"Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

Today we assembled and shipped these wedding programs for a ceremony in Alabama. When I think of the literary British masterpiece Wuthering Heights, I usually recall scenes of the damp and windy English moor and ghosts in mansion windows. In the time it took to fold, punch, and tie ribbons in these Christinas however, I allowed my mind to wander to the beautiful love story of Catherine and Heathcliff written so eloquently by Emily Bronte.

Including a favorite poem or verse in your wedding program adds a unique touch to your ceremony. The selections we see vary in style and mood as vastly as the personalities of our brides, each special in their own way. I found this particular line heartwarming and hopeful, and I hope the wedding guests reading it are half as delighted as I was!

The program shown is a Christina wedding program with spring moss satin, using Edwardian and Baker Signet fonts in slate ink.

Wiregrass Weddings is on Facebook

We have finally been bitten by the Facebook bug and have created a page for Wiregrass Weddings. We are having a ton of fun posting things about our line of custom wedding programs, promotions, news bits about accomplishment and new equipment and more. If you are on Facebook, we hope that you will "become a fan" today. The page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/wiregrassweddings.

I posted a link about our new die cut wedding programs and two days later, I got an order for 250 of them -- before I even posted them to the website. We will be launching other new products via the Facebook page, so we hope that you will follow along!

How to Acknowledge Deceased Parent(s) in Your Wedding Program

In this example, the Father of the Bride is deceased and the Mother of the Bride is remarried. If the mother was deceased instead, you would list her first, above the living father (and step-mother if he was remarried). You can list them under the wedding party section in the following way:

Parents of the Bride
Mr. and Mrs. John William Doe
The Late Mr. Roger Smith


OR

You can just list the living parent in the wedding party and put something under the dedication like this:

Dedication
On this special day in our lives, we lovingly remember Mr. Roger Smith, Father of the Bride.

…or something like this..

The flowers on the altar are placed to the glory of God and in loving memory of Mr. Roger Smith, Father of the Bride.


…or this…
The candle in the narthex burns brightly in loving memory of Mr. Roger Smith, Father of the Bride.

Stand Up for the Bride

This weekend I officiated at a lovely outdoor wedding in northwest Florida. As the bride and her parents walked to take their place in the processional I suddenly wondered, "Who is going to signal the audience to stand as the bride walks down the aisle?" 

Typically, the mother of the bride is in charge of this time honored tradition. When the mother stands, and not until, everyone else follows her lead. Saturday's bride had asked both of her parents to walk her down the aisle. Her mother couldn't signal the audience to stand. She was already standing.

There was a dear family friend and second mother to Saturday's bride sitting up front. I tried to catch her eye as if to say, "Why don't you stand up and then everyone else will too." She didn't get my signal. The crowd remained seated.

Saturday's bride was extremely organized throughout the entire planning of her day. Her wedding invitations went out exactly on time. Her wedding programs were perfect. I am trusting that if she had wanted people to stand, she would have made that plan clear to me and others.

Standing as the bride walks down the aisle is a sign of respect and a way for those present to actively participate in the ceremony.  

Suzanah 

How to Create a Wedding Invitation List

Readers, readers, readers. This just in, Google Docs is a lifesaver for the woman on a wedding list mission. If you have participated in a wedding list work day, then you know the tedious process a list creation becomes. 

The bride sits down with a variety of people including her fiance, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, grandmother-in-law, and maybe even her mother's sisters. Pain-staking care is taken to ensure every friend, cousin, and 1st grade teacher is included. Then the catering estimate comes and revisions begin! Before long there are at least five re-worked lists on your hard drive. "Did I name the latest one 'Wedding List Final' or 'Wedding List Final Final'," you ask yourself? 

Enter Google Docs and the days of pulling out your hair are fewer and father between. First you must create a gmail account if you do not have one. If using Excel, simply upload your file to Google Docs and share with as many recipients as needed. If you do not have Excel, the guest list can be created directly through Google Docs. 

Once shared, list recipients are free to make changes from their computers. This eliminates the 337 updated lists and new files. No more wondering if you are working from the most updated list. Once completed, email list to your wedding invitation source for easy uploading. 

Thank you Google Docs and Morgan Gunter from celbrationsinmylife(dot)blogspot(dot)com for the tip.

Suzanah

Money Saving Wedding Engagement Photo Tips

Affordable wedding engagement photos are possible. To save money consider the following suggestions:

• Have a friend use her  snazzy digital camera to capture you and your beloved in a variety of locations and poses. Once you've chosen your favorite photo setup, negotiate a shorter sitting fee with your photographer. Time is money.
  
