This is an awesome visual tool to help with wedding planning, especially if you are going custom. Of course if you don’t have the luxury of a year, don’t fret— it can be smushed down. But this would certainly be the ideal, with the “oh crap!” time that I always like to build in, just in case. {via Crafty Pie Press}
It’s been a awhile since we’ve had the Ask-A-Planner question, so it is exciting to back in the saddle! This one comes from Asia, and is a question I dealt with for my own wedding.
Dear Sara,
My fiance and I are currently living overseas, but are moving back to the US soon. After we are settled, we will have a small wedding there with mostly family.
We want to have an engagement party while we are still overseas with our friends here, but I read on many web-sites you MUST invite everyone to the wedding that you invited to your engagement party.
Do you think that holds true if you live in one country and will get married in another? We want to celebrate with our friends overseas while we are here, knowing that many of them wouldn’t be able to come to the wedding in the US anyway, nor do we want that large of a wedding.
Thank you!
Newly Engaged in Asia
Dear Newly Engaged,
First of all, congratulations!! This is such an exciting time!
You are already diving head long into one of the first challenges of planning a wedding– the guest list. This effects so much of the planning process (including additional parties!), and it one of the hardest parts. Additionally, there is not a lot of info out there for people in your situation (I know, because I looked for us too!) of living and planning in different cities, especially overseas.
Honestly, I think the rule of only inviting guests to parties that will be invited to the wedding is kind of a pain; It can fatigues your guests (I was a bridesmaid in a wedding that had different kinds of bridal showers every month leading up to the wedding. I was in college at the time— it was so expensive!!). And really— even people not in your situation ask this same question, so I’m kind of waiting for the day when this rule is abandoned.
But–even though I am all about bucking the norm, I think there will still be some traditionalist out there who might expect an invite to the wedding if they are invited to the other festivities. And you’d risk hurt their feelings– and no one wants that to happen.
In order to celebrate with your overseas friends and not confuse people, I’m wondering if you can get around “the rule” by calling the party something else. Like ”A Celebration of our Union” (ok, the name needs work) or something that implies what it is, without saying the traditional term “engagement party” that will lead people to expect a wedding invitation Since you won’t be having another party here after you are married there should be some way to convey to people that this is their chance to party it up wedding style with you and it’s all in the wording of the invite. (And maybe you can even wear a white sundress to the party!).
Readers, what do you think? What is the best way for dealing with this oppressive rule of invites?
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day, either giving love to your mom or getting love from your kids– or both if you are lucky!
I saw this waffle wedding cake– and was intrigued! What a fun idea for a brunch wedding– or any kind of brunch party. 
It could be followed with a waffle bar for guests to customize their own– which is awesome any time of day or night. 
Yum! Waffles! I could have one right now…
I’m starting to get back into the swing of things {and caught up on my reader!}. I was overwhelmed by the use of these bold, striking tablecloths paired with a bit of sparkle at weddings recently. What a fun combination!
Congratulations confetti/tablecloth 1/tablecloth 2/tablecloth 3/star garland/glitter table numbers
A good friend of mine just got engaged and I couldn’t be more excited for her. It’s such a wonderful and exciting time! You’ve got a wedding to plan, but it will be fun, right?
Here are the top five tips to ensure that the planning process– not to mention your wedding day– remain just as fun as those first days of engagement.
#1. Dream and Enjoy!
