Proud to Plan: July 2011

Featured Bride Friday

We're so excited for all of our weddings coming up this end of the summer and this fall! Here is one of our couples getting married in August!

Names of Bride and Groom: Sarah and Michael

Wedding Date: August 20th, 2011

Ceremony and Reception Location: Groom's parent's farm in Lambertville, NJ

How did you and fiance meet?: eHarmony.com

Tell us about the proposal: Mike and I were walking around his parents farm talking about where we would like to build a house on the property. I was a little ahead of him and heard him say "Since we are talking about our future, why don't we start now." I turned around and he was right behind me, down on one knee, holding a box with a ring and said "Will you marry me." I said yes of course and burst into tears.

What is the overall theme of your wedding?: The only "theme" is traditional meets fun.

What has been your favorite part of planning?: Internet shopping and researching for the best prices and BEST vendors (I feel like I am doing my job as a girl if I can find the absolute best prices and items for things that can be shopped.) But with that being said, some things you need to spend more money on, like catering, music, venue and coordinators.

What has been your fiance's favorite part of the planning?: Caterer tastings

What are you looking forward to most on the wedding day?: All of our friends and family from all over the country being together in one place.

What is your fiance looking forward to on the wedding day?: The food

Which vendor has been your favorite to work with?: I have 3...Our Priest, Father Mike, because he always makes me laugh and see things from another prospective. Synergetic Sound, because they have been very flexible and honest on what to do and what not to do with lighting. And of course, Erin and Lisa at Proud to Plan because they make me feel very relaxed.

What is your biggest worry about the wedding day?: Getting the pictures done in time and the food. (We have Seared Wasabi Tuna on the menu and I really want it to be perfect)

What makes your wedding unique from all the others?: I have paid ridiculous attention to EVERY detail of the weekend. We have custom water bottles for the welcome bags, the ceremony and the Sunday BBQ. On the bathroom doors, I have 8x11 framed childhood pictures of Mike and I, Mike for the boys restroom and myself for the girls. I also want all of my guests to have an amazing weekend, not just a good time on Saturday.

Give three words to describe what you imagine you'll feel like the day AFTER the wedding: Relaxed, happy and anxious

Where will you be spending your honeymoon?: Curacao in the Dutch Antilles

Get to Know Proud to Plan: Amanda

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Childress Photography

Tell us about yourself:

I am 23 yrs old with blue eyes and I'm the only ginger on the Proud to Plan staff. I graduated from Neshaminy High School in 2006, graduated from Bucks County Community College in 2009 with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts, and now am currently a full time student studying at Temple University. I have one brother, Ed, who has made me an aunt to my amazing nephew, Ryan.

Where do you live?:

Levittown, PA

Give us three words that best describe your personality:

Easy going, friendly and loud (in a good and fun way)

How did you get involved in the event industry?:
I first got the planning bug when planning parties for family and friends. Now I'm currently enrolled in Temple's Tourism and Hospitality Management program and I have planned and ran different events.

What's your favorite part of a couple's wedding day?:

I love seeing their reaction on the couples face when they see what their reception venue looks like for their special day. The couple is always so excited and can't believe their eyes when they see everything they planned put together.

When you're not doing events, what do you do?:

I am currently still studying at Temple University as a full time student, as well as working as a part time server at West Avenue Grille in Jenkintown, PA.

Do you have any hobbies? Or what do you do for fun?:

I enjoy traveling anywhere I can and whenever I have a chance. I love dancing and if I am around music of any kind, you will surely find me dancing!! I'm a big hockey fan and love to watch the Flyers. Also, I have the best 2 year old nephew in the world that lives close, so I get to see him on a daily basis.

Fun questions, If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?:

I would choose pizza, I eat it everywhere I travel to. I even enjoy dessert pizza! My favorite pizza of all time is buffalo chicken pizza!

Who Pays For What

In the past, many thought of a bride’s family to pay the majority of the wedding expenses. Nowadays, the costs of weddings are growing, and with many bride and grooms tying the knot later in life, when they are more likely to have careers and incomes of their own, more bride and grooms are found to contribute or even pick up the entire cost of the wedding.

