More on Wedding Sponsorship!

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201209/jess-mccuan/how-i-did-it-inc-500-dave-and-carrie-kerpen-of-likeable-media.html

Check out the link I came across this morning regarding yet ANOTHER couple that was able to get their wedding sponsored!  Wow!  I've attached the article below as well!  Such an interesting concept but it CAN be done!

Company: Likeable Media

2012 Rank: No. 146

3 year growth: 2,225%

2011 Revenue: $4.7 million

Cake by Entenmann's. Booze from Smirnoff. Roses by 1-800-Flowers. The setting: home plate of Coney Island's MCU Park. The guests? More than 7,000 Brooklyn Cyclones fans. Clearly, this was no ordinary wedding. As told to Jess McCuan.

Carrie Kerpen: You should have seen his face when I suggested we get married on a ball field—and pay for it by getting sponsors. He knew it was brilliant.

Dave Kerpen: We used to argue about whose idea it was. I wish I could claim it, but it was all her.
CK: I knew that Dave would want something larger than life. And I had been married before, in a pretty substantial wedding, where the marriage lasted all of five minutes. I knew we weren't going to be able to go to my parents and say, "Can I have another big wedding?" So I said to Dave: "I know exactly how we're getting married. We're going to the Brooklyn Cyclones' stadium. We'll get married on the ball field. All of your friends can come. Boom—done."

DK: There were more than 7,000 people watching, but when Carrie and I exchanged vows over home plate, it was very quiet. It really did feel like just the two of us.

CK: I had mud on my dress, but I didn't care. It was a really beautiful ceremony.

DK: It was the birth of both of us as entrepreneurs. After the wedding, we got calls from some of our sponsors saying, "That was great. What are you doing next?" 1-800-Flowers said it was the No. 1 promotion they had ever done.

CK: At the time, Dave was a teacher, and I was a radio sales manager. But I felt we were ready to try something. I said to myself: "You know, we've got to start a company."

DK: We started working on marketing and events for Entenmann's and 1-800-Flowers and Verizon. To throw parties for Verizon, we turned to Facebook, and we found it was pretty good for creating buzz. Then, we realized it was not just building buzz—Facebook and other forms of social media were transforming organizations. The Like button may be trendy, but being likable isn't trendy. More and more, companies need content that's likable. They need to resonate with their customers. We help companies create messages—in the form of facts, trivia, and videos—that people can find on their Twitter feeds and Facebook pages.

CK: Dave is very much the face of the business. He wrote a book about how companies can build their brands, be more "likable," and use social media. He's a commentator on social media in the business world and makes appearances on places like CNN and Fox News, and at trade events. I handle the logistics and operations side. And I'm very active with our clients.

DK: Carrie does all the hard work.

CK: We still tell our wedding story when we talk to new clients. It plays superwell. I think there will always be sneers, especially from people who weren't there. But it was a really magical night of two people who loved each other getting married on a ball field.

DK: We have two daughters, and now we have them to think about—their sponsored bat mitzvahs.

CK: That was a joke. We're not sponsoring bat mitzvahs

A "budget friendly" Wedding Invitation

 

Wedding invitations are a necessary part of any wedding plan.  Obviously you must announce your wedding to your guests and give them the low-down on who's getting married, when, where, how to get there and almost most importantly...how to RSVP.  This is all information that should be included in  your wedding invitation.  

In addition, your wedding invitation is your ability to show your guests a reflection of what type of wedding they will be attending.  Will it be a formal event, country chic, casual back yard barbeque?  If you are having a casual event, your invitation should also reflect that and likewise if you are having a formal event.  Invitations set the tone for your wedding!  Out of the several hundreds of thousands of designs to choose from, it can certainly be exhausting to select a wedding invitation - but keep your personal unique style and your wedding theme/style in mind and this should help narrow it down. 

