Wedding Tip Wednesday: Guest Seating

Creating a seating chart for your guests can be confusing and overwhelming in the final weeks leading up to your wedding as you collect RSVPs. But it doesn’t have to be! It can be fun to group people together who know each other well or friends you know will get along sitting at the same table. Making your escort cards can be a fun little project for you and your friends or family. Make sure when you decide what you want to use for your seating assignment, it’s something that is easy to change quickly as people add and drop last minute. And always make extra! Once your layout and table assignments are done, group your cards together in ziplock bags for your coordinator to easily display on your wedding day. If you are doing a choice-of dinner, it’s important to have an indicator on your escort cards for the catering staff to identify who is getting what entrée for dinner. This can be as simple as a colored ribbon or different colored marking that your guests will barely recognize but the staff will know.

Another idea is doubling your escort cards as your favors! For their desert wedding, Ashley and Drew used mini succulent plants as their escort cards for guests to find their tables and then had guests take them home to remember their wedding weekend in the desert. For Meagan and Cory’s wedding, Cory custom built a rack to hang all the escort cards on at cocktail hour that matched the venue perfectly. The possibilities are endless and it doesn’t have to be complicated!

Check out some of the cute escort cards brides have created below:)

xoxo,
Amanda Grace

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Choosing a Venue

Once you’ve settled on a budget, the first thing to get squared away is a venue. It’s important to know what your wants and needs are before you start the search. Consider things like if they’ll let you choose your own caterer, how long they give you for set up, do you get along with the venue manager. All these things will really affect your wedding planning and wedding day experience. Once you reach out to venues and get preliminary pricing, I recommend only visiting venues in your price range. You don’t want to fall in love with a venue you can’t afford! Keep in mind some places may be higher in price but include more. Be sure to thoroughly read through the contract before you sign anything! And although a venue will tell you they provide a "wedding coordinator" keep in mind this coordinator knows the VENUE well, not necessarily every detail you've been dreaming of. They will know where light switches are, when it was built, what the name of that tree is, but if you hire a wedding coordinator they will know EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about your entire day from the minute you wake up until you leave for your honeymoon. A venue coordinator knows details pertaining just to the venue. When you hire a day-of coordinator they work solely for you! Their main goal is for you to have the most seamless, relaxing, and wonderful day possible. Obviously I'm a little biased but I always say a day-of coordinator is a priceless piece of your budget;) 

Here are my top 5 things to consider when choosing a venue:

1.       Price Range: Is it within your budget? What does the price include? Is it reasonable compared to other places you’ve looked?

2.       Atmosphere: Do you absolutely love it? Can you envision your wedding pictures (that you’ll have FOREVER!) being taken there?

3.       Location: How far will the majority of your guests have to travel? Do you need to do a room block at a local hotel? What about unexpected weather options? Heat? Rain?

4.       Size: Is it big enough for your guest count? Comfortably? Is there space for you to get ready? Do a first look? Are there separate cocktail and reception areas?

5.       Catering: Is catering included? Do they have a preferred list you must choose from? Can you bring in your own? If you’re set on a certain restaurant/caterer, make sure the venues you look at allow outside vendors to be brought in.

xoxo,

Amanda Grace

Palm Springs Getaway

Ashley & Drew

1/9/16

Being a part of Ashley and Drew’s wedding weekend was such a joy for me! About a year before her wedding, Ashley and I met one night to start dreaming up her Palm Springs wedding. We had always kind of known each other in college through mutual friends but never really had the chance to get to know each other. Little did we know that after one night talking about wedding details, we would soon grow to become dear friends in such a short amount of time. When you get to do what you love for people you adore, it makes creating the day of their dreams so special!

Growing up, Ashley loved going to the desert to visit her grandparents and it meant so much to her to have antique furniture from her Grammie’s house and memories made in the little town she loved to visit. When Ashley found The O’Donnell House, she instantly fell in love with the quaint home nestled into the hillside overlooking the desert. After about a year and half engagement, a new job for Drew, and an almost completed Master’s Degree for Ashley, friends and family traveled to Palm Springs in crisp January to celebrate their much anticipated wedding!

Their wedding day was so perfect! Ashley had thought through every single detail, her photographers were sweet friends from childhood and there were personal touches on everything from welcome table down to the escort cards. Despite rain in the forecast, Ashley kept her cool and guests still had a great time! With a live band and food from the best Mexican restaurant in the desert, the night was flawless!

