The Wedding Pros

Kristen’s Wedding Planning Diary: 4th Entry

Kristen Switzer — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:50:32 +0000

Having a long engagement was the best thing I could ever do! At first I was hesitant about waiting so long to get married but when my parents were willing to pitch in and help pay, I was willing to wait as long as they want! Thank goodness I listened! (I guess you truly are never too old to listen to your Mother!). We are under the year mark until our wedding and as much as I promised Ryan I would get these blogs out to him in a timely fashion, life has gotten so hectic! In the process of planning a wedding I have switched jobs, we are trying to find a reasonably priced home in the perfect location, and every day I turn the corner, gas prices are sky rocketing! Another good reason for planning in advance - I paid 2007 prices not 2008!

So last time I checked in, I touched on wedding invitations, flowers, and cakes. I finally have all three of those locked down! I decided to go with gorgeous invitations from Tru. The wonderful ladies at Rock, Paper, Scissor in the East Hill Plaza in Ithaca, NY were such a help! They asked what I was looking for and showed me exactly what was available instead of just sending me on my own to the wedding invitation books. The ladies sat down with me and were genuine in helping me find exactly what I was looking for. One of the nicest features of Tru was the variety of options: Fonts, colors, paper, etc. I picked out one type of wedding invitation but used the response card from another to make my save the date cards… very cool!

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The Wedding Pros 017: Non-Sequitur

Jimmie Malone — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:00:24 +0000

The Winner of our recent contest, Karen, joins us to talk about her wedding plans. In case you happen to be downloading this in the first few days it is available, you might notice that we have released episode 17 before we put out episode 16. No worries, we will have things back on track in no time!

We are still accepting entries which will be eligible to win other prizes we have available. If you have an entry for our contest, send your best wedding-related story or your best wedding tip to comments@cnyweddingpros.com with ‘contest’ in the subject line. You can tell any story you like, funny, sad, emotional or whatever, just so long as you understand your entry may be read on the podcast. If you have a story or advice, share it with us and you could be our next winner!

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

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The Wedding Pros 016: Jack and Jill

Jimmie Malone — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:02:50 +0000

Short episode today. We will be talking about an idea for funding a wedding which we had not heard of before. Your comments on this episode are encouraged. We wouold love to know your thoughts on Jack and Jills!

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

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The Wedding Pros 015: The Winner

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:51:04 +0000

It seems like I’m always announcing we’re back… well, we’re back! For an episode anyway… We announce our contest winner and talk about dinner. Hopefully we’ll have a few more podcasts in the pipeline so stay tuned for more!

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

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The Wedding Pros 014: #$%*

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:07:37 +0000

And we are back! Being active wedding entertainment professionals it has been a nightmare getting time to finally sit down and record a new episode of the podcast, but here it is and as an added bonus we have recorded a full hour!

We have gotten many new responses to our contest and on the next episode we will be reading our favorites and announcing the winner(s).

You still have time to enter. If you have an entry for our contest, send your best wedding-related story or your best wedding tip to comments@cnyweddingpros.com with ‘contest’ in the subject line. You can tell any story you like, funny, sad, emotional or whatever, just so long as you understand your entry may be read on the podcast. If you have a story or advice, share it with us and you could win our gift-basket that won’t go away, which includes toasting flutes, a cake knife and server, a ring pillow and some other miscellany that we threw together, or you could win a $100 gift certificate for dinner at the restaurant at The Holiday Inn downtown Binghamton - how’s that for random?

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Video Wedding Invitation

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:57:36 +0000

This is quite possibly the best idea anyone’s ever had for a wedding invitation:

If you are viewing this in an RSS reader and don’t see the video embedded, visit our site to see the video - it’s worth a look!

Kristen’s Wedding Planning Diary: 3rd Entry

Kristen Switzer — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:22:49 +0000

Ok… so by now you are wondering wow did this girl fall off the face of the planet? Did her fiancée ditch her? Not at all! Summer is upon us and life is CRAZY!!!

Since my last entry things have gone bananas! Thank goodness my wedding is not for another 15 months! The three groomsmen we had lined up, all fell through. Long story… let’s just say it’s good to know who your true friends are in life, because after all is said and done you want the people who support you to be involved in your wedding. On a positive note, I have gotten all but one of my bridesmaids in for an initial dress fitting and they LOVE the dress! We ordered the beads for my wedding gown and the seamstress is currently working away at that. I also ran across an amazing jewelry maker in my travels and she does beautiful work with Swarovski Crystals. Hope Morsch of Crystal Creations sells her work at the Windmill in Penn Yan NY. Hope can also be contacted via e-mail at hmorsch@stny.rr.com. Let her know I sent you!

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The Wedding Pros 013: Two Dollars!

