Wedding Planning: OTD coordinator is a must or not?

Some brides opt to hire OTD's or On The Day coordinators to ensure that her well planned wedding day will go as scheduled. This way, the bride need not worry on other things except to look radiant and stunning. But it pays a price--a hefty price. OTDs or any other type of coordinators are expensive and I think with the economy these days, it's rather a splurge to have one than a convenience.
To make things easier for you, the bride, you can ask for volunteers from families and friends to do the OTD coordination for you. All you have to do is meet up with them and give them detailed OTD tasks and explain very well what you have in mind. Provide them with a list and a time table so they would know what to do and when to do it.

The internet is basically full of helpful tips and you should use it. Download sample excel files of OTD sheet, wedding reception program and the songs you can play during the program.

You can also save money from store bought flowergirls dresses. We at EliteDresses provides quality yet affordable flowergirl dresses. Check it out. It might be of help too.

June and July 2009 Auspicious Wedding Dates

Some couples pick auspicious day for their wedding and here are some of those dates this month and the month after :)

3 Jun Wednesday

8 Jun Monday

12 Jun Friday

19 Jun Friday

21 Jun Sunday

22 Jun Monday

23 Jun Tuesday

28 Jun Sunday

30 Jun Tuesday

2 Jul Thursday

6 Jul Monday

7 Jul Tuesday

9 Jul Thursday

12 Jul Sunday

15 Jul Wednesday

16 Jul Thursday

19 Jul Sunday

20 Jul Monday

21 Jul Tuesday

22 Jul Wednesday

25 Jul Saturday

26 Jul Sunday

31 Jul Friday

Wedding Planning Ideas: The journey begins

I was civilly married for 4 years before I was finally able to walk down the aisle. My husband's parents and mine were pressuring us to have our union blessed by a priest because I was pregnant of our first child at that time. We personally wanted to have the wedding after my pregnancy so that I have time to *cough* beautify myself. But no, the pressure was on. The grandparents didn't want their first grandaughter born without a blessing from God (it's quite obvious that both of our parents are devout Catholics). My husband and I gave in since they meant no harm and we also think it'll be for everyone's peace of mind. (except that until this very day, I can't look at my wedding pics without squintting...I look like a hippo on my wedding gown!!!)
Eventhough I was carrying a heavy "load" in my womb, I did all the dirty work on our wedding preparations. I hope somehow I could give you ideas as I share my thoughts on wedding preparations. (I love weddings!!!!)

First, set your budget so you will know where and how to work on it. What I did, I outlined the basic needs for my wedding and prioritized them. Whatever excess budget I had, I then gladly spend on "unnecessary" things but made my wedding memorable (like butterfly release, bubbles, treats for the flower girls and so much more).

Second, never ever scrimp on food. It's the last thing(and probably the only thing) your guests will remember. You don't want to be remembered as the couple who had the bad wine or sour tasting spaghetti.

Third, choose a theme or at least follow a pattern. This way you get to focus on a single idea and you'll know what to work on. Chinese wedding perhaps? or Hollywood wedding? or maybe Hawaiian wedding? With a theme to work on, it gets easy on the budget too :)

Fourth, choose colors that are bright and happy. It affects the mood of your guests and thus the entire ambience of your wedding place. I choose pretty shades of yellow, pink and blue as my wedding colors and had my bridesmaids (with matching colors on my flower girls) wear gowns of each color. I loved the effect on our wedding pictures! I also personally chose my flowers. It was of course all vibrant in colors matching the yellow, pink and blue my bridesmaids and flowergirls wore. In my country, it's not a common practice that the entourage spend for their own gowns so husband and I looked for really affordable ones but made sure that my entourage will still be able to use it even after our wedding. If you're looking for one, try browsing through our flower girl collection.

