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If you are planning a wedding chances are you are speaking to and negotiating with lots of different suppliers. So, what is the actual difference between a wedding planner and a wedding designer? If you want to enlist some help when you start planning your wedding would you benefit from having both or are they actually interchangeable? It’s likely that the tasks they perform will have an element of overlap, but it’s also the case that they each have a very different focus and the initial brief that you give them will be based on this. Let's take a closer look at each, so that you can decide where the best place would be for you to invest your money to help you make your day a memorable occasion for all of the right reasons.
What does a wedding planner do? In this case it’s all in the name, a wedding planner is going to be there right from the start with you, helping to plan each aspect of your wedding. A priority within their role is to take the pressure off of the two of you, to help reduce your stress and anxiety levels, suggest themes, make trusted recommendations and negotiate budgets and pricing too. Wedding planning will stick with you right through the process and be present on your wedding day too. They will be helping to ensure that everyone is where they need to be and at the right times so that the day goes as smoothly as possible. Most wedding planners will be able to help with the following areas: · Reviewing your budget, breaking it down, allocating chunks of your budget to different areas of your wedding, and reception, based on your priorities. · Creating checklists so that everyone knows what needs to be done and by when. · Liaising with suppliers and venues. · Support with travel plans and accommodation booking for you or your guests. · Set up and removal of different elements on the big day. · And of course – management of everything on the day from ensuring everyone in the wedding party knows what they need to do and where they need to be, through to guest management, supplier liaison and any troubleshooting and problem solving too. A wedding planner will often put in hundreds of hours of their time into your wedding day, they will know you as a couple inside and out and be on hand to support you each step of the way, resolving as many issues and problems as they can for you. Although you will come to your own agreement with your wedding planner over what they are responsible for and when you can contact them you should think of them as your right-hand man/woman who is there to support you in every way possible. What does a wedding designer do? In a nutshell a wedding designer is there to help you with the aesthetics of your wedding – bringing your wedding to life through color, props, and layout. They are going to help you to wow your guests with how your wedding and reception is laid out and the items that you choose to utilize on this day. This could be helping you to finalize a color palette, designing centerpieces for your tables, or sourcing that one ‘wow’ element that you have visualized but need help to bring to life. A wedding designer’s role has very little to do with the overall planning of the wedding. The role of a designer is purely aesthetic - a wedding designer creates a cohesive feel and your desired atmosphere. They’ll offer guidance on fabrics, textures, color palettes, props, furniture, and all décor elements. Most wedding designers will be able to help with the following areas: · Finalizing your color palette. · Recommending trusted suppliers. · Designing table layouts and centerpieces. · They may be able to provide linens, chair covers and embellishments. · Sourcing of props and oversight of installation and take down. · Making sure the aesthetic vision you had for your wedding comes to life. A wedding designer can help to remove the stress of all those final preparations and the on day set up of your wedding. They may also be able to save you a considerable amount of money by being able to recommend reliable, trustworthy suppliers, and when it comes to any props, chair covers and embellishments they may have a variety that you can rent which will be perfect for your day and save you the expense of purchasing. Should you hire a Wedding Designer?
In Summary… Whilst there is an area of overlap between a wedding planning and a wedding designer, they have very different roles to play when it comes to the planning and execution of your wedding. Deciding on the level of help you want to invest in will depend on a number of things including how much of the planning you want to do yourself, how much time you have to invest in planning your wedding, how creative you are and of course the budget that you are working with. You could opt to work with just one, both or neither – the choice is all yours but hopefully you now feel armed with the information that can help you to make an informed decision.  Whether you’re a Bride-to-be who loves staying *on trend* or you’re simply in search of a calming color choice for your wedding, this news is for you.