Because we're here talking about ways to cut costs for budget weddings, I will tell you some ways I've discovered to save money on the oh-so-important paper portion of your wedding planning.  First, let's talk wedding invitation basics and what's included.  You can decide to include or leave out some portions of the wedding invite, but there are some critical components that you should include.  All of these things can really start to add up, I know - I've been there.  Have no fear, we will soon discuss ways to cut the costs with more easy DIY projects and ideas to help save you money!

Wedding Invitation Basics:

• Invite: tells you who is marrying who, when and where
• RSVP Cards and pre-stamped envelope: gives you guest the ability to accept or decline the invitation and tell you how many are in their party (this is essential for planning!!) *Note: You can also include dinner selection (beef, chicken or vegetarian on these cards if need be.

okay...so those are two things that are ESSENTIAL in a wedding invite.  Some extras you may choose to include (which I recommend, however I'll tell you additional ways to cut costs here...):

• Ceremony/Reception Cards: if you are having a wedding ceremony and reception in different locations, include this information as well as driving directions to ceremony (from different starting points) as well as from ceremony to reception
• Within-the-Ribbon Cards: these are sent in the invite to family members and individuals who will be seated at the front of the ceremony and presented to ushers to be seated appropriately.
• Maps: this is a good idea for out of town guests, included with directions or can be combined with the ceremony/reception cards.
• Inclement Weather Plan: if planning an outdoor wedding - make sure to include a back up plan in case of bad weather, if the area is prone to chances of rain/snow.

Now, keep in mind that some of these things you may not need to include in your wedding invitation, and even so, you don't necessarily need to print them all on expensive paper.  You can choose to DIY in some cases and get other portions of your invites professionally done.

Personally, I'm obsessed with making everything just PERFECT - like most brides I'm sure - but on a budget sometimes that can be a little daunting.  When it comes to invitations, if you are doing any research at all - you will realize that invitations can range from $1.00 - $6.00 apiece, just for the INVITATION, not to mention any of the add-on!

Have no fear, I've discovered and excellent way to save money here.  I was walking through Michael's yesterday and I came across an entire wedding section for invitations specifically.  They had bundles of packages that you could purchase at a pretty reasonable cost that included everything (Invitations, envelopes, RSVP cards, Thank You notes, and some extras as well!).  You can take these, within the color theme that you want, and download a software (also included) and print them yourself at home!  Therefore for as little as probably $2.00 an invite, you can get all the goodies and look professionally done to boot!  Of course this takes time and effort - but if it saves you hundreds of dollars I say DO IT!  I mean, I love DIY projects and how fun is it to say that you've personally put in the blood sweat and tears (it's a saying!) into your wedding to make it truly something that is unique and YOURS!

Now, if you want to buy basic wedding invitations from Michael's, you can do that as well.  In regards to the other goodies - you can save altogether if you'd like by taking advantage of the technological world that we live in.  I bet there are FEW people on your guest list that don't have emails and/or wouldn't like to receive a nice letter in the mail with all of the information.  Printing up a letter with the information instead of sending it in a pre-packaged invitation is a good, more affordable alternative to stuffing the wedding invite envelope.  Or, you can take advantage of the fact that people have emails.  You can include a note in your initial wedding invite with direction to check emails within a month of the wedding with the specific details of the event.  That way, you aren't even paying for postage (and at 40+ cents a stamp...postage can get pricey).  Imagine that!  I don't think anyone in your family will mind an email instead of pretty colored paper that will be on their fridge and then in the trash (possibly) after the day is done.

Again, the thing to remember is that once all is said and done...no one will remember your invitation down the road, and therefore it's an easy way to cut your unnecessary spending - so you can put more towards an excellent photographer who will truly capture the moments that people WILL remember.

Also, it's always a good idea to sign up for newsletters and emails with deals from places like The American Wedding as these online companies are constantly having sales where you can purchase your invitations and custom design them online or order samples to choose from.

I hope this helps - feel free to share your invitation experiences or ideas here for other brides to benefit from!

Take a look here, to help you get started! Also - check out more DIY projects here!

