We were lucky to be featured on some pretty great blogs the last few weeks! Check out these sites, you won’t be disappointed!
First up, every wedding vendors dream! STYLE ME PRETTY! A few months ago, Lauren Grove was looking for stationery for her shoot. I had no idea, I’d get to be a part of such an amazing shoot! Here are just a few images from Kristin Weaver. Check out more pictures at Style Me Pretty and some behind the scenes details at Lauren’s blog Every Last Detail.
Our May shoot featured on Half-Baked Blog!
Next up!
I was so excited to see our invitations featured on Julie’s blog Ma Vie Jolie! Check it out here!
New inspiration board for tomorrow!
Courtney Dellafiora
Nothing makes me happier than helping create a unique and personalized wedding under budget. Direct quote from recent email I sent to potential client “Is it weird that I got excited when I saw the word budget in your email??”
…Umm…but then there’s my wedding. Shouldn’t it be the BIGGEST AND MOST EXPENSIVE thing ever? There’s no way I can follow these rules I’ve been telling my brides!!
False. My tips for other brides can’t just go out the window. I am working with a smaller than 70% of my brides: $15,000. That’s right. Five g’s under the national average. How am I making it work?
The obvious:
I have incredible relationships with many people in the industry. I have some very generous vendors who offered discounts but believe me, nothing comes free.
Things I nixed:
1. A bigger guest list – We are planning for 150 guest. This may sound large in some parts of the country but down South that’s fairly small. I knew this was the simplest way to cut cost and I also knew I wanted to be surrounded by close friends and family. Tyler says if he had his way, we’d have an open invitation wedding potluck-style. But he understands that I’m a wedding planner and kind of want to PLAN a wedding. Yep, same guy who wanted a surprise wedding! He’s the creative type.
2. Pre-wedding limo – This is one place a lot of people feel obligated to spend hundreds, even thousands on. I’m getting to the venue well before any guest and don’t feel the need to arrive in style. Plus, this will avoid that week-of shuffle of “You won’t have a car there so how are you planning on getting home?” or “I left my purse in the limo!” If I could include it in the budget, I’d LOVE to treat me and the bridesmaids to a nice limo, but a girl’s got to make sacrifices and it was either that or the cake!
3. Buffet food table centerpiece – Food centerpieces are normally $200 +. Our food table isn’t at the center of the room so it was easy to decide to keep the focus on the guest tables and keep the food table simple. Plus I’m pretty sure our guest will be more excited about our food choices instead.
Things I splurged on (or basically didn’t go cheap on):
1. Paper – A no brainer I guess. I’m not just talking invitations. I can’t tell you how many times people have said “but their just going to throw it away.” Yep, even to someone who makes a living selling paper. The truth? LOTS of things will be thrown away: flowers, food, cake, favors. Hope I’m not stepping on any toes! I get a bit passionate about it. “But flowers create the mood.” You’re totally right! But if I can create that same mood with a few coordinating signs, tags, programs, etc. for less, I’m going to do that.
2. Photography – I can’t stress it enough, the way you remember your wedding day for the most part, will be through your photographer’s eyes. Your image will be a blur. If you get a great photographer, their’s will be a crisp clean moment captured.
3. The Experience – We have a few things that are a bit interactive, (more details on those after the wedding of course) that honestly won’t cost a lot but will add lots of value to the wedding because they are so unexpected. Because they aren’t normally factored into budgets, I’m considering it a splurge and having to pull from other places to cover this.
Tip:
THINK LIKE A GUESTS
How many weddings have you gone to and stuck around just long enough to congratulate the bride and groom? How many weddings did you painfully wait till the end to leave? Which weddings did you dance the night away and wonder where the time went? Guests want/need to feel connected to the bride and groom. Many guest may not know one of you and sharing your story with them helps them feel a part of the day.
Brides, tell me what your cutting and splurging on.
If you saw my twitter status last Saturday morning, you know I’ve had some things on my mind lately. One thing I’ve been wrestling with is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the volume of work that has come my way the last two months and trying to figure out how best to accommodate for those changes. I have to say I am incredibly grateful for the growth! I know not everyone gets the opportunity to do what they love from 9-5 everyday.