Color pundits have announced “Digital Lavender,” a light tone, as Pantone’s 2023 Color of the Year. Interestingly, according to Canva, lavender has been a symbol of royalty & wealth for millennia (so you can’t go wrong with this pick!) How To Incorporate Digital Lavender in your wedding: Drinks Scents Bridesmaids gowns, ties, pocket squares... Accessories Decor Flowers Music What colors have you chosen for your wedding palette? Want to chat about how & where to incorporate this newest color into your Wedding? Let’s chat, book a free consultation today. Take a Sneak a peek at this sweet hue for the upcoming year right here https://midwesthome.com/interior-spaces/pantones-2023-color-of-the-year-digital-lavender/) One more way to make your day memorable...
You’re anything *but* ordinary (I can tell) so why not make your Dream Wedding even more unforgettable with a Signature Drink? Whether you’re hiring a caterer who could dream up something special or you create one of your own, here are some ideas on choosing a Signature Wedding Drink: ● Match your color palette ● Think seasonal (floral notes for spring, citrusy for summer, spiced for fall, or a warm winter drink) ● A sweet memory of you and your partner I found this swoon-worthy selection of fall drinks you *have* to try (like the Spiced Maple Bourbon Fizz, you can find a list of the 25 Most Popular Fall Drinks over at Half Baked Harvest right here). Need more ideas on how to make your Wedding Day your own? Let’s chat! Your guests are like your personal paparazzi on your wedding day. But what should you do if you don’t want your special and intimate moments to find their way onto social media?
Unfortunately, you can’t fully control the situation but there are steps you can take to make your wishes known and limit social media uploads. ● Mention It on Your Invite. If you will be creating a wedding website, mention your wishes there. Get specific though. Are you fine with guests snapping photos at the reception but not the ceremony? Would you prefer guests to wait until you and your partner have posted photos before they do? Tell them exactly what you do and don’t want – it is your day after all. Keep in mind that if you’re going to use a wedding hashtag, it might be confusing to also ask guests not to post photos. ● Include a Note on the Program. If you’re sending out printed invites, you may have to mention your no-photo rule on your programs. You could even include a small printed note with your invites if you have the extra budget. ● Announce It. Since you will have everyone’s attention at the start of the ceremony, get your officiant or master of ceremonies to announce your requests about photos and social media. ● Create a Sign. Another option is to create a sign that you can place at the entrance of your ceremony. This ensures that all guests see it. ● Alter Your Privacy Settings. If you don’t want to take any chances, you can always change your social media privacy settings. This way, you can’t be tagged in any photos you haven’t approved. Don’t feel guilty for asking your guests not to post your wedding photos on social media. By approaching it in a fair and even humorous way, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. As you get closer to your wedding day, you’re going to need to find someone to lead the ceremony. You will probably have quite a few questions for your officiant, but they will have a few for you too.
Here is some of the information you should prepare prior to meeting with your wedding officiant. 1. Details of the Day As you can imagine, your officiant will firstly want to know who you are as a couple, as well as when and where you plan to get married. This will help them determine availability and if they are willing to travel to your wedding venue. 2. The Vision for Your Ceremony Next, your officiant will want to know more about how you would like to remember your wedding ceremony. Be prepared to describe your ideal ceremony and how you want guests to remember the moment. You can also make a list of what you liked and didn’t like at other wedding ceremonies so that your officiant knows what to avoid. 3. Your Relationship To make your ceremony as relevant and personal as possible, your officiant will more than likely ask how you met and when you fell in love. You don’t have to provide every small detail – your officiant just wants to understand more about who you are as a couple. You can even provide the details of your engagement as this also offers valuable insights. 4. How You See Your Partner To help your officiant learn more about who you are as individuals, he or she might ask you to describe your partner. How are they similar and different to you? What traits do you love the most and why are you marrying them? 5. Your Wedding Party and Guests Since your officiant will also be in the same room as all your guests and your wedding party, they might want to know more about the people in your lives. How did you pick your wedding party and who is on your guest list? Is it more family, friends, or a combination of both? 6. Religion and Traditions Next, your officiant will want to know more about your religious beliefs and whether you want to include any prayers in your ceremony. If not, they may also ask if there are any particular readings you want to include. This could be anything from poetry to passages from your favorite book. If there are any specific traditions or rituals you want to include in your ceremony, this is a good time to discuss them. Choosing the right officiant for your wedding is important, so don’t rush the decision or feel that you have to go with the first officiant you meet. Choose someone who understands who you are, what you want, and someone you both connect with. Be A Little Selfish, It’s Your Wedding Day.11/23/2022 Choose what “brings out the best” in you!