DIY Project for the masses!

Any budget bride will know that DIY (do-it-yourself) projects save a ton of money...most of the time.  While there are several tasks that you should let the professionals handle (i.e. Cake, Wedding Dress etc...) I'm going to discuss an idea that will actually make sense, save money and be a fun project for you and your family, friends/bridesmaids etc.

When I met with the in-house wedding coordinator for my venue, she gave me some excellent advice.  So good in fact, I will share with you time and time again.  She said...one thing to remember the most is to spend good money on a professional photographer and that's about it.  Her reasoning...at the end of the day, the music has stopped, the guests have left (some even without their favors), the food is eaten and the flowers are wilted.  All you will have remaining is the memories as captured through your photography (and videography, obviously). 

Flowers, to me, seem like a wedding staple.  I mean, centerpieces...decorations...and BOUQUETS!  It's apparent that most, if not all weddings will have some elements of flowers.  Do me a favor.  Ask any bride you know about how much they spent on flowers and if they think, in reflection and memory, if the flowers they purchased were worth it. The answer is, unless you have a botonist bride, will be NO.  Personally, I have opted to try and use the beauty of my venue, bring in candles (that can be used again or sold to another bride later), and keep my flowers to a minimum because although I love flowers and think it would make for an amazing setting - I ultimately decided that I can do without them (for the most part).

One thing that every bride couldn't and shouldn't live without is a beautiful bridal bouquet.  Also, how fun is it for your bridesmaids to be carrying them down the aisle as well to match!  Many brides and bridesmaids alike will end up preserving the flowers in a memory book or something of the like, so it's not something you should do without. 

Bridal bouquets can cost upward of $100 dollars, well into $250.  To me, that just seems outrageous.  First and foremost, you may be selecting flowers that are typically more expensive, or have to be specialy grown (think, seasonality) and in addition to the actual flowers and mark up, you will be paying your florist for the creative design as well as the labor that goes into creating the arrangement.

Here is an idea for you and your girls to do a night or two before the wedding and save a ton of money doing so!  A DIY Bridal Bouquet. 

What you will need:

1. A variet of flowers (unless you are doing something like all red roses which is also very pretty and easy to boot!)

2. Scissors or pruning sheers (scissors work JUST fine - just make sure it's a good pair)

3. Floral Wire (can be purchased at a local craft store or probably from a flower shop too)

4. Floral Tape (again...see above)

5. Ribbon, twine, lace or anything you'd like to wrap your bouquet in to make it personal to you, your style, your colors, theme etc

6.  Glue Gun or Pins to secure the decorative piece around the stems.

7. Charms, gems, glitter (totally optional!)

8. A water bottle (to spray the bouquet when done)

9. Jar or somewhere to store the bouquet in water, and/or preferably a refridgerator to keep them chilled before the wedding

Now are you ready - let's get started.

Step one:  Preparation

Now that you have your materials ready and together in front of you.  Cut the stems of your flowers at a 45 degree angle at the bottom (ideally under water) so they are nice and ready to begin.  Also, remove thorns and foliage off of the stem (you'll need a nice clean stem to wrap in later steps).

Step two: Create a base

Start with two or three of your favorite (and preferably some of the larger flowers you're working with) as your base.  Wrap those two or three flowers together with some floral tape to keep them together as you begin to add on.  This will help you hold the bouquet as you work to add flowers around the base.

Step three: Continue to build

Keep selecting flowers to wrap around the base flowers you've created.  While holding the bouquet in your left (or right) hand, use your other hand to add the flowers as you go, rotating the bouquet around and keeping an eye on the blooms (not the stems).  Keep in mind that you want to keep crossing the stems so that eventually they are all crossed (again this will help hold them together).

Step four: Build to preferable size

Depending on the bouquet size you want, you'll continue to add blooms until you've reached the desired size.  Also, when adding the blooms and turning your bouquet as you go, continue to add flowers lower each time to make a rounded effect.  Wrap with floral tape as you go to secure flowers in arrangment.