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:10:53 +0000

We are back on track and joined today by Kristen Switzer to talk about how her wedding planning is coming along. We also have our first contest entry to share and the first of what we hope to feature each episode, our tip of the day.

If you have an entry for our contest, send your best wedding-related story or your best wedding tip to comments@cnyweddingpros.com with ‘contest’ in the subject line. You can tell any story you like, funny, sad, emotional or whatever, just so long as you understand your entry may be read on the podcast. If you have a story or advice, share it with us and you could win our gift-basket that won’t go away, which includes toasting flutes, a cake knife and server, a ring pillow and some other miscellany that we threw together, or you could win a $100 gift certificate for dinner at the restaurant at The Holiday Inn downtown Binghamton - how’s that for random?

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

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The Wedding Pros 012: Men are from Mars…

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 21:34:22 +0000

Well we messed up, but not too bad. Due to a production snafu today’s episode was not ready in time. We do however have the episode which would have posted at the end of June ready to go.

Today we’re joined by Kerri Insinga and Shelly Howell. The former is a wedding planner and the latter owns a bridal boutique. Together they are organizing a bridal show for August of this year.

In two weeks we’ll post the episode that should have been up today featuring bride-to-be Kristin Switzer talking about her wedding planning and, get this… our first contest entries!

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

A Carnival of Weddings!

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 22:54:35 +0000

For those of you who may not be familiar, a blog carnival is when authors submit their articles relating to a pre-selected topic, in this case weddings, and the information is compiled and linked all in one place for you to discover interesting reading and possibly a few new blogs to add to your favorites. So without further ado:

Dallas Wedding Planner presents Brown Tuxedos are all the Rage for 2007! posted at Something Blue: Wedblog for Brides

Dallas Wedding Planner presents The Perfect Wedding Vows by Preston Burke posted at Something Blue: Wedblog for Brides

Katie presents The Truth About Wedding Planners posted at WeddingFanatic.com - Wedding Planning Ideas and Information

Greg Laden presents Short Wedding Photo Essay (and cautionary tale) posted at Greg Laden

Ruth Mitchell presents Non Traditional Weddings posted at Buy Outside the Box

Jhong Ren presents Wedding Blog | Blog on Wedding in Singapore » Deciding on Your Wedding Favors posted at My Wedding Blog

Manos Peglis presents Handmade Wedding Invitations posted at Wedding Invitations Explained

Manos Peglis presents New Trends in Wedding Cakes posted at Wedding Cake Ideas and Articles

Manos Peglis presents Wedding Decorations - Get The Look You Want With The Budget You Have posted at Wedding Decoration Ideas

Jack Yoest presents An Anniversary posted at Reasoned Audacity

Marc and Angel presents Be a Heroic Groom by Handling the Wedding Ring Selection posted at Marc and Angel

Kristen’s Wedding Planning Diary: 2nd Entry

Kristen Switzer — Tue, 29 May 2007 12:22:58 +0000

Church… check! Reception… check! Dress…check! Attendant’s outfits…check! Religious or Civil Ceremony? The debate was on! My maternal grandfather, the minister, was the person I dreamt of as a little girl asking me and my husband to kiss and make our marriage official. He passed away when I was ten years old so, at the time, I never gave my wedding and who would marry us much thought. (more…)

The Wedding Pros 011: A Little Fun

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:55:00 +0000

It’s just me and Ryan today. We’re talking about ideas that you can use to make your reception a little more fun for you and your guests.

We’d also like to remind you about our contest. To enter, send your best wedding-related story to comments@cnyweddingpros.com with ‘contest’ in the subject line. You can tell any story you like, funny, sad, emotional or whatever, just so long as you understand your entry may be read on the podcast. In addition you may also send us your best wedding tip. If you have an idea or advice, share it with us and you could win our gift-basket that won’t go away, which includes toasting flutes, a cake knife and server, a ring pillow and some other miscellany that we threw together, or you could win a $100 gift certificate for dinner at the restaurant at The Holiday Inn downtown Binghamton - how’s that for random?

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Kristen’s Wedding Planning Diary: 1st Entry

Kristen Switzer — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:01:16 +0000

Editor’s note: The following is the first in a series of entries which will be contributed by Kristen Switzer, an area bride who is currently in the beginning stages of planning her wedding. We’ll be following her progress here on the blog as well as on The Wedding Pros podcast to see what sorts of things she will encounter as she plans her wedding.

Monday, May 14th 2007

I can’t believe I have been engaged for almost 3 months! A lot has happened quickly in those three short months. My fiancée and I have picked out a wedding date (Oct. 11, 2008) and have discovered that although our wedding is 17 months away we had to move quickly on planning. Our wedding date is a highly coveted weekend in the Finger Lakes region as it is Columbus Day Weekend and so many people are taking advantage of the long weekend to plan events!

