Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Thank you

This past Wednesday was exactly one month from my wedding day! I have to admit it has been hard to get back into my daily groove after 2 weeks off of work, and a week playing on the beaches of St. Maarten. I am back though and ready to blog updates from the wedding and honeymoon but first some kudos to my vendors.

I am sure - or I would hope - every bride ends up feeling like her wedding day was perfect, and I am no different. I knew from the moment I booked my vendors that I had nothing to worry about. I had surrounded myself with some of the most talented people I know; and more importantly, people who genuinely cared about my wedding day. It also helped that I had enlisted Tricia, Ainsley and Genina from Tricia Huddas & Co. to run around and save my family from themselves!

First, the flowers! There are few words that can explain how blown away I was with how they turned out. Heidi and Natalie, A to Zinnias wonder women, searched high, low and across oceans to find pink peonies in late July. Some would have just told me no. Not these two. Check out my peonies!


Carrie Briscoe, of Two Cakes, was my cake designer. Yes, I say "designer"! We wanted something on the cake that really represented us. The ceremony was very traditional so I wanted more of our fun, quirkey sides to be represented at the reception. We gave Carrie an engagement picture that we loved and she re-created us (being silly) with fondant and stuck us on the cake!

Here is the picture we gave Carrie.....


and here is the cake with Matt and I made out of fondant and other sugary media! I just love it..she even gave me hot pink shoes!


Teresa Earnest, with Memories 'n More photography, took all of these amazing pictures. She is so laid back and calm that she is a true joy to be with as she is capturing all of the night's events. Many more of her photos to come in later posts!

Dewayne, with VIP Entertainment, comes highly reccomended. He is just grand. I wrote about him in an earlier blog and he did not dissapoint us! He even played the Gator "chomp" song...when in Georgia that is risky but he knew this crowd would love it!

I am blessed to be surrounded by such talent and I just want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for what you do.

More pictures to come...

Excuses and Excitement!

Your Daily Wed has surely been a daily disappointment lately! Big time apologies to all of our loyal readers. A busy July, and fully-booked Fall right around the corner, have kept us on our toes recently with little time for blogging. But that means, of course, that we have a lot to share. So stay tuned.

But nothing could keep us from taking just a moment to share a little family picture of us and a very special bride - our very own Jackie! She was a stunning bride, and her wedding was rich with the humor, energy and love that she exudes in all that she does. Jackie is so comfortable in her own skin, that she is just fun to watch, and had all of her vendors saying to each other - all night - "I love her!" Including us - we love you, Jackie! Have an amazing time in St. Maarten with Matt.




Sneak a peak at more images from Jackie's wedding on her Florist's and Photographer's blogs!

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey- Fascinators!

And now...for this week's topic...The Fascinator! If you have not heard of it, do not be ashamed. I hadn't either before I started researching this.

It started out after I had just made an appointment for my wedding day hair and make-up trial run. I am so excited to get together with Jenny, from Hair Comes the Bride, and play but I am so torn as far as what I think I should do with my hair. Up? Down? Hair piece? These questions have consumed my week!

Thank goodness for my Matron of Honor. She recently returned from another wedding in Florida and brought back some great ideas for hair. The bride had her hair curled and lightly pined up in the back. After the ceremony she removed her veil and her maids took out the pins. The curls were still in tact and she had what the bridesmaids dubbed the "fascinator"....a big white flower that her mother crafted out of fabric...that she pinned in her hair for the reception. I love the idea of having my hair up for the ceremony, and then letting it down for the reception - with, perhaps, the addition of a "fascinator" of some sort.

So began my research on fascinators! They are hair pieces of all different shapes and sizes, and can be made from almost any fabric. You can find them in any color to match your wedding or just look for traditional white or ivory. Etsy - everyone's favorite online purveyor of handmade goods - is a great place to start, as I found more than my fair share of fascinators in a variety of price ranges. I am still not sure if I could pull off such an accessory, but it is definitely something I am thinking about.

A white or ivory option might be good if I choose to fascinate at both the ceremony and reception...