I analyzed where I spend the majority of my time each day to see if I was using my time well and more importantly, to see if it lined up with my priorities. Here’s what I wanted my time to be about:
1. Be a wedding planner that’s one step ahead of her bride’s, not one that falls behind on details. Take on fewer weddings so I can devote more personalized time with them.
2. Build our volume of invitation sales. Reach more brides working within a budget. (Seriously, I am giddy each time I get an email from a bride that says they’re glad to have found an invitation they love that’s within their budget!) Start working on creating our new products for 2011! We’ve got some non-wedding items coming I’m excited to reveal!
3. Be a good wife. I love cooking, don’t hate laundry and am looking forward to married life. This means ending my work days at 4 or 5 instead of 6 or later.
4. Serve others. My life is not just for myself, but to experience God’s love and share it with others. It’s taken a backseat as I’ve started my own business but I believe it’s essential to live selflessly, and the first step to that is making myself available to serve.
I may have gone a bit off subject, but I hope this post can relate to someone who is overwhelmed by life right now and trying to figure out the next step.
So what does this mean for Southern Fete? Nothing drastic actually.
1. Fewer weekly posts for The Wedding Shoebox. This is one thing that I enjoy greatly but because of my workload has become more of a burden than a creative outlet. I never want to just through up any old post because it’s Monday and I need an inspiration board. I want to put my energy and creativity into each post. Expect two or three post each week including an inspiration board, In Her Shoes post with the occasional tips, real weddings and In Her Shoebox posts.
2. Our pricing for wedding planning packages will increase beginning in 2011 as I will be taking on fewer weddings.
Well lovely ladies, I’m leaving today for my first vacation since I started my business September 2008! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Courtney Dellafiora
What a week it has been!? I am back and feeling more refreshed than ever to tackle all those wedding details I’ve staved off this week. The challenge came the first morning of. “Oh, let me just see if they have this real quick…” I had to fight the urge several times, realizing just how thought-consuming those details can become.
The break was much needed and had me even more excited to attend a catering and linens meeting yesterday. Yes, even just seeing the plan for the linens got me envisioning everything! Our centerpieces are a bit complex so beforehand, I couldn’t see what linen would be right. If you’re having the same trouble deciding what would look best with your centerpieces, see if your rental company would allow you to rent possible linens options for the day to try with your items.
While on the subject of linens, brides, I get this question a lot? “Should I really use bright linens for all the guest tables? Won’t it be too colorful?” Years ago, I would have maybe agreed with you. Until I did my pink wedding of May 2009. The bride’s mother had planned out some amazing details. Then came the pink tablecloths. She said “Valerie, if you are setting up everything and there’s just too much pink, lose the tablecloths.” I agreed and the day of the setup kept every last bit of pink she planned. It transformed the room where many guest may have been dozens of times. Keep in mind, when guest see the room, they are also seeing walls, floors and ceiling. Your linens won’t overwhelm the room.
Other questions to discuss with your rental company:
Will the tablecloths touch the floor?
Or will I need to order an underlay?
Next we went to meet with our caterer’s, which just happens to be one of my favorite restaurants in Lafayette, conveniently at eating time! Delicious lunch! And menu finalized! All I can say is our guest will be full and happy when they leave our reception. And I will too. I made sure to tell Andy, the catering manager, that I am not the type of girl who skips meals. I’ll need a plate a food before I enter the swarm of guest because I know my chances of finishing a bite after are slim to none.
Questions to discuss with caterers:
How many servers?
Do the caterers use real dinnerware and silverware?
What happens to the leftovers?
Do you cook onsite? Or transfer food?
Just a few photos from our rental visit:
Only in Louisiana (maybe Florida) can you rent a life-size alligator!
Don’t expect to see any at our wedding though!
This is probably me trying to explain some aspect of the linens to my mom.
I guess words like poly, pintuck and cab aren’t common terms for everyone!
Hey Ladies! I’m taking care of a few things today that I’d like to include in my In Her Shoes post so check back tomorrow for a new post!
