Officiants Stressing Brides Out

By no means the following post has anything to do with officiant in my photo. The Ellis Ranch has three Preferred Officiants we recommend to our brides and we have never had the following problem with any of them. The problem comes when the couples hire an officiant not from our preferred officiant list.

We host approximately 130 weddings per year so we have seen just about every kind of wedding officiate out there. Some are ordained ministers, Rabbi, signed up on the Internet, friend, and family member. On the most part they have all done a great job and the bride and groom were happily married at the end of the day.

The one thing that stresses a bride and the facility is when you get an officiates that books too many wedding in one day and too close together.

Example the other day we had a wedding that was running a little late and by late I mean maybe 10 minutes, the officiate came up to us and said this wedding needs to get going right on time because he needed to leave for another wedding. We had guest still arriving and our bride wanted to give them a chance to get seated first.

Girls when hiring an officiate make sure you ask your officiate how many weddings will they be performing that day. If they can’t give you at least one hour for your ceremony I would not hire them plan and simple. Weddings are so stressful for you and having your officiate ad to that is not an option in my book.

Nashville Floods

This blog isn't about weddings, vendors or fun times. I was in Nashville during all the terrible flooding. I am fine along with my daughter and her family. We were lucky we had no damage to her home or our motorhome. Please take a few minutes and watch this video of the flood. I am so sadden by all the destruction and lives lost. When saying your prayers please keep the residences of Nashville and the surrounding town in your prayers. Twenty beautiful people lost their lives and uncountable livestock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjaQoOdJvI

Safety for the Over Indulgent Guest

Whether you can have a cash bar or an open bar will really be determined by which venue you choose. Not all venues allow you to have a cash bar or an open bar. You really need to check with each venue to see what their liquor policies are.
Since we are a venue that allows you bring in your own alcohol, I am a supporter of non-cash bars. Unless of course it is a fundraiser and in that situation cash bars are allowed with the proper permits.
Having an open bar at a wedding is very important. You have invited special people in your life to take time out of their day to spend helping you celebrate one of your most special days. Most guests will spend money on buying you a gift, possibly taking a day off work and I find it hard, when I host an event, to make my guest pay for their drinks.
There are a few mistakes brides and grooms make when having an open bar. Remember this is a celebration not a high school kegger. Speak with your bartender or who ever is in charge of the bar before your wedding. Most bartenders that have hosted bars at weddings can recommend what you should have on hand. Remember the drinks are free to the guests so they will drink what ever you give them in choices. You don’t, and I wouldn’t, set up a full bar. At the most I would offer a couple choices of beer and couple options of wine. I would try and avoid offering hard liquor because that is where a beautiful day can end with bad memories.
You should talk with your bartender about how to handle the over indulgent guests ahead of time. You should always have a contact person that the bartender can advise and consult with should a problem arise. Remember the bartender and venue always reserve the right to stop serving or ask a guest to leave.
If at all possible, within your budget, plan on reserving a shuttle, limo or a bus to help those who drink too much to get home safely. Taxis are great and every venue will be more then happy to call one. A venue would rather see numerous cars left in their parking lot the next morning then hear about an accident later on the news.
There is liability for all who decide to drink alcoholic beverages. Something to remember is that most venues hold the bride, groom, and parents responsible for any damage done to the venue. So we should always just offer enough alcohol so everyone can enjoy the celebration with out letting them over indulge.
If you are a guest of the bride and groom and you are reading this please remember you are a guest of someone special in your life and you don’t want to ruin his or her celebration.
With a little planning and taking the recommendation of your bartender, you can plan an inexpensive and enjoyable evening for everyone. 
 


Vendor of the Week

Imagine your anniversary, showing your wedding album to your children, remembering the fun, the beauty and the emotion of this once in a lifetime event. At Kimball Nelson Photography, we recognize that quality photography has the ability to transport you back to your wedding day. We take the utmost care to portray your day in a manner that will show the laughter, the love and the emotion with images that you will cherish forever

FUN

We shoot weddings because we like to have fun and weddings are fun, happy occasions. We love to work with people and we love to capture the fun of the day. We like to think you have fun with us as well!

