Myles Studio Photography

How to Get The Most Out of A Bridal Show - Bridal Show Game Plan

2012-01-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

Bridal Show Game Plan

Most bridal shows have over 20 or more vendors offering services to help you with the minor and major details of your wedding. If you have never been to a bridal show before, let me warn you, it can be extremely over whelming. Vendors stand around inviting you to view their products and will talk your ears off. I won’t lie I am one of them. This is why it helps to go with a game plan in mind. So this is what I suggest for you to do:

Bring The People Who Will Be Helping You Make Decisions
Decide What Vendors You Need
Have A List Of Questions To Ask Each Vendor
Bring Address Labels
Bring 50-100 Small Stickers
Bring A Pen/Pencil
Bring A Small Notebook
Bring A Calendar For Making Appointments
Wear A Comfortable Pair Of Shoes
Bring Your Admittance Fee If Applicable

1. Bring the People Who Will Be Helping You Make Decisions

You don’t know how much time and energy you will save by coming to the Bridal Show with the people that will be helping you make decisions. It’s hard to describe things to another person such as venue, photography,etc. When you bring the important people to the Bridal Show, everyone will have the opportunity to see the vendors and make a decision at the show whether or not to pursue the vendor further.

2.Vendors I Need

Cake Bakery
Musician or Deejay
Caterer
Officiant
Ceremony Venue
Photographer
Dresses (Bridal, Bride's Maid, Mother's)
Reception Venue
Favors
Tuxedos
Florist
Stationery/Invitations
Honeymoon Location
Videographer
Limousine
Wedding Planner

3. Questions to Ask Each Vendor

If possible, after you have decided which vendors you need, see if you can visit the Bridal Show sponsors website or call them to request a list of vendors. Visit the vendors’ website to see which ones interest you. Now highlight the names of the vendors you want to see in person and make it a point to see them at the Bridal Show.

Make a list of five (5) important questions to ask each vendor. Start the conversation off with asking the vendor if your date is available. This will save you a lot of time. Because if your date is not available you can immediately move on to another vendor. If A vendor answers these questions to your satisfaction I would recommend asking them additional questions, If not tell them thank you for their time and walk away. Remember you will be talking to a great number of vendors and to manage your time more efficiently, you must keep your questions to a minimum. Don't fill out the vendors raffles or give them any additional information if you are not interested in having them pursue you further.

4. Address Labels

Create printed address labels with the following information – this will save you a lot of time and prevent your hands from cramping up. You will be giving this information to the vendors you would like to receive additional information from and for the raffles the various vendors will be offering.

Wedding Date

Bride’s Full Name

Mailing Address

Contact Number (the number you do not mind receiving calls on)

Email-Address (set one up specifically for your wedding – you can create a free website with e-mail by clicking on the web-site link on this blog)

5. 50-100 Small Stickers

I have attended so many different trade shows myself that I had to come up with a system to weed out the vendors I wanted additional information from, from the ones that I really wasn’t too interested in. It’s called the sticker system. I used smiley faces. What you do is you put two stickers on the brochure, postcard, business card, etc. of the vendors you really liked and put them in your bag. The one’s you are not quite sure of put one sticker on, and the vendors you didn’t really like you leave blank with no sticker. As soon as you get home go through the bag and dispose of all the information that do not have stickers and then separate the remaining information into two bags the ones with one sticker and the ones with two. Give yourself a week and go through the bags again and begin calling the vendors to schedule appointments or to obtain additional information. Try not to let too much time go by, because you will forget almost everything that was said during the show. So again wait about a week.

6. Pen/Pencil

This speaks for itself. You will need a good pen or pencil so you can take notes in the small notebook.

7. Small Notebook

Use this to take down information that the vendors give you. Also, use it as a brain jogger. You will notice when speaking to several vendors you will come up with additional questions to ask other vendors.

8. Calendar to Make Appointments

Just in case you see a vendor who you really like and would like to schedule an appointment with them to discuss your wedding in further detail, bring a calendar with dates that you and the other people who will be helping you with decisions are available.

9. Comfortable Pair of Shoes

You will be doing a lot of standing and walking.

