Jessica & Chris {a sherman, texas wedding trailer} | sherman wedding videography from copper penny films on Vimeo.

Vendors

Ceremony Site: St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Sherman, TX

Photographer: Jessica D’Onofrio

Bridal Gown Designer: Watters

Bridal Gown Retailer: Stardust Celebrations

Hair: Autumn Cooper

Makeup: Jennifer Massoud

Groom’s Attire: A-1 Wedding & Party Rentals

Bridesmaids Dresses Designer: Alfred Sung

Bridesmaids Dresses Retailer: Lulu’s Bridal Boutique

Flowers: Bill Voelker

Cake: Frosted Art Bakery

Caterer: Black Eyed Pea

Entertainment: Ed Petty of LeForce Entertainment

Lighting: LeForce Entertainment

Videographer: Elizabeth Allen with Copper Penny Films

Rentals: Metro Linens

Photobooth: Create the Memories Photobooth

Wedding Planner: Wendy Kidd of Each & Every Detail

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the bride and groom get to ring the church bell, which has an interesting history all its own.  The bell is actually from Croatia, and it was part of a friendly exchange of gifts between the citizens of Supetar and Adriatica Village in Stonebridge Ranch, the home of Bella Donna Chapel.  If your family is Croatian, this could be a nice little touch to honor the old country.  If not, you still get to ring the bell!

The chapel can hold up to 125 guests in the wooden pews on the main floor and another 30 guests in the balcony.  With additional rented seating, the venue can accommodate up to 200, if necessary, although it’s a very tight fit.  In addition to the ceremony space, Bella Donna provides a changing room for the bride and one for the groom.  The photos from this post are from Katrina and Logan’s wedding in October and, as you can see, the ceremony can be just gorgeous!

For more information on Bella Donna Chapel, you can visit their website or their Facebook page, which has more great photos of the site.  The chapel is at 401 Adriatic Parkway in McKinney.  Their event coordinator is Rachelle Buckner, and you can reach her by email at info@belladonnachapel.com or by phone at 972-836-7718.

Photography by David Cheney Photography

This is the fifth and final installment in our series of posts about the top 5 planning mistakes we’ve seen couples make in the past.  In case you missed them, check out our first four posts: #5 – Assuming Your Vendors Communicate, #4 – Ignoring the Setting Sun, #3 – Inviting Too Many Guests, #2 – The Silent Budget.

Many brides hire one or more vendors based solely on price or the “deal” they can get.  We cannot tell you how many times we have seen this decision become the trigger for wedding day failure.  Here are a few of the categories we see this happen in:

DJ –  The DJ helps set the tone and atmosphere for your reception, so he or she becomes a key player for the event going smoothly.  We often tell our brides the DJ can make or break their event.  While your guests will not leave early due to bad food or flowers, they will certainly leave if the DJ is annoying, demanding or simply chooses the wrong music for the flow of your wedding reception.  For those who book too many events, they may not stick to the schedule, instead rushing through the evening and ending your reception earlier than anticipated.  Equipment failure can be an issue with those who don’t charge enough to maintain their equipment.  A DJ that doesn’t pay attention may mispronounce your (or everyone’s) name.  This list can go on and on.  While we don’t want you to raise your budget, we do suggest investing in your DJ and checking them out instead of going for the $500 deal you saw at the bridal show.

Wedding Cakes / Bakeries – Cakes can show up late, melted, disintegrating, or looking nothing like what you ordered.  There’s a blog called Cake Wrecks that chronicles terrible or inappropriate cakes, including wedding day disasters.  Don’t let this be you!  Make sure the bakery you hire is not only experienced in making cakes, but in delivering and setting them up.

Transportation – Whether hiring a limo, a vintage car or a simple sedan, those who have had trouble can tell you their stories about a driver not showing up, being late, getting lost, or leaving early – without you.  You definitely don’t want to deal with a malfunctioning car on your wedding day.  And any native Texan can tell you that stepping into a car in mid-August wearing a ball gown dress only to find the air conditioner isn’t working will lead to anger, tears and possibly smeary makeup.

Photo booth – Finally, beware the photo booth Groupon! Unfortunately, we’ve heard stories of these amazing photo booth deals on Groupon that have sent companies too much business that they just can’t handle.  If you’re buying a special deal for a photo booth months in advance, it is a possibility that the company will either be overbooked and not show up, or simply go out of business.  Be sure that you are looking at a settled, tenured company before spending money on something that may not show up on your big day!

