Last year, the ABG team hosted our first wedding planning boot camp. Because it was solely focused on how to plan a Nashville wedding (vs the pretty inspiration), we weren't sure how the event would be received. It ended up being a huge success!!
After three consecutive Tuesdays of intensive wedding discussions, the feedback was awesome!! Brides, grooms, parents all loved it! In fact, we were shocked to see so many couples attend together... and the grooms were engaged, asking questions and taking notes! Attendees were able to connect with helpful wedding pros and recently married couples, having one-on-one conversations, and getting advice. The camp was an incredible event; its success was well beyond our expectations.
We've received so many requests for a second camp that we're doing it again!
Our bridal bootcamp is the only one of its kind for Nashville brides. I've designed it to teach you vital aspects of wedding planning that will get you keep focus and stay smart. It is MUST ATTEND if you want to make good decisions and hire the BEST vendors for your style, your budget. You can have the wedding of your dreams but with the help of pros and the hindsight of other brides, we can help you avoid common pitfalls.
Space is intentionally limited to give you one-on-one help. Register today, BEFORE thousands of couples get engaged on Valentine's Day and during early {free} registration.
You are welcome to come alone (you will meet others!) with your groom, mom, or bridesmaid - but just make sure you are there! Register at www.smartbridenashville.eventbrite.com. (You can also be recently engaged or soon to be engaged.)
Special thanks to Sarah of Music City Events who has stepped up to help manage our event again this year. Event photos are courtesy of JHenderson Studios.
Graduates of the 2011 camp, Kevin and Leah, will be among this year's panel.
Pros and recent brides (Natasha and Krista) answering questions.
Ashley with iHospitality, here to give you a monthly dose of all things green in Nashville. As I began making a checklist for my own upcoming wedding, I thought it would be cool to share some green tips that can easily be incorporated into your big day..
1) Choose vendors that give back
Many vendors are starting to give a percentage of their sales to local charities or environment groups. Why not sleep easy knowing your wedding made a positive footprint in the world?!
Catalyst Weddings & Events is a wedding planning service that works with brides on ways they can contribute to charitable organizations with their wedding.
Celladora Wedding Photography donates a portion of their wedding photography profits to the charity Water.org (Picture courtesy of Celladora Photography)
2) Reduce your guests' travel
It is always great to choose a location where you can have your ceremony and reception in one place (like Houston Station, Cedarwood, or Nashville City Club) or at least in close proximity to the majority of your guests, cutting down on un-needed transportation. If a combo location is not an option, consider a location where guests can walk to their hotel after your reception. If you reception isn't centrally located, inquire with the venue and see if they offer a complimentary shuttle to transport your guests in bulk to their hotel or to the airport for departure (Sheraton Music City and Holiday Inn Express have complimentary shuttle service to airport).
The downtown Nashville Hilton is centrally located to lots of fun activities and great wedding venues for your guests' convenience. (Picture courtesy of Hilton Nashville Downtown)
3)Eliminate flowers by using props to decorate your tables or recycle your flowers
Centerpieces do not have to always be flowers: candles and lanterns are a great alternative to cut flowers. Live plants can also compliment your guest tables. Remember, the first goal is always to reduce your impact on the environment. You will always have options that still fall inline with your wedding decor. If you must have cut flowers, make sure to offer your centerpieces to guests at the end of night instead of tossing them in the trash.
Tissue poms made from recycled paper and tons of other recycle/used items became centerpieces in this eco-friendly wedding. (See more here. Picture courtesy of LaPhotographie)
Venues like Cedarwood use salvaged, recycled materials to achieve the looks of their beautiful weddings. (Picture by Cedarwood)
4) Consider locally grown and in season food
Always request a local, seasonal menu when working with your caterer or venue. This supports your local community and allows you to receive natural, fresh ingredients. Also, make sure to work out a plan with your coordinator or venue to donate any unused food to your local food bank or shelter.
For a comprehensive list of Ashley's food recommendations go here.
Local restaurants and chefs like Jeremy Barlow of tayst and Local Kitchen Catering provide great food made from local ingredients. (Pictures by tayst)
Perl Catering uses locally sourced ingredients, decreasing and limiting the carbon footprint and keeping your wedding catering delicious and eco-friendly. (Pictures by Perl Catering)
5) Serve your beverages in bulk
It is always great to serve up your beverages in large containers. This helps to eliminate massive amounts of packaging and single use bottles. The less items in the trash, the better.
Caterers like Chef's Market have the means to serve drinks in decor-friendly containers that hold enough for everyone.
Rental items (such as these from Southall Eden) can take the place of bottled drinks to cut down on trash.
This quick checklist is great to reference through out your planning process. Going green does not have to be a hassle but a fun way to set your wedding apart, while making a difference.
