How to register for your Wedding!

Recently engaged and onto the registering phase? Unsure what to register for? Every couple needs the core essentials for their new lifelong partnership, so we’ve compiled a rough guideline to help you choose what yours will be.

What you already have. First and foremost, you need to sit down and take notes about what you already have. Everything that will be joining you and your partner in your new home will not need to be replicated, so make sure you’re accounting for all your dishes, towels, and that fancy Kitchenette mixer that you haven’t taken out since last winter. You want to utilize the free gift phase by only asking for the items you don’t have yet. This is easier if you already live together because you can go through what you both have instead of what you both have individually. If you won’t be moving in together until after you say “I do,” you should make decisions about what stays and what goes as you compile your belongings together before registering for anything new.

Extracurricular Activities/Hobbies. Take into consideration what lifestyle you and your partner lead. What are you two into? Do you both love to cook and/or bake? Do you love the outdoors and go on a lot of hiking and camping trips? Ask for items that you can use for the activities that you love to do on a regular basis. I say “on a regular basis,” because you need to be registering for items that you know you will utilize. If you already host parties, and you know that you’ll be hosting a lot of parties in the future for example, ask for dishes that you know you will be utilizing frequently, and legitimately need. If you start asking for items because you want to try a new hobby, you may not stick with it and be left with something expensive that a family member or friend bought for you that is now just taking up space in your home.

Location. Think about where it is you two will be living after you’re married, regardless of whether or not you’re already living there. What will be useful? Will you be living in the mountains and in need of warm blankets? Think about what will be useful in your home.

Living space. How much space you’ll be living in plays a big factor in how much and what you’ll be asking for as well. If you’ll be living in a small apartment, there’s no need to request large baking items that will take up a lot of counter space. If you’ll be living in a large house where counter space is abundant, then go for it! Make sure the items you’ll be registering for aren’t going to overload your space.

Future goals. Will you two be moving somewhere new or staying around your current location after your wedding? Will you be scaling down or ramping up? Aim to ask for items that will contribute to future plans with your person. Anything that doesn’t seem necessary probably isn’t, and items that you know you’ll need are most important.

Don’t take advantage of the power. Registering for a wedding can feel like you’re creating your best birthday list yet; but that’s not the case. These should only be items that you and your partner need, that will ultimately make the best contribution to your life together. Don’t take advantage of your friends and family by asking for anything you want just because you want it. On that note, don’t ask for items that are unreasonably priced either. You want this to be fun for those you love, not stressful.

Before you do any registering, these are the types of things you’ll need to consider to create a successful wedding registry. If you don’t want to create a registry at all, tune into our blog on Thursday to discover some great alternative ideas!  

What happens if you have to postpone or cancel your wedding?

Disclaimer: I debated if I should even write about this topic because I didn’t want to cause any of my brides or any couples to panic and question if they should postpone their weddings due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which is already prompting anxiety, and in many cases, a “wait and see” approach. However I felt like the elephant in the room needed to be addressed.

With Seattle being at the U.S. epicenter of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) couples planning on getting married over the next few months could be facing uncertainty about their wedding and have to think about if they should postpone or keep their wedding as scheduled. We are here to tell you not to panic and not to make any rash decisions when it comes to your wedding day.

Besides staying calm, what we are telling our couples is just to stay on top of the news and take proper steps to ensure they stay healthy. What we are doing as Seattle Wedding Planners is checking in regularly with our venues and vendors to see if they are still doing business as usual. We’ve already had conversations with our venues and asked about contingency plans if they have to close due to the outbreak and how that would impact our couple(s).

If for some reason your venue and/or vendors decides to shut down operations due to the Coronavirus and cancels on your, have a back up plan already in place so you won’t add any unwanted stress onto your plate.

We then reached out to our vendors who provide wedding insurance and they stated their policies do not cover global pandemics, so in case you haven’t purchased wedding insurance but were thinking about it, just be informed what your policy does and doesn’t cover.

If a couple is really contemplating postponing their wedding, here are some important things they should know before making the call.

1. Understand the full gravity of your decision. More than likely you will not receive any money back from your venue/vendors and you may still be responsible for any final balances depending on when you actually postpone your wedding. If you think about rescheduling for a later date or for next year, check with your venue/vendors to see if they will honor what monies have already been paid so far.

2. Let your wedding guests know ASAP if you are postponing/cancelling especially if you have guests flying in and have hotel accommodations so they can try and cancel their travel plans. We suggest calling and/or emailing your guests and posting an update on your wedding website.

3. Communicate with all of your vendors of your decision and plan the next course of action.

At the end of the day here is our official message: We are monitoring the situation “day by day” and advising our couples at this stage to look into their vendor contracts to assess their policies around postponement and cancellation. 

To Pin or Not to Pin!

Pinterest can be a very important planning tool only if you use it correctly so you don’t overwhelm yourself or set yourself up for unrealistic expectations.

When I first start working with couples, I always ask to see their Pinterest wedding board to start to understand their wedding vision but then I go one step further. I have them re-look at their board and comment on every photo about what they like about that Pin and then decide if it stays or go. Could it be the overall look, a style of flower, color, etc. I want to know what inspires them about that Pin. So often wedding boards are filled with conflicting ideas, styles and over their budget so it can be hard to decipher what they exactly want their wedding to look like.

I suggest creating separate boards for each segment of your wedding (wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, invitations, tabletop, decor and flowers). Then I recommend taking your favorite Pin from each of those boards and putting then in to your Master Wedding Vision Board for more of a cohesive concept.

Most importantly the key is to manage your Pinterest Wedding Expectations. What I mean is looking at your Pins are from a Styled Shoot or a Real Wedding. A good rule of thumb is to click on the link for the Pin and see how they achieved that look and how you can adapt to your wedding that works with your budget.

Now go and look back at your Boards and see if you have a clear vision anyone looking at it can decipher.

Happy Pinning!