The Simple Secrets That Will Make Your Wedding Venue Look Fabulous

Friday, February 28, 2020
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A wedding venue is more than just a room where everyone congregates as you get married - it’s what sets the tone for your big day. Getting the aesthetic right, therefore, is essential. 


There’s just one problem: there’s no dress rehearsal. You have to get the decorations right the first time around - and that can be a challenge. It’s not like you’ve had ten other weddings to practice!
So what do you need to do to make your wedding venue look fabulous? 
Call The Professionals
Unless you’re on an extremely strict budget, it probably isn’t a good idea to try to dress your wedding venue yourself. It’s a complex task that usually requires several skilled people to plan and execute.
Your best bet, therefore, is to call the professionals. Wedding planners have extensive experience setting up venues for a host of different themes. They can tailor the whole place to your specifications, setting it up just right so that you don’t have to do a thing on the day itself. 
Wedding planners don’t usually physically set the venue up themselves. Instead, they organize the various vendors and help bring everything together. Often, they’ll liaise with the venue management, the florist, and the people providing the cake to ensure that everything runs smoothly. 
Do A Mockup


Sometimes you’re able to do a mockup of how things will look before the big day arrives, giving you a sense of the current state of play. If you’re relying on tent rentals, the vendor will usually put it up a day or two beforehand to make sure that everything is ready to go. Thus you have the option of setting everything up for a dress rehearsal in the run-up. 
If you’re using a venue that caters to other events, doing this might be a little more challenging. You may have to negotiate with management or ask to use the site early in the morning while it is out of action. 
Assemble Your Tool Kit
Fixing up a wedding venue is essentially a DIY job - a very flowery one - but a DIY job all the same. For this reason, you need a box of tools for setting up your decor. Screwdrivers, hammers, drills, and spanners are all essential, depending on the type of work you’re doing. You’ll also need all manner of clips and ties for temporarily hanging things on the wall. 
Double The Time You Think You Need
Setting up a wedding venue always takes way longer than you imagine. Something usually goes wrong, eating into the time you have available. Issues can delay some couples to the point where they have to get married before everything is in place. Disaster!
Put In Place A Plan For The Day After
Taking down your wedding decor isn’t as important as putting it up, but it is still vital. You need to plan, therefore, who will be responsible for this aspect of the festivities. If you’re away on honeymoon, you’ll need to delegate. Here again, a wedding planner can help, organizing the whole thing on your behalf. 

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How to Give Your Wedding the Personal Touch

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
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There’s much to love about weddings, but it’s hard to deny that sometimes they can begin to feel a little samey. There are trends to follow, things that people think they have to include, and so on. If you go to multiple weddings in a year, then they may eventually begin to blur into one. So when it comes to your wedding, make sure that you do things differently, and ensure that it truly stands out from the crowd. While there are many ways to do this, the best, most reliable way is to give your wedding a personal touch. Your wedding will be memorable for all the right reasons if every decision has been put through the frame of your personality. Below, we take a look at some of the areas where you can make things a little more personal. 


