Newly engaged? Check out one of our previous posts on traditional and modern engagement party etiquette.



photo by Jennifer Bowen

Have you heard of The Bright Side Project? If not, please stop reading our blog and click on over to theirs. Right. This. Second. Or as soon as you finish reading this post. Whichever.

The Bright Side Project was developed by two friends as a way to interject some daily sunshine into everyone's glum outlook on the economy.  Every day, including weekends and holidays, they give away a fabulous product to one lucky reader.  All you have to do to enter is answer a question at the end of the prize post that relates to focusing on the bright side of life.

You can check out The Bright Side Project here and follow them on Twitter here.

Chair Name: Chiavari (pronounced shih-vah-ree)
Pricepoint: $9-$12 and up

Chiavari chairs, often called wedding chairs or "cane chairs", are perhaps the most famous when it comes to wedding seating. They are both elegant and versatile at the same time and can hold their own in style or they can be dressed up with chair ties, floral or other elements.

There are two types of chair pads most commonly available for the Chiavari chair - a hard pad and a softer pillow pad. An example of a hard pad is in the lower center of the photo collection below - these pads velcro to the chair's seat to stay in place.  The other three photos showcase the soft pad in various covers, which tie to the chairs at the back corners.

Chiavari chairs can be found through your local event rental company (Tri-Rentals, owned by Classic Party Rentals, is one of our go-to companies here in Phoenix) and I recommend using La Tavola Linen (they ship nationwide and have the best customer service, hands down) for coordinating all of your wedding fabrics.


Photos by Elizabeth Messina

Talking about money and budgets isn't the most glamorous aspect of wedding planning, but it's one of the most important parts because it means that you can actually get a handle on what needs to happen in order to make your wedding come to life.

Today I want to talk about one of the hidden costs in wedding planning - the plus/plus rate. I've talked about this before on this blog, but several of you are new here and it also seems that this topic continually catches couples off guard when it comes time to pay the bill.

Plus/plus stands for plus tax, plus service charge. These figures are in addition to the cost your venue or caterer will quote you for your wedding.

Let's say your wedding venue and their in-house caterer is charging $100 a plate. (For some weddings this is an extravagant amount, while for others it's a steal. Nonetheless, $100 is a nice round number to visualize and work with for our purposes here.)

The price on the quote you receive from your venue would look something like this:
Dinner: $100++

The plus/plus rates can range per city and per venue, but again for the sake of round numbers, let's say that sales tax is 8% and the service charge is 22% (both of which are not too far off from reality in many places).

So while the quote reads $100++ what it really means is $100 + 8% + 22%, or $130.

That's right, your $100 per plate budget just jumped to $130 per plate. This may seem insignificant while looking at the smaller numbers, but if you plan on inviting 100 guests, that's an additional $3000 that needs to be budgeted for. If you're inviting 300 guests (which is not uncommon for younger couples recently out of college), that's an additional $9000 on top of your $30,000 food bill. 

Most venues and caterers will not volunteer what their plus/plus rates are in their sales literature. This number usually doesn't come up until the fine print of the contract when you're ready to book. Be sure to ask each venue or catering company while interviewing them for their rates so that you can make an informed decision when choosing a wedding location.

I am completely smitten over this DIY photobooth featured on Classic Bride.  Photographer Kate Headley set it up as a creative photoshoot for Maria Cooke of Ritzy Bee's new website.  The shots below are of Maria setting it up (incidentally, Maria helped me come up with the name of my other company, Splendid Communications, so I totally think that everything she collaborates on is fab).  You can get how-to instructions and a behind-the-scenes peek into Kate's thought process on the photobooth here. 


In celebration of all the DIY goodness, Sarah Darcy from Classic Bride is hosting a DIY contest with over $1000 in prizes!  Here's the scoop from Sarah:

If you're a DIY goddess, get your sewing shears and scissors out because we're looking for the crème de la crème of creativity! I want to see your BEST DIY project(s) . . . they can be big or small, elaborate or simple, so long as they are unique and original!!

Did you stage and style your own engagement photos (what a feat that would be!)? Make a music video montage to show at your reception? Create killer save-the-dates or invitations? Work tirelessly on constructing your own photobooth?

We want to see your efforts and ultimately, we want to see projects that make our jaws drop and have us saying WOW!!

To submit:
Send a step-by-step tutorial of your DIY project to theclassicbride{at}gmail.com. You will need to include written steps AND a series of low-res photos that walk us through your steps to be considered. Deadline is August 20, 2009 at midnight CST.

Are you doing any DIY projects for your wedding?



photos by Kate Headley

I am such a visual learner. Even if instructions are written out step by step, I like an image to go along with it to make sure I'm doing things correctly. This is why I was so excited to learn that Scottsdale makeup artist Corinna Cooke is offering makeup tutorials on her blog as well as via a series of YouTube videos. Brilliant.

Here are some tips on how to get a Summery look for your eyes - perfect for a bridal shower or engagement party: