How to Prep for Your Spring Wedding

by Kylie Sammond, Wedding PlannerHow ToPosted on No Comments

Spring is a wonderful time of year to get married! Nature’s colors are at their most vibrant, the weather is perfect, and love is in the air. “Wedding Seasons” are usually in the Spring months – March, April, and May, and the Fall months – September, October and November. This is due to the weather being perfect for guests to enjoy indoor and outdoor weddings!

With every wedding season, there are some things you’ll want to prepare for. The phrase, “April showers bring May flowers” can be true, but it also can be really misleading. We have some tips for you to make sure your Spring wedding goes just as planned, even if you need to implement Plan B.

Check the Forecast

While it’s never going to be a sure bet what the weather is like on your wedding day, you can often look well in advance at what the weather may be like based on weather patterns in years past, and any weather showing up on radar so far. This can help you determine if you need to have a backup plan in place, although, you probably always should anyway! You can look this up on websites like The Farmers Almanac.

Spring Wedding Dress Code

It’s always a good idea to let your guests know in advance what they should consider wearing to your soiree. You may want to suggest bringing a sweater or umbrella depending on the weather. It’s also important to consider any weather that may affect footwear. You don’t want your guests’ stilettos to be falling through the lawn in muddy conditions.

Consider the Date for your Spring Wedding

Spring is great, and you’ll likely get more yeses from your guests as it is not the holiday season, and you will not conflict with planned summer vacations. However, there are some holidays you will want to avoid coinciding with. Some of these days include Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, Palm Sunday, Father’s Day, and Ramadan. Luckily most of these fall on Sundays and Mondays, not usually bringing conflicts for your guests!

Create a Plan B

If you are planning to have any part of your wedding outdoors, it’s crucial to consider rain. While rain rarely becomes an issue, having a plan is the best way to work around unwanted weather. If a light storm comes about, waiting 30-45 minutes for the storm to pass is generally okay to have the beautiful ceremony of your dreams, as long as your guests have a dry spot to wait. It’s also a good idea to plan for the worst. Speak with your venue about what would happen if rain won’t let up – will they set up indoors? Is there a way to cover the ceremony site? Planning ahead is the best way to avoid any stress on the big day.

Spring Wedding

Spring weddings are popular because the weather is usually great. While it’s best to prepare for the worst, you likely have nothing to worry about and will remember your wedding being on a bright and beautiful day!

Sammond Events is located in the Central Savannah River Area near Augusta, GA and happy to serve you with helping you plan your Spring Wedding. Contact us today for your free consultation!

Bridal Expos – What You Need to Know

by Kylie Sammond, Wedding PlannerHow ToPosted on No Comments

During your engagement, visiting a bridal expo or two will be a great way to get ahead in your planning. What is a bridal expo exactly? A bridal expo, or bridal show is essentially a convention, filled with the area’s best wedding experts! You will get to meet with potential vendors, try delicious samples of food and cake, watch a fashion show, and enjoy some live music! While not every expo is free to attend, many have a very affordable entry fee, and you will get your money’s worth in free swag and samples!

Why Go to a Bridal Expo?

Bridal expos aren’t only for the fun and food. Bridal expos present you with the opportunity to meet and low-key interview many wedding vendors at the same time in the same place. Rather than browsing through websites, you get to meet vendors in person. This allows you to experience if you’ll click well (which is very important!) and see what they have to offer. When you leave, hopefully you’ll have some clarity on a vendor or two that you’d like to hire.

You shouldn’t go into a bridal expo without a plan. Here is what you need to know and how to prepare to get the most out of your experience at the bridal show.

Don’t Go Alone

Bridal Expos are generally going to be very busy and you will be processing a lot of information in a short amount of time. Bringing someone with you is a sure way to make sure you are leaving with the important information you need and not missing a beat. You can bring your partner, a family member, or a friend. It doesn’t matter who you bring, just make sure it is someone that will be focused on helping you execute your plan, keeping an eye out for anything you can’t miss, and will ask all of the right questions you may forget in the moment.

Show Up with a Plan

Before the day of the bridal expo, sit down and think about where you are in your wedding planning process and what you’d like to accomplish that day. Perhaps you are newly engaged and have no clue where to start – it may be a good idea to speak with some wedding planners and find one that understands where you’re at and can help you get you off the ground running. Or maybe you are well into planning and just need some final touches like a DJ that can work the crowd. Of course, stop and try the delicious slices of wedding cake, but also know what your mission is and make sure you focus on that before you walk out of the expo.

