Radiant Weddings

Wedding Traditions That Should Die

Wedding trends come and go, with a few that have the staying power of becoming a “tradition.” We compiled a list of wedding traditions & trends that we’re happy to see are on their way out or that we’d love to see on their way out. In no particular order, they are:  1. Receiving Lines Why don’t we love receiving lines? Simply put, they don’t provide you a valuable use of your precious time on the wedding day. A better option is to provide yourself with ample cocktail hour/reception time to greet your guests and mingle.  1. Dollar Dances Tacky. Besides the fact that this would need to be adjusted for inflation, doing any game on your wedding day to “ask” for money is tacky. 1. Garter & Bouquet Tosses As a culture, we’re starting to admit the cringe factor that is involved with this tradition. Whether you cringe because you think it’s sexist or you cringe just because it’s outright awkward, let’s let this one go.   1. Send offs and other activities that require the participation of all wedding guests. The difficulty of coordinating all of your guests into an organized activity is a stress that you can easily remove from your wedding day. Along with this point, most weddings are missing some guests already by the end of the night which can mean an anticlimactic send off.  1. Sparklers & alcohol Somewhat on the same note as send offs, planning a sparkler send off is problematic, especially because the guests have been drinking. It’s not only difficult to coordinate, it’s also risky. 1. Best man first looks A little because it’s cringy, a little because it could indeed be a disappointment for the groom.  1. Cheesy signage I take issue with signage that errs on the “cutesy” side rather than the elegant side. Personal opinion :). 1. Cake smashes Not the best way to begin a happy marriage. Preserve that makeup right up to the end of the night and savor the cake instead. 1. Advice to run from marriage 2. “Yes dear” comments These last two are basically in the same category. Negative comments about marriage are not life giving in any context, but they are especially inappropriate at a wedding. Culturally, we’ve allowed ourselves to promote a lot of negativity about the partnership & commitment of marriage. It’s time to start making life giving, encouraging comments about marriage again!

Wedding Vendor Analysis Paralysis

Sit down with us for a Scotch as we discuss practical steps for hiring your wedding vendors! We've found that much of the wedding planning advice that is found out in the wild doesn't provide actionable steps for successfully processing through vendor options and coming to the point of knowing who you want to hire. Here we start with sourcing your initial list of vendors, how to cull the list down, and questions to ask as you interview your top picks. Step #1: Compile list of vendors servicing your wedding region. You can create this list from Google searches, The Knot searches, or any vendors that you've already hired. Make a list of 15-20 vendors to start. Step #2: Cull your list. Go through each vendor's website, checking out visual representation of their work. Check out their reviews and look for any red flags regarding communication or customer service. Don't check pricing! Remove any vendors who you aren't excited about. Your goal is to trim each category down to 3-5 vendors. Step #3: Email your top contenders. Introduce your story briefly and ask the vendor about their availability for your wedding date (or season if your date isn't chosen yet). Provide the vendor with a few times that you have available for a phone call with the best number to reach you. This step also gives you the chance to further filter vendors based on the speed and clarity of their response. Step #4: Talk with any remaining vendors on the phone. This conversation mainly will be serving the purpose of acquainting you with the vendor and assessing how comfortable you feel with them. At the end of the conversation talk about pricing and how to fit the budget pieces together. Step #5: Confirm with your vendor choices that you are indeed hiring them and take the necessary steps to sign the contract and pay the deposit. Courtesy tip: send a quick email to the other vendors who you won't be hiring to thank them for their time and inform them that you're passing on their services. Extra tips: Hire your highest priority wedding vendors first to prioritize allocating your budget to areas that you're most willing to spend. Check with your venue before hiring further vendors to ensure that you aren't looking at vendors who are not allowed to work on premises. Have fun with this process! Sign up to our email list for more wedding planning advice and podcasts! - Sign up for the email list [http://eepurl.com/gED-Jv] Listen to more from the Radiant Weddings Podcast! - www.radiantevents.net/podcast [https://www.radiantevents.net/podcast] Join our Facebook Group! - Radiant Weddings [https://www.facebook.com/groups/RadiantWeddings] Ria Hy (Wedding Planner)   Website - www.radiantevents.net [https://www.radiantevents.net/]   Facebook - Radiant Events [https://www.facebook.com/RadiantEvents]   Instagram - @radiantevents_flx [https://www.instagram.com/radiantevents_flx/] Joe Hy (Photographer)   Website - www.joehy.com [https://www.joehy.com/]   Facebook - Joe Hy Photography [https://www.facebook.com/joehyphotography]   Instagram - @joehyphotography [https://www.instagram.com/joehyphotography/]

