A Guest Post from Alison of Devotion to Detail Event Planning

Tips on Keeping Your Planning on Track!

To keep your planning on track, it is important to keep making decisions. First you make the big decisions, then the next sized- medium decisions- and then work your way to the small details that will make your event polished and exquisite.

Tip #1: Make one long to-do list, utilize that to-do list to see what to work on next, but don’t be overwhelmed by the to-do list either. I find getting it out of your head and into a working list really does help, and if you think of something else you might want to do, put it on the list and then you can review and see if it meshes with all the other things you have left to do. Having multiple lists or a list that doesn’t make sense can be detrimental, so really try to keep in order of importance your list. At first it can seem a bit overwhelming, but by the end you will be glad to have had the to-do list.

Tip #2: Make decisions when the information is fresh in your mind- putting off decisions will only get you behind. I know you will want to think things over, I do as well. But waiting and waiting to make decisions until you have forgotten half the details from a vendor is not very effective either. Gather all your information, make your decision and then sleep on it. If it feels good in the morning, you are doing the right thing.

Tip #3: Remember what parts of your special day are the highest priorities. By putting more of your energies into the things most important to you, you are able to really make them special. Also, why waste your precious time on things you really are not worried or excited about? In the end, it will show what parts you focused your creativeness and energies on.

Tip #4: Keep moving to get to the end – ready to be married and less stressed! If you get one thing done, it will want to make you get another one done. Use the positive energy you get from this to keep moving forward in getting all those items of planning done from your list. I hear brides and their friends wishing for more time or saying- I got it all done smoothly! The ones who it went smoothly for really worked on things ahead of the deadlines.

Bonus Tip: Be brave and live a little! Making decision after decision can be daunting, but remember, your guests will like a little uniqueness to your event and you are the one you are celebrating so this day should be what you want. Also try not to only think wedding for 12 to 18 months- go out and have fun too!

Good luck and let me know what questions you might have, I love to talk weddings!

Devotion to Detail Event Planning has been helping brides, grooms and their families make the most of their wedding day experience since 2005. Located in Eastern Iowa they work to make you the honored guest at your event by freeing you from the stress of having to do it all yourself. Check out their website www.devotiontodetail.com or give them a call at 319-573-4801 and set up an appointment!

Happy Holidays from Appleby Photography

New Ring for New Years - First 3 Wedding Planning Steps for 2010 from Elegala.com

Getting Engaged - First Three Steps of Wedding Planning

Here are the first three steps in your countdown to “I do!” Get started now by tackling these first wedding-planning tasks.

So your partner popped the question…now what?

Unfortunately, for most newly engaged women, the excitement of finally finding “the one” is dampened by a hard dose of stress and anxiety. Sure, you’ll find about a gazillion wedding planning checklists out there, but they all tend to overwhelm more than they help, and all essentially fail to address the fundamental question: “Where do I begin?”

We’re here to help. After you’ve announced the exciting news and taken some time to bask in your newly engaged glow, it’s time to get cracking. Here are the first three wedding planning tasks you absolutely must accomplish before anything else. Cross these items off your wedding checklist – and you’re on your way.

First Steps of Wedding Planning:

Step 1: Determine Your Budget

Every decision stems from the wedding budget. Before you can plan anything, you must know how much you can spend and who plans to contribute. Your budget will determine the type of wedding you can have – from how many guests you invite, to where and when you host your wedding, right down to the specific blooms in your bouquet. And with the ever increasing cost of weddings, financing the event is often a group effort; the bride’s parents no longer need to take out a second mortgage just to fund the upcoming nuptials. You’ll need to talk to your families about who will pay for what, and arrive at a total wedding budget. This complete wedding budget guide will walk you through the process.

Step 2: Tackle the Guest List

Some “checklists” suggest setting a date and commencing other wedding plans before this step, but Elegala considers the guest count is the most vital decision after the budget. Here’s why: Capacity is one of the most important criteria in finding a suitable wedding venue – more so even than style and vision - and you must secure your location before you can successfully plan anything else. Trust us, cramming 300 people into a venue that seats 150 will not go over well. You don’t need to have the list finalized just yet, but you’ll need an estimate from both sides of the family (and yourselves) right away to avert countless planning headaches down the road. This complete wedding guest listguide will help you get started.

Step 3: Set on a Site and Date

Only once you have an estimated budget and guest count can you begin searching for a place to hold your event with any accuracy. Remember: Many reception sites book over a year in advance, so you really can’t decide on a wedding date until you have officially booked your venue with a signed contract. Find as many reception sites that meet your budget, capacity, and overall style quotient as you can. Use our wedding reception site search to find venues in your area, and narrow down your list. Then schedule appointments to tour each wedding venue and meet with the manager. After that, it’s decision making time.

