Ruby's Blog | Financial Responsibilities

Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, I am going to share with you some traditions and etiquette as far as wedding financial responsibilities go.

{1} The Bride & Groom's Financial Responsibilities: Some couples will divide up these responsibilities, and some will pay for everything together (besides gifts for each other). These are general guidelines, but vary for each bride & groom!

• Wedding Rings 
• Gift for Groom & Gift for Bride 
• Gift for Attendants 
• Accommodations for Attendants 
• Programs 
• His Tuxedo & Wedding Attire 
• Wedding Guest Book 
• Cake Knife 
• Ring Bearer Pillow 
• Thank You Cards 
• Clergy Fee 
• Marriage License 
• Flowers for Groom, Groomsmen, and Family

{2} Bride’s Family:

• Engagement Party
• Bridal Shower
• Postage
• Bride’s Wedding Attire and Accessories
• Reception: Rentals, Food, and Beverage
• Wedding Cake
• Decorations
• Flowers for Bride and Bridal Party
• Bridals Consultant
• Church Fees
• Music
• Photographer
• Videographer
• Vendors Meals
• Lighting
• Invitations and Announcements
• Wedding Favors
• Transportation for Bridal Party

{3} Groom’s family:

• Honeymoon 
• Rehearsal dinner 

{4} Attendants:

• Wedding Attire and Accessories 
• Personal Travel 
• Bachelor and Bachelorette Party 
• Wedding Gift

{5} Guests:

• Wedding Gift 
• Travel and Hotel Expenses 
• Transportation

Ruby's Blog | Wedding Website

Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, I can’t wait to share with you the benefits of having a wedding website! 

{1} Cost: The cost of having all your invitations printed will add up every fast. You have to think about the cost of having the invitations made, the amount of invitations you will need to have for all your friends and family, and the postage for both the invitation and the RSVP. Let all your friends and family know about your wedding website at your engagement party or wedding shower. This will help ultimately save you time and money on multiple inserts for the invitation. 

{2} Registry: Having a wedding website will help your friends and family where you are registered, and what gifts have already been bought. This will help both you and your guests stay organized!  It's also a more tactful way of sharing your wedding registry.

{3} Change Made Easier: As the wedding day gets closer and closer, things may change a little, like location of the wedding in case of rain, or updates on hotel availability. Any last minute changes can be added right into your wedding website so your guests are always up-to-date!  Be sure to let your guest know also via a friendly phone call or chatting with them in person.

{4} Make it Personal: You can design your wedding to fit you and your fiancé perfectly. You can pick colors, theme, and pictures, and you can write little stories about you both as well! 

{5}Going green: Having a wedding website is also eco-friendly! You can cut paper cost and waste by having all of your information available on your website. 

                                         

Trend Inspiration | Scrabble Letters

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When it comes to creative wedding ideas, Scrabble letters seem to be all the rage! We love this photo spelling out ‘love’ using the wedding ring and Scrabble letters, photographed by Ultimate Images. Check out their website, www.uiphoto.com, for more great shots like this. Here are some more ideas for how to incorporate scrabble letters into your wedding!

{1} Guest Book: Use a Scrabble board and letters as a guest book! Let your guests get creative and have fun.

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{2} Cake Topper: Simple but still looks put together, a cake topper that resembles a sign is perfect for a vintage chic wedding. 

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{3} Table Numbers: Make your own oversized Scrabble letters for table signs that are large enough to see from far away. 

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{4} Centerpieces: Using fake flowers? Fill the bottom of your vases with letters for a fun touch. Guests can even use these at their table for games, keeping with the theme! 

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{5} Favors: Instead of food favors, give out magnet word scrambles using Scrabble letters. Your guests can actually use these at home for their refrigerator. 

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Ruby's Blog | Ceremony Layout

Hello Bride and Groom's To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride!  As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples.  This week I can’t wait to share with you unique ideas for your ceremony layout!

Looking for a fresh way to set up your ceremony, instead of the traditional rows? These ideas are great to wow your guests and make for some great photographs, but keep the ceremony new and exciting as well.


{1} Circle: Surround yourself in a circle of love, and place the chairs surrounding where the ceremony will happen.

{2} Swirl: Having a small wedding? Place your chairs in what appears to be a large swirl, with the couple centered in the middle. 

{3} Mismatched Chairs: Love garage sales or thrift stores? Utilize all those mismatched chairs one can find and use them to seat your guests! Paint them the same color or leave them completely unique.

{4} Benches and Chairs: Alternate simple wooden benches along with wooden chairs to mix up the seating arrangements. 

{5} Ceremony and Reception in One: Instead of using two places for the ceremony and reception, swap out traditional chairs for tables and as soon as the ceremony is over start the reception! 

Ruby's Blog | Speciality Services at Your Wedding

Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, I am going to share with you some ideas for specialty services you can include at your wedding to make it even more special and unique!

{1} Valet: If you are getting married at a location that may not have great or close parking, consider hiring a valet service for the day. It will be a nice way to surprise your guests and make them feel appreciated!

{2} Coat Check: For a wedding taking place in the off-season, which is anytime between late fall and early Spring, hire a coat check for your wedding reception! That way people won't have to keep track of their coats, and your beautifully decorated reception fall won't be littered in jackets!