Show Up to the Bridal Expo Early

To get the best experience of your bridal expo, make sure you show up at the beginning of the show. Most expos have raffles and you must be present to enter and win. You don’t want to miss out on a free wedding cake or engagement photography shoot. Raffle drawings will usually happen once every 30-60 minutes, so you’ll want to be there for as much of the expo as you possibly can!

It’s also a good idea to show up early to get the best out of vendors. You may find a vendor whose booth is completely packed with brides at the moment and decide to come back to them later when the crowd dies down. If you show up early, you’ll be making sure you have time to come back. If you come towards the end, there is also a chance that some vendors will start packing up early if there aren’t enough clients still walking around – which means you may miss out on meeting the perfect vendor!

Bridal Expo Attire

You will be walking around a lot. Make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes! You want to be dressed comfortable, but with it being your once in a lifetime experience of wedding planning, you of course want to dress for the occasion! Something like a sundress or cute top will be perfect.

Pre-Made Address Labels

There will be a lot of raffles and drawings you will be entering at the bridal expo. Not only does the expo hold raffles, but often times, businesses will be holding their own at their booths, or you may want to give them your information to follow up with you. Showing up with pre-made address labels will save you so much time filling out forms!

Make a Wedding Email Address

After you attend a bridal expo, you are going to receive a ton of emails from vendors. The thing is, after the wedding, you may not want to click “unsubscribe” for every single vendor’s emails. A quick and simple solution is to create an email address specifically for your wedding. After the wedding, you’ll never have to look at it again.

Bring a Bag

You will be receiving so many souvenirs, samples and literature to go through at home. The problem is, you will not have anywhere to carry it! Bring a backpack or large tote to carry your giveaways so that you can keep your hands free. If you’re coming to a bridal expo that Sammond Events is exhibiting in, stop by our booth for a free tote!

bridal expo swag

Bridal expos are a fun and productive tool for your wedding planning journey! With some preparation, you can set yourself up for success in checking off a few boxes of your to-do list. Now all that’s left is to find some expos to attend!

Check out Sammond Events at these upcoming events:

Wedding Duties: Who Does What?

by Kylie Sammond, Wedding PlannerHow ToPosted on No Comments

There is a lot to do when it comes to putting together a wedding. Even if you hire a wedding planner who’s taking care of the little fine details, there are some tasks your planner just can’t simply do. Getting these tasks done does not mean you have to tackle them all yourself however. Your bridal party, family, and friends should be happy to help you take care of the little things. But the question is, who does what? Truly, it is up to you. However, we’re providing you with a list to guide you on who you can ask to help you.

Maid of Honor:

  • Serve as the leader of the bridesmaids; coordinating luncheons and fittings
  • Plans/Finances the bridal shower, with assistance of bridesmaids
  • Plans/Finances the bachelorette party, with assistance of bridesmaids
  • Lists who gave gifts for future thank you cards during showers and parties
  • Assists in wedding tasks such as addressing invitations, managing guests lists, etc.
  • Serves as emotional support of the bride throughout the wedding planning process and on the wedding day
  • Holds the bride’s bouquet during the wedding ceremony
  • Holds a tissue for the bride during the ceremony
  • Makes sure the bride’s train is photogenic during the ceremony and during photos
  • Serves as a witness on wedding certificate
  • Helps with cleanup of gifts, decor, etc. after the wedding reception

Bridesmaid

  • Finances/Assists in the planning and set up of bridal shower
  • Finances/Assists in the planning and set up of bachelorette party
  • Assists in wedding tasks such as addressing invitations, managing guests lists, etc.
  • Serves as emotional support of the bride throughout the wedding planning process and on the wedding day
  • Attend fittings, luncheons, and any other pre-wedding events
  • Helps with cleanup of gifts, decor, etc. after the wedding reception

Best Man

  • Serve as the leader of the groomsmen; coordinating luncheons and fittings
  • Supports the groom in wedding planning tasks
  • Plans/Finances the bachelor party, with assistance of groomsmen
  • Serves as emotional support of the groom throughout the wedding planning process and on the wedding day
  • Holds the rings during the ceremony until it is time for them to be exchanged
  • Serves as a witness on wedding certificate
  • Helps with cleanup of gifts, decor, etc. after the wedding reception

Groomsmen

  • Assists the best man with planning/financing bachelor party
  • Serves as emotional support of the groom throughout the wedding planning process and on the wedding day
  • Attend fittings, luncheons, and any other pre-wedding events
  • Helps with cleanup of gifts, decor, etc. after the wedding reception

Parents typically help financially with weddings, however, finances are always a touchy subject, especially given the costs of weddings. It is best practice to speak with your parents/family early on about what they can contribute.