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The Wedding Pros 010: Ryan’s Fable

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:13:36 +0000

David Lopez of Behind the Wedding Mic joins us for story time, and Ryan has a whopper about a particular venue in the Binghamton area that is, well… let’s just say unique and not necessarily in the good way. David, Ryan and I discuss wedding vendors that don’t care about their clients or maybe just don’t know any better than what they do now because they’ve always done things that way.

We also annouce our first contest. To enter, send your best wedding-related story to comments@cnyweddingpros.com with ‘contest’ in the subject line. You can tell any story you like, funny, sad, emotional or whatever, just so long as you understand your entry may be read on the podcast. In addition I’d like to expand the contest to include your best wedding tip. If you have an idea or advice, share it with us and you could win our gift-basket that won’t go away, which includes toasting flutes, a cake knife and server, a ring pillow and some other miscellany that we threw together, or you could win a $100 gift certificate for dinner at the restaurant at The Holiday Inn downtown Binghamton - how’s that for random?

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

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The Wedding Pros 009: The Al Gore Effect

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:18:59 +0000

David Ciccolella and Joyce Artinian of WedAlert.com join us to talk about what they can offer to couples planning weddings and specifically delve into the topic of ‘green’ weddings and honeymoon destinations.

I lied about announcing a contest in my last podcast post but I promise we’ll announce something soon; we just got a little bogged down this past two weeks!

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send suggestions, show ideas, questions or anything you’d like to get off your mind to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Binghamton Area Bridal Show Event in May

Jimmie Malone — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:50:15 +0000

Lisa de Jong, who was kind enough to contribute some great tips for attending bridal shows has sent us an announcement about an upcoming event, similar to a bridal fair or show, but with a few twists:

Pink Martini, Special Event and Party Planning along with Gances complete catering

proudly presents “The Wedding Party"

Friday May 18^th 2007 5-10 pm at Days Inn, Front Street in Binghamton, New York.

Girls don’t leave the boys at home; this show is for them too! The entire wedding party will enjoy themselves all night with several different activities, there is something for everyone.

"The Wedding Party" Event schedule:

"Diamond dash" treasure hunt
"Grooms room” With sports on the big screen, pizza, wings and beer for the guys.
Most innovative table decor design contest
Ongoing hair show
Ongoing fashion show
Continuous entertainment, live bands and DJ
Cash bar
Dance lessons (salsa, belly dancing, couples first dance)
Ongoing Food and wine tasting
Thousands of dollars in door prizes

Pre-register and avoid the long lines by e-mailing us at ldejong@stny.rr.com.

Please include your name, address, phone number and wedding date.

The first 50 brides to pre register will receive a special gift and all brides who pre-register will qualify for a second chance at the grand prize drawing from each show they attend.

Vendors who are interested in this show please contact us at ldejong@stny.rr.com for details.

The Wedding Pros 008: All the Little Things

Jimmie Malone — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:29:59 +0000

Hope Moyer of The Wedding Works Bridal Salon in Endicott, NY joins us to talk about shopping for your dress and attendant gifts as well as favors.

Hope can be found online at The Wedding Works website or by phone at (607) 484-9675. Her store is located at 60 Washington Avenue in Endicott, NY.

We also want to remind you about the Bridal Event taking place on April 29th at 400 Mirador Place in Vestal which is being hosted by Lisa de Jong of Pink Martini Event and Party Planning

Coming up on our next podcast we’ll be announcing our very first contest!

If you would like to comment on this podcast you can do so on our blog or send email to comments@cnyweddingpros.com

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Free Wedding Maps

Jimmie Malone — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:28:15 +0000

I couldn’t help but share this; Wedding Mapper lets you create custom maps for your guests all through an easy to use online interface. It’s incredibly simple and the resulting map can be printed or shared online. Here’s a sample I made in no time:

This would represent a ceremony at Hickories Park with a Reception at the Owego Treadway.

Try it out for yourself at the Wedding Mapper website.

Don’t be a Bridezilla!

Jimmie Malone — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:18:20 +0000

Even as this site was created for the sole purpose of alleiviating wedding anxiety, it seems that sometimes even we can forget just how stressful planning a wedding can be. With few exceptions, the tendency is for the bride to be the one who suffers most from this pressure. As the budget soars and you become so bogged down with every little detail it can feel like there’s not enough wine in the Finger Lakes to get you through this. Let’s step back for a moment and examine just why this happy occasion can be the cause of so many ulcers.

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A carnival!? I love carnivals! Wait… a wedding carnival?

Jimmie Malone — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 05:20:11 +0000

This is something new for our regulars; it’s called a blog carnival. I put out a call for other bloggers to share their articles on anything wedding-related. How great is this!? The response was fantastic and some really great articles were submitted. The plus for you is some great reading, and possibly the discovery of a few new blogs that you will enjoy enough to read regularly.

