Group Wedding Planning Sessions Spring & Fall- what are these?

Get the help you need at a price you can afford!

A Memory Lane Event, Group Wedding Planning Sessions

Newly engaged and overwhelmed?

Have ton’s of time and really want to plan your wedding on your own while no being taken advantage of. 

Would you like a planner but don’t think you can afford it?

Then this is the class for you.  Find help at Wedding Planning 101 sessions and share the costs of an expert wedding planner with other brides.  Get the help, one on one attention and guidance you want.  See Group Wedding Planning Sessions to pre-register for extra bonuses. C U There!

Spring and fall sessions: Each session consists of a total of 12 hours of expert assistance and help where you need it, while planning your custom wedding spread over 3 months.  

Get the answers to your questions, the tips and tricks you personally need, what to watch out for and so much more. Class includes a packet to really assist you in staying true to you and your finance while being able to keep you in budget and a guest list and seating chart spreadsheet.  Classes have been capped at 20 brides per session so you get the one on one attention you deserve.

Jennifer Lane, Expert Wedding Planner

On top of that, you'll get to meet the vendors you've been searching for and didn't know where to find. Only $349.95 when pre-registering and as an added bonus, be one of the 1st 10 brides to pre-register and receive an hour with me, one on one, complimentary! That's a $150 value!

 

What are some things are covered in wedding 101 group planning classes?

A Memory Lane Event- Group Planning Sessions

Vision for your wedding Day

Vision for the wedding day of your finance

How to blend the visions for a fabulous wedding day that truly reflects the two of you

Duties of you as the couple

Duties of the parents of the couple

Where are you in the planning process?

Where are you stuck

You and Your finances personality & how to reflect it throughout the wedding

What do you need to know about location selection

Hidden costs – where & why

Vendor selection -Actually meet, get the skinny on what you need to know when interviewing and hiring the professionals for your wedding, have a chance to ask questions and get the answers to your questions

What couples fight over during planning & how to avoid the fight

Budget planning

Traditionally who pays for what

Job duties of your wedding party

Timeline building

Enjoy your wedding day

And several more topics.

You get: (3) four hour sessions for the expert help you desire. A value of $1,800 for only $349.95.

Schedule

Spring Session
April 16, 2011	1:00pm - 5:00pm	Pink Posey Design, Denver
May 7, 2011	1:00pm - 5:00pm	Pink Posey Design, Denver
June 4, 2011	1:00pm - 5:00pm

Pink Posey Design, Denver

Fall Session

September 24, 2011

1:00pm - 5:00pm

Denver Metro Area*

October 8, 2011

1:00pm - 5:00pm

Denver Metro Area*

November 5, 2011

1:00pm - 5:00pm

Denver Metro Area*

*Location, directions and address will be sent to you upon registration.

Pricing Options

• Pre-Register here for $349.95.
• Need to break the payments down into a manageable plan? Build your bridal bag, by choosing a 3 month payment plan of $116.65 per month when you pre-register for Group Wedding Planning Sessions.
• You can register on the day of, however the price for materials will increase to $449.95.

Pink Posey Design - floral services

As an added bonus,on June 4th, if we’re you considering creating your own bridal bouquet and other flowers for your wedding?  Pink Posey Design in Denver is offering for an additional $100 a 1 hour bonus session to teach you how to prepare, assemble and arrange your bouquet in addition to being able to order your high quality flowers through her at wholesale. 

Event & Wedding Cost Cutting Savings

A Memory Lane Event Colorado Weddings

First and foremost, we strongly suggest that you work with a planner and coordinator that has an hourly or month of coordination package that can assist you where you need help.  Using a planner and coordinator such as A MEMORY LANE EVENT & WEDDING with such a package will save you hundreds.  The few hundred dollars that you'll spend for professional consulting through out the planning process will save you months of stress, worry and headaches and frustration, hundreds to thousands of dollars in of potential costly mistakes as give you a more professional and polished look to your wedding.  You still make all of the decisions, can do all of the DIY projects and still get the professional advice and assistance that you need to make your wedding an amazing success.  You can't lose.  Call us today for a free 30 minute consultation.  303-513-2364.

Additional cost savings.
Have a weekday or Sunday wedding.  Weekends and especially Saturdays are a prime date for vendors and locations.  Avoiding this day and you usually get a better rate.  The down side to not having your event or wedding on a weekend, is that fewer people will be able to attend.

Have your event or wedding off season.   May to October is the prime time to have a party.  Choose an off season month and the prices of many vendors will be a little lower, especially wedding sites.  Anymore, however, many locations are no longer doing an off season rate since prime wedding season has become year round.  Another downside to this is that most people kids, if you're allowing kids, are back in school.  Fewer people will be able to attend, or if your guests can not pull their kids out of school to attend, perhaps only 1/3-1/4 of that particular family will be able to attend if at all.  This does assist in cutting the guest list and total attendees which will ultimately save in table total, food and liquor costs, centerpieces and in every category of your event or wedding.  Keep in mind that in a properly prepared party each attendee runs a minimum of $100 each.

