First Impression of your wedding through Holiday Photo Cards

Setting your guests up for what they may expect at your wedding isn't just for Save the dates and invitations anymore. You can now create that first impression with your photo holiday cards. Even though you have not "officially" become a couple in terms of marriage you are still perceived as "together". So why not send out your holiday cards as a couple. Or perhaps you just recently got married this year. Send out your first official holiday greeting card with a beautiful picture from your wedding!

First impression means everything. From the moment your guests open the envelope you want them to think "This is going to be a great wedding"! Lets face it, our society judges appearances first and they know if they like something within the first six seconds. Everything you do in the year that leads up to or after your wedding will be a reflection of your wedding day. Let your guests open their holiday card and be amazed by how everything matches and fits your overall look!

I have found some great holiday photo card designs on Shutterfly. They offer a variety of styles that would fit any wedding theme. Just look for the cards that mimic the design of your wedding. I have picked a few of my favorite cards to show some examples of different cards you can use to fit your wedding look!

The Damask Wedding:




Try this Holiday Card from Shutterfly....

Winter Wonderland Wedding:

Try This Holiday Card from Shutterfly.

My Holiday Card this year will be showing off my new addition, my daughter. This may be the card, its simple and clean and the main focus is the picture of my family...

Bright Blue Snowflake Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Here are a few links to pick your Holiday Cards

Christmas photo cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
Holiday cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

You can also use Shutterfly to make your Thank you cards!

Thank you cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards

Which card are you going to pick?

2010 Seasons Greatings!

Elegant Snowflake Holiday Card

Get custom holiday cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

Giveaway Winners!

The Big Wedding Giveaway has ended and winners have been picked!

The two lucky winners are:

Sarah, May 29th 2011
Shannon, October 8th, 2011

Congratulations ladies! Emails have been sent out to the winners. Please contact us if you do not receive them!

Kyleigh and Matthew's Wedding!

Yesterday, July 9th 2010 was Kyleigh and Matthew's Wedding Day! The ceremony was on 2nd avenue beach in Belmar and the reception was up the street at The Waterview Pavilion. There was a great breeze on the beach to keep us cool from the sun and the bride and her party looked stunning! Erin from Erin H Photography captured the day with awesome pictures, while Joe from NJ's Best Dj's had everyone on the dance floor! Head over to Erin's blog to catch a sneak peak of the pictures that she posted.

Erin H Photography Blog

Kyleigh had her sand dollar place cards made by Shore Chic and she even had one made for us here at KC Event Planning, yay!

Couture Lollipops

I have been seeing these lollipops show up everywhere these days. They are super cute! You can use them on your candy buffet bar or for some fun pictures with your bridesmaids. If your feeling generous you can also give as your favor. But with a price tag of $22 you might want to stick to just your girls! You can find them at Sugar Factory, best part about them is you can save the glammed out stick and just replace the pop each time.

Big Giveaway!

We are hosting a big giveaway!

Are you getting married in 2010 or 2011? We have a giveaway for you!

The Big Giveaway is a Free Reception Design Package. There will be TWO lucky winners.


Reception Design

This is for the couple that can handle most of the planning but needs help with the design of their wedding reception. We will work with you to come up with the perfect design or theme for your wedding. We contact all the vendors needed to carry out the look and set everything up the day of your wedding. This package does not include day of coordination.

• Development of event design and reception theme. We partner with vendors to create a overall look for your wedding this includes floral design and décor, invitation design and other stationery, table design and linens, lighting and favors
  
• We work within your budget to design the perfect table scape
  
• We contact all vendors needed to carry out the design.
  
• We will set up the décor the day of your wedding as well as receive all deliveries from vendors
  
• We will take down and collect all décor for you at the end of the reception and return all rentals.
  
• We can arrange for a mock up of the table scape prior to your wedding for your approval.
  
  
  
  
  
  For fairness we will be selecting the two lucky winners through random.org
  
  There are 3 ways to sign up for the giveaway.
  
  1) Email us with you name, date of wedding and contact info
  
  info@kceventplanning.net
  
  2) Comment on this post with your info
  
  3) Message or Comment on our facebook page with your info.
  
  KC Event Planning Facebook page
  
  
  
  once we receive your info you will get a confirmation email letting you know you are entered. You can enter multiple times by referring fellow brides to the contest. Each referral grants you an additional entry. Just make sure you let us know who you referred!
  
  
  
  Giveaway ends July 18th at 11:59 pm and winner will be announced Monday July 19th!
  
  
  
  We are also doing a giveaway on our facebook page for 50% off invitations! All you have to do if become a fan of our page to be entered in the invitation drawing!
  