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The Wedding Pros 007: The Best Wedding Reception… Ever!

Jimmie Malone — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 01:23:50 +0000

We could not be happier to welcome nationally known wedding entertainment expert Peter Merry to talk about planning a fun reception. He has served as the president of the American Disc Jockey Association, written for trade magazine Mobile Beat, and inspired countless DJs to raise the level of their performance at seminars nationwide. Now he has literally written the book on fun weddings!

Listen to the show for tips and then click the link to get the book for yourself!


	The Best Wedding Reception Ever!

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To Dollar Dance, Or Not To Dollar Dance… That Is The Question

Ryan Bombard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:59:08 +0000

There are many things to consider when planning the events to occur during your wedding reception. Believe it or not, one of the main causes of prenuptial "discussions" between couples during this exciting but somewhat stressful time is whether or not to do a dollar or money dance.

A lot of brides and grooms look at this as a great opportunity to converse briefly with each of his or her guests. Well yeah, the money doesn’t hurt too much either. I’ve heard of newlyweds making as much as $300 to $500, or even more, off of this wedding reception staple. But, however, many participants feel this doesn’t fit the atmosphere they are hoping to attain for their reception, especially if they are planning an elegant, classy affair. I believe the actual word most often used is "tacky." They often feel it makes them come across as desperate or money-hungry. For some people, though, the money is fine - it’s the flow of the reception they are worried about. They claim it can drag down and even kill the momentum of the party.

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The Cost of Weddings: What can you expect to spend?

Jimmie Malone — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 22:29:37 +0000

The average cost of a wedding in the U.S. has risen to $27,690, and that’s not even including many related expenses like your engagement ring and the honeymoon. Things are a little bit better for those planning weddings in the Southern Tier and Central New York areas.

In Binghamton you’re looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $22-24 thousand with a breakdown like this:

Attire - $2059
Ceremony - $1995
Favors and gifts - $886
Flowers - $1556
Jewelry - $1632
Music - $753
Photography and video - $2914
Reception - $11,196
Stationery - $670
Transportation - $324

Whereas in Ithaca you might expect to pay closer to the national average with a range of $24-27 thousand, which could be spent like this:

Attire - $2293
Ceremony - $2223
Favors and gifts - $987
Flowers - $1733
Jewelry - $1818
Music - $838
Photography and video - $3246
Reception - $12,470
Stationery - $746
Transportation - $361

These numbers are courtesy of www.costofwedding.com. Your budget will likely vary greatly from these averages based on what is most important to you. Using a budget guideline like the one above you can plug in actual estimates from wedding service providers and vendors to begin to figure out where your money is really going to go.

www.weddingchannel.com features many tools like a planning checklist and budget calculator which you may find very helpful. You can enter a budget amount and it will give you a throrough breakdown of where the money should go with much more detail than the lists above.

Thanks also to Marino from Ninja Entertainment Productions for bringing the Cost of Wedding wedbsite to my attention! For those of you who just can’t get enough wedding podcasts, Marino is developing one of his own which we’ll be certain to spotlight when it goes online.

Wedding Podcasts; We pick the best!

Jimmie Malone — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:36:58 +0000

Ryan and I are having a blast producing The Wedding Pros podcast and we hope you’re enjoying it and finding it helpful as you plan your wedding. As we developed our ideas for the show we did a lot of research, okay - I did a lot of research to see what was already out there. Even after our show gelled I found myself continuing to listen to a few of the shows that I had discovered.

I listened to just about everything I could find but I found the smaller shows, the ones that didn’t feel overproduced or too commercial to be more engaging. If you are enjoying our podcast, you may want to check out a few of these others as well:

Website

Subscription Feed

Subscribe in iTunes

Host: David Lopez

Description: David has an almost infectious enthusiasm for weddings. He’s an entertainment professional and that fact definitely permeates many of the episodes, but that’s not a bad thing; you’ll learn some great things about wedding entertainment. He also has some fantastic guests as well to talk about all different areas of wedding planning.

Website

Subscription Feed

Subscribe in iTunes

Hosts: Tricia Dever & Brian Morris

Description: Okay, finally I present to you an option with almost no connection or focus on entertainment. This is the first wedding planning podcast I found and still my favorite. Tricia and Brian are very knowledgeable and down to Earth. Each episode focuses on one very specific piece of the puzzle that is wedding planning and the series follows a natural progression, taking you through everything you will likely encounter on your journey to your wedding day. You will find lots of great info here!

Binghamton Area Bridal Show Event in April

Jimmie Malone — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:40:03 +0000

This event has been cancelled. Please check out the May event if you are looking for an upcoming bridal show

Pink Martini Special Event and Party Planning along with Gances Complete Catering

Proudly presents "A Pamper Party"

Sunday April 29^th 2007 2- 5 PM at 400 Mirador Place in Vestal New York.

