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Wedding Guide
Congratulations! You or someone you know have decided to take the next step in their relationship and get married. There are a lot of things to think about, which is why we are sharing our wedding planning guide to take you step by step or gift by gift to the wedding day you want. From getting engaged to planning bridal showers to the wedding itself, we have a wide selection of gifts, favors and other wedding essentials that will make this a unique wedding season for the lucky couple.
Getting Engaged
The first step to a couple’s wedding journey is getting engaged. Grooms-to-be can make the moment extra special by presenting the ring to his future bride with a customized engagement ring box. These round wooden ring boxes make romantic keepsakes for the engaged couple and can even become a beautiful alternative ring pillow at the wedding ceremony.
Set A Budget
It is best to have a conversation about the wedding budget with your significant other and other wedding contributors, such as your parents, early in the planning process. In this conversation, you might want to consider your priorities for the celebration. Do you want to have a small celebration with just close friends and family or are you and your fiance imagining a larger celebration that is a bit more swanky and luxurious. By having a predetermined wedding wishlist, you and your fellow contributors will have a better chance of working your dream wedding into your budget.
Decide Who You Want to Invite
Now that you know your budget, you have an idea on how many people you can afford to celebrate with you. Split the number of potential wedding guests between you, your significant other as well as other wedding contributors in a way that seems fair to everyone. Remember to include potential plus-ones in your headcount and make a decision on whether or not children are allowed to come. By doing these things, couples will not have to worry about their guest list growing out of hand.
Pick A Venue for the Wedding and Reception
You and your significant other have agreed on a vision of what your wedding day will be like and have a pretty good idea on the number of guests you will be expecting. The next step is choosing the venue! Spend some time researching and touring potential venues with your wedding planner (if you have one). A lot of the time venues will have a minimum and maximum guest count to help future brides and grooms know whether or not the venue can cater the number of friends and family that engaged couple wants to celebrate with them. Depending on availability and the time of year you want to celebrate, you will have your wedding date by the time you complete this step. If you would like to have the reception in the same venue as your ceremony, be sure there is enough room for a party. If not, pick a location for the reception that is close by.
Finalize Your Wedding Color Scheme or Theme
Now that you have the framework for the look of your wedding (aka the venue), make it complete by implementing a theme to the wedding celebration. You don’t have to have a specific theme for your wedding, but it is helpful to have a color scheme to tie everything together, including wedding attire, invitations and decor. This is also a good time to decide how close you want your wedding ceremony theme to match the reception. If you want your wedding reception to have a different look, we recommend going ahead and choosing your color scheme now.
Assemble Your Wedding Party
Determine who you want to be standing next to you as a member of your wedding party. We have a selection of unique wedding party proposal gifts for your maid of honor and bridesmaids, such as pocket mirrors and wine stoppers. For the best man and groomsmen, surprise them with an engraved leather flask. In addition, we also have thank you gifts for wedding party members of all ages, such as baseballs, baseball bats and trinket boxes. You can also mix and match wedding party gifts in a customizable white gift box. You should be prepared to ask potential wedding party members to join the bride and groom’s crew at least 10 months to a year before the ceremony. This gives them time to find a dress and plan bridal showers as well as bachelor parties.
Assemble Wedding Vendor Team
Start reaching out to caterers, DJs, photographers, floral designers, cake designers and officiants. Plan to meet with vendors before the ceremony to help them choose what type of cake, flowers and music you want to have during the celebration. If you feel you need a wedding planner, get one. You can also hire a wedding planner just for the wedding day if you want to do the planning yourself, but have someone to be there to make sure everything goes smoothly on the day itself.
Acquire Decor for Wedding Ceremony and Reception
Welcome Table
Before your wedding guests take a seat for the wedding ceremony or reception, have them stop by the welcome. There, you can have a guest book for them to sign, personalized cards that they can use to share advice and well-wishes to the newlyweds. Through signage, you can let guests know what your wedding hashtag is, if photography is allowed and remind them where the reception is being held.
Reception Table
You can’t have a tablescape without a table! Get all the necessities, such as tables, plates, silverware and chairs at a local party equipment rental place. Then make it your own with the help of table escort cards and table signage to guide guests to their seats. Guests will be able to quickly find their seats and enjoy your flawless taste in decor while waiting for it to be time to enjoy the delicious food from your caterer.
Dessert Table
The wedding and groom’s cake will undoubtedly be the centerpiece of this table, but here are a few tips and ideas on how to embellish the table and also gain a unique wedding keepsake. Collaborate with cake designers to find the perfect look for your cake that matches the style of the reception. They will have some pre-made cake toppers for you to choose from or you can order a custom cake topper. Use table signage to let people know what kind of cake you are serving, eliminating the need for friends and family to guess the flavor of the cakes. This will also help the line for dessert move along faster. Engraved cake knives and serving sets are cool memorabilia to have as a reminder of that first bite of cake.
Engagement Photos
This is a great way to practice being in front of the camera before your wedding day, especially if you are a little camera shy. These photos are a sweet visual asset for save the dates, wedding websites, and can even be used as a cute display on the wedding day.
