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

Wedding Tip Wednesday: Photographers

Choosing a photographer within your budget and with a style you love to capture the most exciting day of your life isn’t always easy. Once you decide who to work with, communicating with them exactly what you want from them can sometimes be a challenge. I recommend keeping a running list as you plan of moments or details you want to make sure to remember have them shoot. When we sit down to start talking about your wedding, I’ll give you a list of shots you’re sure to want to capture that you can customize and give to your photographer. This makes family photos, detail pictures and bridal party shots go a lot faster so you can get to celebrating with your guests!

Here’s my top 3 tips for choosing a photographer:

1.       Make sure you look at the style of their work. Everyone is a little different. Explore their website and blog. Are they used to do weddings? Shooting a wedding day is a lot different than a normal photoshoot. Make sure they are familiar with all it will entail.

2.       Thoroughly look over the contract they give you and make sure you understand every little piece. Some people only agree to be at your wedding for a few hours, if you want getting ready photos and pictures of the sendoff, make sure you account for all the hours! Remember you only get married once so make sure they give you what you are looking for!

3.       Are they going to bring a second shooter? Having a second shoot on site at your wedding is always helpful to capture the groom’s face when he first sees the bride and the bride as she walks down the aisle. One photographer can be taking pictures of guests at cocktail hour while the other does family pictures following the ceremony. If at all possible, having one male and one female photographer is ideal so you can get pictures of the guys and gals getting ready at the same time!

xoxo,
Amanda Grace

Showered in Blessings

Will & Grace

11/1/14

Grace and I went to high school together and became good friends our senior year on Homecoming Court. We went our separate ways for college but kind of stayed in contact over the years. When Grace got engaged to this mystery man from college I had to reconnect with her! We talked wedding details and that’s when the dream of starting a small business coordinating events for people I love was born!

Family was always the most important thing to Grace and her family. Growing up everyone knew the Hobgood kids had each other’s backs and nothing was more important to them than each other. When I met Will’s family, it was obvious this was true for him and his family too and it made perfect sense why they were perfect together. I immediately fell in love with the Potts who traveled from Florida to California for their sweet wedding. I got to spend the whole morning setting up and getting to know them as they shared stories about Will and Grace.

The Potts tied the knot at Quail Haven Farm in Vista, CA. It was my first time working with Lindy Waldman, the owner, and she was the best! With an all outdoor venue and rain in the forecast ALL DAY, we knew we were going to face some challenges. The cocktail area and parking arenas had flooding but Lindi’s team rented shuttles and brought guests up to the ceremony safely as I worked to move cocktail hour to the covered reception space. Despite the rain, the whole day was showered in blessings!

Just in time for the ceremony, the rain let up and the sun came out! It wasn’t long after the ceremony concluded and they were done taking pictures that the rain began again. Despite the cold and the rain, guests enjoyed dancing, celebrating, and the mini dessert bar from the bakery Grace used to work at. Right after they got married, Will and Grace moved to Florida and just recently had their first little girl Kinley, who is adorable as can be!

xoxo,

Amanda Grace

Grace in the Details

I’m thankful you’ve found your way to my new blog here on Grace in the Details. I am excited to share with you the stories I get to be a part of, the visions I bring to life, the sweet people I get to work with and my passion for creating the most thoughtful and memorable experience for you and your guests.

I truly believe my role as an event coordinator, planner, designer and dreamer is to create an environment for you; an environment for you, a space to celebrate, remember, rejoice, learn, gather and laugh with loved ones. My heart is for people to share in life together. To create the space for stories to be written that will be told for years to come.

So this is it! Check out the events I’ve had the privilege of creating with clients turned sweet friends (some sweet friends turned clients), envision your perfect day, and let’s make a time to meet and talk about what you’re dreaming of planning! Grace in the Details is something so close to my heart that I truly desire to share with people. I’m passionate about making your vision come to life; to pay attention to the details, to care about the little things, to worry about it all so you don’t have to. My job is to handle all the stress so you can enjoy your day!

Stay tuned for exciting recaps of what I’ve been working on the last year:)

xoxo,

Amanda Grace