Simply Stating...

Relax and enjoy your wedding day with Simply Azure Events!  We offer day-of coordination, partial, and full service wedding planning in the Chicago suburbs. 

[simplyazureevents-blog]

What is your wedding confession?

We all have that moment, either before, or during a wedding where your heart speeds up and your hands get clammy. Whether you are a Bride or Groom, a Wedding Planner (Coordinator), caterer, florist or many others you want that day to go as smooth as possible. So, what do you do if something falls out of place? From a Wedding Planner/Coordinators point of view, you fix it as quick and nonchalantly as possible. This is the day the Groom and Bride, especially the Bride, have been waiting for. So, do you tell your clients that someone has a green tie and vest on when the colors are a royal blue? Absolutely, not! You fix it. Whether its by calling every Men's Warehouse in your location, tucking it in so it is hidden or making the decision to veto both pieces so that when the bridal part is walking or stand up during the ceremony all eyes will stay focused on the lovely couple. Remember, hopefully, there is no situation that a bobby pin, sewing kit or safety pins can't fix. And, we don’t fix and tell! 

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Take Us With You!

It is always better for your big day that your Wedding Planner (Coordinator) know as much as they can about the wedding, family, venue, traditions and you. Most packages through a Wedding Planner will have a block number of meetings or an unlimited set of meetings so, yes, sometimes that means the client has to chose wisely. Instead of making every meeting with your planner at a coffee shop, their office or your/their home try and make it at the reception site. Or, ask your planner to meet you at the floral shop or how about the church where you may get married. Doing this will help questions get answered that might not have happened while trying to have conversations in a coffee shop. So, always remember if you would like to have a meeting with your planner try to make the most out of every one of them!

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Florals, Florals, Florals!

For some it is the most hated part of getting ready for a wedding and for others it is what ties in the ceremony and reception together. Floral arrangements, are at times pricey so why not use them in as many ways as possible. If you have never been to an appointment with a florist get ready for names of flowers you may not remember, know how to pronounce and options on top of options or different arrangements. Please, please, please do not let the flowers get you down. There are many things you can do at an appointment and for the ceremony that could save you time and money.

Look before going into an appointment. If you walk into an appointment with no direction, no color swatches, pictures or even an image off of Pintrest your in and out trip has just turned into a 5 hour floral expo. BRING SOMETHING. If you do not have objects or pictures to bring, well then hey, bring your Wedding Planner. Most likely, they have been through a few before and can help ease the process through. They are another eye that has, probably, already seen your color scheme, venue site(s) and even possibly your dress. Please, don't be afraid to ask and use it as a meeting.

Also, reuse the flowers you have. After the ceremony "usually" the bridesmaids don't want to hold on to their bouquets anymore. Now, I say usually because some do want to take it home, so if you plan to take these tips please inform the bridal party to begin with. Bridesmaid bouquets can be used in formal photos but also in the reception site. After photos the flower arrangements can be given to your Wedding Planner to bring to the reception site to use as center pieces, to place on cocktail tables, to surround a gift or sweet table or to line the head table. It is an excellent way to stay on budget and reduce and reuse for both spaces.

[simplyazureevents-blog]

How cute is this topper?!

[simplyazureevents-blog]

[simplyazureevents-blog]

#richardsonwedding #simplyazureevents (at Valley Lo Club)

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Here goes nothing! #simplyazureevents #richardsonwedding #valleylo (at Valley Lo Club)

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Floral arrangements courtesy of #floralgardens! #richardsonwedding #simplyazureevents (at Valley Lo Club)

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Ready for another beautiful wedding at Valley Lo in Glenview! Flowers by Floral Gardens.

[brides]

Love this @gartnerstudios invitation? Head over to brides.com’s stationery shop to customize it and tons of other #stationery styles! / http://brid.es/TJubMI

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Checked out the BeauJolie by Victoria in Schiller Park today! It's crazy to think my mom got married here 40 years ago!

[princess-of-japan]

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Love is in the details

[sarahsookrajj]

[loop88]

Definitely one of the most clever wedding invitations we’ve encountered so far.

[simplyazureevents-blog]

New Take on Save the Dates!

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Choosing a Bridesmaid Dress

As a Planner:

Think of the mood of the wedding. Long dresses are gorgeous for formal affairs, but in a summer wedding they aren’t the most comfortable if you plan to be outside. Waiting to head to a bridal shop until you have a basic idea of what you might like, and speaking with a bridal consultant at the store can be a huge help. A consultant can share tips , has knowledge of what is common (maybe too common), what will make your bridesmaids dresses unique, offer different color solutions, or suggest going with a dress that can change to accommodate different sized women.

