Northern California Wedding Planner | Brooke & Austin Highlight Reel

We had to share the highlight video from Brooke and Austin's wedding day because it brings us right back to their beautiful day, and they are truly a wonderful couple.  Brooke and Austin chose Mountain House Estate for their wedding venue in Cloverdale, CA and it was the perfect setting.

From the epic toast by the Father of the Bride to their smiles throughout, Katie B Images did a fantastic job capturing their day!

Northern California Wedding Planner | Summer 2017 Bridal Shows

We're about half way through our wedding season this year, and we are taking a pause to work on some really fun events coming up! We wanted to share some of our top tips for attending a bridal show!  Check out our event calendar for some of the upcoming bridal shows. 

We had a blast at the Chico Bridal Show in January, 2017! 

We had a blast at the Chico Bridal Show in January, 2017! 


Bring your appetite! 
Seriously you will be well fed with all of the delicious samples by many of the top caterers and bakers. 

Standout
These shows are just for you, the couple so stand out! It can get pretty crowded at our booths so it is great when we can easily pin point who the couple is and know who we can turn our attention to next.  Lot's of mothers, sisters and friends also attend on behalf of couples if they aren't able to attend and that is fine too!

Start with a mission
Have in mind which services you are looking for and ask your wedding planner for tips on who to visit at the show.  If you don't have a planner yet stop by and ask away!

Bring a bag or closable folder
You will want to have a bag or closable folder for all of the handy info you will be picking up from the booths.  Bonus points if you bring a smaller bag to slip the cards in of the businesses that stand out to you the most so that you don't have to dig through later. 

Create pre-addressed mailing labels
Chances are you will visit several booths that have a prize or drawing in addition to the sign up lists for various promotions.  Save yourself the time and the hand cramp by bringing pre-addressed labels that you can stick right onto the sign-up list. The labels should include your name, preferred contact (phone or email) and your wedding date if you have selected one. 

Entourages are welcome!
Feel free to bring your fiance, wedding party, mom or any others to the show to share in the experience. Bonus points for dressing up, standing out and having fun! 

Ask Questions
Feel free to ask questions and talk to exhibitors, just keep in mind that with crowds it can be difficult for us to talk long but we love getting to talk to so many couples! You can always grab a card and shoot us an email with additional questions as well as schedule a complimentary consultation.

Attend Open Houses
Many of the exhibitors will host open houses, and these are a great way to talk in more detail and to take advantage of special bridal show pricing when you book. 

~ Happy Planning! ~ 

Northern California Wedding Planner | Budgeting for Service Fees

Cake cutting fees, plate charges, set-up and breakdown, delivery, corkage, gratuity..the fees may seem to pop up everywhere but here is a little info to help you navigate when budgeting for your wedding.  When it comes to fees think of it as a convenience fee to compensate for time or for additional services.

service-fees_The-530-Bride

Here are a few of the common fees that you may have not factored in yet! 

Service Fees
When looking over your agreement, do make sure to factor in applicable tax, service fees and gratuity. 

For example you may see this on your catering contract:

An eighteen percent (18%) service charge will be included in the final billing on all food, beverage and labor. The service charge covers the use of our equipment, kitchen essentials, buffet décor, energy costs, liability insurance fees, and all necessary permits and other administrative expenses. Please note that the service charge is taxable based on California State Regulation 1603(f) and is not a gratuity for the personnel.

Cake Cutting Fees
Typically charged when your venue, caterer or other staff who are not affiliated with the bakery who provided the cake.  The fee ranges any where from a flat fee of $25 to anywhere from $1-$4 per guest.  This mainly is due to covering the staff member designated to cut the cake (especially for large cakes or multiple tiers.)
https://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-cake-cutting-fee 

Corkage Fees
Corkage is a per bottle fee that a restaurant charges a customer who brings their own wine to be consumed at that restaurant. This isn't allowed in the majority of restaurants in the country, but it's very common/normal in Northern California. http://www.forkandbottle.com/wine/corkage.htm

Delivery Charges 
This one is pretty standard - Rental items, florals, cakes or other specialty items will likely have a delivery fee if you aren't planning to pick-up.  Delivery fees are charged to cover fuel and for the driver's time.  

