35 States. And Counting.

35 states this week. It should be 52, and it will be, but right now, same sex marriage is legal in 35 states. Ta-da!

We are so happy to hear this news, especially since we're currently hosting a contest where one lucky same sex couple will win an all inclusive wedding. New Jersey has been legal for almost a year and Pennsylvania became legal this year...these are the states where we work the most so we cannot wait to continue celebrating and working with these amazing couples. 

CBS news reported on Friday (http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/10/11/with-same-sex-marriage-legal-in-more-than-half-of-american-states-wedding-industry-has-whole-new-market-to-service/) that the wedding industry now has a whole new market to service. They also went into detail about how to appeal to the same sex couples.

We would like to make this perfectly clear, if we haven't already: we are pro-love and pro-marriage. Gay, straight, it does not matter to us. We want to meet with you, plan with you and put together the ultimate wedding of your dreams. 

Now, that might turn some people away from us. We're aware of the people that will not book with us because they do not support gay marriage. To those people we say this: we were not the planners for you ever. We believe in love and that's what this is about. Whatever it is that *you* are about, is nothing we want to be a part of.

Our doors are open. If you and your partner are finally able to tie the knot, please reach out to us about putting together your special day. We are privileged to work with some of the most talented and LGBT friendly vendors across the country. Your day can finally happen and we want to plan it with you.

The article posted by CBS also went on to state that there hasn't really been a boom of same sex marriages since the laws are so new, but we disagree. We have seen that as soon as gay marriage became legal, couples that have been waiting for years, race off to city hall to make it official. We hope those couples, now with the paperwork behind them, will choose to celebrate, in a big way, with a wedding. You may officially be married, but let's put together a day to share with your family and friends. It's a time to celebrate!

Call us. Email us. Just in get in touch. Let's get the planning process started!

Let Them Eat Cake. Seriously. Allow This.

Know what my favorite thing about this cake is? It's real. It's made of flour, sugar, eggs and other stuff that bakers use (I am not a baker) and is presented for the entire duration of a wedding. Guests "ooh" and "ahh" over it all night and then the bride and groom cut into it before serving it to their guests. It's a tradition that gets played with, but 9 times out of 10, our clients want a wedding cake.

Last week on Shark Tank (one of the best shows of all time ever and if you're not watching it, please start), a company called Fun Cakes made the first pitch. While they might have actually been in the room for anywhere up to 2 hours, their segment was edited down to about 7 minutes and each shark chewed them up and spit them out. Their numbers didn't add up (and they were low) and that is a big problem to these multi-million and billion dollar investors. 

Normally with Shark Tank I get frustrated when a wedding company comes in. As brilliant as the sharks are, none of them know the wedding industry to understand the products correctly. Case in point: they invested in a photobooth company but not in The Original Aisle Runner. However, this time, they got it right and sent this company packing.

The company claims that most wedding cakes can run anywhere from $1,320-$3,080. Where are they getting these numbers from? My clients spend anywhere from $0-$10,000 on a cake. The company also claims that their rental cakes are a cost effective alternative to today's couple because "wedding pricing is getting out of hand". That's a direct quote from their episode on Shark Tank.

Here's the thing (and the sharks didn't mention this/know this): most banquet halls or caterers will provide the couple with a wedding cake. Will it be fancy and hang from the ceiling? Not really. But it will be beautiful enough to show off to your guests, and it will be available in a bunch of different flavors to choose from. Total cost for the couple? ZERO DOLLARS. Many (and I mean many) of my couples will choose to use a cake that is already being provided because they do not want that over the top, dripping in fondant, star of the show cake. On the other side of the spectrum is the client that wants something very specific and is interested in working with a cake designer. Those clients are not renting a fake cake.

So who is the client here? I have no idea. And in the 7 years that this company has been around, they don't seem to have that answer either. On Shark Tank, they admitted to making $150,000 in 7 years. Quick math: $22K a year. This is a nationwide company, and that number was a big ol' fondant and glitter encrusted red flag to the sharks.

