How do I create a timeline for my wedding day?

January 28, 2014 By

How to Create a Timeline for Your Wedding DaySo, you have everything planned for your wedding day. The bridesmaids have their altered dresses, you’ve finalized your contracts with your vendors, and you’re making your final wedding check list. What is left to do?

Well, whenever I am doing day-of wedding coordination for a couple, one of the most important things that I do prior to their wedding day is create a timeline. This is a comprehensive, one-pager that is the guide to the who, what, when, and where for their big day.

Once I’ve created the wedding time line and all of the details are ironed out, I’ll distribute copies to the couple, their wedding vendors, and the wedding party. It helps to make sure that everyone is on the same page, and it helps me to do a much better job because I just need to fold up that one piece of paper and stick it in my dress pocket. (I keep all of the detailed wedding documents handy in a folder, but this way I don’t have to carry it with me everywhere.)

Up until a few months ago, I had always written out the wedding timeline by hand while I was at my initial meeting with my couple. Then, duh, I realized it would be so much easier for me to turn it into a form. That would have to be one of the best things I ever did! And, I’m going to share my Wedding Timeline Worksheet with you! [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Coordination, Wedding Reception

ABCs for a Wedding Ceremony With Children

January 23, 2014 By

ABCs for Ceremony with ChildrenAre you planning to have children in your wedding ceremony? If so, this post is for you! Earlier this week, I had written about my Best Tips for Having Children in You Wedding, which covered things to consider when deciding which children will be in your wedding and how to best prepare for the wedding day. In this post, we’ll talk about the actual plan for the ceremony itself.

Whenever I am doing day-of wedding coordination for a bride who will have a flower girl or ring bearer, I always ask them to come up with their ABC Plan for the ceremony. This is actual a series of plans, A through C (and also D). This way the bride and groom, wedding party, and parents of the children in the wedding party all know what will happen depending on different situations with the little ones.

Plan A

This is the ideal plan for the wedding ceremony. With this plan, the child who is a member of the wedding party is having a wonderful day and is excited about doing their part. They are cool with lining up with the wedding party, they walk down the aisle nicely, and they stand up at the front the whole time. This is the plan that you go over during the wedding rehearsal and prep the child for prior to the rehearsal. [Read more…]

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A Review of the Best Wedding Planners in Greenville, SC

January 21, 2014 By

Review of Best Wedding Planners Greenville SCAre you interested in finding a wedding planner to help you take care of planning all of the details for your wedding in Greenville, SC? As a day-of wedding coordinator, I totally understand that some brides desire to have a full-out wedding planner to assist them with their big day. Since I prefer to focus on day-of coordination, I have no problem referring them to the right person.

(Wondering what the difference is between a planner and a day-of coordinator? Check out this post.)

Below is my list for the best wedding planners in Greenville, SC. Please note that this may not be an exhaustive list (there could be someone who is a great planner that I just haven’t met yet), but if you were to ask wedding professionals all over Upstate South Carolina what their recommendations would be, I can guarantee that this list would pretty much sum up the results. Here they are, in alphabetical order.

So, who are the Best Wedding Planners in Greenville, SC? [Read more…]

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Best Tips for Having Children in Your Wedding

January 19, 2014 By

Tips for Children in WeddingMany brides, when they picture their ideal ceremony, have a mental image of a precious flower girl and/or ring bearer walking down the aisle ahead of them. Or, sometimes, they just have family members who expect their children to be a part of the wedding. 😉 Either way, if you are planning a ceremony that children will be a part of, I have some tips for making it a good experience for everyone.

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer Selection

That section title makes it sound like you have a wide variety of options when choosing who will be a flower girl or ring bearer, but typically it ends up being based on who you or your fiance is related to under the age of eight. I understand that this decision, along with any others made regarding your wedding party, is based on what you have in mind for your ceremony, family and friend expectations, and, typically, an effort to make everyone happy.

Most of the time, whoever you pick to play these parts in your ceremony will be a perfect fit for the job, but there are a few things you need to take into consideration: [Read more…]

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Top 5 Awkward (But Totally Normal) Moments at Recent Weddings

January 17, 2014 By

Wedding HumorHappy Friday everyone! In the spirit of sticking to my Birthday Resolution, I’m making sure that I’m keeping up with my blog posts on here. Things have been a bit busier this week that expected (I’ve book three brides in the past few days!), but I’m certainly not complaining. However, I am going to save my wedding tips post for this weekend when I have more time to fully explain it. Instead I present to you:

My Top 5 Slightly Awkward (But Totally Normal for a Wedding Coordinator) Moments from Recent Weddings

#5 – A few months ago I had the sweetest ring bearer ever in a wedding that I was coordinating. I’m thinking one of the reasons he was so sweet is that he was full of sugar! He had learned quickly that the Old Cigar Warehouse keeps bowls of mints on all of their restroom counters, and he was hooked! Just before sending him out for the ceremony, I decided to ask him if he had any mints that I could hold on to for later. He proceeded to empty about 10 from his pockets. Then the little dude handed me the one from his mouth. Haha. Better than having him walk down the aisle with it! [Read more…]

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Who needs New Years Resolutions….

