How many bridesmaids/groomsmen do I need?

"How many bridesmaids/groomsmen do I need?"

For very informal wedding, obviously you don't need any bridesmaids or groomsmen. I have been to and coordinated weddings with just the maid of honor and the bestman.

Personally I always encourage couples to choose only those who are really close to them to be in their bridal party. The reason is simple: the more bridal party one choose to have, the more expensive it is (5 bridesmaids = 5 bouquets that one has to buy) and the more complicated it is to coordinate the outfits (dress 1 looks good on bridemaids 1 and 2 but looks horrible on bridesmaids 3-5 while dress 2 does the exact opposite) as well as their respective travel schedules.

One time a church coordinator told me she had a couple who wants to fit 24 people in the bridal party on the tiny church stage. I was thinking that perhaps they could just use the choir loft instead.

Remember bridesmaids and groomsmen spend a great deal of money (dress/tuxedo/bachelor party/bachelorette party) when they agree to be in your wedding party. They will also be in your wedding photos forever (unless you choose to cut them out which is almost impossible!!). Choose wisely is definitely the key!

If you have lots of close friends and families, instead of having to choose, it may not be a bad idea to ask people if they would rather do something else at your wedding to help out. Some people may even want to be doing something else for you but if you don't ask, you will not know.

Kingwood Resort Clayton Georgia - A Hidden Gem in Rabun County

This is the main dining room with huge chandeliers and windows.

The tables and chairs will be removed in this room to make room for dancing.

View of the wedding garden with an outdoor altar.

A closer look at the outdoor wedding altar.

This is the entrance for the bridal party to the ceremony. White wooden ceremony chairs will be provided by Kingwood Resort.

Overview of the outside of the dining room building. The outdoor deck is right underneath the big windows in this picture.

View of the Lake House with its own private pavillion.

My husband and I decided to take a spontaneous, last minute trip to view the fall foliage last weekend. Since the trip was unplanned, we did not have a hotel room booked in advance. Since it was a peak October weekend, almost every hotel we called while driving had been fully booked for the night. We thought we would have to make it a day trip until we found Kingwood Resort in Clayton, GA.

By the time we reached Kingwood Resort at 8pm, it was dark outside but I immediately noticed the dining room was well lit with its huge chandeliers hanging from the high wooden ceilings. There was actually a wedding reception going on inside. The atmosphere was so romantic I decided that I have to tour this venue the next morning.

The next day, we enjoyed breakfast (included in the $99 room rate) at the main dining room which had huge windows overlooking the golf course before taking a short venue tour with the banquet manager, Mr. Jefferson Giles. Mr. Giles showed us the wedding garden where they had built an outdoor altar. The resort provides white wooden chairs for the ceremony. They also have a rain location which is their meeting room with a fire place (very important for couples planning outdoor ceremony!).

The greatest feature of the main dining room is its original wood ceilings with huge chandeliers. Ajoining the main dining room is a room for dancing, as well as another room for setting up buffet (I did not take a picture of this room but it was quite a huge room that can provide additional seating if needed). There is also a separate bar area as well as an outside deck. The main room can accommodate 100-110 for a seated banquet. Mr. Giles said they also provide outside seating for cocktail hours or for larger events that require more seating than the main dining room. I asked him regarding the largest event size at the resort and was told they had handled a party as large as 300 guests with the use of the outdoor deck and the outdoor ceremony area.

Mr.Giles shared the wedding packages information with me and their pricing was very reasonable. The grounds at Kingwood Resort is absolutely gorgeous with many scenic spots that will make great wedding photos and Mr.Giles said they will provide golf carts to take the wedding party around for photography session.

I also see a great value in having an onsite full service spa for the wedding party although I did not have time to check out their spa service this trip. Of course, the guys maybe more interested in golf outings which can be easily arranged as well!