Groom’s Parents

  • Host the rehearsal party
  • Finance the bride’s rings

Bride’s Parents

  • Host the engagement party
  • Finance the grooms rings
  • Hosts Post Wedding Brunch

Planning Your Wedding Processional

by Kylie Sammond, Wedding PlannerHow ToPosted on No Comments

The wedding ceremony is the part of your wedding that most people will pay close attention to. Not only is it important due to this, but also because of the symbolism for the start of your marriage. While there are many details to wedding ceremonies, the wedding processional is the biggest and most crucial detail to pay attention to.

What is a Wedding Processional?
A wedding processional is the lineup of the bridal party, family members, and of course, the bride and groom that will walk down the aisle. This will include your bridesmaids and groomsmen, ring bearers, and flower girls. Many people find this to be a delicate task due to honoring the most important people in your life in a big way. There are many ways you can arrange your processional and luckily there is no right or wrong way. How it is done will depend on several factors.

The Officiant
The Officiant is the person performing the ceremony. This can be a pastor, priest, minister, or just someone who is certified to be an officiant. You may also opt to have a special loved one perform the wedding ceremony, in which they can register online to become a minister very easily on sites such as The Universal Life Church. Typically the officiant is the first person to walk the aisle at the very beginning of the ceremony. They may come out alone or with the groom.

The Groom
The Groom is the one role in the entire ceremony that has the most options for coming down the aisle. They may walk down with the officiant, with their parents/mother, or with all of the groomsmen in a line. The decision of who they are walking with will determine at what point they should walk down the aisle.

Parents/Grandparents
Some couples want to incorporate their parents in the wedding ceremony. Some may even choose to have their grandparents walk down the aisle if they are able to. If you would like to include your family members in your processional, there are a few ways to do this. If grandparents are included, they will typically go first, followed by parents. If anyone has mobility issues, or walking alone, you can arrange for a sibling who’s not in the bridal party escort them to their seat or have someone in the bridal party do so and sneak back around.

Parents can be done in a number of ways. The groom may walk up with his mother, with his father already seated, or he can walk down the aisle with both of them. Traditionally, the bride’s father will walk the bride down to give her away, however this isn’t always the case. Sometimes both of her parent’s will walk with her or not at all. The mother can also walk down the aisle alone during the ceremony, with the groom’s mother, or be escorted by a loved one. The key is to have family members walk down the aisle before the bridal party begins.

The Bridal Party
There are two main ways to have your bridesmaids and groomsmen walk down the aisle during your processional. The most traditional way is to pair the groomsmen and bridesmaids together and have them walk down in opposite order of their stance on stage, meaning the best man and maid of honor will walk down the aisle last, but will be standing closest to the bride and groom.

The second way option for your bridal party to walk down the aisle is to have all of the groomsmen walk up together with the groom, and have the bridesmaids walk out one at a time, solo. If you opt for this, the men will walk out in order of which they are standing and the women would walk out in reverse order.

Ring Bearer/Flower Girl
Children in a wedding can always bring a special touch to a wedding, especially if they have a sweet connection with the couple. Traditionally the ring bearers and flower girls will walk down the aisle right before the bride. They may walk down together or separately, which can be decided through many factors. An example would be their ages and if they need the older children to help guide the younger ones and it is easier to keep them together. If you are sending them down the aisle separately, traditionally, the ring bearer would go first, so that the flower girl(s) can lay the pedals for only the bride (and her father) to walk on. Additionally, you do not need both a ring bearer AND a flower girl, nor do you have to have either at all.

The Bride
The one rule that really doesn’t have any wiggle room is that the bride is the grand finale of the processional. The bride may walk up with her father, parents, or alone. She may also choose to have someone else give her away such as a brother or other family member in the event her parents have passed or are not at the wedding. If being given away, the bride and her escort will stop at the end of the aisle and the officiant will ask who is giving this bride away, in which the escort will address (“I, her father, do”, “her mother and I do”, etc.).

How to have a Seamless Ceremony
Holding a wedding rehearsal is crucial and very simple. Most rehearsals take 15-30 minutes depending on clarity of the processional order before the rehearsal and cooperation of all parties. If possible, avoid alcohol for the bridal party until the rehearsal is complete, as people will tend to get distracted, taking more time. In the rehearsal make sure everyone is aware of who they are walking with and in what order. They will also need to establish their marks of where to stand, and the speed in which they should walk down the aisle. Having a wedding planner or coordinator for the rehearsal is a great way to get through the rehearsal as a third party will have a better time getting everyone in order and make sure everyone has an understanding of their part in the ceremony, so the only hitch to go off will be yours and your mates.