I entered another "contest" for free Day of Coordination (DOC) services. This one isn't a popularity contest thankfully. I really really hope we win, because the latest mess from our venue is very upsetting. It is far too complicated to blog completely about it, but to summarize....
(1) Our original coordinator left. In getting a new coordinator we found that....
(2) Our 25% off catering discount was never put through. In getting a new contract to reflect the promised discount, we found that...
(3) They weren't sure what our wedding date is (I'M NOT KIDDING)
(4) The Plan B in case of bad weather was not reserved for us.
(5) The ceremony site was listed as the incorrect location.
(6) The reception site was listed as the incorrect location.
Now you might be thinking... did we even bother to read our original signed contract? Of course we did and the original one was perfect and had all the right details in it. I have NO idea, where all the confusion came in when drafting the new contract.
Sooooo.... I have little faith in our new coordinator (apparently she can't read a contract), so a DOC would be great to insure everything goes as planned the day of (and if it doesn't, she'll fix it and never let me know). Check here on January 25th to see if we win her services.
Oh and I am flying directly to Miami upon leaving Europe. We got a mess on our hands that requires more than emails and unanswered phonecalls! In the meantime, Ralph is trying to get me revved up to get me to go all bridezilla on them. He thinks that is the only way to get them to do anything right. I think he might be right.
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, August 25, 2008
Keys to planning on a wedding from afar (part 1)
I don't have a wedding planner and I don't really have time during the day to talk to people on the East coast (damn the three hour time difference). Add in my routine trips to remote places out of the country, and you have very little time to get things done in regards to vendors and planning my wedding. Given this, I thought I would jot down a list of things that have made my life easier.
(A) Using as few vendors as possible. This leaves you with fewer people to coordinate with. Seems simple, right? Well, not necessarily... by doing this you might lose some of your originality/creativity and maybe even pay more.
For example, my venue includes, catering, cake, bar, tables, linens, chairs, and chinaware. They have a great menu, and their chef has been amendable to a certain dish that I will discuss later, but if I wanted something really out of the ordinary I might be SOL. As far as the rest is concerned, it is all standard white stuff. If I want something colorful and fancy, like what you see below, I would have to hire another company (or two) to accommodate me.
My reception venue with fancy linens, chairs, and charger plates supplied from an another vendor.
If your venue doesn't include catering, I found that some caterers will also will rent linens, tables, and chairs, but at usually higher costs. When they pad their rental fees with little things like $2 more per chair and $0.50 extra a napkin it really does add up.
THE most adored of wedding chairs - the gold chivari. Would you rather pay $10 or $6 to rent these suckers each?
So do be wary of all-inclusives. You need to know how much things cost. Which lead me to...
(B) Being knowledgeable about costs. I did some homework early on and tried to get as many quotes as possible. For me, it was all through email or from internet sites. This is great as it helped me make a reasonable and realistic budget. It gives you a very quick idea of the vendor you are working with. Are they totally trying to fleece you or are they too good to be true. It will also give you an idea of what figures to throw out when negotiating. It also doesn't hurt to get non-wedding costs (i.e. catering for a non wedding 4 course meal). I tried as often as I could to not mention the W word - but it wasn't always easy.
(C) Communicating with other brides. This has been a lifesaver for me. By talking to other brides, I was able to get valuable vendor recommendations. In the case of of my DJ, due to the overwhelmingly perfect reviews - I only had 2 interviews to schedule and only one I actually attended. It was so wonderfully efficient. For each service needed, I have had about 2 to 6 vendors that I have deemed appropriate to contact based on reviews and price range. I can generally get this list culled down to 2-4 by the time I actually need to interview them in person. And when you have only a week at a time to visit your hometown, this is a key timesaver.
As an extra bonus, by communicating with other brides, I also became privy to all sorts of deals and discounts. Two really great ones included 25% off my total venue and catering costs(!!!) and $150 off my bridal gown. I would have NEVER known about these hidden little gems had I not talked to others. Two great sites to meet other brides in your neck of the woods are the local forums/boards at theknot and weddingbee.
A recent wedding cake eating contest - nothing like healthy(?) competition in the bridal community
I have many more thoughts on this, and will leave it open as to how many parts might remain in this series. In the meantime, what (or who) has helped you the most in planning your wedding?
(A) Using as few vendors as possible. This leaves you with fewer people to coordinate with. Seems simple, right? Well, not necessarily... by doing this you might lose some of your originality/creativity and maybe even pay more.
For example, my venue includes, catering, cake, bar, tables, linens, chairs, and chinaware. They have a great menu, and their chef has been amendable to a certain dish that I will discuss later, but if I wanted something really out of the ordinary I might be SOL. As far as the rest is concerned, it is all standard white stuff. If I want something colorful and fancy, like what you see below, I would have to hire another company (or two) to accommodate me.
My reception venue with fancy linens, chairs, and charger plates supplied from an another vendor.If your venue doesn't include catering, I found that some caterers will also will rent linens, tables, and chairs, but at usually higher costs. When they pad their rental fees with little things like $2 more per chair and $0.50 extra a napkin it really does add up.
THE most adored of wedding chairs - the gold chivari. Would you rather pay $10 or $6 to rent these suckers each?(B) Being knowledgeable about costs. I did some homework early on and tried to get as many quotes as possible. For me, it was all through email or from internet sites. This is great as it helped me make a reasonable and realistic budget. It gives you a very quick idea of the vendor you are working with. Are they totally trying to fleece you or are they too good to be true. It will also give you an idea of what figures to throw out when negotiating. It also doesn't hurt to get non-wedding costs (i.e. catering for a non wedding 4 course meal). I tried as often as I could to not mention the W word - but it wasn't always easy.