January 15, 2014 By

When you can have birthday resolutions instead!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Mine was filled with lots of family gathering time and several weddings, too! Now that things have calmed down a bit, I’m ready to re-focus on blogging here at Love This Little City. I’ve been keeping a running list of topics that I would love to share with you (and now I have time!).

Oh, and I have another cool thing to share with all of you brides who are still working on your table and linen choices. Back in early December, my sweet boyfriend, Jon, was nice enough to act as the photographer for this epic, 7-hour-long photoshoot that we did showcasing the different table sizes and linen sizes that you have to choose from. It’s going to show you exactly what everything would look like with this size table and that size linen. It’s going to come in handy, promise. That will be posted soon!

I’m also working with a few wedding vendors in the Greenville area on guest posts where they’ll share their knowledge and tell you how to make your big day even better!

And back to the birthday resolutions… I just celebrated by 29th birthday a few days ago, and since it’s so close to New Years, I always hold off on the resolutions for a little while since two weeks really don’t make that much of a difference. My Birthday Resolution this year is to carve off some more time to continue to build this blog, all while still helping my brides through my day-of wedding coordination services. No biggie, I got this!

Finally, I will leave you with this fabulous (slightly grainy, because The Lazy Goat is too dark for photos) picture from my birthday dinner. Fried goat cheese with honey and pistachio dust is my favorite!

Lazy Goat Fried Goat Cheese

Keeping check back in! Happy Wedding Planning!

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Top 5 Most Frequently Forgotten Wedding Reception Items

November 29, 2013 By

Most Frequently Forgotten Reception ItemsWe all know that there are so many things that go into planning and pulling off a wedding reception.

You have your caterer, your florist, your cake, a place for the gifts to go, your seating chart/seating cards/sign letting people know they can sit wherever, a place for the guest book…and many other little things that you didn’t realize you were going to have to think about when you starting the whole planning process.

Throughout my time as a day of wedding coordinator, I’ve started to notice a trend of the top things that are mostly likely to be overlooked when planning a reception.

For the weddings that I help with, I’ve started mentioning these items specifically in my workbook that all of my brides complete. Also, if the item is small enough, I’ve just started keeping a back up in my emergency kit that I carry with me to every wedding.

These are all things that you can kind of wing, maybe, but it certainly isn’t ideal at all. Don’t be the bride that has to pick one of these up at the last minute. Check out the list below, and plan ahead!

Top 5 Most Frequently Forgotten Wedding Reception Items [Read more…]

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Small Wedding Planning Break: Rustic Pie Twists with Pumpkin Butter

November 25, 2013 By

So, I have a brand new wedding blog, and I’m already taking a break from talking about wedding planning! But really, it all ties in together. Every once in a while you a need a break and a sweet treat, or you need to make something to take somewhere that looks pretty but it really easy to make. Rustic Pie Twists are the way to go for both!

I’ve been following Emily over at The Freckled Fox for a while, and when I saw her post this recipe I knew I was going to have to try it. So, tonight after working on some wedding timelines, I took a timeout and made a batch of these sweet little things to send up to Burlington, NC with my family for Thanksgiving (since I’ll be staying down in Greenville).

Baker's Secret & Pumpkin ButterEmily made hers with raspberry preserves and a lemon glaze topping. Since mine needed to be Thanksgiving-inspired (and even faster than this super easy recipe already was), I swapped some things out. Instead, I used Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter and topped it with a simple sprinkle of Baker’s Secret from The Spice & Tea Exchange (they just opened one on Main Street, go check it out).

Another small adjustment that I made was to place mine on parchment paper before baking, that way I didn’t have to worry about anything sticking or having to scrub baked-on pumpkin butter off of my cookie sheet. [Read more…]

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What is the difference between a Wedding Planner and a Day of Wedding Coordinator?

November 21, 2013 By

What's the Difference Between a Wedding Planner and a Day-of CoordinatorWhen you begin planning your wedding, you’ll start looking for vendors, checking out Pinterest for ideas, and making mental notes about all of the things you want to make sure are perfect on your wedding day.

Mostly likely, with all of those beautiful ideas and detailed check lists, you will soon come to the realization that you will not be able to do it all on your own. Even though you could plan everything to be just the way that you always imagined, in order for you to be able to enjoy and be fully present for your wedding, you’re going to need a little help.

That help could come in the form of an incredible friend (preferably not a part of your wedding party, they’ll be a bit tied up), but sometimes you’ll seek assistance from a wedding professional.

In this post I’ll go over what the differences are between a wedding planner, a day of coordinator, a wedding director, a venue coordinator, and an event designer. This will help you determine who you will need to seek out for your wedding team based on what you need as a bride.

What does a Wedding Planner do? [Read more…]
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The First Love This Little City Post!

November 18, 2013 By

Thank you for visiting!

Love This Little City is a wedding blog created with Greenville, SC brides in mind. Are you looking for a perfect wedding venue or the best caterer in town? How about advice on how to create your wedding timeline, make sure all of your decor is taken care of, or have the perfect sparkler send off? Those are all examples of topics that I’ll cover on LoveThisLittleCity.com. Keep checking back in while you work through the planning for your big day, new posts are added weekly. Oh, and have a specific question in mind? Email it over, and it might just be the next topic I cover!

In case you would like to learn more about me and the Day of Wedding Coordination services that I offer, you can check out my About Page or my Services Page.

Happy Wedding Planning!

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