How can you avoid these situations?  Check references and do your homework!  Don’t sign a contract with a vendor until you are assured of their professionalism.  A wedding planner can help you identify trustworthy vendors in your area.  If you’ve already signed a contract with a vendor you now believe to not be trustworthy, look at your contract to see what can be done.

Your budget is crucial (as we discussed in post #2), but professionals charge the fees they do to make sure that they have the right equipment, back ups, and will still be around for the time of your wedding.  If you’re concerned about this and your budget is tight, we suggest looking for a planner that does month-of coordination with vendor referrals included in the package.  This advice can be priceless, because a good planner will never refer you to a vendor based solely on price.  If you have a planner in place, check with the professionals before signing any vendor contracts.

Photography by The Mamones

“I took the BEST photo of you and Groom dancing!  I posted it on Facebook for you!”

“Grandma developed all her photos, and she’s sending you a set next week.”

“Sweetie, your dad and I got those 20 disposable cameras downloaded – where should we send the files?”

And as you look out in the distance, you see your wedding zen speeding away like a bullet.  Gah!

Well, the digital age is here to save you!  Thanks to the wonderful world of apps, there are great ways to collect all of your photos in one spot AND allow your guests to upload and see photos in real time.  Less work for you – and that’s always a win.  We chose a couple of our favorite options and described them below.  Basically, your guests download a free app.  Then they can upload photos from their smartphones directly to a unified album or series of albums that you can manage.  Follow the links for more information.*

1. Wedding Snap: Wedding Snap has a couple of different packages, but all of them include some great basic features.  First, unlimited photo AND video uploads.  Second, unlimited albums (you get a year’s membership, so you can use the app for everything from your engagement party to your honeymoon!).  Third, you can download or order high quality images of any photo.  Fourth, free instruction cards for your guests.  If you choose one of the two upgraded packages, you can also have all uploaded photos retouched by a professional (pure gold).  The highest package also includes a live streaming slideshow that is *real time moderated* by professionals (so that your guests with questionable judgment don’t horrify your grandparents).  Your guests download the Wedding Snap app for free (they have an Apple and an Android version available).  The interface is similar to Instagram – you can add filters, effects, etc. as you’re uploading.

2. WedPics: The real bonus to WedPics is that the basic package is entirely free, to you and your guests, which is pretty awesome.  Here’s what you get: unlimited uploads via the app and a web interface (great if your guests are using digital cameras instead of smartphones); wedding bio with cover photo on the app after your guests log in to your event; a real time photo feed; 5 custom filters; the ability to comment on and ‘love’ photos posted; free photo downloads; and one year of free storage.  They do offer upgraded packages that would improve the quality of the images, add extended storage, include instruction cards, and create live slide shows for a fee.

3. Wedding Party: Wedding Party is also free for you and your guests.  As a bonus, it’s connected to mywedding.com, so you can easily upload your album en masse to your wedding website.  Wedding Party includes the following features: a free download for customizable place cards with instructions; a digital guestbook; real time uploading to a web site that can be accessed by absent friends and family; photo sorting into a timeline of the evening (love!); commenting and ‘like’ options; batch photo uploads, in case your wifi or data access is wonky during the event; easy album uploads to Facebook; and high quality photo files.  This one is super popular – there are TONS of positive reviews in app stores.

So check it out, and save yourself some stress!

*We pulled our descriptions from the linked sites, but PLEASE double check our facts before purchasing!

Photo courtesy of Joseph Mark Photography

Owner Crystal Bryant describes her wonderful space this way.  “Gather in Downtown McKinney provides a unique environment finding the perfect balance of opulence and urban chic. Our hand scraped floors, immensely detailed tin ceiling, and Swarovski crystal chandeliers throughout Gather set the perfect foundation for any event.”  We’d like to add that no small amount of Gather’s charm is the fantastic food prepared on site.  They’re open for lunch on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and brunch on Sunday, and it’s not terribly uncommon to find us there, polishing off quinoa salad, butternut squash lasagna, or one of their other seasonal dishes.  Yum!

Gather can be used for a number of different events and set in a whole variety of ways.  They can do long tables for family style meals.  They can do small table seating.  They mix round and rectangular tables to create an eclectic look that is pulled together by the vintage feel of every piece in the venue.  Many couples love the contrast between the rough brick and the sparkly chandeliers.