Set-up/Break-down Charges
The set-up and break-down fees covers the time and labor of setting up chairs, tables, place settings etc for your wedding.  Often the break-down is the area where couples underestimate the amount of labor to clean-up after a large celebration.  Not only cleaning up the garbage and packing the personal items/decor but ensuring that all rental items are packed/stored/stacked per the rental company agreement.  Wood chairs often need to be bagged then stacked which is an extra step as well.  Just ask your wedding party, they DON'T want to do this after a long day of celebrating with you! 

Additional Hours/Services 
When you book your vendors such as a photographer, you will often book based on the number of hours they will provide coverage.  If you decide to you would like them to stay longer, you will likely be charged for the additional hour at a premium.  When it comes to additional services, this is called "out of scope" meaning the vendor wasn't contracted for the specific service but will provide it for an additional fee.  

Recently, a few articles have been circulating accusing the wedding industry of price gouging just because it is a wedding.  However, I think when it comes to fees it is more common in the service industry than most people realize.  Until you have planned a wedding, you just aren't aware of them and it can be a sense of sticker shock when you start seeing the numbers.  We recommend starting with your venue search and narrowing down your selection by first understanding these fees associated.  Work with your wedding planner to ensure that you have accounted for these in your budget! 

~ Happy Planning! ~

 

Northern California Wedding Planner | Is a "Day-of" Coordinator Right For You?

Okay to be fair, that was sort of a trick question because we actually believe that a "Day-of" Coordinator is a myth in the wedding world.  It isn't likely that someone hired just for the day would be able to navigate your wedding without being involved in your specific details ahead of the time, such as knowing what rentals you have coming, what specific tasks each vendor will be responsible for as well as executing a smooth order of events. 

This is why the term Event Management is used, as it is meant to encompass the short time leading up to your wedding (typically 4-6 weeks beforehand) where the final details are being buttoned up and its the perfect time to hand over those confirmation calls, timeline questions and hammer out the set-up details with a professional wedding planner.  

On The Day of Your Wedding, some typical Event Management tasks include:

  • Greet, direct and oversee vendors
  • Ceremony and reception site set up (chairs, floral decor, candles, favors, place cards etc)
  • Point of contact person for bride, Groom, bridal party
  • Direct rehearsal and ceremony
  • Seamlessly transition guests from one activity to the next.
  • Resolve any and all unforeseen hiccups
  • Distribute payment and gratuities for all vendors
  • Arrange for gifts, personal decor, leftover items to arrive at preselected location

Wondering if you need a little more support? If you were recently engaged or are still early on in your wedding planning, you may start feeling like you need some additional guidance through some of the decision making with your rentals or how many hours of coverage you need from your photographer, videographer, photobooth, etc.  Hiring a coordinator who offers partial planning gives you the additional support you need while still allowing you to be in the drivers seat along the way.

If you also need set-up and breakdown services to ensure that you don't have your family or friends stuck with packing in boxes or cleaning up tables at the end of the night, a partial or full service option may be a better fit for you. 

Schedule a complimentary consultation with a wedding planner to start discussing your specific needs and how you can best enjoy your wedding planning process!

~ Happy Planning!~

Northern California Wedding Planner | For the Guys

When planning the master timeline, there is a lot of emphasis on the bride and her bridal party as we need to ensure we have a smooth hair and make-up timeline, everyone is where they are supposed to be and that no time is wasted between stepping into her gown to walking down the aisle.  What about the guys you ask? This one is for them!

Photos courtesy of Diane Nicole Photography

Photos courtesy of Diane Nicole Photography

As a wedding planner, some of the questions that I ask when building the details for the timeline include:

1) Will you see each other before the ceremony? Meaning where will both parties be and do we need to make sure we have a buffer just in case?

2) Where will the grooms party stay the night before? Often the bridal party or the bride and a close friend or sister will stay together the night before but the groom may stay at home or have friends over.  *We typically get a blank stare at this point because these are details couple's haven't talked over yet! 

3) What will the groom and groomsmen be doing before the ceremony, when will they be getting dressed and where will they take their formal portraits.  Guys have had appointments at the barbers, bowled or even played a round of golf which made for some cool photos beforehand.
Some venues have separate bridal and grooms lounges so it makes it nice for getting ready but if your venue doesn't have this available make sure to consider travel times and your photography timeline so that you can ensure the groom will have time for portraits. 

Photos courtesy of Diane Nicole Photography

Photos courtesy of Diane Nicole Photography

We love seeing the guys incorporate their style and personality into their attire and into the wedding itself.  These shots from Juan and Lindsey's Wedding in Live Oak photographed by Diane Nicole Photography are a perfect example of having fun! 

