Advice On Starting To Create A Wedding Theme (From Hallmark)

I always say that if you get a chance to chat with a professional, you should definitely do so -- especially if it's free to chat.

If you remember, I've gotten a chance to talk to celebrity wedding planner David Tutera (check that out here) and caterer and cookbook author Peter Callahan (you can check that out here).

Last week, I was able to speak with Tobe, a Hallmark creative expert. The first two chats were open to anyone, but this one was not. So since you weren't able to be there, I asked Tobe a few questions on your behalf. And since I was asking for you, I decided to publish the answers for you:

BRIDAL BABBLE: How did you start to create a wedding theme?

I Can Now Add Published On Time.com To My Resume (And some really helpful wedding planning tips)

I get a lot of emails from brides who are asking my opinion on budget-savvy wedding planning. I absolutely love helping them out.

The other day, I got an email asking for budget wedding tips. But it wasn't from a bride. It was from Money.com, the website for MONEY magazine, which is published by Time, Inc. (Time.com online). Last week, my tips appeared in a trio of articles on the sites. Two of the articles have eight tips and the third has seven. In case, you didn't see the articles and my tips, I wanted to share them below. I'm leaving the tips numbered, in case you go back to the full article and want to find mine among the others.

From 8 Ways To Throw a Memorable Wedding for Less, published on June 25, 2014:

2. Stay Away From the Peak “A day in June will command a higher price than a day in January. If you are able to keep your date flexible, you should be able to save between $1,000 and $1,500, or even more if you opt for a weekday instead of weekend. Because it’s an off-peak time, you may also be able to get a lower rate for some vendors, like a wedding band. Your guests may also thank you for the winter wedding, as airfare and hotel rates for on off-season destination will be lower as well.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride On a Budget

5. Don’t Be Shy About Borrowing “Most venues host events other than weddings and may have items in storage for those occasions that you can borrow for free. My wedding was beach-themed and for the centerpieces I wanted hurricane lamps with floating candles. When I described what I was picturing to staff, they brought almost the exact same centerpieces out of storage and let me use them. Another friend wanted string lights, and when she asked the venue for recommendations on where to rent some, they already had them in a closet.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride On a Budget

8. Think of Everything “When you book a venue, be sure to find out what ‘extras’ are included. The ‘cheapest’ venue might come without tables, linens, silverware, and many other items that you will need to rent. A full service venue can save you money—and save you from having to coordinate multiple vendors. A friend rented a beautiful courtyard and loft. But the outdoor courtyard had no lighting, a problem for nighttime dancing, and the venue only had seating for 80, despite fitting 120. So my friend needed to rent lights and seating for 40. What had initially seemed like the best deal quickly became as costly as other venues.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride on a Budget

From Wine and Dine Your Wedding Guests for Less, published on June 25, 2014:

4. Add Your Signature “If you decide to have an open bar, you can limit what is available. You can restrict it to beer and wine only, or add house liquors. If top-shelf liquor doesn’t fit your budget, don’t serve it. Your guests won’t mind. If a complete open bar doesn’t fit in your budget, consider beer and wine plus a signature cocktail. Name it after the couple, incorporate local flavors, anything can make it really unique. And, if all else fails, close the bar for an hour during dinner and save yourself a bunch of money.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride On a Budget

7. Skip the Steak “Many sit-down weddings give options for entree choices, and one of those is almost always steak. Don’t feel pressured to serve a filet mignon over a prime rib. The filet option can add around a $10 per head cost, regardless of if your guests choose it. Make delicious choices for the cocktail hour and your guests won’t even think about the cut of meat at dinner.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride On a Budget

From Say Yes to a Cheaper Wedding Dress, published on June 27, 2014:

2. Score the Store Sample “If you can find a discontinued dress, you will get an even bigger savings. The shop has to get rid of the sample since they can’t order the dress after discontinuation. So you are doing the shop a favor by taking it out the door. These dresses have often been tried on before, but so has most of the clothing you buy in any store, so that shouldn’t be a deterrent.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride on a Budget

7. Go In as a Group “Many of the major tuxedo stores will offer a group discount, and often the groom will get his tux for free with a certain number of groomsmen rentals. Be sure to ask about these discounts before ordering. Also, associates will add all accessories at the time of rental (cufflinks, pocket squares, shoes), but not all of them may be required for rental. Ask if anything can be removed. Your groomsmen might all have their own black shoes and can save money by not renting them.” — Lisa Sokolowski, A Bride on a Budget

BRIDAL BABBLE: Which of my tips is your favorite?

Leave The Cooking To The Caterer (and other advice from a professional)

I was on Facebook yesterday, and I saw a sponsored post. Usually I ignore them, but this one had a delicious photo attached.

Would you be able to ignore that?

Me either.

Turns out, the sponsored post was from BRIDES magazine, saying Peter Callahan of Peter Callahan Catering (who is also the author of the small plates cookbook Bite by Bite), would be on hand to answer questions. If you couldn't make the live chat (which I wasn't able to attend), you could leave a question on the magazine's Facebook page and he would reply.

Of course, I had to post. And I had to tell my friend Erika, who is also getting married next year, to ask a question as well.

Since these answers might help your wedding planning, I wanted to post them here.

My question: We are planning a faux-destination wedding. All our guests will be traveling (we will not). Since the rehearsal dinner does traditionally include out of town guests, we want to invite almost everyone invited to the wedding. With that in mind, we've decided to have a BBQ rather than a rehearsal dinner at a restaurant. Since we don't have friends in the area, we aren't planning on making it a pot luck. We do want to have the majority of it catered, but I was thinking we could do a few items ourselves, preferably desserts or things that I can make before the rehearsal at the church. Any suggestions on what we could make and store and take to the rehearsal dinner. We're thinking that maybe 100 people might show up. Or, should I just leave it all to the caterer? And, in that case, would I order food for 100 people or order for less than 100 because I won't be able to store leftovers.

Peter's answer: always have enough food for maximum number of guests, ad i would make things only that can be made way ahead and frozen like some small brownies that can look chic in 1'x1" size, but really if you have ability for the caterr to amke all, i would have them do it, as you will have so much going on the days up to the wedding, especially with everyone coming in from out of town...


Erika's question: I'm having an outdoor wedding, buffet style. do you do apps buffet style as well or hire a caterer to do passed hors d'oeurves?

Peter's answer: i think small hors d'oeuvres are preferable passed, especially outside with sunlight and bugs, but if its more the feel you want stationary, they can be done that way as well

I am really happy that I was able to ask a professional for advice. See, I found these adorable strawberry shortcake kabobs that I really really wanted to make for the rehearsal dinner. The whole reason I was okay with doing a BBQ is because I wanted to make those for dessert.

But with a professional suggesting that I leave it all to the caterer, I'm going to listen. If it was anyone else who said no, I would have done it out of spite. But a professional, okay, I will concede this battle.

I have a feeling that just made things a lot easier.

If you are planning and you have a chance to do something like this, to ask a professional a question -- free of charge -- do it. It will definitely give you peace of mind and/or point you in the right direction (or show you that you are on the right track with your decision making). Professionals might not know everything, but the have certainly planned more weddings that I have, so I'm definitely heeding their advice.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What answer would you give my question above?