When it comes to working out your budget, one of the first steps to be accomplished with planning a wedding, could be a tough conversation to have with your fiancé and family. Even though the traditional breakdown of who pays for what doesn’t apply necessarily in the present, still looking over the elements these list, can be a good starting point for the discussion of all potential expenses that may go along with your wedding.

Listed below is a traditional breakdown of all expenses that can be brought up to plan.

Bride’s Family may pay for:
-Engagement party (optional)
-Wedding invitations and other signage (announcements, thank-you notes, etc.)
-Services of bridal consultant
-Wedding gown and accessories
-Flowers for ceremony and reception sites
-Bouquets for bridesmaids
-Music
-Photographer
-Videographer
-Reception
-Bridal party transportation to ceremony and reception
-Family’s wedding attire

Groom’s Family may pay for:
-Engagement party (optional)
-Rehearsal dinner
-Their own wedding attire

Bride may pay for:
-Groom’s ring
-Gifts for bridesmaids
-Wedding gift for groom

Groom may pay for:
-Bride’s rings
-Marriage license
-Officiant’s fee
-His formal wear
-Personal flowers: the bride’s bouquet, boutonnieres for wedding party, corsages for mothers and grandmothers
-Gifts for groomsmen
-Wedding gift for bride
-Gifts for parents
-Honeymoon
-Transportation to honeymoon

Bridal Party may pay for:
-Bachelor and Bachelorette parties
-Gifts for bride and groom (individual gifts or chip in for a group gift)
-Bridal shower
-Their wedding day attire and accessories
-Transportation to and from wedding town/city

Again, this traditional breakdown all depends on the bride and groom’s finances; in which these past traditions of who pays for what, can fall behind. Having this conversation with your fiance and your families early on, will really help you create a budget and stick to it!

-Amanda

Sarah and Carmen's Wedding

Sarah and Carmen were another one of our couples to get married in the very busy month of May! They held their ceremony and reception at Laurita Winery in New Egypt, New Jersey. Even though the weather made us have the ceremony inside, it cleared up just in time for bridal party pictures outside and the sky even showed a beautiful rainbow. Their ceremony was officiated by Andy Mahaney, The Wedding Pastor and once again he performed a lovely and personal ceremony. Emily from Cheekadee did everyone's makeup and Stephanie Miller did everyone's hair and Sarah and her bridesmaids looked amazing! In Full Bloom created the bouquets and centerpieces and carried Sarah and Carmen's vintage chic theme throughout. The centerpieces consisted of vintage ball jars that were wrapped in twine, fabric and burlap and In Full Bloom filled them with neutral colored flowers. The Conroy Catering staff was fabulous to work with as always. They created a delicious menu and the cake they made fit perfectly into the theme of the wedding! Guests were able to find their escort cards on two old window panes. One of them was draped in wire and the cards were hung with miniature clothes pins and the other pane was filled with cork and had the cards pinned to them! Steve from Silver Sound did a wonderful job getting all of the guests out of their seats and dancing the night away. A big thank you to Jennifer Childress Photography for giving us these incredible images!

Congratulations Sarah and Carmen!

Must Have Monday

A lot of couples are choosing to have photo booths at their receptions lately and why not opt for some fun and unique props! I found all of these props on Etsy! They had so many choices and if you're a crafty person, you'd be able to make these on your own. You could even use them for your formal pictures with your bridal party to make for some fun photos!

You can find these bow ties here.

Mustaches are always funny! Find these here.

I love the glasses and the lips in this pack! Find it here.

Get to Know Proud to Plan: Caitlin

If you've been following the blog, you've seen posts from all of our staff and we thought it'd be a great idea to have you all get to know some things about them. We made a Q&A for all of our staff and once a week, we'll feature a different employee for you to learn about!

First up is Caitlin, who wrote the blog on Invitation Basics we posted yesterday! Read on below to get to know her better!

