Category: Questions To Ask Your...

In the first flush of joy after your engagement, you’ll probably begin browsing magazines and wedding websites…and soon feel buried by a blizzard of checklists and a daunting array of decisions. That’s when you and your fiancé might want to think about hiring a professional wedding planner or wedding coordinator.

Here are some questions to ask when considering a location for your wedding. Make sure to ask them all and get everything in writing in your final contract! Click here to educate yourself.

Besides your location, the food and drink for your wedding bash will probably consume the largest portion of your wedding budget. Catering costs are usually presented as “per-person” charges, sometimes abbreviated in wedding brochures as “pp” after the amount. But be aware—the per-person charge often doesn’t include everything: Tax and gratuities (sometimes called “service charge”) might be extra, and there may also be separate per-person charges for the meal, drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and even setup.

Letterpress, thermography, engraved, matte, jacquard, glassine… ordering invites will mean learning a few new vocabulary words. You’ll also need to learn about all the components that you might want to include in your invitation, as well as what other printed materials could be part of your wedding scenario. With so many details to consider, you’ll depend on a creative wedding invitation professional to clue you in on the jargon, and guide you in choosing invites that reflect your wedding style.

Floral designers do much more than just supply the bouquet! They help create the look and mood for your wedding ceremony, as well as centerpieces and other table decorations for the reception.

Too often choosing the entertainment is left to the end of your overwhelming “Wedding To Do List”—but it shouldn’t be. Not only does music set the appropriate mood, but a skilled Master or Mistress of Ceremonies will gracefully guide your guests from one spotlight moment to another.

Next to your dress, the cake is probably a wedding’s most important icon. And whether you want a traditional multi-tiered confection, a miniature Statue of Liberty (hey, that’s where he proposed!) or a cupcake tower, your wedding cake should reflect your personality. Use the following questions as a guide when evaluating a potential cake designer.

How do you know which photographer is right for you? Whether you’re considering any of our Certified By The Guide wedding photographers or another professional, you need to do your homework.

It’s housekeeping time at Here Comes The Guide! We’ve reorganized our website a bit. If you’ve been reading our blog (thank you!), you’ll now find all our newest stuff over in Find Ideas, our online guidebook of wedding ideas, how-to’s, advice and lists of questions to ask prospective locations and vendors.

I fully admit to being addicted to the web mockumentary we introduced last week, Road to the Altar. The second five-minute episode is all about picking out wedding flowers, and is no less hilarious than episode 1. When the blushing bride-to-be Rochelle has her heart set on flowers that the groom’s mother just happens to be allergic to…well, watch for yourself:

Seriously now: How many times can you get virtually all your loved ones in one place, all dressed up and looking their best?

Sorry, folks, but even in this virtual/digital world dominated by the iPhone, your wedding guests still expect to receive something in the mail before they plunk down cash for the Tiffany place setting you’ve registered for. Should be no big deal, right?

Looking for your perfect wedding location is exciting. We get that. And now that you’ve narrowed down your choices to a select few, you so want to get down to the nuts and bolts of making your decision.