Hunting Trips-Bride Style

Hunting trips never held any appeal for me. All the packing, and driving, and camouflage, not to mention guns and dirt. Hunting trips held about as much entertainment value as a root canal, until last week.

My brother asked me if I was going hunting again. "Excuse me?" I choked. He knows how I feel about wearing neon vests. "Are you going hunting again?" he asked. "You know for the place to hold the wedding."

I immediately realized my brother was smarter than most brides.

Wedding planning, is like hunting. But while boys deck out in camo to stalk their prey, girls bring out the big guns to bring home the most coveted trophy venue, dress and menu they can track.

But if you want to look like a pro and not some chick running around in a neon vest that screams "ARMATURE! OVER CHARGE ME!" Follow this advice...

1. Act interested, but always ready to walk away.You can't hunt a deer by chasing it, you have to stalk it. Get close then back off, get closer, then back off, until it's yours. The same principle applies to wedding planning.In sales language, extreme interest leads to money--and not in your pocket. Extreme interest in any venue, dress, or menu lets a sales person know they can rake up the price as high as is not laughable. If you act interested, but ready to walk away, the sales person has to work for your money and will give you a price that won't push you out the door.

2. Dress the part.My mom always told me, "If you want to be taken seriously, take yourself seriously." Which generally meant, put on some makeup, heels, and a rockin outfit. How hunters take themselves seriously in all that neon and camouflage is beyond me.I may never figure out the appeal. But I do understand the appeal of a woman to respects herself enough to put herself together. A salesperson has to know you are serious about your event if they are going to put in the effort to plan it for you. In sales, your appearance is nine tenths of the law. Don't show up frazzled and makeup smudged after work. Talk slow, dress professionally, and show them you mean business.

3. Don't say "I don't know."Another sales "thou shalt not" is saying "I don't know." I don't know is code for sell me the most expensive item in your store. If you don't know what you want, an eager salesperson will help you make up your mind and empty you wallet. Do your research. Guys research their hunting grounds, you need to research pricing. Price out the ideas you like so when someone wants to charge you $100 for ten chair covers you will know their pricing is absurd.

4. Have Fun!Too many girls get stressed out thinking everything has to be perfect. Lighten up! In this game of hunting, nobody has to die. *wink

A Bride's Little Book of Diamond Shopping

Any bride who's done her homework knows when shopping for diamonds the four elements to pay particular attention to--like the kind of attention you would give to the Bible if you were a priest, or the Constitution if you were a lawyer. Lucky for you, this post contains the four cornerstones on gemology for brides. Jewelers call them 4 C’s: Color, Clarity, Carat, and Cut.

Interestingly enough, one of the four C's holds more weight than the others. When shopping for your diamond, you can sacrifice a bit on Color and Clarity, even the Carat if you aren't ready for the debt. But what you can't, should not, MUST not sacrifice is the cut. The Cut goes beyond the shape of the diamond. After all, if it was the shape we were concerned about, they’d be called the 3 C’s and an S.

Jernae Kowallis of Bellison Jewelry give a little history to enlighten us--

"In 1919 a mathematician by the name of Marcel Tolkowsky, wrote a Masters thesis on the facet proportions for round brilliant cut diamonds. His findings were the basis for what we now call the “Ideal Cut" diamond," Kowallis said.

Stories passed down from jeweler to jeweler, say Tolkowsky took to the streets of London, asking passersby to select the most appealing diamond from a small group. The layman's opinion, combined with those of the diamond cutters in his family's Belgian business, he "Calculated the proportions of the most appealing diamonds," said Kowallis. "He then had to use his math and physics skills to prove why this was."

His meticulously calculated proportions a masterpiece diamond, but it wasn’t until 1996 when AGS (American Gem Society) began proportion based Cut grading based on Marcel’s proportions. Tolkowsky's Cut demonstrated a trade-off between the maximum brilliance and maximum fire that results from the many varying combinations of crown and pavilion angles possible--a trade-off that can save you thousands.

When looking for your diamond, make sure you place your priorities on Color and Cut. For diamond Color aim for a stone with a rating of D, E, and F which are Colorless. An ideal Clarity would be flawless, but it's not necessary--here is why. The diamond's cut is what determines the reflection of light within the stone, or as some may call it, the "bling." Kowallis explained, "Any-thing cut too deep or too shallow will lose the brilliant fire that it could have.

