Crazy About Chandeliers

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox, DIY Projects & Tutorials, Invitations, Programs, + Stationery

2008 was definitely the Year of the Chandelier as the hot design motif. I’m happy to say that it’s still going strong in these early days of 2009 and am pretty confident we’ll be seeing the chandelier love in weddings for some time to come.

scrapNfonts just released this set of chandelier brushes (.abr) that comes along with .png image files for those of you who aren’t Photoshop users. You can use .png in other programs like MS Word. Pretty cute, eh? For just $6.00, it’s a steal.

scrapNfonts is a great resource for – you guessed it – fonts. Though geared towards scrapbookers, they have a wide selection of fonts, dingbats, and Photoshop brushes that’d be perfect for your printed wedding projects.

Khris’ Availability: BabyWatch 2009

Posted by Khris in DIYBride News

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to give fair warning about my availability in the near future.

I’m now in my 9th month of pregnancy! While I have some time before the official due date, diyBaby has been showing signs of an early arrival. He could be here in a few days or a few weeks. His debut will, of course, affect my day-t0-day availability here for a few weeks until I can get a grip on the whole mommy thing.

But don’t worry! I’m not totally abandoning you. There are some great posts scheduled to keep you occupied while I’m baby-bonding. My trusty intern, Meshelle, will be attending to emails, forum moderation, and site-issues. Anything she can’t handle will be passed on to me. Please know that response time may be delayed by a few days.

Thanks for your understanding!

Cheers,

Khris

Product Review: Scor-Pal

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

Product: Scor-Pal

Price: $39.95

What It Does: The Scor-Pal is a heavy 12-inch x 12-inch plastic board with premeasured indentations on its surface. Users place cardstock on the board and use a bone folder (included) to press score lines into the cardstock. Every line comes out perfectly straight and crisp every single time. The premeasured lines make scoring boxes, gatefolds, and other complex scored projects super easy.

Khris’ Review: This was not a love-at-first-use purchase for me but I’ve grown to adore this product for projects with a lot of scoring (think boxes, thank you cards, programs). The lines are always straight, clean, and crisp. The unit is very easy to use.

The only caveat: it works best with heavier cardstocks and with a bone folder other than the one it comes with (I recommend Martha Stewart Crafts’ bone folder). The standard-issue Scor-Pal bone folder can be too sharp and will cut right through light weight (and even some heavy weight) papers and cardstocks.

Do check out the Scor-Pal website for some neato project ideas.

Contest: David’s Bridal ‘Dress Your Wedding’

Posted by Khris in Contests

Hi Everyone!

David’s Bridal has announced their ‘Dress Your Wedding Contest’. It’s a chance to win a $5,000 gift certificate to David’s Bridal, a virtual consultation from a David’s Bridal style expert, and an opportunity to blog about their experience on davidsbridal.com.

David’s Bridal has just launched a fun and interactive online contest around its ‘Dress Your Wedding’ tool, which allows users to see their wedding come to life! The contest asks entrants to mix and match everything from bridal gowns and flowers to bridal party dress colors and groomsmen’s tuxedos to create a wedding that is uniquely theirs.  It’s easy to enter, review and share entries at: www.davidsbridal.com/dywcontest. Contestants can also share their entries virally via site like MySpace and Facebook.

If this sounds like fun, surf on over to David’s  ASAP. The contest ends on February 23. Good luck!

The Art of Negotiating, Part 2

Posted by Khris in Wedding Planning

[Part 1 of the Negotiating Series]

In the first part of the series, I talked about how attitude will affect your negotiation process. For both sides of the negotiation table a positive attitude and willingness to listen to each other will go a long way in coming up with a mutually satisfying agreement.

Today I’ll be discussing expectations in negotiation. This, above else, is where most people trip up the process. Many couples go into a negotiation with unrealistic expectations of the outcome and come out (often bitterly) disappointed that they didn’t get what they wanted.

A quick example of unrealistic expectations: A seamstress colleague of mine was asked to create a Reem Acra-inspired gown for a bride. The seamstress quoted a price and the bride came back with a counter-offer almost 1/2 less than the quote. The seamstress declined. The bride was very upset and couldn’t understand why the seamstress wouldn’t work with her. Afterall, she heard having a seamstress make a dress was cheaper than buying from a salon. It wasn’t like this seamstress was Reem Acra herself!

The problem here is that the bride expected couture-quality design at a discount mart price. From the seamstress’ point of view, the counter-offer wouldn’t have covered her expenses. There was no way she was going to work for free – nor should she be expected to. Had the bride suggested 5%  less, the seamstress may have been able to accommodate her with slight adjustments to the gown’s design/materials. That the client automatically assumed she’d work at half price killed the deal completely.

So, how do you set realistic expectations with wedding vendors?

1. Have a budget in place before you speak to any vendor. Knowing how much you actually have in hand to spend on any service or object is an absolute must before you negotiations can begin. The vendor doesn’t need to know this amount but YOU do.
2. Pick your vendors wisely. Most unrealistic expectations start with the notion that all vendors can work with people of all budgets. That’s not true. Know what you can afford before you pick your vendors and pick your vendors according to their standard fees. Expecting a $20/slice Silvia Weinstock cake when you have a $3/slice budget isn’t going to happen, no matter how charming you are during negotiation.
3. Don’t expect deep discounts on custom-designed services or products. There’s this weird notion that handcrafted or a la carte services are worth less than pre-packaged, off-the-shelf solutions. Not true, not true, not true.
4. Know that you’ll likely have to give up something in the negotation process to make it worth the vendor’s time/efforts. If you’re looking to get a lower price on, say, your catering quote, you’ll have to start deducting items from the menu or choose less-expensive alternatives to the things you want to serve. Remember: negotiation will only work if it’s a win-win situation for both parties.
5. Understand that vendors are under no obligation to alter their prices or services for you at all. I touched on this in Part 1 and it needs to be said again and again. Automatically expecting them to wheel ‘n’ deal isn’t realistic or fair. When they do so, consider it a personal favor and, please, don’t try to bully them into it. I hear a lot of stories from vendors about couples throwing tantrums, threatening to write bad reviews, and all sorts of dirtbag behaviour to try to coerce vendors into giving discounts. You don’t waltz into Bloomingdale’s or Wal-Mart or <insert your shopping nirvanna here> and demand a discount just for being you. You’ll get laughed out of the store. Same with wedding vendors.

In the next installment we’ll talk about positive negotiating tactics and how being flexible with the outcome of any negotiation will better help get you close to your negotiation goals.

[edited to add point #2]