What a nice way to treat the ladies in your wedding party to a day just for them. Meet with area stylists, spa services, bakers, florists and more for free consultations and sample services.

Ongoing meet and greet with area vendors
Brunch buffet compliments of Gances catering
Sample decadent baked goods from area vendors
Ongoing fashion show
Ongoing hair show
Door prizes and a grand prize to be announced

Brides can pre register and avoid the long lines by e-mailing us at ldejong@stny.rr.com.

Specify which show or shows you wish to attend along with your name, address, phone number and wedding date.

The first 50 brides to pre register will receive a special gift and all brides who pre-register will qualify for a second chance at the grand prize drawing from each show they attend.

Vendors who are interested in signing up please e-mail us at ldejong@stny.rr.com for details

10 Tips for Attending a Bridal Show

Lisa de Jong — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 14:31:47 +0000

1. Wear comfortable clothing and walking shoes. You’ll be glad you did.

2. Be prepared to register at the door. Be patient! This is well worth it.

3. Bring preprinted self-adhesive address labels if you have them. Remember your name, address, phone, email, and wedding date. This will save you time and allow you to sign up for anything you want very quickly.

4. Bring a pen and print very clearly when registering for anything.

5. Bring your checkbook in case you decide to book services or hold dates with a deposit. Be sure to check on refund policies before giving any money, and read the contract carefully before signing.

6. Collect any information you are interested in - take it home to look over again when you have some quiet time.

7. If you cannot attend, send someone in your place to register you for prizes and collect information on services you need.

8. It is nice if your fiancé attends with you IF he is interested. Many guys attend, so he won’t be the only one there!

9. Arrive at least one hour prior to the fashion show. Seating is usually first-come first-served and you can use this time to rest your feet.

10. Relax and have fun — this is your wedding!

The Wedding Pros 006: Think Twice

Jimmie Malone — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:01:55 +0000

Everybody wants to save a little money. Today we will talk about some money saving ideas that have been floating around that may not produce the results you would hope for or worse, may even hold the possibility of going horribly wrong.

We also talk a little about changing the name of the site and podcast. If you have been with us since the beginning and were curious about the details take a listen to find out the whole story.

Oh, and our first fan letter! Sure it will probably be our last fan letter too, but let us bask in this glorious moment…

The next show in two weeks will feature nationally known wedding entertainment expert Peter Merry to talk about a new book for couples who want to have a fun reception. We have a few more really great show ideas for the months to come and we welcome your ideas too. Send us your thoughts to comments@cnyweddingpros.com.

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

10 questions to ask when selecting a location for your reception

Jimmie Malone — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 06:02:36 +0000

Where is the nearest hotel? Try to keep the travel down for as many of your guests as possible.
What are my options for pictures? Look for grounds that are landscaped and/or scenic as well as unique architecture that would make a nice backdrop.
How many weddings will take place on my wedding date at the same facility? The advantages to a hall that only accepts one wedding a day are numerous, not the least of which is complete focus on your wedding.
What time can you get into the facility and what time do you have to be out? Make sure that your decorator, florist, cake supplier and DJ will have plenty of time to set up and that you will be able to stay as late as you would like the party to go. Also consider local noise ordinances - some areas will require music to end at a certain time.
If you choose a location that does not host events exclusively, for example a museum or a winery, will they close for the day of your wedding? Some may be open to the public prior to the start of your reception. This can contribute to your service providers not having sufficient time to set up as mentioned above.
If the reception is outdoors, what will happen in the event of rain? Make sure that tent isn’t ‘just big enough’ for the number of guests you are inviting. You want all tables to be set in several feet from the edge of the tent; remember, rain doesn’t always fall straight down.
Will there be sufficient power? You probably don’t need to ask this if you’re going with a hotel, but a 70 year old bed and breakfast may be a different story.
Will the room layout keep your guests together or spread them apart? One large rectangular room with seating for all of your guests is the only real way to make sure everybody will get to share in all of the magical moments that make a wedding truly memorable.
What is the real capacity of the facility? I’m not talking about how many people can squeeze in, you want to know how many the space will hold comfortably. Avoid having to set up the buffet on the dance floor due to space constraints (though many facilities will put it there despite ample room elsewhere). You certainly don’t want to have dinner tables on the dance floor that will have to be broken down after dinner, displacing the poor folks sitting at those tables. Too much room is bad too; it makes the room feel empty.
How many people will be on hand to staff your reception? I almost didn’t include this one because I don’t know the magic fomula, but use common sense. If you are having a reception of 250 and there are only going to be 2 or 3 servers, that should raise a few red flags.

