Congrats, you are engaged!! Now what do you do? One of the first things to do once you get engaged is to book a venue for your ceremony and reception. Here are some great tips to keep in mind when booking your venue for your big day.
LocationWhere would you like to get married? Most couples choose to get married in the bride’s home town or where the two of them currently live. You also want to consider location if you are having multiple venues during your wedding day. If you are getting married at a church it is pretty smart to find a reception site within a reasonable walking or driving distance. You don’t want your guests getting lost between the two sites because they are 45-60 minutes away from each other.
Size How many guests do you plan on inviting to your wedding? You can either find a location you love and then base your guest list off of their venue capacity or you can create your tentative guest list and find a location that will hold that many. One of the biggest problems people encounter when it comes to venues is size. So be prepared when visiting venues in knowing how much space you will approximately need. A great tool that I use is the
event space calculator. You can pick your desired room setup and number of guests and it will generate a number of approximate square footage you will need.
Budget
What is your wedding budget? Besides the venue size, this is the biggest limiting factor when it comes to choosing your venue location. If you fall in love with a location but the price is out of the questions ask about their discounts for having the wedding on a Friday or Sunday instead. There is also the “off-season” pricing that many venues offer during the winter months. Depending on how you distribute your wedding budget you will probably be looking to spend between 10-20% of your total wedding budget on the venue. Most wedding budgets will have you reserve 40-50% for the entire reception which includes site, catering, bar, cake, and rentals. So budget accordingly!!
Theme/Style
This is one small detail to consider when looking at different venues. Some venues limit the amount of decorations that you are allowed at the venue. Don’t choose a museum or historical venue if you want a more modern wedding theme or style. Choose a venue that is similar to your style and will complement your wedding theme. If the site is similar to the theme you want then you don’t have to spend as much on decorations.
Of course there are other factors to consider when choosing a venue, but I could probably write a short novel covering all of them. No matter where you choose to have your wedding, just make sure that you are 100% happy with your decision. You want to be able to enjoy your wedding day without worrying about anything else.
What other tips or suggestions do you have when it comes to choosing a venue?
xoxo
Megan
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There is one site that I cannot get enough of and that is The Perfect Palette. When they posted their event spring color guide I could not wait to share it with you. No matter if you are planning a birthday party, shower, girl’s night or wedding these are the top ten colors you will see when it comes to event this spring. I am just loving the muted shades that are going to be out this spring and cannot wait to see some events that use these colors. They are already everywhere in the 2013 spring fashion trend so it is only a matter of time before they start appearing in the event color palettes. What is your favorite color for spring events?
xoxo
Megan
Have an idea you would like me to do a post about? Let me know! Share what event topic or party idea you would like to see me blog about in the comments section below. You never know what might show up in 2013!!
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Happy Monday to you all! It sure does seem like it has been forever since I rang in the New Year last week. I had so much fun celebrating on December 31st with friends and family. Check out some pictures from my New Years fun in the slideshow below!
What did you do last week to ring in the New Year? And for those who are keeping up with the New Year’s resolutions keep it up!! Just like when you are planning a party, make sure you write your resolutions on a list that you will see every day. When you accomplish one of your resolutions you can cross it off! The sense of accomplishing that one resolution will keep you motivated to keep working on the rest of your list.
xoxo
Megan
Have an idea you would like me to do a post about? Let me know! Share what event topic or party idea you would like to see me blog about in the comments section below. You never know what might show up in 2013!!
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While January may bring cold weather with the possibility of snow you don’t have to wait around to enjoy these fun snowmen snacks. Here are 3 fun snowmen treats that you can enjoy any time of the year!
Melted Snowmen Cookies
My friend Emily made these last year. They were so adorable to look at that I didn’t want to eat one (we did anyway!). To make these melted snowmen cookies you will need sugar cookies, marshmallows and icing. Take a cookie and pour the icing onto the cookie to create the “melted snowman” look. Next, while the icing is still warm, stick half of a large marshmallow onto the cookie to create the head. To finish pipe on a face, buttons, arms and other decorations with different colors of icing.
Donut Snowmen
This snowman treat could not be any easier to make. All you need are powdered donuts, candy corn for the nose, and black icing or melted chocolate to create the eyes and mouth. Breakfast is served!
Oreo Snowmen Pops
This is the perfect snowman treat that you can put in baggies to give to friends or use to make a cute dessert display. To make these you will need candy sticks, oreos (double stuff works best), white chocolate, and decorating icing. First insert the candy stick into each oreo. Next melt the white chocolate. Once melted dip each oreo into the chocolate and lay on a piece of wax paper to dry. Once dry you are ready to decorate your snowmen.
And don’t forget about those
snowmen pancakes from the Snow Day post! There are just too many great ideas on creating your own edible snowman treat.
Which snowman themed treat is your favorite? xoxo
Megan
Have an idea you would like me to do a post about? Let me know! Share what event topic or party idea you would like to see me blog about in the comments section below. You never know what might show up in 2013!!