• Check craigslist for up and coming photographers ready to give you a deal.
• Poll your friends to see if any are in need of a professional headshot for their website or portfolio. Some photographers will offer shared sitting fees or a package deal for multiple clients.  
• Use your engagement photo as the design for your save the date card.  

Suzanah

"Should I Have a Wedding Program?"

Wedding programs are quickly becoming  a treasured keepsake for family and friends. They provide a special touch and useful information for guests. The wedding program is the back stage pass to ceremonies. It gives those present the pertinent behind the scenes information that serves to include guests regardless of their friendship level with the couple.

Consult the Wiregrass Weddings website here, for wedding program sample wording.

The staff does an excellent job of walking clients through the process of program set up. Regardless of your budget, there are beautiful designs from which to choose.

Watch this video for a detailed look at "The Jackie" wedding program. Listen as Laurie explains options for ribbon color and font choices.

How to Choose a First Dance Song

Depending on the location of your wedding reception, there may be dancing. If so, are you ready for your debut dance as a married couple? There are first dance songs to consider and steps to learn. Some couples love the idea of being the center of attention as an awed crowd watches them waltz. To some this may be spine chilling.

If you are planning a first dance consider the following tips:

• Choose a first dance song that fits your favorite dance moves. Are you comfortable with the two-step? Find a two-stepping love song that will bring a smile to the crowd and joy to your heart. Shake things up a bit. It isn't written in stone that your first dance has to be to a slow tune.
  
• Carefully consider the song's wording. Not all love songs mean well.
• Practice your moves before the reception. After the song is chosen, grab your partner and rehearse. 
• Whatever your final song and style choice, move with confidence on the dance floor. Save the sheepish grins and shrugging shoulders for your caterer. Give your guests the show they deserve. 

 Suzanah

Wedding Venues

How clever of the writers of Sarah Jessica Parker's latest movie to choose the New York City Public Library for Carrie Bradshaw's wedding venue. Recently I stopped by to see what all the fuss was about. The library is indeed a fabulous space.

So, where does the average girl get married these days? 

1. House of Worship (Church, Temple, or other religious space)

2. Court House

3. A family member's lawn.

4. An exotic destination.

Of course my list is not exhaustive. There are many creative options available for those willing to look. The bride and groom may, for sentimental reasons, feel the need to get married near one of their home towns or close to the location where they first met. Several of my college friends chose to have their ceremonies at our college's chapel. 

Before choosing the location it is a good idea to consider who should attend. If it is important to the bride and groom that grandparents and extended family be present, they must keep in mind grandparents aren't always physically able to make a long trip. Extended family members aren't always keen on the expense that a destination wedding requires.  

If the couple is looking for an intimate affair with only their closest of friends, small venues and destination weddings can meet their needs with ease.

 

Almost Wedding Cake

Friends, New York City is buzzing with spring wedding features. Tis the season. 

While in the city on Saturday I used my GPS to find wedding stores and ran across one called the Wedding Cafe. I got very excited about the possibility of purchasing a big fluffy piece of wedding cake. Surely the Wedding Cafe has all things cake and punch, I thought. 

Turns out the cafe is actually a wedding resource center and a place for vendors to meet with clients. Wedding Ideas and Advice is its own resource center. So let me take this time to remind you of some of our favorite vendors:

Wiregrass Weddings

and 

Programs and Bulletins

Laurie and her divas have recently created a fabulous new line of programs. Delicious.

Affordable Engagement Rings

One carat, two carat, three carat, more? For the soon to be and newly engaged, where do you find quality yet reasonably priced diamond rings? Recently, a friend of mine found hers at a pawn shop. Her uncle is on the board of the American Association of Pawn Shops and advised her to at peruse the selection in area stores. My friend took the proposed diamond she found to an appraiser to make sure it was what she wanted. The purchase was made and she and her fiance are having the ring reset.

Weddings on a budget can be a thoughtful adventure. Purchasing a vintage engagement ring is not for everyone, but for those who are willing, enjoy the hunt.

Discount Wedding Programs!

Click on the coupon below to read all the details of our Valentine's Day Sale! We hope that you will take advantage of this GREAT offer to save some money on your custom wedding programs!

The Wiregrass Weddings Divas!

The wonderful group of women that is behind Wiregrass Weddings went to jail the other day! The Old Coffee County jail in downtown Elba, Alabama served as the backdrop for our meeting with friend and awesome photographer, Mike Moseley of Moseley Photography and Design. Mike took some great pictures of my "divas" and I just wanted to share the pictures of my awesome staff with you all and at the same time, fill you in on the whole wedding program process!

---

ANNA

This is the only picture that Mike didn't take!!! Anna was sick the day of our photoshoot and this is my attempt to copy Mike's true gift as a "real" photographer!!