Step five:  Decorate

When your bouquet has reached the desired size and you are ready to finish it off, wrap the stems firmly with floral tape to really secure it as a whole.  Then, use pins (at top and bottom) or hot glue to secure a ribbon that you wrap around the base.  At this time you can add charms or any additional pieces you would like to really personalize your bouquet.

Step six: Finishing touches

When done, cut the stems at the bottom so they are all the same size and even on the bottom.  Spray the bouquet with a light mist of water and put in a jar (tips in water) and store some place cool (your fridge).  Make sure to keep the bouquet away from the fridge racks or sides otherwise you may cause your flowers to brown or wilt.

Now that you have the perfect bouquet, saved probably $100, have a great memory of doing this...go have some fun, or relax and get married!!

Here is an awesome book by my favorite, The Knot that can help give you some idea of planning your wedding flower bouquet!

And some others, if you didn't like that one!

As you try this, please feel free to post your experiences, or any other fun ideas you may have for other brides.  Finished pictures are encouraged!!



Wedding Day Beauty

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Bridal Bazaar about vendors providing discounts or FREE stuff on your wedding day - I did not mention that there are different raffles and things you get entered just by attending. 

To my pleasant surprise, after attending a more boutique bazaar a few weeks prior - I received an email kindly letting me know that I have won a beauty pampering session via Mary Kay for myself and up to 5 additional guests.  This was awesome!  My consultant called me up and asked me a few questions, provided me directions and set up an appointment time that was convenient for me and my guests. Fantastic!

Upon arrival, we went into this really cute studio/boutique that had a kitchen, and several rooms that were set up for presentations . To me, this didn't seem too much like a pampering session at all, it seemed like a sales gimmick.  Nonetheless, the girls were SUPER nice and started chatting with my friends as soon as we arrived, and were pleasant despite us being 30 minutes early.  Once we sat down, the "presentation" started.  She went around the room and put samples in our trays and mirror cases (that were set up prior) that we would be trying throughout the day.  She walked us through an entire beauty regimine and provided us information on skin care, products, what to do and what not to do and encouraged us to take care of ourselves - also providing information on other competitive brands.  She was really in there to help us!

Now, this was Mary Kay.  I know that whenever I think of Mary Kay, I think an old woman with big hair, blue eye shadow and a pink car - driving around delivering the like to women on my block.  That's not really the case at all!  The girls that do this are super nice, very knowledgeable and they actually represent a REALLY good product! In fact, this is a great way for any woman, any age to make a good living.  Apparently the commissions are really good - and it's only $100 to get started (for a starter kit valued at $650!!).  Now that's a deal!

So...obviously, walking into this presentation knowing that they will try and sell the products at the end, I had made up my mind - I'm broke, planning a budget wedding and have no need to replace all my current products with this Mary Kay stuff.  I'll tell you though...after hearing what she had to say about skin care, what makes the products the #1 ranked skin care line in the nation, and how that relates to my skin issues - I was sold.  Not only do these products make your skin feel soft and give you the nutrients you need on a daily basis for good skin care, but what really sold me was the foundation.  It's nice and light, matched my skin perfectly, covered well and still allowed my skin to breathe.  Needless to say - I broke down and bought some stuff.  It's very affordable too!  Reason being, they don't sell it in the stores so they have little to no overhead costs that create a mark up three times over the actual whole sale price of the product.  All in all, it's a good purchase, and you might be hooked for life. 

How this corresponds to a wedding day beauty regime...well let me tell you.  First and foremost, having skin issues that make me self conscious and after using these products for less than a week, I can already see and feel a difference.  (My fiance also says that I'm glowing as well).  Having a good beauty regime prior to your big day will help set the road for good skin on the day of - but also, and I'm still waiting for the 2nd pampering day offered by Mary Kay where I get to test make up, but it's a good way to go if you're looking for good product that will last on your special day for a much discounted rate. 