Use a multipurpose venue.  Save on rental fees and transportation costs by having everything in one location.

Colorado weddings with A Memory Lane Event, Jennifer Lane

Choose a decorated site.  The affordability of a site depends on how much you need to decorate it.  Using places such as gardens or historic sites require minimal décor.  These sites in most cases cost more than renting a bare reception hall.  Using a park or other public place that does not typically have events or weddings will mean doubling the rental fee, as you'll need to bring a tent big enough to accommodate your guests in case of rain, severe heat, and in Colorado freak snow storms are totally possible.  You'll also need to rent generators to handle things such as electric for music, lights, heat or air condition/ fan use.  Most caterers so that food will be hot or cold will also need to bring generators which will increase the cost.  Tables, chairs, linens and dinnerware will all need to be rented, delivered and picked up.  If the location is not your back yard, the items will need to be picked up after the party or all night security will need to be hired as well.

Have a brunch or lunch reception.  Daytime receptions have lighter menus which save you money on the food as well as the bar tab.  The rental fees in most cases are less expensive as well.

Limit bar selections.  Offer guests beer, wine only and a signature cocktail to keep the bar tab down.  Another option is to offer a “hosted” cocktail hour and wine with the meal.  Which means that you will be paying for the first couple hours of liquor service.  The bar can either be closed at that time or offer bar service as a cash bar for your guests to purchase their own.

Save postage on invitations.  Be sure to choose standard size invitations.  Eliminate return postage fees associated with response cards and have guests RSVP by e-mail or telephone.  Eliminating all of the additional enclosures such as reception card and map will also cut costs of mailing the invitation.  Alleviating the map is easier when you have everything in one location.  Also using a wedding web site where your guests can download a map from their location is brilliant.

Use simple wedding ceremony decorations.  The ceremony site is only being used an hour or two and can be reused at the reception.  For a party, if you're using several rooms and not returning to the same room for any portion of the party, you can re-use decorations from room to room as well.  Limit the decorations to two medium/large size arrangements at the focal point, the altar.  Choose simple decorations for any other locations in the room.  This is easier said then done especially when you're looking at all of the bridal magazines that have unlimited budgets to work with.  We strongly suggest that you work with a planner and coordinator with a decor department who can assist you in coming up with a great decor design that can save you funds and be as unique as you are.  Ceiling decor as pictured is beautiful, but not a cost savings.   We can do ceiling decor as pictured and have for many events & weddings world wide.  However, keep in mind that each room is different and will require all items to be in most cases brand new.  Fabric can get expensive and we haven't even discussed the labor intensiveness of the project.

Fruit Centerpieces

Use non-floral fillers – Use fruit filled vases with flowers or use more greenery to fill arrangements to cut costs.

Have dual function flowers – Choose bouquets that can double as centerpieces on guest tables.

Use simple centerpieces – Choose flowers that are in season and use them at the base of the centerpieces.  You can also for go the use of flowers by using multiple glass cylinders with candles and other accessories instead.

Cut back on cake– Eliminate the cake cutting fee by having a dessert table or having a tiered cupcake display instead. If you must have cake, choose a small cake for the cake cutting and serve guests plain sheet cake.

Cost Savings Ideas

When planning your event of the year or your amazing wedding.  Most people try to figure it all out on their own, unless they have tried to do one already and have realized that you really do need a professional to keep you in budget and save your sanity.  However, if you are one of those that want to try it on your own any way, we'd like to share some cost cutting tricks.  The following are the top ways to save money when your budget is tight. 

1. Off day or off season wedding, i.e. Tuesday or Wednesday or in the middle of winter 

2. Morning or brunch reception instead of a dinner
3. Offer signature cocktails instead of open bar
4. Use in season flowers instead of flowers that have to be flown in from international locations
5. Use a dummy cake – meaning that you use a smaller cake for the cake cutting ceremony & offer sheet cakes for the guests
6. Wear the same dress all night
7. Book vendors well in advance, be sure that every detail for your event or wedding that they will be handling is written into the contract
8. Standard invite size instead of oversize, also use less inserts – reduces on postage
9. Online RSVP’s – again reducing postage
10. Event or Wedding website – reducing the amount of printing &/or postage
11. Limit your bridal party size – This saves you from spending hundreds of dollars on bridal party flowers and it reduces the money you would be spending on gifts for all of them.
12. Limit your guest list – Keep your list to close relatives and friends. Don’t be afraid to stipulate you’re having an adult only reception either. True friends and family will have no problem making other arrangements for their children. Remember every eight to ten people names means an additional centerpiece for another table and each name increases the total cost of a dinner reception  byat least $110 when you start to add up things such as space needed, place setting, meal, drink service, cake slices, centerpieces and favors.