Where You’ll Get Married
There’s no shortage of beautiful destinations around the world, it’s true, but they’re not all going to be right for you. Sometimes, people get married in a stunning venue, which is great, but you could argue that these weddings lack a little soul. All the charm exists on the surface. This is not the case when the bride and groom have a close emotional connection to the venue. So when it comes to picking where you’ll get married, think about a place that’s close to your heart. There’ll be space for decorations (more on those later), but fundamentally, the place should be somewhere that’s close to your heart.
Your Wedding Invites
They say that you should start as you mean to go on! So look at getting things off on the right foot by ensuring that your save the date reminders and wedding invitations have a personal touch. For your save the date cards, look at sending something through the post: there are digital options, but they lack the personal factor. For your main invitations, take a look at diy wedding invites. There’s just something extra special about sending something that you have personally made with your loved one. Also, be sure to add a personal touch -- for example, you could ask your guests to include a song that they want to hear on the dancefloor. 
Your Own Party
If you put enough good people together and throw on some good songs, then the party will be a good one, no doubt. But it might not be all that different from what you experience at all the other weddings that are held each other. As such, one good way to make your wedding stand out from the crowd is to throw your own party, not anybody else’s. To do this, think about what you really like when you’re out having fun. Are you a cheesy 80s pop song kind of couple, or do you get down to deep techno? Whatever it is, make sure it forms the basis of your party. You may want to throw in a couple of standard wedding party songs so that all of your guests have something to dance to, but by and large, make it yours. 
Personalised Food and Drink Options
The same principle can be applied to the food and drinks that you serve. Sometimes, people do away with their personal preferences altogether, and instead, serve items that they think fit in with a wedding. But if you’ve never been a wine person in your life, then it doesn’t make much sense to suddenly become one when you’re getting married. One fun thing to do is to come up with your own cocktails. It doesn’t get much more personal than serving your own signature cocktail at your wedding party!
Your Wedding Decorations
You can also think about how you’re going to decorate your wedding party. There will be plenty of options, but there’s surely room for a few personal touches. These could be photos from your travels, childhood, favourite quotes, and so on. It’ll ensure that the wedding is dripping with your personality. 
Traditions You’ll Keep, Traditions You’ll Discard
Ultimately, if you’re going to have a personal wedding, then it’s important that you think about the wedding traditions that you’ll keep, and the ones that you’ll discard. Traditions aren’t compulsory: they’re just suggestions. If you’d rather get rid of one in favour of doing your own thing, then do it. Your wedding will feel much more authentic and original if you’ve put your own spin on the traditional wedding, rather than simply doing everything that everyone else does. 

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How to Choose The Ultimate Engagement Ring: 4 Tips You Can Use

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
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Photo by Burst from Pexels
So you’re planning on proposing! First of all, congratulations. This is a huge step to take and one that you will never forget. Once you’ve got the way that you want to propose down, it’s time to start looking at engagement rings. 

Buying an engagement ring might feel like a daunting task. Not only do you want her to love the ring, but you also want to make sure that you don’t spend more on it than you can realistically afford.

If you’re planning on popping the question but are unsure as to where to start, here are 4 invaluable tips that you can use in your preparations!
1. Set a Realistic Budget 
This might seem like an obvious one. But so many people go over what they can realistically afford in order to buy their partner’s dream ring. And while it’s nice to spend out a lot of money on the ring if you have it, if you don’t have the money in the bank, it’s not the best thing to do.
You might have also heard the old traditional saying that you should spend at least 3 months salary on the ring. However, nowadays, it’s a little more simple. People are more likely to base their ring budget on what they can afford at that time without going into significant debt. 
It’s important to know that everyone is different; and what you might spend on an engagement ring another will not. It depends on how comfortable you feel with the price tag and whether your fiancee will necessarily mind if it’s not the most expensive ring in the shop. 
There are also so many different rings to choose from, so you’re bound to find one that’s within your budget but that’s still beautiful. After all, you’ll want to save some money away for your wedding in the near future!

2. Custom or Ready Made?
This a question that you’ll be asking around the time when you’re setting a budget. The decision as to whether you want to buy the ring ready-made or have it created custom for your partner is really up to you. 
If you can’t find the perfect ring in the stores or you want to create a unique one unlike any other, then a custom ring is the way to go. Whereas if you’ve found the ultimate ring in a store or online, then a ready-made one could be just the ticket.
3. Know the Size 
Before purchasing the engagement ring, you need to know what size you need. You want a ring that will fit perfectly on her finger and won’t easily fall off. While the best way of determining her size is to have her ring finger there on the day of purchasing, this isn’t always possible.
So how do you do it without her noticing? Well, one method that you could use is borrowing one of her rings that she wears to determine her measurements. Although the ring might need to be adjusted after the proposal, the closest you can get to her size the better.

 4. Understand The Four C’s
When looking at engagement rings, it’s a good idea to factor in the four c’s:
Clarity: this refers to the blemishes or flaws that are visible in the diamond when it’s viewed under a microscope. The less of them, the better the quality – this does, however, mean a bigger price tag. When looking at this, it’s worth using the VVS Certified Diamonds Guide. 
Color: engagement rings come in a variety of different colors for you to choose from. If you’re looking at a colourless diamond, it’s important to know that it’s not completely transparent and that it will always have a slight brown or yellow tinge.
Carat: this is the density or weight of the diamond. Typically, the larger the carat, the more expensive the ring. 

