Pure Reflection Bridal Show

Wedding Planning Checklist

This is a general checklist to help in planning your wedding. It looks overwhelming, but it isn't if you take it one step at a time. About a year out:
	Announce Engagement. If you're internet savvy, then start a blog about your wedding. I'll link to it here if you do.
	Choose your date.
	Hire wedding consultant/coordinator, if you want to. In the age of the internet, I'm not sure it is required, but it does make the process easier.
	Determine type of wedding. What is your vision?
	Determine budget & how expenses will be shared.
	Start a system to keep your notes straight. I would start a new email address to deal with all wedding related items, and use Google Docs to keep notes.
	Develop a record keeping system for payments.
	Create an approximate.guest list.
	Take a deep breath.
	Select and reserve ceremony site.
	Select and book your officiant.
	Select and book reception location.
	Look at bridal gowns. Buy only when you find the perfect one, but save time for alterations.
	Determine color scheme.
	Take a deep breath.
	Obtain, passports, visas, birth certificates, any documents need for travel and/or marriage licenses. So, you should plan your honeymoon early enough to get all of the proper paperwork.

6 to 9 months out:
	Select and book caterer.
	Find a photographer you like who has a style that will compliment your wedding.
	Select wedding party. They're going to need to start planning you a shower.
	Give wedding party a list of their responsibilities, or just have a chat with them.
	Select and buy attire or bridesmaids & flower girl. Fun fun.
	Take a deep breath. Make sure you keep doing that.
	Select and book ceremony musicians.
	Select and book a band or DJ for your reception.
	Select and book videography, if you want it.
	Select and book florist.
	Register for your wedding gifts, although you can start this sooner. It is fabulously fun. Make sure you are registered somewhere when your shower invitations go.

Aren't you glad now, for all the links to local service providers? There sure are a lot of "select and books". Be aware that  most people you work with will need a deposit when you book.

4 to 6 Months out:
	Schedule fittings for dresses for you and bridal party, if you need them.
	If you want any premarital counseling, this is a good time to go for it.
	Reserve rental items.
	Select and book decorator, if you want one.
	Finalize your guest lists.
	Select and order invitations and other wedding stationary. Go ahead and get your thank you cards. You'll want to write the notes as you get gifts, or you will get overwhelmed.
	Set date, time and location for rehearsal dinner.
	Select and book honeymoon night suite.
	Arrange accommodations for out-of-town guests.
	Plan some details of your honeymoon.
	Shop for your wedding gifts to each other.
	Shop for your wedding gifts to your wedding party.
	Shop for your wedding gifts to your parents.
	Buy shoes, lingerie and jewelry.
	Pick out shoes and accessories for the bridal party.
	Select and order wedding bands.

2 to 4 months:

	Take formal engagement pictures.
	Select and order wedding cake.
	Order party favors.
	Select and order decorations.
	Purchase honeymoon attire and luggage.
	Select and book wedding day transportation.
	Start addressing your invitations.
	Go have a drink with your maid of honor.
	Go on trials and book wedding day hair and makeup. Bring your headpiece and wear a white shirt. Bring a camera.
	Obtain marriage license. You can put this off, but you will feel nice having it.
	Send out your invitations.
	Select ceremony readers.
	Select ushers to seat your guests.
	Select guest book attendant.
	Take a yoga class, or go for a walk in a park.
	Mail invitations to shower. Or, make your bridesmaids do that.
	Get photography permit, if needed. You probably won't need it. You do want to check on the photography policy if you are getting married in a church.

6 to 8 weeks:

	Maintain a record of RSVP's and early wedding gifts. Google Docs has a spreadsheet function. It is nice.
	Maintain a record of shower gifts and send thank you's.
	Purchase all ceremony and reception accessories: guest book, toasting glasses, garter, ring pillow, etc.
	Select and reserve wedding attire for all gentlemen.
	Mail invitations to rehearsal dinner, or just make sure everyone knows to be there.
	Plan bridesmaid luncheon, if you are having one.
	Select your something old, new, borrowed, blue.