Years ago, one of the "this is how you save money" rules was to have a small wedding cake for the reception to cut into, and then serve the guests sheet cakes that are in the kitchen. Many banquet halls and caterers will not even allow this practice anymore. This is no longer how you save money anymore than the "have your wedding on a Friday or a Sunday instead of a Saturday" rule. The rules are changing and your banquet hall might not give you the break that you think.

I am all for finding ways to save my clients money, but a fake cake is not the way to do it. You could spend $0 on a cake and still get a cake. So why spend a few hundred on cardboard with fondant? Why? Seriously. Why? 

So tell me, do you buy into this? Would you rent your cake?

Check out their site right here: http://www.cakerental.com/

Huff and Puff....and Blow Those Suggestions Away!

Normally, I love The Huffington Post, but their most recent blog on moving saving tips for brides made my brain hurt. I also received an onslaught of emails and facebook messages that read something like this: "OMG Did you read this hot mess?!"

Yes, I read it, and you can read the whole thing right here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-taylor/10-ways-to-cut-the-costs-_b_5950362.html

With all due respect to The Huffington Post, I couldn't disagree with most of their points more if I tried. As a planner, I pride myself on being able to show my clients how to save money, and I want to burn this list so that they never see it. The problem with things like this on the internet, is that everyone believe the internet as Gospel. How many times have you heard that Betty White died this year? She's not dead. The internet said so though, and I had to throw a little Snopes.com at everyone that posted that nonsense.

Betty White can't ever die by the way. She's a genius.

Anyway...

Below are some of the points HP made, and what my answers are to them. Feel free to throw in your two cents regarding these points or anything else in the article!

HP says: 2. Go to a bridal shop, then go online.

When people say 'never buy your wedding dress online', I like to imagine what they really mean is 'never buy online without trying the dress on first'. Though there is some risks with buying a preowned dress, finding the dress you love in a Bridal shop first and then heading to PreOwnedWeddingDresses can be a great way to save cash. Alternatively, try these 8 Etsy Bridal Boutiques.

Rothweiler Event Design says: OMG, no. Do not do this. I cannot believe this piece of advice is out there. As a planner, I fight this all of the time. This is a wedding gown, not a pair of shoes from JustFab.com. This is possibly the most important piece of clothing that a bride will ever wear in her entire life. I strongly encourage brides to cut corners elsewhere because this is not the place to do it. Can it work out in your favor? Sure. But why roll the dice here? Figure out your budget, track down dresses and styles that you like, and then go purchase one from a reputable store that offers in house alterations. 

HP says: 6. DIY centre pieces and other DIY items

On one hand DIY can be a seriously cost efficient way of cutting out unnecessary price burdens. On the other hand, it can also be a COMPLETE disaster. Think carefully about your skills before taking on any DIY project and scout out cool printable items like these wedding table games.

Rothweiler Event Design says: DIY is fine and some couples are crafty and do enjoy this. But what many couples do not think about is a. the time is takes and b. the storage that is necessary both before and after the big day. Planning a wedding is a full time job, and if you're adding arts and crafts on top of that, you will find yourself spending every weekend with a glue gun and glitter. Plus, where will all of your decor live leading up to the wedding? What about after the wedding? It's not always easy to unload everything you made once you've tied the knot.

HP says: 7. Hey Mr DJ, take the evening off!

Welcome to the world of iPods, MP3 players and mobile phones. Update with all your favourite songs, make a super playlist and party away. If you're like me and have a dubious musical library, why not ask a couple friends around for an evening of cocktails and musical playlist making. Still worried about being your own DJ? Check out DIYreception, these guys will create your playlist for you, covering a range of genres and can even create custom introductions.

