Important

• Vendor Contact List/Contracts
• Wedding Party Contact List
• Bridal Checklist (See previous post for this)
• Timeline for Wedding Day
• Checklist of everything to be brought to the ceremony and reception, and who is to bring it

Budget

Something that should be talked about before booking vendors and planning begins: setting a budget (with wiggle room for splurges).

• Rough Budget
• List of who is responsible for what
• Actual Expenses (as soon as something is booked, this will keep track of what is booked, and how much is still owned on it)
• Vendor Contracts

Ceremony

• Copy of Ceremony text
• What to Ask Your Wedding Officiant
• List of processional & recessional order
• Officiant contact information
• Cost & tips
• Music to be played and any musicians contracts, contact info and fees
• Decor (include inspiration photos here)
• Any seating arrangements and reserved seating
• Program

Reception

• Timeline of reception (dance, cake cutting, toasts, flower toss, exit, etc)
• Music Playlist with noted special songs (and do not plays, if taking requests)
• Rentals (separate subcategory) w/ contract
• Decor (inspiration pictures/receipts)
• Setup info and instructions
• Menu
• Beverage List
• List of who will be giving toasts
• List of people to thank at reception
• Favors
• Cake
• Guest Book ideas
• Photo booth (if we end up having one!)
• Reserved seat signs
• Band/DJ contact information, pricing, tips etc
• All relevant contracts

Guests

• Guest list
• Addresses
• Seating Chart
• RSVPs
• Gifts Received list
• Thank You Sent

Florals

• Contract
• Pricing & budget
• Inspiration Photos
• List of arrangements for Ceremony
• List of arrangements for Reception
• List of bouquets
• List of boutonnieres
• Flowers for family members

Attire

• Schedule of fittings
• Dress (lots of inspirational photos here…I will also take this to give the boutiques an idea of what I am looking for)
• Jewelry
• Bag
• Shoes
• Veil
• Groom/Groomsmen (inspiration photos)
• Bridesmaids (Dresses and accessories)
• Ring Bearer/Flower Girl

Stationery

• Contract with Paisley Dog Press!
• Pricing & budget
• Inspiration Photos
• Material Samples (paper, envelopes, finishing touches)
• Design Ideas
• Proofs (Save the dates, Invitation, RSVP, Information card, etc.)

Photographer

• Contract
• Must-have photo list
• List of everyone needed for photos – break this down into names (i.e. Amanda, MOH)

Miscellaneous

• Honeymoon plans
• Honeymoon planning checklist
• Transportation
• Gifts (from Bride & Groom)
• Registry info
• Registry checklist (keep track to mark things off that you get after the bridal shower)
• Bridal luncheon plans
• Best Man and MOH duties checklists

Thinking of doing a wedding binder? This is just a starting place to help you, make it as unique as you and tailor it to fit your wedding.

(From Left to Right, Top to Bottom) 1. Whimsical Cake Topper by Better Off Wed. 2. The Farm in Greenville, PA (family property). 3. Chalkboard Drink Menu courtesy of Style Me Pretty and photographed by Valo Photography.  4. Vintage Wedding Suitcase. 5. Prohibition Cork Glass Bottles courtesy of The Hair of the Dog. 6. Flowers courtesy of Scarlet’s Table. 7. Wedding Dress designed by Ersa Atelier.

Decor

Thanks to my BFF Pinterest I have found countless ways to incorporate doilies into my decor. From centerpieces to cakes to garlands, doilies can be used for so much and you can get large amounts at reasonable prices. One idea I absolutely love will take the place of traditional name cards – place a doily underneath a clear plate (if you are budget conscience like me this is a way of getting away with using clear plastic plates instead of expensive china), then write the person’s name on the center of the doily with a font matches your theme or a calligraphy pen (see first picture below). Another way to incorporate the doily in my decor is through the centerpieces. I would like the doily to be the element that connects all the smaller items that will make up my centerpieces. Others have done this by placing the doily on a piece of wood using various size doilies as almost like table runner. While that is how I will be using them, also pictured below is are a couple other ways to incorporate doilies into your wedding decor.

