Trip to Una Bella Giornata

Yesterday, before our Halloween open house, some of us interns took a trip to visit Una Bella Giornata and let me just say that we were all very impressed!This venue is so gorgeous and has a very romantic charm, it is defiantly worth the 40 minuet drive from Fresno.

Halloween Open House

Your invited to come to our Halloween open house at Genesis Master of Events! If you can make it, ask me for a claim number, to see if you've won one of our fabulous prizes!

Michaels coupons!

Here are a couple of Michaels coupons if anyone would like them, you can print as many as you like!Thanks to another intern, Rosemary, for the savings!
If you can't print them for whatever reason, just email me and I'll be glad to send them to you. Enjoy!

Giveaway results!

Congratulations to Shauna who won the basket giveaway we had last month!

Question & Answer

Picture credit to getbestwedding.com

Q: How much should I expect my bridesmaids to be willing to spend on their dresses?

A: Expenses for attendants can add up quickly, from travel -- attendants coming from far away are expected to pay their own transportation costs -- to clothing to participation in parties and showers. Some may find themselves invited to attend or participate in several weddings in the same year, which can cause serious financial stress. Keep this in mind when you ask a friend or relative to be in your wedding.

In order to avoid hearing grumbles about money, choose a bridesmaid that is reasonably priced -- ask your bridesmaids what they consider reasonable since they are the ones who will be spending the money -- or work together with your party to find a dress that’s both within their style and budget. Brides are not required to pay for bridesmaid dresses, but if you want your maids to wear something more expensive, consider adding it to your own budget or paying for half. Try to mitigate expenses elsewhere too -- if they’re buying the dresses, don’t make them buy jewelry and shoes too.

Peggy Post- weddingchannel.com

Real Wedding: Chrystle & Donny

Thanks to Adam+Sarah Photography for the picture above with the bride!

Saving Money AND Having a Fabulous Wedding

With todays concerns about our economy, a bride's wedding budget is on the forefront of her mind. A common question she may ask herself is, "How can I still have the wedding I've always dreamt about on my tight budget?"

My first piece of advice is to hire a professional wedding planner. Many brides do not consider this essential, especially when there is such a tight budget. Planners are often considered an extra unnecessary expense. A good event planner should in fact be an asset. They can save you thousands of dollars as well as hours of time, not to mention the stress most bride's face when trying to pull this all together.

I recently consulted with two brides, each of them had a budget of under $6,000.00. For them to send $1,500.00 of their budget on our services was a large portion of their total. They both confessed in the beginning that they didn't think they needed to hire an event planner, but during their planning they realized they may need to at least look into it and consider hiring one. After I reviewed all of their plans and the services they booked, we were able increase the products and services they would receive. We trimmed wasted services, along with unwanted and unnecessary items. We even altered previous suggestions to increase the products they could receive. Most brides do not realize they could remove or alter certain things on contracts that would save money. When we finished, both brides received twice what they thought they could get and both and in under budget! They both said hiring our professional planning services was well worth their investment.

Be careful not to confuse a site coordinator with an event planner. A site coordinator only takes care of the venue services, they don't call your baker, photographer, DJ or others to verify delivery or quality of services, and they don't run the evening's process as it pertains to grand entrances, dances, cake cutting, toast, and other agenda items.

Top 3 Money Saving Tips:

Tip # 1

One of the best ways to cut costs is to change the day you have your wedding. Many venues charge 50-75% less to have your wedding on a Friday evening or a Sunday. With this tip you can still have all the greatest service at a substantially discounted rate.

Tip # 2

If you are having a destination wedding, consider having the wedding around 10:30 with a lunch buffet after and no dance. You save several ways with this option. Many venues will discount the rate if they are still able to rent the facility later in the day. A lunch buffet or sit down is considered less than a inner buffet. You can also save money on the musicians or DJ. Many guests appreciate a morning wedding when you are having a destination wedding. This gives them the ability to take in the sites and participate in local festivities. Often they are not able to do as much when the wedding is in the evening. Guests usually have to cut the 1st day short to get ready for the wedding and often they sleep in the following day if they stayed up late at the wedding reception the night before.

Tip # 3

Most bride's go over budget in the last 2 months before their wedding. This is typically because they begin to get stressed and don't want to "deal with it". So, they just pay more than they needed to so they can "get it over with". Try to have all of your planning done 2-3 months ahead of time. If your wedding is sooner than 2-3 months, you may want to hire a planner to review your contracts and find out how they can refine them to keep you in budget.

For more information on wedding planning, saving money, time, and avoiding stress, visit our website at www.victoriasweddingsecrets.com

-Victoria