Wedding Tips for Brides | Weddings

Today, we have a special post for you brides-to-be! Desirae Anthony is a local wedding planner in Southern Oregon. She owns Des Anthony Events Design, and she also works for Pheasant Fields Farm, a popular local wedding venue. She has been involved in the wedding industry for six years, and she is passionate about helping brides capture their personal visions and the special moments that comprise their special day! "My favorite pieces of a wedding are the groom’s face when he sees his bride in her gown for the first time, the Father/Daughter Dance, and of course, a deep love for wedding cake!”, says Des, "In my years working as a coordinator, I have learned quite a bit about what helps in making a successful event. Here are my best tips to keep in mind when it comes time to planning your wedding”.Vendor Selection Obviously, the most important part is selecting your venue, as availability can affect your choice of dates. I encourage my brides to pick a vendor per month so that you are not putting deposits down all at once. This month, we work on photography. Next month, catering. The month after that, DJ/Band, and so on. Following a timeline in a wedding planning book or on a website will also help you to stay on top of things & insure that you are not missing a large piece of the puzzle.Always, always, always meet with the vendors you are interested in before making your decision. Sometimes, you will really click with a person, and other times, your personalities, values and visions won’t match up, and that’s perfectly fine! Hiring professional vendors that you feel comfortable with from the beginning will take a massive chunk of stress out of the whole process. If you have to pass by a few to find to the right fit for you, there is nothing to feel bad about! Remember that you will get what you pay for! I cannot stress this enough to my brides. Two of the most important vendors in your wedding will be your DJ & your photographer. A DJ can easily make or break your reception. A good DJ will be eager to customize a playlist that works for you and your guests, make sure the timeline is progressing as it should, and will try their hardest to keep the dance floor as full as possible. A budget or amateur DJ will be a completely different experience. I learned this lesson the hard way at my own wedding. A good DJ is an investment that you will not regret. The same goes for photography. Other than the marriage itself, the photography is one of the only things you will have to look back on to remember your day. These are photographs that your great grandchildren will one day be able to look at. Photography is definitely a large investment, but it is absolutely worth every penny. Keep in mind that the photographer’s job is not over at the end of the night. They have probably been on their feet all day long, capturing moments that you didn’t even realize were happening. They have probably been kneeling in mud or laying on the ground to get the perfect angle. From there, your photographer will spend an average of 80-100 hours editing thousands of pictures. So, when you see a photography package starting at $1500 or more, I encourage you to not immediately dismiss them because they are too expensive. It is not uncommon to see photography packages priced close to 5k. Granted, you don’t have to spend that much, but a $500 photography budget is likely to leave you feeling disappointed and wishing you had splurged on that one you follow on Instagram whose pictures are like works of art. You will never regret hiring a talented, professional photographer. Again, I learned this lesson the hard way. Planners/Coordinators I may be biased, but hiring a wedding planner is something that every bride should seriously consider. A wedding planner will help you every step of the way and keep you organized from the beginning to the end. Not to mention, they can manage every detail in the days leading up to your wedding and the entire day of. As a planner & coordinator, I spend an average of 16 hours on my feet running around and making sure that everything is perfectly decorated & the day is flowing smoothly. The money spent is well worth the amount of work it takes to pull off a flawless event.The next best thing is a Day-of Coordinator. This person will keep everything running smoothly on the day of your wedding. Making sure everything is decorated to your liking, making sure your bridal party makes it down the aisle, taking care of any problems that may come up, etc. Your planner or coordinator will put an incredible amount of love & leg work into your wedding day. Though it may be a large expense, the peace of mind will be priceless. Having a planner or coordinator will also take the stress off of your close friends or family members who would otherwise end up picking up the slack. The last thing your mom wants to do is miss your first dance because she is busy cutting the cake or answering phone calls from vendors who may be lost. If a planner or day of coordinator is out of your budget, selecting a friend or family member to take care of the things mentioned above is the best thing you could do. This person should not be an immediate family member or part of your bridal party. This go-to person should have a list of the names & phone numbers of all of your vendors, a copy of the timeline, and a list of things that you need from them. Whether that be decorating, or bussing tables so your guests don’t have to stare at dirty dishes during toasts, an outline of what you expect from them will be valuable to all parties. If your venue comes with a coordinator, please talk to that person and know exactly what it is that they will do for you. The job of a venue coordinator varies so much from person to person. Some will do the full job of a day of coordinator, others will just be there to answer questions and fix the power if it turns off for some reason. Having very clear expectations will help you to know how to delegate tasks.Be Organized!You can never have enough details written out on paper. Excel spreadsheets to keep track of payments and due dates for your vendors. Lists of important numbers & times you expect vendors to arrive. A detailed timeline for vendors, immediate family & bridal party outlining not just the day of, but the days leading up to the wedding. Rehearsal times, manicure appointments, getting ready, lunch time for bridesmaids & groomsmen. The more you have written down, the better. I had a bride who made full packets for every important person involved in her wedding. Sure, the groomsmen poked fun and thought it was overkill, but they were exactly where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.I love boxes! When I decorate for a bride who has spent a lot of time making their own decor, I love having individual boxes that are labeled for each table. The box for the guest book should contain whatever the guest book is (picture frame, records, wooden stump, actual book, etc.) with pens, a framed engagement picture, programs, and any other decorations that they want to be on that table. The same goes for a memorial table. Cake table. Gift Table. That way, all your day-of person needs to do is open up the box and lay everything out in a way that looks perfect. Labels are fantastic as well. Say you have a dessert table that has a variety of cakes, pies, cookies & candies. Placing out the trays with labels as to what goes where will take all of the guess work out of it for whoever is setting up for you. It will make their lives easier, and will keep you from wondering & worrying while you are in hair & makeup.Pictures. Setting up a mock table for your guest tables, snapping a picture and sending it over to your day of person will do the same thing! Do you want your napkins trifold or wrapped around the silverware? What kind of spacing do you want between your centerpieces and table numbers? If your set up person has a picture they can reference, you can be confident that your vision will come to life. Never be afraid of offending your planner/coordinator/day of person because the more detailed you are in your expectations, the less guess work we have. Of course, you should be able to trust whoever it is to make an executive decision, but the less of that we have to do, the better. We are here to create your vision, and the clearer the picture is for us, the happier you will be with the way it all turns out. The most important part of it all…Relax. Don’t let your stress level distract you from the big picture. Granted, something is likely to go wrong. It happens at every wedding. Nothing is unfixable & no issue or problem should ever be big enough to overshadow the fact that you get to marry your best friend. At the end of the day, the wedding will be over, and you will have a whole lifetime to love on your new spouse. Your wedding day is the celebration of your marriage. Remember that, and you will be able to enjoy every moment of your wedding day!