Twigs & Honey

But if I decide to add my fascinator after the ceremony, maybe I should go with something more bright and funky that matches my wedding reception color scheme?

Top - Bethanylorelle; Bottom - BrassPaperclip

Are you considering a "fascinator" or special hair piece for your wedding day, or playing around with the idea of a hair change between your wedding ceremony and reception?

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - More Showers!!

This past weekend I took a mini vacation to Bradenton, FL, my home town, for another wedding shower and some quality family time - seeing my family so often has been one of the best perks of the wedding planning journey. My family went above and beyond to make the shower amazing. There were custom napkins with my name and the date of the shower, food galore, amazing cupcakes, and it was just perfect.

My Grandmother gave me a really special gift that I had to share. I am not a cook. I am a baker. Grandma taught me to bake as soon as I was old enough to stand up on my own. She even had a special apron for me that said "Little Helper," with pockets for my baking tools. Well unbeknownst to me, she has kept it after all these years; and she gave it to me with the hope that one day I will have a "little helper" of my own and pass on the baking tradition! I, of course, cried. It was so touching and I just love her so much.

Seriously, how could you not love this woman?!

And here I am, the "Little Helper" all grown up.

Not only was it my bridal shower, but it was also my youngest cousin's dance recital. I started taking dance lessons when I was three and continued up until I went to college, so there is a special place in my heart for a 3 hour long dance recital. I am so excited that she shares my love of dance and I was so happy to be able to make it home for her recital! She danced beautifully and also won a $500 dance scholarship. Here she is on stage after accepting the scholarship.

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Choosing wedding vows

This past week I have been working on getting my wedding ceremony together, making programs, and finalizing details. We are getting married at First Presbyterian Church in Savannah, where I am a member. Here's a picture of First Presbyterian from 98 Productions' blog. Pretty, right?

In preparation for a meeting with the minister who is conducting our ceremony, Rev. Andy Meeker, Matt and I sat down to review the mock ceremony and variety of vows, charges, prayers, and so on, that we can choose from. Who knew there were so many options for a Presbyterian ceremony?! I know that people write their own vows, or make changes here and there to the traditional set, but I figured there was one standard set that most people use. I was so wrong.

But I'm glad there were so many because Matt and I had a lot of fun reading over them and almost practicing by reading them to each other as we culled through the options. Discussing the differences in each set of vows and which suited us both the best was a true bonding experience - I even shed a tear or two.

How did you go about choosing your vows? Did you stick with traditional, write your own, or something in between?

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - The Big Move and a Touching Gift

The last few weeks have held some big and exciting changes for Matt and I. We closed on our new house last week, and I have never felt as grown-up as I did signing those final papers and being handed the keys to our house! 5 days later we are almost moved out of the rental house and into our home! And if that's not great enough, my cat, Soozie, has been returned to us after living with my parents for 2 years due to space issues with the dog! Matt thinks she's evil...I think she's just spoiled.


On to wedding-related posting... I wanted to share this picture of my shower, and the story of the most meaningful gift I received.

Matt's grandmother gave us this wonderful surprise - her 50-year-old China...from Japan (got that?). When Matt's grandfather was in Japan, on his way to Vietnam, he bought this China for her. He picked out the pattern and they made the 96-piece set right in front of him! She still has every piece after all these years. It was so thoughtful of her to give it to us, and the gesture really made me feel like a part of the family.

Are you registering for China, or are you counting on China - or other family heirlooms - to be gifted to you for your wedding?

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - July Weddings bring May Showers...

This past weekend was my first bridal shower! My fiance, Matt's, family hosted a ladies-only brunch for me in Florida - our home state. The food was amazing - homemade chicken salad croissants, fruit, muffins and a dessert table to die for! Matt's Grandma makes Czech pastries, I believe they are called Kolacky, that are filled with apricot, prune, pecan or cream cheese filling. So good that I am willing to admit that I ate 50 of them over the weekend - so much for my pre-wedding diet! I took pictures, but they were with my mother's camera. As soon as I can teach her to upload pictures, I will post them.

