3 Tips to Make the Most of a Bridal Show

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Photographer: K&K Photography | Venue: Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club

Wedding season is finally here which means the debut of bridal shows will be soon to follow!

Bridal shows create a great opportunity for newly engaged couples to look around and see what people in the industry have to offer. Attending these expos seem pretty easy, right? All you have to do is go to a couple to view different vendors, find the ones you like, and sign away your life’s inheritance (joking!) Although in theory these shows are designed to take make your life easier, we have a few suggestions to get the most out of your experience!

Bring your Significant Other

This is a no brainer! Since you two will be making an investment for your wedding day it is encouraged to bring your fiancé so you both can meet the venders!

Create a Wedding Email

This is a great way to keep all of the contacts to your wedding vendors in one place. The last thing that you want is to accidentally delete an email from your favorite company because it was mixed in with all of the spam promotions from stores that you’ve purchased from in the past.

Bring Labels

Many companies offer promotions and contests during the exhibit. Having pre-made labels with your name, wedding date, and email/phone number is an easy way to enter them stress free! This also provides something to hand off to your favorite vendors so they can contact you after the show to set up a more in depth meeting!

Remember, bridal shows are supposed to show off different companies but not every provider in your area attends them. If you aren’t crazy about any of the vendors that you’ve seen, continue to do some research! The worst thing that a couple could do is sign a contract with a company who they don’t feel 100% comfortable with. Don’t forget, this is your special day and everything should go the way the you’ve hoped for!

Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Wedding – Kimber & Nick

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Kimber and Nick met at a bar in their hometown of Chicago, Illinois. They began dating and eventually took their first vacation at the Grand Hyatt in Tampa Bay. They immediately fell in love with the hotel and after Nick gave a heartfelt proposal a few years later they knew that they had to come back to Tampa, Florida to exchange their vows.

After much discussion Kimber and Nick decided that they wanted to go with a modern theme that included blue and white hues. They decided to focus a portion of their attention to the ceremony space by including drapery and hanging blue delphinium flowers from the top. They also had two large arrangements on either side of the aisle that accented the sweetheart table when it was placed between them after the ceremony was over.

For the remainder of the reception space, the couple decided to include soft touches such as uplights, lilies, and blue table runners. Looking back on her day, Kimber says she is happy she put so much attention to the details and was able to get exactly what she envisioned. Though she claims that marrying Nick was the best part of her wedding, we think that our help with executing the decor came in a close second ;)

If Kimber could give any piece of advice to couples who are planning their wedding she would recommend finding vendors who stay in contact with you throughout the whole process. With planning a destination wedding, she was extremely comfortable with the constant communication between everyone on the Event Design team. Kimber is thankful that we took the time to discuss her entire vision and provide a variety of different options in order to achieve her dream decor. “(Event Design) helped us create the most beautiful set up and make our design dream a reality! (They) handled everything and communicated with our other vendors to make the day go flawless!!”

Venue: Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay | Photographer: Carrie Wildes

I’m Engaged! Which Vendors do I Hire First?

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Ceremony Venue: Bell Shoals Baptist Church | Reception Venue: The Regent

You just became engaged and can finally start the planning process for one of your most memorable days! Once a set budget is in mind, you might ask yourself where to start and which vendors should you reach out to first? While every single one of them is important in making a smooth and painless wedding day, there are a few that we recommend going to immediately to ensure availability!

Venue

We highly encourage couples to decide on a wedding location before they even pursue other venders. Once a date is chosen, you will be able to get a better idea on availability of other venders and if the facility is within their area of travel. Additionally, certain venues only allow the use of their preferred venders which could limit the ones to choose from.

Planner/Coordinator

Planners and coordinators are under utilized gems inside the wedding industry! It might not seem like it at first, but planning everything out and sticking to a schedule is a full time job! Having someone there to map out every detail and create a timeline can alleviate unnecessary stress and make everything run much more smoothly.

Photographer

There’s an art to taking the perfect photograph so if you’re in love with someone’s work don’t hesitate to reach out to see their availability! Photographers (especially well known ones) can fill up fast and chances are if you found the best one on Instagram, other couples have too!

Decor/Floral

The possibilities are endless when it comes to the decor and floral aspect of a wedding! We encourage speaking with a company early on to see how much it would cost to recreate absolutely everything that you envision. Once that’s figured out, you will then have the opportunity to decide on what you really want/need as well as get a better idea on how much money you’ll have to spend on other things.

Planning your wedding may seem overwhelming at first, (trust us, we know) but once you have your core vendors figured out everything else will come together more easily. Remember, it’s never too early to reach out to these individuals, especially the ones that you have your heart set on!

How to Live Stream Your Wedding

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Photography: Carrie Wildes

Live streaming your wedding is a great way to connect with friends and family who aren’t able to physically attend. With demands on people’s time sometimes making a physical appearance challenging, you are still able to have all of your loved ones with you on your special day through the use of webcasting. Some great platforms that couples have utilized during the pandemic (as well as life in general) are Zoom, Skype, and Facebook. Though in theory using these social media platforms seem simple and easy, there are some hurdles to consider if you and your significant other decide to go this route.

Internet Connection

Make sure your venue has a STRONG internet connection (we’re talking speeds that are faster than Paul Walker was in Tokyo Drift). If the wifi is poor, there is likely to be a lot of lag time which will prevent the virtual attendees from seeing things happen in real time. Bad connection can also create a glitchy stream and there may be a chance that the video itself will be lost completely.

Assign Someone in Charge

The last thing that you want to be thinking about on your big day is who is going to press the “live” button right before the ceremony starts. Having someone you trust in charge of stabilizing the device, pressing record, and making sure that there is an audio connection will prevent the headaches of trying to figure out the logistics day of.

Test Everything Out

We highly encourage couples to test out their live stream prior to their wedding day. Doing so will make you aware of any additional materials you made need to invest in to make the most successful video possible (i.e. tripod, microphone, etc.).

Charge Your Devices

Make sure that whatever device you plan to stream your wedding on is fully charged! These videos can use up a lot of its energy source and even if you only intend on having a 30 minute video the battery life can go quickly!

While the demand for live stream platforms continues to increase we hope these tips are helpful in creating the most successful video production. With everything being said, our biggest advice is to keep things simple and don’t forget to say cheese!

Top 10 First Dance Songs of 2021

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Venue: Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay | Photography: Your Story By Us

The first official dance as husband and wife. This is something that many couples cherish forever, but are clueless when deciding what the song should be. To prevent the headache and allow your mind to focus on something else (like how to dance without stepping on your partner’s toes) we’ve come up with a list of the top 10 first dance songs of 2021! Yes, some of these songs may seem overplayed, but that’s because they know how to get you in your feels. Sometimes the biggest ear worms make for the most memorable moments, including your first dance!

  1. Perfect – Ed Sheeran
  2. All of Me – John Legend
  3. Speechless – Dan + Shay
  4. Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
  5. A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
  6. Stay With Me – Sam Smith
  7. I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston (an oldie but a goodie!)
  8. If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys
  9. This I Promise You – *NSYNC
  10. Better Together – Jack Johnson

Still not feeling any of these songs? (we won’t be offended) Check out these Spotify Playlists for some more inspiration!