A stunning wedding at Willows Lodge right in the heart of wine country here in Washington. Woodinville, Washington.
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bride
Kelly and Mathias' Ceremony took place at Parsons garden, in Queen Anne. The Reception took place at the famous Edgewater hotel. Kerry Park
Weddings are a celebration of life, of love, and of two families becoming one. These celebrations are for the bride & groom, their families, friends, and relatives, and brides are increasingly thinking about 'how can I entertain my guest's at the reception'. There are many options out there, but one of the most popular, and in my option the best, are photo booths. I recently got to chat with a fellow business owner here in Seattle about why every bride should have a photo booth at their wedding. Nicolette with Photo Booths by Nicolette is an incredible resource for brides, and well, just fun! So, here goes the amazing 5 reasons that you SHOULD have a photo booth at your wedding!
1. They’re FUN!
Photo booths provide memorable entertainment for your guests. It’s the perfect break between dance songs, and a great activity for guests to do during a cocktail hour while you are finishing up your formal portraits. Friends and family of all ages will enjoy getting their pictures taken in a relaxed, fun-filled way!
2. Personalized Wedding Favors
Photo booth prints are the perfect personalized wedding favor. Your guests will keep their prints for years to come and remember how much fun they had at your wedding. You can personalize prints with your name, wedding date, a special message for your guests, plus colors, fonts and graphics to match your unique wedding theme.
3. Preserve Memories
You and your guests can close the curtain and let loose your inner child for images that would not regularly be captured in your formal wedding photography. Add props to add inspire creativity in your guests! You can also purchase a guest scrapbook to take home at the end of your reception that includes copies of the photo booth prints with handwritten messages from your guests. Online galleries provide free guest downloads and make it easy to share their images online via e-mail or social network sites. A disc of digital image files is also available for reprints and archival purposes.
4. Flexibility to Meet Your Unique Wedding Needs
Photo Booths by Nicolette are flexible to accommodate larger groups of guests with either a black curtain or open air setup. Our black curtain stand-up booth can comfortably fit 5-6 people per session. Choose an open air setup if you’d like to feature a great view of your venue in your images. Custom backdrops can also be ordered. Our booths feature a touchscreen interface so guests have control over when their pictures begin, and even whether their instant prints will come in color or black and white. Our booth features constant lighting so there is no distracting flash, and a live view screen so you can see exactly what your photo will look like. Guests take four pictures per session, and there is no limit to the number of sessions during your service period. A convenient countdown allows guests to get ready for their next pose and change up their props!
5. It’s More Affordable Than You Think
With monthly specials and photography packages available from Photo Booths By Nicolette, a photo booth for your reception is more affordable than you think. For a limited time, I am offering up to 3 hours of service with basic prints and a professional attendant for only $450.00! Contact Nicolette today for availability at (360) 463-9731 or photobooths@bynicolette.com!
By Nicolette Oliver, Photo Booths by Nicolette (http://photobooths.bynicolette.com)
I am a small business, yes, I am a Seattle area local, and brides who focus on having a local, sustainable, and green wedding are near and dear to my heart. 'Keeping it Local' with Your Wedding Registry is a really cool resource for brides, and is a wonderful new trend that is here to stay. Gina Grappone, Nearby Registry is my amazing guest star on the blog this week, and she has some really amazing points on keeping it local.
Buying local is a trend that’s here to stay. As more people learn about the benefits local shopping brings to the economy, the more we turn to these shops and services to meet our retail and service needs. Couples planning weddings are great supporters of these independent businesses. They hire local photographers, caterers, DJ, and other professionals from their own cities and towns. But there’s an additional way to get your local fix while planning your wedding—through your gift registry.
Newlyweds Chelsea and Yoon express what many couples feel when creating their wedding registries:
The thought of getting gifts meant to help you launch your life together as a couple is exciting, but then you find yourself roaming the aisles of a big box store using one of those scanner devices to tag a set of crème brulée ramekins you never before imagined using.
Chelsea and Yoon created their registry on Nearby Registry, www.nearbyregistry.com, a free gift registry service that includes only independent businesses: “It was so nice to have a place where we could list items that we really wanted from stores we knew and loved, on one personalized registry page.”
