How to Pick a Wedding Day Color

Wedding colors are one of the biggest decisions a bride has to make when planning her wedding. Since the colors will be used in your bridal veil, decorations, flowers, clothes, invitations and table linens, among other things, it is important that the color both be one that looks good and is compatible with the season. Here are some ideas on how to pick a wedding day color.

1. Decide whether or not you want to have a wedding theme. If your theme is one that limits your color choices, you automatically have a range of colors you need to work within.

2. Consider the season you are having your wedding in. Autumn and winter weddings look best in warm colors like reds and oranges while spring and summer colors can be pastels or greens and purples.

3. Find out the color of your birth stone or your mother’s, if that color works for you, it might add another layer of meaning to your wedding day.

4. Go to your local nursery to get inspiration from the flowers that are in season. Since flowers play a large part in decorations you can choose a color based on the flowers you can easily get.

5. Keep your venue in mind when looking at colors. The drapes, seating and walls all need to go well with the color you end up picking.

6. Make a list of all the colors you and your groom like, and the ones you absolutely don’t want in your wedding. This will help you come up with a shortlist of colors to consider.

7. Look at color ribbon samples  to find colors that both look good on you (as an accent color on your dress or veil) as well as suit the theme for your wedding.

8. Talk to your cake designer, florist, wedding designer and wedding invitation printer about the colors that can be incorporated into all three things.

9. Go looking for bridesmaid dresses. Since you need to choose a color that looks good on all your bridesmaids, it will be helpful in narrowing down your list of potential colors

10. Look at having two main colors and an accent color that is complementary to these. Complementary colors are the ones that are opposite to each other on the color wheel.

11. Once you have your colors, get them incorporated wherever possible. Make a color wedding veil with your main color, while the other accessories, favors, invitations, linens and flowers can match to the accent color.

Tips

Limit the number of colors you use to two or three.

Talk to your wedding planner, if you have one, about colors they recommend. Sometimes they can mention colors you might not have considered before.

Talk to your veil and accessory designer to incorporate colors into the edging of your veil, your tiara and your jewelry sets with color ribbon, crystals or pearl accents.

Look at as many color samples as possible before making your first shortlist. Sometimes colors you may not see in your everyday life can look great in wedding decorations.

Warning
Try to stay away from colors that don’t look good on you, or in pictures.

Guest post from Iris D. Bridal.

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Fox 10 News Segment: Ways of Saving Money

Here is the debut of our invitations on TV! It was an exciting morning that flew by. Our invitations were featured as part of a segment about ways to save money on your wedding by talking with your vendors. We think it turned out great. Let us know what you think.

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Wedding Planners: Friend or Foe?

You finally met your match. You might have met your true love on a love dot com dating site or passing through on an elevator. Now it’s time to make sure everyone knows this is serious. Of course, you say ‘yes’ and the planning begins, which is where you begin to wonder where to start? You could spend your time during lunch breaks, weekends, after work, and taking your sweetheart around to all the fun venues as part of your planning. But be honest, you might not have the time needed to plan a wedding, and it’s THE day to be remembered forever.

What does your wedding day look like in your mind? The real questions are: How do you get in touch with the best vendors? How do you still have your dream wedding with a budget in today’s economy? How do you arrive on your wedding day without family tears and frustration? Have you started to think about the budget for your wedding?

All of these thoughts seem overwhelming, right? Have you considered a wedding planner? For many brides, the thought of letting someone else control their day is unmentionable. You might know exactly what you want, plus, some believe a wedding planner will cost you money in which you did not originally budget for. Here are some truths you should consider.

Friend: A wedding planner is an expert at weddings much like a dentist is an expert with teeth. They know the remedy for all your ailments and setup a plan or remedy. It’s easier to imagine a painless day especially on your wedding day when you have everything planned out.

Friend: I’m sure you don’t plan on spending close to 200 hours researching venues, caterers, florists, photographers, and really the vendor list goes on. Truly, no one wants to spend all their days finding vendors and finding the wrong ones. A wedding planner has a network of reputable professionals in their trade readily at their fingertips.

Friend: The cost of a typical wedding is about $25,000 and this doesn’t include your honeymoon. A planner can help establish your budget, including the cost of a wedding planner, and network with other vendor’s part of the Association of Bridal Consultants to get an affordable vacation spot.

A wedding planner is your friend on the most important day of your life. Today’s economy only helps shape the perception of your reality and what you can afford. Let the expert help you plan your day that captures the best moments of your life.