Fifth, DIY as much as you can. I have plenty of time in my hands so I did our save the date, email invitations, our monogram, graphics for our giveaways, thank you notes, and would you believe it our wedding cord ;)

Lastly, make your day your own. It will never be perfect--expect as much but you can at least say at the end of the day that you did all you can to make it one. I wanted my wedding to be a gathering of both sides of family and friends. I wanted both sides to meet and know each other, mingle and be actually friends which I think did happen.
As expected it was full of bloopers and everyone had so much fun. I even had a 'prank' for my husband that everyone had a good laugh.

I hope somehow you learned a thing or two. Happy wedding preps!

Neat Wedding Idea

One very cheap and practical wedding idea is to print out wedding coloring pages for your little guests! This way you get to divert their attention and at least pacify them for a while and at the same time giving the parents a chance to mingle with other guests and truly enjoy the event.

To spice it up a bit, you can even make it as a coloring contest and announce the winner during or after the reception.

Unique and affordable ideas can make your dream day perfect!

Flower Girl Keepsake Box

Flower girls have a special role in your wedding. She is the one that will happily strew your path with flowers as you walk towards your groom. Other than this, with your flower girl all pretty in her special dress and pretty flowers, your guests will also ooh-ah this special little member of your wedding party (and maybe even get a few pinched cheeks, ouch.). She should indeed get a special token of thank you from you and your groom for attending your wedding.

If you really want to say a special thank you for a special girl, why not present your appreciation in a box especially embellished for her? She will feel doubly special if she sees she has a box different from what the adults received. It can contain items or trinkets that she will enjoy after the wedding. If the box is pretty, maybe the box can be used to store some of her own special trinkets as she grows. Who knows? Maybe the box will outlast all the items you will place inside!

To make your flower girl her keepsake box, do prepare the following in advance.

1. Compile the items you want to get your flower girl. It doesn't have to be expensive or fancy. Ask her parents for stuff she will be delighted in, and in the process get clearance from the parents if you intend to give your flower girl something of value.

Some stuff you can get are : a little stuffed animal, books, pens, a small bag, little girl's accessories, maybe a dress(?) if you like. Some couples pick children's jewelry, like a pearl bracelet, or simple earrings. Include a small picture frame in your shopping.

2. Take her picture doing fittings, the dinner rehearsal. Place the photo in the picture frame if you want to give the box on the day of the wedding itself. If you want to send her a framed photo after the wedding, it's your call.

3. If your items are already complete, get a box that will fit all the items you will give. If you are artistically inclined, embellish the box with buttons, ribbons, craft decor and the like. Don't forget to put her name in big, bold bling so she'll know the box is especially for her. If you just like to get a pre-made pretty box, that is fine too.

4. Write a letter of thank you for her before the wedding.

5. Line the box with pretty tissue, tulle, maybe even add scented potpourri for an extra special touch. Place all the items in, including the thank you note.

6. Arrange for your wedding help to have the box available along with the other thank you presents.

If feel an embellished box isn't your thing, you can do the same but place items in a special, girly bag. It is easier to carry around after the wedding party. She can even use the bag later on for other activities.

Whatever container or trinkets you get, surely your little flower girl will enjoy receiving an extra treat, besides the thrill of dressing up for a wedding.

Wedding plan suggestions

Every woman dreams of her wedding day and of course we try our best to make it happen. But most often than not, after the dream wedding the couple end up in debt. Luckily, there are ways to make a dream wedding happen without spending too much(or you don't spend at all), here's a few tips you might want to consider:

* One of the best way to make your wedding day special is to write your own vows-make it personal and more intimate by putting your own words as you profess your love to your partner in the presence of God, your family and friends.

* Take care of the essentials first and when there's extra budget, you can opt for 'other' services

* RSVP your guest so you'll have a clear head count for your food budget

* Plan ahead of time so you'll be able to score discounts from wedding suppliers

* Do-it-yourself projects (invitations, save the dates, thank you cards, flower arrangments, etc)

* Scour the internet for sales on your entourage's dresses and accessories (flower girl's dress, wedding accessories)

*Lastly, don't stress too much on your planning. Take a deep breath and enjoy it.

woman designs black wedding dress

woman designs black wedding dress - And I have some cute black flower girl dresses that would go great at her wedding!

