Math?

I'm getting very excited/stressed upon reading the Marketing and Sales portion of the ABC Certification course. There's so much to think about! In order to feel progressive and instead of stressing about the bigger picture, I decided to start doing a bit of condensed research (read: Googling).

We've already checked out the competition and their websites and have determined that there are about 20 planners in the greater Chicago area. Most of the more prominent ones are listed on theknot, brides.com, Chicago Wedding Services, and sites of that ilk.

Say there are 15 announcements in the Trib every Sunday. The people who can afford those announcements are definitely the sort of people who would hire a wedding consultant. And then say there are 15 more couples who want to hire a consultant and can't get into the Trib.

So. 30 x52 Sundays = 1560 couples a year getting married. And that's enough for a wedding every Saturday of the year for all of the wedding planners in the city. And that's a LOW estimate! I think those are pretty good odds for starting this business.

Now...how to reach these newly-engaged couples and convince them to hire us...I better keep reading.

But before I go.


Can I please wear this on my wedding day? (I refuse to wear white. It will wash me out...plus...who am I kidding, wearing white??)

stay fab,

carolyn

A Project.

OK, it's time to talk about my own wedding. Cause...it's relevant this time. So Jesse and I are way into project mode, because we're 4 months out and have decided that doing a bunch of stuff ourselves was a REALLY good idea. One of these is the ribbons for the bridesmaid dresses. I went with a basic black dress, and since my colors are black/white/pink, I was assuming I'd go with a white ribbon and pink flowers and be done with it. But then we went to JoAnn Fabrics, and I started to get all crafty. I got several options, which I will show you below. Anyway so last night, we picked up a couple of the dresses and I decided I would try out the different looks.

Jesse made a good point: I wouldn't really know what the dress/ribbon combo would look like without the flowers. So we went to the best place to purchase flowers in the city of Chicago: Jewel. No but really, they have tons of flowers. They even had lots of gerbera daisies...just, not the right color. Mine are a very specific color. So we ended up buying a giant, $15 bouquet with 4-5 dark pink gerbera daisies in it. (We also very slyly snuck some more from other bouquets into the one we bought. It's fine. It's science.)

Please note: the bouquet is ghetto and teeny and half-stolen, the ribbons are not cut properly, we couldn't find the hook on the back of the dress, and my cat is in some of the pictures. It's all in the name of (quick) experimentation, people. Ok here goes - project time!

Here is the dress by itself, the "control" if you will. That's Carolyn's dress, by the way. She'll have to...um....shorten it. A bit.

From An Event Less Ordinary

This was my original plan. I searched long and hard for a great black and white dress, but I couldn't find anything that I liked, that wasn't too busy to have in multiples. Plus this one is adorable and can be worn again. So I planned to just add a nice silk white ribbon to it and be done with it. Boom goes the dynamite.

From An Event Less Ordinary

From An Event Less Ordinary

My next idea was to take white ribbon and dark pink ribbon, attach them to each other, and wrap it so the pink would peek out in the back as an accent color. I like the idea of the pink staying on their dresses, since they're going to put the flowers down after like, 25 minutes. This ribbon isn't attached and is sort of just...thrown on there for experimental purposes only, but you get the idea. Also, that's Charlie. He's the cutest.

From An Event Less Ordinary

This is where I got side tracked at the craft store. Patterned, cute ribbon with what looks like (gasp!) gerbera daisies on it? Duh. I really like it, because it's fun. It doesn't bring any pink into the ensemble, but does that matter? I'm not sure yet. Thus, these pictures. Research.

From An Event Less Ordinary

From An Event Less Ordinary

This ribbon has the same pattern as the black one, and it's pretty...but I think it might be too much. I can't decide. Maybe it would like it more if there wasn't so MUCH ribbon in the back, but there's something about the pink ribbon and the pink flowers. It's bugging me.

From An Event Less Ordinary

From An Event Less Ordinary

So I think I've made my decision, but what do you all think? I'd like some actual bridesmaid input as well :)

Amy

Timeline?

So this course is harder and taking longer than expected. Etiquette, though necessary, was WAY more old-fashioned than I feel most people are. But I suppose for ritzy weddings, it's all good to know.

We're starting on Marketing and Sales next, which will be super-helpful. That, and the actual experience of our internship this summer will really help! We're hoping that by next wedding season we'll be booked for a few. Anyone getting married and want to give us a trial run?? Besides, you know, Amy herself...

...woah. Pause. In the middle of writing this blog, Amy just got all list-makey. "We need a small business loan and to meet with a lawyer and an accountant and to meet with that lady through the City again..."

Okay. Now that's motivation. I'm going to start on a business plan.

stay fab,

care

Worth a thousand...

I am a photo FREAK. I love taking them in every situation, I love looking at them, I love posting them online for all to see (well, for some to see...those of you who are my Facebook friends).

I love the memories, and I love looking through photo albums, of which I have many. I still get my pictures printed. Just in case the apocalypse happens, all technology is wiped from the planet, and I have somehow survived with all of my photo albums intact. I love my friends photo albums too...I can name off the top of my head at least three friends whose albums I have happily gone through, complete with explanation of who is who and where each photo was taken.

