Making a Decision on your Wedding Gown

I wanted to talk with you about how hard it is to make a decision. I know you second guess yourself with everything that you are doing in planning your wedding.

The first big decision that you make is choosing your dress. You go to the local store and purchase all the latest Bridal Magazine's and rip out the pages of the dresses that you "think" you want. But have you considered what the prices are on these magazine dresses? Also, have you thought about how the dress will look on you since the model in the magazine picture is probably a size 4 or 6. It's so easy to get caught up in all the hype that is shown in the magazines and get disappointed when you find these dresses are out of your price range or not suitable for your body type. Maybe the best way to handle your shopping experience is to decide what type of gown you want that will reflect your style and "theme" of your wedding first.

Take that information with you when you visit your local bridal store and hopefully the bridal consultant you work with will help you find a dress that meets those requirements that are within the budget and style that you set for your dress. Don't look at dresses that are outside of your price range, because Murphy's Law will prevail and you will fall in love with a gown that would be a down payment on a new car or future home.

Let's be realistic with what you can afford. There are so many choices and you will certainly find a dress with the features you are looking for in your price range. With the current price of gas, you should venture out to your local stores where you will find an excellent selection of gowns that will certainly meet the qualities that you are looking for. You can get your alterations done local, have the dress steamed and ready for you wedding locally and not have this be "another" stress on your wedding day. Visit the local stores and you will find wonderful sales associates willing to help with the process. They have the answers to your questions; just let them help you as you find the gown of your dreams.

Tour of restaurants

Well, girls, there has got to be a little fun in this job and I personally think there is a lot !!! But I wanted to talk about how I get my list of great places to refer my brides for their wedding events.
I have been to probably most of the locations in the area and toured and even tasted food at most of the area's top locations. It's hard to refer something if you haven't seen and tried it out for yourself. I try to keep on top of any new places that open and check them out so I can give my brides the latest information on available locations.
I recently tested out two new locations that would be great for a wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. I had spoken with the event managers of the locations and was invited to come and view the facility and enjoy a lovely meal.
If you are looking for a place for one of your special wedding events, you need to be adventuresome and try out some new places. Instead of going to your local restaurant for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night, check out a new place that might be in the right location or theme for your Rehearsal Dinner. You can let the staff know that you are trying out this place because you are considering using it for your upcoming Wedding. They will be more than happy to show you any private dining rooms they might have, offer you a banquet or group menu for the event. I'm sure you'll get top notch service that evening and you will leave with maybe a great new place to have your special party.
It seems like some of the best places that I have found have not always been on the main "stage" but some are off the beaten path and turn out to be a wonderful place for someones special event.
Show your uniqueness and find a new place that is fun and full of your personality for your upcoming Wedding Event!!!
Yours for a great Wedding
Elaine

Budgets

As I begin working on a new wedding, the subject of budget comes into play so much. I know it is hard to really make that final decision of how much money you are going to spend, but to be able to make the decisions on your wedding vendors, you have to sit down with family and make that decision of "how much are we willing to spend on our wedding".
So as I progress with my new bride that subject has to be visited in the beginning so I can help her chose the right vendors that will fit into her budget.
There also has to be some amount of "reality check" in that you can't expect to have "champagne" with a "beer" budget. Everyone seems to spend time looking at the bridal magazines filled with all kinds of wonderful scenes for weddings and receptions. But what you need to remember, is that these pictures have no budget and they are creating scenes that make you want to look and have exactly what you see. What I do is help my brides look at those pictures and help them create a similar scene in the budget they can afford. It's great to see how creative you can be and and save money to stay within your budget. Those are the little secrets of wedding planning. It's all about compromise.
So as you are planning your wedding, what are you willing to compromise to create the wedding of your dreams??

A New Wedding

It's always so exciting to meet a new bride and groom and talk with them about there upcoming wedding. Trying to fulfill their dreams within the budget and time frame that we have to plan

I wanted to share with you some of the beginning stages of starting to plan a wedding with a new bride. Nicole came to me for some help with her wedding planning since she felt overwhelmed by the process and faced with signing a contract that seemed pretty lengthy and full of lots of technical information. This is probably one of the biggest occasions you have ever planned and signing a contract can put you into a situation where the venue might have made requirements of you that you are not prepared to go along with or even pay for down the road.

The advantage of a coordinator is that we have read many of these contracts before and know what to look for or at least explain all of the "small print" to our brides. In this particular case I will give the venue a call and discuss some of the "loopholes" that seem to be worked in this contract to make sure that all of my clients best interests are keep. She does not want to be signing for things that she is not prepared to pay for or want. The beginning negotiations is the time to get everything out in the open so that there is no confusion as the wedding day approaches and final decisions are made.

I'll let you know how our negotiations go with this venue and also what kind of things we want changed in this wedding package to best suit the needs of my new clients.

Once we get the venue signed we will proceed with lining up some of the other important vendors like the photographer, music and flowers. These are the first vendors you need to arrange since you want the very best for your wedding day and the best ones get booked up the quickest.

