A Tale of Woe and Ribbon

Posted by Khris in Crafting Advice

I’m in the final push to finish up the projects for DIY Bride book #3 this week. You could say that it’s manic panic in the Casa de DIY and you wouldn’t be exaggerating!

About 6 weeks ago I ordered some big spools of ribbon and tulle from JKM Ribbon. According to their website and my receipt “It takes about 10 Business Days before we ship + approx. 5 day(s) to get to your area.” That should’ve been plenty of time to get the ribbon and put the projects into production before deadline. No problem.

5 weeks later after the order was placed: no ribbon! I shot them an email asking when the order would ship; a few hours later I got an email stating the order went out that morning. Calculating the transit time, I knew that it’d be unlikely that the order wouldn’t be here before my production deadline so I went in search of replacement ribbon and placed orders at other vendors with fingers crossed.

The JKM Ribbon order arrived – minus the white ribbon (a very critical component of my project) because it’s on backorder. At no point in the ordering process was this mentioned. I didn’t find out until I got the incomplete package yesterday. (My projects are due at the end of this week/early next.)

Luckily I had ordered from other vendors who were WONDERFUL to work with and had those orders in my hands before the incomplete JKM order even arrived. I wanted to give a huge shout out to PaperMart and C.O.D. Wholesale for their super-fast shipping and excellent service. I loved PaperMart’s ordering system that told me that certain ribbons were out of stock BEFORE I placed an order. The quality of ribbon (double-face satin) from both vendors is very good and the prices were quite competitive. These two companies saved my butt this week and deserve some praise for being so awesome to work with. If you’re in the market for bulk ribbon, please do give PaperMart and C.O.D. Wholesale some consideration. They have my highest recommendation.

Real Etiquette: How To Ask For Wedding Sponsors

Posted by Khris in Real Etiquette

Dear DIY Bride: My fiance and I are on a tight budget for our May 2011 wedding. We are considering approaching a local restaurant, DJ, and photographer to see if they’ll consider swap their services for advertising at our wedding. Is there a best way to do this? What advertising is best (mention in our programs, signs displayed on tables)?  [Original question edited for clarity.]

Answer: The short answer is that there’s no way to tactfully ask for strangers to fund any part of your wedding. Etiquette-ly speaking this falls directly into the land of “Do NOT do this” .

The long answer? Nothing makes vendors bristle more than being asked for to work for no pay – and rightfully so. Why do you think these vendors should fund your wedding?  This isn’t a sarcastic question; it’s an honest one. Unless it’s a charity event or you’re a mega-celebrity with huge press coverage at your wedding, there’s really no upside for them. They may get minimal exposure at your event and might get future business but that probably won’t compensate them for what they’re investing which is their time, resources, employee pay, supplies, insurance costs, overhead and reputation.

You can have an amazing wedding on a tight budget and without sacrificing your dignity.  I encourage you to look into things like cutting back your guest list, fun-but-offbeat wedding venues, eBay or second-hand gowns, and potluck receptions (or culinary schools for discount catering) to help save some cash.

Best of luck to you!

DIY DJ: Is It For You?

Posted by Khris in DIY DJ

Jason has jumped right in with his DIY DJ column and has had a blast answering your questions. I wanted to back up a bit to help those on the fence about whether the DIY DJ route is for you.  These are my top considerations for anyone interested in the DIY music experience.