2 to 6 weeks:

	Finalize food and drinks for reception.
	Finalize all ceremony details with Officiant.
	Finalize all rehearsal arrangements.
	Finalize all floral arrangements.
	Final fittings for yourself and bridesmaids.
	Make yourself a written itinerary for your wedding day.
	Give a copy of the itinerary to your wedding party and vendors.
	Finalize all details with all your vendors.
	Decide order of receiving line and head table setting.
	Contact guest that haven't replied.
	Pick up wedding rings.
	Give photographer a photo checklist, and have coffee with him. Even better, make sure you have a bridal portrait and engagement photos before the day. Then, you're all old friends by your wedding day. Your photographer will be with you pretty much all day...it helps if you are all comfortable.
	Visit reception site for floor plan.
	Create reception seating plan.
	Give musicians a list of your music selection, or tell them you trust their choices.
	Inform attendants when and where to pick up attire.
	Determine ceremony seating for parents and family.
	Print out seating cards, if you are using them. Print a program for your ceremony.
	Pick up honeymoon tickets.

1 week:

	Give caterer/reception venue final tally of guests.
	Pack.
	Take extra good care of your skin.
	Arrange mail collection while you are on honeymoon.

Wedding Eve:

	Drop all wedding accessories at your locations.
	Make sure you bring all gifts that will be handed out at dinner.
	Make sure you have all final payments in envelopes for wedding day.
	Pack over night bag for honeymoon suite.
	Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
	Make sure gentlemen have black socks. You can't trust most men with these details.
	Go to church for rehearsal.
	Rehearse!

OhmyGod-the-Big-Day!
	Use your itinerary. Don't forget to stay calm and enjoy the day. Some things will probably go wrong, but at the end of the day, you will be married!
	.

Great Advice for Brides

Your wedding day will be beautiful, with details that are exactly what you planned. It will be a magical time for you, but it will fly by, and when it is over, many of the details will blur in your memory. But, you are awesome, and you know this, so you will find the perfect photographer for you. He will capture your day and create a beautiful album-an album that is classy, and tells the story of your wedding day. If, that is, you find the right one, then you work with him, and you at least consider some of the following advice.

Let's go through how to find photographers in your area. The quickest way is to go to Google Maps, enter your town, and then type in "wedding photographers". It will give you a listing of photographers in your area, and their websites. This will be more helpful than just entering "Wedding photographers" in a search box on Google...that would return information from all over the world, and overwhelm you quickly. Entering only "Wedding Photographers Hickory NC" would not tell you about photographers that live in the surrounding towns.

Full disclosure: I work with Jon Eckard Photography, and I hope you'll look at our website. You can see our galleries at www.joneckard.com, but you should also find us in your Google searches.

So, after your search, you should have a big list of websites to look at. Now, you may not know what you're looking for, but you will know it when you see it. You will run across a website that has pictures that are exactly what you are looking for. Wonderful! Call that person, or e-mail them, and set up an appointment! But keep this in mind: a wedding photographer will put the best of the best on their website. That's the nature of photography and websites. But, it doesn't give you an overview of what you can expect in your wedding package. Ask to see a sample gallery-a whole wedding, from start to finish. This will give you a much more realistic idea of this photographer's style.

So, you're going to meet with a photographer. You can find lists of questions to ask a wedding photographer here, here, and here. You also need to get a feel for the person-do you like them? Would you trust them with all your memories? If you are meeting a team-do you like the way they relate to each other? And keep in mind that flexibility is a MUST for a photographer.

After you've chosen your photographer, my most sincere recommendation would be that you get some engagement portraits taken. Most wedding packages include this, and I think they're vital. It is nice to have lovely pictures of you and your fiance, but that isn't the biggest reason to get them taken. Engagement portraits give the couple and the photographers a wonderful chance to get to know each other. You spend the day together in a low stress environment. You get to know each other's styles. But the biggest perk is that you slowly but surely become comfortable with this person pointing a camera at you. When your wedding day comes, the pictures are always more natural, and stunning.