A little humor: Comedian Peter Kay on weddings

Jimmie Malone — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:37:24 +0000

The Wedding Pros 005: The Wedding Planner

Jimmie Malone — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 06:56:43 +0000

Lisa de Jong of Pink Martini Events enlightens us as to why wedding coordinators can be essential to your planning. Along the way she drops a few fantastic tips that you won’t want to miss! This episode was recorded prior to our name-change so please disregard the web and email addresses given for the show. You can comment on the Blog or send an email to comments@cnyweddingpros.com.

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We’ve moved and changed our name

Jimmie Malone — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:59:29 +0000

No we’re not avoiding you (although you can be clingy at times). As it turns out, our old name was federally trademarked and we had no choice but to change it. The old url will still work for the time being, and for the most part there should not be an interruption of your subscription to the podcast or website. Not sure what I’m talking about? Then don’t worry, you’re here and that’s all that matters. We took this opportunity to make a few improvements. We’ve redesigned the site and added audio players to the podcast posts to let you listen to episodes right from your browser. Our new permanent home is www.cnyweddingpros.com and/or www.tierweddingpros.com. Both take you to the same site but we didn’t want to alienate anyone in the two markets we serve so we gave you each your very own address. You can look forward to some great podcast episodes coming up, as well as some great content here on the site. I also encourage you to give us some feedback by either commenting here on the blog or sending email to comments@cnyweddingpros.com to let us know how we’re doing and what you would like to see from us in the future.

Ithaca area bridal show at the Clarion; Sunday March 4

Jimmie Malone — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:12:30 +0000

Sunday, March 4th marks Easy Event Planning’s first foray into hosting bridal shows in Tompkins County. In Binghamton their show has grown quite large, so it will be interesting to see how their first Ithaca area show goes. The show runs from 2-5PM at the Clarion Hotel and you can pre-register on their site to avoid having to wait in line when the doors open. Ryan Bombard and I will both be there and we hope you’ll stop by our booth and let us know how you’re enjoying the podcast.

Some services and products it is easy to shop for at a bridal show, but for vendors you will be working very closely with, you might not want to make such an important decision in such a hectic atmosphere. Instead, schedule appointments with photographers, DJs and videographers for the week following the show so you can sit down one-on-one and learn if they will be a good fit for you.

You’ll also have the opportunity to win some great prizes. You do have to be present at the end of the show to win the big prizes. They will call out names until somebody present claims their prize. In addition each vendor provides a prize with a minimum value of $50. At past shows you have not needed to be present to win but the responsibility for claiming your prize lies exclusively with you; you can check their website to see if you are a winner.

7 Tips for Ensuring a Fun Reception

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:53:09 +0000

This article coincides with the podcast that we released today. With so much attention given to every detail of your wedding, it’s surprising to learn that many of the things which can have the most impact on the overall success of your wedding day go overlooked.

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The Wedding Pros 004: Hustle and Flow

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:42:59 +0000

It’s that time again, you can now download our fourth installment of The Wedding Pros . This is a big episode; Ryan and I discuss at great length how to pace your reception and make it flow smoothly. We try to keep the podcasts short so you can listen on the way to work or in your spare time but we just had too much to cover and didn’t want to split it into two shows, so we clock in at about 50 minutes. If you only listen to one episode, make this the one! On the next episode we’ll be joined by wedding and event coordinator Lisa de Jong from Pink Martini To have the podcast download automatically whenever there are new episodes, click the iTunes link to the left and choose subscribe (it may be helpful to have iTunes open when you click the link).

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Don’t want the Electric Slide at your wedding? Neither does the guy who choreographed it!

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:28:53 +0000

This is silly, and has nothing to do with planning your wedding, but I thought is was entertaining none the less. Richard Silver, who created the Electric Slide in 1976, filed for a copyright for the dance in 2004, and is now suing people under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to have videos of the dance either licensed or removed from websites. He’s even fighting the Ellen Degeneres show because they did the Electric Slide on an episode!

So just be careful where you post those wedding videos!

Read the full story here

The Knot Upstate NY message board

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:23:50 +0000

For some time I wanted to put together a message board where brides could come and talk to other local brides, but as it turns out there is already one which is quite active. I would encourage you to visit The Knot Upstate message board where you’ll find a very active community of future and former brides sharing the details of their weddings and their lives with each other. As a side note I’d like to say welcome to all of the knotties who are visiting us for the first time and thank you to SaniJer for posting about us on the message board. We hope you’ll let us know how you like the site and podcast!

Mini Me: The cake topper

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:10:15 +0000

Is that the second time I’ve managed to squeeze in an Austin Powers reference in the first ten posts on the blog? I’ve got to start watching some new movies!