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Childress Photography

Tell us about yourself:

I was born and raised in a small town in Northeastern, PA in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area of Wyoming Valley and after graduating from high school, I went on to the University of Delaware where I studied public relations and journalism. I am now a young professional trying to make my mark in the public relations and wedding planning industries in the Philadelphia area, while also trying to enjoy my 20's.

I'm energetic, love being active and tend to get over involved. I'm independent but don't usually like being alone because my motto is that everything is always more fun if someone else is along for the ride. I love life and love to be a part of our clients' lives while planning their weddings.

Where do you live?:

After graduating from Delaware in the spring of 2010, I moved right into the heart of Center City Philadelphia for a few months, but have since relocated to Manayunk- a section of Philadelphia about 15 minutes outside of downtown. Manayunk is a perfect location for me, since most of the residences are between 21-30 years old and many are graduates of local colleges- you are always bound to know someone. It has a cute downtown area with lots of shopping, restaurants and bars and is only a quick ride into Center City!

Give us three words that best describe your personality:

Sociable, ambitious and super-organized.

How did you get involved in the event industry?:

I always knew I wanted to be a wedding planner even at a young age, but I didn't fully get into the industry until I began the Wedding Planning and Consulting Certificate Program through Temple University. Through the certificate program, I began meeting many local wedding planners and attending events in the Philadelphia area. I have since worked weddings and events with a few local planners and am now excited to be part of the Proud to Plan team!

What's your favorite part of a couple's wedding day?:

My favorite part of a couple's wedding day would have to be the second the bride gets to the beginning of the aisle, right before starts her walk- as I fluff her dress, she usually gives me a look of sheer excitement and nervousness all wrapped into one. As her eyes move away from mine she looks up to see a crowd of all of her family and friends and her fiance standing at the end of the aisle and her eyes light up and she smiles. Her fiance smiles back and that's when you know you are part of one of the happiest days of the couples lives.

When you're not doing events, what do you do?

When not running around working weddings on weekends, I work in the public relations industry in Philadelphia. I engage with media, plan events and work on updating and tracking social media sites to get clients publicity locally and nationally.

Do you have any hobbies? What do you do for fun?:

Outside of weddings and work, my hobbies include: playing field hockey and soccer (I have played both for most of my life); skiing, hiking and camping (I'm a wilderness girl at heart); cooking and baking (my specialty is cake balls); travelling the world (I have been to Ireland, Egypt, Ethiopia, India and Thailand to name a few); going to flea markets to find vintage items and decoupaging anything I can (I love to craft); and being an avid tea enthusiast (I used to work at a tea shop and love the benefits that tea can have).

Fun question, if you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?:

ICE CREAM! I am a huge ice cream lover and could honestly eat it everyday - even in the dead cold of winter. My all time favorite flavor is Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk - try it if you never have, you won't be disappointed.

Check back next week to find out about another member of our staff!

Featured Vendor Friday

This week's Featured Vendor is one of our favorite hair stylists, Hair by Meghan! Read on below to learn more about Meghan!

Name of Company: Hair by Meghan

Contact Information/Website/etc.: hairbymeghan@aol.com or 215-676-2803

Services Offered: Wedding hair design (specialty)

Locations that you cover: Philadelphia, New Jersey and surrounding areas

When was your business established?: Summer of 2004

How did you get involved in events?: Word of mouth mostly

What is your favorite type of event to do?: Large wedding parties- I feel like I am a part of the family when I spend many hours helping the bride and her family look beautiful.

Where is your favorite venue to work?: It is hard to say just one, but Normandy Farms in Blue Bell, PA is my favorite because of the vintage feel.

What do you look forward to most on the event date?: Of course I love making the bride feel beautiful on her big day, but I also love talking to the bridesmaids and making the mothers of the bride and groom feel special and watching it all come together.

Tell us about the best event you've worked: So many stick out, it would be hard to choose just one! Every wedding I get be a part of is special to me.

How do you feel about working with wedding coordinators?: It's awesome! To have someone put all your ideas together and have your big day run smoothly is the best!

Anything else you'd like to share?: Being a part of a bride's wedding day is a privilege. I love every part of what I do and not many people can say that!

Here are just a few of our brides that have used Meghan!