Charlotte Wedding - The Fillmore (Jennifer + Eric)

Are you looking for a fun and unique venue in Charlotte? Check-out the Fillmore! Especially if you're a music lover and plan on having a kick ass band at your wedding or event! The Fillmore, located at the NC Music Factory,  is a swanky and versatile space. 

Check out our music loving couple Jennifer and Eric's "Glam Rock" wedding reception that we planned and designed at the Fillmore!   

Photography by The Beautiful Mess Photography. 

 

 

Wedding Costs Brides Forget to Budget For

Image Source

Last week on the Huffington Post there was an article about "30 Unexpected Wedding Costs Brides Forget to Budget For". The list is comprehensive and all newly engaged brides should bookmark the article, as they begin the wedding planning process.

Here are 5 items from the list with a few additional pointers from Style Perfect Events!

1. Welcome Bags 
It's always a nice gesture to have welcome bags if the majority of your guests are traveling from out of town. The welcome bag or out-of-town gift bag may include water, snacks, wedding weekend itinerary, welcome note from the bride and groom, city may, etc. You'll need a line item in the wedding budget for your welcome bags and also make sure you check with your guest hotel to see if there is a service charge for them to disseminate the gift bags to your guests. Most hotels do not charge extra if your guests receive their gift at check-in, but there's typically a fee if you want the gift bag inside each guests' room.    

2. Sound
The wedding ceremony is the most important element of the wedding day, but many times guests are left in the dark because they can not hear the officiant or the couple exchange vows. If your DJ is not providing the sound for your wedding ceremony, make sure you look into renting a sound system.    

3. Vendor Meals
When providing your caterer with your final meal count, make sure to include your photographer, videographer, wedding planner and wedding band in your count. These vendors will be on their feet for 8+ hours and will need to refuel. A vendor meal is typically cheaper than a guest meal and your band will include their meal requests in their contract.
 
4. Wedding Coordinator
DO NOT wait to the last minute to book a wedding coordinator. On the wedding day you will not be able to or will you want to take calls from your DJ or baker, while you're getting your makeup done.  It's imperative that you turn the reins over to a professional to ensure your wedding day will run smoothly and that you and your groom, along with your family and friends will have a memorable time as a guest.

5. Sales Tax and Service Charges
Read over your contracts carefully to ensure that sales tax and any service charges are in included in the quoted price. Many venues and vendors charge an 18-22% service charge for the administration side for producing your wedding. Service charges are not the same as gratuities. Also, the plus plus "++" in a quote means you will also need to add service and tax on top of the quoted price.

Etsy Find - Wedding Party Toasting Glasses

How cute are these personalized wedding party toasting glasses found on Etsy that can also double as place cards for your wedding party!

Be Inspired - Pantone 2014 Color of the Year "Radiant Orchid"

Pantone is the authority on color and last week they announced the 2014 color of the year is Radiant Orchid, a captivating, magical, enigmatic purple. 

I design a lot of purple weddings, so I was thrilled to hear this vibrant purple shade is the 2014 color of the year. Cheers to the year of the purple brides! 

Here's some inspiration for you. 

Etsy Find - This find is for my Planner "Girlfriends"

If you're not familiar with the website Etsy, it's a must as a new bride!

Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell unique goods. You will find tons of great items and inspiration for your wedding, party or household on Etsy.

This find is for my wedding planner "girlfriends". As a wedding planner you juggle many items on the wedding day, so how cute is this ruffle fanny pack! You can be organized and fashionable.  LOVE!

To all my fellow wedding planners, what do you use on wedding day to stay organized?

Charlotte Wedding Magazine Inspiration Shoot - Foundation for the Carolinas

Planning a summer wedding, check out the shoot we designed and styled for the Winter 2013 issue of Charlotte Wedding Magazine! Photography by The Beautiful Mess. Venue is the Foundation for the Carolinas.

Be Inspired - Queen City

Be Inspired by the history of Charlotte, "Queen City", which was named in honor of the British Queen, Charlotte Sophia. The city of Charlotte uses a crown logo to represent its city government.

Source: 1. One Fab Day 2. Emma J Design 3. HWTM 4. Belle the Magazine 5. HWTM 

Fabulous Local Store Find - Gold Rimmed Glass Tumblers

It's been a while since my last Fabulous Local Store Find post, but I must share this great holiday entertaining find.

My hubby and I are new homeowners and we're hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year! I'm so excited!!!! My father-in-law's entire side of the family is coming up to to Charlotte...so we're talking 30+ family members that we'll be hosting. Luckily I have enough formal china and flatware, but I don't have enough water glasses until now!

The Dollar Tree has gold rimmed glass tumblers! Perfection. My mother-in-law spotted them last week and I just scored 2 dozen glasses.

You can also purchase them online!

Dollar Tree

Photo Save the Dates - Free Printables

Are you a crafty bride? If yes, this post is for you. Wedding Chicks has a library of free "Save the Date" photo printables. Here a few that I like! (Note: If you are a PC user, you can re-size your image in Paint by changing the pixels.)

Source: Wedding Chicks

  

Source: Wedding Chicks

Source: Wedding Chicks

The Ultimate Chocolate Lovers Wedding Favor!!!

As an event planner I do a lot of research on trends, design and potential creative partners. This week I came across the ultimate chocolate bar. Have you heard of Chocomize? Well, I can't wait to order a batch! These will be great holiday gifts for my clients and fave creative partners this year. 

Chocomize allows you to create your own custom chocolate candy bar with toppings! Check-out a few of their most popular chocolate bars. 

Shower Games!

This past weekend I planned my fourth baby shower for a family member or friend! This was my second co-ed shower and I love the challenge of a co-ed baby shower because you don't want to make the guys feel even more uncomfortable than they already are, which means you have to limit the number of games and make sure you have cool prizes. At this weekend's "Baby Soiree" we played two shower games, "He Said She Said" and "Lucky! Scratch-off Cards".

"He Said She Said" is a common bridal shower game to get the groom involved, but we took a different approach and asked the happy parents-to-be a few parenting questions. The winner of the game was gifted with a bottle of wine with custom label. Cheers!

The second game we played was "Lucky! Scratch-off Cards". Which was an easy way to hand out prizes without having to make the guys drink juice out of baby bottles or wrap their spouse or partner in toilet tissue. I took the DIY route for creating the scratch-off cards and we passed them around the room and were able to award 3 more bottles of wine. Disclaimer: I do not suggest the DIY method of scratch-off cards! The paint and dish detergent concoction that you create does not paint on smooth. I would recommend ordering the already made scratch-off stickers.

Here are a few camera pictures of the two games we played. Email me if you'd like a copy of the "He Said She Said" game.

Happy Planning!