Gather can comfortably seat 100 guests, but their favorite size is 50 people or less.  That gives couples the ability to do one long table down the center of the room and gives the event a family feel.  This can be great for your rehearsal dinner, or even a bridal shower or engagement party!

Events combining a ceremony and reception at Gather are done without a room flip, generally, so your guests are seated café style to witness your marriage in front of the romantic wall of votive candles in jars.  It’s the perfect space for two small families joining together to celebrate you and your partner!  You can get more information on Gather’s availability and pricing from Crystal at 972-548-8882 or at crystal@gathermckinney.com.

Check out some of our previous Venue Love posts here, here, and here!

Photos courtesy of Gather and taken by Texas Red Photography.

Money is never easy to talk about, but keeping silent is the number one reason people go over budget.  Creating your budget – and deciding on its points of flexibility – sets the tone for relationships during the wedding planning process.  You have to juggle your priorities with your partner’s, your parent’s, and your soon-to-be in-law’s wishes and traditions.  Attacking these problems early on in the process can prevent emotional breakdowns when the bills come due and keep everyone’s stress levels down.

Problems resulting from insufficient, incomplete, or conflicted budgeting can lead to a whole plethora of problems.  We have seen couples book venues with a predicted cost of $20,000 who are heartbroken when they later determine their total wedding budget is $25,000.  Another problem we see stems from a lack of communication between the couple, leading the bride to keep the groom in the dark as to vendor commitments that are breaking the bank.  Budgeting for a wedding is really difficult, because it’s not a skill we are often taught.  Some brides rely on friends with budgeting experience, like CPAs or project managers, to help them through the process, but wedding prices and categories are totally different from those dealt with in their line of work.

So, what’s the best way to avert budget disaster?  Talk, talk, talk.  Talk with the key players, including all of the parents, to prioritize expense categories, determine contributions and the overall bottom line, and finalize what will be covered by this budget.  Does it include the honeymoon?  What about the rehearsal dinner?  Is everyone’s attire included, or just the bride’s dress?  Be specific.  Prioritization is very important in this process.  It’s invaluable to know ahead of time that it’s really important to your mom that you get married at the church you grew up in, or that the groom’s mom would like you to wear her veil, or that your dad is totally passionate about the need for a wedding video, or even that the groom loathes chair covers.  Not only can these issues cause problems later, but also they affect the amount of money you will spend and your ability to cover a variety of categories.  Clearly define your budget categories, pick your priorities, and allocate your money accordingly.  Be respectful during this process, and remain mindful not only of the dollars and cents involved, but others’ priorities and emotions.  A wedding planner can lend a hand in this process if necessary, but to some degree, you know your family best and can negotiate the riptides of tradition and emotion.

Something to keep in mind is that a budget is not set in stone.  As you do market research, the costs you allocated to various categories may change.  That’s okay, but try to balance the changes out across the different categories, so that your overall budget doesn’t zoom up.  Maybe you find out that you’re willing to give up that vintage car in order to get the photographer you want.  Just be sure to subtract or tone down low priority categories if you decide to add costs to high priority items.  A planner can be very helpful here, as long as he or she is aware early in the process that you need help keeping costs in line and what your priorities are.

So, what exactly does a wedding planner or day-of coordinator do?  The first point is to distinguish between the two.  A coordinator steps into your wedding later in the game than a planner.  Depending on the package, your coordinator may be present for the rehearsal and the wedding day only, or they might be involved for a longer lead-time, such as two weeks out, a month or more.  A wedding coordinator’s role is to make sure that the wedding day runs smoothly, using the information and the plan that you have supplied.  This involves everything from lining up your bridal party for the ceremony, ensuring there is a lit votive behind the unity candle, coordinating arrivals and departures at the reception site, to breaking down the décor at your venue after you leave.  The level of service will vary based on the coordinator in question.

A wedding planner does quite a bit more.  Because she is involved in the planning process from the beginning, your planner will have a much more detailed understanding of the wedding day.  This means that when faced with a hitch on your wedding day, she is able to really make the decision that will move the day forward while staying true to what you want.  Another great thing about wedding planners is that they have wonderful networks and resources, so that they can help you find exactly what you need to implement your vision.  If your wedding planner works with you on hiring vendors, she is able to create a team of professionals interested in your wedding day running smoothly.  Having everyone on the same page throughout the planning process also gives your vendors the insight to understand what you want and make it happen, even if something goes awry.