Stationery

Obviously, Paisley Dog Press will be designing (with my tedious input) and printing all my wedding stationery. I owe the inspiration to Janelle for finding the idea of using doilies with your invitations and sending it to me. I have seen a lot of invitations that use lace detailing as part of the invite (like our Washington D.C. Private Label Semi-Custom Suite) and others that package their invitations in lace or Doilies! I love this idea, considering this lace/doily look is very vintage and will compliment my theme. While I’m not sure of the exact design of the invites quite yet, we are contemplating printing right on the doilies, because at PDP we are always willing to try printing on any material (leather, fabric, etc.). I believe adding this unique feature will be the perfect way to give guests a glimpse into the theme of the wedding. Since the invitation is the initial feeling of what guests can expect at your wedding, it’s your chance to wow them, and I plan on doing this! Check out neat ways others have used doilies in the images below.

Looking to get large amounts of doilies for decent price?  Check out these retailers : JoAnn’s Fabric, Ebay, The Webstaurant Store, and Hobby Lobby.

Download the pdf to print here.

The Original Barn

To everyone that knows it, it is known simply as The Farm. In the 1920′s my great-great grandparents Alma and LaVina Cadman bought the then 100 acres of land and it was thus forth known as The Farm. The Farm is located in Greenville, Pennsylvania (which is north of Pittsburgh, south of Erie, and about right on the PA/Ohio line). Both my grandmother and mother lived in this house at one point. After my Great Grandparents the house was passed down to my Great Aunt Alice, the youngest of the Cadman (my grandmother’s generation) children. While I grew up in Missouri, my family took vacations out East almost every summer and along the way we would stop at my other grandmother’s house in Indiana and then we would move on to The Farm. I can always remember The Farm because we loved that Aunt Alice would let us eat ice cream for breakfast! Aunt Alice was an incredible woman and always made the trips out there special. After Alice passed away the house went to my mom’s cousin, and Alice’s youngest daughter, Carrie (who is now the current owner and 4th generation). I always believed that I had a special connection with The Farm and Pennsylvania (one of my mom’s kids had too), I would even like to be one of the next owners of The Farm.

When planning my wedding I couldn’t think of a more beautiful place to get married than The Farm. The land is over 90 acres and consists of the original house (with a small well kept addition), the original barn, a crick (as both mom and Andy call it, I say creek), an in-ground pool, and lots of ravishing fields and woods. Also right next to the property is a stunning, very old covered bridge, the only Smith Bridge Company bridge left East of Ohio (can you see the pictures yet). With all the riches of the property the wedding will be a vintage/rustic theme. Carrie and I already have soooo many ideas. Andy tuned us out when talking about colors, flowers, and centerpieces! What ideas come to your mind when you see The Farm (pictures below)? Now that I have my location, you should read on to how it inspired my wedding color decisions!

Left to Right : Andy and I are 5th generation; front of Farm house; The crick

]]> http://paisleydogpress.com/2013/04/on-my-way-to-the-altar-location-location-location/feed/ 0 http://paisleydogpress.com/2013/04/on-my-way-to-the-altar-maid-of-honor/ http://paisleydogpress.com/2013/04/on-my-way-to-the-altar-maid-of-honor/#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:36:12 +0000 ashlee http://paisleydogpress.com/?p=4304 As soon as you are engaged there are certain people that you contact first, parents, siblings, and your best friends. After telling the “inner circle” there comes the tradition of trying to figure out your bridal party. While I’m having a little trouble figuring out my bridesmaids, my maid of honor was a no-brainer. So this past weekend I took my college bestie, Amanda, to lunch and popped the question, “Will you stand by my side at my wedding?”Luckily she said, Yes!

Will you be my maid of honor? Wine label I designed.

