January.

Since your dress will be ordered to fit you and there will be a 4-6-8-12+ week wait time for it to arrive, I suggest you buy your dress six months before the wedding day to ensure delivery and time for alterations.

If you're getting married next spring you may not be able to wait to see these new dresses and will have to make a decision soon. If your wedding is after May 2010 I think you'd be safe to wait till these collections being shown to editors and buyers are in stores.

Remember that the more details on your dress the longer it will take for it to arrive and you should estimate 4-8 weeks for alterations. Of course your dress can be rush deilvered and rushed through alterations but you'll pay rush charges for it.

Cute with a Capital C

I was clicking through Amy Atlas' blog earlier today and came across her post referencing a post on Bakerella and just had to share it! Lollipop Workshop created two lolli dolls and a mini-Amy Atlas dessert buffet as a gift.

It is the CUTEST thing I've ever seen.

After clicking over to learn more about Lollipop Workshop on etsy I came across their custom wedding cake toppers. How fabulous are these:



They are priced at $135 and are completely customizable.

While I'm not getting married, I think I have to order the kid birthday toppers for RB's birthday!

To See or Not To See

I met a friend at Kleinfeld this evening for her fitting. She kept taking on and off her glasses and made a comment that she should have worn her contacts.

Even though I took a picture of her with her glasses on and off for this post she asked me not to run the pics until after her wedding.

Anyway, her comment makes a great tip for brides who wear glasses or contacts. You want to see what you'll look like in your wedding dress sans glasses but if you don't have your contacts in you don't get a great image. It's like shopping for a new pair of eyeglasses. You have to squint to see the new frames on your face because without your glasses on you can't see very well. At least this is the problem I have.

Thank you so much Stella for this great piece of advice. I know I had that problem during my fittings.