Anyway, Here’s a great way to feature something at your wedding that nobody else will have: You can have a cake topper custom sculpted of you, depicting exactly who you are. It’s sort of a 3D caricature. Sculptor Matthew “Chief” Flesher was at the bridal show at the Owego Treadway on January 7, and I have to say that pictures do not do his work justice! One thing that does not come across in the pictures is the scale… these are larger than the average cake topper. The detail is really quite amazing. Be prepared for sticker shock though, these start at a price which is higher than many people spend on their photographer.

The Wedding Pros 003

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:07:30 +0000

Ryan presents our top five contemporary father-daughter dance songs and I sit down with photojournalist Robert Kaussner. As a side note we’re slowly inching up the audio quality with each episode. Please bear with us as we continute to tweak the settings to improve. Creating high quality recordings without a studio is proving more difficult than we anticipated. Please feel free to send comments or questions on this or any of out other podcasts to comments@cnyweddingpros.com.

If you are looking for song suggestions for the father/daughter dance, please refer to this article.

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Stop the distractions and enjoy your wedding day

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:06:21 +0000

Today’s post is a quick tip but something which can be oh so helpful in facilitating a smooth wedding day. You’re going to log in quite a bit of time planning your wedding. If you’re not using the services of a ‘day of’ wedding planner, one who will actually attend the wedding and reception and coordinate the itinerary with your service providers on site, then you may be the first person your service providers come to if there is a question.

Avoid this distraction altogether by either hiring a ‘day of’ coordinator as mentioned above or assigning someone to act as a buffer between you and your service providers. A close relative or friend who is not otherwise participating in the wedding would be perfect. You just need someone to field the questions your vendors may have who knows you well enough to answer for you or decide if it is a detail you are willing to be bothered with. Make sure that this person knows the schedule and that their name and contact info is shared with everyone who will be providing services on the day of the wedding with the understanding that he/she speaks for you. This will cut down on the number of people vying for your attention and free you up to relax and enjoy your day.

The Wedding Pros 002

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:02:05 +0000

Ryan was unable to participate in episode 002 but rest assured he will return for episode 003 and he’ll have the top 5 father/daughter dance songs for you when he does. For this episode I had to go it alone so you’re going to hear part two of my interview with newlywed Rachel Fabi.Rachel has also agreed to help out with a new segment we like to call ‘Ask a Newlywed.’ Submit your questions to comments@cnyweddingpros.com and she’ll pull from her extensive research to answer. Answers will be included here on the blog and in future episodes of the podcast. Also coming up in future podcasts I will sit down with wedding photojournalist Robert Kaussner and we’ll have the top 5 ‘non-cheesy’ dance songs that will get your guests on the dance floor. We will also be dedicating a whole show to outlining how to make your wedding day flow smoothly. To have the podcast download automatically whenever there are new episodes, click the iTunes link to the right and choose subscribe (it may be helpful to have iTunes open when you click the link.

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Define ‘cheese.’

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:53:00 +0000

Through the years wedding trends come and go. Some things tend to be fads, like having a slide show or putting disposable cameras on your tables. Others things change at more of an evolutionary pace, like what sort of overall feel couples desire for the atmosphere. Because the entertainment contributes so heavily to your atmosphere, it’s natural that what you’re looking for out of your entertainment is quite different from what you might have wanted were you planning a wedding 10 years ago.

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What to do when it all goes wrong or: What you could learn from a Boyscout

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:47:49 +0000

Perfect weddings don’t just happen, they are the result of careful planning and preparation. There’s a lot of little things that can happen that can result in a huge chunk of your day spent trying to fix a relatively small problem. Thge best advice? Be prepared! I recommend preparing a little emergency kit, just in case. Some of the things on my list are items you will have anyway, like your garter. I don’t think you need to go so far as to buy backup items for these, but you do need to have a chain of custody for them so they don’t get lost. Keep them in your emergency kit if you have to.

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The Wedding Pros 001

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:40:59 +0000

Our first show is live and just in time for the January wedding planning rush. The most exciting part? That would have to be Ryan confriming that he is indeed a real person and I haven’t been making him up all this time.We’ve included part one of my interview with Rachel Fabi who was married last July and shares her trials and triumphs, then Ryan plays for you five contemporary songs to consider for your first dance. For those who have listened already, the website Rachel talks about is Wedding Channel.com. Also, Ryan’s five songs are: Nora Jones - Come Away with Me Jagged Edge - I Gotta be Lifehouse - You and Me Alicia Keys - If I Ain’t Got You Tim McGraw and Faith Hill - It’s Your Love You can hear clips from each of those songs in the podcast. We hope you’ll leave us a few comments to let us know what you think, and maybe even offer a few suggestions of your own as to how we can make the show relevant to you.

Subscribe to The Wedding Pros in iTunes

Song suggestions for traditional wedding dances

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:10:29 +0000

Bought a Single? Get the Album for Less with Complete My Album at iTunes.

