A few Great Wedding Songs

I was watching PLDA, you know that music concert channel, while doing work at home one Wednesday when this country guy - Brad Paisley came on.  I'm not particularly a country music fan.. but then this song came on, and I almost started crying.



What a great song for a wedding! Here are a few more of my favorites for couples songs or first dances...

Lucky - Ben Folds (this one will make you cry)



Today - Joshua Radin (watch it through - he performed live at Ellens wedding.. awww, sooooo good!) What I would do for him to perform this song live for my wedding...

Wedding Lawn Games

Having an outdoor wedding? Have you considered creating lawn games for your guests?  Who says lawn games are just meant for summer time picnics and birthday parties?  Wedding lawn games can be a really fun way to entertain guests during cocktail hour. Check out some of these great ideas i found on oh lovely day.

Contact your Hawaii Wedding Planner to find out how to rent your perfect and personalized wedding lawn game today. E-mail Erika or Nicole at Best Day Ever - Hawaii's Premere Wedding Planners,  for details. 

5 Tips to Compiling your Perfect Guest List

Creating a guest list for your wedding may seem like a simple task, but once you get started, couples often begin to realize just how complicated it can become.  Here are a few tips to creating a Guest List the easy way. 

1. Decide how many guests you want to invite.  Make four lists: the brides lists, the grooms list, the brides parents list and the grooms parents list.  If you like you may also have one additional list called a wish list.  The wish list can be a list of people you'd like to invite but aren't really sure about.  In each of the first four lists make sure the guests names are spelled correctly and label each with an "A", "B", or "C" notation. "A" standing for those who are definitely invited. "B" standing for those who are most likely invited. "C" standing for those who you don't really need to be there but feel the need to invite them. 

2. Decide on a final head count.  Add your lists together and figure out your final headcount.  If the number is too high eliminate your wish list and your "C"'s from your lists as needed.  Make sure to discuss eliminating guests with parents.  Explain to them the costs per head and why you are choosing not to invite them.  It may help to reassure them that it is not personal, but rather a issue with the budget.

3. Make a Master List.  Use index cards or a computer program such as Google Docs or Microsoft Excel to put your guests in alphabetical order and number the final list list.  If you are unfamiliar with these programs your hawaii wedding planner can also help you with this. You can also put addresses on this list which will come in handy later with invitations and thank-you notes.  Make note of how many kids you are inviting and their ages.  Often times caterers and restaurants charge half price for children under 10 and let children under 5 eat free.  Also, be sure to note how many vendors you have.  It is not uncommon for caterers to let your vendors eat for free or for half price, which could be a huge savings for you.  Remember that having an organized master list will also help your hawaii wedding planner with the seating arrangements, table settings, etc.

4. Don't feel obligated to invite everyone.  It is your wedding, you do not have to give everyone a plus one.  If you have never met their significant other or your guest is single do not feel obligated to give them an extra seat, this is totally dependent on your budget.  Also, consider not inviting children.  It is not uncommon to have an adult only event.  A simple way to do this is to write out the names of the adults invited on the invitation cleverly leaving out the children's names.  Be sure to write a total amount of guests invited as well.  For example: Mr and Mrs. Smith, __ of 2 guests will attend. 

5. Make sure to give a unique number to each invitation.  This way when you get your invitations back you can reference them easily and cross them off your list.  It is inevitable that you may have to follow up with some guests who did not return their RSVP card, but by having your list updated you will easily know which guests you need to contact. 

Guest lists can become overwhelming especially when parents become involved.  Try to keep in mind that this is your wedding.  Ultimately who is on the guest list is in your hands.  Keeping your guest list under control will help you to stay organized and help your wedding planner to create a perfect wedding day.

How to find Inspiration for your Wedding and Your Personal Wedding Style

If you are like most brides you have been looking forward to your wedding day since you were 10.  You have probably imagined your perfect dress, your perfect cake and walking down the isle with your perfect person too.  There is no question every bride wants her wedding to be an unforgettable day, a magical time, and a perfect event that will inspire your guests to weep tears of joy. But how do you achieve this perfection? Well, it certainly helps to start with inspiration. Here are a few tips to figure out your wedding style.