Eight Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner

I receive a weekly newsletter from Elegala.com and today was an interesting article that was contributed by Luxurious Wedding Etiquette and Protocol Expert, Claudia Lutman. The article is called Eight Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner. I thought the article would be enlightening to those who don't realize what a wedding planner does for you! I would like to share it with you for those of you who do not receive the newsletter from Elegala.com .

Eight Reasons to Hire a Wedding Planner

Happy Reading!

Eagle Ridge Golf Club Brochure

The new brochure for The Eagle Ridge Golf Club is finally out and we are pleased to be one of their preferred vendors!

Check it out!

The Eagle Ridge Golf Club Brochure

Love the pictures of our couple Jillian and Anthony from October 3rd, 2009!

Bridal Show at Eagle Ridge Golf Club

Yesterday we attended the weddingsetgo bridal show hosted by Eagle Ridge Gold Club. It was a great event and met some awesome brides!

Here is a few pictures of our mock up table that we designed. The theme was "Vintage Glam". Ken from Accents By Narcissus created a beautiful centerpiece for the table with added feather touches by us. Megan from Holland Designs created fabulous menu cards, place cards and a table number. They were gorgeous especially with the rhinestone accents she added!

Tipping

Almost all of our brides seem to ask the same question when it comes to their wedding day..."who should I tip and how much?" This may seem like a silly question but most people are unaware on the standards of tipping in the wedding industry. Although tipping anyone is a special thank you for a job well done, not all vendors expect one.

Here is a list of the particular people that you should tip on the day of your wedding. Just remember that you are not obligated to tip anyone, but these are the people to tip if you feel generous and extra thankful for their services!

Hairstylist/Makeup artist:
Just like in the salon, these vendors are expecting a tip. Common standards are between 15-20% and should be done after services rendered.

Wedding Officiant:
Most of the time if you are being married in your church or temple, a donation is expected. If this is the case you do not have to fork over any more money than what has already been expected of you when you booked your date. However, if you marry outside of your church or temple where your officiant is asked to travel to your wedding destination, a tip would be expected. Proper tip would be between $50-$100. If you are hiring an officiant that is not affiliated with any institution you do not have to tip as they may have already accounted for one in their fee.

Transportation:
Drivers are expecting a tip, but be aware that it may be included already in your contract. 15%-20% of the bill should be divided up to each driver. (if you are having more than one limo or bus)

Ceremony Musicians:
A tip between $15-$20 per musician is the standard rate. Please note that some musicians may have already included this gratuity in their contract.

Reception staff/ Maitre d':
Most venues will include this gratuity in your contract, but if they do not you should expect to tip 15-20% of your bill. This usually breaks down to about $25 a server/bartender and $75-$150 to the Maitre d'

Band or DJ:
Again, Gratuity may already be included in your contract. These vendors do not expect a tip but if your entertainment kept you and your guests out on the dance floor all night singing and dancing your hearts out then you should consider tipping them. $20-$25 per musician in the band or $50-$150 per DJ

Photographer/Videographer:
You are not expected to tip these vendors, however if you hired a large company and the person working your wedding is not the owner you may tip them if you appreciated their services. Standard is $50-$200 per person.

Florist:
Most florist do not expect a tip but if you are having an extensive setup you may want to tip the delivery/setup person. $5-$20 a person.

Setup Crew:
If you are having a company setup any materials for your wedding (i.e tents, tables and chairs) you should tip these crews between $5-$20 per person.
*Same goes for your lighting and sound companies.

Last But not least your Wedding Planner:
We do not expect a tip from you, however if you would like to show your gratitude we always appreciate your recommendations to other couples!

*These amounts are what we tell our couples. These are here only as guidelines and what we have fpund vendors are looking for*

New Stylish Invitations

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The Brides Have Spoken!

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that KC Event Planning has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Planning!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

KC Event Planning LLC is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that KC Event Planning LLC is among the very best wedding planners within the WeddingWire Network, which includes Wedding Wire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today HERE.

Shoes Shoes Shoes!

I love shoes! What girl doesn't?

Recently, I was browsing through some bridal shoes and thought I would share some of my favorite finds. Hope you like them too!




Platform sandal with encrusted Swarovski-crystal heel by Stuart Weitzman, $575



















Silk satin sandal with lace-up ribbon and silk flower with feather accent by Mika Inatome Bridal, $395














Glittered Platform Pump by Christian Louboutin, $775














Crystal-Buckle Slide in snakeskin by Manolo Blahnik, $895















"Gracious" by Kate Spade, all satin platform sandal with side bow, $325
















"Destiny" by Paris Hilton peep toe pump with large satin bow, $120
















hmmm........wishing I could own them all!