{Planny Pants}: March 2012

Yep! I’ll admit it. My husband is a total nerd! Oh it’s ok…. don’t worry. He’s totally out of the nerd closet so he’s fine with me calling him that.

He prefers nerd over geek but really I’m up for either. What can I say… I’m a nerd lover… always have been, always will be. I AM that girl that buys a sweater vest for a guy just hoping he’ll look a little nerdier!

Nerdier…? Pretty sure I just made up that word. None the less… since I’m pretty sure my husband of 10 years doesn’t read my blog I thought I might share a photo of him at his nerdiest!

In his defense… he was singing a little ditty he wrote and doing a nerdy dance for me for Valentines Day! Who could resist!

So now onto the reason why I write this bliggity bloggy… WEDDINGS!

So I ran across these today.

Aren’t they original! Such a geek idea! It made me think… what if my husband planned our wedding…

I imagine it might have looked something like THIS….

Followed by THIS:

And maybe some of this…

And No Doubt in My Mind We’d Have Something like THIS!

And we all know the colors of the wedding would not have matched! But hey… at least I’d love the favors!

What would your wedding look like if your fiance planned it?

Au Revoir!

Q: I was hoping you’d be able to help me. I have just start planning my wedding for 2013 and honestly I don’t know where to start. I don’t even know what kind of wedding I want to have!

Of course I can help with that… this is the best time to call a wedding planner!! Getting started on the right path can save a bride and groom so much time and money!!

To answer your question I’m going to borrow a quip from world renowned event designer Colin Cowie’s blog. Not sure I could say it any better than this!

Questions to Consider When Your

Wedding Planning Begins:

What kind of ceremony and reception suit you and your bride?
Do you live in the city and prefer urban chic cocktail parties, or do you prefer a more casual country feel?
Formal or informal?
Would you rather have a large gathering of friends and family, or a more intimate setting at a remote location?
Will your ceremony be religious, secular or spiritual?
What are your favorite restaurants? Describe what you like about them--the atmosphere, the type of cuisine, the quality of food, the way the food is served and perhaps the way the restaurant is decorated. Are there any elements that your favorite restaurants have in common, and if so, what are they and how might you wish to incorporate them into a great wedding reception?
What are your favorite foods? Are there specific types of foods--French, northern Italian, Indian, Japanese, Southwestern barbecue--that you love? What are your least favorite foods? Are there certain dishes from favorite restaurants that you love, such as a grilled vegetable salad, or the way a local bistro prepares duck breast? This information will help you better direct your caterer or banquet manager.
What sort of foodservice do you prefer? Is a formal sit-down dinner your idea of a great party, or do you prefer a buffet, where you can select foods that suit you? Do you enjoy dining casually or formally?
What are your favorite drinks? Do you prefer wine, beer, spirits or soft drinks? Do you have a favorite cocktail? Do you love microbrews?
Where do you like to spend your vacation? What appeals to you about the destination and why? Is it formal or relaxed? Cosmopolitan or rustic? On the beach or in the country?
What are your favorite books or stories and what sort of atmosphere does your favorite book or story create? Are there ways to incorporate elements of this into your wedding celebration?
What is your favorite film and why? Are there scenes from a favorite movie that really appeal to you? Do you remember wedding scenes from films, like Four Weddings and a Funeral or My Best Friend's Wedding, that seem to match your style?
What is your favorite flower, and if you're unsure, are there flowers you dislike? If you don't know the specific names of flowers, think about what colors and types of flowers appeal to you. Look through books and magazines, and note or clip photos of the ones you like.
What are your favorite and least favorite colors? Consider how your favorite colors translate to different types of fabrics that might be used in wedding attire or decor.
Does a particular time of day or season of the year inspire you? Do you love sunsets? Do you love the cozy feeling of being indoors after a winter snowfall? Do you love long summer evenings outdoors? Consider how this might affect the timing of your wedding.
Do you have a favorite collection that might offer a theme for your wedding? Incorporating a collection of objects that have meaning to you and your bride or groom is an opportunity to personalize your wedding celebration.
Do you have a hobby or pursuit that you want to incorporate into your wedding in some way? If a couple loves to sail, a seaside wedding at a marina, yacht club or even on a boat might be appropriate. If you love opera, maybe your celebration should include some of your favorite arias performed by a local opera singer. If you enjoy collecting wine, then fine wine might be a focus of your celebration.
What clothing designers are your favorites? What specifically about their designs appeals to you? Is it the lines of the clothing, the use of color, the fabrics? Consider how these can be translated into your own wedding clothing or the overall party decor.
Do you see your wedding as a single event, or would you like to have a series of events over several days, such as weekend-long celebration? Do most of your guests live nearby, or will many be traveling to the wedding from out of town?
What is your favorite type of music? Make a list of your favorite composers and their works, the artists and their songs. Be sure to make a short list of the music you definitely don't want to hear at your wedding too.
What are your favorite photographic styles? Do you like black and white, color or sepia? Do you like a photojournalistic, documentary, or traditional portrait approach? Remember that you can expect to look at your wedding pictures for decades to come, so be sure to determine the approach and style that suits you and your bride.
When you can do absolutely anything, or nothing at all, how do you spend the day? Would you love to spend an afternoon shooting the breeze with friends over a couple of beers, or would you prefer a great hike in the mountains? How could you translate your preferences to your wedding day?
Do you have a visual image of your wedding? Whether the answer is yes or no, another good exercise is to look through as many magazines as possible and tear out pictures of things you and your fiancée like and dislike. The more visuals you have when you meet with your vendors, the easier it will be to paint a clear picture of your personalities and taste.

Once you have the answers to these questions you’ll see that you’ve already laid out the road map to your wedding. Make it a fun exercise and cut pictures or write down key words in an inspiration book to help you pull together the complete vision!

We’ll be looking at each of these questions over the next couple of weeks and even putting together our own inspiration book! Stay tuned for our weekly inspiration book challenge.

Start here… Go out and get your favorite cool looking scrapbook and start pulling pictures and key words to go with these questions. Each week post a picture of your inspiration page on the Hand in Hand Bridal facebook page!

Au Revoir for now!