After checking out, we drove to the other section of the resort that consists of two- and three- bedroom condos. Although we were not able to go inside, they looked pretty nice outside. It seems to be a good accommodation choice for families and friends if you need more than a standard hotel room. There is also a lake house with its own private pavillion that is available for rent as well which can be a good choice for the bridal party to get ready. I think it has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Overall, I think Kingwood Resort is a good spot for destination wedding as Clayton, GA is only a 2 hour drive from Atlanta, GA. What a great find from an unplanned trip! Maybe I need to take more spontaneous road trips this Autumn!

Morrow Center Open House

Yesterday I had a chance to attend a special open house at Morrow Center with catering by Contemporary Catering, Inc.

This was my first time visiting this venue and it took me a while to find the place before figuring out that it was actually right next door to the Macy’s at Southlake Mall.

Morrow Center has a very large and nice ballroom with a maximum capacity of 320 people for banquet seating. It was totally different from what I expected when I was driving around the mall’s parking lot. While Morrow Center does have a few preferred caterers including Contemporary Catering, they also allow outside caterers with an extra fee and background investigations.

The food by Contemporary Catering was pretty good. They brought their favorites to share with us and I really enjoyed my dinner. The décor they supplied for the buffet tables was also very beautiful. I had a good chat with their manager about their catering services and I like the fact that they use their own employees instead of temporary agency for their service staff.

It is always nice to check out new venues and meet with new vendors! I would never have known about such a venue right next to Southlake Mall if I had not gone to the open house last night!

Professional Pictures for Katherine and Joel's Wedding

Images by Nattawut Guname Photography

Today I would like to share the professional wedding pictures from Katherine and Joel Verbist's wedding by Nattawut Guname from Nattawut Guname Photography.

Nattawut was actually the photographer for the weddings of Katherine's two sisters as well and Katherine chose to keep the great family tradition! It was a wonderful day with exceptionally good weather for a February wedding and Nattawut took some amazing shots both at the church and at the reception.

Katherine and Joel had a Catholic wedding ceremony at St. Brigid Catholic Church followed by a traditional Chinese reception at Oriental Pearl Seafood Restaurant. The wedding was full of touches from family members. The wedding program was designed by the sister of the bride. The wedding cake was made by the father of the Groom, who is a professional baker. Finally, Katherine herself created the menu card for the reception.

I had a lot of fun working with Katherine as her wedding coordinator. Congratulations to Katherine and Joel!

Photo Session for Chin-Ling and Pei-Yuan

Photo Credit: Christopher Helm Photography

I had the pleasure to work with Chin-Ling and Pei-Yuan on their wedding planning.

While the wedding ceremony will be in their home country of Taiwan this upcoming June, I helped arranged for a photo session for the couple in Conyers, GA with Christopher Helm Photography. The bride lives in Conyers, GA and that’s where the idea of a photo shoot with cherry blossoms in bloom in the background was born.

During the planning session, I gave Chin-Ling a few suggestions on the overall look but she made the final selection on her own. Instead of a very traditional bridal feel, I suggested for the couple to create a more vintage looking style for their photo session. However, I also reminded them that they still have to look like themselves, instead of someone else in their own photos.

With the help of the freelance makeup and hair stylist Su Wen and the talented photographer Christopher Helm, we got a series of great photos from the 2-hour session.

Congratulations to Chin-Ling and Pei-Yuan on the upcoming wedding!!!

A Charming Inspiration

Source of Image: Helzberg Diamonds

I had the privilege to coordinate Katherine Chiu and Joel Verbist's wedding last weekend at St. Brigid Catholic Chuarh in Alpharetta, GA. While I am still waiting for professional pictures to come in order to show you this beautiful wedding, I want to talk about a cute idea that the bride shared with me when she was getting ready at the bridal room.

Katherine's "something blue" was on her wrist that day, a bracelet with different charms that was a gift to her by Joel from Pandora. It was super cute and I wish I have a picture to show you. She also told me that different charms can be added later on which means the look of the bracelet is going to change as the years go by.