When this whole wedding planning journey began, it was strange to think that anyone might want to throw me a bridal shower. I figured I would have one, but that's as far as it went on that subject. "Y'all"....I sure did underestimate Southerners' fondness for parties and themes!Between May 9th and my wedding I have four to attend. I don't know the details on all of them yet, but I will share the next one - which I do know about - and some interested wedding shower themes I have encountered recently as a guest.

Next up for us is a couples shower thrown by my generous friend Tara! She's hosting a low country boil in our honor, which is much more Matt's thing than tea and brunch, haha. I'm excited to have Matt and the guys join in on the celebrations! If you're looking for a great couples' shower theme, try a "Stock the Bar" shower. Each couple brings a bottle of liquor to help the happy couple become well-situated hosts once they are married!

Yum..Low Country Boil.

Whether you search all the blogs for themes, or just use your imagination and information about the couple's likes and personalities, there are unquantifiable variations on the traditional bridal shower to keep the betrothed hopping right up until her wedding, such as...

Monograms and Mimosas - a friend of mine was recently thrown one of these! Everyone brings a gift with the bride's new monogram or the couple's future monogram. This is a great shower for younger wedding guests as the gifts can be small, like cocktail napkins with the couple's last initial, or maybe an LL Bean beach bag.

Around the Clock - guests are given a time of day on their invitations and asked to bring a gift that would be used at that time of day. This is another great couples' shower idea as the gifts can stray from the traditional registry items. The happy couple may receive a subscription to the New York Times or another "morning paper," for an a.m. gift....and, I dunno, a Blu-Ray DVD player or other must haves for a great "movie night" for a p.m. gift. The possibilities are endless with a shower like that.


Readers: Do you have a really inventive wedding shower idea or theme to share?

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - My Budget Saving Tips

Happy Friday to everyone! Sorry for the lack of post last Friday. Working two jobs, planning a wedding, volunteering...I was just plain exausted!

To make up for it, I'll give you a small update before moving on to this week's blog - I met my wedding hair stylist, Jenny, for the first time last Wednesday. I figured I should start having her cut my hair since she is doing my updo for the wedding. I LOVED her. She gave me really adorable side swept bangs. I never thought I could pull off the bang thing, but I love them. Pictures to follow.

There's no good segue - so let's just move right from my bangs to my budget. To begin, I am AWFUL with money. By "awful" I mean I love to spend it. If it doesn't go directly into my 401k, it gets spent. The first thing I did when Matt proposed was promised myself and my parents that I would do better, especially when it came to spending the thoughtfully-saved money that my parents generously gave me for the wedding.

Since my parents and some of their friends read this blog I won't give out exact numbers. But to give you an idea of the budget that I am working with, so that you take my efforts seriously and don't think I have some bottomless well of money, let's just say that if the average cost of a wedding in Savannah is $12,698 to $21,163 (according to http://www.costofwedding.com/), my budget is within those numbers.

With budget on the brain I started planning by reading magazines, websites, and blogs. There are so many neat, original, exciting ideas out there - except when it comes to strategy for saving money! You see the same tips time and again - get married in the off season, get married on a weekday, DIY everything, use flowers in season, etc. As far as those tips go, I had to get married in the summer so my friends and family all had vacation, many of them are teachers. I don't want to get married on a weekday and I don't have time to do and make everything myself. I will say I am pretty much using flowers that are in-season, but that is just because I happen to like summer flowers. Ok, so that's it? That's all I can do?

Here are some tips that I discovered through experience, and think might be helpful to you:

1. Give yourself a budget for each individual vendor and line-cost before you start setting meetings and spending. Know how much you can spend on each aspect of the wedding instead of just having 1 grand total. If you don't, things will add up VERY quickly, and before you know it you will be over-budget. And if you sign contracts before realizing that, you may be in serious trouble. Being up front with your vendors will also make it easier for them to make suggestions and work with you. For example, if your florist knows you only have $x amount for bouquets, she will know what flowers will work with your vision and price point and which ones to avoid. Use a spreadsheet, or you can use a budget program like the one they have on The Knot - it is free to register and calculates how much you should aim to spend on each vendor based on your total budget and average wedding expenditure. It also gives you the option to customize the categories - so if you know you are not paying for, say, transportation, you can delete that and add something like your bridesmaids' hotel rooms instead.