Rothweiler Event Design says: In the grand scheme of your budget, a DJ is not a large percentage. What you are saving here is not worth it. A playlist is super for your work out at the gym, but you need a real live person to watch the crowd and play appropriate music. Even with a playlist, an experienced DJ will know when to change it up and how to get the crowd moving. 

HP says: 9. Set up a DIY bar.

A luxury for only the luckiest of couples, having the chance to host your own DIY bar can be one way to save save save when planning your wedding. Hosting your wedding at an owned or backyard property? Find out how to pull off the ideal DIY bar here.

Rothweiler Event Design says: What a great way to burn through a lot of alcohol really quickly. How does this save money? By not hiring a bartender? This is a recipe for disaster. A planner and/or a caterer will be able to tell you exactly how much and of what you need for your guest count. That way you are still able to buy your own and save money but not buy too little or too much. A trained bar staff will be able to correctly pour drinks so that you're not completely out of alcohol by the first hour of the reception.

Snooki's....No, Nicole's Wedding Day.

Here comes the bride and she's not wearing leopard. Thank. God.

Despite speculation from planners (and the general public), Nicole has grown up and has decided that her wedding day is going to be Gatsby themed and glamorous, not Jersey Shore and leopard. We remarked on this a few months ago when we read comments from planners suggesting how to incorporate cheetah print into her decor, that we didn't think that was the direction she was heading. To those planners we say "we were right and you were wrong. Better luck next time!"

We applaud Nicole for choosing a beautiful theme and timeless colors for her wedding day. She also chose the perfect venue to showcase her big day, The Venetian in Garfield, New Jersey. Between the marble floors and the attention to detail, this venue is everything that this reality star could wish for.

A Gatsby theme has been on and off popular for the past few years now. A color palette of gold and black is always classic, and for the dramatic couples, it's a staple color combination. Below are a few ideas on how we would bring this day to life:

1. Ditch the linens. Get rid of them! Mirrored table tops are the new thing and this is the time to use them. Keeping the lighting low and adding candles to the table, a mirrored table top will reflect everything and add to the romance and glamour of the evening.

2. Orchids. Big, huge, white, cascading orchids. I see tall gold vases with orchids spilling over the top and practically touching the tables. White is a major trend in weddings right now, and orchids scream "regal". 

3. Amber up and down lighting. Warm up this huge room (have you been there? It's huge.) with candles and amber lighting up the walls and across the ceiling. Pink, blue and purple are great for birthday parties and Mitzvahs, but this is a wedding. 

4. Big entrance with sparklers. The room hosting Nicole's reception boasts a double staircase. What a brilliant way to bring in her wedding party, and of course, the happy couple. All eyes will be on what will be a well dressed party (because no one will be in leopard) and then the new Mr. and Mrs. LaValle. We would love to see a huge entrance followed by a dramatic but fun first dance.

5. A fun signature drink. Kick off cocktail hour with an amazing mix! We hope Nicole and Jionni will spend the next few weeks mixing up liquors to find something unique that they love. Put it in a sugar rimmed martini glass, give it a fun name and cheers!

6. A cake to end all cakes. These two have a huge guest list and nothing would be sweeter than watching them cut the cake together. We recommend a 5 or 6 tier cake with alternating flavors. The Venetian boasts an impressive dessert hour too, so they're covered in that department. 

7. A larger than life send off. When the party is over, we'd bring these two and all of their guests outside for their amazing departure. Whether that includes fireworks or not could be up to them. We envision a super amazing getaway car taking the newlyweds off to their honeymoon!

Congratulations Nicole and Jionni! We can't wait to see pictures of your special day!

National Coffee Day!

It is National Coffee Day and we know how many of our readers love to indulge on this amazing beverage. This time of year so many brides are sipping their pumpkin spiced latte while updating their Pinterest accounts and flipping through countless magazines for inspiration.

We wanted to take the time to recognize National Coffee Day, especially since it is one of our favorite favors to recommend to our clients. That's right, coffee!