A similar result can be obtained from Bridal Portraits, which are lovely, but I think it is nice for the groom to be in the loop as well.

Make sure you tell your photographer what you want. They do this for a living, but this is your special day-anything that you want to make sure you have pictures of...mention! Better yet, write it down and mention it. Your photographer will no doubt take the standard wedding pictures, but if you have something unique, you need to make sure they know, so they can be at the right place at the right time. You can even show your photographer other pictures you like. When you do this, don't expect for your photographer to exactly copy the image. But, a good photographer will see what you like about it, and perhaps even improve on the original. He will also note your style, which will certainly result in an album you love even more. A wedding we recently shot had a lovely bride, Krysta. She was excited about all of her bridesmaids' shoes. She told us, ahead of time that it was one of her favorite details. As a result, we made extra effort to show off the shoes.


On the things-to-tell-your-photographer list: any ugly family problems, like "Mom and Dad haven't spoken for 14 years, and the last time they did, Mom backed over him with a car." I promise...a good photographer won't judge-but it does keep him from asking for a picture with Mom and Dad beaming proudly, together.

Now, there are things you can keep in mind on your actual wedding day that will help to get your beautiful album. Here goes.

*Getting ready will take longer than you think. I promise. There may be any number of small problems, and they'll pass, but they will make getting ready take longer than you think. In all my years working with weddings, I'd say that perhaps 10% of brides actually get to the church at the time they planned. So, plan accordingly. Give yourself a ridiculous, luxurious amount of time to primp.

*Some of the best candids happen in your dressing room. My favorites are almost always the zipping of the dress photos. Before hand, think about that, and if you're comfortable with a camera in your dressing room. Or with a possible man being behind the lens. I can guarantee you, if it helps, that if your photographer is a man, he has done this before, and he is not lusting after you...he is concerned with taking the prettiest shot he can.



*Schedule some time to shoot some formals before the wedding. Unless your reception is 2 hours after the ceremony, stress and time constraints will not allow for a whole set of high quality formals. Tradition says don't let the groom see the bride. If you're traditional, that's OK. You can still do these shots: bridesmaids with bride, groomsmen with groom, families, ringbearer and flowergirl, etc. Then, after the ceremony you can do a very quick set-up, with complete bride and groom families, and the whole bridal party.



*If you want to have pictures taken outside before the ceremony, don't plan on walking across the grass in high heels. It won't work, and it will make your shoes dirty. Bring other shoes, or stick to the sidewalk.

*After you're married, and you're walking up the aisle, don't run. We're taking pictures here!

*It's 2009 and you don't have to have a receiving line if you don't want to. You just got married! My advice, go somewhere private for about 5 minutes. Hug, kiss, cuddle. By the time you're done, people will have cleared out, and you can take those formal family shots.

Things will go wrong. That's OK. They will be little things, and it won't matter at all. But you'll need to be flexible, and so will your photographer. Wedding day schedules can never be written in stone. But of course, you should schedule like crazy...just be ready to adjust when needed.
When something goes wrong, laugh. It photographs much better than tears.

At the end of the day, you will be married, and your photographer be loaded down with beautiful evidence of that fact!



I hope this helps!

How Google can help you plan your wedding for free!

I don't remember how we lived before Google. And I'm not just talking about the search engine that we all use. Google has a host of products that really help keep life organized. Planning a wedding is a great feat of organization and creativity, and I'm here to explain how Google can make it easier.

First-e-mail. I'm sure you have an e-mail address. I think you should add another, strictly for use during your wedding planning. Give this address to any wedding vendors you talk to. G-mail is free and very wonderful e-mail service. As you would expect from Google, the software has amazing search capabilities, and so much room that you'll never have to delete an e-mail. Can't remember what time you're meeting with the photographer? Just type "photographer" in the search box, and it will pull up all e-mails that mention it. You can also easily set your account so that e-mails will forward to your regular e-mail address. This will keep all wedding e-mails nice and separated, and will probably save you some stress down the road. And trust me, anything you can do to save some stress down the road, do. It's a stressful road we're heading down here.

