Palm Springs wedding planner

My Little Etiquette Shop: Should a Bride play Bob Barker if the Price Isn’t Right?

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Money. Whether you’re on team “Root of All Evils” or  more in the “Can’t Buy Love but Sure is Nice” camp, it is a source of worry for brides, grooms, and their families. This is a really good question – read on.
Q:  I went shopping with my sister for her wedding dress. When paying, she asked if it was the “best price” and if they could add any free accessories or alterations to “sweeten the deal.”  Then she did the same with the caterer.  She was politely declined, but it all made me quite uncomfortable. Is she leaving people whose help she needs with a bad taste in their mouths?

Wedding Budget Stress

A:  In theory, I get her thinking. So much in today’s marketplace is “on sale” or dicounted, so why not try and negotiate? You are correct though, that some vendors see that as a bit nervvy. Don’t worry about the rapport, as a Hospitality Sage once said, “until somebody throws something, any and all bride behavior comes with the territory.”
There’s a simple way to avoid having to bring Monte Hall on appointments, and to stay in your financial comfort zone: Be upfront with vendors about your budget. If they know the parameters, they can adjust their thinking accordingly and remove the need for any “wheeling and dealing.” They can also suggest  packages or specials they have. If you’re working with the A-TEAM of wedding professionals here in the Coachella Valley, all of us know how to take what you’ve got and turn it into “beautiful.”
With wedding businesses, keep this in mind about pricing. What we want is to provide a stable source of a reliable, high-quality service, in our case, beautiful flowers and flawless event design/coordination. When a bride signs with us, we’ve made a commitment to stay where we are, and do our best work for another year. If we discounted too deeply, we’d be unable to keep the promises we make. And keeping our word is important – especially when it means so much to our brides. We work with all types of budgets – and all our weddings, (and parties, corporate events, showers, bar/bat mitzvahs…) are beautiful.

bride and groom in gazebo
Have a great weekend!
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My Little Etiquette Shop: Putting Place Card Putterers…in their Place

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Seating Chart
Image by zzilch via Flickr

Avoiding the rogue place card shuffler in a pretty way? Really! Check out this idea from Emmaline Bride – a blog I follow on Networked Blogs – they handles this quite brilliantly with wonderful pics of their offerings.  Had to share. (BTW Networked Blogs is a terrific way to have all your blog fun delivered straight to your Facebook page. Check it out!)

Emmeline Brides is a fun source of pretty DIY inspiration and a sort of Mini-Etsy: curated handmade wedding related items.  Etsy can be super overwhelming so it’s great to have someone pick out the good stuff.  On to Seating Chart Wisdom!

Wedding Seating Chart: Why You Need One

Posted July 25, 2011 by EmmalineBride | ♥ Leave a Comment!

Let’s face it: guests like to have a seat, and not just to have a place to sit down for dinner. Since each guest invited is special to you, he or she should have a seat set aside just for them. Going to a wedding with free-for-all seating makes guests anxious. It reminds me of grade school when teachers have you pick a seat in the cafeteria, so everyone rushes to grab a seat by his or her best friend before the good seats are taken. 😉 Guests will be forced to tackle the same task if you eliminate a valuable wedding day resource: the wedding seating chart.

A wedding seating chart is similar to escort cards but requires less work on your behalf. All you need to do is finalize where each guest will sit based on your floor plan. Then, the seating chart is printed onto one page to be framed or placed onto an easel for easy viewing by guests. This eliminates the task of hand-writing or printing each guest’s name (and his or her guest) onto a card, folding it, and placing onto a table in alphabetical order. Instead, this easy peasy alternative keeps things simple and gives guests an easy-to-spot seating chart to take their seats quickly. We love these custom seating charts by The Seating Chart Boutique, featured artisan in The Marketplace! Just order your seating chart and frame! Here are a few of our favorite designs…

handmade wedding il fullxfull.2494252461 e1311614073311 Wedding Seating Chart: Why You Need One
handmade wedding il fullxfull.246210105 e1311614097346 Wedding Seating Chart: Why You Need One
handmade wedding il 570xN.248417478 Wedding Seating Chart: Why You Need One
handmade wedding il 570xN.247959761 Wedding Seating Chart: Why You Need One

Thanks bloggers @ Emmaline!

These seating charts are available through Emmaline Bride’s Marketplace. Pick one, take your seat, and get planning!

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My Little Etiquette Shop: Shuffling Placecards is a Gamble – and the House always Wins

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Oh the poor bride and groom.  They slave away in the last busy weeks before their big day, trying to achieve that elusive goal: the perfect seating arrangement.  PlacecardThe one where feuding cousins are on opposite sides of the dance floor, and Uncle Carl the anesthesiologist plays wing man for the med student who’s chatting up a bridesmaid at the next table over. But when the Mr. & Mrs. enter to cheers and glide onto the dance floor, they look around and realize that their careful plotting has been horribly botched.

We know what’s happened.  For years guests have taken it upon themselves to “improve”  seating plans. If they aren’t sitting with a particular friend or family member they do what they believe is an innocuous thing; switch placecards, or “lose” escort cards.  They don’t think about the fact that their seating has been carefully considered. Event staff may intervene – but more often than not, they (wisely) decline to engage this type of personality so as not to ruin a lovely evening.

How can you help?  Simply put, sit where you’re asked.  Period.  No one stays in their assigned seats much after the entree anyway, it’s not going to kill you to wait until cake to catch up with your sorority sister across the room.

The “House Always Wins” part works like this:  karma wise, you’re sealing your fate of future event tables full of Mommies & Me, Aunts Who Can’t Hear, and Uncles Who Don’t Shut Up.  Plus you can count on word of your behavior getting back to the bride/groom or mothers thereof, enshrining your difficult reputation for the rest of your days.  Every Christmas Party, Baby Shower, Barbeque…you’re forever “the one who messed up the wedding.”  Are you good with that? No? Then reign in your inner maitre d’.  Really feel the need to seat people? Open a restaurant.

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