Another tip...

So I feel very inadequate as it seems like I haven’t blogged if forever. Please forgive me as I have been out of town (finally a vacation!!!) and have been enjoying the beginning of what seems like wedding madness here! It’s been great!

Last week I went to visit my brother in central Conneticut and from there we took a trip to New York City. This Midwestern girl loved it! It was my first time there and I couldn’t get over the ongoing crazy vibe from the City. For someone who has self-diagnosed herself with A.D.D. this place even made me overwhelmed!

While I was there I couldn’t help but think of all the different ethnicities, personalities, mentalities, and ways of life there were and of course this lead into bridal thoughts.

If I was a crazy New Yorker how the heck would I get everything done if I was planning a wedding! Then I thought…you don’t need to be a New Yorker because there are PLENTY of people here in Milwaukee, or any other town that are just as busy.

When planning a wedding, no matter how busy you are, it comes down to a few things…..
Find a venue for the ceremony and reception.
DO THIS FIRST!!!

Just remember that you can’t have a wedding without a place to have it at. Once you find this, everything will fall into place. From here you will be lead to catering or other food options. You will have an idea of how you want your florist to arrange the décor once you have a picture of a place in your mind.

For those of you who are simply very busy here is a secret for you: Your venue and caterer will do almost everything for you if you ask nicely! Your caterer should be more than just food! Here at the War Memorial we have a WONDERFUL list of caterers who always go above and beyond with helping out the bride and groom. They are a great resource!

When you pick a venue the person there usually has a lot of great referrals. Your venue manager as well as any caterer has seen A LOT of weddings and know which vendors work well with individuals or crowds. It never hurts to ask for a list of suggested vendors from your venue or caterer.

Any other thoughts or tips on this?

Grooming the Groomsmen

Your wedding day is coming up and you are making final preparations. You and your bridesmaids are going to go and get manicures and pedicures the day before your wedding and the day of the wedding you will be pampered with getting your hair and makeup done…maybe even a massage.
But what about the groom?

Yes many of our lovely grooms are manly and rugged and do not feel the need to be pampered on their special day….or so they say. I believe, that deep down inside they want to be treated just like their bride does. So where does one go for such an affair in Milwaukee?

I came across this place called Groom For Men. It is known as Milwaukee’s premier male hair salon. Their website is great because it gives a list of prices for their services, however there wasn’t much about weddings packages so I gave them a call.
A delightful lady answered the phone and told me that they definitely do have wedding packages for the grooms and groomsmen. On the Saturday or whatever day your wedding is, they will close down the shop except for your party only. They have a great hospitality lounge that will have food and drink of your choice in there. The price was definitely reasonable. While relaxing the men can get waxed, shaved, a man mani and pedi, haircut, or anything else from their extensive list of services.

This could be a great gift to give your grooms to help relieve all the stress of a wedding! It would also be a great groomsmen gift as well!

Check out the website!


Has anyone had any experience with something like this?

Stress Reliever

So are any of you brides just done with planning your wedding right now. The drama has come and gone, the food has been picked out, your dress has been altered, reception card have been counted … except for a couple of your fiancé’s friends that you know you just are never going to receive them.

Now all you are waiting for is for your wedding day to be here so you can enjoy the party and be on your way to the relaxing honeymoon.


So many of us have been there before and know this exact feeling.


Stress management can be maintained in so many different ways. I specifically remember how I handled it for my wedding. Some people will run, some will work out, some will eat, some will just zone out….I on the other hand, played penguin baseball. My all time high score was 612 (it must have been a bad day) Anyways, I just thought I would share this with you in case it is helpful to relieve some stress and get re-excited about all the wedding planning!
Enjoy!

Reasonable Bridesmaid Gowns!

Thanks to twitter once more…I have come across a GREAT website for those brides who are having trouble finding reasonable priced bridesmaids gowns. If you go to the website: http://www.cocomyles.com/ you will be pleasantly surprised with being able to create your own unique bridesmaids dress! You are able to choose the style, color, sash color, material, and even what kind of beading you want.
…and the best part…it’s almost impossible to have each dress be more than $200! AND THERE IS FREE SHIPPING!!!!!

I tried to paste a couple of pictures of dresses that I created, but this website is so hacker safe that I couldn't get it on my blog.

One thing that you always have to consider when buying from online is if you are really getting the quality that you pay for. Coco Myles has some great testimonials and is the 2009 winner of Wedding Wire's Bridal Choice Awards, which give it some credibility. However, I went online and searched for other reviews on them and read nothing but great things, so I definitely would consider this for a bridesmaid gown alternative.

Maybe take a look at the site and if nothing else just have fun designing a dress!

Wedding Insurance???

I have entered the crazy world of Twitter. I haven’t become twitter obsessed yet but check it often (you can follow me at www.twitter.com/binksbrides). I am following a bunch of people in the wedding industry world and am finding out so much new and interesting things…for example: did you know that you can get wedding insurance?
Yes Sir/Ma’am it’s true! You can insure your wedding for bad weather, venue or vendor cancellations and in case you are just not sure if you actually want to marry your fiancé and call off the wedding (which we hope is not the case).

I went to this website: http://www.wedsafe.com/ and did a quote. I said I was going to have 160 people attending the wedding, and I wanted the cheapest wedding insurance that had alcohol coverage. It would cost me $239 for wedding insurance for one day. This is with a $500.000 coverage amount. Now I am no insurance expert…but I think that if I was to cancel my “wedding” with having wedding insurance I would receive around $15,000 in compensation back.
The nice thing about this website is that it give you a really quick quote.

So…for those of you who are interested or just merely curious check out the wedsafe website

Nut and Bolt Wedding Rings

I’m not sure what to even write about with this…nut and bolt wedding ring….is this the newest trend? Should I trade my and my husbands ring in for a pair of these babies?

I will admit that these unique wedding bands are not my cup of tea…but hey, what I have learned is that it takes all kinds to make this world go around!

So if you want a unique wedding band for you and the fiancé…try looking into these! Apparently they are perfectly matched for each other!

Check out the website...it will give you all different unique do-it-yourself ring ideas:-) Enjoy!

What are your thoughts on this?

This is the view from my office. Pretty rough isn’t it…I’m not trying to brag but more promote how beautiful it is here at the War Memorial!
With Lake Michigan looking the way it was today I had to go outside and take some pictures. I thought that it would be a nice touch, especially for my out-of-town brides to see some different views on how your ceremony can be held here.

This is the most common view…straight out facing the lake. It’s nice of course of with the beautiful backdrop but you also get a little green from the nicely kept Veterans Park.

Or you can have your ceremony facing the southeast corner. This will give you mostly the lake view.

Another alternative is to have your ceremony underneath the overhang. You still get a glimpse of the lake but also the exquisite architect of the Milwaukee Art Museum behind you. This is also nice if you want to be in the shade or for inclement weather.

Anyway that your ceremony is facing, with a backdrop like this it will be amazing!