{3} Seat Escorts: It seems that the tradition of having Ushers at weddings is not as common as it used to be, but having people escort guests to their seats either at the ceremony or reception is another great way to make your wedding feel like the elegant affair it is!

{4} Red Carpet Photo Shoot: Having photo booths with props has been a major wedding trend the past couple of years, but turn it up a notch at your own wedding with a red carpet photo shoot for your guests! You can also create a customized background with your wedding logo and have your guests feel like celebrities for a day. Chances are you will get some really great pictures!

{5} Champagne Hour: If you are having a cocktail hour between your ceremony and reception, have hand passed hors d'ouevres as well as servers passing glasses of champagne to your guests so they don not need to wait in line at the bar.

Ruby's Blog | Out of Town Guest Bags

Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, I am going to share with you some ideas of what to put into your out of town guest bags. This blog will be great for you if you are having a lot of friends and family travel from far away to attend your wedding!

{1} Regional Treats: This is great if you have a lot of family coming into town that may not be too familiar with your region. Add some local wine or snacks that are popular in your city to the bag as a fun treat for you guests.

{2} Hangover Kit: This will be fun to include from the couple who knows that their wedding is definitely going to be a party! Make a little kit with Advil and water as a courtesy to your guests who will be celebrating with you.

{3} Schedule & Map: If you have guests from out of town, chances are they may be staying for the whole weekend. It will be nice to include a map of the area with a list of attractions, as well as a schedule for the wedding and any other activities you may have planned, like rehearsal dinner or post-wedding brunch.

{4} Weather Ready Essentials: Your guests may not be packed for any kind of weather, but you can prepare them! Include sunscreen, sunglasses and even maybe a small umbrella or poncho in the welcome bag so that they are ready for your big day, no matter what the weather brings.

{5} The Bag Itself: Your budget for wedding welcome bags may not be too much, but you can still create a stylish gift! Many couple opt for canvas totes with their wedding logo or date so that they can be reused after the wedding, but a colored paper bag or box will be just as thoughtful.

Ruby's Blog | Escort Cards Vs. Place Cards

Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, I am going to talk about escort vs. place cards, and their place in your wedding!

Escort Cards: These are a necessity for a wedding reception! They tell your guests which table they will be seated at for the evening. Without them, you will have all of your guests wandering the venue looking for their specific seat, causing major delays for your dinner!

To save yourself from this disorganized disaster, create escort cards. Many couples choose to have individual cards near the entrance of the reception venue. Be sure to arrange them in alphabetical order so that your guests can find theirs quickly, not by table.

Escort cards can be fun, so get creative! Decorate them to make your theme, or use objects that reflect your wedding, such as mini pumpkins for a Fall affair. Sometimes, the guest favors will be attached right to their escort card, which can be helpful to your budget. If cards do not seem to work with your particular celebration, create a beautiful board or frame with everyones name and table number written on it. As long as guests know where to go, your wedding will be smooth sailing! 

Place Cards: Some may not know, but place cards are different from escort cards. While escort cards show guests their table, place cards indicate the guests specific seat at that table. 

Place cards are not necessary, but definitely add a little more glamor and sophistication to a wedding. You can also decorate them to match your escort cards! If you choose to have one large sign in lieu of actual escort cards, you may want to have place cards on the table for everyone. 

                                            

Ruby's Blog | Guest List

Hello Bride & Groom’s To Be!

I’m Ruby the Rochester Bride! As a newlywed of the Rochester area, I love sharing my knowledge of the wedding experience with newly engaged couples. This week, we are going to discuss everything to do with your wedding guest list.

{1} Splitting Up The Guest List: Traditionally, the guest list will be split up into 3 sections. First, the Bride and Groom will pick 50% of the guests. Then the Parents of the Bride will pick 25% of the guests, and the Parents of the Groom will choose the remaining 25% of the guests. Like I mentioned, this is just traditional, but not necessary! It is organized and may cause less drama when it comes to inviting guests, but everyone's family is different, so make sure you are comfortable with how it is divided up.

{2} Rules for the Guest List: Making a guest list is never easy; you’re afraid to hurt someone’s feelings or leave someone out, but you also want people there who are important to you! You may know a lot of people, but that doesn't mean you have to invite them all. Here are some rules to help you pick who to add to the list, and who to leave off:

•  If both of you haven’t spoken to, met or heard from them in three years or more, don't invite.
•  If anyone is on the list only because you feel guilty for not inviting them, than you should leave them off the guest list. 
• If it is important to your fiancé or family member that someone attends, you should invite them if you are able!

{3} Organizing the Guest List: Pen and paper was the old fashion way to make the guest list, but we live in the world where technology is thriving, so use it to your advantage! Google doc, guest list manger, excel, or word are all great options to help you create and edit your list quicker.

{4} Response Cards: Use these cards the most efficient way you can! Leave extra room for people to write their Plus-1 and family members names. Don't forget to number your cards in case people leave out major details, you will still know who RSVP'd.  Also be as clear as possible who you are inviting.  Address the envelopes correctly and note on the RSVP how many are invited.

{5} Take Control: Don’t let parents and future in-laws fight you on the guest list. If they are upset with you for not inviting someone they wanted to come but the budget won't allow, explain your situation. It is possible they will chip in a little to help you out so their guest can come, but either way, you need to be upfront about your decisions. When it comes down to it, it’s you and your fiancé's wedding, so make sure it is everything you both want!