Anna writes up all of the orders by creating a folder, a "paper to pull" tag, a "ribbon to cut" tag and adding it to our order tracking worksheet (where we track all of the orders). Then she does the first rough draft of the wedding program.

She is the proud mother to Smoke, the weimaraner, and Bentley, the dauchaund.

---

LYNDSAY

Next, Lyndsay "tweaks" the wedding program and prints out a copy to be proofed. Lyndsay also stays busy at the end of the process, as she is the one that prints the wedding programs and bills each customer.

Lyndsay enjoys creating new things, so if you have any special requests or projects that you would like to tackle, she's your girl! She's also a "pageant nut", so if you need anything printed for a pageant, call her!

---

SYLVIA
After the wedding programs are typeset, they go to our resident wedding expert and former English teacher, Sylvia, for proofing. Sylvia is also a pro at operating our ribbon cutter and she cuts all of the ribbon with the hot knife cutter to give it a finished edge.

Sylvia lives right across the street from Wiregrass Weddings with her husband, Jack. She's a champ at remembering each holiday and birthday and is quick to bring a wonderful, homemade cake to celebrate. She is very active in her church (Whitewater Baptist) where she serves as the Vacation Bible School Chairman and a Sunday School Teacher. She is also employeed part time by Moseley Photography and Design.

---

KERRI (with two r's)

After proofing, Kerri is in charge of making all of the changes to the wedding programs and then sending the first draft to the customer for approval. She makes all of the changes requested by the customer and gets the orders ready to print. Kerri also handles most of the UPS for Wiregrass Weddings.

She is an avid animal lover and has two cats and two dogs and has plans to pursue a nursing degree in the near future.

---

KERI (with one r)

Once the programs have been printed, Keri and Maria (see below) handle the assembly, with the rest of the crew pitching in as needed. They cut, fold, punch and tie to ensure that each program is just perfect! Then they box, stuff, tape, measure and weigh to make sure that they arrive to each customer safe and sound.

Keri is also employeed part time with UPS and is an active member of her church, First Assembly of God.

---

MARIA

In addition to her job duties listed above (see Keri with one r), Maria and Keri also help with keeping our paper supplies in stock. They also both help with random projects such as direct mailing and website maintenance.

Maria is married to her husband, Kevin and is mother to Kendallyn and Kaeden. She serves as the youth pastor at the same church, First Assembly of God.

---

LAURIE

Then there is me, Laurie. I'm in charge of vacuuming up the paper punches all over the floor after a hard day of work. I also pay the bills. Other than that, I just help out where I'm needed.

Right now, we all work out of my home, where I live with my husband of 10 years, Jim and our two kiddos, Brooke and Bradley. We are in the process of completing a new building, which we hope to by occupying in the next couple of months.... I'll update you all on that in the next blog!

'til then...

~Laurie

Beautiful Wedding Invitations

Milling around the offices of Wiregrass Weddings I stumbled upon this ever so lovely wedding invitation.  Designed by WW program associate Lyndsay Elliott, this invitation is one for the scrapbook.  

Lately I've been wrapped up in all things wedding programs, but this invitation turned my gaze. I'm thinking about hosting a wedding just so I can have some of these printed!

Suzanah     

Thoughtful Hostess Gifts

A friend of a friend is getting married soon.  A shower was held and there were many, many hostesses.  Thank you gifts for the tribe of women throwing the party were needed.  In place of the typical picture frame, candle, or crystal dish, the bride baked miniature pound cakes. Attached was a printed recipe straight from her future grandmother-in-law's kitchen.  Very nice. 

Now I love a good picture frame and candles can be nice, but why not save a little money and create something more handmade and personal?  My hostess friend thought it was a lovely idea. A yummy treat and nothing new to dust.  I consider that a success.   

Suzanah

 

Mother of the Bride Dresses

Finding the perfect Mother of the Bride dress can be a challenge. Recently, I observed as a friend frantically searched for a dress to wear to her daughter's wedding.  It was a morning wedding. The dress needed to have that lovely just below the knee length - not too long and not too short.  

Color was also an issue. My friend had studied too many wedding photos where the Mother of the Bride or the Mother of the Groom wore brightly colored dresses that distracted from the overall photo.  A softer color was desired.  Elegance was a priority.

We spent hours searching the internet for dresses.  Dozens of speciality shops were consulted. My friend eventually found her dress in Montgomery, Alabama at Chantilly Boutique.  The dress was made by Mon Cheri. 