With This Dress I Thee Wed and Wed and Wed

With This Dress I Thee Wed and Wed and Wed - NY Times. I did not realize the average cost of a wedding dress is $1,075. I did know the average cost for a wedding is $28,082. So it makes sense that people would buy a used weddding dress, after all it's only been used once.

For flower girl dresses my prices are very reasonable...

Beach Weddings

Final Word: What's a person to wear at a beach wedding? - USA Today

Cute article about the challenges of what to wear for "beach casual".

Your Wedding Song

Some nice ideas on how to make a song yours at your wedding - Your Wedding Song: how to claim it from the Examiner. The idea is to brand yourself with the song during your wedding. Hopefully you like the song a lot, and won't get tired of it after hearing it at rehearsals, the wedding, the reception, and of course in the video!

Cheap and Easy Weddings

Budget Brides: Planning a Wedding During a Recession - The heart of the article - "Cheap and easy," says one bride, summing up her wedding vision.

This was interesting:


Cake makers say the big trend is individual-sized desserts.
"It takes the place of the gift you give at the end of the party, it takes away from the individual cake cutting cost, and you've got your cake covered, so it's a 3-in-1 package," says Tiffany Gutsche from Buttercream Cakes.

And florists say they've seen brides cut back on reception decorations.
"It will save them money by renting glassware and maybe some silk flowers and things like that," says Mary Jo Mattern, owner of Chippewa Valley Floral.

And of course flower girl dresses from EliteDresses!

Wedding Rings

Wedding Rings have an interesting history and tradition. They are worn to symbolize the eternity of marriage, with the ring shape. Iron was used in Rome as a symbol of the strength of love and designate the wife as being part of the man's family now. Gold or silver was sometimes used to show how the wife was trusted with a something of worth. A perfect fit is important, for a to tight ring will lead to jealousy, and if to loose, the wedded pair would stray through carelessness. The reason for putting the ring on the 3rd finder of the left hand is not clear to me. There was a belief that this finger was closest to the heart. It got codified by the Book of Common Prayer from the Church of England after it's founding. The best man during the wedding has the duty of keeping charge of the rings, but recently in some ceremonies a ring bearer is used. The wearing of wedding rings is relatively recent during World War 2. Traditionally, men basically owned the wife, so there was no need for him to wear a ring. I guess now we have the situation of joint ownership of each other?

Running of the Brides

Hundreds mob Aventura store in 'Running of the Brides'Sun-Sentinel.com
Amazing - If I did something similiar, what would it be? Running of the keyboards?

Wedding Cakes - Choosing one

Wedding cake business is a dream come true for two Duncanville bakers from the Dallas News.

What's interesting was I just added a section on Wedding Cakes to American Wedding Customs and Traditions

Weddings don't have to mean debt

Weddings don't have to mean debt - nice article.

I especially like this sentence:There they spent the afternoon with their wedding guests, who toasted their marriage before enjoying ice-cream sundaes in the glow of a setting sun.

Total wedding cost of $8000, where the US average is $27,800.

The only thing the article did not mention was buying Discount Flower Girl Dresses.

Wedding Food Questions to ask

Palate-Pleasing Ways to Satisfy your Wedding Guests - Meadow Free Press, ID - Good advice on what to serve your guest on that special day. A new term, Open House.

Good questions to ask:

Do you want a traditional wedding breakfast for family and close friends following an early morning ceremony?

Do you want to celebrate with dinner at your favorite restaurant? A formal dinner?

Formal Wedding Reception?

Are there many children you want to include in your wedding that would make a backyard retreat more appropriate?