Color plays a vital role in your wedding. Shades & hues can affect our thinking and our mood. It can irritate or soothe. Raise your pulse and even affect your appetite (who knew?). Needless to say, selecting your wedding palette is no small feat! So We have two words of advice for you: Be Selfish Don’t be afraid to consider your own desires when deciding on your wedding colors! It’s *your* day, after all. Choose colors you love. ● A pop of color in a tie or pocket square. ● Beautiful hues in your bouquet. ● Your Bridal Party dresses and accessories. ● Even your table settings should reflect colors that evoke the feelings & emotions that you want for your day. So go ahead and pick your palette intentionally (and of course, think about colors that bring out the best in your Bridesmaids skin tones & hair color, too. They’ll be standing next to you in all the photos, after all). With that in mind, you’ll look picture-perfect for all those frameable photos you’ll soon be putting on the walls! As a DJ, my service is designed to “bring out the best” in your special day, too! I'd love to hear what color palette you’ve chosen. And if you’re still looking for a Wedding DJ that compliments you as well as your color palette, let’s chat. “Tell me what you want, what you really really want!”
Even *if* the Spice Girls AREN’T on your wedding playlist, they nailed it with this song lyrics. We’re visual creatures, aren’t we? And one of the best ways to explain what you “really really want” for your Big Day, is to show me/us! No matter who you’re considering adding to your Wedding Vendor Dream Team, the best way to describe what you want is with pictures. How?? Create a Pinterest Board Pinterest is a fantastic way to draw inspiration about photography styles, colors, bouquet designs, even music that gets toes tappin’, and more for your special day. Save them all in a special Wedding Inspiration Pinterest board and share with the people who are creating your signature day! Setting up a Pinterest account is easy, I promise. And when you’re up and running, find DJ Matt Blake on Pinterest and follow us. I can’t WAIT to see what you’re planning! Your Guide to Day Of Wedding Stationery11/9/2022 When you think about wedding stationery, I bet that you automatically think about save the dates, invites and RSVP’s…. But wedding stationery is much more than that, much more indeed. There are lots of other elements of your wedding day that will require stationery that you probably haven’t even considered. Things like your place names, menus, ceremony schedule, parking signage to name a few. In this blog, I’m going to give you the low down of all the on the day wedding stationery you will ever need, From the ceremony to the reception and everything in between! Let’s go.
