31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 29: Your Favorite

Day 29 Question:

I'd say a lot of us have been to a wedding at some point in the last 5 years or so. Think back to that last wedding you attended: what was your favorite part?

 Did they do something that you've never seen? 

Did they find a special way to honor their loved ones that touched your heart? 

Did they have the BEST COOKIE TABLE EVER? 

I would love to hear what your favorite part about that day was!

photo via bridalmusings.com

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 28: The Music (part 2)

Day 28 Question:

We were kicking around the idea of playing the wedding songs of our friends and family at our wedding, however, there are at least 50 couples and there's no way we have that much time (not to mention the fact that we want the music WE actually like!). 

Is there any other way we can go about including this?

Photography by Brett Heidebrecht

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 27: The Bar

Day 27 Question:

Oh, the bar. The ever-important bar. This is one of the main reasons we are seriously considering a "hotel wedding": we want everyone to drink and be merry, but we are very serious about making sure our guests get home safely. Our idea is to have the bar close an hour before the wedding is over and/or make the last hour cash bar. If we are at a hotel, guests who imbibe can simply walk upstairs. If we are not, we plan to hire a shuttle. Does anyone have any creative ideas or any suggestions for how we can make sure everyone has fun and is safe?

Photo via pinterest

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 26: The Money Dance

Day 26 Question:

Have you ever heard of a money dance at a wedding, or is that another "Pittsburgh" wedding tradition? Every place we've spoken to has mentioned it (as in, "we don't offer shots at the bar, except for the money dance"), making me think that this is a regular thing. 

I believe some people may call it a "shot dance"or something similar: 

it is where guests give cash for a shot 

and a dance with the bride or groom.

What do you think? Is it ok to have one? Any nifty creative ideas?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 25: The Ceremony

Day 25 Question:

Our ceremony will be non-denominational, however, we would like to have some people who are special to us somehow be involved in the ceremony. Any suggestions?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 23: Guest Book

Day 23 Question:

Are there options out there for guest sign in books other than the traditional book or large photo mat? I'd love something handmade, cool, unique...you know the drill.

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 21: Out of Town Guests

Day 21 Question:

What is something different and fun that I can do for my out of town guests? All of our out of town guests are family and friends who are very familiar with the Pittsburgh area (many of them are from here and have moved away), so doing something very "Pittsburgh-y" won't really do. 

Thoughts?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 20: The Day

Day 20 Question:

Have you ever been to a wedding on a Friday or a Sunday? 

photo via boho-weddings.com

We are thinking of having a Sunday wedding simply because it saves some big bucks, and to be honest the date possibilities are much more open. What are your thoughts? Have you ever been to a non-Saturday wedding? How did the rehearsal work?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings..Help Me Please! Day 19: Bridesmaids (part 2)

Day 19 Question:

Similar to yesterday's question, today I'm asking for some cool, fun, unique, affordable, awesome gifts for my bridesmaids! Any thoughts, ideas, pictures, and/or links to share?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 18: Groomsmen

Day 18 Question:

Do you have cool, creative, affordable ideas for groomsmen gifts? These are guys who aren't really into cufflinks or money clips, and I don't want to run the risk of flasks (shots + wedding = fail).

picture via vponsalewedding.co.uk

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 17: Getting Along

Day 17 Question:

We are OVERWHELMED! Just looking for a venue has proven to be very stress and anxiety inducing for us, which leads to us not getting along. We HATE not getting along! Can you give me some low cost suggestions for what we can do to take a quick breather from all of this?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 16: Ranking

Day 16 Question:

OK, so this one is more of a survey. Of all of the elements of your wedding (actual marriage to the love of your live excluded), what was the most important feature to you, and why? Photography? Venue? Food? Date?

photo via prettyweddingidea.com

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 15: Desperation

Day 15 Question:

This one is for my friends who have been married: 

 If you had to do it all over (the actually day of wedding part)...would you, or would you elope?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 13: Food

Day 13 Question:

What was your favorite meal type/food for a wedding?

There are SO MANY options here. I've seen people do buffets, traditional sit-downs, heavy hors d'oeuvres, stations...

(photo from Ruffled)

With the budget always on our minds, we are looking for a budget-friendly option that will also be fun and enjoyable for our guests. This certainly won't be a filet and lobster kind of wedding and overly ethnic foods are out of the question, but I'd like to serve something other than the very traditional "chicken and rigi" (that would be our word for rigatoni). 

Thoughts?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 11: Honoring Loved Ones

Day 11 Question:

Can you please share some creative ideas for how we can honor our loved ones (relatives and friends) who have passed with something special at our wedding?

I have seen some ideas that I like...one of them is to have a teeny framed photo hanging from my bouquet, which I think is lovely.

I'd like to have something that is visible to our guests without making it a focal point for the evening...maybe something creative with photos that's not the traditional 'framed picture and a rose' deal. Any ideas?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 9: The Favors

Day 9 Question:

What kind of favors can we offer that won't be wasted or thrown away?

I just can't STAND the idea of waste, especially when it comes to money. I've been to more than my fair share of weddings, and I've tossed away more than my fair share of wedding favors. 

In the interest of being "green" in both the environmental sense and the saving sense, I'm looking for some ideas for multi-purpose favor ideas. I'm thinking something that can serve as the table decoration and the take-home favor...without being a cheapskate. 

Ideally it would be some kind of plant or something that our guests would use in their homes or lives and think of us when they see it.

Do you have any ideas to share with me?

31 Days, 31 Questions About Weddings...Help Me Please! Day 7: The Cake

Day 7 Question:

Can we have cupcakes instead of a cake? If we do, is there some kind of mini cake we can cut for ceremonial cake-cutting purposes?

This is another one of those traditional wedding "things" that I'd like to alter (hmm...are we noticing a theme here with this wedding??). I do love the whole beautiful cake idea, and I definitely want to have the picture of the moment where we cut the cake together, but I was never really in love with the wedding cake part of the night. I don't know why...it just doesn't really appeal to me. Once the cake it cut, it's no longer this gorgeous creation that is a traditional symbol of wedding celebration. I think it would be perfectly adorable to have beautiful little cupcakes to share, kind of a teeny cake for each guest. Thoughts?

Just another idea...I LOVE these!

We're looking at about 200 guests, so if anyone has any suggestions for bakers within reasonable ordering/delivering area of Pittsburgh, please share in the comments!!