Finally!  We've broken through the winter/spring rut of groggy days and murky weather to beautiful sunshine and warm temps...REALLY warm temps!  Yesterday, my (non-airconditioned) office thermostat let me know that it was a lovely 87 degrees.  While us summer brides may love the warmth, our guests may have mixed feelings about traveling or sitting outside on a summer day.  And while the day IS in fact for the bride and groom, ya gotta keep those guests happy as well.  Children, pregnant woman, or elderly guests can are more easily affected by extreme temps as well. 

Here are some tips to keep those guests cool and happy...

1) Alert your guests to the fact that your wedding is outside, if that is the case.  Knowing ahead of time that they will be sitting outside in July will give guests a chance to make appropriate outfit choices.

2) Consider portable shelters or air conditioning.  It's amazing how far venue supply rentals have come.  You can rent tents that have misters or even air conditioning units to keep the cool air flowing. 

3) Avoid metal.  Some rental companies offer metal chairs which could burn someone if left out in the sunny weather.  Opt for plastic or wooden chairs if possible.  Heat can easily scorch someone's bare skin or even go through some lighter clothing. 

4) Give out "cool" favors such as sunscreen, blotting papers, handkerchiefs, fans, parasols, or water bottles. 

5) Keep the cool drinks flowing.  Iced beverages taste especially nice on a hot day.

So this is just a start... There are tons of other things that you can do to keep your guests happy!  Remember - happy guests equal great photographs, good groove on the dance floor, and fantastic memories of your wedding day! 

You plan, and you plan, and you plan. Then you plan a little more. Even if you are the most organized person in the world, at some point along your wedding planning journey, something out of your control will happen. When this does, you have two options:

Option A: First you can whine and complain and tell everyone that you meet that life is just not fair. You could follow this up by adopting a sense of paranoia that everyone is out to get you and make you feel stupid for caring too much about the little things. The last step in this option would be to sit for a few hours in front of the TV and watch some Bridezillas episodes until you realize how silly you are being, thus resorting to Option B (see below).

Option B: Don't worry! With this option, you can also whine and complain, but you must limit this to a specified amount of time. (You may just want to write "the bad thoughts" in your diary that you keep under your mattress.) Next, take a deep breath, and realize that no matter what your wedding is going to be an amazing day even if all of your plans fall apart. You've still got the bride. You've still got the groom. You've still got the love.

I'll admit it. I went through option A and B this week, and I've lived to tell (type) the tale. We found out this week that our beloved event coordinator at our wedding location had resigned unexpectedly. This is a person who we have grown to really like because she was absolutely dependable, organized, smart, and supportive. Poof. She's gone. (This is when I resorted to Option A.) Once I awoke from my panicked stupor, my fiance reminded me that everything was going to be fine. As it turns out, the big boss at our reception site gave us a call to personally assure us that everything was going to be handled as it should be. He even had us come out to the site this morning to go over all the details. About a minute into the conversation, I knew that my fiance was right, and I relaxed and went back to the normal demure bride who resonates with Option B.

I know that other things for our wedding will turn out differently than expected, and hopefully the next time they do, I can bypass Option A and go straight into Option B.

What about you all? What major or minor catastrophe has happened while you have been planning your wedding? How did you handle it? Are you a mostly Option A or Option B person?

I'm going to make it really simple today...and then I'm going to add ten thousand complications.  It's what I do.  :)

For me, the number one priority is photography, and here's my little plug as to why this is so important:  I would rather get married in old jeans and a stained t-shirt in order to have enough money for a good photographer rather than spending money on any other aspect of our wedding.  Photos will last a life time.  Think about all the joy experienced by ever so many people as they look back on their memories of their wedding day encapsulated in photographs.  Think about looking at your parents' pictures...your grandparents'.  We remember, we laugh, we love. 

A thing to remember about priorities:  It's not necessarily about the money.  It's about arranging your preferences so that what is important to you is present on your wedding day.  What was really important to me was finding someone who could tell the story of our big day through finding real moments.  We wanted a brilliant photographer who was really great at capturing photojournalistic images rather than setting people up for pose after pose.  We Quad Citians are so lucky because we have MANY photogs in the area that are delightfully talented.  In the end, we went with Giraffe Photography.  

Yesterday, I spent some time with Stephen and Elaine while we took some head shots around the Village of East Davenport.  Along with the time spent on taking pictures, I was also able to hang around and watch as Stephen edited the photography to ensure that the lighting was correct, the best angle was shored up, and that the bags under my eyes seemed to magically disappear.  (Thanks, Stephen!)  Here are some of our favorites from the shoot:

"I am so busy!"  (Staged.)

"I love this door!" (Not staged.)

"I have no forhead wrinkles!" (My forhead is airbrushed.)

"Look at me!" (Look at the awesome wallpaper that Stephen and Elaine have!)

Watching Stephen work yesterday just reinforced what I already knew about photography:  It's my priority.  I'm glad I've got that figured out.  

What is your priority?  Comment below and share!