Category: Uncategorized

My girlfriend Brittany got Married at the Drake Hotel in Chicago for a ridiculously low price on a MONDAY! Here’s the catch – it was Labor Day.  She was able to have it all.  The dream wedding location, dress and accompaniments for a fraction of the price. She still brags about her wedding to this day.  I’m still jealous. 

I think that Holiday Weekend Weddings are Grrrrrrreat! They are especially courteous to family if you have a lot planned they don’t have to take a lot of time off of work

Be sure to prepare an awesome Save the Date, with lots of notice for days off of work, or changes to family traditions. This will take some extra wrangling on the guest list.  This will allow you to show off your most courteous self. 

Beware of hotel room rates and labor surcharges on the dates before the Holiday.  Try to plan as much on the Sunday as you can, and have the big day on Monday to get the maximum savings. 

Memorial Day Weekend vs Labor Day Weekend Weddings, my thoughts are that both are equally as fabulous.  Kick off the summer at the end of Maycember versus wrap it during Labor Day weekend and be the belles of the ball at the holiday party circuit with your fresh honeymoon tan.  Maycember to most families is the “other busiest time of the year”. 

Happy Planning – Traci

Have you ever had a nickname you were proud of? I’ve had many over the years, my most favorite is “The Feather Dress Lady”. I was helping my gorgeous girlfriend Kelly with fittings for her wedding dress for the nuptials to the man of her dreams. She had picked a Pinina Tornai fitted bodice in blush with exquisite beading, then attached a different tulle and silk skirt to the bottom of it that had a chapel length train. Her wedding was roaring twenties themed, since it was held at a 1920’s Mansion. She had a vision to add some feathers to the bottom of her dress to help give it that “something special” to help tie the dress to the theme without going over the top.

After the first fitting, Kelly asked me to be the one to pick up the dress for her when it was ready. I was honored! This is where things got interesting…and to this day, even my sweet Kelly doesn’t know all the details of what went down leading up to when she picked up the dress. She was definitely sweating as she picked it up the day before the wedding. There are some things I will take to my grave.

She LOVED it, was wed the next day and lives happily ever after.

Here’s what I learned about picking the bridal store and alterations place where you buy your wedding dress, tux or bridesmaids dresses. I hope that it’s helpful tips for you as well.

1. Choose a professional shop – but how can you tell?

Look for social Media that is well organized. Do they have a website? Do they have realistic yet firm policies, i.e. showing that they have been doing this for a while? Do they carry adequate Inventory?

2. Happy customers tag their bridal shop in their social media photos and the stores repost them. This is the tell tale sign, customer initiated buzz.

3. Have a plan for when things go wrong in alterations, and know what your going to do about it ahead of time. Ensure the shop can agree in writing to these changes. The last thing a store wants is for you to be unhappy and bad mouthing them to the most important people in your life. They REALLY DO want to make you happy.

4. Look at the inventory in the store. Are the bottom of the wedding dresses dirty? Are the zippers broken? Are the white items turning yellow? These are all signs that they are not turning their inventory frequently enough.

5. Have an open mind. The bridal consultants look at wedding dresses all day, know the inventory and limitations and or timeline of the store, and can recommend something fantastic.

6. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. We have so many modern conveniences to have things overnighted and fast tracked, it will be done by the time you walk down the aisle.

7. GIVE THE STORE PLENTY OF TIME. They are dealing with backorders, shipping, weather and manufacturing delays.

With love and luck,

The Feather Dress Lady

I haven’t met too many people who don’t like some type of beach. Lakes, Rivers or Oceans; it really doesn’t matter what kind, you’ll usually find me near a body of water. My favorite thing is to walk on the beach and just take it all in. The consistency of the waves, the hard packed sand under my feet, the volleyball game up on the soft sand, and the wedding usually being set up on a Saturday afternoon.

I’m so fortunate to live near some of the country’s top beaches ranked in the top 10 year after year. In honor of Beach Weddings, which are popular here in Florida my post will have a spring break “beachy” theme. This particular beach visit was to Caladisi Island, which is only accessible by boat, but is part of one of Florida’s amazing state parks Honeymoon Island. They do adorable weddings here on the main beach, and have a catering team there to make the event a one stop shop. However, you’ll find me taking the ferry over to the lesser know Caladisi Island.

Walking on an unspoiled beach where there are no other people is one of life’s greatest gifts. This day my walk happened right after high tide, so the shelling was pretty epic for this experienced Florida native wedding planner! I kept finding scallop shells that were all types of shades of blue. It prompted me to think of all the traditions that are woven into weddings, just like these shells were woven into the sand. These gorgeous shells have little “feet” that are my kryptonite. I won’t pick it up if it has it’s little feet broken off. (I should be sent to shell snob jail!) How many of our wedding and engagement traditions have feet? Meaning, grounding in tradition. Whatever traditions you choose to have at your ceremony or nuptial events, ensure they are grounded in what you as a couple believe. There was a shell that only had a few streaks of blue left, this made me think of couples that can add new traditions due to a lack of existing ones to their wedding. Some couples choose to have their families play a smaller role in their celebration. Which is completely beautiful too, and doesn’t make their union any less perfect.

Traditions that are popular to include and ways to put an updated twist on them:

Something Borrowed – tradionally a piece of jewelry. Update this with a piece of vintage jewelry given to you from your beloved.

Something Blue – while we all want to be as cool as Megan Markle and sew a piece of blue fabric into our outfit from our first date, you might consider switching up your right hand ring to include saffires, or a blue ribbon tied into your bouquet or boutineer. As long as we all promise no tacky blue garters around the rear view mirror of our Pontiac trans am.

Something Old – this one screams to the veil. However vintage veils crumble to the elements. One way to bring this back is to have a vintage lace pattern laser cut into your veil. Using modern technology to create something old is a big win in my book!

Something New – this can be something “new” to you as well. I find this the most liberal of the traditions and one that couples usually don’t have any trouble accomplishing. If you are making a significant purchase for your big day…think about future uses.

The Lightning Whelk shell I found was reminding me to prepare for inclimate weather, beach wedding or not. So many times I have seen couples ignore weather and/or the comfort of their guests when planning the big day. The small expenditure of extra fans, heaters, or a rain tent can be a huge lifesaver. A few tips for indoor weddings:

1. Have the temperature for the cocktail hour and the reception brought down to a comfortable temperature of 72 degrees at the beginning of set up time. This should be at least four hours before the reception so the building has time to cool down. Most Banquet Captains will have to get an engineer to gain access to the air conditioning system in a hotel ballroom. Another pre-emptive measure is to make the temperature change in any space a line item on your wedding reception banquet event order.

2. A popular wedding option is to have an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception. When negotiating with the venue, be sure to discuss a “rain backup” space for all outdoor schedules functions. Ensure that they are included in the price and contract of your event, so they can’t sell the space to someone else.

3. In the event of rain or inclement weather, appoint someone ahead of time to run point. This person will communicate with guests any special instructions and leave you to celebrating with your sweetie.

I hope my trip to the beach inspired you to think about wedding traditions and wedding day weather, just like it did for me!