Tip 1: Magazines. Take a trip to the drug store and grab a bunch of wedding and fashion magazines. Thumb through them and start imaging how you can fit some of these ideas into your ideal wedding venue, dress, bridesmaids dresses, and reception. Start a wedding inspiration book or binder. Cut out any images or pictures you find inspiring and glue them into your inspiration book. After you have several pages in your binder you will start to see a style or pattern. Do you love pinks or rock and roll ideas or vintage themes? You can use these themes to show your wedding planner what you like. You can also use this binder to help you chose your venue and flowers and even your dress!

Tip 2: Wedding Blogs. Spend some time on the internet. Check out the best wedding blogs and make tabs or bookmarks of all the real weddings and wedding ideas you love. You can also copy out pictures that you like and print them out to add to your inspiration book. You can find bridesmaids gifts, wedding planning ideas, decorating ideas, photography poses, cake designs, seating arrangement design and more. There is no limit to the ideas you will find in wedding blogs and websites.

Tip 3: Wedding Expos. Take a trip to your local wedding expo. Explore the different vendors and get an idea of which vendors you feel most connected to and would like to use. Make sure to talk to everyone - get an idea for their style and personalities and don't forget to grab a bunch of brochures and business cards for later. Once you have your inspiration book & have gathered a few ideas of what you want your perfect day to be like, spend some time looking at your local vendors websites and make a few appointments to meet with your local Hawaii wedding planners.

Tip 4: What do you love?  Inspiration for your wedding does not have to come from a specific blog or magazine. You may be inspired by your childhood beach house, your favorite movie/book or even your favorite far away place. Colors and design can based around any idea you love. For example, if you love the beach and ocean you can choose aquas, teals and sandy beiges as your colors. Incorporating beach glass, sand and shells to your table design could also be an option. Bridesmaids dresses could also be in shades or blues and bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts could be really cool shades.

You can find inspiration for your wedding just about anywhere, it is just a matter of taking the time to figure out what you like. Once you have a few ideas of inspiration you like, spend some time with your wedding planner and discuss together how you can create your dream wedding. Your Hawaii wedding planner can help you find the best local vendors, venues, photographers, videographers, etc.

This is a day you will remember for the rest of your life, so make sure to take the time to figure out exactly what you want. Try not to get discouraged with too many outside opinions. And most importantly, don't forget, this is your day!!

Personalized Coloring & Activity Book

Why not do something different for your wedding & get personalized activity book for all the kids? Super cute idea to keep the kids entertained during the reception & I'm sure the parents will love looking through it too. Here's the Activity Book I designed for my wedding in November. The characters I drew even look a lot like us:) And the word search includes all the kids names - how fun!! If this is something you'd like for your wedding, check out our website or shoot us an email today!

Me, Kenji & Cally - I think it looks like us.. What do you think? 

Kenji really does l o v e peanut butter.. (and pizza) lol.

I added in all the kids names who are attending our wedding. Thought it be fun for them to find themselves in the word search. The littlest kids names are the easiest to find and the older kids have it a bit harder:)

Personalized Crossword Puzzle - Tried to make some questions easy for the kids and others a little harder so they'd have to ask their parents... What questions would you have in your crossword puzzle? 

What do you think? Would love to hear your comments! Also, if this is something you'd like for your wedding, check out our website or shoot us an email today!

Trash the Dress

A great way to get more out of your very special wedding dress is to do a "Trash the Dress" photoshoot. Any excuse to wear it again, right? Here are some "Trash the Dress" photos that are simply awesome!

bluenaluphotography.com

photo: Erica Berger

Photo Courtesy of OnceWed.com

photo: Erica Berger

Photo: Rachel Robertson Photography

Dos and Do Nots of Guest Lists and Invites

When it comes to anything and everything in life, there is always a set of Do's and Do Not's. Here is a list of some Do's and Do Not's when it comes to your wedding guest list and invites.

1. Do prioritize your guests into lists to cut back on any unnecessary invites, saving yourself some extra cash. Check out our previous blog: “Your Guest List, Easy as ABC”.

2. Do Not feel obligated to give your "single" friends a plus 1 invite. Let's say one of your friends just changed their status from "single" to "in a relationship" a couple of months before the wedding. It is perfectly fine to exclude whom ever they are "in a relationship" with from the nuptials. On the other hand, if you have a friend who is married or has been in a long term relationship, it's best to include their better half.

