This week we welcome Diana Ma from Diana Ma Weddings & Events who offers helpful information on choosing the flowers for your special day. Be sure to visit Diana’s website or Facebook Page for more information.

Photo: Rodeo & Co Photography

Feeling Overwhelmed About the Big Day?

Consider hiring a wedding planner.

Sure it’s entirely possible to roll up your sleeves and get this party planned yourself, but not everyone has the time (energy or desire) to do it all themselves.

Here’s the thing, we are all busy. Between full-time jobs, household errands, commitments and committees, most of us are over scheduled.

Contrary to popular belief, hiring a wedding planner is not an indulgence reserved for the super wealthy. It is best needed for the professional, full-time working person, like you.

Because the average wedding takes upwards of 100 hours to plan, the right planner can be worth her weight in gold. The right planner saves you time, stress and yes, money.

Here are five reasons why all brides- and grooms-to-be should consider hiring a wedding planner.

1. Saves Time. A wedding planner will help economize your time so you are free to work on things that matter – like preserving your energy and staying balanced. That way, you can focus your attention on your guests and having fun.

2. Streamlines Decision-Making. You may find that planning a wedding is overwhelming. It becomes way too easy to bury your head in the sand once you are faced with the endless decisions you have to make. Venue, types of flowers, lighting arrangements, invitations, dresses, who to invite, who you may offend, who has what food allergy, what separates one photographer from the next, how will guests be entertained, where will they stay, and on and on and on. This is when the expertise of a professional consultant can be a huge relief. She will access vendors that fall in-line with your vision and narrow the choices to a reasonable 2 or 3.

3. Leads Your Team of Vendors and Manages the Event (to your wishes). A planner not only manages, but acts as your team leader. She plans, schedules, directs and orchestrates the tasks of all the day’s vendors – the people and their roles in making your wedding come to life. She is the point person.

4. Knows and Calls Upon Reliable Talent who Deliver Consistently Great Products and Services. She has the resources to not only locate the most efficient vendors (so you don’t have to scour through the millions!) at the best deals. A good planner finds vendors that fit your budget and individual style. This entails a special blend of folks who work cohesively together in delivering product and service that exceeds expectations. She has the name and contact for the best cake decorator in the area, knows florists and designers who would work well with your needs, can summons specialty linens, tables and chairs with a push of her phone and can distinguish one photographer from another.

5. You Still Have Control. Even as this work is being pulled together for you, a good planner will still let you decide the creative direction. She will also let you specify how you would like things to work and flow, because she knows that the day is all about the two of you. Her job is to make the planning process seamless.

But, however involved you want to be in planning your wedding, most consultants will customize packages that fit your needs. A wedding is a celebration of your awesome love for one another. Worrying about all the little details when you should be having the best, most stress-free time of your life, is criminal!

If there is room in your budget for a well-respected wedding planner,I strongly encourage you to make the investment. Your peace of mind and sanity will thank you.

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, Rick Bouthiette Photography was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.

Rick Bouthiette Photography is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Rick Bouthiette Photography for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are happy to announce that Rick Bouthiette Photography is one of the very best Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today.

To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards™, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

 About WeddingWire, Inc.

WeddingWire™, the nation’s leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.

This week we welcome Brad from Harrington Flowers who offers helpful information on choosing the flowers for your special day. Be sure to visit Brad’s website or Facebook Page for more information.

Colors, Shapes & Textures

Choosing the right flowers and florist for your wedding

Flowers play a big role in weddings and events. They should always be a reflection of the couples style and taste.

When selecting your flowers you should work with the colors you selected for the rest of the event. Think of your event as decorating a room. You need to coordinate your colors. However you can add punches of color for accent (and fun). I suggest getting a color wheel. It will help you in selecting colors and picking ones that compliment each other, especially accent colors.

We are all attracted to different colors and textures. Try to think of your flowers as colors , shapes and textures. Notice flowers that you like and decide what it is that attracts you to them. The earlier in the process you do this the easier it will be to select not only your flowers but your dresses , suits, etc.

