For the groom

Recently, I had a great opportunity to connect with a service that caterers to the groom.

Photo by Andrena Photography

The company is called the Groom's Valet.  The Groom's Valet is about giving a little extra special treatment to the groom.  They can offer the perfect gift from the bride - a pre-wedding experience that he will remember forever!

Randy Reisman is the co-owner of The Groom's Valet.  He is one of the top custom handmade suit company's in the world.  His business partner is celebrity stylist Janice Bussing, who has been dressing people in the movie industry for over 20 years. 

When their clients need a suit or tuxedo, Randy and Janice will go to their office or home for a complimentary consultation.  This dynamic duo can create either a custom made suit or tuxedo (starting at $1000)  or a ready made suit from $200 and up.

The service is all about caring for the groom and allowing him to enjoy the process. As Randy explained to me, "the groom selects the ring, proposes, she says yes, then the planning starts." As everyone knows, the planning can be time consuming, expensive and sometimes stressful (unless you have the right coordinator) and when it comes time to choose the groom's attire, he might end up with a rented tux that other men have worn and it doesn't fit him correctly or he ends up searching for the right tux or suit in a department store.

Janice and Randy recommend that the bride selects her gown first, then at the complimentary meeting or before the meeting, they see a photo or the actual dress. This process helps them create right suit or tux for him, so the couple compliments one another on the wedding day.  I love the concept as well as their prices, plus they have beautiful fabrics from all over the world.

Here's to the groom!

Happy New Year!

Congratulations on your recent engagement!  You might be searching the Web and asking yourself, what is the next step?

Being a newly engaged bride has some challenges that can be overwhelming to say the least.

Here are a few tips that I hope will help make the process easier for you and allow you to enjoy your new engagement.

1. Establish a budget - without a budget, you won't be able to choose a venue, type of wedding or any of your vendors.  If you and your fiance are paying for the wedding yourselves, then we recommend sitting down during a relaxing time of day or evening and talking about the maximum budget.  If both sets of parents are involved, then determine if you want to talk to each of your parents together or separately and see what amount they feel comfortable contributing. 

2. Guest count - knowing the guest count will help you to find the right venue or private estate. Some estates or venues might have a maximum capacity of 150 guests and if your count goes to 200...well you can imagine that won't work. Also, if the budget has limitations, this will definitely impact your guest count.

3. Hiring an experienced event and wedding planner to help you stay stress free and manage the logistics.  If your life is super busy, then ask your planner to give you a package that will work with your schedule so she or he can take on the big projects.

4. Choose your wedding date - talk with both sides and find out if there are any conflicts - such as other family member weddings for the same year, babies being born, graduations, etc.  Once you settle on one or a few options then start looking for your venue.

5. Weather - we always look at the Farmer's Almanac to see what the weather has been like for previous years.  There is no guarantee, however, it helps when selecting a date.  If you choose a month that has a bigger risk for bad weather, then make sure your coordinator is on top of a contingency plan.

6. Once everything is secure (venue, date and your coordinator), then you can start with your dress, photographer, caterer (if applicable), video, make up and hair stylists, paper house, florist and entertainment.  We recommend hiring the vendors that can't do two weddings at the same time (like photographer and hair and makeup) first, before hiring the other vendors.

Please enjoy the process and let us know if we may assist you!

Yours truly,