Wedding Archives - Page 3 of 3

Category: Wedding

My Day: wedding planning

Posted on July 16, 2013July 10, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Wedding Planning – less than 4 months away from the big day. EEK!

I love paid days off of work, they are my favorite. I get to sit in my PJ’s most of the day watching trashy reality TV while getting paid. What’s better than that? I woke up, made myself some cheesy pasta because that’s normal, right? Then I plopped down in the big comfy recliner with Tiny in my lap to watch my favorite TV show – Dog the Bounty Hunter. I will pause while you laugh…. done? okay.

As you may know, I have been working on my wedding planning for awhile now:
I said yes / wedding budget tips / Ranking What Is Important / A few Engagement photos /6 months to go

I have some wedding planning details to work on today, mostly dealing with money. Think it’s time, like every bride would do … re-evaluate the wedding budget. It’s important to take a look at the budget from time to time to know if you are still on target and don’t have any surprise expenses popping up.

For J and I we were originally under the impression that our friend’s Uncle would be our officiant and that would be our friend’s wedding gift to us; however, that was months ago and we have yet to hear anything about it. So, now enter my panic mode and have decided that we need a backup officiant. I talked to our wedding planner and that’s going to cost about $150.

That’s $150 that we were not planning on spending for that… we had other ideas for that money. You know, like favors or programs. Now, I have to re-evaluate so that we can afford it all.

Oh wedding planning! It’s fun, but also stressful. Don’t get too overwhelmed with it, that’s what I have to keep telling myself or that’s what J keeps telling me.

Wedding planning helps you get an idea of the big picture. Know what parts will cost the most, for us it was the venue, photography and alcohol – you know, the important parts – the booze and the part that will capture those moments!

I will be sitting in this big, comfy chair for most of today working on some wedding planning – crunching numbers, stressing out, and thinking that I’m wanting to do too much; however, in the end it will all work out and I will get to marry my best friend.

Cheers!

Will you be my bridesmaid?

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

I saw a pin on Pinterest awhile back and it linked to lauren.david.style’s blog here. I fell in love with the idea of packaging all the details and knick-knacks about the wedding into a nice box to give to my bridesmaids.

I had already asked the fabulous ladies to be my bridesmaids and now it was time to get them some info about J and I’s big day.

I decided early on that it was not worth the stress to find a dress that fit in with the style of the wedding that made each girl feel beautiful. Each of my bridesmaids are their own woman and knows what fits them the best. I have given them some guidelines and details of what our style is so that they can find a dress that fits them and their budget.

I included information about:

the big day – when, where, what time, and paint chips to see the colors.

my bridesmaids – a little introduction about each of my girls and how they came to be such a large, important part of my life.

their dress and accessories – navy blue, knee-length dress with eggplant (plum) heels or wedges.

their role – to feel beautiful, to have fun, and know that I am truly grateful for them standing with me on my day.

Cheers!

An exciting time

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It’s a pretty exciting time for me right now. I’m ready for what the future has to offer, my eyes are open and I will not ignore any more opportunities.

The most exciting part of 2013 is J and I’s wedding in November. We’ve been planning, organizing, and buying items for it. The closer we get the more ready I am for it to get here. I haven’t been too overwhelmed yet, but I’m sure it’ll hit. We are almost 5 months away from the big day!

These two pups mean the world to me. The love I get from them and give to them is priceless.

And finally, my new Etsy venture is thrilling. I will be adding more items to the shop this coming week. I’ve spent time creating new designs, working on my policies, and even my business plan. I may have a degree in Marketing, but actually attempting to use what I’ve learned is a whole new ball game. I’ve been reading up on SEO, advertising, sponsorships, etc.

Cheers to exciting times!

6 months to go

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Here we are: six months to go till J & I say “I Do.” Whew! TIme flies when you are having fun.

I found my dress – that was a huge weight off my shoulders! My dress is absolutely perfect, in every way.

Here are a few tips that I’ve discovered along this wedding planning process:

– check your budget. It’s very, very important to stay on top of your budget. Buying wedding gifts, favors, and little things here & there can really do a number on your budget. You think you are a-okay and in the green, but then as you get closer to the big day and final payments are due then you might shock yourself.

– prepare your rehearsal dinner. I have the venue booked for our rehearsal dinner and a menu in mind, but it’s time to start narrowing down your guest list. If you’re wedding plans are similar to ours then a small, imitate dinner is all you’re looking for. Our venue is a room at an event center where we can come and go easily. It’s small enough that we are envisioning a room full of family and future family sharing stories, laughing, and eating some good food.

– block hotel rooms. J had one task that he made his own. I had no input in which hotel he blocked, I just wanted to make sure that we had a room. I have to admit – he did good! We have one of the nicest hotels in Springfield reserved with a shuttle for our guests so no one will have too much to drink and no way to get back to their room.

We are still working on finding an officiant. It’s next on our list and will be done ASAP! It’s making me a little nervous that we don’t have someone booked yet, but can have everything fall into place perfectly. So far, I will not complain about how smooth the wedding plans are going.

Cheers!

Engagement Shots

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Not too long ago J & met with our wonderful photographer, David Coleman to shoot our engagement session. It was a beautiful day between the rain in snow a few weeks ago. J will probably never admit to how much fun it was walking around a hospital park with our crazy mutts in tow and me in heels, but I’m pretty sure he loved every second of it – I know I did! I love, love, love our photos.