I am often asked for suggestions for many of the traditional dances. Because each relationship is unique it’s hard for anyone but you to choose the song that will best convey your feelings, so the best I can do is give you as many choices as possible from which hopefully you can find the perfect song. I have to give credit where credit is due, I got the idea for this from the CNY Weddings blog. Though the idea is not totally original the lists are. The following are iTunes links; they require that you have iTunes installed on your computer (you will be prompted to download it if it is not already installed). I won’t lie to you, iTunes can be slow so if it doesn’t open right up you may want to open iTunes manually and then click the links. I’ll update this with more lists as they become available.

Mother/Son dance songs

Father/Daughter dance songs

This is something new. Through the magic of a new site called Seeqpod you can listen to many of these songs selections right here:

SeeqPod Music beta - Playable Search

Balancing the atmosphere of your reception

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 02:14:24 +0000

The article to the right was sent to me by a family member years ago, probably as a joke because of what I do for a living. It’s a good read though, and if you’re struggling with putting together music for your wedding you may get a kick out of it (just click on it to see the full size version). The fact is that most couples want their wedding to be unique and you may not want to hear the same songs at your wedding that seem to have been played at every reception since the dawn of time. So what are your alternatives? In a future article I’m going to give you some very specific song ideas to encourage dancing and fun without being cliché. Today we will concentrate on what sort of atmosphere you would like to create.

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Allow myself to introduce… myself

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 02:05:38 +0000

We’ll be including an introduction of ourselves in our podcast as well, but for the time being we’re going to assume that not everyone who listens to the podcast also reads the blog and vice versa so some topics will get exposure on both. What podcast, you say? The one we’re launching in January and I do hope you come back to check it out. If you’re planning your wedding in the next year or helping someone who is, and I can’t imagine why you would be reading this if you weren’t, you will find a wealth of information here and on the podcast on every wedding-related topic. Not only that, but we’ll be covering topics as they specifically apply to the Southern Tier of New York and Central New York Finger Lakes regions, so you’ll hear from and about local wedding service providers and engaged couples and newlyweds from those areas. Ryan will tell you more about the specifics of his background, but we’re both wedding ~~DJs~~ entertainment professionals. My background includes banquet management which gives me some great insight into the food and beverage service and hospitality aspects of reception planning. I also have some experience in photography but only as an enthusiastic amateur. My main area of expertise lies with entertainment and specifically wedding entertainment. Weddings are much different from birthdays or graduation celebrations because there is so much more emotion attached to that one day, and the emotional involvement at a good wedding extends to the friends and family as well. Weddings are at their essence a celebration of love… your love. I can hardly think of a bigger or better reason to gather hundreds of people together in celebration, so no wonder weddings can involve literally years of planning. I’ve been working in the wedding industry for the better part of the last 14 years, with the last 12 dedicated to entertainment. In those years I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the areas top wedding service providers and some of the most amazing couples you’ll ever meet. Talk about job satisfaction, what a thrill it is each and every weekend to see the culmination of hundreds of hours of planning come to fruition at the event of a lifetime! So out of this love for what I do was born The Wedding Pros. I had wanted to do something to keep more active in the wedding community, and Ryan brought up the idea of doing a podcast which sealed the deal. It was the natural progression for me; a way to keep on top of the goings-on in our area’s wedding industry as well as a way to share my passion for weddings with the four or five of you that our audience will undoubtedly consist of. So I hope you continue to come back and see how we progress, and I hope you give us the feedback we’ll need to make this into a resource that is relevant to you.

The Wedding Pros has a nicer ring anyway…

Jimmie Malone — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 01:45:28 +0000

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a do-over. After putting together a website and podcast that were both taking shape quite nicely, it was discovered that we had picked a name that infringed on someone else’s trademark. So we have done our best to remove all references to ~~The Wedding Guys~~ and we’ve given ourselves a promotion to The Wedding Pros. What you’ll find here are wedding professionals such as me, Jimmie Malone, and Ryan Bombard discussing wedding topics as they relate to the Southern Tier of NY and CNY Fingerlakes region. Ryan and I are both passionate about weddings, and we hope that manifests in both a website and podcast that you will find interesting, entertaining and helpful in planning your wedding. As active wedding entertainers our personal experiences will no doubt be a big part of the site and talk show, but we will also be including interviews with other local and national wedding experts as well as newlyweds. We hope you will find this to be a valuable resource for planning your big day. If you’re new to podcasting, it’s basically a radio show that you download from the internet. You can listen to it at your leisure by playing it back on your computer, transferring it to your mp3 player or burning it to a cd. What’s great about podcasting is that you can set your favorite programs to download automatically. With an iPod, you can even have them transfer automatically via iTunes.