You may want to do some research online. I know it may seem difficult sometimes because you might see a dress the local bridal shop may not carry, or you see too much of the same type of dress. Here are some of the things you should consider before visiting a bridal shop: length, color, material, shape, and what will make your bridal party look and feel great.

As a Bride:

I did take the approach above and had huge success with it. When I was shopping for my wedding dress, I took just a few minutes to look around the shop to see what they offered. I took pictures of a few I liked. I specifically was looking for something a little more unique and something with a little shape to it. I also like the idea of using two different fabrics, such as chiffon and a satin. This was something that was suggested to me by a consultant and I loved the idea. By making even that one decision, it helped narrow the choices. I picked my favorite two and posted the pictures to a group chat with my brides maids. Overall, I think it helped to have some control over the selection process by already having styles picked out. When it came time to meet up and pick out the infamous dress, the process was smooth. You can have two girls of different shapes try on one dress and do the same with the other choice. This way you can see what both dresses look like on different sizes. Within 10 minutes the girls had chosen the dress with not one disagreement. Complete success in my eyes!

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Planning Early

Is it always better to plan your wedding early? As a Bride: It’s kind of hard not to want to plan everything out right away. Or, on the contrary, you might not know exactly what to plan. Sure, there are the big things like the venue, photographer and the DJ, but what about the bridesmaids gifts, parents gifts, linens, etc.? There are lots of resources out there that you can look to. For instance, I know that any Chicago Style Weddings magazine you buy at the local drugstore will have a countdown to the wedding. This year its page 48. This will breakdown what will need to be done and at what time. That way you will always have something to look forward to and to focus on. If you are someone who seems to run behind more often than not, then this won’t be enough time for you. Most of these things are suggested at the perfect time and if you wait too long after the suggested time, then you might not have as many options open. As a Planner: If you have planner qualities in you, then you will find yourself way ahead of schedule booking dates, sending payments, and locking in ideas. I have to admit that I had my wedding planned in two weeks…. back in September of 2013…13 months before the wedding! That’s kind of crazy, right? I have people ask me all the time, “How’s the planning?”. I almost regret to tell them that it’s all done. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way I planned my wedding but it sure makes the remaining months seem pretty boring. For me, I knew what I wanted and I knew who to get it from. However, what if you change your mind on something? What if you decide on different colors or find a better bridesmaid dress? I would say that if you catch it far in advance most vendors would work with you to accommodate your wants. If you wait too long than you might have to compromise. I say the best way is to spread out the planning – make your engagement fun and worth it. That way the wait won’t seem so long. Also, another way to think of it is that by spreading out the planning process, the spending aspect of it doesn’t seem as bad. PRO TIP: If you are planning on getting married on a holiday, the sooner the planning – the better! Venues and services book fast on holidays.

[simplyazureevents-blog]

Including the Mr. in Wedding Planning

As you can imagine, when it comes to planning my own wedding and being a wedding planner, the ideas come fast and they come bold. As I see pictures, I’ve been filing them away and keeping in mind which vendors I would like to hire to complete the project. I pretty much had our wedding planned in two weeks.

As a Bride:

It is very easy to get carried away. Any bridal magazine you open or Pinterest board you search, is filled with a million ideas. As a bride, isn’t it your special day? Traditionally, the bride’s family funds the wedding so choosing to do what ever you want only seems ideal, right? It’s not common, but what if you have a groom who wants to get involved? How do you handle it?

As a Planner:

It is very easy to get carried away. Did you catch that? As a bride and a planner, this wedding has been very easy for me to create, make decisions, and run with ideas. I guess it started to become obvious when I would say “for my wedding…” or “we are doing this….” to Adam, that he had realized he had not had a say in many of the decisions. I would respond with, “C’mon, I’m a planner – this is what I do!” I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t trust me with the decisions.

To include him, I asked for help with projects that I knew I wouldn’t be emotionally attached to. Now, this will change couple to couple but here are a few ideas.

Let the groom choose:

*a limo company *a honeymoon destination *the flavor of the cake *which two kinds of entrees to taste from *the late night snack *his own gifts to his wedding party *a gift to his parents There are a lot of different options. Just make sure he feels important and included. You will have plenty of your own choices to make. You can’t have the Mrs. without the Mr.!