Cakes For A Cause 2011

Coming March 1st to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank click here to register!

Not sure what Cakes For A Cause is about?  Watch our video below and you'll see why we felt we needed to create a fantastic event like this!  

Big thank you to Steve & Josh at Studio Z Films for creating this wonderful video for us to help tell out story!  xo xo

Untitled from Steve Zugelter on Vimeo.

Out of the Office

Just a friendly reminder that our offices will be closed this week - September 19-24th. We'll be back in the office on Monday, September 27th.

Thanks so much!
Kasey and the Bliss Wedding & Event Design Staff

Who's the Big Bad Wolf?

There are tons of blogs that get down on the wedding industry, and especially the Biggest, Baddest Wolf of them all, the evil Wedding Planner. They say we are taking brides for a ride on their "big day" and fueling the trend in Bridezillas, but I really wanted to know what the percentages were for each category, who was making the most money in the industry that is reportedly fueled by greed and self indulgence.

What I found, surprised me and I think it's important to outline EVERYTHING that is included in the SIXTY BILLION DOLLAR a year figure that the wedding industry reportedly pumps back into the economy. The number don't include all the money spent on books, magazines and websites created by the bride and groom. How much can that add? My guess is it's equal to the wedding planning figures.

First off, did you know that in 2006 Wedding Registry was a $20,000,000,000 (TWENTY BILLION) dollar a year industry all by itself? That doesn't take into fact all the people working on the wedding, that is just what people spent on gifts for the bride and all the things the bride & groom asked their guests to buy for them in exchange for an invitation to their wedding. That was in 2006, I cannot locate 2008 figures, but with inflation it is safe to assume that it probably went up by a few million.

So here are the stats and what they include....next time you're picking up that Le Creuset pot and you're anti big bad wedding industry...consider that between registry & reception costs that is just under 50% of the industry right there. Then add in Jewelry and you're at 62%. Those three account for over $49,499,852,691 dollar.

Oh, and the big, bad wedding planner who takes everybody's money? 2%

Update: Full stats are available via .pdf download at the end of the post....

The Wedding Registry $20,000,000,000
All Wedding Registrys Combined $20,000,000,000.00

Ceremony: $3,141,133,867
Aisle Runner $115,651,166
Ceremony Location $2,384,867,234
Other Accessories or Decorations - Ceremony $480,346,606
Ring Pillow or Box $78,853,068
Unity Candle $81,415,793

Entertainment $2,569,755,774
Band at ceremony $98,434,913
Band at reception $392,294,013
Dance lessons $253,709,746
DJ at ceremony $298,765,513
DJ at reception $938,395,316
Musician/s at ceremony $410,079,761
Musician/s at reception $178,076,512

Flowers $2,340,140,022
Boutonnieres, Corsages $227,929,174
Bridal Bouquet $323,823,266
Bridesmaid Bouquets $302,160,576
Ceremony Flower Arrangements $513,683,931
Flower Girl Flowers $130,633,249
Flower Petals $133,546,432
Reception Flower Arrangements $708,363,394

Photography/Video: $4,774,246,617
Engagement Photographer $641,820,166
Engagement Videographer $837,813,848
Wedding Photographer $2,332,736,595
Wedding Videographer $961,876,008

Planner: $1,249,492,573
A La Carte Services $111,839,935
Day-of-Coordinator $178,470,777
For Getting Started $84,241,361
Full Service $722,381,717
Month-of-Direction $152,558,783

Reception: $19,201,663,915
Hotel Room for After Reception $415,511,861
Other Accessories or Decorations - Reception $445,191,280
Reception Bar Service $3,537,983,836
Reception Food Service $5,911,264,050
Reception Location $4,349,841,882
Reception Rentals (Tent, Table, Chairs, Etc.) $2,883,065,299
Reception Table Centerpieces $617,967,113
Toasting Flutes $157,881,365
Wedding Cake $699,842,882
Wedding Cake Topper and Serving Set $183,114,347

Source
Want to see it broken down by category, you can download a very large .pdf Excel Spreadsheet Download Weddingindustry reports

A big Thank You to Sasha Souza, who originally shared this on her blog: Sparkliatti!, for allowing me to repost this to share with our Bliss & That readers! Thanks Sasha!

