Choosing your Bridal Accessories

Because we believe that the smallest of details can make a difference in every wedding, we're sharing with you some advice and inspiration on the many options of bridal accessories. We know that it can be overwhelming but trust us, you won't want to skip them all together! For the purpose of this post, we'll be talking about your veil, hair accessories and of course, shoes! 

Why do you need them? 

Perhaps you're not one to wear accessories on a daily basis or think they're an unnecessary addition.... Bridal accessories can do anything from allow you to stand by tradition to add in a spark of interest or extra flare to the theme of the wedding day. Take the veil for instance. Traditionally a veil is worn to portray a bride's purity. While we may be seeing less brides sticking to the traditional values of wedding symbolism, many are opting for accessories that add an aesthetic value and thats perfectly fine! At the end of the day it of course comes down to you and what makes you feel most comfortable and special.

Let's start with the Veil...

Jonathan Hare Photography

As stated briefly above, not all brides opt to wear a veil. While it's certainly a personal choice, we thought we'd take this time to let you know that there are tons of different veil options. We found the following graphic via www.bridestory.com

When choosing your veil, take some time to think about...

How long will you be wearing it? If you plan to wear your veil into the reception, think about how active you'd like to be and whether your veil will prevent you from doing so?

Your Hair. If you'll be taking your veil off and not changing hair do's from ceremony to reception, consider a veil that attaches to a headpiece so as to not ruin your do. Bonus: you also have a pretty hairpiece still in place post veil! 

Your Dress- You'll want to pick a veil that compliments your dress, not overpowers it. For that gorgeous cut out or low back, consider a sheer veil to not take away from those elements. 

Your Venue- As many things in wedding design, the venue often sets the tone for the theme and feel of the wedding. Take into account the type of venue you're marrying at and all the factors that could lead to your veil choice!  

Hair Accessories

Flower crowns, combs, headbands, fascinators , hair pins and clips! There are so many gorgeous options that can add that touch of interest to your look. Just as your veil, consider the venue you're marrying at, your dress style and how you'll wear your hair. For an outdoor garden wedding, a flower crown with an up do or loose curls would add a touch of whimsy to your look. Perhaps you're marrying at a castle...consider a tiara to complete your affair fit for a princess. The right comb or headband can also add that wow factor to any wedding. See some inspiration below:

Shoes

You can't see them under your dress so why wear pretty shoes right? WRONG! Let's just take a look at the following pictures and see why shoes can make a huge impact on your wedding photos. Besides, you can always bring a comfy pair to change into or ditch the shoes altogether for dancing! 

Sarah Bush Designs

Laura Anne Watson Photography

AJ Dunlap Photography

Sarah Whitmeyer Photography

Hopefully you can see that if nothing else, accessories make from some really wonderful photos!

 And while we said we weren't going to cover jewelry in this post to further drive our point that ACCESSORIES MATTER... we leave you with the following photos.

Laura Anne Watson Photography

Abby Waller Photography

Matthew Pautz Photography

Katie Coon Photography

You're Engaged!! Now what?

Congratulations! You're engaged and ready to start preparations for your BEST DAY EVER. 

Want to guess what the FIRST step to wedding planning should be? Before picking your venue, your date and gathering inspiration? 

If you said building you guest list, you're wrong (although close and you'll see why below). If you said building a budget, you win the metaphorical prize! Now, let's talk about how....

Step 1: Who will be helping fund the wedding expense? Sit down and have a conversation with your parents, fiancé's parents and anyone else you think may want to contribute. Also, decided what is within your means to contribute to your wedding. Have you been saving for some time? How will you save for it?

Step 2: Think about and write down what aspects are most important to you on your wedding day. Are you set on having a Band over a DJ? Is your fiancé insistent on a cigar roller? If your number one is a fantastic photographer, put that at the top of your list to ensure adequate funds are set aside to accommodate that. 

Step 3: Please don't rule out a wedding planner. You may look at your budget and think there's no way I can afford one. You may also be surprised when you can. Great wedding planners often are able to aid in saving you money based on their connections with trusted vendors and knowledge of the industry. Sure there are times where hiring a full service planner just doesn't make sense with certain budgets and the client's must haves but having somebody for wedding management (they're all called something different... day-of, week-of, we do Month-of...) is absolutely priceless! You've spent countless hours (250 on average) planning the details of your wedding. Hire a professional to tie up loose ends and ensure your day goes off without a hitch. The week before the wedding is often stressful with last minute things popping up and vendors with questions, save yourself the stress and hire a coordinator!