Do you want to do an open house, which is less intimate than a wedding reception? This is done by the groom's parents two weeks after the reception usually and usually a full meal is not provided (appetizers or desert).

Recession? Time to Slash the Flower Budget

Recession? Time to Slash the Flower Budget - NY Times. Slashing the budget from 35K to 20K is pretty big relatively speaking. My wedding cost, since I was still in college and my husband had just graduated was a lot less. At my wedding my Mother in law had taken a flower arranging class and bought the flowers at the Flower Market in downtown LA, saving a bit of money. Her Teacher helped out making the corsages.

Wedding Copyright Police

Copyright cop wedding crashers fined by Spanish court

New Wedding Book

Wedding Planning for a Great Marriage and the Wedding that will last - Examiner

Some good advice in the book:

• The groom is not an accessory to the wedding.
• It's important for grown-ups to pay for their own weddings
• There's no reason to go into debt for your wedding and there are good reasons not to.
• Both the bride and the groom can be engaged and wear rings. (WP says: Did you know that in Scandinavia when you get engaged both get one gold band and then when you get married you each get another gold band?)
• The wedding can support — even be based on — the couple's relationship and the marriage they're committing to.
• Weddings are not about glamour; they're about marriage.

6 Common Mistakes on Your Wedding Day

6 Common Mistakes on Your Wedding Day from Best Syndication. Good article and list.

1. Unrealistic budget - in other words create one and stick to it.
   
2. To large guest list - true advice, it does depend on your budget or what type of wedding you are willing to have.
   
3. Not hiring a wedding planner (debatable)
4. Hire professionals video person (guess who wrote the article, but this is true. Same with the photographer, something I still regret).
5. Marriage License - In California it's easy.
6. Losing prospective of the big picture - so easy to do.
   

Nice Wedding Blogs

Beautifully done blogs daily wedding inspiration and Kate's Wedding.

I found them through a strange way, a site left a SPAM comment on my blog so I went to see who it was, and there were two comments about please stop spamming their blogs by the owners respectively of the blogs above.

I do appreciate comments on my blog, but I really dislike Spam comments.

New wedding mantra: To love, cherish and cut costs

New wedding mantra: To love, cherish and cut costs from the Times of India, about how Indian weddings overall have reduced their costs by 50% per wedding planners there. For a segment of the population there has been a huge increase in wages/wealth due to employment in the outsourcing industries, which IMHO increased the amount people would pay for weddings.

And the bride wore apricot

And the bride wore apricot from Theage.com.au It's interesting how colors vary from area to area on what is in style, and what is not. As well as the style of wedding dressses. Take a look at the Wedding Dresses picture!

Burgundy Flower Girl dresses or a deep red are popular this time of year, as is the usual pink pink flower girl's dresses. Black Flower Girl Dresses seems to be an up and coming color.

My section of my Flower Girl Dresses.

Historic MA village celebrates holiday w/ Wedding

Historic village celebrates holiday is adding tradition wedding to the celebration for Thanksgiving. Should be neat! Old Sturbridge Village in MA. Early New England weddings were often held at Thanksgiving, when families gathered together after the hard work of the harvest was done.

Wedding costs take the cake

Wedding costs take the cake from New Zealand. There is higher prices for weddings that for birthdays, family reunion, etc. Interesting! I wonder if the same is true in the US. My guess is since people are willing to pay more for a wedding, prices are also higher in the US. Wedding Traditions and Customs can get so involved. American Wedding Customs and tradtitions have a lot of complexity in them, but the prices for weddings can vary depending on how traditional you want to make them, not to mention the newer ideas such as wedding favors and other added items that have brought weddings up to the $28,732.

Rude Wedding Remarks

Funny - The Rudest Wedding Guest Remarks Ever.

The one about the guest complaining since they did not get a slice of all the 3 different kinds of cake. Sometime I heard the comment, that if you have 2 types of cake, people will want a slice of each one, so at a wedding you should just go with one type of cake for all the layers.