When choosing a florist it’s a good idea to visit with a few as you will get different ideas from each one. When you have met with a few and are ready to make a decision choose the florist that you felt most comfortable with and ask them to work with you on any budget issues. Many people make the mistake of going with the lowest priced florist. Most florist are more than willing to work with you on price.

Feel free to contact me if you need advice or have questions.

Congratulations on your engagement!

Respectfully- Brad Harrington

This week we welcome Heather from Grace Limousine who offers helpful information on choosing the right transportation for your special day. Be sure to visit their website or Facebook Page for more information.

A Graceful Arrival

Choosing the right transportation for your wedding & avoiding common mishaps

The venue is reserved, you’ve met with your photographer, you chose your favorite cake and the florist knows your color scheme…so how do you choose the right transportation company?

Number one, ask around.  There really is no better way to get “the goods” on a transportation company than asking people who have used one.  Ask your friends who have been married recently, ask other wedding vendors that you communicate with.  Search around and you’ll find that most businesses have built a reputation (if they have been around for a while).

Get on the phone.  Call the transportation companies that you are interested in to get a feel for their customer service.  You can get an idea through email, but if you can spare 5 minutes on the phone I highly recommend it.  Be prepared to offer information such as:  date and time of your event, locations of pickups (where you & your fiancé are getting ready),  number of people needing transportation, ceremony and reception locations, specialty vehicles you might be interested in and any other helpful information.  Rates and packages are based off of the above details, so offer up as much information as possible in order to get an accurate quote.

Interview the Events Coordinator.  Wedding transportation is a specialized service and you have every right to interview the potential candidates.  Here are some great questions to ask that will help you make a decision you can feel good about:

• How long have you been providing wedding transportation in this area?
• What types of vehicles are in your fleet (year, make and model)?
• What is included in your wedding package?
• Are your vehicles smoking or non-smoking?
• How prepared are your chauffeurs?
• Will I receive a contract outlining the details of my reservation?
• Is there anything that makes your company unique?

Don’t be afraid to present possible scenarios to the events coordinator to test their problem solving skills!

Visit the showroom.  While it’s best to make an appointment, you can also learn a lot about a company by just showing up.  You will see the chauffeurs coming and going, the detailers shining the vehicles, the office staff taking reservations and the dispatchers making sure everything runs smoothly.  This is your opportunity to view the fleet and inspect the operation that will ensure your prompt arrival to the most important event of your life.

Don’t automatically go with the cheapest.  If the lowest-priced company also gives you the most confident feeling then great!  Often a cheaper package will reflect a lower level of service and you want to be treated like royalty on your wedding day…red carpet and all!

Book early if you want a special vehicle.  Transportation is not at the top of the to-do list when you first get that engagement ring, but if you want to arrive in a unique style, make transportation a priority.  Vehicles that often book into the coming year include vintage types (Rolls Royce, Bentley), stretch SUVs (perfect for large wedding parties) and limo coaches.

Go to a Bridal Expo.  This is a great opportunity to meet the chauffeur that will take care of your on your wedding day.  Unlike your florist, cake artist, or jeweler, your chauffeur is going to be present during your wedding festivities.  Most transportation companies will bring at least one chauffeur to the wedding shows and it’s the perfect chance to meet them and request them for your wedding day.

We took some pictures in the Parlour, near the Christmas tree in the lobby, then headed to the Wine Cellar which offered a lot more privacy. It was there in a little private nook that Brian asked Aimee to marry him. Aimee’s reaction of course was total shock as she had no idea  of the plan. Since it was freezing cold that day we arranged to meet with them the next day under much warmer conditions to capture more pictures of the happy couple.

Brian is from Hampstead, NH and Aimee is from Chesapeake, VA and are both students at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.

Feel free to leave comments. More pictures on the Facebook Page.

Comments encouraged and welcome. See more pictures on the Facebook Page.

Comments are welcome and suggested. People love comments about themselves. See more pictures on the Facebook Page.

Many of these were taken at Candia Woods, Indian Head Resort, Harris’s Pelham Inn, The Chase House, and The Granite Rose, just to mention a few of the fantastic venues we worked at this season.

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

Enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment. See more on my Facebook Page.