With this shoot I wanted to capture and inspire an almost masculine table. Something to contradict the almost girly, pretty inspiration shoots you see all over the place.  I wanted to create a table that reminded brides the season between fall and winter. That boarder season, where the air has a bite to it but snow is yet to fall. The time where natural colors like browns and white are prominent but the bright colors of autumn refuse to give way just yet.

Although this table is simple and masculine, the details are in the textures.  I wanted to capture both winter and fall with frayed white linen, dark cork placemats, weaved silver chargers and smooth white plates with textured gradient cakes, one for the bride and the groom.   The glasses found along the table had a frosted sugar look, reminiscent of early morning frost before snowfall.  And the metal gradient balls and fallen leaves add to the table’s texture and contribute to the masculine feel without making this a “man’s” table. The perfect balance between masculine and feminine is found in the orchids on the branches and the textured bouquet the bride carries as well as the flower details on her gorgeous dress.

This was such a fun couple and with this shoot I really wanted to capture their personalities in the almost fairy tale story line that they are walking in the woods, find this perfect table waiting for them, hanging from the perfect tree and begin to live in the moment. Moments full of romance, beauty, laughter and love.

I hope you are inspired and enjoy this different and unique photo shoot. You can see all the photos in our Gallery. Happy Thursday!

I would like to substitute the word theme for atmosphere.  See how that changes your whole mindset?

The right atmosphere can make or break your wedding. Whether subtle or over the top, choosing the atmosphere for you wedding is a great way to incorporate a style completely fitting to you. The atmosphere you choose can be reflected in the food, the décor, the invitations etc..

When I first meet with brides I ask a few simple questions, that if you are trying to choose a style/atmosphere/theme for your wedding, you should ask yourself.

List three words that reflect your personal style, now your hubby-to-be.

List three words that reflect your personality now his

Do you have any hobbies and interests? Do you have hobbies and interests you share together?

After asking yourself those questions look around and look for common themes in your home your closet, and even in your makeup. Do you have a lot of bright colors? Pastel colors? Is your home simply styled or is it cluttered? Does it have photos from vacations or wall paintings? Are your clothes trendy, relaxed or a mixture of both?

All these things can be used to describe your personal style and preference towards colors and trends- Which can be used in your wedding and help create a theme.

For an example, I did this exercise to show how these questions can help shape your wedding:

Three words on my personal style: Simple, Elegant, Natural

His personal style: Clean cut, Modern, Classical

My Personality: Fun, Creative, passionate

His Personality: Generous, Extravagant, Mellow

My Interests: Weddings, Sushi, my dog, Pinterest

His Interests: Cars, cooking, graphic design

My Hobbies: Blogging, Dog Training and Designing over the top things

His Hobbies: Driving, product design, cooking

Interests we share: Vacationing, Eating good food, rainstorms and love

My closet is full of natural colors and elegant designs, his side has classical white and black and a few browns. Our home is simply designed in a clean atmosphere with lots of natural elements and colors incorporated. My make-up is all natural and neutral colors.

So if we were to have wedding- natural elements, clean designs and an extravagant feeling would be a must. We’d have to have good food, a fun time and be generous to our guests by maybe donating money in their names to a charity. The colors would be classical but found in nature- maybe greens, whites and greys- similar to places where it rains a lot. In my mind our “theme/atmosphere” would be very earthy and fit us to a T. (and our dog would be part of it somehow!)

So now you’ve seen how a few simple questions can help you design your wedding to be uniquely you!

A cohesive and “Taylor Made” to you wedding style is exactly what guests want to see when walking into your wedding, so what will your theme be?

I hope you are inspired and have a happy Friday!

~Taylor Proctor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

St George Utah is the perfect backdrop to your special day. With fantastic weather and several different types of locations (red rocks, orchards, forests, Zions National Park, etc…) it is the perfect location to pull off your dream wedding. While St George is first appealing with its fantastic scenery and weather, it is also appealing to brides because of the wonderful vendors and style that can be found here.  For anyone looking to St George UT for a close to home but destination wedding there are a few things you need to know and do first!

The first thing to do is to hire a local planner! Hiring a planner in the area can help your planning process immeasurably.   A planner in the area, of course,  knows the area, the venues, the vendors and even what the typical weather may be for the day of your wedding! Instead of searching and researching tons of different vendors in an area you don’t know, hire a planner who you trust; they already know and work with vendors who are trust worthy and can suit your style.