Me, I just had a giant carrot cake, made from scratch with real butter frosting wedding cake after my husband convinced me, our wedding coordinator for the church baked it.

Haunted house wedding

Haunted house wedding brings out the ghouls and goblins at the Owego haunted house in NY. It's not a real one it seems, but one that is made up for Halloween. Site that has some Haunted Houses for the US.

My daughter visited two haunted houses tonight, my husband got suckered into going with her for the 2nd Haunted House based on the movie Saw. For some reason it was really hard to find the local Halloween Events in Los Angeles and Orange County, we only found the Saw one by accident (we were going to Star Bucks as a reward for my daughter going through the 1st haunted house, and saw the flashing lights).

Unlucky Wedding

Groom battered and burnt by New South Wales country marriage - The Australian, Australia

Not sure there are any morals to this. Horses are dangerous and are not toys might be one.

My husband's Aunt owns a beautiful black horse, and she is super careful, and she has flexible titanium glasses that can survive a horses foot... Her horse has thrown her, and Sam is so gentle, but if he gets spooked, watch out. One time I was there and I opened an umbrella, and that scared him a little. So my Aunt then proceeded to open and close the umbrella for the rest of our time there, so he got used to it.

Bonnet in American English is the hood.

Don't plan wedding you can't afford

Don't plan wedding you can't afford - good advice column. And of course I do have flower girl dresses to help on the cost...

How to have an Earth-friendly wedding

How to have an Earth-friendly wedding from the Kansas City Star. Good article!

Local, local, and local. Many of our Flower Girl Dresses are made locally.

Challenging Wedding - Soot and Ties

Soot and ties about a wedding in the San Diego Wild Animal Park that happened with a lot of fires in the area causing a few closures. Really nice story.

7 tips for a great wedding toast

1. Evaluate if and why you want to speak - This is the Why.
   
2. Be prepared - It will show if you are, or are not.
   
3. Time it right - Know when to say your toast - not when nobody is paying attention, but may be that is when you want to speak.
   
4. Keep it short and sweet - Short is good!
   
5. Acknowledge the people who made it happen - Right thing to do and makes you look good, but do in moderate amounts.
   
6. Get personal - ie don't read it out of a book of toasts, people can tell.
   
7. Be thoughtful and creative - Focus on the audience and what they would like to hear.
   

7 tips for a great wedding toast from MSNBC

Video: Smaller Weddings

Video: Economy Has Brides Scaling Back Weddings in Oklohoma

Just ignore the advertisement at the beginning. Nice visuals in the video.

Expensive Wedding Rings

£6000 wedding ring stolen from couple's home is around $12,000 US. You can get a cheap car for around that. Good start for a down payment. Or a very nice wedding ring.

Who to invite - wedding etiquette?

They didn’t invite partners…what is the right wedding etiquette? from an Australian paper. This is such a touchy issues, and if you get it wrong it can have effects for years and years. My husband still regrets not inviting somebody to our wedding 20 years ago.

Green Wedding

Couple tie the knot at a 'green' wedding (w/video) from the Houston Chronicle. They used an eco friendly Wedding Planner to help make the wedding as green as possible (Green Lily Events).

Scottish Turkish Wedding

Scottish-Turkish wedding blends cultures - article mentions the Bag Pipes, my hubbies family has some Scottish in their background, but he refuses to wear a kilt for some reason. In High School he was learning the bag pipes, but I have never heard him play. Our wedding was a mostly American style wedding that was on the cheap site, I did wear a Chinese Dress at the reception.

Economy wipes out big wedding plans

Economy wipes out big wedding plans from Newsday.

Something I did not think about: Many guests are not attending his clients' weddings because they can't afford the travel and hotel costs, or even an adequate gift.

At least if they need Flower Girl Dresses - Discount I have some great dresses!