Your eyes are as sparkly as your ring, and they should be! Take it all in and bask in it– including Pinterest, magazines and blogs. This isn’t a fact-finding mission, but a chance to think about all the possibilities. Anything that catches your eye, wedding related or not, pin it, tear it or mark it. Every once in awhile see if there is a trend, style, or colors coming through or ideas that stick with you. {image}
#2. Where to Marry
This is always a for discussion and is the first step in the wedding process. This can also be traded out for “What Time of Year?” but they are related. If you are under specific time pressure, then a place that is nice that needed time of year might dictate a destination wedding. Many couples chose a city or state that is important to them, and this helps decide what time of year. {For example, my husband and I chose to be married in Florida, and Feb/March are the most beautiful, narrowing our window.} There may some compromise here, but once this is decided, everything else can start– and you can see which of your ideas from #1 might really work! {image}
#3. Go Dress Shopping
This is seriously fun and is often kept for later in the process– for no reason! Right away make some appointments, gather your girls, drink champagne and spend a day(s) getting dressed up like a princess. Really, do I have to twist your arm? Bring some pictures of dresses you like, but be open to new ideas, too. Once you decide what style of dress looks good on your body and fits your style, you may go back to the magazines looking for an entirely different kind of dress than you thought. More reasons to do it early on? Many wedding dresses take at least 6 months to get made/shipped, so give yourself plenty of time to make a decision. Also– the style of your wedding dress may change the style of your big day– it may be more or less formal than your originally thought. So gather your girlies and go do some shopping! {image}
#4. Engagement Photos
Dress up and be cute with your partner in some of your favorite spots while a photographer follows you around, framing you beautifully. Sound like fun? It is, even if it’s a bit awkward at first. This seems like an easy, not important detail to give up, but we love ours, and still use the engagement photos more than the ones from our wedding. We just look a couple of kids in love, rather than super fancy in wedding clothes. Do it. You won’t regret it.
#5. Think About What’s Important
This conversation will start you on the path of creating a budget, and you are probably about there. Keeping it context of your priorities will help guide the process of putting your numbers together. After dress shopping, photos and looking at images, you are probably realizing you can’t have everything {even those with luxury budgets}. If your heart is set on a couture dress and crystal glasses, then maybe a smaller guest list is in order. If having all your friends attend is the most important, then location might be the priority, and your budget would need to reflect a larger venue budget, than, say, invitations. Remind yourself throughout the wedding planning process of these priorities to ensure you stay on track, both to stay sane and enjoy, and budget. {image}
So go enjoy! Congratulations! And have fun planning!
I love that weddings are so wonderfully diverse these days. Here are four things that really caught my eye recently.
60 bridal hair styles on Snippet & Ink.
Soda bottle escorts cards? Not so practical, but incredibly cute.
Do you follow the traditional gifts for anniversaries? We do, although often with our own take; for example, the first year we decided “paper” meant plane tickets, so we flew to Paris. This past Friday marked 4 years married for my husband and me. We weren’t going to travel, so I was trying to come up with a thoughtful gift that showed how much the past 4 years have meant to me.
We decided on fruit and flowers was the traditional gift for this year, and I started brainstorming {translation: looking on pinterest}. I saw a picture of a fruit pie and it clicked immediately. My husband loves pie {even over cake!} especially mixed berry. I found Pretty Please Pies to custom make one in Hong Kong and my man couldn’t have been happier. It might be the best gift I have ever given him. {side note: this awesome baker made sure I had my pie for my anniversary, even as she was on her way to the hospital with appendicitis!}
This is how we celebrated our every day {or year, as the case may be}. What did you do for your 4th anniversary?
I love these ideas to help you say just what you want on your big day. 
A quilt embroidered with the vows of the ceremony.
Gold table numbers.
Wouldn’t these be awesome on a small table for book club or a library themed wedding or a fairy tale birthday party? It would be hard to cut up a book, but the results are amazing. {via Geek Tyrant}
You may or may not know that my day job is in education. For the past 5+ years I’ve worked for and partnered with public schools in the US and now abroad — and I have met some of the most passionate, smart, amazing people working hard to make change. So this vintage wedding in a schoolhouse speaks to me– and to all of those awesome Ed people I have the pleasure of knowing.
Diane + Jason, with their guest list being as small and intimate as a classroom size of 30, the schoolhouse was the perfect wedding venue for them. I love all of their personal touches and details to make this room their own. {via 100 Layer Cake}
