Tips for Planning a Menu

1. Get Creative, But Not Too Creative
Even though you and yours may be willing to try all different types of food, that does not mean your guests will. When working with your caterer ask for things that the two of you enjoy and have them fill in the blanks with classics that everyone loves! This way all your gusts are happy and get to share another side of the two of you. You can also dedicate a whole course to yourselves, make dessert something that you love but maybe not everyone else will and give the rest of the meal to the guests with traditional items.

2. Save Money on Dry Cleaning
Don’t pick an appetizer or meat that has a sticky, messy sauce on it that has the potential to drip all over your guests clothing!

3. Dress It Up
If you’re going with a buffet, choose food that looks just as good at the end of the evening as it does in the beginning. When planning the menu for a lunch or a dinner, think of the plate as an empty canvas and have your food be the artwork. It is a great touch to “wow” your guests.

4. Plan for Picky Eaters
Guests can have a host of food restrictions, preferences, and allergies. When interviewing caterers, ask for an example of a time they've had to accommodate an unusual circumstance on the fly. Also, be sure the caterer or banquet manager has briefed the wait staff on the menu's ingredients. It is also always nice to ask guests on their reply card to list food allergies or vegetarian requests. .

5. Tasting are a MUST
Always, always … ALWAYS do a tasting! No matter how much you love crab cakes you never know what they put in theirs! You may no enjoy it at all and you would hate to find that out, right along with your guests on wedding day. Go taste everything you like in the proposal and maybe even some stuff you didn't. It is worth every minute of being there.

Will You? I Do. (Q/A)

Will You? (Q):
Do the fathers of the bride and groom wear tuxedos or suits?

I Do. (A):

The fathers wear what the Groom's Party is wearing. If the groom and his merry men are wearing tights, then they should as well. Oh wait, that's Robin Hood and his merry men. I meant, if the groom and his groomsmen are wearing tuxedo's the fathers should. If they are wearing suits, then suits all around.

If you want to make the fathers differentiate a small bit from the rest of the fine looking gentlemen, give them a different color tie or vest. Get creative but make sure all the colors match and everyone looks like they belong at the same event!

My Favorite Websites ...

I thought I would share two of my most favorite websites, I utilize them all the time when I need a creative jump start on any event I am doing!

Plum Party
http://www.plumparty.com/

Wedding FAVORites
http://www.weddingfavorites.com/

If you know some great websites that inspire ideas, please share them!

6 Easy (and some obvious) Ways to Cut Costs

The idea of cutting costs on a wedding is not ideal for a bride – but almost always needed, unless the bride & groom want to pony up some extra cash ... here are some easy ways to keep your costs low!

1. Reduce the size of your guest list. Extra guests mean extra invitations, extra catering costs, extra centerpieces, extra favors and extra transportation worries. Why take on more than you need. Do you really want to have a huge wedding full of people you do not really know all too well? Easy ways to cut the size of your guest list is to not invite co-workers, unless you are particularly good friends with them, ask that guests not bring children, have guests come solo if they are not in a serious relationship and not to invite distant family relatives.

2. Shop for wedding dresses during sales season. December and May are particularly popular months for wedding dress sales. You may also be able to buy sample dresses, your chances being increased if you wear a common dress size. A number of charities also hold sales for donated wedding dresses where you can often snap up a bargain. Do not rule out shopping online for your dress either, just bear in mind that if you buy online you will probably need to find a local seamstress to make any alterations.

3. Make your wedding invitations as light and small as possible. This will save you money on the cost of postage. If your wedding guest list is quite sizable all those stamps will add up pretty quickly. There are even options these days to do save-the-dates as emails and you can set up a wedding web page for guests to look up information usually sent in an invitation.

4. Hold your ceremony on a weekday instead of a Saturday. Saturday is the most popular day for a wedding so you will be competing for vendors and wedding locations. As your vendors and your venue will not be short of customers for that day this can allow them to hike up the prices and you may well find that they do just that. Holding your wedding on a different day, when your venue and vendors are struggling for customers can give you great leverage to negotiate a lower price. A college roommate of mine did this - as a guests it was wonderful. I still had my whole weekend to look forward to!!

5. Get crafty. Do it yourself cannot only save you a lot of money, but can be great socially as well. You and your bridesmaids can get together regularly to get crafty. Common DIY wedding projects are invitations, favors, programs and save the dates. It also gives your wedding your personal touch - and this may be a GREAT way to get the groom involved. He has ideas and this may be a great and easy way to make his ideas stand out.

6. Cut the cost of your food by offering fewer choices of meals on the menu and fewer courses. A buffet reception may also be less expensive than a seated meal as it requires less staffing.