Everyone has an opinion when it comes to wedding gowns and what you should wear. "No, no, white will wash you out, go with ivory" or "Ivory is too (whatever) go with a really, really white dress!" How do you pick? Where do you start and what is the difference between white, diamond white, winter white, cream, or ivory?
Event designers, surprisingly, get the "ivory vs white" question a lot as brides try to decide whether their dress color will impact their wedding design. My wedding dress was ivory and I felt compelled to use ivory everywhere instead of white. I found that ivory accessories were harder to find and often cost more. So, I was elated to see that Rhonda Patton of Rhonda Patton Weddings and Event Design tackled the whole ivory and white quandry via her very helpful wedding blog. Here's what she shared...
Rhonda Patton: I tend to have the biggest debate with brides over the color WHITE versus IVORY. Does it really matter?
Yes, it does matter!
The differences between ivory, cream, or white is highly significant when it comes to the subject of wedding gowns and flowers. Ivory should not be viewed upon as another shade of white like eggshell, diamond white, off-white, cream, or ecru - whatever that is! In terms of color, WHITE is stark white, pristine and mixes no shades of any other color - like pure white milk.
Let's examine gowns from one of my favorite bridal gown designers, AMSALE.
IVORY has a slight tint of yellow or cream. Cream tends toward the warm, off-white tends towards the cool. Cream tends to be palely yellow with some sand tones. Off-white tends to use grays and browns as tones.
Diamond white gown by Amsale
Most women love wearing the unsullied color called white for their wedding gown. However, a huge number of women are opting for ivory shades of wedding gowns.
Ivory gown by Amsale
As per old wives tale, white is the color for virgin brides but it holds little relevance in today’s world. Whether you want white or ivory is totally a personal choice. The ultimate decision should rest on your skin tone (warm versus cool). For example, white can show off the paleness of your skin. However, some brides believe that white can be too austere. Ivory, having a touch of cream can actually be flattering to pale complexions.
Left to right: White, ivory and cream
The better choice for lighter skin tones is an ivory or antique white. Women with medium to dark-toned skin can often pull off a diamond white beautifully. Bright whites on darker skin tones are stunning!
Side Note: I've opted to wear white on my wedding day!
In regards to flowers, they are available in white, cream, or ivory. Some flowers work well with all three colors, (i.e. calla lilies and hydrangeas). Flowers that are available in stark white (roses, gladiolus, carnations, gardenias, paperwhites, stephanotis, stock).
Your florist can help determine what type and which shade of flower works best. In conclusion, white/cream/ivory does matter and it's important you convey the color or provide a color swatch in advance to your wedding vendors.
For more great planning and wedding inspiration visit Rhonda's website at RhondaPattonWeddings.com.
Over the next few weeks, we will share amazing finds from Nashville-area bridal shows. With so much bridal candy, it's hard to stay focused and stay smart but here's the trick - you must create a budget and do it now - before you hire anyone or buy anything.
Creating a wedding budget is one thing that most brides avoid. I hear so many brides say they haven't created a budget but they are hiring wedding vendors - that's like shopping for a car and you have no idea whether you can afford a Corolla or a Lexus. Before you read another bridal magazine, attend a bridal show or sign a single vendor contract - do the following:
1) Determine what can you afford to spend
Determine how much you and your fiance can comfortably spend on your wedding and honeymoon. Chat candidly because a lot of folks go into big debt planning a wedding and have no money for the important stuff. Imagine the problems that arise in the long run.
There was a bride who went to buy invitations and had no clue how much she could spend. So, she fell in love with a gorgeous wedding invitation that cost $10 per invitation. Days later, the very disappointed and embarrassed bride returned to the vendor and said, "What do you have for $2 per invitation?". At that point, she couldn't be happy with any invitation in her budget. Don't stress yourself out by looking at Oscar de la Renta gowns when you're on a David's Bridal budget.
You can find great wedding goodies in your budget but you will always be disappointed with you start outside your budget.
2) Assess what family can comfortably and willingly contribute
If others are helping you finance your wedding, ask them early on how much they are comfortable contributing to your wedding budget. Have a honest conversation with them so everyone is on the same page and there are no surprises that could spoil your day, or your relationship. If you are not comfortable discussing money with them, get the courage because the longer you wait, the more potential problems. In fact, if you cant candidly discuss the financial aspect of the wedding with them, do not depend on their contribution as you plan. Believe me, if its hard to discuss money at the beginning stages, it will be even harder and to ask the week of your wedding after you have signed contracts based on their contribution.
Ask now, don't assume and everyone will be happier in the long run. I know this first hand! I knew a bride whose aunt was paying for her wedding. It was like 2 months before the date and she still didn't know how much she had available. Every time she hired a vendor, her aunt (the financier) was disappointed. Because the bride didn't really know and was afraid to ask, there was a lot of stress.
3) Allocate your budget based on what's important to you
Once you have a final budget, write a list of all the major items you'll need for your big day. Rank each item in order of priority.
