Last weekend I had the pleasure of standing in a wedding rather than working at a wedding, and my friend, the bride, had hesitation about the shoes she would wear on her special day. Should she wear the white satin shoes to match her white satin dress, or should she step outside the box and wear the shoes matching her beautiful bridesmaids? “Step outside the box,” I always advise and so she did!
Her stiletto heels with the satin ruffle across the back mocked her dress perfectly, saying “I’m a traditional bride with my pretty, perfect shoes.” But when dancing on the dance floor, lifting up her dress ever so slightly to show off her foot décor, they also screamed, “I’m not like any other bride in my RED shoes and I’m having the time of my life while wearing them!”
Okay, so maybe they weren’t making that big of a statement, but I have had brides in the past wearing blue shoes and red shoes and sometimes pink shoes. Often times the color that the bride chooses for her bridesmaids is her favorite color or her color scheme for the entire wedding. A perfect way to incorporate yourself into your wedding theme is through something as simple as your shoes, and it is also a great way to show off your personality.
The color of the perfect wedding shoe is not the only way to show who you are; it’s the style that tells the story.
According to Peggy Post in Emily Post’s ‘The Definitive Guide to Your Wedding Experience’, the bride traditionally wears shoes matching her dress color and fabric. She also states that comfort is now more important than traditional style. She specifically states that you should avoid stiletto-heeled shoes and of course, I could not disagree more.
On your special day, pick a shoe that fits your personality and your style, not necessarily your feet for 10 hours straight. If 5 inch Manolos are what you’ve always dreamed of, then give them your best shot and I’ll meet you in the back of the reception with some back up flip flops if your feet start screaming so loudly that you can’t hear the music. Some brides are just like me – they can wear those shoes all night and never think twice. Others just want them until the pictures are taken and the dancing starts and to me, that’s perfect!
Whether your desires lead you to the flat ballet slippers or funky flip flops, the chuck tailors or Jimmy Choos, it’s all about expressing yourself and being comfortable with how you finish off your look – most of us finish off our looks with the right shoes. So if on your wedding day, you decide to step outside the box and wear something that doesn’t seem the most traditional, at least make sure it screams “Here comes the bride and she’s not like any bride you’ve ever seen!”
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Coordinator versus Planner
I hate to touch on such an important topic before I gain more followers, but I’m sure I will touch on this again, so here goes. It is pertinent that every bride/client understand exactly what the difference is between a coordinator and planner, especially before they decide to hire or deny one of the two!
According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, the word coordinate (or coordinating) means to place into proper order or relation; adjust. I define the word as taking something that someone else has done and shuffling it around until you reach a sensible end result!
On the other hand, Webster’s definition of plan (or planning) is to devise a scheme for doing, making or arranging – to make plans. According to this untitled professional, a planner is exactly that – someone who plans and executes the plan that brings the project to life and completes the goal.
The difference between these two words is essential when considering who to work with for your special day. As an example, majority of my clients who request “day of” services are essentially asking me for help coordinating (although my package offers more than that). They have already made the plans and they simply need someone to come in at the end of the project to sort through the details, finalize the process and tie it up in nice pretty bow!
My full service brides typically need a lot more than that; something more like a planner.
They have ideas of what they want, but no time to gather the information, collect the data, make final decisions and execute the actions to get us to the main event. Planning requires more action and research rather than organizing and confirming.
My reason for wanting to define the terms is because there are many venues that provide a coordinator which is very helpful to the bride on the day of her wedding. However, nine times out of ten, this luxury is not always a helpful addition throughout the actual planning process. Checking up on the arrival times of your vendors is very helpful, but sometimes additional help is needed and brides are not aware that the help they need is in fact available to them and not included in the package once they see the words “On Site Event Coordinator.”
In most cases, those coordinators are managing and perhaps even planning the details that are directly related to their venue, staff, contracted vendors, etc. Most on site coordinators are not coming with you to pick flowers or sitting down to discuss your budget and pricing the different vendors that you are interested in working with. Task lists, financial confirmations and finalizing orders with additional vendors are not typically involved in their title of coordinator either.
Whether your needs require a coordinator, a planner or even a consultant (which is a topic for a different day), make sure you know what the title involves before you dismiss the thought of digging deeper to find what works for you. Having a coordinator included in a package seems like a great perk, but finding out their limitations is essential in order to know how sweet of a deal the venue/vendor is offering!
To clarify, and make sure my definitions are not taken out of context, a coordinator is very helpful and necessary, especially an on site coordinator. But in any case, even in the case of hiring an independent planner, it is still important to look at the full picture and have the facts before deciding whether you need more to accomplish what you want! Just because something is included in a package does not always mean it is something that fulfills all of your needs!
According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, the word coordinate (or coordinating) means to place into proper order or relation; adjust. I define the word as taking something that someone else has done and shuffling it around until you reach a sensible end result!
On the other hand, Webster’s definition of plan (or planning) is to devise a scheme for doing, making or arranging – to make plans. According to this untitled professional, a planner is exactly that – someone who plans and executes the plan that brings the project to life and completes the goal.
The difference between these two words is essential when considering who to work with for your special day. As an example, majority of my clients who request “day of” services are essentially asking me for help coordinating (although my package offers more than that). They have already made the plans and they simply need someone to come in at the end of the project to sort through the details, finalize the process and tie it up in nice pretty bow!
My full service brides typically need a lot more than that; something more like a planner.
They have ideas of what they want, but no time to gather the information, collect the data, make final decisions and execute the actions to get us to the main event. Planning requires more action and research rather than organizing and confirming.
My reason for wanting to define the terms is because there are many venues that provide a coordinator which is very helpful to the bride on the day of her wedding. However, nine times out of ten, this luxury is not always a helpful addition throughout the actual planning process. Checking up on the arrival times of your vendors is very helpful, but sometimes additional help is needed and brides are not aware that the help they need is in fact available to them and not included in the package once they see the words “On Site Event Coordinator.”
In most cases, those coordinators are managing and perhaps even planning the details that are directly related to their venue, staff, contracted vendors, etc. Most on site coordinators are not coming with you to pick flowers or sitting down to discuss your budget and pricing the different vendors that you are interested in working with. Task lists, financial confirmations and finalizing orders with additional vendors are not typically involved in their title of coordinator either.
Whether your needs require a coordinator, a planner or even a consultant (which is a topic for a different day), make sure you know what the title involves before you dismiss the thought of digging deeper to find what works for you. Having a coordinator included in a package seems like a great perk, but finding out their limitations is essential in order to know how sweet of a deal the venue/vendor is offering!
To clarify, and make sure my definitions are not taken out of context, a coordinator is very helpful and necessary, especially an on site coordinator. But in any case, even in the case of hiring an independent planner, it is still important to look at the full picture and have the facts before deciding whether you need more to accomplish what you want! Just because something is included in a package does not always mean it is something that fulfills all of your needs!
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