Flowers and why DIY isn't always the best...

Remember me? Ha! Me neither. Wedding planning season came and went in the blink of an eye. As you can imagine the closer it got to my wedding day the less time I had for updates on my Golden Isles Bride blog. So, here I start again. Blogging about all things wedding planning!

You've marked your calendar.
You've booked a venue.
Now what?

I took to Pinterest as a starting place for ideas on decor and a "theme". Don't get overwhelmed with the idea of all DIY because the reality is... you {yes, you!} cannot physically do everything on your wedding day. YOU are the bride-to-be remember?

As much as the DIY girl in me wanted to I had to admit that I couldn't do it all, so I preplanned the items I would buy and the items I would make. Be flexible. Really flexible. There will be moments you *think* it will be cheaper to make and do-it-yourself, but don't forget to place a price on your time {and sanity!}.



I had booked my venue in the cute town  of St. Simon's Island. The idea of starfish and shells were never my "thing" so I knew that I didn't want a beach-y inspired themed wedding. Really think about what you want. But, don't overthink it and KISS {keep it simple sugar}.



This post will focus on the those of you that think "I will make my own bouquets", "I will buy the flowers at one of those big box stores", "it'll be fun, she said." Flowers are one of the items I chose to let a professional design.

I new I wanted the colors "blush and bashful". Have your heart set on peonies? Want roses galore? Think long and hard about your budget before you back yourself into a corner with the cost of a specific type of flower in the off-season.


I was generic and my designer was grateful.  I sent her these inspiration photos:

So keep it simple. Pick your battles. Let the designer design!



Here are a few more ideas from my Pinterest board on flowers...




She brought my vision to life all within a budget. She was able to design bouquets and boutonnieres that were prettier than I could have ever dreamed about! Flowers that I can't even pronounce the name too and a soft color combo that spoke to me and said "this is blush and bashful"! Here are some snippets of the final product from MY wedding!

Money saving TIP! I used the bouquets as centerpieces on the tables after the wedding ceremony. Double duty, which meant double the savings!

Mason Jars Galore...

I'm so glad Pinterest is around to help me plan my wedding! Oh the ideas! My recent love is mason jars - all shapes, all sizes - I'm not biased. I don't think I would put names on the tags, but maybe write a cute saying like this...

Then I would add an additional matching tag they can write their name on or something similar. 

I just purchased a bountiful supply of mason jars from kmart.com regular price $9.99 on sale for $8.99, then I used a promo code: KMART10PSAVINGS that I found on Retailmenot.com and saved 10% PLUS FREE SHIPPING! A killer deal which scored me over 100 mason jars for $72 (which included tax!) Once it was all said and done I paid roughly $0.67 a mason jar! You can't find those savings at the dollar store! :P

I may be on mason jar overload, but I am loving every minute! 

If you have any cute ideas let me know!

Your Photographer Guide

I hope you have noticed the most recent addition to The Golden Isles Bride, a Photographer Page! As I come across more photographers I will of course update the page so check back periodically. I also wanted to post a list of questions to help guide you through your interview process with your potential wedding photographer. With that being said this in no way means you have to take this list with you, but as someone *me* who "clams up" in interviews and also gets nervous making a big decision about spending thousands of dollars it helped walk me through the process. I also think trust is earned, not given and more than likely this is the first time you are meeting this person. So asking more questions helped me build trust; so if your photographer feels interrogated, well maybe they are because it is an interview. But as long as you're nice, patient, and smile, (it always helps :)) you should be able to ask the questions you want without offending. So here we go...

1. What's your primary style? Or what style do you feel is your best work? Posed and formal, relaxed, photo-journalistic, creative, artistic, candid, traditional?
1. While you can ask show me your portfolio so I can understand your style? I quite honestly wont know what I'm looking at so being more specific helped me. 
2. Do you shoot in color or black & white? or both? Do you shoot in digital format that can create both color and black & white versions of the same picture?
3. What input do you need from me to best photograph my wedding? (PLEASE GOD GIVE THEM A LIST OF YOUR MUST HAVE SHOTS! I've been to a few weddings and the photographer didn't have a list and everyone was just standing around and aimlessly wandering. Efficiency people! We've all been there where we are standing around forever waiting on the couple and family to finish their pictures. Having a list will speed this process up greatly and I'm sure will ease the stress the day of for everyone.)
4. These are my ideas for portraits (Hence the list.) About how long would you need for them?
5. Who will be the primary photographer for my wedding? If it's not you could I see their portfolio and meet them?
6. Tell me about your background in photography. (There are photographers who have shot hundreds of weddings and haven't improved over time. Then there are photographers who have only photographed a handful of weddings, but are fantastic because they get it.)
7. How many other events will you also photograph that weekend? (Some may think this is an unnecessary question if you trust them, but I felt better after asking. Go with your gut instinct.)
8. If my wedding doesn't stay on schedule, will you charge extra for going over? 
9. What kind of equipment will you bring with you? (i.e. tripods, lighting, or other devices) (I wanted a "photo booth" and wanted to know how it would be set up. So you can be more specific, but you get the general idea.)
10. Do you develop your own film or send it out? 
11. What are you arrangements if you are unable to make it because of an emergency? Or what if I have an emergency and have to cancel last minute? 
12. What about retouching? Can you tell me about that process?
13. Can we purchase a disc/DVD of the images? 
14. What timeline from booking to wedding day to final delivery of images look like?
15. Can we have an engagement session so we can get to know each other better?
16. Tell me about your prints and albums?
17. What does the contract and payment process look like?
18. How will we first view our images and select prints?
19. How will my family and friends view the photos and order prints?

If you have other really good questions please let me know. Thanks!

Photographers

Currently I'm compiling a list of wedding photographers in the SSI and Golden Isles area. Thank you for inquiring and I will post shortly when a list is formed. If you would like your business listed or you have used someone who was great and think they should be listed here please let me know. Thanks!