1. Do you have time to plan 5 – 6 hours (or however long your ceremony/cocktail hour/reception are) of music? This is a project that can take weeks to complete. We found this out first-hand! Getting the right songs together in a way that flowed throughout our reception was maddening. But fun. But still hair-pullingly frustrating at time. There’s a real art to song selection.
2. Do you have enough songs to fill your time requirements? To give you an idea of what you’re looking at: if the average song on your play list is 3 minutes, you’ll need around 100 songs for a 5 hour reception.
3. Are you wanting more of a “listening” experience for your guests or are you wanting them to dance? Does your music selections support that?
4. Is your music collection diverse enough to appeal to most of your guests, young and old? This is the trickiest part of music selection process because your guests will have wildly different tastes in music. Still, to keep everyone comfortable and mostly happy, you’ll need broad appeal in your play lists.
5. Do you have the budget for the equipment, rentals, and songs? Will you need a new iPod or laptop? Will you need special software? How many songs will you need to buy to bridge gaps in your collection? Is the sound system rental affordable?
6. Who will stand in as emcee and guardian of the DJ setup? Is he/she reliable? Sober? Not afraid of public speaking or being an enforcer? By asking friends or family to fill this position, you’re pretty much giving them a job. They’re not going to be able to mingle, dance, or have fun as a guest.
7. Does your venue allow DIY setups? Will you be required to provide insurance for bringing in your own sound system?
8. Is your venue equipped for a DIY setup? Do they have an in-house PA system? Is your equipment compatible? If you need to bring in outside equipment is it appropriate for the venue size? Are there enough electrical outlets? Will you need external power supplies or plug adapters?
9. Are you aware of noise laws in your area? Many areas, especially residential, regulate how loud and for how long outdoor music can be played.
10. Who will pick up, set up, break down, and return your rentals? What if something happens to them or the equipment?
11. Will you be able to test the rental equipment before the wedding?
12. Do you or your designated person know how to work the equipment? Can she/he learn before the wedding?
13. How will you handle song requests?
14. Do you have a backup plan if the equipment doesn’t work or your designated DJ stand-in gets hit by a bus or your “OMG! This song is totally awesome to dance to!” puts people in their seats?

Reasons To Be In Favor Of The DIY DJ Experience

1. Creative control. You get to decide what’s played and when. Don’t want to ever hear Lady Gaga or KC and The Sunshine Band? No problem! That’s entirely within your control. We’ve heard horror story after horror story about DJs that totally ignore the almighty DO NOT PLAY list. Jason and I have witness that first hand a couple of times at the weddings  of our inner circle pals.
2. Cost control. Depending on what equipment you’ll need, the DIY DJ option is often cheaper than hiring a DJ. If you need to buy equipment or songs, they’re yours forever and you can consider it an investment.
3. Cheese control. A good wedding DJ is worth her weight in gold. Unfortunately, there are a lot of so-called professional DJs who are horribly bad. We’ve seen drunk/stoned ones on more than one occasion, some who’ve been so in love with themselves that they forget they’re hired pros and not the center of attention, some who’ve made ridiculously inappropriate comments, some who are stuck in a some sort of music time-warp and, I’m sure, you’ve all seen …

We’re Curious: What’s Your “First Dance” Song?

Posted by Khris in DIY DJ

What song are you selecting  for your “first dance” song at your reception. Why’d you choose that particular song?

Jason and I used “Still In Love With You” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy because it was easy to dance to, sweetly romantic without being cheesy, and we love BBVD.

My Top 10 Tips For DIY Survival

Posted by Khris in DIYBride News

I’m thrilled to have contributed my Top 10 Tips for a One-of-a-Kind Wedding over at AOL’s excellent Aisle Dash site.

1. DO be decisive. Nothing will sabotage your DIY experience more than being wishy-washy about your projects. Once you get a solid theme or project idea down, stick with it, or you’ll waste precious time and resources (and drive yourself crazy).

2. DON’T do too many projects. Once you get rolling with DIY projects, it’s easy to get carried away and want to do everything by hand. Resist that urge! Pick the projects that are most meaningful to you and stick with those. Weddings bring enough stress without the pressure of added responsibilities.

3. DO start early. Most DIYers vastly underestimate the time needed to complete big projects and end up stressed, over budget, and completely burnt out. My handy little tip: Expect each project to take double the time you expect to complete it and budget that into your calendar.

Please click the link for the full article.