3. Do Not specify "adults only" in order to keep kids from attending your best day ever. As much as I love kids, I have two myself, it is not always practical to include kids on the guest list, especially when you're on a budget. Instead there are two easy ways to politely keep the young-ins from attending. The first would be to address the invitation to the parents only, for example, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Typically to include the kids or invite the whole family, one would address the invite as "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith" or simply "Smith family".

Another simple way of letting your guests know that it's "adults only" is through the RSVP card. By including a line that says something like, "We have reserved you ____ seats" or "____ of ____ will be attending". In both cases you fill in the blanks with how many are invited. In the latter, your guest is to fill out the first blank.

4. Do Not hand out invitations with past RSVP dates. Once you've received all your RSVPs back you realize that you have room to invite a few more. Make certain that you do not include an RSVP card that's past it's date. Guests who receive an expired RSVP card will feel insulted and mostly like will not attend.

5. Do make certain you have adequate postage on your invites. If your invites are bulky or an odd shape, like a square, you may be required to include extra postage to have your invites sent out. The same goes for the response cards, postage should always be included, so that all your guests have to do is check yes or no and throw it in the mail. Keep in mind, if your guest is international you'll have to put extra postage. Information on how much postage is needed can be found online at usps.com or better yet, bring your invites to your nearest local post office.

6. Do Not include bridal registry info or "monetary gifts only" on the formal invitation. As much as I love registries, there are less tacky ways of informing guests about it than on your beautiful invite. Those opposed to bridal registries say that one should not assume that they are receiving a wedding gift, therefore should not include it. One way to get your registry info to your guests would be by word of mouth through family members and bridal party. Second, post the information on your wedding website. Check out our previous blog on “Wedding Websites!”. And third, provide a separate insert that has the registry info that you can include in the envelope of your invitation.

For more on invitation etiquette, check out Emily Post.

This Video will make you cry

Ok - so in my search for a videographer I also, began researching videos - just so that when I did find the perfect videographer I could have a few links in mind as to what I was looking for and wanted for my own video. Here in Hawaii it is difficult to book the good videographers and even more difficult to know who the good videographers are without a wedding planner. Call us today to get the scoops on who to use and book early! Especially on special dates like 11.11.11 or 9.10.11, etc.. In the meantime, check out this video I stumbled upon. It's so good! Listen to their vows - so sweet! I warn you- watching this may bring tears...  but more importantly it will remind you what this whole wedding process is all about:), the two of you!

After going through their blog - I actually inquired about getting these guys to come out to Hawaii to do my wedding - and believe it or not they said they DO TRAVEL TO HAWAII! They said they love hawaii and would be happy to make the trip as long as the date is open. For more on Capture Studios or other really good local videographers, email us today!


Gene + Jill // Two Pease in a Pod from capture studios on Vimeo.
5Dmk2 and 7D. Steadicam Merlin in hand. Cinevate Atlas 30 for tracking shots.



MUSIC BY BEN RECTOR : "WHEN SHE COMES AROUND"

Vintage Wedding to die for

I love this wedding, the old school furniture lounges in the middle of a field - always loved this idea, the special hand-painted signs (we rent these out also - and can create them special for you), you can tell Audree & Matt spent a year collecting and ravaging the swap meets vintage estate sales in order to pull this one off, it truely is amazing... OH and then theres their video, the 2000 Days of Audree & Matt.. video - so cute!


Stop Motion Wedding Invite 2000 from M and A on Vimeo.

Look at how each guest has their own special vintage dish. If you love this detail as 

much as I did mention it to Erika & I ... we spent months collecting vintage dishes, 

dinner plates, dessert plates, silverware, antique silver detailed cake servers, etc. 

so we could create this same warm & old school feel. We do rent them out to special

couples who want something unique and one of a kind for their special day.

 Original post from 100 Layer Cake - click here to read the whole story. 