Of course I wasn’t completely traditional about it, I mean I work at a design firm, so I had to do something creative. Just a little background on us…Amanda and I were sorority sisters in college but she is more than my sorority sister, she is truly family (even my mom absolutely loves her and sends her presents all the time). Since we were in a sorority, I would say we did our fair share of drinking together, so what better way to ask her than with a bottle of booze! Using the Paisley Dog Press creative team I was able to design wine bottle labels that asked the questions for me. Don’t have a creative team at your disposal, no problem check out Lil Shop of Labels or iCustomWine for customizable labels. I’m very excited to have Amanda join me in this new adventure in my life. She is truly a gem, now let’s see how crazy I can make her! Stick around to meet the rest of my bridal party in the months to come.

NEXT WEEK: see the venue (trust me you don’t want to miss that)!

We had decided to take a trip the weekend of March 29th just to have some alone time. Andy didn’t want to drive far so we decided to try out the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was a great choice, the hotel was well taken care of and romantic. After check in we hit the casino to test our luck on the slots. At first we were not having much luck and blew through 20 dollars. Finally we picked a one penny slot and I found my luck and turned $5 into $30! However, I didn’t want to push it too far so I cashed out and we headed to our room to decide what to do for dinner. When up in the room Andy was being fidgety (it was adorable) and he pulled me up off the bed and got down on one knee. I immediately said yes and pretty much tackled him. I am the luckiest girl in the world to get to spend forever with Andy!

Now I’m totally in wedding over-drive and have jumped on The Knot to find vendors, Googled wedding dresses, and finally got to start a Pinterest wedding board (luckily I had already pinned some great ideas on our Private Label Semi Custom Wedding boards)! We are currently in the process of setting a date for the summer of 2014 and will be visiting our very unique venue in a couple weeks (that will be a great post, so keep following). I can’t go to overboard yet because my sister’s wedding will be August 9th and I don’t want to take focus off her big day. Keep following my wedding journey with updates here every week, I’m sure it will be super interesting. I’ll try not to be a bridezilla!

“I’m engaged, I’m engaged, I’m engaged!” were the words I was screaming into the phone when I told my mom that my boyfriend of 3+ years had finally proposed! Now I am embarking on one of the biggest adventures of my life and am thrilled to be sharing my experience (maybe even help future brides). First I want to give you a little insight into our story…

Andy and I both attended Albright College, but it would take four years before really ever talking to each other. An Albright homecoming tradition is for the fraternities and sororities to pair up for the whole week and participate in activities together. This year was Alpha Sigma Phis (Andy’s frat) and Alpha Delta Pi (my sorority) to celebrate together and boy did we! One of the coveted activities is a dance competition held on Friday and we all wanted to take the title. As luck would have it our routine consisted of partner work and guess who I choose to be my partner,the best looking one (I may be a little bias here), Andy! We clicked right off the bat. He was so sweet, genuine, and above all hilarious, I should have known I’d fall hard for this one. He had just come out of a long term relationship and I was planning to graduate at semester so we both weren’t thinking about this being extremely serious. However, by December we had both fallen hard and couldn’t help but make it Facebook official. We had a rough first year but in the end we always came back to each other and by September of 2010 we were living together. Now here we are 3 and 1/2 years later, happier than ever. He is truly the love of my life and I couldn’t ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with.

Keep following my journey and on Friday see how Andy popped the question! I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with everyone and if I can help just one bride lighten her load then I’ve done my job. As Andy and I like to say, “Let’s go on an Adventure!”

Traditionally, couples sent announcements out after the wedding has occurred to those that weren’t invited. However, with the ever present social media, younger couples want to inform their friends and family earlier. Couples are also informing friends that they are on a waiting list and if a spot opens up they will be the first invited. Its just like making dinner reservations! This can cause animosity among friends, who then refer to themselves as “b-list” friends. My advice : Send something announcing that you were wed after your wedding date, this way they aren’t counting down the days that they will not be attending. Add this additional card to your wedding suite here at Paisley Dog Press.