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Growing up snow days meant that we had a day off from school to go and play outside in the snow all day. Just because you have grown up doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the same snow day traditions as you did as a kid. So next time you see snow forecasted for where you live stock up on some of these snow day treats to be able to host the perfect snow day party.
What would a snow day be without some fun snow day activities. If everyone is up for going outside divide into teams and have a snowman building contest. Here is the snowman that my family built the last time we had a good snow storm come through.
Being out in the cold, and maybe taking part in a snow ball war, will have everyone searching for some warm beverages when they come back inside. Set up a hot chocolate and tea bar for all your guests to enjoy. You can even pull out a bottle of kahlua to turn that childhood snow day treat into a fun adult beverage.
While everyone is warming back up you can put on a fun wintertime movie and serve some warm treats. Some of my wintertime favorite treats are soup and a warm sandwich, like tomato soup with grilled cheese. If you want to get a little more creative try making some snowman pancakes.
So next time you have a snow day invite a few of your friends over and have a fun snow day together! What is your favorite thing to do on a snow day?
xoxo
Megan
Have an idea you would like me to do a post about? Let me know! Share what event topic or party idea you would like to see me blog about in the comments section below. You never know what might show up in 2013!!
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Remember the first time that you watched The Wizard of Oz and you saw your first glimpse of the Emerald City? With Pantone choosing
Emerald 17-5641 as the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year you can have your own personal emerald city. Emerald is a stunningly bright and festive shade of green and when in the form of a gemstone can add the perfect wedding sparkle to everything. Check out how you can incorporate this dazzling shade of green into your wedding.
My favorite way to incorporate such a bold color is to use it sparingly throughout the entire wedding design. You can start with all of your traditional wedding whites and then incorporate the emerald green with jewels, ribbons, linens and custom made stationary.
Small accents like extra greenery in your flowers can add the perfect amount of green to your flower bouquets and table centerpieces.
I am in love with these emerald accents. Go with emerald shoes for the girls and bow ties for the boys to give the wedding party that extra emerald touch.
What do you think of the 2013 color of the year? Of course you can’t go wrong with emerald jewels any time of the year so I say the more emerald the better!
xoxo
Megan
Have an idea you would like me to do a post about? Let me know! Share what event topic or party idea you would like to see me blog about in the comments section below. You never know what might show up in 2013!!
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Happy New Years to you all! I hope you had fun ringing in the new year last night and are as excited as I am for all that 2013 will bring! Cheers to each and every one of you!
What did you do last night to ring in the new year?
xoxo
Megan
p.s. ~ Make sure you don't miss out on anything in 2013 by making sure you are connected to all things by The Preppy Planner. Just click on the links below to get connected!!
Happy New Years Eve to you all! This 2012 holiday season is just about to come to a close. I have had so much fun attending holiday parties, decorating for Christmas and celebrating with friends and family this holiday season. Check out some of my favorite moments from this past Christmas.
My siblings and I went over to my grandparents house to decorate our yearly gingerbread houses. I think we might have gone a little overboard on the candy this year. But I did have a great final product!
Got all the family on my dad's side of the family together on Christmas Eve Eve to celebrate and exchange presents.
Here are my sister, brother and I after the Christmas Eve service at our church.
And come Christmas morning we had some delicious reindeer pancakes that my sister made for everyone before we dove into all the presents under the tree.
This was such a wonderful Christmas holiday and I can't believe it is over. There is still one more thing to celebrate this holiday season though!
What are you doing tonight to ring in the New Year? I'm off to go get ready to
countdown to 2013!
Happy New Year!!
xoxo
Megan
p.s. ~ Have an idea you would like me to do a post about? Let me know! Share what event topic or party idea you would like to see me blog about in the comments section below. You never know what might show up in 2013!! You might also like…
There are only a few more days left until we countdown to 2013. Here are some great NYE party ideas that can help you ring in the new year. So pull out those party hats, wind up those noise makers and get ready to pop that bottle of champagne as you start the countdown!
At most every party you will find appetizers, snacks and an over flowing bar. After you have already slaved away in the kitchen for Thanksgiving and Christmas this holiday season it is finally time to take a break from the kitchen. Here is a simple menu that you can serve at your NYE party.
Each of these items can easily be prepared ahead of time and require no more than 10-15 minutes of prep. Right before the guests arrive pull out all your prepared items and serve each dish in nice bowls or on platters for a picture perfect New Year’s party spread. All your guests will think you slaved away prepping for this party.
While all your guests are waiting to countdown to the new year have a few fun games and activities set out that everyone can play. Classic board games like Apple to Apples, Left Right Center, Mad Gab, Fact or Crap, and Pictionary are games that all your guests can take part in. I have always found that after one or two cocktails these games can get quite hysterical to play!
And when it gets closer to midnight it is officially time to break out the countdown party basket. Hand out the party hats, noise makers, confetti poppers and the glasses of champagne to all your guests so that everyone can countdown to the New Year in proper party style.
3, 2, 1. . . Happy New Year!! What are you doing this year to celebrate the countdown to the New Year?
xoxo
Megan
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