STYLE

Our style is artsy photojournalism. What does that mean? It means we will be there to document your day in an unobtrusive, photojournalistic manner. We work from different angles, with creative lighting, to capture your day in an artsy way. We work with you to get group portraits that are fun and natural. And, we spend the necessary time with you, the bride and groom, to ensure a fantastic portrait, one that you will pass down through generations.

PROFESSIONAL

We understand the trust that you put in us to capture this important part of your family heritage and we would be honored to have that responsibility. With a decade's worth of satisfied couples, we have the experience necessary to make your wedding photography perfect.



Kimball Nelson Photography
Natural Moments - Genuine Images
970-472-1661
5408 N. Hwy 1
Fort Collins, CO 80524
www.kimballnelson.com

Vendor of the Week

You can serve a delicous meaty meal to your guests without breaking your wedding budget! Albert Pit Barbecue smokes beef, pork and chicken meat over hickory wood, makes great side dishes and a homemade sauce served on the side and can set up a buffet for your guests for $8.99 to $14.99 per guest. The professionally dressed staff sets up a sharp, clean white clad buffet with silver servinig pieces to which you can add the details to match your wedding style of simple or more elegant. To help brides and grooms decide on a menu and to allow Albert Pit Barbecue to put together a proposal, Brides and Grooms that are considering barbecue for the reception or rehearsal dinner are invited to a free tasting at the Albert Pit Barbecue Catering Kitchen on April 28th, drop-in between 5:30 and 7:00. RSVP to korey@albertpitbbq.com.

Albert Pit Barbecue's Free Wedding Tasting for Brides and Grooms
3201 E Mulberry, Unit F, Fort Collins
Wednesday April 28th 5:30-7:00
RSVP by email to korey@albertpitbbq.com

Vendor of the Week

You don't think of Black-eyed Peas as being a cater but they are! We have actually made them one of the Ellis Ranch Wedding Park Preferred Vendor. We don't take saying they are a preferred vendor lightly. They have shown us not only great food, but respect to our facility, bride and groom. They are a delight to work with and would recommend them to prepare and serve food for any event for wedding.

Let Black-eyed Pea take the stress out of your wedding celebration with our full service catering department.

At Black-eyed Pea, offers their clients elegance and affordability with our delicious, home-style, made from scratch cooking and exceptional service. With pricing to fit any budget, Black-eyed Pea can take care of all your catering needs.

Rebecca Boardman
Black-eyed Pea Catering
5347 South Valentia Way
Suite 220
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303-725-2915- Cell
303-586-8288 -Fax
catering@rmrcolorado.com
http://www.blackeyedpeacolorado.com
P Go Green! Please do not print this e-mail unless it is completely necessary.

Vendor of the Week

Imagine your anniversary, showing your wedding album to your children, remembering the fun, the beauty and the emotion of this once in a lifetime event. At Kimball Nelson Photography, we recognize that quality photography has the ability to transport you back to your wedding day. We take the utmost care to portray your day in a manner that will show the laughter, the love and the emotion with images that you will cherish forever.

FUN

We shoot weddings because we like to have fun and weddings are fun, happy occasions. We love to work with people and we love to capture the fun of the day. We like to think you have fun with us as well!

STYLE

Our style is artsy photojournalism. What does that mean? It means we will be there to document your day in an unobtrusive, photojournalistic manner. We work from different angles, with creative lighting, to capture your day in an artsy way. We work with you to get group portraits that are fun and natural. And, we spend the necessary time with you, the bride and groom, to ensure a fantastic portrait, one that you will pass down through generations.

PROFESSIONAL

We understand the trust that you put in us to capture this important part of your family heritage and we would be honored to have that responsibility. With a decade's worth of satisfied couples, we have the experience necessary to make your wedding photography perfect.

Kimball Nelson Photography
Natural Moments - Genuine Images
970-472-1661
5408 N. Hwy 1Fort Collins, CO 80524
www.kimballnelson.com

Cater VS Self Catering. Which is the best choice?

At our venue Ellis Ranch Event Center & Wedding Park we are a facility rental only. Which means to allow self- catering. There are pros and cons on self -catering.

Sometime self catering does save you some money and then I have seen families by the time they rent all the equipment needed, left over food, stress and clean up they wish they had just hired a cater, the liability of self-catering. We have seen Mothers sweating in their beautiful gown, crying minutes before the wedding trying to get everything ready for the reception instead of being in the dressing room with their daughter and having a good time.