Postal Worker on Saturday

Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to disburse packages six days a week, an apparent end-run around an unaccommodating Congress.

The service expects the Saturday mail cutback to begin the week of Aug. 5 and to save about $2 billion annually, said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe.

“Our financial condition is urgent,” Donahoe told a press conference.

The move accentuates one of the agency’s strong points — package delivery has increased by 14 percent since 2010, officials say, while the delivery of letters and other mail has declined with the increasing use of email and other Internet services.

Under the new plan, mail would be delivered to homes and businesses only from Monday through Friday, but would still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays. Post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open on Saturdays.

Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages — and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed to Congress to approve the move. Though an independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.

Congress has included a ban on five-day delivery in its appropriations bill. But because the federal government is now operating under a temporary spending measure, rather than an appropriations bill, Donahoe says it’s the agency’s interpretation that it can make the change itself.

“This is not like a ‘gotcha’ or anything like that,” he said. The agency is essentially asking Congress not to reimpose the ban when the spending measure expires on March 27 and he said he would work with Congress on the issue.

The agency clearly thinks it has a majority of the American public on its side regarding the change.

Postal Service market research and other research indicated that nearly 7 in 10 Americans support the switch to five-day delivery as a way for the Postal Service to reduce costs, the agency said.

“The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,” Donahoe said. “We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings.”

But the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Fredric Rolando, said the end of Saturday mail delivery is “a disastrous idea that would have a profoundly negative effect on the Postal Service and on millions of customers,” particularly businesses, rural communities, the elderly, the disabled and others who depend on Saturday delivery for commerce and communication.

He said the maneuver by Donahoe to make the change “flouts the will of Congress, as expressed annually over the past 30 years in legislation that mandates six-day delivery.”

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ranking Member Tom Coburn M.D., R-Okla., said in a joint statement that they had sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate in support of the elimination of Saturday mail.

They called it “common-sense reform”

Others agreed the Postal Service had little choice.

“If the Congress of the United States refuses to take action to save the U.S. Postal Service, then the Postal Service will have to take action on its own,” said corporate communications expert James S. O’Rourke, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame.

He said other action will be needed as well, such as shuttering smaller rural post offices and restructuring employee health care and pension costs.

“It’s unclear whether the USPS has the legislative authority to take such actions on its own, but the alternative is the status quo until it is completely cash starved,” O’Rourke said in a statement.

The Postal Service made the announcement Wednesday, more than six months before the switch, to give residential and business customers time to plan and adjust, officials said.

Donahoe said the change would mean a combination of employee reassignment and attrition and is expected to achieve cost savings of approximately $2 billion annually when fully implemented.

The agency in November reported an annual loss of a record $15.9 billion for the last budget year and forecast more red ink in 2013, capping a tumultuous year in which it was forced to default on billions in retiree health benefit prepayments to avert bankruptcy.

The financial losses for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 were more than triple the $5.1 billion loss in the previous year. Having reached its borrowing limit, the mail agency is operating with little cash on hand.

The agency’s biggest problem — and the majority of the red ink in 2012 — was not due to reduced mail flow but rather to mounting mandatory costs for future retiree health benefits, which made up $11.1 billion of the losses. Without that and other related labor expenses, the mail agency sustained an operating loss of $2.4 billion, lower than the previous year.

The health payments are a requirement imposed by Congress in 2006 that the post office set aside $55 billion in an account to cover future medical costs for retirees. The idea was to put $5.5 billion a year into the account for 10 years. That’s $5.5 billion the post office doesn’t have.

No other government agency is required to make such a payment for future medical benefits. Postal authorities wanted Congress to address the issue last year, but lawmakers finished their session without getting it done. So officials are moving ahead to accelerate their own plan for cost-cutting.

The Postal Service is in the midst of a major restructuring throughout its retail, delivery and mail processing operations. Since 2006, it has cut annual costs by about $15 billion, reduced the size of its career workforce by 193,000 or by 28 percent, and has consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations, officials say.

See the original article Here.
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