Your ring doesn't have to come in a Tiffany's box with a Tiffany price tag for you to never want to take it off. Just make sure it has the right Cut."Only one in twenty diamonds are ever cut to ideal proportions," Kowallis said. So make sure you know what you are looking at and what your money is paying for.

Let Clarity and Carat be negotiable in your quest for perfection, and you can wear a ring glamorous enough to snap a few necks and drop a few jaws.

LADIES! The newest trend of wedding cup-CAKE took Ogden by storm. Independently owned and operated Vintage Cupcakes opens at 10 am and can't keep enough cakes in stock to get through half the work day.

"WOW.... What a BUSY day, we have sold out of cupcakes at our main store. Please come visit us at the NEWGATE mall location...... thanks"

was their Facebook status at 3 in the afternoon!

Cupcakes took over as the popular wedding dessert a few years back, but a vintage inspired cupcakery/boutique put the elegance and glam back into this childish dessert.

My favorite flavors include chocolate mint, pumpkin pie, and mocha. But Vintage Cupcakes can whip up any flavor and design to fit your fancy. Do you love butterfinger? How about Red Velvet cake? The girls at Vintage Cupcakes will deliver treats so delectable even Audrey Hepburn wouldn't turn them down.

If you still decide to go with the traditional full tiered cake, Vintage Cupcakes offers a secret corner for you and your bridesmaids to steal a moment of girl time before the whirlwind of planning sets in again. Singles start at $2.50 a cake and you can treat yourself and five others for $14.00. Pricing is set for small purchases, but Vintage Cupcakes can and should cater your event.

" I love all things vintage...to take something old and cast away and give it new life," says Michelle of Vintage Cupcakes.

What better way to give life to your party than by tossing the crusty old wedding cake and treating with decadent tiny packages of yum?

Five Mistakes NOT To Make

Having worked in the wedding and entertainment industry, I thought I had a good idea of what to do in a photo shoot. I’m so glad my photographer Jenny told me otherwise. She stopped every two minutes to readjust my head or tell me where to look. She saved my fiancé from making simple mistakes that no amount of Photoshop could save. Your pictures are the prize of your wedding. They capture a moment in your memory and hold it. Forever.

The following common mistakes you don’t want held in your happily ever after.

5 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make:
■ Not trusting your photographer – “My clients get great shots because they just let me do my thing,” says Jenny Hansen of Jenfolio.com. “They trust my eye, and my edgy ideas. Those shots always turn out the best photos.” You are not the professional. Your photographer is. Trust them.
■ Not hiring a professional photographer—“This day will only happen once,” says Terra Cooper of Magnifique Photography. “Make sure you hire someone to capture all the memories in the most beautiful way possible.”
■ Staring into the lens—“Make sure to have a little emotion in your eyes,” says Becky Reed of Ravenburg Photography. “No matter the photo, the eyes are the focus. Pretend that you're still looking into your groom’s eyes and not the camera's lens.”
■ Forgetting to tell your story—Let your photos tell your story. “My favorite weddings have concentrated on details that tell a story about the couple,” says Reed. “Too often brides focus too much on their hair and dress and forget to think about these.”
■ Not asking enough questions – “Make sure you know what is included in your package,” says Cooper. “Check on prices of albums, invitations, and prints to make sure it fits your budget. Find out if high resolution digital negatives are included in the cost.”

....

After our shoot,the squish from Jenny’s rain boots tickled the grass and weeds as we left the deserted riverbed and crossed the field back to reality.

“That was a great shoot you two!” she said as she struggled to pull a suction cupped boot off her foot.
“Ug,” she said pulling on her boot. “I can’t wait to get the proofs up on my website.”
Struggling.
“How does tonight sound?”
More struggling. The boot would not budge.
Brett and I looked at each other.

“Sure Jenny, but what about your boots? It looks like you are having a bit of trouble.”

“Oh this… this is nothing.”
Still more struggling followed by a gigantic pop and a boot launched high into the air.
“Ahhh. There we go. You just got to keep at it. It all works out if you just keep at it.”

Truer words never spoken.

The last piece of advice is not a NOT to do, but a DEFINITE TO DO. And it comes from me, not as a wedding planner, but as a bride. Make sure you photographer is persistent. If your photographer doesn’t have a huge portfolio—he/she soon will. If your photographer doesn’t know the exact place to shoot—it will come as he/she begins to shoot with you. Equipment and novelty backdrops help, but if I could choose any trait for my photographer, I want my photographer to remain persistent. Don’t give up on that perfect shot. It’s out there. Go find it.