Wedding Insurance

I always recommend wedding insurance but in light of a few recent occurrences with wedding vendors in Columbus I feel even more strongly that it is necessary to carry this type of insurance these days. Just recently we've had:

• One of our top florists close up shop in the middle of the night with no warning.
• A wedding venue closed due to financial problems. People were left with no wedding venue and lost all of their deposit money with little or no hope of recovering it.

There are several insurance companies that specialize in wedding insurance to help protect yourself against situations like I've mentioned above. If for any reason your wedding has to be cancelled or rescheduled due to an unforeseen circumstance you can be protected. They can also provide liability insurance if your venue or facility requires you to carry this to hold your wedding on their property. For my wedding we were in a museum and we were required to carry $1 Million Liability insurance. I believe we paid around $350 for this coverage - and that was almost 5 years ago. The insurance coverage is pretty inexpensive when you look at the grand total of the amount being spent/invested in the wedding.

Wed Safe and Travelers are the two most common wedding insurance companies. I highly recommend you visit their websites to see how you can protect your self and your wedding investments. It's always better to be safe than sorry in my book!

Running Of the Brides

Coming this weekend is the annual Filene's Running of the Brides Event.

Who: You - the style maven bride who's looking for a couture gown for not a couture price!

When: This Friday - January 30th. Doors open at 8am. The store will be open until 9pm.

Where: Filene's Basement, 3704 W. Dublin Granville Rd Columbus OH 43235

Why: The experience and why not take a chance to see what you might find!

Happy Shopping (or hunting)!

A Bliss Filled Holiday!

We wanted to leave a quick note to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah) and Happy New Year! We had a wonderful 2008 with all of our amazing clients and look forward to a fabulous 2009.

We will be taking a small break to enjoy the holiday with our families. We are closing the Bliss offices from December 23 - January 4th. We'll return in the office on Monday, January 5th. There will still be new blog posts popping up here and there throughout our hiatus so keep visiting Bliss & That for fun, unique and everything wedding ideas.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Kasey & Kelsey







Image compliments of Bakerella

I Love My MTV

Engaged and Underage is casting for season 3 of the show. If you are currently engaged, between the ages of 18-22, and getting married in late 2008 or January 2009 you may be eligible to appear on the show. Click the link above to download the casting questionnaire.

Good Luck!

Introducing...

Kelsey Reckless

Kelsey has just joined Bliss Weddings & Event staff as a Senior Event Assistant. I asked Kelsey to share a little bit about herself and why she wanted to become a wedding planner.

I graduated from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations. After which I began taking educational classes through Columbus Bridal Consultants (CBC) and the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC) earning the designation of Professional Bridal Consultant™. I currently live in Dublin with my husband Kirk and our two “kids”: a black kitty named Salem and a yellow Labrador Retriever named Scout.

I believe a wedding is a life-changing event that, even though it lasts only a day, will live on forever in the hearts and minds of those who took part in the special occasion. After planning my own wedding in May 2006, I knew this was my life’s calling: to help other couples create their dream wedding and to give them these eternal happy memories.

You'll be seeing a lot more of Kelsey as she will be assisting me and taking the lead on her own events. Welcome to the team Kelsey!

PSA - Rental Items, DIY projects, etc.

Since we're at the start of the wedding season I thought I'd share a few insights, thoughts and tips with you that were inspired by a few experiences these past several weeks.

1. DO pay your florist to deliver your flowers. Having friends or family members pick them up and deliver them is not a good idea. They are 100% responsible if something happens in transit and the florist may or may not be willing/have time/have resources to fix any issues at that point. It is worth the $50 or $75 to know that a professional is handling your flowers the entire time and doesn't need Map Quest directions to get to and from the flower shop.