Written by: Valerie Bolitho, Wedding & Event Planner, Blueprint Affairs, www.blueprintaffairs.com

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Brand Identity for The Bride's Breakfast Club

We are unveiling the new logo we created for The Bride’s Breakfast Club! The new logo is the first step in creating a solid brand identity that will appeal to all types of brides.

The Bride's Breakfast Club is an organization designed to help brides and grooms save hundreds of dollars on their wedding and future purchases. Many of the exclusive discounts and special offers extend well beyond the wedding and into building a new life together!

The Bride's Breakfast Club hosts monthly breakfast meetings on the third Sunday of each month from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Held at various locations throughout Phoenix, they feature guest speakers and give the bride an opportunity to meet preferred vendors while receiving additional discounts or special offers.

“Working with The Bride’s Breakfast Club was a natural choice for us. We were able to create a logo for them that was both elegant and cutting edge at the same time. This partnership allows us to showcase our talents of marketing and design, as well as convey the quality of vendors that will be involved with the club.” (Erin Burkhard, CEO, Be In Love Designs)

For additional information on The Bride’s Breakfast Club, please visit their website at http://www.bridesbreakfastclub.com/

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Invitation Timeline

When should you order your invitations? Well, we think you should start the process early so we can help you with your wedding's theme. That way we can carry it through all your printed pieces, starting with your Save the Date. Besides that, here is the traditional timeline of when to schedule your consultation for invitations.

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Memorial Day Weddings

Since the weather is generally nice across the country, Memorial Day weekend weddings can be ideal for many couples. They can plan a long celebration without worrying about guests taking time off from work. However, there are a few things to consider when planning your nuptials over this holiday weekend.

First, you should consider where you are having your wedding. Memorial Day weekend means a lot of families are traveling, especially to places like the beach or state parks. If your not careful in securing a location prior to the wedding, you may have a lot of uninvited guests!

Also, because of it being a high travel weekend, you should send your Save the Dates well in advance. Many families look forward to planning their vacation, so it is important to let them know not to book any other plans. This will also give them time to find the best hotel and flight deals if they are coming from out of town.

Just like taking care of your guests early, you should also reserve your vendors early. This can be expensive because many vendors charge more for a holiday weekend. It is also a weekend that is often requested, so finding vendors early can help relieve the stress of trying to find one at the last minute and possibly being forced to hire your armature friends as replacements.

Have an outdoor wedding with a picnic style reception to save on food costs. You can serve inexpensive hot dogs and hamburgers in fun decorative plates. Serve lemonade in glass jars and use sparklers instead of rice for your departure.

When it comes time to decorate, Memorial Day Weddings can look lavish without spending lots of money. The weekend is patriotic, but you don't have to go overboard with American Flags everywhere. You could choose your own theme and colors, or stick with red, white and blue. By not using American flags, you still capture the feeling of the holiday but allow your personalities to show through.

Regardless of what you choose, this three day Memorial weekend is a great time to have a wedding.

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Arizona's First Bridal Week Coming Soon!

We are happy to announce that we will be taking part in Arizona's First Bridal Week! It is 8 glorious days of wedding events, at the end of September.

Arizona's Bridal Week was the brainchild of Jennyvi Dizon and the gals at Lillian Lottie Couture, Meghan Lawlor and Jenny Pinto, who wanted to hold events with Arizona's top wedding vendors and best designers.

These events will be much more intimate than a regular bridal show and will give engaged couples the opportunity to really talk to top professionals and see what they have to offer. The whole week is filled with fashion forward events that are sure to please.

There will also be several prizes given throughout the week and one lucky bride will win the gown of her dreams! If you pre-register for the event, you will receive a free gift bag of products from participating vendors.

We will post more information about these wonderful events, including locations, dates, times, and participating vendors in the future, so please check back often.

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Creating a Budget

One of the most worrisome aspects of any wedding has to be the budget. We can tell you from experience, when you create a budget, tack on at least an additional 5%. Why? Because not only will your taste change throughout the planning process, but also because things will simply will cost more than you expect. Many vendors just hear the word "wedding" and will mark up their prices drastically because they know most customers will pay it.

As stated in an earlier post, the greatest influence on your budget is the guest list. If you haven't read that post, we encourage you to do so and go through with the process of creating your guest list before your budget.

Be In Love Designs has created a simple formula to help you create your general budget. To calculate your budget, simply multiply your total budget by the percentage of each category. You can also modify your budget by slightly changing percentages in aareas where you know you'll spend more or less for those services, (such as a friend is doing your hair and makeup.) Using this formula, a $20,000 wedding would have spent approximately $800 on Wedding Stationery.

