Aivi & Sven - Ponte Winery, Temecula

I am going to hop around between weddings in 2010 and in 2009 to showcase some of the great couples and neat weddings I've been lucky enough to be involved with.

Aivi and Sven contacted me only two weeks before their wedding, through the terrific Jennifer Molloy of Amore Events.  But we were still able to work together to create a custom ceremony in the 10 days between meeting and wedding!  They are such a loving couple, and that clearly came through!

They planned a very small and intimate wedding at the beautiful Ponte Winery in Temecula.  The ceremony was out on the lawn, with a gorgeous view of the vines and the nearby hills (see picture below), and the dinner was in the barrel room afterward - such a neat and rare experience, to eat a meal in a barrel room!

For their ceremony, they wrote their own beautiful vows - as Aivi put it, "we aren't ones for big airy words - it feels the best to write our own as we can say what we really mean,"  - they were so meaningful and so real.  Everyone loved them!  They chose three neat and different readings, from different cultures and traditions - appropriate since they both were born and raised, and have lived, in multiple countries around the world.  And, since it was such a small group, they loved my suggestion for a ring warming ceremony, which meant so much to all there.

Thanks, Aivi and Sven, for making me a part of something so beautiful!

For me, it's all about making your wedding your own...

Cheers,
Bethel

** Pictures by Jessica Ruvulcaba **

Bridal Shows - Part 2

As promised, here are my thoughts for the brides, couples, and families who attend for how to get the most out of the show.  It's all about the preparation!

First, once you've decided to attend, sit down and think about what you still need for your wedding.  Are you recently engaged, and just trying to figure it all out?  Then maybe make a list of all of the vendor types, and put them in your personal priority order - your priorities are not another bride's priorities, so work from yours.  Otherwise, the shows can be very overwhelming, and definitely not as productive for you.  Are you largely through the planning and only need a few more things?  Then know what those are.  After you have your priorities, go to the bridal show website (in this case www.BridalBazaar.com), and check out each of the vendors in that category.  (A heads-up - some bridal shows do a new website per show, so you know that all of the vendors listed are expected to be there.  Others, like the Bridal Bazaar, list their vendors for the year on their site, so the vendor might have been at the January one, but won't be at the April one.)

Then, here is the part of the prep with the biggest payoff and time saver - take a few minutes to visit the websites of each of those vendors.  That way you know if their style, service offering, and even their price range, matches your needs, and therefore you know whose booths you should visit for a real conversation.  No reason to waste your time stopping by a booth when you only realize afterward that there definitely wouldn't be a match, for one reason or another!  And, with this prep work done, you can actually have a real conversation, as you already know something about them, and can ask whatever else you want to know, as well as focus on next steps, such as a personal meeting to discuss your needs.

Second, a simple and fast thing to do ahead of time is to create a page or two of labels.  What is this for?  Most booths will have giveaways, contests, or, if you want more information from them, will have a form for you to fill out.  If you have prepared with labels (and for every show there are a few prepared brides with them!), this part is easy!  The labels should have your name (or both names), the wedding date and time, mailing address, email address and/or phone number.  This will save a lot of time and hassle in filling things out.  Yes, each vendor may ask for something different, but it's easier to just add that one piece of info than to write it all every single time!

Lastly, dress comfortably, especially with comfortable shoes!  There's a lot of ground to cover and a lots of standing.  And, bring a shoulder tote bag for all of the pieces of material you will be getting.  Some shows, and some booths, give out the plastic or paper shopping bags, but as they get full, they get heavy and tough on the fingers.  Plus, it ties up a hand.  By having a shoulder tote, you can fit more, without the pain, and it frees you up more.

Just my thoughts and advice, from being on both sides at bridal shows!  Any more ideas or thoughts?  Post 'em below as a comment - let's share those great ideas!

Cheers,
Bethel

Bridal Shows - Part 1

As the Bridal Bazaar was just yesterday, at least some of my thoughts and efforts lately have definitely been focused on that.  First off, let me say that the Bridal Bazaars, held four times a year in San Diego, are run very well, and I highly recommend attending them (and displaying in them)...  I am going to blog about them in two parts - first, from the vendors' perspective, and second, with my advice on how to attend one successfully as a bride or couple.