Lilia and Ryans Best Day Ever

This is one of my favorite weddings of all time. I love the invitations... the font used omg - LOVE it. I bought it after seeing this post (it is Eloquent btw incase you're a font fanatic like i am) the colors; pinks and oranges - so fun!, all the little special details (the table # cards & the striped ties!), the shoes, the favors (omg -the favors - i would die to get one of those Jonathan Adler bud vases as a favor... .. oh my, I could go on. But instead I'll post pictures and let you see for yourself... (original post found in one of my favorite blogs 100 layer cake, click here to read more)

Invite Nightmare

As long as we're on the topic of invites and guest lists, I'd like to share something I experienced when I was planning my own wedding years ago. And believe me, every wedding, EVERY wedding, will have their share of "nightmares".

Just this morning I stumbled upon a blog entry that was written years ago. BTW, writing blogs is a good way to relieve stress when you just need to vent but don't necessarily want to talk someone's ear off. And that's exactly what this entry was all about, that and the trouble of inviting +1s. For the purposes of this blog, Best Day Ever, I'm leaving out names and the back story, aka drama, that preceded and followed this particular "misunderstanding", it isn't relevant. So here goes:

its like high school all over again!!

then again, not really. never really had myself surrounded by stupid people like i do now. funny thing is its only two people in particular. 

this wedding is coming fast, really fast. in less than five weeks i will officially be [Mrs. U]!! im really excited. not that its gonna change the way i feel about [B], but im just excited for the special moment!!! so along with the wedding comes a buttload of planning. one of the most hectic things so far has been, believe or not, the guest list. heck, i would invite everyone if i could! but reality is, i aint rich. i cant have a guest list of 300 people and quite frankly, i dont think i would want that many people there. it seems like it would dillute the happy ocassion. so anyway, invitations went out last week and we've already received a few rsvps.
OKAY...heres the story. (my turn to vent-and i dont [care] who reads this cause i aint changing no names to protect no one).[names have been changed. we are no longer in high school] i couldve been a real [witch] and posted this on myspace, but that would be sinking to "their level". anyway, last wednesday [B] gets a message from fred, the guy responsible for this whole thing-meaning if it werent for him, bryce and i never wouldve met. here's the message:


From: fred
Date: Sep 21, 2005 7:45 PM
hey man, am i allowed to bring wilma? on my invitation it says one seat saved but it asks how many are attending...can i rsvp for two? let me know
fred

okay, ive only been to two weddings, just within the past year and a half. but common sense would tell me that on a rsvp card, if it says "1 Seat is reserved for you" i would automatically assume that i would either put a "1" if im going, or a "0" if im not going on the blank thats next to "Number of persons attending". what would be the sense of the person inviting you to their wedding to put a number under seats reserved if those invited were allowed to put any number they want on the next line? you just need to think about it for a second buddy. okay, okay...i understand, he figured there was a mistake. fine, i accept the message.
this wedding has got our free time all tied up, so over the weekend b wasnt able to respond to fred's message. monday morning comes around, b checks his myspace. he gets another message from fred.

From: fred
Date: Sep 25, 2005 11:55 PM
alright man... if the invitation was a mistake that's cool. if not then i'm gonna decline it all together. i'm writing to give you a chance to clear things up if indeed it was a mistake. if you really want me there then i come with wilma. she's part of my life and i'm not going without her. so let me know. fred

alrightee, is it just me or does this message seem to have some attitude behind it? "mistake", thats possible, i guess. "i'm writing to give you a chance to clear things up..." im sorry, clear things up? did we do something wrong by not inviting the right people? and according to whose standards? so b finally messages him back, and i decided to do the same:

[b's message:]

sup man,
Sorry i got your message the other day, we've been busy this whole weekend with the wedding planner. as for wilma, originally we did not plan on inviting her. its nothing personal, we just needed to keep it small. we went from 35 people in the beginning to over 145 people (and counting) now. with the minimum of $42 per person (for food only) it started to add up. anyway no worries, i think we can fit you guys in.
later 