This wedding was so special to me because one of my dearest friendships today grew out of it! What’s even more fun is four months after coordinating their wedding, I got to be on the team that coordinated Ashley’s graduation from Chapman University with her Master’s Degree. What’s next…baby shower? ;) I hope so!

xoxo,

Amanda Grace

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Welcome Table

When guests arrive at your wedding, there is typically a guest book, place for gifts and cards and a sign or attendant directing guests where to go for the ceremony. You can check out my blog on guestbooks here but keep in mind when your guests arrive, the welcome area you create is the first impression you give your guests of your wedding day. This is a great place to incorporate some special elements, honor family members who can’t be in attendance, use custom created signs or beautiful vintage furniture. You can make this as extravagant or simple as you’d like! When we sit down and talk about your wedding, I’d love to help create a vision for a welcome table and area for your guests. And when you book with Grace in the Details, I will bring a pre-ceremony water station for your guests if it’s not included in your venue package! Contact me now about booking your consultation and getting your date secured on the calendar!

Check out these stunning welcome tables created by some of the brides I've worked with!

xoxo,

Amanda Grace

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Your Guestbook

Your guestbook is a great way to remember who shared your special day. There are a lot of details and things that happen on your wedding day, you don't want to forget who came to celebrate! There are so many creative ways to make your guest book these days!

You could do a thumbprint tree where guests sign their name by the thumbprint they add to a canvas. A simple photo book is great for sharing your engagement photos with guests. A unique approach would be have a calendar filled with engagement photos and have guests sign on their birthdays so you can remember them all year long in your first year of marriage. Having people snap photos and sign them and tuck them inside is always a fun interactive way for guests to leave you a message. Buying a beautiful book to start as a guestbook at your wedding and later a guestbook for your home to keep as guests visit you over the years is a great way remember the people you have shared memories with over the years! There are so many ways you can add a personal touch that goes with your wedding vibe through something as small as your guestbook!

Check out these guestbook ideas below!

xoxo,

Amanda Grace

Oceanfront Bliss

Carrie & Travis

9/26/16

I met Carrie at the gym where we both do Crossfit in Mission Viejo. After our workouts she would tell me about school where she was a teacher and I would tell her about the events I would do. She knew Travis would be proposing soon and would need help pulling all the details together. Carrie had always dreamed of a wedding by the beach and the OC Sailing and Event Center overlooked Dana Point Harbor with a gorgeous view of the water. With an outdoor ceremony, taco man for dinner and Travis’s favorite donuts for dessert, their family and friends had a great time celebrating with perfect weather on an evening by the coast.

I loved that they had a rose ceremony honoring their moms, homemade centerpieces and a mason jar for each guest, making each detail of their wedding come together to make the day just what they had imagined. It was so sweet to see their friends and family come together to dance the night away as the sun set over the ocean. Carrie and Travis were so happy to be surrounded by loved ones as they began their new life together! I love how happy they make each other and can’t wait to see what the future holds for them!

xoxo,

Amanda Grace

Venue Spotlight: Quail Haven Farm

Quail Haven Farm is one of my favorite venues to work at! Not only is it adorable, the staff is amazing, the owner is the sweetest and the space is perfect! My very first wedding in 2014 was there and ever since I’ve been in love. The owner of the property, Lindy, is great and we hit it off right away! I love working with her and getting to do weddings on her farm. The first wedding I did there it was pouring rain but with the help of Lindy and her staff, we were able to keep everyone dry! (read more about that wedding here) A year later I had the privilege of working with Lindy again for Meagan and Cory’s wedding and it was perfection!

If you’re looking for a quaint, rustic, down to earth atmosphere, look no farther! Quail Haven Farm has everything you’re looking for with an antique barn in the backdrop, bridal cottage for you to get ready in, outdoor ceremony, a newly built cocktail terrace and covered reception space. You work directly with Lindy and she helps you with layout, rentals and all the details for your wedding day on the farm. Lindy and I are in touch too to make sure we are all on the same page and your wedding day is seamless! She books quickly so reach out to her today if you are interested in a tour and a date for 2016 or 2017!

Below are some pictures from the weddings I’ve done on the farm!

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Favors

Making favors for your guests can be a fun part of the wedding planning and crafting process! Sometimes your family may want to pitch in a help create whatever you choose to do. Your favors can be a treat the bride and groom love, something from a country you’ve traveled to or have family from, something fun that matches the theme of your wedding or something homemade from your family secret recipe book! Choosing a simple way to say thank you to guests can be a fun project for your family to work on together!

For Will and Grace’s wedding, Grace used to work at a bakery so her friends gifted the bride and groom with homemade loaves of bread for guests to take home. Ashley’s and Drew’s family planted small succulents for their guests that doubled as escort cards for their desert wedding. Since Cory was from Australia, Meagan and Cory chose to give guests Australian candies as a take away. Jamie and Mark shared homemade caramels with their guests as a parting gift. At their Angel’s Stadium reception, Lindi and Steve’s wedding guests enjoyed peanuts and ballpark gummies. It’s always so fun to see the unique ideas brides and grooms come up with to say thank you to their guests!

Below are some ideas to help you brainstorm the perfect favor for the people who help you celebrate!

xoxo,

Amanda Grace