The second thing is to know your budget and what it includes. This may seem rudimentary but with destination type of weddings you must ask yourself what you are paying for. Planners are great for helping with budget management but some questions to ask yourself are these: Are you paying for guest’s rooms and activities? Are you paying for any travel expenses of the bridal party? Are you remaining in the area to honeymoon and if so, is that included in your budget? Is it part of your budget to travel to the area at least once before your event?

One of the coolest things about St George is it is an inexpensive trip to stay here and to have a wedding.  Just four hours from Salt Lake City, guests can enjoy that destination wedding experience without the hours and hours of what seems like endless traveling.  And as far as cost goes, weddings in St George do not cost more than those in SLC, therefore you can spend the same amount as you would in SLC and get a great location, great weather and look like you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a destination wedding.

The third thing is to be very aware of just how much time you really have. Destination weddings can be pulled off in a remarkable amount of time but to remain stress free and happy, be sure to plan things out in advance and give your planner plenty of time to work with you on creating your special day. If you have not hired a planner, and do not plan on it, give yourself plenty of time to research and find vendors and venues in the area.  And always plan on meeting with your chosen vendors at least once (if not more) before the wedding day.

I have helped brides with complete planning from afar as well as coordination with services similar to what’s typically called a “day of.”   When I’ve worked with “day of” clients, I often find they are still planning and working on things up to a month before, which is where I come in and we work together to make sure you are not stressed! But believe me, you want to spend up to a month before your big day, relaxing and getting ready to look beautiful, not stressing! So If I can leave you with one very sound piece of advice in planning you destination St George wedding, it is to hire a planner.

Speaking of St George Weddings, be sure to register for the So Utah Wedding Showcase, coming on January 21st! We will of course be there and it will be full of  many other great vendors and thousands of creative ideas!

I hope you are inspired and have a happy Friday!

~Taylor Proctor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

]]> http://stgeorgeweddings.com/archives/1384/feed 0 http://stgeorgeweddings.com/archives/1374 http://stgeorgeweddings.com/archives/1374#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:43:44 +0000 taylor http://stgeorgeweddings.com/?p=1374 Congratulations to all the newly engaged brides-to-be out there!

After the ring and the long awaited “yes!” suddenly being engaged can be a little overwhelming. After you excitedly tell everyone you know, in person and on Facebook, you start to be bombarded with questions: Do you have a dress yet? I’m invited right? When is the big day?

So you’re engaged, what’s next? Well, first off, just enjoy the moment of being engaged. Welcome all the congratulations and leave the rest for a bit. Jumping right into wedding planning can be fun but take a second to remember how he got down on his knee, how he took that shaky nervous breath and asked you to marry him. Your wedding is celebrating him, you and your relationship, and your future together; don’t lose sight of that in the rush to plan.

When you feel ready to begin planning your big day, I have a few helpful hints on what to do next.

1) Decide on a Date or a rough date.

Choosing a date will help you know how much time you have to plan, will inform vendors if they are able to work with you and will assist in choosing a wedding venue for your ceremony and reception. I recommend choosing a rough “date.” If you must be married on “this day” you may be limiting yourself to which venue is available and what vendors you can work with. Always be open to maybe adjusting it a week or so, in case you fall absolutely in love with a venue that may not be available on your first pick of dates.

When picking a date, there are a few questions to ask. Is there a day, special to us that we’d like to be married on? What time of year would we like to be married? How much time would we like to have to plan our wedding? Is it a holiday weekend? What time of day would we like to be married in? Do we prefer an indoor or an outdoor reception?

Asking these questions can help you narrow down your ideal date and give you a great starting point for your planning. Questions like what time of day and indoor and outdoor may seem a little odd to ask but if its summer, you want to be married outside and at sunset, you’re looking at getting married at 8:30-ish pm. Which is pretty late and would mean a late reception for guests who may be traveling…If you want to be married at noon outside in the summer, you’re looking at potentially sweltering conditions.. all things to consider when choosing a date.

2) Decide on a Budget

You’ve chosen your date, now it is time to decide how much you’d like to spend. Some questions to ask yourself: Are either sets of your parents contributing to your wedding? If so, how much are they willing to donate to your special day? If you are paying for it how much do you want to spend?

