Best Guest

Hey Y'all!

Whether you attend a wedding just about every weekend or attend as few as humanly possible, if you gotta be a guest, you might as well be the best, right? Here are a few tips on how to stand out from the average wedding goer:

1. RSVP ASAP: From a planning perspective, the only thing worse than receiving a response at the last minute is not getting a response at all. I'm AMAZED at the number of people who don't respond to wedding invites. Let's be real, it's just rude. Around our house we have a rule: As soon as we get an invite, we decide if we can go. If we don't have anything on the calendar, we commit, fill out our rsvp, put it in the mail, and put it on the calendar. It is an honor to be invited to someones wedding, so treat it like one. Please :) Anybody need a soap box? I'm about done with mine ;-).

2. Send your gift beforehand: Picture this... It's the end of the longest day of your life. After months of planning, your child is finally married off. The guests are gone, the vendors are cleaning up. All you want to do is go home and CRASH. But alas, the pile of presents brought by well-meaning wedding guests mocks you from the back of the room. You have to load ALL of them into the car. Not just gifts in nice clean boxes, but bags, and baskets, and platters, and... wouldn't it have been wonderful if everyone just sent their gift before? Light. Bulb. Moment. Drop it off by the house, bring it to a shower, let Target cover the shipping. For the sake of the tired family, (and planner!) send it before!

3. Show up no sooner (or later) than 30 minutes before: I spend countless hours with brides and grooms slaving over what will be the first impression of the guests that arrive to their wedding. The ceremony is a collection of sacred moments that should be surrounded by quiet music, lit candles, and flawless timing. You're doing no one any favors by showing up and sitting down an hour before it's supposed to begin. Thirty minutes before is a good rule of thumb but even if it's fifteen before, I'm down with that. But for goodness sakes, if you arrive AFTER the ceremony has started, just wait til it's over... or pray the church has a balcony you can slip into. It's just awkward for your to walk in between grandmas.

4. Participate... Dance, eat cake, stay til the end: I know this goes without saying, but if you're going to attend a wedding, try to really be a part of what's happening. I come from the perspective of watching couples work SO hard to try to make their wedding an enjoyable experience for their guests. You are most often the main focus. If you show up and leave early, it tells the bride and groom that they didn't do a good job. You won't understand until you are the one hosting the event what it means to have your friends and family stay and play and just have FUN. So let your hair down and enjoy yourself.

Go forward wedding attendees and leave your past behind you! Let's trend a whole new generation of the best guests EVER! Dramatic? Maybe a little.

Happy Planning!

Lg

Trendy VS. Tacky

The buzz word among today's fashion forward bride is "trendy". Even the most traditional of brides may still want trendy infusion because, let's face it, to be trendy is to be fashionable. Who doesn't want that?

While I will always be the first to raise my hand when someone says "Who wants to keep up with the trends?" I also think it's important to recognize that not all "trends" are worth following. Some trends even cross over that elusive line right past risky and straight to tacky. I've never met a bride who wants the word "tacky" to be synonymous with their wedding, which is why I am taking it upon myself to give you my take on how to go for trendy without achieving tacky.

Here we go!

1. Putting your registry information in your wedding Invitation. Trendy or Tacky? TACKY! Please, please, please don't think you are doing your guests a favor by putting your registry info on your invite. That is NOT the place for such a suggestion of where to shop for your wedding gift. The only, and I repeat, ONLY place where it is appropriate to put your registry info is on a shower invite.
   


2. Inviting a guest to the ceremony and NOT the reception. Trendy or Tacky? Not only is this TACKY but it's also just plain confusing! As you plan, it's important to consider what you're wedding is communication to your guests. I'm always a proponent of limiting your guest list to the people you WANT to take time talking to on your wedding day and not necessarily everyone you've ever met. When you invite someone to a ceremony it says, "I care about you..." when you don't invite them to the reception it says "just not enough to pay for your dinner tonight." Just say no to this.
   


3. Asking guests to donate to a charity instead of bringing a gift. Trendy or Tacky? TRENDY. AND so responsible. I think it speaks volumes to your guests that you're wanting to invest the money that would be spent on a toaster you don't need to some "real" need in another area of concern or conviction for you. Just be careful how you word this, you don't want to just assume your guests will bring a gift. A twist on this idea is to make a donation in honor of your guests instead of favors.
   


4. Dessert reception. Trendy or Tacky? TRENDY! But be careful about this one. If you're going all sweets for your reception, be sure that you give your guests notice in the invite of what will be served as well as a little something substantial at the reception for the ones who didn't have time to eat before. Also, be mindful of providing food for your wedding party so they won't be fading from lack of nourishment before you're First Dance.
   