~ Happy Planning~

Northern California Wedding Planner | Speed Dating With A Wedding Planner

What would you ask if you could sit down with a wedding planner?

We met with hundreds of couples at the Chico Bridal Show.  We wanted to hear from couples what their one question was in their stage of planning.  Read on to see what our top questions were:

We met with hundreds of couples at the Chico Bridal Show.  We wanted to hear from couples what their one question was in their stage of planning.  Read on to see what our top questions were:

We haven't set a date, how do we start planning?

There were lots of couples who just got engaged on Christmas, so congrats! First off if you don't already have a date that is significant to you we recommend giving yourself time to take it in and not jumping into selecting a venue until you have thought about your must haves. Then after you have found a venue that meets that criteria, check their pricing, amenities and availability. Choose an ideal date from their list of open dates.

Our venue has a coordinator included, would we still need a wedding planner? 

A venue coordinator will be an excellent resource for any venue related questions, and overall logistics of their staff such as what time the chairs will be set out what time the first course is served etc.  They won't however attend vendor appointments with you, or assist with contracts of outside companies or work with you to create your overall design concept of your wedding.  No matter where we come in (Full Service, to Day of) we are looking at the big picture.

How do we choose a wedding venue?

Choose a venue that provides your must-haves which are different for everyone.  The more amenities included (tables, chairs) the more your budget will thank you!

What will a wedding planner do for us?

Every couple's needs are different, for those who are busy working or going to school they simply do not have the time do manage vendor communication, research venues, create a timeline, secure contracts, and more.  We can be your wedding wing-women or we can chauffeur you through the planning process. From design concept, attending fittings, vendor selection, managing your save the dates/invitation/rsvp's to full set up and break down it can be done.  Check out our services page for a little more information on how best we could assist you.

You can read more of our F.A.Q's or If you haven't already downloaded our free planning guide, do so now at the link below for even more planning tips!

Northern California Wedding Planner | That Ring Makes You Look...Engaged!

We made it! It's 2017 now that we have packed up the ornaments, put away the New Years Eve party hats it's time for a whole other reason to celebrate...engagement season! Literally our newsfeed is filled with the sparkly goodness, and perfect ring selfies and it will never get old to us.  Every story is unique, maybe the proposal didn't happen in a hot air balloon or even on the top of the mountain captured by a stealthy photographer but that's okay because obviously the romantic and casual proposal melted your heart so much so that you said yes!

Not that we've counted but there are probably several thousand articles out there telling you what you should do the minute you get engaged.  We are willing to bet you've already told those closest to you and likely shared that beautiful announcement to the social media masses so you can check that one off of your list! 

Next, let's just focus on the easy stuff before we get ahead of ourselves.  

  • Think about who you want at your wedding and what location feels right. If you love your hometown or the city you met in back in college add it to the list.  Does your family have a property that you could reasonably host a large event? 
  • What are your must-haves?
  • Now that the wheels are turning what's a ball park budget that you both feel comfortable with? 
  • Talk to a wedding planner, no talk to several wedding planners if you'd like until you have been able to ask all of the reasonable questions that you need to until you feel that you have a good idea of what you want and who can help make that happen for you.  Wedding vendors are people first, and not all people jive so make sure to give yourself an opportunity to have a phone call, a video call or an in person meeting if possible. 

Now, we figured you might need to learn the lingo of your fellow engaged community:

We couldn't help ourselves..

We couldn't help ourselves..

~ Happy Planning!~
 

 

Northern California Wedding Planner | 2016 in Review

Veronica's Year in Review 

2016 can't already be over can it? Well the calendar is telling me that it's a done deal! Let's see, 2016 was a pretty great year I'd say. Our team grew and I met miss Delphine, who has blossomed into an amazing planner and business partner.  {Please excuse our cell phone photos, we're planners not photographers}

the-530-bride-our-team

I feel blessed to have had a busy wedding season with amazing clients even while sporting a fabulous baby bump! Here's our family/maternity photos. Looking back it seems like the pregnancy went by so fast, but I know that it didn't feel that way in the middle of summer!

Photos by LedbyLight Photography

Photos by LedbyLight Photography

Just like that, in mid September, I met the newest addition to my little family Adriana Danielle! It's true what they say about having kids, you truly didn't know that your heart could love that much until you have your own tiny humans.  