2. Decide what details are most important to you. For one bride it's amazing photography that she can't live without; for another it is a designer dress. Whatever it is that you must have, figure it out right away. If it involves a splurge, plan on that by choosing where you will cut back on another aspect of the wedding to make it possible. Throughout my planning, I have found myself saying, "oh, this is so important" or "I must have this," about many things - but if I really sit down and think about what I'm talking about, I usually realize I don't need it to enjoy my wedding day. For example, I am sure that whatever bowls AVIA - my reception venue - will provide will be suitable for putting out candy....no need to buy the amazingly cute ones I found at Home Goods! haha!

3. Make the extra effort to search for deals. This works especially well if you have a longer engagement, but still works in a shorter time frame. I had 9 months, so not quite enough time to wait for spring sales on some things, but I still ended up finding great deals. Toward the end of the year I went shopping for my gown. I figured maybe it worked like cars - you know, clear out the 08's and make room for the 09's! I ended up with a gorgeous LaSpose gown that was marked 50% off. Also, it was a discontinued sample, so they knocked off another 10%, making this dress a definite budget-saver purchase for me. Also keep in mind that many craft stores compete and may offer price-matching. Keep an eye out for that. Price matching is an amazing barganing tool.

4. Ok, so this is the most important...Keep in mind that this day is about you publicly announcing your love for another person and telling the world that you want to spend the rest of your life with them. Your guests are there to celebrate your marriage, and love for one another, not the custom-made, pink, sparkly ribbon on the favors....

Do you have a great money saving idea? Let us know at info@triciahuddas.com

P.S. This weekend is my very first wedding shower. My future Mom(in-law) and Grandma are hosting it in Florida and I am so excited! I consider myself very lucky to already have a great relationship with them, and I am so honored that they are taking the time to give me a shower!

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Wedding Newsletter

Yes, it may sound like I am going totally "Bridal," but hear me out. This is a great idea to keep people in the know about your wedding. Believe it or not, many of your guests want to know all the details of your wedding - color scheme, centerpieces, about your bridal party, etc. It feels strange but so many of my parents' friends are asking so many questions about the wedding that I never thought other people would care about. People are nosy. Especially women, myself included. We all love weddings and want to know all about them! Since many of my parents friends are not blogger savvy I had to come up with a way to keep everyone posted on what is going on. Hence.....a newsletter all about the wedding! I ran the idea past a few of my mom's friends and they were so excited...more than I was expecting!

The Wedding Newsletter is something that I just started working on this week. My plan is to send it out approximately 4 to 5 weeks after I send the wedding invitations - about 3 weeks before the actual wedding. Not only is this a great way to remind those who have not yet RSVP'd, it also contains all the necessary information about Savannah that I could not fit in my invitations. Some of the things I am including are directions from the various hotels to the church, fun Savannah activities that guests may enjoy, a map of downtown Savannah, and anything that will help all of my out of town guests feel super prepared for their trip to Savannah. On a less practical note, I am sharing the "how he proposed" story and also doing bios for the Bridal Party, properly titled "Meet the Bridal Party." I am including pictures, stories and anything else I can fit into four pages. Suggestions are welcome! I am leaving one square blank. for guests to fill out with their best advice for Matt and I, cut it out, and bring with them to the reception. There will be some sort of container for them to drop the cards in. I realize not everyone will do this but it will be fun for those who do!

So, whether or not you are having an intimate gathering or inviting 500 people, this is such a wonderful way to make everyone feel important and keep your guests informed. The only real cost is some extra postage but if you are like me you ordered extra anyway.

If you all have any additional ideas I would love to hear them or if you think I am just going completely "bridal" let me know :)

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Why I Chose Savannah

Savannah, Georgia is an incredibly popular city for destination weddings. I have met people who have traveled from all over the United States to have their dream wedding here in this southern city. I am lucky to live in such as city - there are so many vendors and sites to choose from. however my decision to get married here was not one I took lightly.