I'm sure you have all heard of airbrushed make up right?  Well, if not - one of my upcoming posts will be regarding the art of selecting the make up for your special day and if it's worth it to splurge on that supposedly fantastic airbrush makeup that claims flawlessness.

Anyway...Mary Kay is budget friendly premier skin care that can make a huge difference on your wedding day beauty regime, and photographs of your special day.  I suggest taking a look into it. All Mary Kay reps will sample their stuff for free, and guess what's even better?  If you hate it, you can return it - no questions asked!  It's a win-win for everyone involved. 

Now, the rep did mention that beyond a good healthy skin care regimen, you can put whatever make up that you would like.  Check it out!



Bazaar! The bridal show and much more!

 

Planning a wedding can be quite overwhelming at times.  When listing off the different services you need to coordinate....venue, flowers, catering, gowns, bridal party, rehearsal dinner, music (live or DJ), transportation....yikes!  It might, well...WILL make your head spin!  When selecting all of your vendors, it's important to keep some things in mind.

1. Your vision.
2. Your budget.
3. Making sure this vendor can create YOUR vision working within YOUR budget.

This could pose a serious challenge for more brides-to-be, simply because the vast amount of vendors to choose from.  You have a couple of options here.  You can google "local wedding flower vendors" and find a list of all of your local vendors for the specifics that you need and start to call, set up consultations and take up the next 52 Saturdays until your wedding (repeat steps for each vendor) and feel overwhelmed (because for them to be able to really help you with your wedding, they need to know more about your plans, venue, vision, colors, time frame, season and of course...budget.  No vendor will ever really disclose the cost of their services over the phone because it's all customizable and takes time to find the best deal.  That is option A.

A second option for selecting vendors is to attend a Bridal Bazaar or Bridal Show such as the San Diego Bridal Bazaar where you can go to one easy location - spend a couple of hours and get contact and general information on what's available to you by selected vendors.  Not only is this a place for the vendor to display their capabilities (saving you time from having to make a special trip to their office just to determine that you don't like their service offerings) but really for you to gain a better understanding of what's out there.  As an added bonus, just for attending these types of shows, vendors will typically discount a rate or provide a free service to you for finding them there!  It's a win-win!

My hubby-to-be and I just attended the Bridal Bazaar here in San Diego at the convention center this past weekend.  It was awesome!  There were over 300 different vendors there - pitching their services and even giving us some ideas and insight on what we CAN do.  They conveniently offer you a bag to start collecting vendor information (otherwise it can get pretty hard to carry all of the business cards etc you will pick up along the way).  You get to taste cakes, test DJ's on wedding music information, view beautiful flowers, take pictures in photo booths and even watch a fashion show!  Now, what bride-to-be wouldn't enjoy that?

Here are some of the vendors I met along the way and their contact information.  Keep in mind, I will be checking further into these vendors for ideas and pricing and get back to you all about which of these vendors are the most "budget friendly".

Cakes:
Euro Pastry

Flowers:
Botanic Allure
Art Quest

Photography and Videography:
Eisenhower Photography
NR3 Video Productions

DJ's and Music:
Just Made Custom
Positive Energy Productions
Sleeping Giant Music
Elite British DJ

Officiant/Minister:
Ken Day

Wedding Coordinators:
Julie Scrivener

Catering:
Personal Touch


Honeymoon:
Travel Specialist Susan Ashley
Sandals Resorts

Transportation:
Historic Tours
Rolls Livery
Pink Cadillacs

Invitations:
JMB Stationary

Phew!  Can you imagine the day I had talking to all these vendors and MORE?  To get an exhaustive list please visit this link.

And remember...anything you can do to save TIME and MONEY when it comes to your wedding day...I say...

I DO!  (and you should too!)


Feel free to post a comment or share this blog with anyone else you know.  There's more great wedding ideas and budget friendly planning tips to come!  We're just getting started!  Have a great day!