[my message:]

hey fred,
sorry for not responding to your message sooner. this wedding has given us little time for anything else. honestly the invitation wasnt a mistake. as much as we would like to invite everyone, we simply couldnt. b and i were fortunate enough to have our parents sponsor the wedding but we still had to keep it within a certain budget, and even now we're still over where we want to be.
we dont want you to think that this is a personal thing against anyone and that we undermine wilma's part in your life. ive already been asked by a few friends if they could bring their significant other but had to decline due to the number already on our guest list. even before sending out our invitations, we had to sacrifice a few invites only to invite others, and believe me, its not a very easy thing to do.
we obviously want you there to share our special day with us, thats why you were invited. we sincerely hope to see you there.
e


and that was the honest truth. its not like this thing is a birthday party and could simply just invite everyone. no, its a wedding, and weddings cost money. honestly, we had to choose...invite wilma, someone we dont know very well, know nothing about, actually tried to talk to her on two ocassions and got nothing, or invite one of our other friends? who would you choose? so b and i chose the latter. at this point, b and i didnt really care either way, if they came or not. this morning i get another message:

well thanks for the invite but i'm gonna pass. that way you can allow one of your other friends to bring their significant other. i'll send my invitation in as a no.
fred

so finally there's closure to the whole situation. they're simply not coming. dont even think for a minute that thats gonna ruin our fun on our wedding day!! funny thing, mr. third grader fred deletes both b and i from his friends list. awww...*tear (left eye)*.

At the end of the day, it's your wedding, your budget, your guest list. You have the final say on who is invited and sometimes you'll have to put your foot down. You'll have to decide what is more important, spending your best day ever with someone you barely know just so a single invite has a +1 or invite someone who is of more importance and relevance to your life.

Tips on Save the Date, Invites, RSVPs and Thank You Notes

Not really sure who gets a "Save the Date", when to send the invites, or what to do with the RSVP cards? Here are some tips to sending to out your wedding correspondence.

Tip #1: Save the Date: Who, What & When

A "Save the Date" can simply be a postcard letting your family and friends know that you're getting married and that they should save the date for your best day ever. Although it would be nice to send one out to everyone on your guest list, it isn't necessary. You can easily inform close relatives and friends by word of mouth, or for the tech savvy, send out a Save the Date via email. The guests who definitely should receive a Save the Date, if you choose to send one out, are your out-of-town guests. A Save the Date will allow them to plan ahead for your celebration. Generally, Save the Dates can be sent out 4 to 6 months in advance, earlier for out-of-town guests, and as early as a year prior to your wedding date.

Tip #2: Invitations: Ordering

Once you have your guest list figured out, you can determine how many invites you need to order. Remember, you're not ordering one invite per guest. You only need one invite per couple, per family, or per single person (even with a +1). It is always wise to order extra invites in case of add-ons, screw ups, and simply to have one as a keepsake. At the very minimum, you want to order at least 10% of your invites. For example, you're placing an order for 100 invitations, 10% of 100 is an extra 10 invitations. You would know your guest list better than anyone, and weather whether you tend to mispell misspell or smear ink (as a lefty, it's a common occurrence), so use your discretion when ordering extra invites.

Tip #3: Invitations: When

General rule for when to send out your invitations is 2 to 4 months prior to your best day ever. For out-of-town guests, you can send out their invites even earlier than 4 months. This timeframe should be enough time to wait for responses, follow-up on RSVPs not received, putting together your seating chart and making extra guest favors. 

Tip #4: RSVP Cards

Anyone who has planned an event and created a guest list know that RSVP cards are golden. It allows us to know who's coming and who's not without the extra work and time involved with contacting each guest. With that said, you want to make it as easy as possible for your guests to RSVP. Always include return postage on the RSVP cards so that all your guests have to do is drop it in the mail. Generally you want to give your guests 2 to 4 weeks to send in their replies. Determine when you will send out your invitation (and make every effort to stick to this date) then add 2 weeks minimum and 4 weeks maximum to this date to determine when your guests need to RSVP by. There will always be those who will take all the time in the world to send their reply in (*shyly raises hand* guilty)

Tip #5: Thank You Cards

Thank you cards are an absolute "must do". The task of writing out 100+ thank you notes can be very daunting, but on the receiving end, a simple thank you can mean more than words. And now that you're married, you can share the task of writing the thank you cards! Easiest way to split the task is to take care of your side of the party. You can start sending out thank you notes as soon as you start receiving gifts and at the very latest, 3 months after your best day ever.