UK Tips on reducing Wedding Costs

Dan and Gemma Scott saved thousands of pounds on their wedding by bartering Telegraph in the UK.

Key Quote:

Dan said: "When the wedding was over we didn't owe anyone else and I think we ended up with a £12,000 wedding for the cost of £3,000.

Fall Wedding Flower Trends

Fall Wedding Flower Trends from ABC Eyewitness News in NY. Think texture, classic flowers in rich colors, structured bouquet, use flowers as a centerpiece, and many couples are only using locally grown flowers.

Another Strange Wedding

Newlyweds shun wedding cake for giant cheeseburger - I guess... I had carrot cake made from scratch at my wedding, with real butter cream frosting. It was a nice change from the usual white or chocolate wedding cakes with butter cream frosting made from Cristco.

Theme Weddings - Elvis Example from UK

Elvis fans wedding tribute from a UK paper Oxford Mail, UK cute wedding pictures. I have also heard about Star Trek Weddings, which they had in Las Vegas at Star Trek, the Experience which has now closed - my hubby is a big Star Trek Fan so we went through it, but only after he found discount tickets.

Couple say 'I do' to green wedding plans

Couple say 'I do' to green wedding plans from the Roanoke Times. Something I had not thought about. Reuse when possible, organic food, recycling, and of course a Toyota Prius.

Planning a Fall Wedding

How to Plan a Fall Wedding - nice list! Food is easy, with suggestions of season favorites such as Turkey.

Regular Colors for the wedding theme include reds, oranges, browns, rusts, and yellows.

‘I do'-it-yourself wedding

‘I do'-it-yourself wedding

I especially like this quote:

Although it was a lot of work, our wedding turned out to be exactly how we intended: sincere and homemade, filled with love and friendship.

Wedding Planners - I want your job!

I Want Your Job: Wedding planner from a UK paper. Nice interview!

Key Points:

• Average wedding takes 250 hours to plan.
• May to Sept. is peak season

Great Wedding articles from the PH?

Lessons from a wedding

The lessons one has the right idea of focus when you plan your wedding of what you really want. I am curious about what a sponsor is? Waray I assume is another dialect, and it's always nice to learn a few words if the in-laws speak a different language (thank you is a great start).

Confessions of a bad wedding guest

Confessions of a bad wedding guest from MSNBC. Fun article to read.

Getting the right wedding gift is challenging!

Cut Wedding Costs with Lower Cost Locations

Cut wedding costs, for better or worse with lower-cost locations from the Canadian Press writing about a couple that had a wedding in Iowa, instead of Austin, Texas and saved a lot of money due to the lower cost location.

They did miss the one about saving by shopping at Elitedresses for flower girl dresses!

Related Posts:

• How to save money at your wedding
• With these savings, I thee wed
• Philippines as wedding venue to tourists
• Cutting Wedding Costs Ideas
• Nuptial Nonsense

How to save money at your wedding

How to save money at your wedding from the Chicago Tribune.

Some nice ideas:

• Borrow one time use items if possible.
• Schedule venues for Friday or Saturday may reduce costs
• If another couple shares a venue on the same day, see if you can split the flower costs.
• Ask for discounts from your photographer, etc. The worst they can say is no.
• Have a mid-afternoon wedding and serve cake and punch, instead of a meal (my wedding).
  
• Shop online to save - like Elitedresses for flower girl dresses!

Related Posts:

• With these savings, I thee wed
• Cutting Wedding Costs Ideas
• Nuptial Nonsense
  

Philippines as wedding venue to tourists

Philippines now being pitched as wedding venue to tourists - A friend of mine who visited there had a great time there, he visited a friends resort and the cost was very reasonable. He was sent there on business. The focus in on Japanese, since there are 450,000 Japanese marriages outside Japan every year. My understanding is it makes more economical sense because of the high cost of having a wedding in Japan.

Diamonds up 9% in 08

Add to Wedding Bill: Diamond Prices Up 9% in '08- nice to have a cartel that can dictate prices.

