Planning a wedding?  Wedding Ideas Now can help!

Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond

Wedding Ideas Now is owned by Patrice, who I consider to be wedding royalty.  She is consistently one of the top wedding planners on the west coast.  Her knowledge is endless.  She planned my wedding in September 2012 (how I got so lucky, I'll never know!).  She took care of everything from budgeting to helping me find my personal wedding style to ... well, just everything!  Patrice answered every single crazy question I was able to come up with and somehow managed to keep me from getting overwhelmed (well, too overwhelmed, anyway).

During the planning process, she mentioned that she not only coordinated weddings, but had created tools so brides can do what she does so well (well, ALMOST what she does - there's no replacement for the real Patrice :)!  She has budgeting tools, inspirational items, and pretty much anything you need.

Since I found her so incredibly helpful, I thought I'd share with all of you.  I hope you get a chance to check out Wedding Ideas Now if you're planning a wedding.  It's definitely worth a look!

Inspiration Cards

Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond

These cards keep the bride focused on what's important.  They have tips, suggestions, and inspiration for everything from shoes to flowers to venue.  They make a great gift!

Signature Drinks Book

Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond

This book includes recipes for signature drinks.  One of the latest trends is to have a signature drink that represents the bride and groom.  Coming up with a crafty name, matching the wedding colors to the drink colors, or just somehow relating the signature cocktail to the bride and groom is a super adorable touch!  We didn't serve anything other than wine and beer at our wedding, or I would have definitely done this!

Budgeting Tools

Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond Photos from the Harty ı Photography ı Washington, DC and beyond

In my humble opinion, this might be the best $13 you can spend on your wedding.  It creates a budget for you and breaks it into separate categories (flowers, rentals, vendors, etc), then imports them into a single spreadsheet.  You can plug in every dime you spend to make sure you stay on - or under - budget!  It kept us right on track! 

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Patrice posts really cute little inspirational items nearly every day on both Twitter and Facebook.  Enjoy!

Our wedding photos speak for themselves.  Check out how Patrice helped us:

Our wedding venue, Adelaida Winery, was breathtaking.  The view of the valley in Paso Robles, CA, as the sun went down... Just incredible.  Unfortunately, I HATED those silver poles.  I wanted to fly out to California early and paint them myself!  As a photographer, they made me absolutely insane.  They bothered me so much that I almost wrote the venue off when I looked at the photos online.   See below:

I mean no offense to this photographer or this wedding.  However, this was just not my style.  I wanted the large cement structure we were getting married on to blend into the environment, not detract from it.

I know it's silly, but they are an eye sore and the photos are the most important part of the wedding (or at least they are to me.  After, you know, the whole true love and vowing to spend the rest of my life with the man that I love more than life itself, that is).  Haha.

Anyway... Patrice found a great solution, though!  She wrapped this fabric, which she lent to us, around the poles, so they fade into the background.  She hung the crystals (also a loaner) in the trees above us for a romantic touch.  I could not have been more pleased!  When I started down the aisle, I said to my father, "Wow.  This is incredible."  Then, I saw my soon-to-be husband and my stomach flipped.

Patrice assured me that dressing my bridesmaids in red, my favorite color, would not be distracting.  I was nervous about it, but trusted her expertise.  I am so glad I did! 

A suggestion by Patrice; one of the gifts I had made for my bridal party.

Patrice is behind me, fighting the wind to fix my veil as my dad walks me down the aisle.

The amazing food (which I was too busy taking photos to try).

Birdcages were a suggestion (and loaner) from Patrice.

Patrice lent use all of these candles and glassware.  She helped me select the flowers, which happen to be the bridesmaid bouquets. ©Sara Alepin (Photos from the Harty). Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited, with the sole exception of reposting in Facebook (please copy and paste this copyright notice with it). www.PhotosFromTheHarty.com

Patrice suggested a wedding cake that was supported by wine glasses.  I designed the logo etched on the stemless wine glasses (also a suggestion by Patrice).  It worked perfectly with our theme and venue.  The morning of our wedding, Patrice stopped off at the grocery store and picked up these grapes.  She also pulled several flowers to decorate the cake.

I'd say that, overall, our wedding was a complete success.  Thanks to lots of help from Patrice!

At the end of the wedding, I surprised Patrice by playing MJ's Thriller.   We had a great time laughing together!

Photos by the phenomenal Colleen Rosenthal.