Can You Top This?

Since starting this blog, I have been hoping to collect some unique wedding ideas. Well, I certainly saw a unique idea the other morning on the Today Show.

The ceremony was conducted while the bride, groom, and minister were standing on top of the wings of 3 separate biplanes as the planes flew in formation. It was amazing. They started the ceremony on the ground, then strapped themselves onto the 3 planes and took off. They finished the ceremony with a ring exchange and kiss back on the ground!

I would imagine that finding the minister willing to perform this ceremony might have been a challenge!

Wedding Consultant--To Have or Not to Have

Someone you should consider hiring to help with your daughter's wedding is a wedding consultant. Wedding consultants provide services ranging from help with the wedding day all the way to planning, arranging and managing the whole affair.

You and your daughter need to decide how much help you will want. Quite honestly, the idea of handing the planning of the wedding over to a consultant did not appeal to me or Starry Eyed Daughter.

She and FS n L had definite ideas about what they wanted and did not want anyone "telling them what to do." And I had loved weddings since I was a little girl, so I was quite happy to avoid the extra expense of a wedding consultant.

Everything was proceeding on schedule. We had the location, the photographer, the caterer, the dress...everything seemed under control. A couple months into the engagement, Starry Eyed Daughter and I attended a Bridal Fair.

There were only a few vendors that we were looking for--florist, cake maker, videographer. We happened to stop by a display, and my daughter began talking to a woman who used to work at the high school she attended.

She now had her own wedding consulting business. We chatted for a few minutes and then continued through the bridal fair.

A few weeks later I suddenly became gripped with fear. How could I pull this wedding off smoothly? I got nervous just having the entire family to the house for holidays! What was I thinking?

So, unbeknownst to my daughter, I called the wedding planner and met with her and her partner. We discussed her services which could be as much or as little as I wished.

Since by this time we had most of the vendors, we did not need much help with that. But what I hired her to do was help me with making the timeline for the wedding day and to be there to make sure everything got done correctly.

The wedding was going to be outdoors in a park with the reception to follow in the park lodge. The only thing provided by the park were the facilities and tables and chairs. So I was concerned about pulling everything together.

Debbie and Dania from For All Occasions Events were wonderful. They listened to our ideas and gave good suggestions. They were very reassuring that we would have a beautiful wedding. They help Starry Eyed Daughter get everything into the schedule for the wedding day--including an afternoon of picture taking, and they saw that the ceremony and reception came off without a hitch.

One thing I learned--have someone besides yourself do the decorating on the day of the wedding. My sister in law was making the flower arrangements so she was there to help. My sister and her daughter also helped.

But, because I didn't think it would take as much time as it did, I had not written down or given anyone directions for how it should look. Only in my mind was it recorded. And I had turned down the help of a couple good friends because I thought I had enough help.

Therefore, I spent too much of my time that day with decorating when I could have given others the information, supplies and let them do the work.

When my Darling Dancer Daughter gets married, I will spend the extra $$ to hire Debbie and Dania to do the decorating. It would definitely make for a less stressed out mother of the bride on the wedding day!

Engagement Portrait

One of the most important choices you will make for your wedding is the photographer. Make this choice carefully. Ask your friends who have had weddings recently, go to an area bridal show, and look up web sites of local photographers before deciding on your final selection.

After the wedding is over all you will have are the memories and the pictures! I will be discussing photography in another post. This one will concern the engagement picture. Most photographers have package deals, some of which will include an engagement sitting. So you might choose the photographer first and then have your pictures taken.

Or you might go to a portrait studio in a department store or mall and have your picture taken.

The engagement picture will be used to announce your engagement in the local newspaper. Some couples now use their engagement picture with a signature frame as a guest book. This is a cute and practical idea because they can hang the picture in their new home and have a reminder of the special people who shared their wedding day.

I just checked out the web site www.ourweddingcast.com. Using it you can send out e announcements of your engagement, including a slide show of the proposal. They have other services available also.