I was born and raised in Bradenton, FL. My entire family lives there, and were also born and raised in or near Bradenton. We are members of First Presbyterian Church, where Rev. Jack Wolfe married my Mother and Father in 1974. Rev. Wolfe also baptized me there in 1983 shortly after I was born. My grandfather passed away in January 2007, and was laid to rest in the memorial garden on the church grounds that my father designed and landscaped. With so much history it always seemed like that church was meant for my wedding. I must say sitting here writing all this down is making me tear up just a bit thinking about home!

The choice between Savannah and Bradenton was difficult on many levels, but a decision had to be made. For starters I tried very hard to be realistic and to put things into perspective. I occasionally get a tad over-emotional. Although grew up in Bradenton, Rev. Wolfe has since passed away, the congregation has gone through 3 pastors - none of whom know me - and I have lived here in Savannah for almost 4 years. Matt and I both work full time and Matt does not have a lot of vacation. Moreover, Matt and I - at the time I was choosing a location for the wedding - had recently decided that we really loved it here and were starting to house hunt. Our wedding would be the perfect opportunity for our families to come to Savannah and truly share this experience in a city that we have grown to love and are planning to make our home.

Once Matt and I decided we would like to have the wedding here, I knew I needed the approval of my mother and my grandmother. I spoke to my mom first, explained our situation and, to my surprise, she was thrilled to come to Savannah. She completely agreed to it as long as we had it in the summer! She is a teacher and has all summer off so I completely agreed. I really wanted her to feel like she could still help me plan and take care of things even though we weren’t going to be in Bradenton. I reminded her that we needed to talk to “Vovo”, my grandmother, before we made it official; and was so pleased when my grandmother had the same reaction. Both were so excited and both have still been highly involved in the planning even though it is a destination wedding for them.

Planning this wedding in Savannah has been better than I imagined. There are so many amazing wedding vendors in Savannah and everyone practices the "Southern Hospitality" that one would expect. It also doesn’t hurt that I work for an event coordinator. Tricia and Ainsley have been irreplaceable when it has come to helping make some key decisions about the wedding. They have worked with so many of the vendors, and having seen how they interact with brides they have been able to help me pick the best vendors for my personality.

Now that I’m about half way through my planning I couldn’t imagine having my wedding anywhere but Savannah.

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Choosing Bridesmaids

Once Matt proposed, I knew the toughest decision I would have to make was deciding who my Bridesmaids would be. I have a large group of friends from college, along with friends from high school and new friends here in Savannah. At first, I wanted to have everyone be a bridesmaid - a la 27 dresses. In total that would have been 9 Bridesmaids, 2 Junior Bridesmaids and a Flower Girl - 12 girls total! I know friends who have had up to 12 in their wedding party and I am not turned off by the big number. Alas, a bridal party of 12 was just something that my budget could not handle. 12 bouquets, 12 gifts, wedding day transportation for 12...it starts to add up.

I read magazine after magazine trying to figure out how to handle the situation - methods for narrowing down, scripts for breaking the bad news, etc. No outside answer seemed to satisfy me. But after thinking it through on my own, and discussing it with close friends, I finally came up with a plan:

My Maid of Honor was always a given, Jessica, my best friend and sorority sister from college. My best friend here in Savannah just happened to get married last year making it easy for me to make her my Matron of Honor. My best friend from High School, Kristin, and another sorority sister, Courtney, are the girls that I would consider my two closest college friends. With them as bridesmaids I had narrowed it down to 4 maids (plus the little gals).

From there things got tricky. I still had 5 close sorority sisters/high school friends left that I felt I could not choose between, so I decided not to choose at all - leave it at 4 and be done with it. Problem solved, right?...Wrong! The guilt set in about 2 months after I had bought the bridesmaids' dresses. They were not giving me any grief, of course, but I was not happy to be leaving them as pure guests on my wedding day. They are my closest friends, whether there are two or five of them. Still knowing that I could not afford to have that many bridesmaids, I had to figure out some way to recognize them at the wedding and let them know how much they meant to me.