There is one wedding planning truism that we hold dear. As you may have heard it said, once you find your wedding venue, everything else falls into place. Once you have accomplished these steps, you will find the rest of your planning task list a piece of, ahem, wedding cake.

Don’t stop now. Our complete ideas and advice guide will walk you every step of thewedding planning process, from setting the theme and style to managing every wedding detail.

New Ring for New Years - First 3 Wedding Planning Steps for 2010 | Elegala.com

Still Playing Catch Up....

Moving, albums, portraits, launching a new business... (This is a teaser- more info to come soon!) This is always a busy time of year, so posting here gets pushed to the bottom of the list. We do have a few more 2010 weddings that we'll be posting, so watch for those.

New Wedding Packages will be coming soon, with new additions and NEW ALBUMS! I always love variety, and am ready for some new options. We should have a couple of the new albums at bridal shows in January.

One of our new Reception Guest Books arrived today, which is so cute! An engagement album is a wonderful way to show off all of your favorites from your session, and using them as a guest book allows you to have everyone see them on the wedding day. This 8x8 book has sturdy pages that are designed to lay flat when the book is open, making it perfect for guests to sign. This design asks fun questions to get interesting answers, which are more entertaining to read than a standard signature.

Party Today!

It's A Party At Appleby Photography! We would love to see you- Wine & Dessert Party! When: Today, Monday, October 25th 6pm-9pm Open House Style- stop in quick to say "hi" or stay for a few glasses of wine! Please feel free to bring a friend! Where: Appleby Photography Studio 402 East Wilson Street, Madison 608-280-8845 What: Wine, Dessert, Doorprizes We will even do a free Facebook profile picture for you that night! (If you would like to bring a canned food item to donate to the food pantry as "payment" for the facebook pic, that would be wonderful!) Why: We are celebrating our move from the downtown studio to our home-based boutique, with mainly location sessions, but we really just wanted a reason to throw a party! This is not a public event. This is a private party intended for our invited guests and their friends.

NAWP Leadership Award!

Madison has the newest chapter of National Association of Wedding Professionals (NAWP), which was started last spring. This is an organization where all types of wedding professionals get together to learn more about what one another does to help brides and groom's on their wedding day. Our chapter has professionals from a variety of businesses: officiants, planners, photographers, transportation, registries, and so many more. As board members, we enjoy seeing the local excitement about this group.

At last night's meeting, we were happy to celebrate that we are 50 members strong. That's a lot of wedding knowledge in one room!

Also, at last night's meeting, awards were presented. These were awards that were officially presented at the national convention in Florida, which took place in September, and were brought back by our "delegates" who attended.

We are absolutely thrilled that Appleby Photography received the Madison Chapter 2010 Leadership Award! Of course, this puts a bit of pressure on us, as we feel that we need to live up to this honor. We appreciate the award and are looking forward to seeing NAWP continue to grow.

Jackie & BJ

Wedding Traditions & Superstitions

I love wedding traditions! I think it's fun when brides and grooms pull fun or meaningful customs and traditions from the past. Here are a few fun ones from theknot.com:

• The English believe a spider found in a wedding dress means good luck. Yikes!
• Saturday is the unluckiest wedding day, according to English folklore. Funny -- it's the most popular day of the week to marry!
• Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck, according to Hindu tradition!
• Peas are thrown at Czech newlyweds instead of rice.
• In the symbolic language of jewels, a sapphire in a wedding ring means marital happiness.
• Aquamarine represents marital harmony and is said to ensure a long, happy marriage.
• In Egypt, the bride's family traditionally does all the cooking for a week after the wedding, so the couple can…relax.
• The custom of tiered cakes emerged from a game where the bride and groom attempted to kiss over an ever-higher cake without knocking it over.
• The bride stands to the groom's left during a Christian ceremony, because in bygone days the groom needed his right hand free to fight off other suitors.

You can read more wedding traditions on theknot.com:

Wedding Traditions & Superstitions: 50 Wedding Facts & Trivia

Something Old, Something New...

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue... This English wedding tradition began in the Victorian era. Each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage is said to be happy and long.

"Something old" symbolizes the connection to the bride's family and the past, along with the family’s traditions. A special piece of jewelry, like a ring or a locket, which can be worn or attached to the bouquet, are lovely. Also, an old handkerchief to be carried around the stems of the bouquet, or even the bride’s mother’s wedding dress are other ways to incorporate “old” on the wedding day.

