AboutBrenda Cascio Expertise As founder and CEO of GraciousBridal.com, I am pleased to offer suggestions for those puzzling situations such as wanting to give personal gifts to bridesmaids that have totally different interests, how to show appreciation to guests on a budget, what small things that can be done to make a huge impact for the ceremony and reception.
Experience At the helm of graciousbridal.com, I am up-to-date on the latest trends. Our products have been featured in the finest wedding and style magazines. I am essentially a consultant to consultants. Because many wedding consultants are a small operation, they don't have access to the vendors, markets and other consultants that we have. Therefore, we use our resources to find those elusive items. Having a party and want to re-create the garden at Tavern-On-The-Green? We provided the marbelized balloons. Are you wanting a garden party with lanterns strung through the trees? We have provided the lanterns with coordinating parasols and hand fans. Want to plan a wedding merging two cultures, I can help navigate you through the potentially sticky situations (now is not the time for a social faux-pas!) It is important to be aware of the various customs in different parts of the country too, and I am more than happy to assist brides, moms and consultants in this.
Education/Credentials Degree in Fine Arts and years of experience in design and marketing prior to becoming involved in the wedding industry.
Question My daughter is planning her ceremony for 2:00 pm and the reception for 6:00
pm - is this too much time between if they are planning some off site pictures
after the ceremony? Should we move the reception up to 5:00 pm?
Answer Hi Carol,
There is no right or wrong answer, but there certainly is a convenience issue. There are several factors to consider when making this decision, so lets just go through them one by one. If it is strictly for photos, there are better ways to handle this than inconvenience the guests. Perhaps the photos could be taken prior to the ceremony and move the ceremony later. Is the reason for the time gap because the reception facility is not available prior to that time, or because the ceremony facility is not available at a later time? If so, it is best to tie the two events together as close as possible and here is why. As much as the guests want to celebrate this wonderful event, they may not want to give up an entire day. After attending the ceremony, you may lose them to other things, especially the local invitees, and then that wonderful reception will be sparsely attended. You will be putting an extreme amount of effort into both the reception and the ceremony, so you don't want to lose the guests. Are there many out of town guests, and if so, what are they supposed to do in the interim -- has an activity or suggested activity been planned?
If you are still left with a gap between events, perhaps have a suggested activity for your out-of-town guests and a notation on the back of your ceremony program such as "Please join us at 6:00 pm at the Country Club for dinner and dancing". Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with
Best Regards,
Brenda :)