5. Bridesmaids in varying style/color dresses. Trendy or Tacky? TRENDY. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea! Who decided the punishment for being a lifelong friend is having to stand up in matching dresses that cost a small fortune and (regardless of how optimistic the bride is about her choice) will NEVER be worn again?! I'm all about a consistent color scheme but give your girls the guidelines and let them do their thing. Each of your friends sparkle in your life for a different reason. Why not let those reasons reflect in what they wear on your day? If you just can't stand the idea of different dresses, at LEAST let them pick their own shoes. If you don't trust them to do that at a minimum, we have bigger problems to solve ;)
   

I hope these tips are helpful as you navigate through the muddled waters of wedding planning. And remember I'm always here as a resource should you ever have a situation that's is trendy but could be flirting with tacky.

Plan HAPPY!

Laura

Kim + Alfred

Kim and Alfred's Feburary nuptials at Montaluce Winery were simply beautiful. Kim is the type of detailed bride that I LOVE to work with. Her eye for design and flair for fashion made for a very enjoyable planning experience where NO detail was left unattended.

We started with an eggplant and chartreuse color scheme as the base for the design and worked to incorproate some of the rustic details the are so fitting for the Montaluce style. The outcome was something you will have to see to truly appreciate!

Enjoy!

Here are some of the AMAZING vendors that made this wedding possible!

Montaluce Winery, Slava Slavik Photography, and Amy Osaba.

Happy Planning!

Laura

brandi + thomas

Brandi is one of those brides that wedding planners dream about at night... creative, organized, trendy, and most improtantly, FUN! Helping Brandi and Thomas organize their big day was a breeze thanks to their laid back personalities and total giddiness (no, not a word, but it describes them so well!).

We had an all-star line up of vendors for this day, including the amazing Matt and Kate of Altmix Photography (personal favs!), the talented and enthusiastic DJ, Mr. Louis Guzzo of Spectrum Entertainment, the lovely and talented floral designers at Gardenia Floral Design, and of course the amazing team at King Plow Arts Center.

Feast your eyes on the springy, trendy, eco friendly infusion that is Brandi and Thomas!

Thank you both for allowing me to be a part of your day! It was beautiful and wonderful and so are Y'ALL!

Laura

Summertime :)

Hello! As you can see (or feel! Hello 100 degree, Atlanta!) Summer is in full swing! Here at the home front, wedding season is in full swing and I'm lovin' all the busyness it brings.

Even with everything else going on, Matt (the husband!) and I have been doing some serious reno on the house. Side note: We bought a serious fixer upper about a year ago and have been doing just that ever since... fixen 'er up!

We decided that this summer was the perfect time to finish up the outside of the house. This includes but is not limited to, re-building our front porch, getting a new front door, and adding all kinds of flowers, shrubs, and stone walkways to up the curb appeal as much as possible.

Being born and raised in the south, I believe that a house is not a home unless it has a nice big front porch complete with rocking chairs, a swing, and a place for me to set my sweet tea ;) By the time our lil porch is complete (hopefully by the end of the summer!:) it will have all the charm it can handle and we will have ALL of Fall to enjoy it!

Keep checking back! Not only will I be posting pictures of the outside of our house but we will also have many new stellar weddings coming to the blog!

Happy SUMMER! and Happy Planning :-)

L

Lisa + Cory

When Lisa first told me about her vision to host a Mexico inspired wedding reception, I knew this was going to be no ordinary wedding reception.

Turns out, I was right!

But the more I got to know this awesome couple, the more I realized that nothing about them is run of the mill. They are fun, relaxed, and totally into each other. They had their "ceremony" on the beach in Mexico and when they got back in town, all their friends and family were ready to shower them with love at their reception.

For her color scheme, Lisa chose a neautral color pallet of white and and deep ivory and then contrasted it with pops of color in her lime green centerpieces. She also incorporated raffia in order to give the table scape a more laid back "beachy" feel.

The backdrop 550 Trackside offered was the perfect atmosphere to work seamlessly within our theme. The food was YUM and we have the amazing staff at Frontera Catering to thank for that! The dance floor was hopping all night thanks to Gary at Music to Remember.

Lisa and Cory opted out of having a traditional wedding cake and instead treated their guests to snickerdoodle cupcakes made by the incredible CupKates.

Ellen Adkins Photography captured the night beautifully!

Lisa and Cory, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day!!

Wedding Belles!

Hello! Allow me to apologize for being so MIA on the blog since the new year. This is the busiest booking time for Godfrey Wedding Design so I've been out meeting with you instead of blogging for you! Time to do both! Here we go with some fun news to start Spring!

A few weekends ago, I had the honor of going with one of my June brides to the first shoot of the brand new TLC show "Wedding Belles". This will be the Southern spin-off of the hugely popular Say Yes To The Dress that has been going strong for six seasons.

Being an avid Say Yes watcher, I was THRILLED when Margaret asked me to come along to give guidance and direction with her dress selection. The show was being filmed at Bridals By Lori in Sandy Springs, which, if you ask me, is the BEST place for high quality service and bridal gown selection.

While I can't give away any details of how the day went, I will tell you that you canNOT miss this episode when it aires! It is going to be amazing! I will keep you posted on when it comes on, but it should be some time this Fall.

So a HUGE thank you to Margaret for letting me tag along and an especially HUGE thank you to Bridals By Lori for making it such a wonderful experience!

Happy Planning!

Laura