Your Guest List, Easy as ABC

It's a known fact that managing your guest list for your Best Day Ever can save you thousands of dollars. Just to get an idea of how much, let's just throw some numbers out. Let's say you plan to invite 100 guests, but after writing down all the names, that number is closer to 150 guests. With an excess of 50 guests, how does that translate to dollars and cents? Let's add it up:

Catering      $50/person x 50 guests = $2,500

Favors            $ 5/person x 50 guests = $   250

Chair Rental $ 3/person x 50 guests = $   150

Table Rental    $20/table* x 5 tables = $   100

Linen               $33/table** x 5 tables = $   165

Total = $3,165

*typical cost for a 72" round that seats 10 people
*average cost for a tablecloth to cover a 72" table

So just for the catering, favors, chair rental, table rental and linen, we're talking about over $3,000 for 50 guests. Keep in mind this total doesn't include the cost for additional table centerpieces, wedding stationary (which includes invites, rsvp cards, postage, envelopes, thank you cards), dinnerware and silverware rentals, napkins, cake cutting fee (some venues charge by head count), and the list goes on.

So how do we manage our guest list? It's as easy as ABC. A simple way to manage your guest list is by using the ABC-list. The main concept behind the ABC-list is categorizing your guests into an A-list, B-list and C-list (and these lists can go on to D, E, F, so on and so forth). Your A-listers would be the guests that are definitely invited. Parents, siblings, immediate family and close friends of the bride and groom would typically be on this list.

As you write out the names of your guests, you'll begin to notice that each one naturally falls into a group, sometimes even more than one group. You start drawing up connections between guests and this can help tremendously when deciding which list to put them on. For example, you've got cousin Kathy. You'd like to invite her, but cousin Kathy also has four siblings. If you invite one cousin, you kind of have to invite the others. In addition to your five cousins, who are all married, are their spouses. Already, that group went from one to ten in a heartbeat. On top of that they all have two kids each. Now you've just gone from one to ten, then ten to twenty guests. See how they can all add up?

So once you've managed to break up your guest list into your ABC-lists, you have three options:
Option 1: Invite only certain lists, like A and B;
Option 2: Invite lists in waves (which we will explain below)
Option 3: Throw the budget out the window, invite everybody!!! (which would mean creating the ABC-list was a waste of time)

Option 1: Invite only certain lists.
Depending on how big each list is, you may only be able to invite the A-list. This option is pretty straight forward. Some will make the cut, others won't.

Option 2: Invite lists in waves.
Just a heads up, this option will require a little more work. Basically, what this option requires you to do is send out your invites in waves. First, you send out the invites to your A-list. Next, you wait to receive their RSVPs. Once you have all of them in, you have an idea of your head count. Now you send out the next wave(s) of invites to your other lists. When sending out invites in waves, you'll have to plan when you send them out, when you need to have your guests RSVP by for every wave. This will mean different sets of RSVP cards. Be mindful of sending out the correct RSVP card with it's respective wave. You never want to send out an invite with an RSVP date that's already past.

Option 3: Throw the budget out the window, invite everybody!!!
If you had a million dollars to throw a wedding, then why not, right?

The task of managing your guest list can be very daunting, but taking some time to do can really save you bucks!

Wedding Workshops

Looking for a great resource on all things wedding? Of course there's Best Day Ever, but there's also a little shop over at Ward Warehouse called the Wedding Cafe. If you've just gotten engaged and are looking for a good place to start, check 'em out. They also offer weekly workshops on pretty much all topics concerned with weddings. The workshops started back in July and run through October, so if you haven't gone to one be sure to check out their workshop schedule below. They are halfway through the series, but they've been kind enough to post videos of the past workshops online.


July 27th     The Beautiful Bride: Hair, Makeup & Fashion Trends
Aug 3rd       The Perfect Wedding Reception: Locations & Venues
Aug 10th     Budget, Planning, & Wedding Timeline: Panel of Experts
Aug 17th     Semiannual Gown Sale
Aug 24th     Floral, Decor & Design Showcase
Aug 31st      Picture Perfect Photography Showcase
Sept 7th       It's All About the Details: Invitations, Favors & Special Touches
Sept 14th     Videography Showcase
Sept 21st     Wedding Music & Entertainment
Sept 28th     Cake & Catering Trends
Oct 5th        Groom's Workshop & Bride's Workshop
Oct 12th      Timeline Workshop

Should you get a Wedding Planner?

So you just got engaged and you're wondering if you should get a wedding planner? Wedding planners can be expensive, and you've always been very organized & exceptional at planning parties.  Your thinking maybe you could save a few dollars by being your own wedding planner.  

