Anyone who knows me knows my love for animals, especially for my two boxers, Homer & Sophie.  So when I have a client that would like to incorporate their dog into their wedding, I get so excited! But a commonly asked question is how?!?

Well there is the idea to have them walk you down the aisle or being the “flower dog”. You can find the most amazing garments to adorn your furry pet in. From elegant silk bridal gowns, to sassy flower pups dresses, to adorable tuxes all made especially for your four legged family member.   But there are a couple things to think about when you want to have them be added into your wedding party.  First of all make sure the venue will allow this.  I know it sounds crazy that someone out there would be opposed to you bringing your baby to the wedding, but not everyone loves them as much as we do.  Also please make sure they are well trained pups if you are going to have them be part of the ceremony.  There is nothing worse than muddy puppy paws on you beautiful gown.

Another idea is to make them part of your wedding stationary.  Nothing cuter then having your dog’s “mug” looking up at you on a “Save the Date” card asking your guest to be part of your day.  Or having them pose with different numbers so you are able to incorporate them in the table numbers. Or my personal favorite is a cute “doggie” treat cookie in honor of the couple’s pet.

No matter what you choose to do, they will feel the love you have for them.  What other ideas do you have?  Please share with us; we would love to hear about them!

I have to admit that when I first meet with a client my eyes are always drawn to their engagement ring and my brides are excited to show it off!  I can still remember the feeling I had when I first felt my now husband slide the ring onto my finger the night he asked me to marry him. But once all the excitement of the ring wears off and we stop being “so careful” with it and the shine start to diminish my brides/now wives ask how do we keep our ring as bright and sparkly as the day we received it.  So below are just some helpful hints on taking care of your engagement and wedding rings.

Most important thing to do is to have your rings checked at your local jewelers often such as every six months.  They will inspect the pongs to make sure that their tight to hold your stone in place.  They also should check for any loose stones in your band set. At this time they will professionally clean your ring, and boy does it sparkle after that!!  Also please note that if you do need to have repairs done on your set and if your stone is serialized such as mine is, don’t be afraid to ask to see the number to confirm that it is indeed your stone.  And if the pong is blocking some of the number, ask them to reset the stone so you are able to completely see your entire number.

Insure your ring.  This will protect you if for some reason you lose your stone.  This can be done right at your jewelers or on your home insurance policy.  FYI, you will need to have an appraisal done to insure your ring.

Clean it often with a mild soap.  My jeweler says to try to stay away from jewelry cleaners because the chemicals can break down the rhodium plating if you have a white gold setting.  The rhodium plating provides that bright shininess to the actual white gold which assistance in making the stone sparkle a bit more. But please be aware that you will have to re-plate your ring in rhodium every couple of years.  Most jewelers will do this for free if you have a protection plan set up on your set.

Be protective of your ring.  When working in the garden or playing sports, it’s worth taking your rings off and placing them in a safe place.  Unfortunately dirt will get into the nooks and crannies of your rings when doing those active and it’s hard to get them cleaned unless you take it into your jewelers.

As an event planner I love being able to work with a wide variety of vendors in all aspects of weddings.  I also have been blessed to have met some amazing people in this crazy business of wedding planning!  But the one thing I have learned is that the most important thing as a wedding professional is that we all need to work together.  So this post is going out to those in the industry verses our wonderful bridal couples.

Working together has so many different meaning.  Sometimes it means you collaborate on wedding show together; other times it working on a bridal shoot to promote a shops spring line; or as simple as recommending a vendor to a current client that you think is a perfect match for them.  No matter what it is, working together is key in helping all of our businesses growing.

I have been very blessed in the last two years when I had decided to take the leap and make Elements of Elegance my full time career and leave the corporate world behind.  I also know the main reason for the success that we were able to achieve came about because I was able to build great relationships with our clients and other wedding professional.  And I can honestly say that most of my business for 2010 came from word of mouth verses a ton of advertising.  This is something that I’m very proud of!

With that being said, I challenge all of us to do more to help promote those who have helped you grow.  Also to help out those “newbies” just starting out and mentor them into a business that we all can be proud of.  At the end of the day, it’s our reputations that really help us become the best of the best and I’m proud to say that West Michigan does have the best of the best in the wedding industry!  Happy Networking!

Photo Courtesy of Lizzie Photos

As we prepare for our first wedding of the 2010 for Dana and Sean next weekend, our office is busy with last minute details and lots of phone calls. And as I sit in my office and thinking about t brides that have chosen not to hire a DOC for their event, lots of things come to mind. So today I decided to post items for brides to add to that to do list to help make their day go smooth.
From the beginning designate a go to person for your wedding day that family, friends, and vendors can come to if there are issues. As a bridal couple you should not be dealing with mishaps.
Go over those contracts to make sure you completely understand what you are getting. You don’t want any surprises on your big day.
Make up a timeline of events FOR THE WEEKEND and send it out to your family/wedding party members and ALL your vendors. It’s best to over communicate verses under communicate.
Two weeks before the wedding start making the phone calls to your vendors to confirm number of guests and make sure they have no questions about your event. This is also an excellent time to communicate any special requests that you have to your vendors such as certain pictures you want captured.
If possible make final payments to all your vendors before the wedding to help ease some of the stress of the day. And also designate someone to distribute any vendor tip envelopes you might have.
Make up a wedding day emergency kit. Aletha from Pearls Events did an excellent blog posting on this today complete with a list of items to consider adding to your kit.
Communicate to your officiate about who is walking with you and how you see your processional happening. As you know there are many ways to get yourself and your wedding party down the aisle. Check with the church to see if they have a ceremony coordinator that can help with this task. If not, ask that favorite aunt if she can be of assistance. It’s important that you as the bride are not taking on this so you are able to relax and enjoy your walk down the aisle.

There are lots of items that need to be considered but these few I see as the most important. And having the opportunity to be a guest to a wedding once in a while, these are the stress items that my friends and family communicate after their big day. Weddings are one of the most important days of your life, so please be organized and enjoy that day!