I won’t lie to you, weddings can be expensive. The average wedding in the USA is $27,000 but in Utah that average is considerably lower at roughly $13,000. Having a budget in mind will greatly help you in wedding money management. Planners often offer budget management services and they know the cost of most everything in weddings.. . so you don’t have to do a completely break down of how much will cost for what because a planner can budget your wedding out to be what you want, within your budget. Planners can also help you determine your priorities and make sure your money is spent wisely on those things most important to you.
This brings me to tip number three!

3) Pick a Planner

A planner is the most important vendor you can have. They will help you design, budget, prioritize, choose venues and other vendors, help keep you stress free, and a thousand other things to do with your wedding.

A good planner will be organized, professional and become a close friend who you can trust with every detail of your special day
.
Planning a wedding is a large undertaking and should not be done without the assistance of someone who has experience in all types of weddings, fresh ideas and certification.

When picking a planner or any vendor I encourage you to read the Taylor Made Weddings and Events Choosing a Vendor, three part Blog Series. That series offers a number of helpful tips on choosing the right vendor for you.

I hope that you are inspired and enjoy your wonderful planning process! Happy Thursday!

~Taylor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

But I thought I’d would tell you a little bit about my experiences with Pinterest and how helpful it is to myself and the brides I work with.

Firstly, a quick introduction to what Pinterest is: “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pin boards created by other people. Browsing pin boards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.” ~Pinterest 

So now that that’s out of the way… my favorite reasons to use Pinterest.. as a bride, a planner or really just anyone!

1. Visual feedback of how ideas are coming together- I can find photos that may be similar to what I’m looking for and “pin” them to a board dedicated to my bride. She can also find photos and pin them to that board so we’re on the same page! It also helps because we may have talked about vintage styles but I know that if she’s posting photos of things she loves and they have a more modern flare, that’s what she really likes.

2. Trending from around the world- You can see what is getting pinned all over the world and that’s just plain cool.

3. Sharing of your wedding coming together with others-When friends or family try to see a vision of your wedding beforehand, it is always difficult to share that vision. Pinterest takes that difficulty away. When they ask, just pull up Pinterest and show them your board! Now they can see the direction you are taking your wedding and how awesome it will be!

4. Organization of ideas in many aspects of life- Photos of ways to organize your home, kid projects, wedding ideas, your wish list of products, places you want to go, etc… All in one place in multiple boards. Easy to find, to remember and to do!

5.  Fun!- Lets face it, Pinterest is addicting and inspiring. Find cool photos of everything under the sun and being able to look at them whenever you please AND share them with others? It’s awesome.

6.  Sourcing- I have an entire folder full of saved blogs and websites that I want to share on my Tuesday blog share day (see Facebook and Twitter) Or to share fantastic photos (with credit of course) on my blog, Facebook or Twitter. Now I can save all of those on one fantastic site that sources back to the original blog/website/photo. It’s a great way to share and attribute credit at the same time.

7. Inspirations boards- I’ve used it to find photos for boards a few times, or even gotten ideas from a photo or two. Plus Pinterest is like a whole inspiration board in its self!

Fellow Planner, Utah Events By Design has posted an amazing blog on her site as well- check out her blog about Pinterest too! It gives a more in depth blog specifically about how to use Pinterest in planning your wedding.

I hope you are inspired and have a Happy Thursday!

~Taylor Proctor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

Berry/fruit inspired food and details in your wedding can be a great way to bring a little color and deliciousness to your white winter wedding and as we know, details are everything!

Sugar-glazed berry h’ordeuvres added a frosted look, and presentation is everything with chocolate berry truffle cups or a textured apple wedding cake. Can you just imagine centerpieces made to be eaten with little pedal stools of fruit tarts and other yummy berry desserts?

I hope you are inspired, or at least craving some amazing berries, and have a happy Friday!

~Taylor Proctor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

~Taylor Proctor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

Helping  my friend and fellow planner, Tina of Irresistible Weddings set up the finish line.

The second place winner who just finished the race. Me playing  Peek-a-boo in the back.

The Great Cheering Section at the finish line!

The third place runner who won the 3rd place prize for a bride who was also running!

Three fantastic brides crossing the line together!

My dear Friend, Olga of My Favorite Flowers and her sweet pup San’ka.

Behind the scenes shot of the Bride Access feature on the run.

Check out the support for fighting breast cancer! (check the pink shoes!)

Tina and I posing in our cute coats at the finish line!