Wedding planners also can be very helpful on two of the biggest wedding headaches: budgeting and figuring out the actual plan for the wedding day.  Because planners work with a variety of brides, they are able to develop an understanding of cost in your market.  So, once he or she has a handle on your vision, they can help you figure out how much you need to spend to realize it.  Conversely, if your overall budget is fixed, a good planner can help you figure out what can be cut or redistributed so as not to detract from the overall look and feel of your wedding.  The wedding day plan is an exercise in logistics, details, and communication.  On the wedding day, a planner may be working with as many as 20 different vendors to pull everything together.  However, because they have been involved in your planning process, they can begin creating the agenda for the day early on, fleshing out the timeline and details as new facts and ideas come to light.  For a multi-site wedding day, the timeline may run two, five, or even 10 pages in length!  The timeline might include things like:

• Hair and makeup appointments, with estimated completion times, number of stylists, and rotating seating to ensure everyone is finished on time
• The order of the ceremony – processional and recessional names and song titles, pieces of the ceremony, reminders to ensure everything is prepared for all of the special traditions included, details about working with the church or venue coordinator, and seating assignments for key guests
• Transportation arrivals and departures, with contact information for both the company and the drivers, in case something goes wrong
• The names and pronunciation of names for everyone being introduced into the reception
• Times for key events – not just the first dance and cake cutting, but when each course will be served or the buffet will be open, a schedule for which vendors will eat when, breaks for vendors if necessary, and other back-of-the-house considerations
• Event strike details, like who will take home what, a list of vendor decor property, vendor strike requirements, and the venue’s timing considerations and regulations

Maybe your event isn’t particularly complex.  There are still a lot of details to remember!  Hiring a planner or a coordinator allows you to focus instead on enjoying your wedding day and beginning your marriage together.

We’ve gathered up some links from other sources on planning and/or coordinating for your browsing pleasure.

• Wedding Bee offers us a good description of what sort of services you can expect from day-of coordination.
• To better understand the differences between wedding planning and coordination, check out this post on Every Last Detail.
• Also from Every Last Detail, why you need a wedding planner (check out point 5 in particular!).
• If the cost is an important factor for you, get more information on average wedding planner prices from Wedding Stats.
• The inspiring Preston Bailey on hiring a planner.
• Here Comes the Blog on hiring a planner.
• Plus, one of our previous blogs on the topic of coordination vs. decoration.

Check out our package for coordination here, and our planning packages here and here.  As always, we love questions, so feel free to leave one in the comments or contact us for more information!

One of the biggest mistakes we see couples make in their planning process is to choose a venue before knowing the size of their guest list, which leads to either overcrowding or heartbreaking guest list cuts to make the crowd fit into the space booked.  This mistake is killer! Who to invite and how many can be a tricky enough decision to make.  It’s one of the pieces of wedding planning that is high on the list of family stressors, because the number of people you invite is directly related to where your wedding will be held and how much it will cost.  

There are two factors that drive this mistake.  One is that the maximum capacity at a venue can be affected by a number of details, like table size and style, buffets versus served meals, standing receptions instead of seated guests, and more.  If you don’t know all the details before booking the venue, many believe their guests will fit and find out later after changes are made that this just won’t happen.  Always make sure that you are booking a venue that has extra space if you need it.  For example, if you have 125 guests, find a venue that can hold 150 comfortably, just in case.  Also, keep in mind that it behooves a venue to fill a room to the brim for sales reasons.  Most venue coordinators are honest and will advise you if your number of guests will be cramped, but if you have an experienced wedding planner on board, they can give you the skinny on the math to see if your number will really work.

The other factor is the highly touted refusal rate statistics.  There are a plethora of suggested percentage rates that people will cite on how many guests will be unable to attend your wedding from your invite list.  Trusting in any or all of these numbers can lead to a very uncomfortable situation when you realize you’ve overestimated your refusals.  We have written two posts on how to create a realistic guest list, so check these out: Where to Start on Your Guest List, Cutting Your Guest List.  If you’ve already booked a venue and find yourself in a jam with your guest list acceptances, consider changing the style of your reception to accommodate the larger number of guests, perhaps by offering food stations at a cocktail style reception instead of a seated dinner or a buffet.  More people will remain standing, which decreases the number of tables and chairs you need.  

Most wedding planners will take the time up front with you to discuss the venue and the guest count thoroughly.  An experienced planner can offer their perspective on how many people the venues you are considering can comfortably hold.  It will definitely be worth your time to check with your planner or to look into one before you book your venues.

Photo by Jennifer Strain Photography