Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Why Post-It Notes Will Never Be Obsolete
Here's what she did:
Step 1: R. blew up an image of the room layout which had been provided by her venue, and had it printed on large paper.
Step 2: R. cut out smaller pieces of paper in the shape and size of the tables in her layout.
Step 3: Using post-it notes in pink (with ladies' names on them) and blue (with the men's names), R. started by affixing post-it notes to the "tables." She played with varying combinations until she had her guests all "seated" into the right groups.
Step 4: R. Then put the tables onto the big sheet of paper in different configuations, until the locations of various tables worked perfectly. R. made sure to take into account things like the location of the bar and band, the location of her family members, and so forth. In her case, she tried to keep generations together, and family members together. Of course, there are many ways to seat people, but this worked for her group!
Step 5: When all was said and done, R. assigned the table numbers based on the room layout.
R. says the biggest challenge in her planning was dealing with all of the different stakeholders in the process- mothers, in-laws, friends, fiances- they all had opinions and she knew she could never make everyone 100% happy. So at the end of the day, she did what all smart brides do- she did her best and then cut herself some slack!
What other tips do you love for figuring out tables and seating?
image source
Monday, June 28, 2010
Kristin and Chris's Dreamy Engagement Pics
I can't wait to show you their WEDDING! Coming soon!!!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Carry the Torch: Apply to Blog for The One!
But I'm not giving up on The One! Instead, I'm looking for a NEW BLOGGER BRIDE (or two?) to whom I can pass the torch! Don't worry I will still post too, but I think we need to breathe some new life into this place! The ideal candidate will:
- Share my desire to keep The One! as snark free as possible, while still maintaining enough space to allow for a few opinions!
- Have an appreciation for budget friendly, DIY, and otherwise personal and unique wedding details!
- Share my philosophy that weddings are first and foremost about commitment, family and love!
- Be an excellent writer!
- Be willing to post 2-3 times weekly!
If you think you're up for the challenge, please email me, sarah.theoneNY [at] gmail [dot] com, with your name and a brief paragraph about why you'd like to blog with The One! If you have a personal blog, please let me know the link, and if you do not, please provide 2-3 samples of your written work product- any relevant format will do!
I know there are so many of you out there who have good ideas and I'd LOVE to bring you into the fold!!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tacky Tacky Tacky
Ok so here's what happened. A friend recently received a wedding invitation where, directly on the invitation was the following poem...
To help us on our way
as husband and wife
gifts of cash are welcome
to start off our new life!
Um, excuse me, I know weddings often involve cash gifts, but seriously? Just because the poem is cute does not mean that the concept is cute. Every single etiquette guide I have ever read has said that under no circumstances may you mention gifts or registries on an invitation, unless you are specifically asking people NOT to bring presents. Because nothing is worse than making people feel like they are being invited to a fundraiser. To make things worse, most people are well aware of the rule and will judge you (severely) for doing it. Sorry guys but as a public service, I simply have to call this out.
But of course, I'm not only about being snarky. Here's a helpful tip- if you want to provide this information in a socially acceptable manner, put your registry information (with absolutely no requests for cash, there are alternative registries that can help you with that) on your wedding website, and the website information can be part of an invitation enclosure. That way your guests can find out gift information if they want to. And don't discount the value of word-of-mouth when it comes to gift giving. You don't need to put it on the invitation, and if you do, you'll just offend pretty much everyone who gets it.
A good cautionary tale though right? Have you ever seen any invitation faux pas? And how about www.tackyweddings.com? That should make every bride-to-be feel pretty good about her wedding choices!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Vedrana and Josh's Gorgeous May Day
The bride's lace gown is from Maggie Sottero, and the bridesmaids had two chocolate-confections to choose from at Davids Bridal. The darling pink flower girls' frocks were scored at Nordstrom, and the little girl in brown wore an etsy find! Even with so much romance and eye candy, however, the bride's favorite moments of the day were seeing her husband's face when she walked down the aisle, the moment when the crown was put onto his head (he was raised Catholic, so this was new territory for this good-humored groom), and of course, their first dance (to The Prayer)! At the end of the day, the guests had an incredible time, and the couple had a personal, perfect day!
Congratulations and best wishes to Vedrana and Josh!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Those Handy Little Freebies (Part I)
Well, one of the many things I love about the Chicks is their section of freebies. They have so many customizeable, free loveliness, its hard not to drool. So it's no shock that I turned to them when I needed to design a shower invitation for my stepsister!
And while we're on the topic, yes, my stepsister's name really is Sarah. And her future husband? He has the same name as my husband. Ah, the modern blended family!
My stepsister Sarah is planning a summery yellow and orange wedding, and so when planning the shower, we bridesmaids thought we'd stick with the same color family. And once that had been decided, I immediately wanted to use the Wedding Chicks dahlia invitation design I had seen a few months ago!
Have you customized any good downloadable freebies lately?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Happy Half-iversary!
xoxo,
Sarah
Friday, June 18, 2010
Love Bites
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Buy the Bride! (or why I wish I was Serbian)
On the big day, while Vedrana and her girls got their hair done, her parents pitched big white tents in their front yard, decorated, got out loads of tasty food, and invited over a slew of family and friends. The groomsmen then brought Josh to "buy" Vedrana from her cousin Danilo. Before she was "sold", two fake brides were paraded out of the house (guys dressed as girls) and "heated negotiations" ensued (all in hilariously good fun). Eventually Josh left (clearly fed up with the faux-bride antics), and the best man finally negotiated a "price" and bought Vedrana for the groom- which in actuality, was the best man's wedding gift to the couple. Afterwards, everyone celebrated until it was time to head to the church!
I mean, isn't this the best way you can think of to get rid of those pre-wedding jitters? I love it!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Do you love finding budget and DIY tips on The One!?
xoxo,
Sarah
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Keepsake Box: Heirlooms or Clutter?
Mine looks somewhat like this one above (but it isn't wall mounted, and mine is cuter, hehe). It is black (like our other picture frames) and has a hinged lid with a collage picture frame in it, and the inside is solid wood. I love it so much and used sepia colored wedding photos to fill the collage on the box top. Inside, I saved a copy of every paper element from our wedding (our save the date, invitation, rehearsal invitation, menus, favors, OOT bag welcome letters, escort cards, wedding program) along with J.'s boutonniere, my garter, the cards we gave each other on the wedding day, and a few special cards from family. It's the perfect way to store memories- a kind of time capsule that now sits on an end-table shelf in our living room. Close by but clean. I adore it!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Cupcakes Wrappers You Can Actually Afford
So when I saw these adorable laser cut wrappers from NY Cake, I was utterly smitten. Just look! Does this make you want to eat cupcakes, make cupcakes, and serve cupcakes at every wedding from now until forever?! (Click on images for their tasty sources!)
Just one problem (or, as I prefer to say, challenge)... this are kind of pricey for a non-essential wedding item. What's a girl-on-a-budget to do? Hit up some DIY cupcake wrapper tutorials, of course!
I'm definitely whipping these out for my next cupcake recipe! Don't you just love them?!