With these savings, I thee wed

With these savings, I thee wed - good article with some cost saving tips from the LA Times. One of the people is spending $8K on the wedding, compared to the average cost of $30K.

Wedding Week

Some good resources from the Washington Post -

• Wedding Revelations Amid Financial Crisis
• Wedding Week: All About Registries
• Wedding Week: Slate's 'Dear Prudence' on Wedding Etiquette

Cutting Wedding Costs Ideas

Couples are finding ways to cut wedding costs from the LA Times. At my Wedding I did these, and a few more. A previous post Nuptial nonsense about how expensive weddings have gotten.

Ideas from the Article:

• Buy flowers from the wholesale flower mart (did that)
• Hold reception at lower cost or no cost location (did that, mine was at the Church activity room)
• Have family bake treats for reception (did that, my husband's Aunt helped out so much)
• Do it yourself wedding invites adding jewels and ribbons (mine were pretty plain I guess)
• Have friend or relative do photography (did that, I still regret not having a Pro do the photography - sigh. But it does give me something to hold over my Hubby's head; even 20 years later :-)
• Having a friend or relative do the hair (I had a professional do it).

Cost Cutting Ideas I did at my wedding:

• Borrowed my mother-in-laws car.
• Had a friend video tape the wedding. A couple of years later we had a pro edit the video and it came out really nice.
• The cake was done by the Church Wedding Organizer, and my husband convinced me to have carrot cake, and it had real butter cream frosting. It was wonderful!
• My Mother-in-law took a flower arranging class and did all the flowers.
• I had my wedding dress and QiPao custom made in Taiwan. The only mistake was I was super thin in Taiwan and the dress did not have any extra fabric on it, so when I came back to the US I had to be careful on the weight. There is no way my daughter could fit these, she takes after her Dad to much.
• We rented the Maids of Honor Dresses. This took a lot of time to find ones, I finally found them I think it was in Westminster.
• My Husband rented his tux from a friend of his Father's, but there were problems where they increased the cost. So using a friend of the family can be good and bad. I suggest getting quotes from non-Family places and if the family friend offers the same or lower price then go with them.
  

And one that was not mentioned, would be buying the Flower Girl Dresses from me.

Holiday Weekend Weddings

Good article about why many people value their holiday more than attending a wedding on a holiday weekend. The positive is if many people are traveling far, the holiday weekend offers more time together. The negative is for people only attending the wedding and live close, and it can hurt their holiday weekend plans, especially if it's on the middle day.

Chinese Wedding Cakes

I was speaking with a customer tonight and discussing cakes, specifically Chinese Cakes for a wedding. Chinese cakes uses a whipped cream frosting instead of butter cream, and are not as sweet. Common cake types are chocolate, coffee, and white. Fillings include mango, peach, strawberry, and mixed fruit. Some places also offer Durian (Jack Fruit), it's smelly, but some people say it tastes good.

In the San Gabriel Valley Van's, a Vietnamese Bakery that does Chinese style cakes is well known. A wonderfully looking French Style bakery (bit pricey, but the quality) is R.J. Patisserie. Good Chinese Bakeries are JJ Bakery and NiNi Bakery (used to be called Ruby Bakery). JJ Bakery has locations in Irvine, Arcadia, Hacienda Heights, Torrance, and Rowland Heights. NiNI has another in Hacienda Heights.

Weddding Planning via Polling

Ido - With online polling, brides-to-be are turning to a new type of wedding planner -- a few hundred of their closest friends

Nice idea that can be useful, but I don't think it would result in an A+ wedding, but probably a strong B. Sometimes polls lie and also result in mediocrity. Asking the right questions is important, and so difficult. As is having the right vision. Sometimes you get into a group think situation, which results in the wrong answer being selected such as Choosing a Flower Girl. Like so and so becomes the flower girl, even though she is totally unsuitable.