One of the challenges, as a vendor, is how to set up your booth, especially for a vendor like me.  You want to get attention - but good attention, and appropriate attention.  Photographers have amazing pictures to show, DJs are using playing some sort of music with a small set-up, and caterers and bakers are the most loved, as they have food to give out!  What does an officiant show?  I've changed it up each time.  And while I don't think that yesterday's showing for me was the most attractive and eye-catching thus far (especially as I was missing my wonderful helper, aka my husband, who usually builds my arch for me), it was the most clear of what I am.  The new pull-up banner helped with that a lot!  I definitely didn't have to use my oft-repeated "I'm the officiant.  I'm the lucky one who gets to marry you!" as often this time, as I didn't have as many confused faces as they walked by.  And I had more folks coming right over to say, "Oh, great - we still need that!" 

I am very aware that I do not need a thousand folks to come by my booth and take material, or even multiple hundreds, to make it a successful show.  Honestly, if there were that many people trying to come by, I wouldn't have a chance to truly interact with any of them, so I don't want that many.  For me, it's important that I am able to have meaningful conversations with a good handful (or few handfuls) of brides, couples, families - for them to understand who I am, what my style is, and therefore, what working with me might feel like.  And I know that I really need to gain five to seven new weddings to make the show worthwhile for me.  Of course, there can be a lag time of months before some of those couples come back to me, depending on where they are in their planning.  But come back to me they do!  Thankfully!

And, what do you give out as a vendor?  Those who know me well know that I have spent a great deal of time, and money, on my branding and marketing efforts, so this is important to me.  I'm also lucky enough to have a family business in the imprinted products industry, so I have access to great stuff!  I think it's important to have a great postcard or brochure to hand out - they are so overwhelmed at the show, picking up so many things, that you need something that both stands out, and makes clear what you do, when they are going back through that pile of take-aways in the weeks to follow.  Plus, something fun, and useful.  I'm not a big fan of giving away candy, unless that's what you do.  Give away something that will stick with them.  I happen to give away good quality pens.  Yes, pens are not unique, but one they like to write with will stick with them for longer than you'd imagine.  A cheap one that doesn't write?  Worthless, as it will be tossed quickly, and they will judge your quality level on what you gave out.

Enough for now, although this is a subject I could go on about for much longer...  Here are pictures of my bridal show booths - let me know what you think!

Bridal Bazaar - April 2010

Bridal Bazaar - January 2010

Bridal Bazaar - Oct 2009

Wedding Party Show - Oct 2009

Cheers,
Bethel

Relaunch of the Blog!

It's official! This blog has been redesigned, and now we are celebrating its Grand Re-Opening!

When I started this business full-time, just about a year ago now, I set up a blog with the best of intentions. Well, as the list of priorities grew, in launching and building the business, and quickly became busy working with terrific couples on their weddings, figuring out how I wanted to really use the blog went by the wayside. Before too long, it got so old it was embarrassing...

Then I met "The Blog Whisperer" - aka Meaghan Schmaltz of Weddings Made Splendid! She is a fantastic wedding planner, and great person, but the key to this post is that she was helping many of her fellow wedding vendors to redesign their blogs. Count me in!

So, this blog is officially back in business! I plan to write a couple of times a week - about weddings I am doing or have done, about the cool couples with whom I am creating those wedding ceremonies, about great vendors I am lucky enough to work with or am getting to know, thoughts about weddings and ceremony creation, and probably bits about life along the way. And I look forward to hearing any thoughts you want to share!

Here's to a great Bridal Bazaar tomorrow!

Cheers,
Bethel

Rae Florae - wonderful florist

I had a great meeting with a terrific florist this week - Paula Rae of Rae Florae. Check out her website at www.raeflorae.com.

What makes her special? The key to her success is a great combination of quality design with an organic and eco-conscious focus, and great customer service and communication with the bride - all customizable with ease.

Brides often come to her because they like the images they see online - she has quality design, bright, vivid, and not cookie cutter, and also because she is organic and more eco-conscious. She also has a great number of referrals from venues, caterers, and coordinators who have worked successfully with her in the past. But the brides often book with her because she is focused on customer service and communication, and giving the bride what she wants, customizing it all in whatever way work.

Paula is great at what she does, with a gorgeous portfolio of her work available for viewing. But she is also very down-to-earth, and easy going, able to put even the most stressed brides at ease.

Welcome to the Ceremonies by Bethel blog!

Welcome to my blog! I expect to be posting about A) ideas for making your wedding ceremony or other life-cycle ceremony exactly what you want it to be, B) weddings and other ceremonies that I do, and C) great wedding vendors that I work with and meet along the way.

I would like this blog to be a resource. I would also like to it to connect you to what Ceremonies by Bethel is all about. At any time, check out the website (www.ceremoniesbybethel.com), and drop me an email or call me with any questions or thoughts.

Thanks for reading!