Most clients are opting out of the favor world, cutting it from their budget mostly because they don't know what to offer. Let's be honest, favors typically end up in the trash. But not when you offer something to eat or drink!

Using labels complete with your event date and a thank you message to your guests, why not send them off with something amazing and original like coffee? You can offer it whole bean or not, and really make it special by selecting a blend from a notable part of the world. Rothweiler Event Design recently met with Meahuna Coffee to try some of their amazing blends. They offer their coffee in all different colored bags and will customize labels for you as well. The most important aspect of this favor is that it won't end up in the trash!

Take a look at Meahuna Coffee to see what they are all about, and reach out to them for your next event. We promise you that your guests will be buzzing about this great idea, and we'll even let you take the credit for thinking of it: http://www.meahunacoffee.com/

Did you offer coffee as a favor? What do you think about this idea? Please share your thoughts with us!

The Chair Conundrum

This is becoming a "thing" now, so I feel compelled to help on the education side of this.... conundrum.

In New Jersey, we are very spoiled with banquet halls that are all inclusive. For those of you reading this from outside the Jersey border, allow me to explain. New Jersey is the banquet capital of the country. In fact, there are 4 on the same street as my office. These banquet halls come complete with things you would think of like servers and bartenders and things you wouldn't think of like chairs and floors. Yeah, floors.

New Jersey brides are spoiled because they don't have to think about a large portion of what actually goes into a wedding day, because the banquet hall has it all covered under one roof. You pay a "per person" fee and you get your food, alcohol, plates to eat off of and glasses to drink from. You need a seat? They've got chairs!! Did you want your ceremony in the same location? No problem because they can most likely set that up too.

But what happens outside of these banquet halls? More and more of our New Jersey brides are turning their noses up at the thought of "cookie cutter" weddings and want something different like a farm, or a loft, or a penthouse in upper Manhattan. The idea of a "blank slate" is sexy and appealing because they can make it whatever they want. And our destination brides don't even know what a banquet hall is.

Having a blank slate means bringing in everything and knowing what "everything" actually is. Thankfully, you've hired a planner (or are about to hire us, because, duh, why wouldn't you?) and we know everything that you will need right down to the silverware. These weddings tend to be more expensive because they are essentially "ala carte" and you are paying for things individually. Your caterer might be charging you $150 per person, and that will include food but it may or may not include: chairs, tables, linens, alcohol, etc. Each caterer is different and since we like to keep the vendor list to a minimum, we prefer caterers that can provide the most. 

The chairs are the biggest issue we are seeing this year and a question that many of our couples ask us about. Inside the banquet halls, it's easy to move chairs from the ceremony to the reception space during the cocktail hour. They have the resources and the man power to get this done in a very short amount of time (moving 300 chairs in 1 hour takes at least 20 people.) Typically, they are moving the chairs from room to room, which is easier than say across a field, down a hill or around the courtyard. The more chairs you have and the farther they have to go, the more people you will need to move them. You know what that means? More of this: $$$

Many of our brides wonder if they can save money by using the same chairs. After all, the chairs for the ceremony will be used for all of 30 minutes, but the reception chairs need to be available for 5-7 hours. Is it worth it to rent a separate set of a chairs? 

You bet it is.

Here's the thing: the money you would save by using the same chairs, will be wasted on paying people to move them.

I know what you're thinking (because this has happened): it can't/won't take that long.

Oh yes, it will. As much as we can advise our brides to not do this and to simply find a couple extra hundred dollars for more chairs, they don't always listen. The result? A 2 hour long cocktail hour destroying the rest of the timeline for the day (that cake cutting just got pushed to midnight now AFTER your photographer is scheduled to leave), and finding other people to help move chairs...those people are probably supposed to be doing other things like pouring champagne, but now they are pulled to do something else. Which means when your guests finally do get to sit down, there's no champagne on the table. 

Pretty picture right? It's happened, it can happen to you and you should be very afraid of this happening. 

