My grandmother always said that there are two things that will cause conflicts in life; marriage and death. These are the times in your life where so many people want to give you advice on where, what and who should be included.

Without setting expectations these outside influences can cause the couple a lot more stress to an already emotional charged time in their life.

So how you deal with outside inputs?

If you as a couple are paying for the wedding yourselves then you should sit down with both of your parents and explain that since you are paying for the wedding that you will be making the ultimate final decisions about the wedding. Follow it up with while you do welcome their advice. However, adding additional pressure to do things that you as a couple may not want to do is only adding more stress.

When working on the guest list let your parents know that each parent will be allotted a certain number of guests that they can invite, that way they still feel a part of the wedding.

Other friends and family will try to influence what you do, so you need to establish early on that while you do appreciate their advice and ideas, you do have a clear vision of your wedding and would like to stick to that vision.

If your parents are pitching in for part of the wedding, then let them have input into certain aspects. If the money they are providing is for specific pieces of the wedding then let them attend those vendor meetings with you so they are part of the decision the whole way through.

If your parents are paying for the whole wedding, then you have to heed all of their ideas and advice as it is their money that will be making your vision come to reality.

My advice to all of my couples is that your wedding is a reflection of you as a couple; therefore you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. You must do what makes you feel comfortable and complete. My job as your architect is to take your vision and bring it to life.

Until next time happy planning,

Amalia Ward
Talen Events

The walk down the aisle at the beginning of the wedding traditionally has signified the beginning of the wedding and is the point in the ceremony where all eyes turn to the bride. It is usually done to Pachelbel in Canon D followed by the Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. But now more and more couples are opting for a choreographed entrance into their wedding.

We all remember the couple who, with their bridal party entered their wedding to Chris Brown’s “Forever”

Not only was this a very nice way to begin the wedding, but it also set the tone for the wedding. It showed the couple as themselves and not a version of the traditional bride and groom.

We recently did two weddings where the entrances to the wedding were both very unique. One wedding the couple didn’t want to walk down the aisle but enter together and just have the ceremony begin. Guests were caught off guard, but it did let them know that the ceremony was not going to follow normal traditions and was going to be a very intimate affair.

For another wedding the entrance was quite elaborate, the bridal party was made up of 16 including the Bride and Groom. The bridesmaids were escorted up the aisle to their position at the alter and then because both the bride and groom were huge basketball fans, the groom and his groomsmen then entered the church as though they were the starting line up of their basketball team; Chicago Bulls theme and all. Finally the Bride came down the aisle to a song specifically chosen for her. As an architect I will say that this was one of the most difficult entrances to a wedding to pull together, not because of the number of players but getting each member of the wedding party to remember what they were supposed to be doing.

While it’s a wonderful idea to make your entrance your own you must also be careful with the following:

- Not to offend anyone with your song choice

- Not to make the entrance too long

- Make sure all of those involved are comfortable with the entrance

- Make the entrance respectable

This is the moment that will set the tone for your wedding and the rest of day, but remember to have fun with it.

Until next time happy planning

Amalia Ward
Talen Events

It is funny when a couple has to choose the song for their first dance. This can often cause an argument. Sometimes one will want a sentimental song that means something to their relationship or the other may just want a simple love song or others just don’t know where to begin.

I polled some of my former clients and friends that recently got married and asked them how they chose the song for their first dance; some of the responses given were very interesting:

- “It was the very first song that we danced together to”
- “When I heard the song on the radio it reminded me of our relationship”
- “It is by our favourite singer”

Choosing the song for your first dance needs to be something that means something to you as a couple, there is no right or wrong answer to what you choose. As long as it not a song that is offensive to people.

Try to avoid songs that have lewd content or swearing as your guests may be put off by the song.