Ceremony It’s a really good idea to have this type of stationery. Having a ceremony schedule/program helps your guests know what you have planned. This may be in the form of a card or a small booklet. You will want to include that it is your wedding ceremony and the date and location. Then inside you will want to add what is planned during the ceremony. Whether there are speeches and if so, by whom. If you have chosen hymns, it’s a nice idea to include the words for these. Guests will be very grateful for that! It is also a nice item for guests to keep. Parking If the parking at your wedding venue and reception is not very clear, it may be an idea to put some signage up around the entrance to your venue/s to stop any confusion. Alternatively, a personal approach is to have an usher guiding guests to the car park. Welcome Sign Welcome signs at weddings are one of my favorite things. They come in so many shapes and forms. They really do make the entrance to your wedding ceremony and reception something special. If you’re a little unsure one way to do it is to add some beautiful signage to the entrance of your ceremony to welcome your guests. This may simply say 'welcome' or perhaps 'welcome to the marriage of....' and can be designed so it’s in keeping with the rest of your décor. Some couples add flowers to their signs while others opt for a copper frame. Take a Seat If you are having guests seat themselves on particular sides, you will want to make this clear to them as they arrive at your aisle. Alternatively, you may want to let guests know that they can sit wherever they like. Signs for this sometimes say, ‘Pick a seat, not a side’. Pinterest has some wonderful ideas for short poems and rhymes for this. If you are having ushers this would be the perfect role for them. Unplugged Wedding If you have decided to have an unplugged wedding, which I would recommend, then it is crucial that your guests are made aware of this. So, signage is key! Make it visible and have more than one, so that people can respect your wishes. From my experience, having an unplugged wedding means no unwanted, aisle photobombing relatives with phones in their hands on your wedding pictures, that’s the last thing you want. If you’d rather not have signs for this another way for you to get the word out is by having your officiant let your guests know prior to the ceremony starting. Wedding Hashtag Now this is a great one. Perhaps you are totally fine with social media and people taking photos at your wedding? I recommend saving this one for your reception. You may decide to have a wedding hashtag, to make it easier for you to discover everyone’s wedding pictures. You can display a sign or two on each reception table, so your guests know what to do. Not only does it get your guests involved in your big day it also means that all the pictures they take will sit in one place and you will get to see your wedding through the eyes of your guests, priceless. When you are thinking up your hashtag be sure to keep it simple to avoid typos etc. Timeline Of the Day Knowing what is happening when, puts people at ease. Especially when it comes to their tummies. If guests know what time the wedding breakfast is and when the dancing begins, they will likely relax into the day even more. So consider having a timeline of the day drawn up and putting this at the entrance for when guests arrive. So right from the word go, they know what is happening, when! Place Names Place names indicate where a guest should sit during the wedding breakfast. Without them, they will sit whoever they want on their designated table. Which is fine if that is the desired effect, and you are perhaps doing sharing boards. Table Names Each table is named, so that guests can find their way to their table a lot easier. It can be as simple as numbers 1- 10, or you may wish to call your tables within your wedding theme or something relevant to you as a couple. For example holiday destinations or even your favorite bands. Table Plan A table plan is how you display where your guests are sitting and at what table. They would look at the table plan, find their name and see what table they are supposed to be seated at. They can then easily make their way to said table and find their place name, to know which seat is theirs. Escort Cards Now this is one you may not have heard of! Escort cards are an alternative to a table plan. You would display what essentially looks similar to your place names, but on the back, it may say the table name or number where the guest would be seated. Each guest collects their escort cards, see's their table and then makes their way to their table finding their place name. Menus Menus are not essential, but can be a nice touch. You can have one per table, so guests know what they will be eating, or even one per guest or one between two. There are no rules. I have previously had a client have menus that were illustrated with drawings of the food, we then had them printed onto fabric and used them as a napkin for each guest as well as a menu. Even though you spent months planning your wedding day, there are still a few things that you’ll need to get done afterward. It may seem like this is a never-ending list but these are the final items that you should add to your to-do list.
The Un-Even Wedding Party10/29/2022 Life isn’t ALWAYS about balance!
Salads & fries Work days & weekends Hot summer days & winter wonderlands Life is all about BALANCE. But here’s one place that DOESN’T need to be *balanced* - your WEDDING PARTY! Don’t feel like you *have* to add someone to either the Bride’s or Groom’s side (or uninvite someone, either). Here are a couple of ways to deal with an uneven wedding party without batting an eyelid: ● Have men & ladies walk down the aisle in single file (all the men or all the women or alternate). ● Have the wedding party come from the sides (not down the aisle). ● Have one guy with a lady on each arm (or vice versa if there are more guys). All of this to say, your special day is exactly that - your special day. So you do you. Need ideas on how to make the wedding entertainment and music more you or how to personalize your special day? Give me a shout and see how we can help!!! DJ Matt BlakeWedding tips & Event recaps and stories! Need pricing for your upcoming event - Click here to get a quote!
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