EverAfter-Bridal Blog

You are ready to order your wedding invitations and maybe curious what informal notes are. Informal notes are simply thank you notes to send out to your guests for appreciation in attending your wedding. What’s more important is your guests will love them as they know you took the time to personally thank them for being there to share your special day.

Most informal notes are small cards that are sent out as a thank you for wedding or bridal shower gifts. They often fold over like any other thank you card, but can be printed with your monogrammed initials on the front of them. Inside you can word them however you want and later go through to personalize each one. Thank you notes on the other hand come already printed with a “Thank You” on the front of them. They can be custom printed or come blank.

Most wedding invitations come with matching informal notes that you can purchase in addition.

Wedding reception cards are typically used when receptions are held in a separate location then the ceremony site. When the ceremony and reception are held at the same venue, the reception location can be stated at the bottom of your invitation. This does not require an additional address to be placed since it was already stated in the ceremony location. However, when your reception site is at a different address you can slip this card in with your invitations with address and direction cards.

Some people like to state on their reception cards what guests should expect. You may want to word something like “Cocktails, dinner and dancing to follow at (address)”. If you do not wish for children to be present you may want to state “Adult reception following at (address)”. It is not necessary to state what will be on the reception menu as that is where menu cards come in handy.

Direction cards can be custom printed or you may wish to print them out yourselves. They can be placed inside both your invitations and reception cards.

If your planning a small or large wedding and are ready to order your invitations, you will need to know how many people will be attending your event. This is where respond folders or cards come in handy. You can send them out in addition to your invitations per each family to allow them to respond with how many will be attending in their party.

The proper etiquette for wording on respond folders is to have them state on the first line “Respond on or before (date you choose). You will want to choose a date at least two weeks before the wedding date to be able to give your caterer an accurate head count. The second line should say something like “____ guests or persons will attending”. They can fill in the blank with how many. You may also want to put a menu selection such as “___ beef or ___ chicken if you are having several choices.

Your respond folder envelopes usually come with printed outer envelopes with address provided. This should be the address of the person who will be taking head count - usually yourself or parents of the bride.

Planning a wedding is very time consuming and takes alot of effort.  You may be unsure on where to hold your wedding, who to hire for services or how to go about it.  This is where a wedding coordinator can really help out.

Wedding coordinators work a couple different ways.  Some come with your wedding venue and are there to help out with some preparation and coordination on your wedding day.  Others can be independently hired to do so.  Some people hire coordinators to help them with everything from the time they become engaged through the day of their wedding.  Others may hire a planner just to be available the day of wedding only.

Coordinators often work with many different vendors like photographers, videographers, caterers, transportation and many others whom they recommend.  They can set up meetings between the vendors and couple to get acquainted.  Coordinators also make sure all details of the wedding are planned out and that things are set and ready to go.

Most coordinators have their own set fees that can vary depending on services requested.  You can discuss this individually with your coordinator as they often will be able to cater to your budget.

You are now engaged and unsure how to announce this happy time in your life to your family and friends.  There are several different ways you can bring your loved ones together for this memorable occasion:

Send out announcements that you have become engaged:  These are an inexpensive way to spread the good news and do not require alot of time and effort to send out.

Hold an engagement party:  This can be held by yourselves or someone may offer to host it.  These parties can be held at home, restaurants or any place you choose.

Have a luncheon or dinner to announce your engagement:  Invite close family and friends to dinner or make it a surprise announcement for everyone.

It has come down to the moment when you have to decide on where to register for your wedding gifts. You may have a favorite home or gift store you would like to register at. However, if you are undecided about where to go, here are some helpful hints.

Look for stores that have a gift registry. This makes registering for your gifts easier because you can go around yourselves and tag each gift you wish to buy and it automatically gets recorded under your registry. You can put various priced gifts in the registry to give many people different options.  When guests come to shop for your gifts, they simply can look in the automated gift registry box and find your information and a printout of all your gifts with prices.  Some stores that have an ideal gift registry are JCPenny, Target, Mervyn’s, Macy’s, Pier One and many more.

