This week I have a mailbox full of your wedding planning questions to review! 

Here's a full look at everything on our agenda this week:

• What’s a nice way of asking the moms to wear a certain style / color?
• Who to invite to your bachelorette party (just bridesmaids or others, too?)
• Having a hard time finding a venue that will allow a food truck, BYOB, in our area, for about $5000 budget.  There will be about 50 - 100 guests.  I’m about to say screw it and elope, but I know we’ll regret it, any suggestions?  
• Should I hire a babysitter for the reception?
• What if there’s a pool at my venue? (Things to consider)
• I don’t necessarily want a traditional wedding cake - what are some fun dessert options for hot weather?
• What do you think about using an Air bnb as our venue?  We found one that we love, and the owner agreed to let us host our wedding there, but I feel uneasy booking it for over a year away (Sept. 2022) - so many things could happen in a year.  I would hate to get close to the wedding, have something happen to the house, and not have a venue.  
• Family children ... how to involve them in the wedding so they feel like they have a special job / part in everything (my mom promised a cousin a role that I never actually “approved” of)
• Trying to host our wedding in a field (family land) and I have it mostly planned but there’s no electricity - is dancing completely out of the question?  I thought we’d have it during the day but wouldn’t that be boring?
• How important is an MC?  Venue includes a DOC but not the MC part - could I just have my brother or a friend do it?  
• How do I reign in our wedding planner? 

"Our venue includes a wedding coordinator for the rehearsal and wedding day, and initially I was pleasantly surprised by how accommodating and informative she is.  Since the initial relief and excitement of finding and booking the perfect venue, we’re starting to realize the huge task ahead of us in terms of booking EVERYTHING (the venue comes with nothing set up, so we need to choose tables, chairs, place settings, dance floor, bar, basically everything.)  At this point, I feel completely overwhelmed by her ideas & suggestions, and I’m starting to worry that the wedding she has envisioned for us does not line up with our vision OR our budget.  How do I reign in our wedding planner and rest easy knowing that we are on the same page?"

There are so many layers to this one that we have a dedicated show coming up next week, all about your initial meetings with your wedding planner, venue, or anyone else who’s going to be helping you make your perfect wedding celebration come to life! 

In my years of experience, it’s not just wedding planners who need to reigned in, but often times moms, wedding party members, aunts, cousins .... feeling familiar?  We’re going to cover it all next week!

These questions were submitted by members of my digital wedding planning package, where one of my favorite benefits of membership is a fast track VIP pass to submit your wedding questions & show topic requests ... literally any time you think of them.

You’re invited to join us and take advantage of  a FREE 3-day trial when you visit wedpodcast.com. 

The digital format allows me to extend a full service planning experience for an incredibly affordable monthly subscription, plus there are no contracts & absolutely zero obligation.  And of course, you can take advantage of that FREE 3-DAY TRIAL when you sign up today at wedpodcast.com.

A special thank you to today's show sponsors:

FREE Wedding Websites designed by independent artists?  Yes please!  Get started building your wedding website today with Minted Weddings & take advantage of exclusive listener perks on save the dates, invitations & more.

Take advantage of expert honeymoon planning services for your all-inclusive, cruise, or exotic honeymoon AND get $50 off when you book.  Simply email susan@susanstravelservices.com to get started!

STREAMLINE + SIMPLIFY has been a tagline for the WPP literally since I created the show way back in 2015.  (Look closely, it's even on our old logo!)

Not only are these two of my favorite words in the English language - that I try and live by in ALL aspects of my life - more specifically, they perfectly summarize my approach to wedding planning.  

Every situation you’ll encounter throughout your engagement can be examined through the lens of simplicity and potentially scaled back or streamlined in some way that will make your life easier, more affordable, more relaxing, and overall, more enjoyable.  

Often we find ourselves in the midst of a planning roadblock and the first instinct is to explore your options. 