To start lets clarify. On-Site Coordinators are NOT planners.  They are what their name is, which means they are there to coordinate the setup, the take down and occasionally the food at an event on site (at the venue you’ve picked out.) After that the buck generally stops. They are hired by the facility with the facilities best interests at heart. They are good at what they do but if you expect them to be a planner, you’ve got another thing coming.

But isn’t that what a planner does?  No!  A planner does SO MUCH more!

In the past, I’ve written about needing to be 100% comfortable with the vendors you are working with… You don’t get that luxury with On-Site Coordinators.  In the words of my niece: “You get, what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.”  Whoever the venue provides is who you are stuck with.  Do they share your creative vision? Are they working with and FOR you or for the venue? A planner is paid by you and always has your creative vision and best interests at heart.  Statistics show that On-Site Venue Coordinators also have a high turnover rate, so who’s to say you’ll be working with the same person at your next meeting?  With a planner, you are dealing one-on-one with the same person every time.

A planner is there to assist you every step of the way. This includes recommending vendors who fit your style, needs and budget… not just those preferred by the venue.  A planner can attend vendor meetings with you and coordinate with the vendor to make your dreams come true.  On-Site Coordinators are well, on site.  They do not attend consults or meetings with you and often times when it comes time to coordinate the event, they only contact and coordinate the vendors who are involved in the setup of the wedding… this excludes limo drivers, stylists, even photographers.

If all of that isn’t enough to inform you of the difference between Planners and On-site Coordinators, I’d like to tell you of a recent experience I had. I was a bridesmaid for a friend’s wedding recently.  I could not be her planner because I was a bridesmaid so my dear friend opted not to go with one and trust the On-Site Coordinator to handle the details.  When we arrived the venue was all set up and looked fantastic but I didn’t see the coordinator.  My friend’s family arrived early to set up photos and other items and was still setting up right to when the ceremony was supposed to start.  The coordinator did not come to line everyone up, nor did she give anyone a time heads-up of a few minutes until we begin… in fact she didn’t even check to make sure the bride had arrived!  Once we had all lined up, she sent us on our way and I did not see her again for the rest of the night. Granted they pulled off an amazingly quick turn (planner lingo for changing a ceremony site to a reception in a short amount of time) but after that we were on our own.

The On-Site Coordinator didn’t set up personal items, check on us or tend to the event timeline because it’s not her job. But who was letting the DJ know when to make announcements for cake cutting, first dances, and the sendoff? When were these events going to happen? Who was going to help the bride and groom get prepared to cut the cake, napkins on hand and positioning them for best photos possible?  Family, friends, guests and the couple are all having such a good time that someone isn’t just going to take care of all this behind the scenes work and the coordinator wasn’t, so this is where a planner comes in.

To give another example, I was once hired by a bride who was planning a destination wedding. She had been uninformed on the duties of an On Site Coordinator and had expected her to help with the wedding from afar.   She just wanted the day to run smooth but that is not the on-site coordinators job. So very wisely, she hired a planner, me. No longer did she stress about dealing with this coordinator to do things outside the coordinators job description and experience… Instead I took that stress she had and together she and I created the wedding just the way she’d wanted.

If I can add one last little bit about planners vs. On-Site coordinators, it’s this: On site Coordinators are fantastic at what they do and I love to work with them. And I often hear they love to work with planners because then it is a team effort and make both our jobs easier and I agree! This is a post is to clearly let brides know that there is a HUGE difference between the two and to be informed on the difference.

A planner is with you every step of your creative process, they can mediate between families and vendors, they have your back on your big day, they stay the whole time, organize and keep to a timeline and they do far more than just a set up and take down. Planners become trusted friends there to make your day the best possible, maintaining a stress free and celebratory atmosphere for everyone.

I hope you are inspired and enlightened. Happy Thursday!

~Taylor Proctor

Taylor Made Weddings and Events

I hope you are inspired and have a happy Thursday!

Bride and Groom: JK and Kelsee Snow

Wedding Date: June 25 2010

Location: The Garden at Toniquint Park

Colors: Aqua, and Sunset Orange

Photographer- Flourish Photography

Theme: Vintage

Catering Marvellous Catering (Robynn Wood)

Event Planner: Forevermore Events (Laura Stagg) http://forevermoreevents.blogspot.com

Cake: Icing by Design http://www.icingcakesbydesign.com/

DJ: Festival Sounds http://www.festivalsounds.com/

Bridal Gown: The Perfect Dress.

Birdcage veil: Julie Thomas.

Groom Attire: tan suit was purchased at Adrians, and the tie was from Macys