We would always recommend a bride to hire a professional cater for their reception. Most caters can customize menus and generally can design a fit to meet your budget and style. They take the stress out of your day. You will be able to enjoy you daughter or son’s wedding. This is a time to celebrate.

If you still feel self-catering is the way you want to go for your wedding you should always do a walk thru with the facility prior to your wedding date. They can show you where and how many pug-ins they have for roasters, where you can do the food preparations, clean up requirements, where and how you need to set up the food line. Every venue has rules and regulations to follow. If organized properly and kept simple self catering can work.

So Many Bridal Shows - What Do I Do?

Brides from the Northern Colorado region must be going out of their minds. I know of 20 bridal shows you can attend from January thru May 2010 and that doesn’t even count the individual venues that host their own in house show.

This can be a blessing or a nightmare depending on how you look at the whole process. I would first take time before I go to any bridal show and write down what do I want and expect to get out of attending anyone show.
When most brides go to a show they eat lots of food, pick up lots of printed material, try to visit with the vendor that catches their eye. After the day is over you feel bloated and your head is spinning from over load of information.

I recommend attending several shows but dividing up each show into what I want to accomplish. The very first thing you must do is finding your venue you want to host your wedding, tour several before attending any bridal show. If you haven’t reserved one before the bridal show I would concentrate on visiting with all the venues at the show first. After you have decided where you want your dream wedding to be held you can now go forward with the planning of the details.

Go to a show with only a couple of goals in mind. Let’s say we are going to visit shortly and I mean shortly with photographers and cake vendors. Be ready for them to give you just a brief answers to your questions. The vendors at show have 100’s of brides wanting their attention. Have your calendar ready to set a future appointment with your top three vendors you like that day. Your appointment can be in person or just a phone conversation. Plan your next show and find your DJ and florist. We are blessed with so many shows to help us make so many decisions.

If you will do this process you won’t have that feel of being over whelmed by whole planning process, slice your cake and choose one vendor at a time. Planning your wedding is supposed to be fun and an over whelming process.
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Here is a list of up coming shows; http://colorado.perfectweddingguide.com/events/bridal-shows

Let's get to know each other.

It has taken me a long time to decide to start a blog and I owe it all to my friend and mentor Lori Gama with Gama Web Studios for the encouragement and support. Please check her out when you have a moment. She is the Social Media queen. http://www.dagamawebstudio.com I would also like to thank my web master; Jeanne Downing with Jeanne Designs http://www.jeannedesigns.net for answering my constant questions.

I have never claimed to be a writer but I am passionate about Weddings. Within my blog on Venues and Brides my goal is to help Brides make great choices for their wedding day. For example what questions should a new bride be asking when touring a venue and hopefully give her a better perspective of why venues do what they do. Bringing venues and brides together so each has a better understanding on what to expect from each other. If you have any questions please email me and I will do my best to help. With that in mind I want to first give you a little information about myself.

I am 54 years old and married to the most wonderful man alive, Terry Ellis. We have been married now for 35 years and we live in Loveland, Colorado. “Sweetheart Town" My husband and I have two beautiful grown children Shawn and Mindy, one Granddaughter Preslee and two more on the way and two fabulous other children; son-in-law Craig and a daughter-in-law Kim.


Along with my family we run the Ellis Ranch Event Center & Wedding Park. We took an existing horse arena that was 20,000 square foot and turned it into one of Colorado’s premier wedding facilities. http://www.ellisrancheventcenter.com We have been running the wedding business now going on six years and over 500 weddings under our belt. Our son, Shawn Ellis is the manager of the facility and is every bride’s go to person through out their planning.

God has blessed us: In 2008 our local Chamber of Commerce awarded us with Business of the Year. Our son Shawn was honored with being chosen as one of the 40 under 40 in the business community. This year Event Solutions named us in the top 10 Finalist for the Event Site of the Year and Wedding.com the Brides Choice Award.

I am a person that believes in positioning myself around positive people and making a list of things to do daily. I am a firm believer that you have to build relationships within your community and passing it forward in your daily life.

Hope you will enjoy reading my blogs and if you have a subject you would like for me to blog about please email me your ideas to info@ellisrancheventcenter.com My first blog will be coming shortly. Thank you for sharing your valuable time and I will look forward in building a great relationship with you.