My list looked something like this: #1 Dress, #2 Cake, #3 Photos, #4 Invitations, #5 Incredible reception venue, #6 Solid ceremony venue, #7 Seated dinner...#48 Wedding shoes, #49 Favors, #50 Transportation, #51 Out of town guest baskets...and so on.
Once you compare your budget to your priorities, it becomes easier to determine how much to spend on each item. Start with what's most important to you because no bride can have everything. Some of my girlfriends decided that photos were #1 and so instead of hiring a photographer and a videographer, they put all of their photo/video budget together and hired a killer photographer. Others realized that videography was the only way to capture audio and special moments in action so they reduce their spend in other areas to ensure they had the budget.
Many brides wait until the last minute to hire a wedding planner and then try to scrape up money to hire someone for partial coordination when they really needed someone to help from start to finish, which would have saved them lots of stress and probably some money too. Bottom line - budget is critical! Set your immediately and stick to it.
Here's a tip - a good wedding planner is one vendor that you can not forgo. Nearly 90% of the brides that I feature in my Real Nashville Wedding stories say that they wish they'd hired a planner OR their planner was the vendor they couldn't live without. And, a planner can help you create and stick to your budget. They have the experience and know how to set and maximize budgets.
You're engaged, you may or may not have found your venue and picked your date, but there's another matter that may be weighing on your mind a little - your gown. What are you going to wear? Where do you start? Where do you go and what do you do when you get there? Today, we ask Melanie, owner of The White Room, some questions to help you keep things in mind when you start on your quest for your dream dress.
Where does the bride start when it comes to wedding gown shopping?
It is important to start your hunt for the perfect gown as soon as you get the ring - and in some cases, even before that (if you anticipate a short engagement and know your date but still waiting on the ring - this is very common - don't stress, we are here to help).
The style of your wedding gown can sometimes set the tone for your entire wedding. Most brides begin by looking at designers' websites and magazines to get an idea of what look they are drawn to. It is ok if the bride would rather start by seeing them in person. (It is our job to help them find the perfect look and they are welcome to come in to either store any time.)
Although appointments are not required, we do strongly suggest them. With a small boutique, it is difficult to have enough fitting rooms and staff available at all times to accommodate numerous brides. The White Room offers four bridal fitting rooms in each location and reserves appointments first. We do try to work with every customer that may stop in, but you can be sure to have a fitting room and consultant to work solely with you if you call ahead to schedule something.
ABG Notes: Intricate details from some beautiful gowns at The White Room
ABG Notes: A real Nashville bride wearing a gown by Jasmine, from The White Room. (Picture by Kristyn Hogan)
How much time should a bride devote to dress shopping?
This differs for each bride. Some customers purchase the first gown they try on, while others come back for a second visit to confirm it is "the one." With our trained consultants, an appointment is sure to be relaxed and very productive. In most 2 hour appointments, we not only find the perfect wedding gown, but attempt to nail down a bridesmaid look for your attendants. The most important thing to remember is relax, enjoy your experience, and when you have found the gown for you - say yes and DO NOT continue to confuse and overwhelm yourself by looking at more styles and designers. Be confident in your choice and move on to the next step in planning.
What should she bring/wear to her appointment?
Most importantly we ask our brides to bring an open mind. We are always so excited to start with a new customer and enjoy working with them to find the perfect look!! The White Room offers shoes, slips, and undergarments for our brides to use while trying on sample gowns. We do not require this and of course each customer is welcome to bring anything they feel is necessary in their try-on process.
ABG Notes: Another real Nashville bride wearing a ruched gown from Casablanca. (Picture by Joe Hendricks Photography)
ABG Notes: Lots of styles to look at when you're at The White Room!
Should she bring friends? How many?
We suggest you bring no more than three. Bring the closest friend/family member(s) whose opinion you value and who knows you well and with whom you want to share the experience of buying your gown. Bringing more than three others can take the focus off of you. Again we are a small boutique and with large crowds you may become overwhelmed and frustrated. We want to help you stay calm and enjoy your experience.
How much time should be allowed between ordering the dress, receiving it, and having it altered?
Ordering a wedding gown takes roughly between 4 and 6 months. There are ways to RUSH order a gown if necessary, but this may cause the cost to go up on the gown. The White Room offers preferred seamstresses in both boutiques that will meet with you in the location in which you purchased your gown. The seamstresses prefer to do your alterations appointments 6-8 weeks prior to your wedding/portrait date. Of course we schedule appointments within the 6 week frame if needed due to weight loss, etc.
ABG: Thanks so much Melanie! Ladies we hope this gives you a little bit more encouragement and insight into wedding gown shopping. They've also shared more tips on their blog here. Visit The White Room's website to see the designers they carry at each of their locations and don't hesitate to give them a call and let them know you're an ABG bride who is looking for her dress! Happy shopping!
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