10. Admittance Fee if Applicable

Most Bridal Shows have a small admittance fee. Find out the admittance fee beforehand if you can and make sure you bring cash.

I have attached a free Wedding Planning E-book. Please use this book to help you plan for your wedding.

These are just some of the suggestions that I have. Do you have any advice for brides feel free to leave additional information or comments.

Wedding Invitations, Save the Dates And More...

2011-04-23T11:55:00.016-04:00

There is a new way to find your wedding invitations. Ordering from catalogs and ordering invitation samples is now old school especially for the bride or groom who wants to go GREEN. Now wedding stationary companies have simple to use sites allowing you to design your wedding invitations online, and see your online invitation samples before you buy. No surprises with online invitations, what you see are what you get. Savvy brides can get discounted wedding invitations online.

There are 4 types of invitations for you to consider for your wedding:

Save The Date - This type of invitation is usually a card you can send out to your guests up to a year before your wedding. This is especially necessary if you plan to have guest travel from a distance away to attend your wedding. The Save The Date also acts as your announcement to the world that your marriage is now immanent. Once you have your date finalized, you send out your Save the Date cards, Save the Date postcards, or Save the Date Magnets to give everyone a heads up to reserve that date. In this age of IPADs, Smart Phones, and PDAs people can enter it into their Outlook and other electronic calendars. It is important that the bride and grooms full names appear on the cards, the location of the venue, the date of the event, with a note or line that says more details will follow.
Wedding Invitations - No need to state the obvious here. You should have your invitations printed up 3 months before your wedding to allow for production time. Some engraved invitations can take longer so verify with your invitation vendor how long they will take. Send out your invitations 2 months before the wedding. This will give your guests enough time to plan their travel arrangements, and take time off from work if necessary. I didn't think of this myself I can thank a bride that I recently met with, they suggested that you use a spreadsheet to assign a number to your guest and place that number on the back of your RSVP cards. This way if a card comes back without the persons name on it you don't have to panic. You can just match up the number to the name you have on your spreadsheet. I thought this was a great idea.

Bridal Shower Invitations - The bride can work with her Maid of Honor to design the bridal shower invitation, or you can maintain the same design theme as the rest of your invitations. You should send them out about 1 month before the wedding shower. You should have someone other than family host the bridal shower party for you, to avoid the appearance that you're trying to solicit gifts through your family as a buffer.

Thank You Cards - Thank you notes are a must, it's rude not to send out thank you cards to guests who bought you wedding gifts. Check with your Wedding Photographer they should carry Wedding Thank You Cards. If not you can order these online or through your wedding invitation vendor. As you open gifts, you should write down who purchased each gift for you. Personalize the thank you letters by acknowledging the gift that the guest bought for you. You should send out the thank you notes as soon as possible after you get back from your honeymoon. You'll want to do it quickly anyway before you start to forget who bought you each gift.

Don't worry at all about invitation wording, what dates, or logistics, these companies are pros and will guide you through every step.

Wedding Invitation Online Stores

Stylart Invitations

Carlson Craft

Milestone Stationary - view sample designs only

A great site for wedding invitations, Save the Dates, and other wedding related items online is Carlson Craft. They have over 1000 styles of wedding invitations, from the best manufacturers, and samples can be viewed online with a wide price range. Search online for wedding invitations and save the dates and quickly find what you want. Their online Design Center also allows you to upload photographs and preview your finished wedding invitations online before you buy. They have wedding invitation consultants to help you on wedding invitation wording, layout, wedding invitation etiquette, help with special wedding invitation requests. In addition to good quality wedding invitations and announcements, they have, save the date cards, rehearsal dinner invitations, wedding programs, reception place cards.

Wedding Invitation Tips

Get wedding thank you cards to thank your guests for wedding gifts. Wedding thank you notes mean a lot to guests
Use online sites that help you with your wedding invitations
Buy wedding invitations, envelopes, wedding thank you cards, wedding reception cards, at the same time if you want to maintain a theme
Order more than the number of guests you plan to invite. Expect only 75% of your invited wedding guests to RSVP
There is no such thing as a cheap discount wedding invitation unless you make it yourself
Use a software program or spreadsheet to give your guest individualized numbers. Use these numbers on the back of the RSVP cards so you can identify the responses that come back without names.