The picture shown above was actually sent to me by Helzberg Diamonds this morning. It is a series called Expressions where you can custom made your bracelet or necklace with charms that you choose.

Thanks Katherine for the charming inspiration! Congratulations to you and Joel and thanks for the opportunity to coordinate your wedding!

Highlight in Las Vegas

I am not a big fan of thrill rides but last weekend at a private event in Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, I somehow decided to take the X-Scream because it was part of the privilege offered to all the guests at the party.

The ride indeed make me scream like a crazy woman (and I had a loud voice to begin with!). Well, it was hard to content myself and stay quiet when the ride put us 27 feet over the edge of the buidling on 108 floor of the tower which is about 866 feet above the ground. I was scared to death to say the least! But I must say it was a fun ride and it was the highlight of my trip.

The ride was definitely one of a kind and for me it was a very different ride compared to all previous roller coaster rides I had been on. Will I go on the ride again? Probably not. But I will remember this ride for a very long time.

Maybe it is not possible to offer a thrill ride at your event but it is nice to plan event with a highlight in mind. It makes for a memorable event for your guests!

Winter Wedding

Picture by Kin Phan Ng: Log Cabin Church in Smyrna, GA

This winter in Atlanta has been colder than usual. It even came with a January snow storm that had the entire city going crazy for a week but also allowed beautiful pictures like the one taken above at the Log Cabin Church near my house (taken by my husband who walked from our house to the church in the snow).

We are now in February 2011 and it looks like another wintry mix is on the way. I thought it might be a good time to share a few tips on planning winter weddings.

(1) Weather

Obviously Atlanta has its share of "nice and warmer" winter days but it is best to plan for winter weather if you choose a winter wedding date.

This means having a shawl or jacket for the bride and the bridesmaids to keep the bridal party warm and plan to have pictures taken indoor by deciding in advance where you can do so at your venue.

You may also want to check with your vendors to see what is their plan in case of inclemental weather. If your vendors cannot show up, do you have a plan in mind?

Also, will you be ok if your out-of-town guests cannot make it on time to your wedding due to the weather?

I think the key here is to be mentally prepared so that you do not get too disappointed when the weather does not cooperate.

(2) Popular Wedding Dates in Winter

Despite the cold weather, there are certain popular wedding dates in winter.

For example, a lot of couples choose Valentine's Day weekend to get married. Prices for flowers tend to go up for this weekend due to the high demand so you may need to pay a higher rate or be flexible with your choice of flowers.

If you intend to plan a Chinese wedding, the weekend right before Chinese New Year is very popular too and there are only a limited number of Chinese restaurants in Atlanta that actually can accommodate a wedding banquet.

(3) Winter Discounts

On the other hand, winter months tend to be less busy for wedding professionals. If you are flexible with your wedding date, having a winter wedding can allow you to save some money.

For example, a lot of venues will lower the rental fee for winter months to fill their open dates.

Sometimes the discounts are not advertised but it does not hurt to ask the vendors.

(4) Plan around the Winter theme

If you have decided to have a winter wedding, you might as well embrace the theme.

Perhaps you can serve hot cocoa to the guests?

Use lots of candles for warmth an decoration if your venue allows.

Pick the flowers that are available in the winter months instead of paying extra for those that have to be shipped from warmer places.

With careful planning, you can have a beautiful winter wedding!

Bilingual Wedding Ceremony Planning

Recently I was asked by a bride who was planning an intercultural wedding on what language to use for the wedding ceremony.

Personally I feel that the couple should exchange the wedding vows in the language that they normally communicate to each other with because this is something special between the two people getting married. Do the guests need to understand the language of the vows to participate in this part of the ceremony? I doubt it is really necessary as most will be able to “tell” from the facial expressions what had just been exchanged between the bride and groom.