When you first are engaged one of the first decisions you have to make when planning your upcoming wedding is where to hold it.  Several things may affect your decision on where to hold your ceremony/reception such as time of year, weather concerns etc.

If your decision is to have your ceremony in a church or chapel there are some considerations to make.  Some churches do not require you to become a member to get married there and some there is a fee for use.  They may also require you to use their clergy and organist.  Receptions held in a church hall often require no alcholic beverages on the premises, so unless you plan to have no liquor served at your wedding - this may not be the best choice for reception spot.

For outdoor ceremony site choices there are beaches, parks and other sites.  Usually these require a small fee to use and may or may not allow chairs for seating.

Alot of people hold their wedding and reception in the same spot for convenience for their guests.  Many hotels, restaurants and wedding venues provide both a ceremony and reception spot.  Some venues have different ceremony and reception site spots to choose from.  One thing to consider a venue that will allow a last minute indoor accommodation for inclement weather.

Your wedding is only a couple weeks away and your not sure if you’ve got all the last minute arrangements set in place.  Here are some tips in being on top of those last minute details:

First, make call all your vendors (ie florists, caterer, photographer) and confirm your wedding date with them.  Some of them require final deposits for their service.  Second thing is make sure all your wedding invitations have been sent out.  You want to send these out at least a couple months before your wedding to give time for your guests to respond.  Give your caterer last minute head count of guests and menu selections if you had them.  For the bride - make sure your bridesmaids and flower girls have picked up their gowns.  For the groom-to-be, get together with your groomsmen to make sure they have been fitted for tuxedos and arrangements have been made for pickup.  Send out any bridal shower thank you notes if you have not done so.  Make sure all lodging and honeymoon arrangements are set in place.

The day of the wedding try to arrive at the ceremony site a couple hours before the wedding.  It’s better to have hair and makeup done a couple hours earlier so there is time to correct any mistakes.  Make sure your attendants are dressed and ready to go.  Last, but not least - try to relax and enjoy the wedding!

What can be more fun when planning your wedding then selecting your wedding cake? But say you cannot decide on what kind of cake to have or how you would like it to look. There are many different options you have in selecting your cake.

First, go to different bakeries and sample their work. You will want to sample different cakes and fillings to help you in your decision. Once you have decided on the filling, you have the frosting to consider. Buttercream frosting is the most common used topping because it is easy to work with, decorate and store properly for longer periods. This is a thicker frosting with an extremely sugar and butter taste - hence the name “buttercream frosting”. Fondant frosting is also becoming more popular. These type of frostings produce a thick solid layer with a smooth look to it when finished. Fondant frosting cakes looks very stylish, but generally take more time and labor involved for your bakery and may cost a little more. Whipped frostings can look good, but this type of frosting is very light, soft and harder to work with.

Now for the decorating. Many cakes are decorated with the fresh flowers of your wedding and maybe with a cake topper of choice. You can discuss with your florist different styles and costs of arranging flowers on your cake. Fountains under the cake give off a dazzling appearance as well. You may also want to decorate your cake accordingly with the theme of your wedding. Maybe you are having a beach wedding and want to use seashells on your cake tiers. If you are having a fairy-tale style wedding - maybe a glass or ceramic castle cake topper. Many bakeries can make edible buttercream decorations such as flowers and seashells.

Your getting married and trying to decide what to serve your guests at your wedding reception.  There are many different options to consider when planning your wedding menu.

First, you need to decide whether you will be having a sit down served dinner or buffet style dinner.  Sit down dinners are generally more formal and are equipped with a full catering staff to serve your guests.  Generally place settings and silverware are done in formal style.  These lunches or dinners are typically served with an appetizer - quite often a salad or soup, entree of choice and desert.  Your wedding cake typically is the dessert of choice.  Buffets can be used for breakfast, lunch or dinner and is presented with several different menu selections where your guests can serve themselves.  This is generally less formal, but gives your guests many menu options to choose from.

Now what to have for the main course?  If it is a lunch, you can have anything that would be served on a dinner menu, except it is generally less formal setting.   Dinners are more generally more formal and usually more costly.  You may want to meet with your caterer a few months before your wedding to sample menu selections to help you decide.