Zip Zip

Being a seasoned Chicagoan, I, like most, people realized that after 3 months in the city, my car had been parked on the very same street corner for quite some time. It was a hard decision, but I sold my car almost 3 and a half years ago. Up until just recently, I have been quite content without a car, but now that wedding errands are starting to pick up, I began to feel the need for my own set of wheels. So, I compromised and signed up for Zip Cars, and it is amazing. Not only am I helping the planet by sharing cars with thousands of other Chicago residents, I am able to reserve a car basically at the drop of a dime for all of the running around I will be doing over the course of the next several months. The cars are clean, drive well, and parked all over the city. The process is unbelievably easy, 100 times easier than renting a car and you can make a reservation for as little as an hour. The rates are pretty reasonable, considering the car comes with a gas card… that’s right, you do not have to pay for gas. Just make your low annual payment and the car rents for under $10 an hour. Totally perfect for Chicago Brides like me that has important errands to run only a few times a month.

RSVP Organization

OK, after months of creating the perfect RSVP card, I am now stuck with the one dilemma that every bride worries about, what if my guest does not fill it out properly? I have seen before where there is a small handwritten number on the back of the RSVP, but after spending the time to carefully craft and design my RSVP's I didn't want to have anything handwritten appearing on them. So, I used my sleuthing detective skills and came up with a solution. I just bought an invisible pen! The numbers will not show up on the cards, but upon their return, I will simply use my new tool to detect the number in place. This way even if my guest forgets to put their name, I can revert back to my records and determine who it came from. Brilliant I tell ya!

Filed with Love

In addition to my flash drive, I have also seen an accumulation of physical paperwork that is very important in regards to wedding planning. Being the overly organized gal that I am, I do have a file cabinet at home, but I found that my one ambiguous Wedding file was soon filling up and organization across categories was lacking. I found a solution that works absolutely perfect. I purchased a file tote, and have sub folders for all of our vendors, and documents. Since the file tote has 7 compartments, I generalized into the most used categories: Church, Reception Site, Photographer, DJ, Flowers, Transportation and Attire. This way each of the main vendors has their separate folder, making it very simple to keep organized for the ongoing meetings and correspondence. This is also a way to keep handy all of our swatches and color palettes for each visit with a different vendor. I also found some room to fit in a wedding receipts envelope and a to-do list. If I have something that I do not need to reference as much, I throw it into that existing Wedding file of my home file cabinet. The file tote is great for a bride that seems to be running in all different directions.

Digital Shopping Cart

I have been doing this a lot lately. Every time I plan a wedding shopping excursion, I make sure to take along my digital camera. While I am browsing, I take pictures of things I like, rather than purchasing them on the spot. Be sure to turn off your flash as not to draw attention to yourself, some stores may not approve of your flashy behavior. When I get home, I review what I took, and it helps me make better decisions about what I will be purchasing for décor. I am able to compare items, and pick out exactly the ones I want. I save my photos on my flash drive, in a folder called “shopping,” and label each subfolder with the name of the store I visited. Once you narrow your options down you can return to the stores to purchase them more confidently.

I like to visit places like Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn to take photos of their table settings, and table décor. I then head over to my local craft store to see if they have similar items that fit my budget.

Another great idea, is to start an inspiration board. Print the photos of items you absolutely love, and pin them up on a bulletin board to see how well everything goes together. You can also pin up photos you’ve pulled from magazines of flowers you like, or your bridesmaid dresses, ribbon, swatches, invitations, etc.

Addressing the Issue

I have started taking on the task of compiling addresses for all of my guests. If you have ever had to do this, you know it is no easy task. I began my search by asking others first. But if you have simply exhausted all methods for detecting one’s address, it will not necessarily break any rules of etiquette to ask that person yourself. I chose to start this task now, right before the Holidays, in hopes that people will just figure I am updating my address book for sending out Christmas cards. I don’t know for certain if my method will prove as coy as I have hoped, but in any case, the addresses are rolling in.

Once you do compile your addresses, it is a very smart idea to cross check them with Mapquest, or Google Maps to make sure that exact address really does exist somewhere on this planet. Be sure to address your invitations exactly how they appear once you have looked them up. For example, most people may be accustomed to leaving off the street prefix and suffix, which may cause postal confusion down the line. Lastly, be sure to incorporate a person’s apartment or unit number after their street address, if they live in a multiple unit building.