Saving Your Photography Budget

My wedding photographer shot with gusto. She and her retro plastic rain boots waded into the middle of a pond to get the right angle for my shots. Her gutsy shots proved fantastic, but getting me out of a canoe in heels is much easier said than done. With one heel on a muddy incline and another in the wobbly canoe, I started to slip, sending me on my way to becoming one muddy, soaked bride for the rest of my photo shoot. But I was saved. The second half of my dry and non-muddy photo shoot, I tribute Jenny and her rain boots. Just as I began to slip, Jenny jumped back in to the pond and stopped the canoe from tipping over. I fell into the boat instead of into the pond.

Our budgets can sometimes follow a similar path. We think everything is under control and that we are getting really great products for our money. And then SLIP! We somehow lose control and our budget ends up soaked and muddy and useless.

But not you. Because you read this article.

My photographer saved me on my photo shoot day, and these next five tips can help you save your budget.

Less is More--Five tips to keep to a budget:
 Decide what’s important – Is having the right venue or quality photography more important? Put your money where your heart is. And remember… a good photographer can make any venue look good.
 Printing – Print the pictures yourself. Ask your photographer to sell you the rights to edited photos and put them on a disk. Professional photographers make huge profits by marking up their printing fees. You can print photos for hundreds of dollars cheaper if you take a disk to a wholesale printer.
 Make sure you get what you pay for – “Do something with your wedding photos!” says Reed. Purchasing photo packages instead of single shots will keep your cost down. Reed explains, “Most of my packages include albums because I want my photos to seen, enjoyed, and not lost on a disc somewhere. But when it comes to photos the sky is the limit--you can even make them into post-it-notes.”
 Try a photo booth—If you can’t afford a photographer for the reception, “DO NOT use those disposable camera’s on each table!” warns Cooper. “You are lucky to get any good shots. Most people forget to turn on the flash and take some pretty random pictures that you will have to PAY to develop.” Instead, “Try a photo booth,” says Hansen. “Photo booths are fun, inexpensive, and you and your guests pay only for the photos you want.”
 Casual Elegance -- “You don’t need an elegant venue for elegant pictures,” says Jenny Hansen of Jenfolio. “The opposition of one elegant accessory, such as an armed chair in a dry riverbed, or a lamppost in the middle of a field excites the eye and saves you money.”

Hold on Tight!

To all of you brides out there, any of you feeling overwhelmed?

Happiness, stress, reception menus, dressing shopping, photography sessions, and dreaded invitation mailings have a way of meshing together into a gigantic knot of stress that lives right at the base of your neck.

Weddings supposedly bring magic not migraines right?

Right.

And if your wedding brings you anything but happiness, you are working too hard.

My name is Heidi. I work as a wedding/event planner for the Ben Lomond Historic Suites in Ogden, Utah. I meet with countless brides to help them execute the wedding of their dreams, which you may or may not have decided upon—I just planned my own wedding. I know that overwhelmed feeling all to well.

Remember the days when you dressed up your Barbie and marched her down the aisle? Remember that smile she was wearing? You will wear that smile too when you use the money saving, stress eliminating, dream achieving ideas I plan to share with you.

I work with vendors from all over the state to give you the most up to date creative trends in the business. Having just planned my own wedding, I know what it’s like to work within a budget. Your wedding can be elegant and budget friendly.

I’m a girl who believes your wedding is the day you can have your cake and eat it too.

Vintage Love Story

I just found out about the most adorable love story!

A friend of mine told me his grandparents met roller skating here in Ogden on 24th street. A slip and an "almost fall" led to the greatest catch in a young man's life.

Literally!

He caught his future wife before she fell at the roller rink, and then a few years later "caught" her again forever.

So sweet. I can just imagine meeting a beau at roller rink, or the train station. Your eyes meet, he takes your hand and your heart skips a beat. A jolt of excitement for the night ahead sends you twirling. You dance the night away to the music of Big Band Swing and then steal away to secret corners lit by the glow of crystal chandeliers.

SUCH ROMANCE!

And while that time in history set the stage for elegant romance, you will still find the stage set and ready for players at the Ben Lomond. Let our crystal chandeliers, marble floors, and hand-crafted architecture provide your event with the elegant romance you seek.

And while I can't promise you roller skates, I can promise we will make your event one for the history books.