Building your gift registry with items from independent retailers, services and non-profits is good for the local economy, and it’s great for you! Instead of those ramekins, you can pick out products and experiences that are meaningful, useful and unique. Here are five great ideas for your personalized local registry:
1. Exercise classes for couples (yoga, taekwando, kickboxing, etc.)
2. Annual museum pass for two
3. Cookware and cooking classes from a local kitchen shop
4. Organic produce delivery
5. Donations to your favorite local charities
Sound fun? With a local registry, the sky’s the limit. Just think about what you love and what matters to you! Take it from Sarah and Ryan, who are using a local registry for their upcoming wedding: "It's so much more about who we are than just a set of plates from a big box store. This is about what we do and what we value."
For information about creating your own local registry, contact Gina at (206) 450-2766 or happytohelp@nearbyregistry.com
Brides ask me 'What am I forgetting?'. Well if you've got the dress, the rings, and the soon to be husband, you have got everything you need to tie the knot. Although, if this is all you have prepared, the day could be a little bumpy. I have chatted with many industry leaders, and I have picked up a few tips over the years.
I recently got to work with an incredible planner on a wonderful wedding this past season. The wedding was set along the beautiful Puget Sound, in Des Moines, Washington, which is a just a hop, skip & a jump from downtown Seattle. Janis with Greatest of Day's Event Planning & Design put together incredible day. Janis has an eye for details, and a pen that is mightier than the sword. Here are her tips & tricks that you most likely have completely forgotten about on your wedding day.
I'll Bet You Didn't Think of These People as Wedding Vendors! Think Again!
1. Pet Sitters:
(Somebody has to take care of Fido and Felix) This last year I had I don't know how many people show up at weddings with their dogs. It's okay if they are planned for, but some people just assume that they can bring a dog along without thinking even once. Not compatible in so many ways and I love dogs! This little dog that's pictured was perfectly welcome. His Mom and Dad were getting married! He didn't make it to ringbearer status, but he was so sweet. He had to dive into the pond just before the wedding!
2. Childcare:
(Somebody has to take care of the munchkins, sometimes on site)
3. Cleanup:
(the ones that thanklessly help clients get their deposit back). I'll tell you right now that anyone who thinks that being an Event/Wedding Coordinator is glamorous should follow me after the reception is over and the vendors and guests are long gone and I'm working on the 16th hour on my feet. You would have oh so much fun pouring out wine glasses, beer bottles (which might be anywhere at the venue), gathering unwanted cutesy or half-eaten favors, flowers, finding forgotten shoes, sweaters, and other stuff of a grosser variety. Vendors seldom, but occasionally will leave items behind, but that's because they're sober and worn out. Sometimes it's getting down on your hands and knees with a lint roller because glitter got on the carpet and the venue rules stated absolutely no glitter! This is similar to removing rose petals from the floor right after the ceremony so that they won't stain the flooring if everyone danced on them. The sad part is that this is often the scenario that was supposed to include a volunteer army of helpers who were going to do all of this after-party clean up! Sure! When I hear someone say our friend will do this or our friend will do that, I prepare for disaster. What disgusts me is when a group will leave a mess and decide it's worth it to just pay the deposit and not clean up.
What's better yet is when the venue requires that all trash be removed. Inevitably there will be a time when I get to go home in a car at 1:00 in the morning with a car that smells like alcohol, if I didn't have room in the trunk for everything. By then, I can't guarantee I could walk a straight line without even consuming alcohol. I'm also changing my contract and putting a time limit on retrieval of items left behind or they are gone and lost forever or I'm changing my name to something with storage unit in it or Greatest of Garbage Collection Days! I'm this close to adding that a professional clean up crew will be hired at venues that are totally self-serve. I think it's the only think I truly don't like about being an Event/Wedding Coordinator, but sometimes somebody's got to do it.
But guess what... 99% of the time I love what I get to do! How many people can say that? When asked if I could do anything that I wanted and what would it be, I tell them that I am doing it!
Thanks to Janis Flagg with Greatest of Day's Event Planning & Design for the wonderful article. You can click here to check out other wonderful planning articles on her website.
xo
Love Caren
Alyssa & Benjamin are a beautiful couple, and their story is absolutley incredible. They documented their engagment, and life over the past year on this special blog. On the day of their wedding my day usually starts out very early, and this day was wonderful as I took the Whidbey Island ferry and enjoyed the beautiful views in the Pacific Northwest. When I arrived at Bible Baptist Church they girls were a flutter with excitement, and so was the groom. One of my favorite moments of the day was the first kiss, because of their commitment, and virtue this was actually their first kiss, and what a beautiful moment to be a part of. Thank-you for having me as a part of your incredible day, I can not wait to see what life has in store you love birds. xo
