Did I make the list?

Who is Invited to your special Day?

A wedding is a big party celebrating the union of two people in love. The guests at a wedding should be the people you can't see yourself getting married without! These people include parents, siblings, family members, the wedding party and their spouses/plus one,and close friends. Weddings have a tendency to draw people to you, people you have not seen since you were in junior high school. The "Hey am I invited," line will be exhausted by the time your date arrives. To these "Hey am I invited" group, you have to put your foot down and tell them that your guest list has been set and you cannot add anyone else. Remember the bigger the group the more money you have to shell out.

There are other dilemmas to a guest list:

*Should I invite kids?
My advice is a wedding is no place for kids to run around.

*Should I invite my mother's long list of distant relatives/friends?
It really depends if it is in your budget. Now, if mom's paying then let her invite whoever she wants (within reason).

*Should I invite her because she invited me to her wedding?
There is no written rule that states that you have to invite "suzy" to your wedding because you attended hers. Ask yourself if this is a person you consider a friend and see yourself being friends with ten years from now.

*Plus ones
One word...DRAMA. I still have a "friend" who talking to me because she did not get a plus one at my wedding. NOT EVERYONE WILL GET A PLUS 1. If you have 20 work friends you want to invite and they want to all bring a date then your guest list and budget will sky rocket. People who are married, live together, or have been in long relationships should get a plus one. The other single people, it is up to the bride and groom if they want to extend that plus 1.

Check Yourself

Wedding season is here and it is a domino effect. You get married, your cousin gets married, your friend gets married....You receive this gorgeous invitation in the mail which tells you pretty much what type of wedding it is. Mine invitation was a suede Jacket (so freaking cute) and it was a lilac color and it told my guest it was a formal affair, the colors of the wedding were soft purples, white, and silver. Now, that you have RSVP, you have to put some funds aside for the wedding-your outfit, hair, nails, accessories, shoes, and finally oh yeah a check for your friend as a present. This check can make or break friendships. Are you that guy who writes a 35 dollar check and came with five people? Are you that friend who received 200 dollars from a friend, but are only giving 50 bucks? I believe in all fairness, money should not define a friendship by no means. If your friend is not working and makes an effort to attend your wedding and can only give x amount that is fine. But the Wedding Etiquette is to cover your plate and your date and your kids as well.

What happens when you give a friend 35 dollars and they go ahead and add a zero to this amount. This is check fraud. How can you check yourself so that no one does this to you...

1. Don't leave blank spaces on the payee and amount lines.
2. "The type of pen you use makes a difference. Most ballpoint and marker inks are dye based, gel pens, like the Uniball 207 uses gel ink that contains tiny particles of color that are trapped into the paper, making check washing a lot more difficult."
3. Review and balance your bank statement as soon as you receive it to make sure the your friend cashes the right amount.
4. Just Give Cash in the first place and avoid the check situation!!!

*"Thieves steal something even more valuable than money or goods. They also steal trust."

Whose Wedding Is It Anways? by Maria Perez

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?
Some people agree that some modern day brides may not mind a guest wearing white. Especially if the modern bride might not want to wear white herself. Some websites claim that its ok as long as your dress doesn't resembles a wedding gown. But in my opinion and the opinion of most, wearing white to a wedding competes with the bride’s gown. It isn't polite and it might be taking away from the bride on her day. Lots of wedding websites are even against guests wearing pale pink, light gray, and red. Why red, you might ask? Red is an attention grabbing color. And this color may also take away from the beautiful bride. Make sure not to pick anything that might make anyone think you're the bride. You might embarrass yourself in a white outfit. But if you are set on wearing white on some one's wedding at least accessorize with some color.

Choosing your Birdal Party

The Wedding season is upon us. How do I choose my bridesmaids/maid of honors? Do I go with my sister who I don't get along with or my best friend who knows me inside and out? There is no right or wrong answer here. Here are some tips in choosing your party for your special day:



1. Choose people who are there for you and no fillers.
I made the mistake of trying to match the number of groomsmen my husband had. He had 14 in mind! I was not that popular. So I asked people who were "fillers." I quickly realized that it was becoming expensive for us. In terms of renting limos, flowers for the bridal party, and planning rehearsals was a nightmare. We quickly cut down the list to 11 and then 8. Eight still being a high number, now that I think of it, as a kid my horoscope said 3-5-8 are your lucky numbers. I got married on the 8th month on the 8th day with 8 bridesmaids-kinda cool. I know someone who is getting married and she asked me to be in her wedding. We never hung out, we hardly speak on the phone, and we are not friends. I am that person's filler. People you ask to be in your wedding need to be real friends/family members who love you, will do anything for you, and you will know 20 yrs from now!



