1. Before doing anything sit down with your fiancé and all parties contributing to your budget and decide on the overall amount of money that you want to spend on your wedding.  It is important to know how much money you have to spend and who is contributing to your Wedding Budget.

2. Decide on the items that are the most important to you.  So if you have a specific photographer that you want  and you know it is going to cost xx amount of dollars understand that you may need to compromise in some other areas of your budget to afford the photographer you want.

3. Cut your guest list.  I think this is probably the quickest and easiest way to ensure that you stay within your budget and still get all the other items that you want for your special day.  Take a close look at your guest list and decide if you need to have Gary the mail clerk at your office that you have said hi to three times.

4. When deciding the date of your wedding talk with your venue and see if they offer discounts on having the wedding on a Thursday or Friday during off season.  Many times they will give you a discounted rate if you book during an off time.

5. Be up front and honest with your potential vendors about what your budget is.  That way they know what it is  and are not going to propose something that is not within your budget.

Happy Wedding Planning!!

Amanda and Ted thank you for letting me be a part of your day!! I enjoyed every second of it!

Wedding Coordination: Creative Events By Ashley, Floral Design: Radeff Design Studios, Photography by Tess Marie Photography, Cakes by Cake Couquette,

Over the past several months I have been working on rebranding Creative Events By Ashley.  I worked with the amazing Leila Khalil and her team at Be Inspired Pr to come up with a new logo and I have to say I absolutely love what they have done for us.  The team at Creative Events By Ashley is now ready to rock and roll with our blogging and bringing you, the reader, some wonderful new content. Enjoy and I can’t wait for what is to come!!

Blogging Bootcamp Information

Since the launch of the Blue Orchid Blog in 2006, it has grown to include over 3000 unique daily visitors and is partially to credit for the launch of two new Blue Orchid Designs offices on the East Coast.  In the Blogging Bootcamp, Liene will share specific strategies and techniques she has personally used to grow the Blue Orchid Designs blog to where it is today.

This workshop is open to all wedding professionals, not just wedding planners.  Space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis so reserve your spot now!  Laptops are optional and lunch will be provided.

Topics covered will include:
*How to discover and leverage your blogging voice
*How to maximize your blogging ROI
*How to develop killer content – consistently
*How to set short term and long term goals for your blog
*How to effectively analyze your stats and blog traffic
*How to increase your readership and keep them coming back for more
*Specific strategies and techniques to use your blog to improve your main website’s SEO or “findability” on Google
*How to promote your brand through your blog’s design and content
*Maintaining professional boundaries while still being personable
*And more!

The Blogging Bootcamp will not be a class on blogging philosophy.  You already know that blogging is a good idea.  We’ll be showing you how to do it so that it is worth your time. No topic will be off the table, and any questions you may have will be fair game.

This event would not be possible without the generous support of Creative Events by Ashley and Hotel Monaco.

Color Palette

Top Row (right to left) – Tutu by Jamie Ann Johnson, shoe picture by Jason Q Tran Photography, blue dress pic by Carol Sheridan , dress pictures by Sun-dance Photography, invitation by Papel Vivo

I have included some pictures of some of the weddings. What do you think? If you were able to get married at the White House would you?

Alice Roosevelt

Lynde Bird Johnson and Charles Spittal Robb Wedding

Tricia Nixon

Barack Obama Inauguration

1st Inauguration

Abraham Lincoln Inauguration

Recently I was planning a baby shower and thought it would be great to find a way to send baby block invitations. I was on a quest and Googled baby block invitations and low and behold I found Egba Originals. Not only did they have baby block invitations but they were actually made out of wood and each invitation was an original. They do not use templates but work with you as a client to create exactly what you want!

I spoke to Mo Taxon the Creative Director about what I did and asked if he did wedding invitations. He said they can pretty much do anything. They specialize in doing one of a kind invitations. You give them an idea and they will run with it.

It was a joy working with Mo and his team at Egba. I would definitely use them again and my client was thrilled when she received her baby shower invites. I am hoping in the near future I am able to work with Egba again as they were professional, responsive and amazingly creative!