If you are looking to find the perfect song for your first dance here are some suggestions for you:

At Last – Etta James – All-time most played wedding first dance song
LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOKd8dsqqQU&ob=av2n

Lost Without You – Robin Thicke
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DdCoNbbRvQ&ob=av2e

Feels Like Home – Chantal Kreviazuk
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUAIHz_3yZQ

Amazed – Lonestar
LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJyJwbAa1i8&feature=player_embedded

Thank You for Loving Me – Bon Jovi
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESOVrc4K3CQ&feature=related

All My Life – K-Ci & JoJo
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXvMT_mVbqw&feature=related

From This Moment – Shania Twain
LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Lp2uC_1lg&feature=related

Everything – Michael Buble
LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPUJIbXN0WY

Everlasting Love – Jamie Cullum
LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3tROimHbuo&feature=related

I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-4u9W-bns

Whatever your taste, there is a song that will perfectly reflect you as a couple. Have fun with it!

Until next time, happy planning

Amalia Ward
Talen Events

So over the past few months you may have seen a number of vendors and planners joining this new social media experience called Pinterest. So what is Pinterest exactly, it is a website where you can scroll through thousands and thousands of images and create different boards that other people can repin. Even better is that you can add a plug-in to your browser so that as you are researching and finding images you can pins those images to your boards immediately.

The greatest thing about Pinterest is that it can keep you organized as you begin to plan any event; by creating different boards you identify images of what you would like each aspect of your event to look like. This will help you when you start to meet with vendors to have a visual reference as your begin to shape the look and feel of your event.

You can also share your ideas with others and gain followers very similar to Twitter and Facebook, these ideas are not just restricted to your own network through Twitter and Facebook, but as you pin and repin items other people from around the world will begin to follow you. You can then scroll through their boards to gain ideas and insights. As well you can share your pins on your Facebook and Twitter news feeds.

There are about 40 sub groups that you can search through; as well as a search function for a specific topic that you may be looking for.

Things to keep in mind as you begin to use Pinterest to help organize and find visual references for your events.

-  You may have to wait to be added once you sign up, because of Pinterest’s popularity they have been inundated with requests to join. Usually within a week you will receive confirmation invite to join.

-  You can be overwhelmed with the number of images that you will see and can pin, but if you have a clear focus of what your event will be you probably won’t stray to far from your vision.

-  You don’t have to pin every image you see for a specific aspect that you may be looking for, doing that will just create a board that makes no sense to you when you go to look at it later.

There are many planners and event architects that are using Pinterest as a way to create inspirations boards for visions of different events. These are a good place to begin your search for ideas for your event. These boards can help you to see how things can be put together that you may not have thought of in the first place. As well their boards can give you an insight into there personal style and you may even consider meeting with them to help you plan your event.

We at Talen Events have joined Pinterest and look forward to sharing with you our different visions for different events and hope that you can find ideas of things for your upcoming events.

So check us out on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/talenevents/

Until next time, happy planning!
Amalia Ward

The MC at a wedding plays a very important role in ensuring that the flow of your reception is even and that your guests don’t get bored or overwhelmed. The MC needs to be entertaining; but not vulgar, fun; but not crazy. Overall they need to ensure that everyone is having a good time.

Here are some tips to consider when choosing your wedding MC:

1. Choose a friend who knows you best as a couple; this will ensure an even balance to their stories about you as a couple.

2. Set ground rules for the MC, identify for them what your expectations are; if they don’t agree then they aren’t the right person.

3. Make sure the person you choose is respectful to you as couple; if the person tends to like to make fun or embarrass either of you they may not be the person.

4. Perhaps there was someone that you wanted in your bridal party but including them would have made your party to large. You could bestow the honour of hosting your reception on that person.

In our second tip we mentioned that you should have some ground rules, here are the rules that we will suggest to our clients:

1. No swearing

2. Keep the stories clean – never bring up the story of the time when the bride or groom got drunk.

3. No drinking; once your hosting duties are complete you can drink as much as you choose to.

4. Stay fully clothed – there is nothing more embarrassing to the couple or their family if the MC decides to begin removing clothing.

5. Keep the jokes clean – what you may find funny in terms of dirty jokes may not find favor with the bride and groom or their guests.

Until next time, happy planning!

Amalia Ward,
Talen Events