I get excited when we bring out the old projector and slides back home. Call me sentimental.

The point is, I feel that the photography on your wedding day is the second most important thing (the first being, you know, marrying the love of your life). What's the point in having gorgeous flowers, a perfect dress and a beautiful location if the photography is bad?

I was directed to this beautiful photo gallery by a friend of mine. I can't even believe how these photos made me swoon. This is the kind of beautiful photography I admire so much. Edyta is young, innovative, and her About Me states that she is a clean freak. Love her! Just look at this gorgeousness...this is exactly what I would want my engagement/wedding photos to look like:


And the best part? There is not a backdrop (like in school photos, ugh!) in sight and nothing nothing on her sight could be described as "cheesy" in any way. It's perfection. Perfection!

Had to gush.

stay fab,

carolyn

I'm not bananas!

Guess what I read an entire article on in my latest issue of Vogue last night?

This.

See? If Vogue is doing an article on it, then it must be okay. Woot. (There's also a fantastic article on renowned photographer Steven Meisel if you're interested.)

stay fab,

carolyn

Etiquette, invitiations, etc.

Carolyn's right. We have lots of excuses not to blog. But really....we should anyway. My issue is, the only wedding-y things on my mind right now are details for my OWN wedding. A) I don't want to bore you, our tens of readers, with talk of my wedding. And B) as much as I would love to post a picture of my dress, Jesse would see it. Fail.

So I decided that we shall discuss what I've been reading in my ABC course. It's really very interesting so far and I can tell I'm going to learn a LOT about planning weddings. Which, as they say, is the point. But I have come across some thought provoking sentences in the first section: Etiquette.

"One social custom remains: the groom's parents should make the initial contact, either inviting the bride's parents out or asking for a convenient time to visit them."

I find this really interesting, because the rest of the paragraph talks about all of these old engagement traditions where the parents would get together at a social event, or one set would show up at the other's home with a calling card. It's fascinating to learn about traditions that have fallen by the wayside, but I'm also interested in the idea that this custom still exists. I get that the bride and groom's parents should meet, hang out, get to know each other. But what if the bride's parents make "initial contact"? Is that acceptable? The course mentions that this can happen, but only if the groom's parents fail to make contact. It seems like this might open the door for some hurt feelings, though. Should the bride's parents feel offended if the groom's parents don't "schedule a visit"? I don't know. Strange.

Part of the Etiquette section includes invitations, because really - there are more rules about the invitations than any other part of a wedding. Here's something I read recently:

"In today's society, very few people know the proper response to a formal invitiation. Acceptances or regrets should be written on plain or bordered, monogrammed or unmarked paper or note paper, in appropriate ink. The lines, matching those on the invitation, should be evenly spaced and symmetrically arranged on one sheet of quality paper."

The paragraph DOES go on to talk about Response cards and how acceptable they are, and they mention that this is an "old traditon." And I love learning this stuff, I really do. But...well, maybe I'm just not cultured enough. Maybe people really do still do this, when they have SUPER formal, fancy weddings. I guess I just have a thing about keeping things simple, as well as convenient, for my guests. You're already asking them to travel to your wedding, get a hotel room, buy you a gift - should you expect them to take the time to write out a formal response to your wedding invitation? Send 'em a Response card. They're cute.

To each her own, I suppose.

I'll keep you posted as I read this fascinating course!

amy

Location, location, location!

So between reading the course, being busy at work (what?!), the show, trying not to disappear into New Boyfriend Land (squee!) and keep up with my friends, it has been a very unbloggy couple of weeks. I'm trying, I really am. Amy and I are both multi-tasking several different things at this point, but we are still reading and taking the tests in our course.

Last week, I was reading the ABC (that's American Bridal Consultants) course on the El. And I had a mini-panic attack. "OHMIGOD AMY AND I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT PLANNING WEDDINGS IN THE CITY OHMIGOD OHMIGOD..."

I proceeded to throw this panic attack at Amy via g-chat when I got into work. She reassured me that there would be a business meeting in the very near future where we sat down and Googled/phone-called our little hearts out to all kinds of vendors in the city. Then she mentioned a color-coded Excel spreadsheet. I calmed down. The mention of an organized Excel document does that to me.

I still didn't know anything about planning Chicago weddings. I've been Googling too many pretty pictures. Ha. So I did a little research (read: typed "chicago wedding" into the search bar). My first thought was location. Where does one get married here?

Well. I don't know about YOU, but I found where my wedding (in the far, far future) will be.

This is the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and it is GORGE. There are several different areas for your event, and it's all beautiful. It's located just north of the Lincoln Park Zoo and is equal parts chic, swanky and down-to-earth. You can find more info here.

It also has indoor location options, which is great. We all know Chicago weather can be dicey at best. But...


...can you imagine dancing in your new husband's arms under the stars on this patio with fairy lights and all of your loved ones surrounding you? Le sigh.

stay fab,

carolyn