Just Ask

This week has been filled with trying to get some details sorted out. Rentals. Even though I was hoping not to deal with this and booked my reception at a hotel for that reason, I do not want to deal with rentals. The hotel does have bistro tables and linens but they charge way too much. Having relationships with companies and signing up on mailing lists have helped me though this process. 

So this brings me to "Just Ask". There is  never any harm in just asking for something. In this rough economy, people would rather make some money than no money. My experience has always been to ask. I had a $50 off of rentals coupon with a $150 minimum. Well I only needed 7 bistros and 2 small tables. Not quite $150, but I needed them delivered. So I asked if they would include the delivery fee in the minimum and they did. That way it freed me up to get my 20% discount on linens from a company I use. I also had to ask for that, but I have been a long time client. 

Another "Just Ask" moment was when we needed "Engagement" photos. We really needed pictures for the save the date cards which have a film noir theme. I asked my friend who is a videographer and has a ton of cool photos to do the shoot. We use our camera and did it at his house. I loved the photos so much I have used them on our wedding website and in our guest sign in book. I may even use them someplace else.  All that cost was taking him to dinner.

Sometimes you just have to ask about things that don't seem like they were ever included in the first talk to a vendor. Our reception location snuck in a $500 room rental charge. No one told me about that at the initial meeting. So when we signing the contract, I told them that. I was polite and told them that I was never informed about a rental fee. We thought since we hit you minimum with catering, a room rentals fee is not necissary. It was waived. 

Some more "just ask" moments happened with my baker, florist, alterations person, wedding planner and photographer.

Baker- Told her the budget and we came up with a great way for everyone to have dessert and have a really nice cake.

Florist- A very good friend. I told her I want to use her, all I need to do is pay for the flowers.

Alterations person- I worked on her wedding and she offered any help she could, I am taking her up on that.

Wedding Planner- My teacher. I asked if she was available and she offered her help for free.

Photographer- I gave her my budget and we were able to come up with a plan even under our budget.

So the moral of the story is, whether you have an "in" into the industry or not, just ask. You may be able to barter your skills for theirs. People may surprise you especially when you are polite and have done your homework.

Things coming together.

Wow! It has really been a while since I have written something and there is a reason for that, I been crazy busy! On a side note, not only and I a Wedding Planner, planning my own wedding, but have a full time job as an audio engineer for syndicated country radio and do theatre. So the the last few months I was involved in a musical appropriately titled "The Wedding Singer". I also had Country Radio Seminar.

Back to the planning. So as of now, we still do not have a church to hold our ceremony, but am hopeful that in the next few weeks that will all come together. Being Catholic, there is one major rule you must adhere to:

You must be Catholic to get married in the Catholic Church. Easy enough, right? Yes, except when you live in the south and there are only a handful of Catholic Churches and they are all booked. That is the problem. They would like you to get married in your parish, but I am kinda parishless. I moved to a different part of town and never registered at a different church. So the problem is, we don't have a "home church" that we can get married in. One church is very willing to have us if there is not a Titan's Football Pre-season game. Well, is there even a season. Totally messing things up. Next,  the other church that we love is under some weird circumstances. It is located downtown and has a very low membership and the priest is difficult. So they may close and if they don't they are charging an absurd amount of money to rent the church. But luckily, we have a Deacon on our side that is the Bishop's right hand man. 

Connections!!!!

So that's that for now. In other news we did a cake tasting and we are all booked for not only our cake but an array of amazing desserts including canoli's. The baker doesn't even make them, but she know a great place and will get them for us. How great is that! 

Rentals are still in the works. Just need a few tables and lines, but really want the best price. In the end there may be a $50 difference from one place to another, but convenience my trump here.

My reception dress was made and is a little snug, so I have been hitting the gym. Also go my shoes which I have been breaking in. Still never going to be tall enough next to Carlos, but every bit helps.

Lastly, our Engagement Party is this weekend. It should be fun, but not knowing what is going on is killing me. I have set up two registries that may be interesting if you don't need a lot of items, but money. Myresgistry.com is a place where you can set up for cash in a nice way making funds. We have one for a renovation  that we put off on the house. You can also download a button to your computer to register for gifts from other stores. So if you like a vacuum from target, add it, but you like luggage form amazon, link it. It keeps all  registries in one place. The other is honeyfund.com. It is a place where guests can contribute to your honeymoon and feel like they helped make it happen. We are going on a cruise so we have different price points and things to pay for like airfare, cruise, hotel, excursions, dinner, etc. Both are great alternatives to the normal registries.