13.  Attempt to do the flowers yourself, no they probably won't look professional but they will be more personal to you.

14. Hire A MEMORY LANE EVENT in advance to assist you in the wedding planning and coordination process.  The vendor, location, and whole sale buying power in most cases saves you more then the actual planning & coordination package.  Not to mention that when you have the coordinator assisting from the beginning all last minute details are attended to early and leaves less for the day before or the day of.  It also reduces chances for things to go wrong and depending upon the logistics can reduce staffing fees.  The general fear of any couple is that they will lose control or their ideas will be lost when they use a planner or coordinator.  This simply is not the case, when using A Memory Lane Event.  We listen to our clients and make sure that your wishes, style and flair are apparent in every detail of your wedding day.

Event & Wedding Budgets. How do you cut some cost?

Centerpieces by A Memory Lane Event

If you plan on feeding your guests in any kind of manner the food and liquor will without a doubt will be your biggest expense. If your having a wedding with a budget of $20,000 or less, this will probably be at least half your budget. Typically, if you invite 100 people, your looking at $10,000 minimum. That is for the food, minimal liquor, tables, chairs, forks, knives, linens, food and serving. Obviously there are exceptions i.e. have a park wedding where you grill the meal yourself or the despised potluck type meal. Restaurants are less expensive in some ways.

The biggest and most significant way to save money is to cut your guest list. In some cases it can save you hundreds of dollars a person. But things like cake, food, reception space, ceremony space, transportation, DIY projects, and more all add up very quickly per person. The guest list is in most cases the hardest to come up with especially if your parents or a significant person in your life is contributing money. So coming up with a guest list(just the two of you) and then talking to others in the family about it is the best course of action.

Some services are not affected by the amount of people like photography or music, though if your guest count is close to 200 people or more it starts affecting everything).

Cutting guests from the guest list

Easy people to cut:

Do not say “And Guest” on the RSVP card. The rule is if you have been living with or are in a committed relationship of more than 6 months (and I have met said person) I specifically added their name to their invitation. No confusion.

Children. We all love children, but you should be aware that allowing your guests to bring their children does count towards your guest count. In some cases adding 20 or more people to our guest list. The best way to deal with this is to specifically invite a handful of children we were close to.

Day time events and weddings during the week

= smaller guest count

Hard people to cut:

Family friends. If your trying to have a wedding with 50 or less people, most likely, your going to have to severally limit your parents friends. Talking with your parents about this and previously having a stated guest list of 50 or less is helpful when you hear “But Aunt Betty knitted you a baby blanket and we have worked together for 11 years!” You can easily bring up the budgeted for guest list. Let the people swapping on the guest list begin.

Extended family. Why are we inviting people that you or your finance have never met! When wanting a small wedding, sometimes family dynamics are beyond your control particularly if you dont want tons of drama. You should consult with parents, sibs, etc. about who they are worried about. Cutting extended family can be really hard and can hurt some people. You must also remain strong when parents, siblings and close extended family push the line on the “people who should be invited” list.

Friends. Family seems to take up 80-90% of guest lists. So you have very limited space for friends. Childhood friends and current friends can be tricky

What to expect in pricing from vendors

Florist price ranges can be anywhere between $600-the sky is the limit based upon your floral choices and delivery

Professional Photographers can be anywhere between $600-$6,000 depending on your package choices & desires for the day.

Cakes. Most bakeries for a wedding cake begin at $5 per slice. Yes it is per slice. This price depending upon your flavor and filling choices can go up as high as $15 per slice.

Planner & Coordinators. At the least you should consider Day of services to assist you with the enevitable that can occur on the day of. In Denver planner and coordinator fees range between $500 for an inexperienced and $1500 for a Luxury Coordinator.

DJ's and Band prices can range between $700 to $3,000 for a 4 hour window

Locations: Pricing all depends upon what you can not live with out and what your vision for the day is. Little cottages start at $1000 for a 6 hour time slot where if you're looking at renting a location like a Cathedral starting rental is $1500 for a two hour window. Some locations will charge a smaller venue rental fee when you use them for food and liquor services.

Event & Wedding Dresses

You can look on E-Bay for great deals on clothes. Be sure to check your measurements before you purchase to be sure that the clothes you purchase will fit. We also have partnerships with a couple bridal salons that have amazing pricing and amazing service. Order your dresses at least 4 months in advance so any last minute alternations can be made. Remember that wedding dresses actually run small compared to department stores. Depending upon the type of dress that you are looking for expect to spend between $500-$10,000.

More Cost savings

Some of the best cost savings is when you have multiple uses for the same design element. Such as you can have your centerpiece double as your favor for your guests. I.e. cake “lollipops can be placed in a vase with tissue paper. When you cut the cake your guests can either have their cake from the table at that time or can take it home with them as a favor.” You can have the floral from the church also be used at the reception hall. The bridal table(s) instead of centerpieces can be the bridesmaids bouquets combined on the table in what looks like one arrangement.


We can assist you with any of the above and several of the vendors that we work with will do price breaks for our clients. This savings can be up to $5,000 alone.

Call us now for your complimentary phone consultation. Jennifer 303-513-2364 or email us for information on your event or wedding.

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