I decided to forget tradition that says "you're a bridesmaid or not a bridesmaid" and created "The Honorary Bridesmaid." It may even be a cooler position than bridesmaid because you get to pick your own dress and shoes and you get to sit for most of the ceremony! Each of my Honorary Bridesmaids will process down the aisle before the wedding party, carrying a single flower, be listed in the program, and sit in the front of the church with my immediate family. It may seem a small part to play, but it means a lot to me to recognize each girl that has meant that much to me.

I'd love to hear about the difficulties that you've had choosing your wedding party and how you chose to overcome them. Is there a whole army of Honorary Bridesmaids out there that I don't know about?

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - Charleston Bachelorette Party

Although Ainsley introduced me last week, I wanted to take a second to tell everyone a little more about myself. I was born and raised in Bradenton, FL, approximately 1 hour south of Tampa. I graduated from the University of Florida, GO GATORS, in the fall of 2005 and immediately moved to Savannah. Matt and I met in college and have been in Savannah since – we have truly fallen in love with this town!

Now on to something that I hope all of you will experience as a bride or bridesmaid - the infamous Bachelorette party! The Bachelorette party is probably the most fun, as well as the most stressful, thing your Maid of Honor (MOH) will have to plan. Some brides choose to be involved in the planning, but not me. My bridesmaids are not only old friends from college and high school, but also new friends from Savannah. I wanted this to be a chance for all of them to bond before the wedding, so I let my MOH, Jessica, take charge and the entire weekend became a huge surprise for me!

So this past weekend I was wisked away to Charleston, SC with no clue what was in store for me – a little scary, but a lot of fun. We arrived in Charleston on Friday afternoon and settled into the amazing condo that the girls rented. It was fully decorated with dozens of x-rated balloons and inappropriate decorations, and I loved it! I, myself, was soon decorated with a Bachelorette sash that had twinkling lights and a giant twinkle ring, which gave almost everyone a headache. This was my “nice” night.

April, the best tour guide in Charleston, took us on a private ghost tour. Though I think I scared the ghosts off with my bachelorette flair, it was a fantastic way to see the city – walking all through downtown Charleston, and hearing fantastic spooky stories.

Apparently there are ghosts in the Spanish Moss..oooo..spooky

All the ladies on the ghost tour...no, that is not a ghostly orb over my shoulder, it's my bachelorette sash.

Next up was a big fancy dinner – my favorite! We ate at Magnolias, where I had the most excellent shrimp and sausage grits – a true Southern delicacy. And later we strolled around the town scoping out some bars and just enjoying each others’ company. I had not seen my Bridesmaid Kristin for over a year, so it was just nice to be with my best friends!

Saturday was shopping day! After an amazing brunch at Sweetwater Café the girls and I checked out King Street, and “Bridey,” the nickname that I was given for the weekend, spent way too much money! There is an amazing store downtown called, simply and appropriately, Cupcake, where we bought a few cupcakes each and I now wish I had bought a lot more.

On Saturday night the girls threw me a lingerie shower so that I would be well prepared for the honeymoon. Then, to top it off, there was a champagne toast where each girl told her fondest memory of me. There were a few tears on my end - I am a crier! - and they took advantage of the warm feelings I was having for them by instructing me to close my eyes while they dressed me up and prepared me for my “last night out.”

We had planned on bar-hopping around the Market Street area, but found our home at Mad River. We had such a great time there that we didn’t make it anywhere else, and I even got a Mad River Bride t-shirt! We spent the night dancing, singing and creating memories that will last forever. I would write more about Saturday night but you know what they say (or should say), “What happens in Charleston for your Bachelorette party, stays in Charleston.”

All in all it was a great weekend spent celebrating and bringing friends together. I learned that it doesn’t matter where you go or what you do on the road to the wedding, as long as you have friends and family around you to share in the journey.

Now that I have shared one of the crazier aspects of my wedding planning, I hope that you will continue to check in every Friday as I explore some of the tamer parts of my bride-to-be experience.