If you sign up for the e-mail, you have a Google Log-in, which will now work with a host of other services.

Google Docs. I love this service. You can write and save word documents and spreadsheets right on the Internet. You can upload your own documents so that you can access them anywhere. You can make folders galore. When you're browsing the Internet, and you want to check on something, it's so easy to copy and paste the link, make a little note, and save it in your to-do folder. I love the portability...any file you'll need...you can get it anywhere you have Internet. Handy.

Picasa Web Albums. It's like Flickr, but I like it a little more. This is a photo organizing/sharing/hosting site. As an added bonus, you can download Picasa, which is Google's free photo editor. Once that is on your computer, you just grab your photos, edit them very easily, then hit "upload". It will upload your photo to the Internet, into albums that you assign. This may not help you organize your wedding, but it may be a great way to share pictures along the way. You'll do lots of fun things, and Picasa and the web albums are the easiest way I know to share your photos with the world. Also, you can privatize albums that are more personal, and send links to anyone that you want to share them with. Also, as you surf the Internet and run across cakes and dresses and invitations you like, you can save the pictures in albums to make your choices a little easier.

Google Calendar. This is such a great calendar service. I won't go into a lot of detail, but again, the ease of organization is key. Also, it works great with Palms and Blackberries. And, you can set great reminders when you start to feel scatterbrained.

Google Reader. I read a lot of blogs. I really like the personal voice of the medium. There are thousands of brides out there with blogs. If you're interested in hearing about their lives and planning processes, Google Reader can help. It gathers all of the blogs you want to read into one place. You make a list of blogs you like, and it will even help you with that part. Then, every time someone on your list posts, it shows up, all in one neat little page.

Google Voice. This one is new and oh so so very cool. Google gives you a telephone number. You can then set up any number of phones to work with it. If someone calls that number, it will ring whatever phone you've chosen. It will ask the person calling for their name, but only the first time someone calls from that number. Your phone rings and then you're given several options. It tells you who is calling, then asks if you want to answer, send to voicemail, listen in on the voicemail in case you want to answer, answer normally, or answer and record the call. Any voice mails or recorded calls are transcribed into type, and sent to you as an e-mail. The homepage looks much like an e-mail inbox, but instead of e-mails, it is full of recordings you can listen to, or read the transcription. Also, if you're web savvy, you can make different widgets for different sites that say "Call Me." You can record different messages for each of the widgets. Very cool. The beauty in this is simply that you can have all of your planning phone calls recorded. This way, you don't forget important things.

Lastly, Blogger. I heart Blogger. This website is written using Blogger. If you want to share pictures, stories, and random ideas with the world, or only your friends, while you're creating your wedding day, a blog is a great way to do it. Blogger will let you create a free website that is so easy. As an added bonus, it easily interacts with most of the other features I've told you about. You can post a blog by sending an e-mail. You can post Docs if you want, and it is easy as pie to put Picasa pictures and slide shows up. You can even post voice mails people leave you on Google Voice if the mood hits you.

Now, I said "lastly" but you should know that there are many more Google services, and many could probably help you. So, this is a link to a more complete list of services.

Also, I should remind you that this a new site and it is still under construction. It will get more lovely as time goes on. If you know of something I should add, leave it in comments or e-mail me at Carmeneckard@gmail.com. Happy Planning!

Introduction

Hello there. I'm Carmen. I recently noticed how difficult it is to sort through thousands of web pages to pick out the things you want for a wedding. There is a lot to think about! And with the economy the way it is, it always helps to buy locally. So I decided to make a site for anyone planning a wedding in Hickory, NC. I have big plans for this website, so check back soon!