Photo by Amanda Hobbs Photography

Photo by Amanda Hobbs Photography

This year has been filled with couples that were so near to our hearts, we could not be any luckier to get to do what we do! We look forward to 2017 and another year of connecting with amazing couples and continuing to grow as wedding planners and business owners.  

We sincerely wish you a Happy New Years! If you haven't followed us on Instagram yet make sure to find us at @530bride.  Here was our top 9 Instagram posts for the year!

Show us your Top 9 on Instagram!

Show us your Top 9 on Instagram!

Cheers & Happy Planning 

- Veronica 

Northern California Wedding Planner | Inspiration Overload

Pinterest, Instagram, so many ideas and only one wedding to plan! 

Clink those champagne glasses and share that ring selfie! We know that being newly engaged is a whirlwind of emotions and inspiration, and it is so easy to get lost in the shuffle of all of the sites and google searches.  Once you start to look for local ideas or perhaps even start looking into booking vendors you are going to get some initial questions ( what is your wedding date, approximate guest count, budget and if you have a wedding theme/color palette.)

With all of these questions coming at you, just how do you choose a wedding theme? Should you choose a wedding venue before or after deciding on a theme? These are important, let's dive in! 
 

Keep in mind that design themes can vary. For example "rustic", or "vintage" can look very different depending on who you ask.  Rustic can be lots of exposed textures like wood and metals which can be perceived as industrial inspired as well.  Visually, its important to find pieces or ideas that you like and to jot down notes about what you specifically like. A month from now you might ask yourself why you pinned something, so try to be specific in the notes section when creating new pins to a board.  

We will always recommend setting a budget and come up with a realistic guest count BEFORE you book your wedding venue.  You don't want to go down the road of being venue rich and wedding poor (just made that up.) Seriously if you hypothetically fall in love with an $8500 venue and your budget was supposed to be 10K; now what?

Once you have set a budget, venue research and design ideas should be next.  Pick one to two venues that represent that theme or atmosphere to you. Compare the two venues side by side and decide on your must-haves!  

Less is more so try to focus first on the basics like seating, food, beverage and music.  Attend a local wedding expo to see firsthand what some of the options are, then book some initial consultations with vendors that you are interested in.  These consultations or even phone calls with vendors will help you get a sense of what is available in your area, and who you vibe with! Budget is important, but so is having a connection with your potential team of vendors.

Once you have your primary vendors booked, don't be afraid to ask them for recommendations or look through some of their albums from previous weddings and events to see if any ideas stand out to you.  You don't have to reinvent the wheel, just add your personal touch through the details.  

 Seating charts, escort card tables, or personalized wedding favors can really tell a story.  While creating a seating chart seems like a hassle, it can really make the transition from cocktail hour to reception smooth because guests don't have to scramble to find a table that seats their whole party and it can often ensure that your immediate family have a seat within a good view from your table.  

Share your Pinterest board with your wedding planner or vendor team to give them an idea of what inspires you, they may have some recommendations or ideas on how to incorporate those details into your overall design.  

Follow us on Pinterest to check out some of our inspiration boards! 

~ Happy Planning ~ 

Northern California Wedding Planner | Butte Creek Country Club ~ Ashley & Jon

Connecting with our couples is what we treasure most, and Ashley was a bride who we just clicked with right from the start.  While they had already selected Butte Creek Country Club for their wedding venue, Ashley and Jon were very busy with blooming careers so it was important to them to have support with planning their wedding. Ashley was an organized bride who stayed on top of her to-do list and was great at making decisions so her vendor selections were a no-brainer.  Cambray Rose did an amazing job bringing Ashley's vision to life for her bridal bouquet, the greenery with a hint of gold was swoon-worthy.

We loved all of the details that Ashley and Jon incorporated into their wedding day.  The ceremony and reception were held at Butte Creek Country Club, photographed by Anna Perevertaylo Photography.  From the gorgeous wedding gown to the soft and elegant floral designs, we had to share some of these gorgeous highlight images! 

Ceremony Site: Butte Creek Country Club

Photographer: Anna Perevertaylo Photography 

Catering: New Hock Catering 

Wedding Planner: The 530 Bride 

Cake/Desserts: Upper Crust Bakery

Flowers: Cambray Rose 

Hair: Wildflower Salon

Make-up: Sana Khan

DJ/Lighting: The Wedding DJ 

Décor Rentals: WeDo Designs 

Honeymoon Location: Mexico