Wedding Expenses & Suggested Budget:
42% Reception: beverages, catering, cake, rentals
2% Ceremony: facility, clergy, rentals, license
9% Apparel: gown, formalwear, assessories
10% Photography & Videography: shoot, edit, prints
6% Flowers: ceremony, cocktail hour, reception
6% Music: ceremony, cocktail hour, reception
4% Stationery: invitations, menus, postage, place cards, etc.
1.5% Accessories: favors, flutes, cake & knife servers, etc.
1.5% Gifts: attendants, parents, hosts, to each other, etc.
2% Transportation: bride, wedding party, guests
(Optional)
8% Wedding Coordinator
1% Wedding Insurance
7% Overages: tax, tips, etc.

There are many great wedding planning sites that can help you with your budget. We suggest http://www.aboutweddings.com/

Lessons of this post:
• Start with your guest list.
• Create a budget using the formula
• Leave some "wiggle room" for unexpected expenses

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First Step: Guest List

When planning a wedding, there are many details that you have to be aware of. One of the most important ones is the guest list. The people you decide to have at your wedding will help determine what location it will be at, what food and entertainment you may have, and most importantly, the cost of the affair.

When you begin your planning, Be In Love Designs suggest that the first thing you do is create a guest list. While others may argue that a budget should be the first thing, we believe knowing a general idea of how many people will attend can then help you decide on a budget. (Some times it is just not realistic to have a small budget and hundreds of guests.)

How do you start? Well, a great way is to create several lists that help organize possible attendees into categories. For example, write all of your coworkers on a list labeled coworkers, another for family, and another for friends. Then, as most of the time parents are closely involved in the wedding, ask them for who they would like you to invite. (Most of the time their list will be small.)

Once you have compiled everyone on your lists, start separating them into “A” and “B” lists. The “A” list will be those who are definitely invited and “B” for those who may get cut in the future. Many online wedding planning sites make this easy by letting you organize the list this way. You should also include name holders, such as “Mike’s Date” if you are allowing guests to bring dates.

Finally, start removing the guests you are ok with not attending the wedding. Really think about this. Not everyone has to come, and it is your money you are spending, so people should understand if they didn’t make the cut.

As stated before, a budget is very important factor in the final decision of the guest list. Also, your guest list will often change in the course of planning the wedding because of couples getting together or breaking up, and meeting new people. The venue you choose may also not hold as many people you originally wanted to attend the wedding. Just remember to be flexible and don’t feel bad if everyone doesn’t make the cut.

Lessons of this post:
• Start with multiple lists and get input from others.
• Separate guests into “A” and “B” lists.
• Consider budget, venue, etc.
• Remember your list will probably change.
• Don’t feel bad if everyone doesn’t make the cut.

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Theme & Happy Halloween

Here at Be In Love Designs, we love Halloween. For one day a year, you get to be whomever - or whatever- you want. Some people decide to have a funny costume. Others decide to stick with the more traditional, frightening picks.

What does this have to do with weddings you might ask? Creating the perfect Halloween night and planning a wedding actually have a lot in common.The most enjoyable and memorable events usually revolve around a theme.

When planning your wedding, just like Halloween, it is important to decide on a theme for your special day. It will not only make the planning of the "little details" much easier, but will also create a lasting impression with your guests.

When my husband and I planned our wedding, I first designed our logo. We used this logo throughout our wedding - everywhere from the table numbers, to bar menus, and even as a cake topper. (As well as the branding for this site!)

So when you are beginning the planning process of your wedding, think about your colors, designs, and other elements of your theme. Be In Love Designs has several options that can be used to create a theme for your wedding. We are also happy to help put those designs on additional items that we currently do not offer, such as napkins and matchbooks.

Lessons of this Post:
• Think about your theme early in the planning process.
• Try to carry your theme throughout the wedding and reception.
• Contact us for additional products and services you might not see available.
• Happy Halloween!

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New Beginnings

Hello Everyone!

We are so excited for the release of our site today. As you can tell, we are in the beginning phases of our business. Over the next few months, Be In Love Designs will grow and evolve into a wonderful shopping experience of invitations, favors, and more. Both Brides and Grooms to be will have the opportunity to create highly customizable invitations at affordable prices. We welcome any comments and feedback you may have in order to make both our products and our website as user-friendly as possible. We encourage you to please check back often, since we will begin to display inspirational photo galleries and design ideas, elaborate on our products and services, and of course, update our blog with useful stories and tips to help you get through the stress of planning your big day. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and we look forward to sharing our big adventure with you!

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