Ask Amber Joy: My rehearsal dinner numbers are getting out of control, who do I HAVE to invite?

This is completely up to you. If you are battling with your family or yourself on who to invite, just remember that the rehearsal dinner can be as small or large as you like. There are no obligations. In fact, you don’t even HAVE to do a rehearsal dinner if you don’t want to.


Some couples choose to invite their family, wedding party, and out of town guests which indeed can get out of control! Others couples keep it REALLY simple and just share an intimate dinner with each other. It can be pretty nice for the B&G (bride & groom) to spend a moment with each other.

Regardless of what you decide to do, if you find your numbers are getting larger than you expected, keep the price down with a minimalistic approach. You don’t have to go to a restaurant or spend a ton of money. You can easily use the clubhouse where you live or a friend’s backyard. Consider making your own meal with something low cost like salads and pasta!

Free iPhone Apps: WC Budget

This app is from the same makers as Wedding To-Do.  It starts you out with entering your wedding date and bride/groom info, then inquires about your total budget.  I put in $15,000 just to see the process.

The app then creates a budget for each part of your wedding.

Under each item there are sub items and the budget for each of those items.  It also help you keep track of payments, when they are due, how much you spent on that item, and where you are with your budget.

I recommend this app to EVERY bride.  (Unless of course you are crazy loaded and don’t have to have a budget.)  At this point, I will become very jealous.

Ask Amber Joy: Is it ok to invite guests to the ceremony but not the reception?

NO.


No, no and again NO! Now of course this is my personal opinion, however, imagine if the roles were reversed. How would you feel if you were invited to a friend’s ceremony, but not cool enough to get invited to the reception?

Of course you want to have everyone special in your life be a part of your special day, but maybe funds are low and you can’t afford for everyone to come to the reception? Or possibly the venue won’t hold as many people as you would like. If this is the case, you REALLY need to cut down your guest list. The guests you select to only come to the ceremony may feel like they “didn’t make the cut” or they aren’t as special as your other guests. They might even feel that you only invited them to the ceremony to get gifts and that is NOT cool.

It’s quite alright to send an announcement after your wedding to those you could not invite. If you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money.  Don't dig yourself into a situation you have trouble getting out of.

On the other hand, it is perfectly acceptable to invite guests only to the reception. Many times, couples will want to have an intimate ceremony with their family. That’s completely fine!

Free Iphone Apps: The Knot Wedding 911

With The Knot, you expect excellent wedding apps! This one is no exception. The first page lists different categories where “Carley” answers your “top 911’s”. There is even an icon where you can “ask” Carley YOUR wedding 911 questions.



Under each category there are different questions that Carley answers for brides.


There are many answers that I may have answered differently, but most of the answers that apply to etiquette are spot on.

Free Iphone Apps: Wedding Dresses

Definitely not as cool as The Knot’s Look Book, but certainly a close second. There are only about 1500 dresses to choose from but it does allow you to search based on themes, most popular, designers and bridesmaids dresses.



You can also search the dresses based on a combination of silhouette, neckline, and hemline.


A good alternative free app if you need some more ideas. 

Free Iphone Apps: Wedding To-Do

This is an awesome to do list! It allows you to create and a checklist or select a pre-designed wedding checklist designed by a planner if you’re new to the game.


You first put in your wedding date and it will give you dates to complete important items such as when to get your vendors, when to set up a registry, when to book hotel rooms for out of town guests, etc. The front page also allows you to add your bridal party members and vendors as well as their contact info. You can import them from your Iphone as well.

If you are working your way through the checklist and aren’t sure if you’ve missed something, you can sort by completed/non completed tasks.


Definitely a good way to keep organized.

Free Iphone Apps: IBride

I’m not completely thrilled with this app.  It’s kind of cool because it has a pretty accurate and thorough check list for the 12 months leading up to the wedding.

They do have a listing of vendors in your metro area that are broken down into categories.

However, it looks like they are trying to have a directory of different wedding vendors where they want them to pay for a premium listing.  So far, no one has paid in the San Diego area so all of the vendors have a “basic listing”.  Not very informative at all.  I could have probably done better with google…

Free Iphone Apps: The Knot Look Book

Even though I am in the wedding industry, I’m not a huge fan of wedding shows.   Shows like Bridezilla, etc. really rub me the wrong way.  Who told their little girls it was ok to act like that!?  However, there are two weddings shows I cannot turn my head away from:

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

&

Say Yes to the Dress

The second show is why The Knot Look Book is probably my favorite wedding app EVER!  It is SO neat.  The front page has 7 drop down areas for you to select to narrow down a list of over 3,000 dresses to fit your specifications!

I’ve got a big bum, so I can select “Pear Shaped”, “5’3’”, “Garden”, “Good Boobs”, “Big Thighs” and BAM:

DRESSES JUST FOR MY BODY!

 

This is one of my favs:

 

Sangria? Si!

Just thought I’d share. I made a super yummy sangria for my BBQ last week. Might be a fun addition to a rehearsal dinner!


Amber Joy’s FABOOSH Pina Colada Sangria:

1 Bottle of South Coast Winery Romanza (any red will do though)


½ cup to 1 cup Malibu Coconut Rum

1 20oz can of slice pineapple (include juice in can)

1 lime (sliced, squeezed into sangria, then the rinds left in)

1 orange (sliced and placed into sangria)

1 can of ginger ale

Place all ingredients, except ginger ale, into container and place in the fridge overnight. Right before serving, pour the ginger ale into the container and serve. YUM!



Another awesome sangria recipe I tried:
White Peach Sangria

Reception Right-On: Succulents

This is something I am absolutely loving right now! Succulents can be an easy way to create simple, elegant centerpieces and accents.


I took these pictures from my bride’s wedding today. The florist, Golden B Designs Floral Arrangements, used wooden boxes for the main centerpiece with smaller arrangements contained in vintage tins. SO cute.

The placecards were placed in a wooden box that resembled a wine crate. 

The best thing about succulents?  The price!  You can still have a florist design them for you and it won’t be as expensive as traditional floral arrangements.  Want to be creative, do it yourself!  Found these excellent blogs for ideas:

Cute!

Awesome!

Love!