To make it worse, we recently saw an episode of "Four Weddings" where the couple had their friends carry their chairs from the ceremony to the reception area. Women in dresses carried their own chairs. Honey bunches of NO. What?! I couldn't tweet about that fast enough.

The bottom line is this, outside of our fantastic Jersey banquet halls is a world of beautiful venues that offer nothing but a blank canvas. Your guests need a place to sit and it is far less expensive to rent a second set of chairs, than to hire people to move them. Again, don't ask your guests to do it, because that's just tacky. 

Two sets of chairs. That's the answer. Problem solved. Ta-da.

What's Your Budget?

"What's your budget?"
"What are you looking to spend?"
"What number is the maximum?"

These are all variations on a question you will hear endless amounts of times during the planning of your wedding or any other event. Put down the gloves and your defenses, because there is a reason you are being asked this question.

One of the first things we ask our clients, frequently before we even begin working with them is "what is your budget?". We need to know the overall budget so that we can break it down into categories, and we also need to know what you want to spend and where. For instance, if flowers are the be all and end all, we want to put a little more in that category and take from something else that is less important to you. If you have your heart set on a certain venue, then we will need to spend 50% of your budget there instead of 45% of the budget. 

But we can't do any of that unless you are honest with us and tell us what you are willing to spend and what you are capable of spending.

Now I know, how do you know what anything costs? Countless websites will tell you how you can plan an entire wedding for $5,000, while others will tell you that centerpieces worth looking at start at $350 each. The internet is tricky that way, and like Web MD, if you rely on it to plan your wedding, you will be diagnosed with cancer. 

When we ask what our clients want to spend, what we really need to know is the limit. This doesn't mean that if they say "$8,000 on flowers" that we are going to go out and get them a $7,999 quote. This means that we take that number and don't go over it. How?

You tell us: $8k for flowers (or photography, or videography or whatever)....We then take that number to our vendors and go through everything you are interested in, from the style of the flowers to the amount of photographers for the day to the labor, to the set up and break down and everything you are not even thinking about. We then make it very clear that we are working with a hard number. Then, after a day or two (and work, this involves WORK) we will come back to you with a rough proposal of what we can provide within your budget. 

For example: $8,000 on photography and you want x amount of pictures, hi-res retouched everything, 4 parent albums, two photographers, 10 hours of coverage and a partridge in a pear tree. We will then work with photographers that we know, make sure they have the date available, the style you want, and put together a package for you to review. There is no need to waste your time with vendors that are outside your budget or cannot work with you and we do all of that homework for you and present you with your options.

But....if you say "I don't know", "I have no idea" or "I really can't give you a number"....what happens then can be tragic. We will spend hours, sometimes days, working with our vendors (taking time away from other work that we need to be doing) to put together something for you based on what you want, but not what you want to spend...because you haven't told us. We have NO IDEA what you want to spend because you have not given us a number. We're not guessing, we're not trying to bleed you dry, and we only have the information that you have given us. 

From there, we can present you with a rough proposal. 90% of the time we either don't receive a response back or the response we do get back, is negative. Frequently, that number is too high and needs to come down. But needs to come down to what?

Look at it from our angle: you have given us nothing to work with but your ideas. We know the market, we know what things cost, and as planners, we can get you the best deals. So we are working to present you with something very real, and that work we do to put something together is no joke either. When you come back and say nothing or tell us that the number is too high, it's very frustrating on our end because how were we supposed to know?

I guess the point of this blog is: it's not a conspiracy theory. We want to get you the best deal for what you want, so that's why you will keep hearing that question "what is your budget?" The best advice I can give you is to have a number in mind that you will not be willing to go over and then proceed from there. Proposals and quotes can be tweeted, but if the blind is leading the blind, then nothing gets accomplished and everyone has wasted their time and is now aggravated. 

Don't lie to your doctor, publicist, attorney and especially not your planner. We cannot help you if you do.

Questions? Comments? We would love to hear them!