In the first example we’re going to talk about today - a couple who has family in 2 different places, many of whom don’t want to travel, you might consider … getting married in each place, what would that look like?  Getting married where we live?  Getting married on an island with just us? 

In all the feelings and family dynamics and charged emotions that fly around throughout your engagement season, it’s sometimes easy to get lost in a million far-fetched options ... when the simplest, most streamlined option is left by the wayside.  

On that note, today we’re going to explore some common wedding planning scenarios where things can escalate and become verrrrrrrrrry complicated, very quickly. 

I’m going to do my best to point out some straightforward, simple solutions that I hope will make your engaged life EASIER, MORE AFFORDABLE, and put a stop to waking up in the middle of the night with your mind racing over how many passed appetizers there should be, how many people should be in your wedding party, and how much ice to buy for your welcome party. 

Ready to get started?  Tune into the full show for so much more!

Thank you for supporting this week's show sponsor:

• Take advantage of expert honeymoon planning services for your all-inclusive, cruise, or exotic honeymoon AND get $50 off when you book!  Simply email susan@susanstravelservices.com to get started.

• Thousands of couples have planned simple, meaningful & affordable multi-event wedding celebrations, and you can do it too with LONG WEDDING WEEKEND BY DESIGN.

  Long Wedding Weekend by Design is my all new digital wedding planning package specifically for couples who want to MAXIMIZE their wedding celebration across MULTIPLE DAYS + MULTIPLE EVENTS.

  Whether you're stuck in the initial "I don't think we can pull that off with our time & budget" phase, OR you've already committed but find yourself in a tangled mess of half-made plans - finally, an incredibly straightforward, 3-STEP GUIDE to planning your multi-day wedding celebration from start to finish ... WITH ABSOLUTELY ZERO GUESSWORK AND WITH ANY BUDGET!

  Visit www.longweddingweekend.com

  to learn more, and get started planning your dream LONG WEDDING WEEKEND today.

Engagement photos are an incredible opportunity to capture you & your fiancé in your happiest moments, and to share those images across your save the dates, your wedding website, holiday cards, and as decorations throughout your wedding celebration.

The thing is, choosing the perfect outfits, getting hair & make up just right so that you look incredible but still natural, and posing effortlessly is actually much harder than it looks!  

Choosing what you’re going to wear and struggling through a last minute hair and makeup session an hour before you meet your photographer is not a great idea, to say the least.  

Neither is waiting until you show up to find out that your fiancé has the worst stage fright, and looks like Chandler from "Friends" (season 7, episode 5, The One with The Engagement Picture) because they suddenly can’t smile.  

Today on the WPP I have a handful of tricks and tips to make sure your engagement photo shoot is smooth, seamless, and yields those perfect shots that you’ve been dreaming of sharing with all of family, friends, and friends of friends.  

Tune in for so much more, and head over to the blog post for today's show for a full written recap & links:

www.weddingplanningpodcast.co/engagement-photos

A special THANK YOU for supporting today's show sponsors:

Thousands of couples have planned simple, meaningful & affordable multi-event wedding celebrations, and you can do it too with LONG WEDDING WEEKEND BY DESIGN.

Long Wedding Weekend by Design is my all new digital wedding planning package specifically for couples who want to MAXIMIZE their wedding celebration across MULTIPLE DAYS + MULTIPLE EVENTS.

Whether you're stuck in the initial "I don't think we can pull that off with our time & budget" phase, OR you've already committed but find yourself in a tangled mess of half-made plans - finally, an incredibly straightforward, 6-STEP GUIDE to planning your multi-day wedding celebration from start to finish ... WITH ABSOLUTELY ZERO GUESSWORK AND WITH ANY BUDGET!

Visit www.longweddingweekend.com to learn more, and get started planning your dream LONG WEDDING WEEKEND today.

Get professional help planning your dream honeymoon when you email susan@susanstravelservices.com . Don't forget to mention the Wedding Planning Podcast for $50 off your booking!

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