"Something new" symbolizes hope and success for the bride's new life ahead. New items are plentiful for weddings! Often, the bride will consider her gown as her “something new,” but the list can be quite long, so pick anything!

"Something borrowed" is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride that she can depend on her friends and family. This is a great way to include special touches while allowing family and friends to help with your wedding day. Borrowing a pettiskirt, veil, hairclip or earrings are some suggestions for ways to share.

“Something blue” symbolizes faithfulness, fidelity and love. Blue has been connected to weddings for centuries., from ancient Rome to modern times. Before the late 19th century, blue was even a popular color for wedding gowns. You can a have a lot of fun with using blue: undergarments, garter, shoes, jewelry, handkerchief, flowers, or even toenail polish!

“And a silver sixpence in her shoe” represents wealth and financial security. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings.

The most important part of this, or any, tradition is to personalize it and AND FUN!

It's A Party!

Mark Your Calendar!

We would like to invite all of our

clients and friends to a

Client Appreciation Party!

When: Monday, October 25th, 2010

6pm-9pm

Where: Appleby Photography Studio

402 East Wilson Street, Madison

What: Wine, Dessert, Doorprizes!

We will even do a free Facebook

profile picture for you that night!

More Information To Come!

Megan & Ryan

They are so in love, everyone saw the fireworks!

Megan and Ryan were so much fun to work with on their wedding day! Megan was such a laid-back bride, she wore Crocs to stay comfy!

Images copyrighted: Appleby Photography

New Cards

Add a little luxury to your greeting cards with NEW designs. These one-of-a-kind, high end cards are ideal for holiday cards, thank yous, save the dates, and wedding invites. They are printed on premium press paper, then die cut into one of five stylish shapes. Choose from Smooth, Pearl, Linen, or Watercolor. For the 5x5 circle and scalloped circle cards, select our pre-punched hole option for fully customized holiday ornaments for your family and friends. Minimum order is 25.

Kim & Steve

Kristin & John

How Charming!

Weddings are about family. Honoring loved ones that are no longer with us is a special way to acknowledge their importance in our lives. Bouquet charms is one way to do that. Brides will attach photo charms of special family members, such as grandparents, to honor their memory. Later, these charms can be added to a charm bracelet, or even hung from ribbon to be be used as a special holiday ornament. We offer charms, starting at $42.

So Many Details...

Mandy & Sean

New Location, New Direction

I was absolutely sure that 2009 was going to be a defining year for me. And it was, just not in the way I had expected. The last year and a half has brought a lot of changes to our business and family.

One change I was not expecting was to have such a staggering amount of our portrait sessions take place at locations other than the studio. And I have learned that I love it, which was such a huge surprise to me.

Also, we welcomed our fourth child in December of 2009. At a time when we already had a 2, 3, and 9 year old, Leo's arrival took more planning and organizing then we thought, and was actually easier than we imagined. Having four children is more work than three children, but we are learning to adapt to the constant level of chaos and wouldn't change it for the world.

As 2010 moves forward, we have come to realize we need to allow our business to evolve to move forward with the changes within our lives. While we completely adore the beautiful old building that currently houses Appleby Photography, we have decided that it is time to relocate the studio back into our home (and perhaps a bigger one), as it was 6 years ago. This will allow us to more easily work with our clients on location and in their homes, while allowing us to spend our production time with our family.

And knowing that the only constant is change, we are looking to the future with new ideas and directions for Appleby Photography, as we feel we have more changes ahead. We hope you will stay tuned!

Wedding Traditions

Real Simple has a fun article about getting creative with wedding traditions:

Something Old

• A locket containing a picture of your great-grandparents
• A family Rosary for the ceremony
• Antique combs, pins, or barrettes
• A baby bracelet from a family member used around the base of your bouquet
  

Something New

• A key to your new home, if you're moving in together for the first time, hidden in your bouquet wrap
• A lucky penny minted in the year of your wedding
• Everything else!
  

Something Borrowed

• A flower from a loved one's garden, "borrowed" for your bouquet
• Dad's handkerchief, tucked under your bodice
• A fur stole, for a winter wedding
• Any jewelry you've been eyeing on a friend or a family member
  

Something Blue

• The sash on your dress
• A bouquet of blue blooms
• A blue garter or undergarment
• Sapphire jewelry
• A blue pen, for signing the marriage certificate

Gina and Charlie

I loved their reading:

Faults

They came to tell your faults to me,
They named them over one by one;
I laughed aloud when they were done,
I knew them all so well before, --
Oh, they were blind, too blind to see
Your faults had made me love you more.

By Sara Teasdale