Every Wedding Has a Wedding Planner

“I don’t need a wedding planner” is a statement that I often hear, and one that has the potential to take the wind out of my sails. Despite my hurt feelings (:)), I do understand where a couple’s hesitation with hiring a professional stems from. I’ve heard many fears about a wedding planner “taking over” and imposing their own vision on your wedding day instead of working to create the wedding day that you desire. Brides have expressed fears of not being involved in the planning process to the level that they desire being involved. In this episode, we discuss some of these fears and how to avoid a negative experience with your planner.  Even the most organized, creative, and capable couples will always end up with a wedding planner (day of management). Let me explain. Throughout the engagement, you’ve probably taken the time to research & hire vendors, stress over seating charts, and spend and exorbitant amount of time on Pinterest. And then the wedding day rolls around, if a professional isn’t hired there are a few scenarios that will play out. Scenario number one: you will be the day of coordinator. Questions will be directed to you, you’ll be responsible for making sure that guests are comfortable and vendors have what they need to fulfill their services. Scenario number two: you rely on the venue coordinator or another vendor to take over day of management. For couples who fall into this category, you will still find yourselves in scenario one for the most part. The venue coordinator’s role is to serve you from the venue’s standpoint primarily. Scenario number three: the “Darwin method.” This scenario is where the loudest person in the room takes over. For better or worse, they will make your wedding day happen according to whatever information or inspiration they may have. (We all know who this person in our lives would be!) When you hire a professional planner, you get the chance to communicate your vision prior to the wedding. Your wedding planner will be your advocate with vendors and family. Give yourself the gift of being the bride or groom and not the planner! Sign up to our email list for more wedding planning advice and podcasts! - Sign up for the email list [http://eepurl.com/gED-Jv] Listen to more from the Radiant Weddings Podcast! - www.radiantevents.net/podcast [https://www.radiantevents.net/podcast] Links from this episode: Shout out to Glenora Wine Cellars! - www.glenora.com [https://www.glenora.com/] Join our Facebook Group! - Radiant Weddings [https://www.facebook.com/groups/RadiantWeddings] Ria Hy (Wedding Planner)   Website - www.radiantevents.net [https://www.radiantevents.net/]   Facebook - Radiant Events [https://www.facebook.com/RadiantEvents]   Instagram - @radiantevents_flx [https://www.instagram.com/radiantevents_flx/] Joe Hy (Photographer)   Website - www.joehy.com [https://www.joehy.com/]   Facebook - Joe Hy Photography [https://www.facebook.com/joehyphotography]   Instagram - @joehyphotography [https://www.instagram.com/joehyphotography/]

Planning a Stress-Free Wedding Morning

We took on a new aspect of wedding day stress in this episode. Admittedly, this may have been one of our most fun episodes to record due to our juvenile sense of humor but I hope that we were able to convey information to you that will help with planning for a wedding morning filled with calm anticipation.  It’s very easy to overlook the pre-ceremony portion of your day when planning & delegating tasks. Your first order of business should be to consult with your hair & makeup artists regarding a schedule for styling. You should have a time slot for each person’s styling which you then will communicate to your bridal party members. Remember to let them know any additional information from your stylists about the condition that their hair should be to prepare for styling. Second, appoint someone to deliver snacks & drinks to your getting ready location. Third, appoint someone to keep luggage and wedding day apparel organized. On a wedding morning, we often come into getting ready rooms that are cluttered and and disorganized. This inevitably leads to a frantic search for a missing pair of underwear or other important detail. We recommend keeping all extra luggage in a separate bedroom from the getting ready space. Before you start getting ready, bring all wedding day apparel into one easy to access location (dresses, shoes, jewelry etc.). Make sure that all of your bridal details needed for detail shots (dress, veil, jewelry, shoes, invitation etc.) are set aside for the photographer. Ask your “luggage and apparel” appointee to pack all of your personal belongings into your overnight bag if you’ll be staying in a different location on your wedding night. Lastly, appoint your bridal party members to go through the space and make sure that all personal belongings are packed up and organized before you leave the getting ready space. Listen to more from the Radiant Weddings Podcast! - www.radiantevents.net/podcast [https://www.radiantevents.net/podcast] Join our Facebook Group! - Radiant Weddings [https://www.facebook.com/groups/RadiantWeddings] Ria Hy (Wedding Planner)   Website - www.radiantevents.net [https://www.radiantevents.net/]   Facebook - Radiant Events [https://www.facebook.com/RadiantEvents]   Instagram - @radiantevents_flx [https://www.instagram.com/radiantevents_flx/] Joe Hy (Photographer)   Website - www.joehy.com [https://www.joehy.com/]   Facebook - Joe Hy Photography [https://www.facebook.com/joehyphotography]   Instagram - @joehyphotography [https://www.instagram.com/joehyphotography/]

Wedding Day Expectations 2.0

In this episode we discuss the importance of creating flexibility within your expectations of your wedding day. Although it is necessary to have a vision and plan for your wedding day, it is also necessary to allow for alternatives in case those plans change as you go. There should only be one circumstance that would truly ruin your day-not getting married. Besides that, I suggest determining your three top priorities that are most within your control. These three "non-negotiables" could be something like having a religious ceremony or the song that you play for your first dance. They should depend as little on other individuals as possible and be fluid to fit a variety of scenarios. As the most important elements of your day, these non-negotiables will help guide your planning process. If wedding plans should need to change, these will be the things that you keep in mind as you replan. Links from this episode: Radiant Weddings Episode 6 [https://www.radiantevents.net/podcasts/avoiding-wedding-day-disappointment] Join our Facebook Group! - Radiant Weddings [https://www.facebook.com/groups/RadiantWeddings] Ria Hy (Wedding Planner)   Website - www.radiantevents.net [https://www.radiantevents.net]   Facebook - Radiant Events [https://www.facebook.com/RadiantEvents]   Instagram - @radiantevents_flx [https://www.instagram.com/radiantevents_flx/] Joe Hy (Photographer)   Website - www.joehy.com [https://www.joehy.com]   Facebook - Joe Hy Photography [https://www.facebook.com/joehyphotography]   Instagram - @joehyphotography [https://www.instagram.com/joehyphotography/]