Check out the rest of our amazing pics at DColeman’s blog here.

I mean l-o-v-e, love.

Cheers!

How To Rank What’s Important At Your Wedding

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

photo credit

Earlier this week I posted about how J and I are budgeting for our wedding (check it out here). I mentioned prioritizing what is important to both of you for your wedding. J and I both had different ideas of what was important, so we had to come together in agreement.

I have some tips on how to rank what is important to you:

Tip 1: Have both of you come up with a list or an idea of what you want your day to look like. Then once you have an idea, talk about it with each other. See which parts match up and make those a high priority.

Tip 2: Discuss the differences. When J and I were talking about photos of us as a married couple we realized that we had a problem. You see, I wanted to see each other before the wedding to take our pictures. I figured it would save time between the ceremony and reception so that we could have the ceremony later in the day and a shorter reception. However, it was important to J that he not see me until I was walking down the aisle. After discussing our views for a while, I finally realized just how important it was to him. So, now we have bumped our wedding time up and added a cocktail hour so that we can have pictures taken after the ceremony. We understand that taking pictures after the ceremony is going to increase our budget because we will be having a cocktail hour, but it was great to learn what was important to him and listening.

Tip 3: Don’t get emotional when talking about it. I am one that can go from 0 to 90 in less than two seconds when it comes to discussing a topic. J is really good about calming me down and making me breath. So, just remember that the two of you are just having a conversation and nothing is set in stone at that moment. If you need to walk away and think about it for a day, that’s okay.

So, sit down with your future spouse and discuss what matters most to you. Remember this is your day, so make it what you want.

Cheers,

Mere

Wedding Budget Tips

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

photo credit.

Budget. That word alone can usually cause stress in most people, including me. However, it is imperative to have/know your budget when planning a wedding. There are several ways to determine your budget and I was lucky to have parents that helped A LOT with my budget.

TIP 1: I determined that amount of money that J and I would have to plan our dream wedding after talking with my parents. Then in my typical fashion I cut my budget by 15%. Wait… what?! I cut money out of my budget? Crazy, huh?!

Well… hear me out before you think I’m that crazy. In my mind, I know… I just know that unexpected charges or needs will come up during the planning process and I don’t want to be scrambling for money. By taking 15% of the budget away on paper then I know that if an emergency arises, we are safe and okay with money.

TIP 2: Prioritize the important parts. When J and I started thinking about what we wanted our wedding to look like we had to prioritize what was most important to us.

We came up with three categories. First, highly important.

Photographer
Venue
Music
Cake

Next, important.

My Dress
Food
Flowers
Groom’s Tux
Groomsman Cake (well in J’s case a cookie cake)
Hair & Makeup
Stationary (invitations & thank you notes)
Favors

Finally, not that important.

Bridesmaid Dresses
Transportation
Seating Chart

Tip 3: Knowing your guest number limit. J and I started crunching numbers and decided that we would ideally like to invite 175 people. Knowing that on average 20% of those invited will not be able to attend. That would leave us at about 140 guests.

Tip 4: Don’t forget about tax and gratuity. Those charges can add up pretty quickly. For example, let’s say that you’ve budgeted $2,000 for flowers. You start talking roses, lilies, carnations, baby’s breath and next thing you know the subtotal is $1,999. You’ll be surprised to learn that your total will be over $2,140 (at least in Southwest Missouri because our sales tax is 7.06%).

Don’t be afraid to ask your vendors what the tax rate is and how it is applied. I learned that there is no tax on linens because the vendor pays the tax during the purchase and cannot pass that on to each customer.

Also, gratuity is another hidden budget balloon. I talked to one caterer that charged a pretty high gratuity, which after the tax put her way above my budget.

Tip 5: Ask your vendors if they are running any specials for booking that month. Since I started planning in February for a November wedding a lot of my vendors were running specials. For example, my caterer through in a house salad for each guest at no charge, which will save us about $2 per guests (140 guests x $2 = $280 savings). Also, my venue had a free champagne toast for booking… that saves a lot of $$$.

Hope these tips are helpful during your wedding budget planning! Let me know what you think!

Cheers,

Mere

I said “Yes!”

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It’s official, J and I are engaged!

I still get a big, goofy smile on my face when I say that sentence. I have been in la-la land planning, dreaming the perfect wedding.

I hope to share ideas and DIY projects that we will be incorporating into our wedding. So far, I’ve ordered a few items from Etsy. A lovely save-the-date sign from ArmyMOMOfTwins for our engagement photo session and because her signs were just too hard to pass up I also ordered a Mr. and Mrs. sign for our reception chairs. Check out the save-the-date sign here and the reception chair signs here.

I had a hard time deciding which projects that I wanted to make myself and which ones I would order from Etsy or have someone else do. I finally reached a decision maker that was too hard to argue with… If it is going to cost more to get the materials needed to make it than it would to purchase (including shipping costs) than I would order it. It was simple money-saving tactics that persuaded me. I don’t need a bunch of paint, ribbon, and other items that I will not use for another project.

I hope to share my projects, ideas, and final outcomes throughout the planning process. We have about 9 months till the wedding, so I have some work cut out for me.

Cheers,

Mere

photo credit

Wedding Planning – less than 4 months away from the big day. EEK!

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