Jennifer & David, Roswell River Landing

From my very first meeting with Jennifer and David, I knew they'd be a joy to work with. They both have such an easygoing, genuine way about them that really made it a pleasure getting to know them and helping to guide them through their wedding planning and design.  It's no surprise that they would also have incredible friends and family! 

One of my favorite parts of the wedding day was just before the ceremony when David and his groomsmen prayed together in a tight circle. Come to find out after scrolling through photos, Jennifer and her maids were praying together almost at the exact same time as the men! The love that these friends share for one another was so easy to see throughout the evening in their heartfelt speeches, loving embraces and endless smiles.

So many incredible people same together to ensure their day was just as they had dreamed of from Jennifer's father building their arbor they married under to numerous wedding guests insistent upon staying to help clean up at the end of the evening!

Photography: Katie Coon Photography

Venue: Roswell River Landing 

Florist: Candler Park Flowers 

Design & Decor: Like the Dazzling 

Coordination: Like the Dazzling, Hannah & Kimberly 

Catering: Sara Arias

DJ: SiFi Entertainment 

Bridal Gown: Sweet Elegance Bridal 

Hair and Makeup: Formal Faces 

Cake: Publix Bakery

Thank you Jennifer and David for letting Like the Dazzling be a part of your beautiful union! 

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! 

Sweet Woodland Themed Baby Shower

Just a few weeks ago my one of my sister's dearest friends Emily, my mom and myself threw my sister Seldon the sweetest baby shower. When finding inspiration for this theme, I of course turned to Pinterest and kept seeing lots of orange and grey and just really wasn't thrilled with what I saw. Don't get me wrong, I saw a ton of super cute ideas but I really wanted it to be feminine and softer since Seldon is having a baby girl. My feelings on Pinterest have been summed up on a previous post found here, but quickly again- Pinterest is so great for drawing inspiration but one of the things we strive for at Like the Dazzling is really making each event unique and truly personal. I think we hit the nail on the head with our feminine woodland shower personally but maybe my opinion is biased so you be the judge... 

sweet woodland owl centerpiece

Mom and I had the best time making these cute floral arrangements with gorgeous Anemone, Roses, ranunculus, Hypericum berries and Silver Dollar Eucalyptus. We added moss right from the backyard into the bottoms to give them each more of a natural, woodland feel. 

These little animals were just the metaphorical icing on top of each arrangement. So stinking' cute with their little heads popping out of each one! 

lettered wood rounds

We used small handmade wood rounds for the Baby Girl on the mantle and also with each guests name for place cards. You'll see below one in the carousel below with Aunty Sug' written on it.... Thats me! :) 

The cake was inspired by something I found on Pinterest and the County Club did a beautiful job and took the design we chose for inspiration very literally so we can't take credit there. I did however find the original designer and they have the cutest cakes! Check out Petite Homemade . 

We chose a brunch instead of lunch because who doesn't like to brunch? I sure do! I actually have a Pinterest board called 'Ladies who brunch'.... you can check it out if you like here. We did a sweet and savory menu of french toast with pecans and raspberries, tomato broccoli and cheese quiche and a fresh fruit salad. 

Well, what do you think? Did we or did we not bring new life to the woodland theme? 

Venue: Country Club of Asheville

Design, Styling and Florals: Like the Dazzling 

Catering and Cake: Country club of Asheville

Sidenote: I need to start using that expensive camera I have instead of snapping photos on the trusty iPhone.