Monday, April 29, 2013

Wedding Vendor Advice

So part of what inspired The Dandy Fox, was my wedding. I spent many hours crafting and DIY-ing till my eyes were bloodshot and my fingers cramped. I made backdrops, antiqued shutters, came up with love inspired cocktail recipes, handmade our invitation suites and hand made our bouquets and boutonnières by hand painting sola flowers and making my own paper flowers from my husbands old thrasher and transworld skateboarding magazines. All of this was inspired by my love of crafting and to have things that represented our love that were made by us.

I did it with no coordinator, but I did appoint those who were willing to help.

Things to remember
Budget budget budget
We paid for our own wedding, which is something I'm very proud of. My mother gave us our honeymoon airfare and timeshare as a present which saved us a huge load of money. But if you don't have a budget you are going to overwhelmed, over budget and vendors will take advantage of the wedding craze in your pretty little eyes.

You need to find out what type and style of wedding you'd like to have when you are keeping a budget in mind.

Contemporary
Modern
Vintage
Upscale
Backyard
Beachside
DIY

These things will help you target your vendors as well. There's no sense in having club style dj with a modern contemporary photographer in a ball gown in your wedding is in a beautiful country barn house or on the beach.

Almost anything goes now. While its not ideal to have your colors be navy and burgundy in the middle of June, there are ways to make it work.

Make a list once you know what you are working with. Set aside a specific amount of money you'd like to spend, leaving the most $ for what is the most important to you. And keep in mind and write down what you'd like to be able to get for what you are willing to spend. Mine was the photography and the band. Your photographer or videographer is the only tangible way you will be able to remember your special day. So you might have a beautiful wedding, with a bunch of horrible photos that won't allow anyone to Remember how gorgeous your day was.

After you search your vendors, make a top three list. When you talk to them, let them know how much you can spend on them and what you are hoping to have. Know what you are getting when you get it. Most good and note worthy vendors will have you sign a contract and ask for a non refundable deposit when you sign it. This locks you in or your deposit is lost.

Doing these steps will prevent you from going over your budget but they always say to add a "cushion" to your budget so your not stuck tight and panicking at the end.

More advice. I am a hairstylist and makeup artist. I have not only worked on brides, but whole bridal parties doing hair and makeup as a lone wolf. If you are the only one getting your hair and makeup done its not usually too stressful

Benefits of going into a salon the day of are basically that
It's usually more affordable and
you can usually buy touch up products there before you leave.

Cons:
Someone is always late ( usually its the bridesmaid who has children, or the mother of the bride)
Someone forgets to pay in the chaos, so I've seen brides get footed with paying for one of her bridesmaids.
Someone forgets to make an appointment (a good salon is busy so they have to stress their staff out to accommodate the hair or makeup that was forgotten, if they can even do it)
Usually the photographer can't be there, (the photography of getting ready are among my most treasured photos.
Running late at the salon means running late for your wedding, and that means all the girls with you too.
It's not as personal and private

When you have a hair and makeup artist come to your wedding location, or wherever you are getting ready

You can laugh and be loud amongst yourselves spending time together with your closest friends and family while getting pampered and pretty.
Everyone is usually all there at the same time so there is a much more laid back feel and you can have fun and relax.
Your photographer has one less place to get all their equipment/assistants to so they can capture the process of you getting ready.
If you are getting ready on location, if anything goes awry, you are there to answer anybody's questions.
If your running late, your not cause your already there!

Cons:
it's usually twice the price
That's about it. ;)

Hire a day of coordinator to tell all your vendors where to go or appoint someone with a list you've made to let them know where everyone needs to be at what time.

Always leave more than just your own contact number. You can't control everything it will only stress you out and you'll be to busy getting gorgeous anyways!
Each vendor had not only my husband and mines phone numbers
But each parent and the maid of honor and best man.

Okay breathe, I know that was a massive amount of info.
Oh and treat wedding mags like a luxury. There are a ton of absolutely awe inspiring wedding blogs out there that will give you all the ideas and info you need.....for free.

Our wedding was featured on Rock And Roll Brides Blog and featured in issue 2 of their official magazine. Here's the link to check out my day as a bride!

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2011/12/a-diy-wedding-with-a-mountaintop-view-larry-chelsea/


Here's a list of a few amazing blogs, many offer a lot of giveaways and free downloads to use from invitations to table numbers and props!
Www.greenweddingshoes.com
Www.rockandrollbride.com
Www.ruffledblog.com
Www.100layercake.com
Www.Stylemepretty.com
Www.diybride.com






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