2. Choose your Maid of Honor according to who you want.
My sister is our friend's maid of honor. This girl has sisters. Why didn't she ask them? She doesn't have to. She felt my sister would be a better fit. Ask the person you feel is crucial that they be in your wedding party. I had a hard time with this on. I have four people in my life I was contemplating. I ended up choosing both my sister and my best cousin to be the forefront of the wedding party. The priest however, needed only one to sign the book. I let them discuss that one on their own. There are no rules to this. I have even heard of a man being a "bridesmaid."



3. Choose people who will want to participate in all that involves wedding.
I chose people who I genuinely thought wanted the best for me. Most of these women did contribute all their time and money to activities being planned. The one person who never let me down was my sister, the head maid of honor, she was on it like it was her wedding. You will bear disappointments throughout this process. For example, I had a requested meet and greet for the bridesmaids and the groomsmen and only three people showed out of 16.

Does anyone have stories of how they chose their wedding party?

Planning Bachelorette Parties by Maria Perez

This past year I been planning or helping to plan many bachelorette parties. In my opinion they are fun and sometimes outrageous. But it's something that is part of the whole wedding package and stays with the bride forever. So make it count!The steps that I have taken when planning a bachelorette party are as follow:
Step #1- Bride first. Always make sure that you have some idea of what the bride wants (even if it's a surprise). For example, if your bride really dislikes strippers try to stay away from strippers. Also ask her who she wants to invite.
Step #2- Set up a budget. Find out how much the bridesmaids can contribute.
Step #3- Set a date and time that is good for most of the guests.
Step #4- Brainstorm ideas for the party. Make sure you take the bridesmaids' ideas into consideration. Think of places to go, a theme, color scheme, games,and any other ideas to make the night fun.
Step #5- When everyone agrees with the event that will take place make reservations.
Step #6- Plan a method of transportation. For my sister's bachelorette party we rented a pink SUV limo. But if it's not in your budget you should make arrangement to have a designated driver.
Step #7-Always collect the money before the day. Some of the ladies might forget their portion of the money the day of party and you wouldn't want to be stuck.
Step #8- If you picked a theme, dress and act the part. So far I been a mobster, a girl of the Moulin Rouge, and a pin-up girl from the 1940's.
Step #9- Make the night memorable for everyone, especially the bride.

Celebrity David Tutera: Wedding Scammer

Melissa Chin and Steve Choi sued David Tutera, a celebrity wedding planner and star of his own show My Fair Wedding, for getting "cold feet" the day of their wedding. Chin and Choi say they gave Tutera a $100,000 deposit and four round-trip tickets from New York to Singapore and agreed to put him up for six nights at the Shangri-La. Chin's dad claimed that Tutera wanted more money in an already expanded bugdget. The wedding budgeting at 300,000 dollar was Chin's dads limit! Chin's dad said there was no more money and to not board the plane. Tutera did just that. He later got hit with a big fat law suit. He responded by saying that Melissa Chin is a 15 minute fame starved Bridezilla. Their law suit of 200,000 dollars and Tutera's counter-suit was later dropped.
I am sure that was not the first or the last wedding he has done this to. How much longer can he get away with this?

I am in school for Wedding planning and cannot ever imagine doing this to anyone whether it is a 300,000 dollar wedding or 30,000 one! There must always be integrity for your brand. The BRAND BEING YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS, and most importantly your reputation.

Do you have a story about your wedding planner?

Maid of Honor Blues:by Maria

So let me share my wedding blues... I'm the maid of honor of my best friend's wedding. And it's a mix of feelings I'm having now. I'm so happy and honored that she picked me, but at the same time I notice that I really didn't know her family. And it's so strange when you and your sister are basically the only Hispanic people in the place (they are white). It's so different from the other joyful weddings I have participated in recently. In this wedding everything is either black or white. No shades of gray. Either they exclude me from planning or they let me plan it all with no input...The things you do for a friend. Has anyone else ever felt how I do? I got the BLUES!