2. DO pay for your cake baker to come back and pick up the very pretty (and expensive to replace) cake pedestal and cake items (board, dowel rods, etc). At the end of the night you should not be asking for volunteers to return this item. If your planner offers this return service, you may want to take advantage of it. It will be worth the $50 or so for it to be taken care of.

3. DO allow your planner to arrange for your rental items (if they offer this service). Trust me - It is 100% worth it. You will not be running around picking up random rental items the day before the wedding and schlepping them from the car to the catering office at the hotel or venue. Also, generally included in this service is the return of the rental items. Again, looking/asking for volunteers at the end of the night is not recommended. This is a service that I offer and we handle the ordering, delivery/return and in some cases set up and tear down of these items at the venue. Why worry when you don't have to - that's why you hired a planner remember?!

4. DON'T overextend yourself with DIY projects. I know you see a lot of great DIY projects that other brides on the Knot have done and turned out great but there are a few things you need to consider before committing to DIYing every element of your wedding. Don't get me wrong - I am all for DIY projects - but you have to be realistic about the project's scope, your abilities to actually do the project and the amount of time you have to complete it in. A big reason why people want to DIY a project is to save on cost but what I don't think they actually factor in is their time and what that can cost them. Most DIY projects started as a way to recreate something a professional has done, so keep that in mind when picking your projects. One or two is good - but not seven of them.

5. DO consider your guest list when scheduling the timing of your reception. If your crowd is not the big party group scheduling your reception to end at midnight is probably not the best decision to make. You'll be wasting a lot of money on keeping the bar open, the amount of hours your DJ is there and catering staff. If most of your guests are realistically going to be gone by 10pm - then end the reception at 10pm. There is NOTHING wrong with that. There is no rule that your reception has to end at midnight. Even if this is what you really want, be realistic with yourself and save a little bit of money in doing so.

6. DO consider pictures before the ceremony with your fiance. This is one of the most special days of your lives and you are going to spend most of it apart. Forget that I can't see you before the wedding notion. The first time you see each other that day will still be SPECIAL and a moment you'll never forget. You'll actually get to hug and kiss and speak to each other. When you see each other for the first time at the ceremony - no kissing, no hugging, no talking. That's just NO fun! With pictures completed you can actually enjoy your cocktail hour and spend some more time with the special people you invited to share the day with you. This also eliminates the need for a receiving line and visiting tables at the reception.

MIA..

I know I've been MIA on the blog for a few days and it's because we're gearing up for the weddings coming up in May. Kathy and Cavett start the official "season" at the Westin this weekend and I'm so excited! I can't wait for the weekend to get here.

So don't worry I'm still here thinking about you all and please check back every few days to see the great event pictures of my fabulous brides and grooms on their very special wedding days as well as any tips or insights I pick up along the way.

xoxo
Kasey

Final Planning Meetings

I have had two Final Planning Meetings in the past week and in each meeting the Bride felt that they were very organized going into the meeting but then at the end felt totally unprepared and a little overwhelmed. So this prompted this PSA.

The purpose of a Final Planning Meeting is to look at all the elements of your wedding, this includes items like venue, the menu and vendors. We'll also discuss other details like ceremony processional, flower placement, table linens, etc. Overall, just make sure that you and I are on the same page. This meeting is so important because when wedding day arrives, I am an extension of you, handling all the details you loved and wanted - just the way you wanted them. You and FI can relax and just enjoy the day knowing I'm working for you to help create a fantastic day you'll always cherish.

Things to remember to bring with you (this is not a complete list but a few of the bigger items we'll discuss) - all of your vendor contracts, pictures of your wedding inspirations - to refresh my memory if I don't have copies of them, copies of your ceremony order, copies of your readings, etc.

So after the final meeting and you've got a to do list the size of Texas, relax and know we'll get it all done and know my team and I have it all under control!