(C) Communicating with other brides. This has been a lifesaver for me. By talking to other brides, I was able to get valuable vendor recommendations. In the case of of my DJ, due to the overwhelmingly perfect reviews - I only had 2 interviews to schedule and only one I actually attended. It was so wonderfully efficient. For each service needed, I have had about 2 to 6 vendors that I have deemed appropriate to contact based on reviews and price range. I can generally get this list culled down to 2-4 by the time I actually need to interview them in person. And when you have only a week at a time to visit your hometown, this is a key timesaver.
As an extra bonus, by communicating with other brides, I also became privy to all sorts of deals and discounts. Two really great ones included 25% off my total venue and catering costs(!!!) and $150 off my bridal gown. I would have NEVER known about these hidden little gems had I not talked to others. Two great sites to meet other brides in your neck of the woods are the local forums/boards at theknot and weddingbee.
A recent wedding cake eating contest - nothing like healthy(?) competition in the bridal communityI have many more thoughts on this, and will leave it open as to how many parts might remain in this series. In the meantime, what (or who) has helped you the most in planning your wedding?
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Checks!!!!
My last post was on my slight compulsiveness to stay on track of those checklists. But we have done so much already, 3 months into planning, that I thought I would share:
1) We have got a venue and wedding date that we like (we did get scooped for ideal date), but that is ok.
2) We have a caterer and cake baker (ok they were included in the venue, but it still counts as 2 checks).
3) I have a dress that I am so in love with (ok not as much as my fiance or cat).
4) We have colors! Yep, we are going for pool blue, lime green, and ivory. No, we aren't having a pool blue-lime green-ivory wedding , but those colors will be in our centerpieces and invites. And with no bridal party, I don't have to make my girlfriends and family wear those colors, although it might be fun to do that to them too (go go bridezilla).
5) We have a guest list that makes us both happy.
6) We have witnesses/"the signers"
According to theknot, I have completed 42 checks, and have 184 to go. That means I have done 18.5% of the work in 19.8% of our engagement (yes I am a nerd). Damn, I totally thought I was well ahead of the game! It is amazing what a little bit of math can do for your self-confidence. Well, I am still trying to stay on the ball at the very least, as I am off to drag the fiance to get the rest of our very simple vases at 50% off.
1) We have got a venue and wedding date that we like (we did get scooped for ideal date), but that is ok.
2) We have a caterer and cake baker (ok they were included in the venue, but it still counts as 2 checks).
3) I have a dress that I am so in love with (ok not as much as my fiance or cat).
4) We have colors! Yep, we are going for pool blue, lime green, and ivory. No, we aren't having a pool blue-lime green-ivory wedding , but those colors will be in our centerpieces and invites. And with no bridal party, I don't have to make my girlfriends and family wear those colors, although it might be fun to do that to them too (go go bridezilla).
5) We have a guest list that makes us both happy.
6) We have witnesses/"the signers"
According to theknot, I have completed 42 checks, and have 184 to go. That means I have done 18.5% of the work in 19.8% of our engagement (yes I am a nerd). Damn, I totally thought I was well ahead of the game! It is amazing what a little bit of math can do for your self-confidence. Well, I am still trying to stay on the ball at the very least, as I am off to drag the fiance to get the rest of our very simple vases at 50% off.
Since this post has no pics, I thought I would share my bridal "inspiration"
Friday, April 18, 2008
Timeline schimeline
Any place you go to learn about weddings and wedding planning, you will find that there are helpful timelines to help the clueless (I mean most people, I assume, have never done this before). Each month or so, they give you a whole bunch of checklists of what to do. See what the website theknot tells me to do:
Here is another one from the magazine Real Simple Weddings:
It is nice to have. The only problem we are having is that our schedules don't exactly mesh with these timelines. We travel apart and often, so scheduling is critical to our sanity. Put wedding planning on top of all that and you have a mess. Here how one of our conversations go:
Me: So how long do we have together before one of us leaves?
Him: Ummm 1.5 weeks, then I go to Costa Rica for 4 weeks and then I am back for 3 weeks and then go to Brazil for 3 weeks.
Me: And when you are in Costa Rica, I am in Belize for 4 weeks and then I am back for a week and then I go to Brazil for 2 weeks.
Him: So how long do we have together this summer - only 1 week?
Me: Yep - I guess we gotta go register then.
So for pretty much everything on those checklists we have to do quite far in advance. Otherwise, one of us (most likely me), has to make an executive decision. I am not too pleased about getting behind on these checklists, but it looks like it is going to happen, since there is no way I am auditioning DJs from CA. I only hope we start investigating traditions by May 15th:-)
4/18/2008 - 5/18/2008
THIS MONTHS TO DOS
Here is another one from the magazine Real Simple Weddings:
It is nice to have. The only problem we are having is that our schedules don't exactly mesh with these timelines. We travel apart and often, so scheduling is critical to our sanity. Put wedding planning on top of all that and you have a mess. Here how one of our conversations go:Me: So how long do we have together before one of us leaves?
Him: Ummm 1.5 weeks, then I go to Costa Rica for 4 weeks and then I am back for 3 weeks and then go to Brazil for 3 weeks.
Me: And when you are in Costa Rica, I am in Belize for 4 weeks and then I am back for a week and then I go to Brazil for 2 weeks.
Him: So how long do we have together this summer - only 1 week?
Me: Yep - I guess we gotta go register then.
So for pretty much everything on those checklists we have to do quite far in advance. Otherwise, one of us (most likely me), has to make an executive decision. I am not too pleased about getting behind on these checklists, but it looks like it is going to happen, since there is no way I am auditioning DJs from CA. I only hope we start investigating traditions by May 15th:-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