Cut: this is the proportions and shape of the diamond. The most typical shapes are: oval, pear, radiant, emerald and princess.
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GRAMMA IN A BOX - FEBRUARY REVIEW

Wednesday, February 19, 2020
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One of my favorite things to do is get creative at home. Whether that's by using stickers in my weekly planner, decorating our mantle for holidays, or hanging out in the kitchen, I am always looking for something to do. One of my favorite things each month is Gramma In A Box.

Gramma in a Box is a subscription service started by a woman whose grandchildren moved away from her. She would send them boxes of cookies and treats, then they would make them together on Skype. After sharing this with friends and family, she created Gramma in a Box for others to have a monthly activity to do with their loved ones.

Each box includes baked cookies with frosting and sprinkles, plus two easy candy crafts. There are step by step instructions, with illustrations, included in each box. Some months will have a theme, such as for holidays like Super Bowl and St. Patrick's Day. This month's theme was of course Valentine's Day! Making these treats were a perfect date night in, especially while we are keeping our baby budget tight! We were able to decorate Valentine Candy Cane Hearts, Crispy Caramel Bites, and Valentine Cookies! My favorite were the Valentine Cookies because we decorated with candy hearts, which are one of my favorite treats!

Gramma in a Box is a steal at only $20 per box! But right now she is offering a special discount, no code needed, where your first box is $10, when you sign up for the auto-debit option! TALK ABOUT A STEAL! When I think about how much I spend on baking and decorating cookies, plus all the extra random stuff that ends up in the cart that I didn't need, this is actually saving me money! Be sure to place your order for the March box ASAP!
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3 Ways to Get Sponsors for Your Blog

Sunday, February 16, 2020
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Blogging is a great way to make money, whether you’re doing it as a side hustle, or you want to become a full-time mommy blogger. Even if you’re just getting started as a blogger, you have the potential to make hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month. 

Some bloggers make around $10,000 thanks to their ability to build their brand along with a loyal following. 

One of the easiest ways to make money as a blogger is by attracting sponsors and advertisers, willing to work with your blog. But, it’s not always easy to get someone to sponsor you if you have a low readership and not many followers. 

So, what can you do to get more sponsors for your blog, even if you’re just starting out? 


1. Show Your Growth at Every Stage
You might not have 50,000 followers on Instagram yet. You may not have millions of monthly readers who see what you have to say consistently. But, do you have growth? Tools like Google Analytics and social media metrics have made it easy to see progress when it comes to website and social growth. 
When you’re creating a presentation or media kit for a potential sponsor, focus on that growth, rather than what you don’t yet have. Don’t point out that you don’t have millions of followers - they’ll already know that. Instead, show them where you’re going, and how you’re growing. 
If you need help putting together a presentation with different charts and graphs, use a service like https://www.templafy.com/ to keep your documents consistent and professional-looking. 

 2. Pitch, Pitch, Pitch
Remember, your blog is your business. It’s your brand. Be ready and willing to pitch it to different businesses and big companies over and over again. The reality is, you’re going to have to do it a lot, and you’re going to have to face a lot of rejection before someone takes a chance on you. 
But, once one company does it, you can use that sponsorship as fuel to get others on board. 
Practice your pitch as often as you can, and let the sponsors know what would be in it for them if they signed on with you. 

 3. Engage in Social Media
Using social media can be a great way to talk with potential sponsors about who you are and what your blog has to offer. It’s typically a more “casual” platform, and you can approach sponsorships in a more personal way. 
Using social media also allows potential sponsors to check in on your following and how interested people are in your blog. They’ll be able to see what people are saying about you, and how you respond to comments, questions, and even negative reviews. 
It doesn’t matter if you have 1,000 readers or you’ve been blogging for a couple of years to grow your brand. Getting sponsorships isn’t impossible at any level. As long as you’re prepared to put in the work and you remain passionate about your business, the right sponsor is out there for your blog. 




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