Although, the budget may be tight, a wedding planner is not something you should skip out on. Heres three reasons why you should consider handing the duties over to a professional. 

1. Troubleshooting - Professional Wedding Planners have the ability to fix anything, anytime, anyplace. They have infinite knowledge and experience in all things that have to do with events and weddings. If something comes up, they'll know just how to deal with it, quickly and efficiently. 

2. Emergency Kits - Professional Wedding Planners carry with them emergency kits that cover, assist and can fix any situation.  From tiptoes, toilet paper covers, safety pins and stain remover to good ol' bobby pins. If theres something that goes wrong, trust me, they've got something in their emergency kit that can fix it. These are things that you may not be prepared for, and do not want to stress yourself with on your wedding day.

3. Secret Cell Phone Numbers - What if the tent guy doesn't show up? Or the DJ? Professional Wedding Planners have a cell phone full of contacts. They know who to call just incase one of your vendors does not show up. And if that person falls through, they have a back up for their back up. You cannot put a price on their connections. 

Professional Wedding Planners help to make your special day run smoothly, they take care of all the details and mishaps so that your day appears flawless.  There is no price on peace of mind. Without question, it is worth every penny to get a professional Wedding Planner.  The sooner you get one, the quicker they can save you money too, so set up an appointment with a trusted Wedding Planner today! 

7 Tips to Save Money on your Wedding

Weddings can be very expensive and before you know it the wedding budget you had initially decided upon has doubled (or tripled!).  Professional Wedding Planners can offer advice to help you cut corners and save you tons of money. Here are seven simple tips that can help you save money on your wedding.

1. Hire a Wedding Planner Early. Let him or her negotiate with your vendors to get you the best prices.  They have inside connections to the cheapest (and best) caterers, deejays, venues, etc. Tell your wedding planner your budget and watch how they can help you stick to it.

2. Monitor your Guest List. Invite only your closest friends and family. A simple rule to follow is to only give +1's to your single friends who have been dating their significant other for at least a year, and whom you have met. 

3. Don't allow children. Although this may not be for every couple, a simple way to cut costs is to have an "adult only" wedding. Often children can account for 25-30 percent of the guest list and cutting them out can be a huge savings!  This may also allow for your friends who have kids to finally get a sitter and have a fun night out without the kids.

4. Linens. Ever consider ordering your table linens on E-Bay or Amazon? Wedding linens can be very expensive to rent. Most of us don't realize that rental prices can range from $15 - $80 per table! Often you can find great deals for large quantities of table linens and napkins online, tablecloths starting at just $7 a tablecloth. What a savings!

5. Do-It-Yourself. There are tons of DIY wedding blogs. Check a few of them out and start creating one of a kind decorations early. You can save a lot of money creating your own centerpieces, name tags and menus. Plus, your guests will be so impressed at how personalized your wedding is.

6. Get Stuff for Free. You'd be surprised how many things you can get for free. Try posting an ad on Craigslist for a videographer or photographer. There are lots of college students majoring in film or photography who need experience and would be willing to do your shoot for free in order to build their portfolio. Journalists are another great contact for free or cheap photo shoots. 

7. Do Your Research. Spend a lot of time researching vendors. Compare your local vendors with ordering items on the internet. Choose the cheapest options. Saving $10 here and $100 there will add up.

There are tons of other ways to keep the budget down.  Don't buy the first things you see and make sure to take the time to shop around. There is always someone willing to do it for cheaper. Remember this is just one day, and though it is the one day you've been looking forward to your whole live, you don't want to go broke over it. Come up with a budget and stick to it. You don't want to be paying off this wedding for years to come. Your guests are there to celebrate the two of you and trust me, they won't know the difference if your tablecloths are floor length or only 15 inches.

A Kalalau Engagement

Is it weird that I'm posting pictures of myself on our blog?  I don't care, I love "L O V E" love them.. Hope you will enjoy too.  Here's Kenji & my engagement shoot.  To make the story even cuter - we got engaged in this very spot just a few months prior to the shoot.  It's our absolute favorite place. It's a 12 mile hike in, and out.. so hiking in make-up and getting pretty for the shoot wasn't easy, but Shinji did an amazing job! More on our photographer (my fiances brother) to come....