heidzillas

happy march! i have a few more questions to answer. if you have a question, email it to me at heidi at heidzillas dot com!

dear heidzilla, what was the first event or wedding you ever coordinated?

hmm, well where to start on answering this one. i have experience coordinating events all the way back to high school and college… i don’t claim that time as years of experience with my wedding coordination business although i learned a lot about event coordination and utilize that experience at every wedding i work. in my college days at my beloved kent state university, i participated in many several student organizations and helped to coordinate countless events – large and small – including organizing new member mixers, first ever formals, annual homecoming events, multiple organization co-meetings, speaker forums and more.

one of the largest events i was involved with filled the m.a.c. center at kent state (over 6,300 seats) in 2004. i had the opportunity to coordinate nearly 3 dozen volunteers who assisted with the event along with the kent state employees who did all of the event production. the event was sold out, while hundreds of people outside the facility also  clammering to get in. it was one of my first events that gave me the event coordination bug!

previous posts:
dear heidzilla: what anti-perspirant?
dear heidzilla: best way to make payments?
dear heidzilla: 831 photography?
dear heidzilla: officiant hiring?
dear heidzilla: favorite photo?

today’s question comes from an out of town bride who is having her ceremony and reception at the same location.

If you aren’t having your wedding in a church what should you look for in your wedding officiant?

the first question i’d ask myself is “what am i looking for with all of my vendors?” what personality type are you and your fiance? how do you envision your ceremony to be? when you talk about your ceremony to friends and family in the future, what are the adjectives that you want to be able to use to describe it?  are you looking for someone whose service is more solemn and serious? relaxed and witty? romantic and light-hearted? religious or spiritual? next, talk to all of your prospective officiants – in phone or in person, you know email doesn’t always translate personality types! -to see who clicks with you both just in conversation.

also consider the actual ceremony format from start to finish. does this person provide every single portion in written form for you to review? how much input do you want to have with your officiant with the ceremony or how much are they willing to let you have? do you want them to pick  readings or bible verses or do you want to write the entire thing with them? do you need to integrate more than one faith or cultural aspects? have they done that before? how will you work it all out? find out the process and paperwork and see if it fits with how you plan.

of course a few other basics need to be met:

1. this person is available on your wedding date 
2. his/her fees are within your budget and you agree with the contract terms
3. this person IS ordained and knows the state’s wedding license procedures
4. he/she has experience in officiating weddings like yours
5. this person has made time to meet with you to develop the ceremony… considering it’s the whole point to the day!

coincidentally, the today’s bride blog covered this a couple of weeks ago here.

do you have a question? email me at heidi at heidzillas dot com! i might answer your question on a future blog post.

previous posts:
dear heidzilla: what anti-perspirant?
dear heidzilla: best way to make payments?
dear heidzilla: 831 photography?

during my blogcation, i asked you readers to send me your questions - wedding related or not. and now for some answers!

do you have any suggestions on making payments? my parents, my fiance’s parents and we will all be paying portions of the wedding. thanks heidi!

understanding costs, reviewing contract terms, creating your budget and keeping track of payments are tedious tasks which all could warrant their own blog post. but for the exact question at hand: actually making payments. when there are multiple parties involved who will be paying for wedding costs, there are several approaches you might want to consider:

• first the obvious: if every party has agreed upon which vendors they are paying for, let them handle it. are the bride’s parents taking care of the reception venue cost? let them contact your reception coordinator. are the groom’s parents paying the dj? same thing. that way, you’re not acting as the middle man with payments which can slow down the process and result in late payments or even overdrafting of accounts.
• when parents are contributing specific dollar amounts, consider opening a new bank account solely for your wedding. name it “bride’s last name/groom’s last name wedding fund.” deposit all wedding contributions into the one account and make all wedding vendor payments from the account so personal funds aren’t confused and you’re not paying your photographer with money for your rent/mortgage! this can help you keep track of budgeting as well and see what you have left once all vendors are paid and you are planning decor, favors, etc. see what promotions your local bank is offering for cds, savings and checking accounts.
• finally, if you or your parents decide that you’re willing to put wedding costs on credit because you don’t have the savings, or don’t want to dip into available funds to pay for what’s due, consider the best credit card. do you already have a card open that gives has low interest rates or great rewards? can you earn frequent flyer miles for your honeymoon or future trips? or maybe you don’t have one yet and you need to research the best one. if you qualify, consider opening a 0% interest credit card for 12 months, put only wedding payments on it, and do your best to budget to pay it off without having to transfer balances. this is also a great time to check your and your fiance’s current credit if you haven’t yet, and take the next steps to being a financially sound couple, instead of two individuals with seperate acccounts. (again a whole other blog post, but check out this one about combining finances.)

previous post:
dear heidzilla: what anti-perspirant?