Step 4: Here is where you should begin that guest list. Not only will building your guest list help when searching for a venue to accommodate the guest count, but should also drive your budget in the right direction. With more guests come higher catering and bar costs.... more tables means more decor and more addresses means more stationary... see where I'm going with this? The easiest way to save is by reeling in your guest list. 

Step 5: Once you have that hard budget number, you may allocate it accordingly. As a general guideline, expect to pay around 45-50% on your venue, catering and bar costs. 

Photo and Video 12-15% 

Flowers/Decor 10% 

Entertainment 6%-10%

Stationary 3%

Wedding attire and Beauty 10%

Miscellaneous 2%

Cake 2%

Expect to pay about 10% if you have a designer and anywhere from $1200 and upwards for a wedding coordinator. 

Keep in mind, this is an estimation hence why we're over 100% on the high end-If you opt to have transportation, favors, etc. you'll have to build those elements into the budget as well. Have your wedding bands already been purchased? No. add those in. Also, keep step 2 in mind. Is that high end designer gown a non negotiable for you? If it is and puts you over budget, cut down on something that may not be as important to you. If you take, you must give somewhere else. 

Keep track of your spending by making an excel spreadsheet or document with each category and their line items (i.e. under Attire you'll have: dress, alterations, accessories, as well as for your groom), estimated cost, actual cost, additional services and fees, tips, etc. Using the auto sum function on excel you can add things as you go and track what remains. 

If this is overwhelming to you, let me tell you that budgeting and building that guest list (which go hand in hand) are two of the most stressful parts of wedding planning. We aid in budget building and allocation with our Full Service Planning and also offer 'in the know' sessions as an a la carte service for hard topics such as this! Let's meet over coffee and we'll share our in depth wisdom with you about budgeting and guest list building including where and how to save, awesome and affordable vendors and even how to ease the burn of cash flowing from your pockets! 

Everything you need to know about Save the Dates

Do I HAVE to send a Save the Date? 

While No, Save the Dates are not a necessity, they are a preferable, courteous way to say to all of your guests "hey, we're getting married and we'd really like for you to be there, so start planning!"  If you are getting married on a holiday weekend or having a destination wedding you should without a doubt send a Save the Date to ensure your guests have adequate time to plan for travel/accommodation and to just not make other plans over the 4th of July or their Labor Day weekend. If they don't know they're invited to the wedding until a few months before the wedding, you can't necessarily blame them for not being able to afford flights because they're too expensive or maybe they decided to travel over that long weekend already. So basically, yes ... SEND THE SAVE THE DATE! 

Who do I send them to?

A Save the Date should be sent to every guest whom will be extended an invitation to the main event.

Guests over the age of 18 who are still living at home should be sent a separate save the date. 

How do I address them? 

Be as clear as possible on Save the Dates and Invitations. If you're allowing a friend a plus one, let them know when you send the Save the Date! (sidebar: try to find out their name before you send out the invitation as well) 

Save the Dates should be addressed with professional, full names and nicknames or Initials should not be used unless the envelope doesn't allow room. In that case, professional titles such as Dr., Rev. and Capt. can be used but keep guests full names. 

Write our abbreviations completely to account for Post Office Box, Lane, Southeast, Apartment, etc.

Mister and Misses however should be abbreviated as (Mr. , Mrs.) (sidebar: Ms. is used for single females over 18 and Miss if they are younger) 

Adding 'and family' can be confusing. Write out precisely who is invited to avoid an awkward conversation when RSVP's come back. 

Print return address on the back of the envelope but not names. 

What should be included on a Save the Date?

Basic information for a Save the Date should include....

 the date of the event

 location (state and city)  

personalized website addresses 

also it's great to add bride and groom names + 'invitation to follow' which my husband and I did not as you will see below. hahaha I guess we figured our names were on our website/the address so it wasn't necessary.

We gave that up for the format to look correct. You just do what you have to for the sake of 'the look' sometimes.