Tips for Finding a Mother of the Bride Dress:

• Consult with friends whose daughters have recently married.  Where did they find dresses?  Visit those stores.
• Use the internet to find the style(s) you like.  
• Print pictures of the dresses to show shop owners so they will know for what you are looking. 
• Start early.
• Get your daughter's approval. 
• If all else fails, email me.  I can help you look.  

Happy hunting,

Suzanah

ahandwrittennote@gmail.com

  

How to Freeze Wedding Cake

Saving the top layer of the wedding cake, if stored properly, can be a meaningful and delicious part of a couple's anniversary celebration.  Wiregrass Weddings' Laurie Chapman had a three-tiered basket weave cake in all white.  Like many brides, she saved the top layer for later. 

Last week, Laurie's mom called to tell her that she found her wedding cake.  Laurie and Jim were married on March 21, 1998!  Regardless of how well a cake is packaged, ten years is too long.

WikiHow(dot)com has the following suggestions for freezing wedding cakes:

1.  Wrap cake in aluminum foil

2.  Place wrapped cake in sealable baggy.

3.  Secure wrapped and sealed cake in a metal tin to protect from getting smooshed in the freezer.

It is important to freeze cake as soon as possible, so don't wait until after your honeymoon. Before the reception, decide who will be in charge of packaging the portion of the cake you choose to freeze.

Happy  freezing,

Suzanah

Hand Assembly Included

Thanks Laurie. It is so much fun to be a part of Laurie's productions. The energy in her office is amazing. There is always a phone call to answer and a wedding program to nurture. Laurie understands what it takes to make her brides happy. I've never heard her say that something could not be done. Behind the scenes at Laurie's looks like a talented group of people working diligently to make each client's wedding day special.

Laurie and her team focus a lot of their time and energy on wedding programs. Each program is hand assembled and checked for quality. We live in a day and age when phone calls are outsourced and speaking with an automated computer is the norm. There is no press one for programs, two for invitations, three for operator at Wiregrass Weddings. Clients speak directly to the creators of their one of a kind programs.

If I were a bride in search of programs, it would matter to me that my programs came from a business started by a young mom. It would matter to me that she employs a tribe of talented women who seek to make a difference in their own worlds. It is easy for me to see that around here, it is more than just a program.

Happy Monday.

Oh, Suzanah!

I'm excited about tomorrow -- my good friend, Suzanah, will be coming over to help me keep up with my blog!  She is a gifted writer and will be in charge of putting all of my blog post ideas on the site for you.  Just to give you a little background on Suzanah, I would like to give you a brief introduction...  Suzanah is an ordained minister.  She was ordained in the Baptist church, but currently is serving my local non-denominational church (Covenant Community Church) as the "global minister in residence".  Basically, what that means is that she helps us to focus our thoughts, energy, gifts and talents on worldy issues.  She has traveled to Africa several times to volunteer at a children's home, but her main day-to-day tasks include heading up a maternal health initiative where 60 birthing attendants in Haiti are given monthly supplies and annual supplies.  They are supplied with enough "birthing kits" to attend a total of 600 births per month. 

That being said, I'm happy to be welcoming Suzanah to the bunch.  She is an inspiration to be around and a great friend as well.

That's your cue, Suzanah -- take it away!

 

~Laurie

Awesome Wedding Cake Idea

I saw the neatest idea today and just wanted to share it with you! I found it at www(dot)cakesbycremedelacreme(dot)com. They have a link on their site that says "Table and Individual". What they did was to put a small wedding cake at each table. One that serves 8-12 people. I love this idea because your guests don't have to wait in line for a piece of the cake, and you save money on centerpieces! Plus, it's something totally unique that I've never seen done before.

While looking at wedding cake sites (I don't know how I got onto that this morning), I also stumbled upon these awesome websites:

* Mike's Amazing Cakes - www(dot)mikesamazingcakes(dot)com

* New Ranaissance Cakes - www(dot)newrenaissancecakes(dot)com

Also, I think that the cupcake idea is adorable, especially for a kid's table at the wedding... Here's a site that is devoted only to cupcakes:

* Trophy Cupcakes - www(dot)trophycupcakes(dot)com

And one more idea to satisfy your sweet tooth -- I've had a handful of bride's mention to me that rather than doing a "big basket" full of stuff to leave in the hotel rooms for their out-of-town guests, they are opting for something smaller, cheaper and just as thoughtful... So, here's a great idea -- what about these precious hand decorated wedding cookies? Chrissie Schubert is the daughter of the nationally known "Sister Schubert" (the yummy yeast roll lady). Also, for all of you that are local to the "Wiregrass" they are one of our own, from Andalusia, Alabama. Her website is www(dot)cstreats(dot)com.

Now I'm hungry!

~Laurie