When I saw photos #1 and #4 I fell in love with the palette. What a perfect way to warm up a pink, orange and yellow palette! The deep woods and natural elements keep it from feeling too stark or springy. Enjoy!
Credits
1. & 4. Agent Bauer 2. Once Wed 3. Cameron Ingalls
At a recent wedding, while Laura Reaux shot for one of my brides, she also captured some behind the scenes shots! Which I loved! It makes the day so three dimensional to see what goes on behind the scenes. So I wanted to share some of those with you today.
First up: Trying to rig the parasols in the huge oak at Rip Van Winkle. P.S. Leggings are my new best friends for set up. At this wedding, I had to climb on top of a speaker (with permission from DJ of course) to rig something to the dance floor ceiling. I did so without flashing my bloomies while still wearing a dress. I actually wore them for the ceremony and wedding too because the weather was a bit cooler than we expected.
It’s boutonniere time! Must wrangle up groomsmen!
5 minutes later and a quick outfit change for the ceremony and voila! More boutonnieres.
The couple had a picture with me included on their shot list! Sooo honored!!
Time to be introduced as Mr. and Mrs.!!
Quick pic with some vendors! Laura, Natalie and I.
I just have one blog post this week but it was freaking amazing!! Millie Holloman’s team photographed a wedding, designed by Salt Harbor that was unquestionably Clue themed. This just shows how something special to the couple can personalize their entire wedding. Each table was the theme of another room (i.e. library, kitchen, den). Oh to be a guest walking into that room! Enjoy! And see more tables here. And fun photo booth images here.
Photo by Courtney Dellafiora
Well I don’t really know how to put this, wedding I’ve been waiting for my whole life, but I’m a bit tired of planning for you.
Maybe it’s because I work from 9-5 as a wedding planner and, unlike many brides in the early phases of planning, I’m not itching to get home and start wedding blog surfing after a day of crunching numbers or teaching students.
But the thing is, I don’t get burnt out planning weddings for my clients. I love my job so much so that it doesn’t always feel like work. For some reason, doing my own feels like the real work.
So I decided I would take my own advice and take a break from weddings, er…my wedding. (No worries, my lovely brides!) : )
I know simply saying “I won’t work on my wedding stuff” won’t cut it. I’ll get bored. And eventually start tacking a few projects.
So here’s what the next week will look like for me.
1. Write down everything that needs to get done, so it’s off my mind.
2. Alert all bridesmaids, family members about the bridecation so that it won’t be brought up in conversation. Seriously, how many convos have been completely centered on the wedding? If you’re like me? Lots. Everyone wants to hear about the planning. Mums the word just this week!!
3. Forego the wedding blogs (yep, I said it) and The Knot. This week if I get the urge, I’ll instead check out sites like New York Times, Food Network and my laundry list of books to learn more about current events, cooking and business. All things I am passionate about but lately, rarely make time for.
4. I may be getting in shape for the big “W” word but this week instead, I am focusing on my goal to run a 5K in a month or two, not looking great in my dress.
5. Lastly and probably most importantly, really make myself available to help others (i.e. my sister on a project for her house, my brother on lines for his play, my fiance on his weekly column in the paper). It’s easy to think “my life is SOO much busier than others because I’m planning a wedding.” False. It’s time for me to show it.
Now I will say I did have to do a little prepping to make this happen. I made a list of what was left to do and any time sensitive deadlines I took care of before. I seriously want to make this a completely wedding-free week so this prep time was important.
I thought about starting this yesterday but figured there may be other brides who’d like to participate! So let me know ladies (valerie (at) southernfete.com ) and we can start Friday and keep up with each other this week!
Former brides, let us know your tips for avoiding burnout!
And I promise, next weeks post will be all glittering with positivity about wedding planning! : )
I’ve mentioned before that my wardrobe or outfit pairings some days inspired my inspiration boards. Today’s is one of those. When I began to search for inspiration of a blush pink, pale gold and silver, one theme continued to jump out: Marie Antoinette/Victorian themed events. If are looking for a soft and romantic palette, this may be it! Enjoy!
Credits:
1. Style Notes 2. Green Wedding Shoes 3. Elizabeth Anne Designs 4. This is Glam 5. Skog as in Vogue