A typical USPS approved address should look like this:

555 S. State St., Unit 2
Chicago, IL 60605

As for the actual names of your guests, this is entirely up to you. I really depends on how formal or informal your wedding will be. Here are a few simple guidelines:

Married couple:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith

Married couple with children under 18:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith, and Family

Single guest:

Mr. John Smith and Guest

If you choose to invite children of guests, and those children are under 18, they can simply be included on their parent’s invitation. If the children are older than 18, they should receive their own invitation.

It is appropriate to include a guest with all single invitee’s. Including a second name on an invitation is usually considered more informal, but that significant other may feel insignificant if they are labeled as just a “guest.” This is up to you.

If you are inviting single’s that are not in a serious relationship, it is still expected to account for a guest in attendance with them.

If numbers are an issue, as most formal dinner receptions are, make sure your RSVP cards allows your guest to denote exactly how many they will have in attendance.

Bridesmaid Blog

We all know that wedding websites are the new craze in planning a wedding. They provide your guests all the information they need for the big day. But what about all of your other wedding events? You may not want to post information about your showers and Bachelorette parties on your actual wedding website. I have created a blog for my bridesmaids and closest friends only. This blog will have all the information that they will need to my showers and parties. You may also want to give your Maid of Honor access to your blog so she can post key information as well. Keep in mind; you do not want to bog your friends down with tons of information, so keep it simple. Post only about events that they will be attending, or things they will need for the big day. If a post is specific to your bridesmiads only, simply put Attn: Bridesmaids at the top of the post. Don't post every random thought you have about your wedding, this will overwhelm your friends. You will want to emphasis that this is their personal website, and does not replace your actual wedding website. You can have your Maid of Honor list this blog on all of your party and shower invites.

Flash Drive Frenzy

In the age of the almighty Internet, every bride needs a flash drive. If you haven't noticed, there are a gazillion bridal websites, and you can sometimes find your self going in circles when doing online wedding research. I purchased a flash drive in the early stages of our engagement and created subfolders within my wonderful little memory stick to keep every component of wedding planning separate. So, as I a surfing the web, I save images I like into the appropriate folder. Sure beats the days of clipping out of magazines, although I do that as well.

This is also where I keep all of my important documents that generated over the past several months (i.e. our guest list, itineraries, checklists, vendor contracts, etc.) The flash drive comes in handy if I am at my parents house, my sisters apartment, or at work, I can access everything I need at any given moment.

Do be sure to make a weekly back-up of your flash drive, just incase you lose that little sucker. For most brides, I recommend getting a 1 GB drive with a keychain.

An Amazing Wedding Website

The very first thing I did when I got engaged, was create a Wedding Website. I wanted a tool that was easy for all of my friends, family and guests to use as our wedding plans progressed. I wanted a site that looked like it's own entity, and was not part of one of the many popular online wedding resources (i.e. theknot.com or brides.com) Although these websites are useful for generating ideas, I would stear clear of using their websites. Your guests will get confused.

I wanted a site that would allow us to use our own domain name, this was really important to my fiance and me, as it would be something easy for our guests to remember. I also wanted it simple, offering our guests only the important information that they would need to know for our entire engagement process. I came across Wed Page Designs, a web hosting site, dedicated to the internet-savy Bride.

Here are a few of the site's features:

• Simple.


• Multipage Design: you chose what sections you want.


• Allows you to choose your own Domain Name: $80 for a 3 year supscription example: www.smith-johnsonwedding.com
  
• Password Protect your website.


• Change information instantly with Wed Page Designs login account.


• Guests can download Maps and Directions.


• Navigate your guests to your online Bridal Registries.


• Add photos, slideshows, guestbook and RSVP section.

The most important function that this site offers is the ability to enter the addresses of all your events so your guests can generate Google maps on their own. I am a bit of a wedding invitation snob, and there is nothing worse than recieving an invitaion with a folded up map inside along with directions from every end of the earth. With Wed Page Designs, our guests can print there own directions and maps, saving us the paper and the clutter. We plan to simply list our wedding website on our invitations along with the password for our guests.