I remembered being in weddings where the translator was repeating after the pastor and the couple down to the "I do". This makes for very long and sometimes boring ceremony. In my opinion, a better alternative is to have a bilingual program for the guests to follow themselves.

Without a wedding program, you will risk losing the attention of the guests who do not know what is going on, especially if the wedding ceremony involves cultural or religious customs that the guests may not understand. Most guests want to celebrate different cultures but they can only do so if they know why certain things are done during the ceremony.

Another one of my personal favorite things to do is to choose music and readings for the ceremony in both languages if possible. This is also a great time to involve those special people in your life and let them participate in the ceremony together with you. For example, if your older aunt can only speak Chinese but your wedding is in English, wouldn't it be great if she can participate by reading a Bible passage or even a poem in Chinese during the ceremony?

Finally, if you do decide to go full translation route on everything, please be mindful of the length of the ceremony. After all, you don't really want the guests to start thinking "when is this going to end?", right?

Gabe's Downtown Catering

Source of Image: Gabe's Downtown Louisiana Bistro

On a snow day last week, I received a phone call from Michelle Pethel, the catering coordinator of Gabe's Downtown Louisiana Bistro to invite me to come out for a tasting of their food on the weekend.

While Villa Rica, GA sounded quite far, it is actually a rather pleasant drive on I-20. We drove the 26 miles from our house in Smyrna to downtown Villa Rica free of traffic on Saturday morning. There were still snow on the road side but it was quite an easy drive.

The restaurant was cozy and Michelle offered us a wide range of food for the tasting:

(1) Cajun Egg Rolls and Mini Crab Cake as appetizers
(2) Goat Cheese Salad
(3) Gumbo

(4) Lobster Bisque (served in a bread bowl)

(5) Seafood Etouffee as entree

Everything we ate was so delicious and we finished everything! Michelle told us that all the food are freshly made as the chef do not believe in using anything frozen in his cooking. They also tried to source their ingredients locally which is a huge plus!

I absolutely love the food at Gabe's Downtown! If you are looking for a caterer who can provide you with something different than a typical wedding menu, Gabe's Downtown is the place to go!

Even though they are located in West Atlanta, they do travel all around town for weddings. Please take a look at their flexible catering packages on their website which starts at $15.00 per person to $50.00 per person. I hope you don't get too hungry!

Anya Bridal Sale January 15, 2011

Source of Image: Anya Bridal

If you are still looking for your wedding gown in the Atlanta area, consider checking out Anya Bridal this coming Saturday. On January 15, 2011, the store is having a sale from 9am to 5pm with 30-80% discount.

The gowns in the store are all named after different girls' names. Shown above is Ella, one of my favorites. Maybe you can even find a gown you like in your own name?

A Blueland Wedding

Source of Image: Atlanta Thrashers

Watching ice hockey is one of my favorite things to do in winter months as far as indoor entertainment is concerned and I always try to go to a few Atlanta Thrashers games every year.

Last Thursday I went to the Atlanta Thrashers vs. Boston Bruins game at Philips Arena and I happend to be one of the 17,624 guests for the first wedding in Blueland.

Two season ticket holders for Atlanta Thrashers had decided to tie the knot during the first intermission of the game. Check out this link from the official website.

The bride was escorted to the ice rink by Thrash, the mascot for Atlanta Thrashers. Her "something blue" looked to be the Thrashers skirt she had on. The groom wore the Atlanta Thrashers jersey.

While this is definitely a non-traditional wedding and one that is not for every one, there are more traditional ways to incorporate hockey love into your wedding planning if you wish.

For example, cufflinks.com offers Atlanta Thrashers cufflinks (and other NHL teams) for the groom and/or groomsmen.

I also like the use of the hockey sticks in this Blueland wedding at the end of the ceremony to create an archway of hockey sticks during the recessional.

Of course, your guests can sign their names on the hockey stick instead of a traditional guest book.

Go on, show us your love for ice hockey!!!