Sign on the Dotted Line - Wedding Vendor Contracts

2011-02-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

Okay after months of searching you finally found the perfect wedding vendor, now what? Well, first things first you need to get the details of the services to be provided by the vendor -- to you -- in a written contract. Yes - A CONTRACT IS A MUST with every wedding vendor. If a vendor suggests not having a contract RUN run as fast as you can. They're not legit. Any respectful vendor will not have you as a client unless you sign a contract.

Make sure you cover all the necessary details in your contract. Your contracts should include.

1. Company’s name, address, and phone number

2. Bride’s & Grooms Name, Addresses, and phone numbers

3. Date and time of the Wedding

4. Services and/or products you will be receiving

a. With the bakery and florist make sure you have in the contract information about delivery, set-up, and repair. (Cakes can get damaged in transport)

b. Special request should be noted somewhere on the contract. This is especially important when working with DJs, and Catering Halls.

5. Name of person(s) performing services

a. This is extremely important when dealing with larger DJ or Photography Companies

6. Products that will be delivered after the event and timeline the products will be delivered

a. This is especially important for videography services and photographic services.

7. Cost of Services and Deposit

a. If any of these costs are nonrefundable it should be noted.

b. Each item should be listed and the cost associated with it.

c. If receiving a package, package items should be listed in detail.

8. Payment schedule should be listed in detail, including forms of payment acceptable, and applicable penalties (for example, if a personal check is returned.)

9. Alternative service or merchandise in case of a problem.

Remember that a contract is a legal and binding agreement between you and your vendor. Therefore, be careful and read the fine print. If there is anything that is missing from the contract and you wish for it to be added, don't hesitate to speak up it's your money. Make sure the contract has two signatures yours and a legal representative from the vendor's organization. Don't leave without having a signed copy for yourself.

One more thing as extra protection you could always pay for your services with a credit card. That way you have a means to dispute any erroneous charges.

These are just some suggestions. All data and information provided in this article, web-site, e-mail is for informational purposes only. Myles Studio Photography, Inc. makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

2010-07-10T18:45:00.000-04:00

We just had a proof review with Krystle and her mother. As usual it was hard choosing from so many great images.

Krystle's mom joked with Myles and said "It's your fault if you weren't such a good photographer this wouldn't be so hard."

Myles jokingly responded "No it's their fault (Krystle & Tony's) for being such a great couple to work with."

Krystle truly was a beautiful bride and her day went off without a hitch

EXCEPT - during the ceremony when she realized Tony's ring didn't fit. Just look at the look on her face - it was PRICELESS.

I always say "Myles shoots everything!!"

Tip for Brides - Make sure your fingers, and your groom's fingers are oiled with lotion this helps the rings fit on easier

She eventually figured out how to get that darn ring on Tony's finger.

This was my favorite shot...When I saw it I said "Wow" and my mouth literally dropped open.

Meet the Girls

Meet the Guys

Congratulations again Krystle & Tony (Best Friends Forever)

Hey We Did It - Our First Blog

2010-07-08T13:27:00.000-04:00

Hey I did it!! This is my first blog - EVER...

I always thought of myself as computer savvy, but creating a blog (searching sites), was not a walk in the park for me. But now that it is done, I ask myself why didn't I do this earlier.

Well let me tell you a little bit about ourselves. Myles Studio is a full-time photography studio specializing in weddings, all types of portrait photography, and editorial photography. Myles the main photographer has won many national awards. Myself, Sandi I am Myles' wife

It's been a busy year for us creating several maternity portraits, baby portraits, family portraits, engagement portraits, albums, thank you cards, save the date cards, oh my I could go on and on but I won't bore you with the details.

We created this blog so you - the reader - could have a place to learn more about photography, photography session planning, to ask questions about vendors, brides, wedding planning, portraits, and much more.

Thank you for visiting our site and I hope you will return.

Thanks for stopping by...