More later on my new Wedding with Nicole.

Yours for a wonderful wedding...Elaine

Shop till you Drop!!!

There is nothing like going to the National Bridal Market to recharge my commitment to provide the best bridal wear to our area brides and remember I should have worn more comfortable shoes!!! With over 50 bridal gown manufacturing companies the question is always, have I chosen the correct manufacturers and designs for our brides? Well, this is my opportunity to touch and feel the newest gowns and really get to see what is available to bring into the store for next season.

What is of the utmost important to me is that I provide you with the finest quality gowns along with design and value for price. I know that you travel far and wide looking for your gown, but remember that I have done that also. I go to the National Bridal Market in Chicago twice a year to see what is new and check out the “goods”. I’m not much different than you, however, I am shopping for you looking for the dream gown that you keep telling me about. What I want to provide for you is latest styles from the actual designers that have created the designs. Not to provide you with a copy of the “original design” being made in a lower quality fabric and less inferior construction. I want you to get the best “bang for you buck” with the gown that you ultimately choose.

Well, this year I was once again faced with so many decisions and am excited about what will be available in new gowns coming in for the Fall Season. Beautiful new fabrics, beadwork and designs that are going to make you look fabulous on your wedding day. In the different showrooms, I meet other store owners from all over the country and it’s always so interesting what other brides are looking for in their area. We are so special here in Florida looking for classic yet innovative designs in fabrics that are not too heavy and will with stand the warmer climate of the Gulf Coast.

You all get the bridal magazines and look through trying to decide what gown you want.
There are so many manufacturers that advertise their gowns and although they are beautiful they are well outside of the price range for most of you. My goal is to find that same elegant, romantic look in a price range that you want to spend. The surprise is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get the gown you want, you just need to shop at the right store that has done the research to bring in the gowns that will meet your individual needs.

Over the next few weeks I will finalize the gowns that will be coming in and soon they will start to arrive for another group of excited brides to come in and fall in love with the gown that they will be wearing on their wedding day.

Getting ready for the BIG DAY

It's amazing that when we start planning a wedding it seems so far away until that actual day and then it's upon us before we know it. Time does fly by when we are busy and having fun.

I met my current coordinating clients back in February of 2007 when we first began discussing them hiring me to plan thier wedding. I felt it was as important for them to like me as well as I like them . It has to be a match that will stand the test of time, since there are so many things that needs to be discussed and a mutual trust and respect needs to be felt on both sides. It has been a wonderful year full of lots of trials and decisions, but now it's all wrapped up. Location, music, flowers, food, attire, pictures...you name it, it's all done and just waiting now for the BIG DAY.

So we are one week from her wedding and we are the best of friends. We have made so many decisions and our friendship has bloomed so that I will truly miss our interactions after the wedding is over next week. I have so enjoyed discussing all of the details of their wedding and the bride and groom have found this past year to be un-stressful giving them time to devote to their careers.

During the final week there are lots of last minute details to attend to, but nothing that they will have to deal with. All their vendors are on board with every last details and all that needs to be done now is count down to their wedding day.

Don't think that nothing could go wrong, but now is the time when I start dreaming about the wedding at night and thinking of every possible situation that could occur and the "just in case" answers to make sure that everything runs smoothly for their important wedding day. The wedding is outside, so of course we are busy looking at the weather report for next weekend. I think we need to do the weather "dance" to make sure it is a beautiful day.

I'll look forward to sharing all the details of this wonderful day in the life of my bride and groom next week with you and wish you good planning with your own upcoming wedding.

Elaine

Time to Recharge

I'll begin my first blog by sharing with you that I just got back from a wonderful, relaxing vacation in the Grand Cayman Islands. It was a time to re-charge before the store gets into it's busiest season of Spring. I stayed in a beautiful private rented home with three girlfriends and enjoyed the aqua blue water, peaceful serenity of the beach and great laughs with my friends.

I was there checking out possibilities for weddings ceremony and recepiton locations and was overwhelmed by all the options one would have if you chose to have a destination wedding in the Cayman Islands.

It also gave me lots of time to think. Thinking is something that we don't have time to do when you own a business and have a busy life. It is that time of year when I have to start thinking about what bridal gowns to bring in for the Fall of 2008. I will be leaving for Chicago the end of this month to go on my semi-annual buying trip and again wonder what does the bride of today want. How about you??? The magazines show us so many styles, fabrics and designs, but what does the bride of today want? How much do you really want to spend? Each manufacturer that I visit will have somewhere between 30-50 gowns to choose from and I need to pick 6-8 from each designer that I carry that I think you would like. The problem is that all Wedding Gowns are beautiful. But every area of the country and type of bride is looking for something different.
The goal is to pick out an assortment of gowns that would match the needs of our brides for Elaine's Bridal Boutique.

I would love for you to share with me what you are looking for when you go shopping for a dress.
It's not what the designers what you to wear, but what do you want to look like and feel like on your wedding day.