Wedding Websites
Wedding websites are an effective way to share additional information about your wedding day that won’t fit on the invitation, such as parking information, which hotel you have blocked rooms for guests to stay in, links to wedding registries and so on. Later on, you can use the website to gather RSVPs from guests
Save the Dates
Now that you have your wedding photos and theme, it is time to start thinking about how you are going to let your friends and family know about your upcoming celebration. Save the Dates are your guests’ impression of the celebration. If you are not quite ready to reveal the color scheme of the ceremony or just want to keep it a mystery, our save the date coaster are a fun way to get your guests excited. Do you want to give your guests more than just a peek behind the curtain? Create a save the date card or magnet that includes the wedding theme, a favorite engagement photo or both in the design. Typically, a standard save the date has just basic information including the couple’s names and wedding date. It might be a good idea to at least include the city where the wedding will be held to give guests the ability to plan accordingly.
For destination weddings, it is good manners to send Save the Dates 9 months in advance. This allows guests ample opportunity to make travel plans. If your wedding doesn’t require extensive travel, 6 to 8 months is perfectly suitable.
Say Yes to the Dress
Start looking for your wedding dress as soon as you have finalized the wedding date and venue. If you are ordering a dress from a salon, it could take 16-20 weeks for your wedding dress to arrive. You will also want to leave time to do at least three alteration fittings before the wedding day. Wedding dress pros recommend one at 3-4 months, the next between 6-8 weeks and the last within 2-3 weeks before the wedding. You can also buy a wedding dress from a local bridal boutique and have a local seamstress alter your dream dress for you if you are pressed for time.
Wedding Invitation Suite
All the wedding details have fallen into place and it is time to share them with friends and family. You can choose a pre-designed card set that closely matches your overall wedding theme or work with one of our designers to create the wedding invitation suite you have been dreaming of.
Don’t forget to include the wedding website url.
Send out invitations at least 6 to 8 weeks prior to the wedding day
Bridal Shower Party
Bridesmaids and maid of honors- plan the perfect bridal shower for your bride! Whether you are planning a big blowout or a nice social gathering with close friends of the bride, we have customized shower ideas. Engraved wine stoppers as bridal shower favors, for example are a classy thank you favor for coming to the soiree. Customized gift tags are a simple way to enhance a bridal shower favor with a clever pun or a sincere note. Turn a wedding shower into a kitchen shower with kitchen spoon favors. Invite guests to write their favorite recipe on a personalized recipe card to put in a custom recipe box for the bride-to-be to take home with her.
Wedding Party Thank You Gifts
Before you say “I do”, don’t forget to thank members of the wedding party. Our wooden wedding party picture frames are a timely gift for before the ceremony. Your groomsmen and bridesmaids will appreciate having a custom frame for group photos with other members of the wedding party as well as the bride and groom.
Parents of the Bride and Groom Gifts
Between the wedding reception and wedding day, it is customary for the bride and groom to give gifts to their parents. Couples can decide to give gifts separately to their respective parents or future in-laws. They can also present the gifts jointly to both sets of parents. No matter how you do it, each parent should receive at least one gift.
Gift Exchange from the Bride and the Groom
With so many people to give gifts to, don’t forget to think about the first gift you give to your groom or bride. This will be the first gift exchange you will have with your partner as newlyweds, so why not make it special?
Thank You Favors for Guests
Thank friends and family for coming out and celebrating with you with a small wedding favor that they can take home with them. We have customized wine stopper favors for vineyard-style and formal weddings. Couples can have the wooden wine stoppers personalized with their names and wedding date or just have the stoppers engraved with a simple “thank you”. Don’t forget the organza bag and custom tag. For alternative wedding favors, attach them to a printed gift tag with a heartfelt or funny saying of your choice. For example, hand out cookies or any type of dessert in a clear bag with a tag that says,”love is sweet”.
Thank You Cards
You might want to have these handy before the ceremony if you want to use them to express your thanks for early wedding gifts or wedding shower gifts. End your friends and family journey on your wedding adventure with a thank you note that compliments or even matches your overall wedding scheme. Some invitation and RSVP suites may have a matching thank you note included. Be sure to include both yours and your spouse’s names in the note and make it personal by addressing the person you're sending the note to and mention the gift that they gave.
Thanks for checking out our wedding guide. We hope that it makes your wedding planning journey a bit easier no matter what role you play. We wish the newlyweds a happy life together and hope you enjoy the celebrations.
Graduation Party Table
Believe it or not, graduation is just around the corner, which means it’s the season for sending out announcements, attending various ceremonies and organizing your graduation party! No grad party is complete without a well-decorated table to bring guests together and celebrate just how far you’ve come. To make things a little easier on you, we have come up with ten must-haves for your graduation table.
Here are two out of the box ways to display photos of you growing up. A neat way to look back at all the memories you have and see how much you have changed. Who doesn’t love looking at embarrassing baby pictures?
THROWBACK PHOTOS
Balloon Chandelier by Wedding Chicks
Photo Display Idea by Style Me Pretty
GRAD PHOTOS
It was your proudest moment. So, why wouldn’t you share it with your friends and family?
Graduation Frame by Personalized Gallery
FOIL BALLOONS
Big balloons for a big day! 2018 isn’t just any year. It’s your year. You can get these at your local party store.
GRADUATION CONFETTI
Graduation confetti is a neat way to add decoration to the graduation table. It brings a party element to the tablescape that lets guests know that this is a time of celebration.
POLAROID GUEST BOOK
Polaroid photos are the perfect way to remember who came to celebrate this special time with you. Before guests leave, encourage them to think back to their younger days and leave some encouraging advice as you step into this next season of life.
"WHO KNOWS THE GRADUATE BEST?" GAME
Keep the party going by challenging friends and family and see just who knows you best.
"YOU’VE GOT THIS" MUG WITH BAMBOO PENS
They ended one chapter of their life. Now, it's time to write another (with the help of a little coffee).
This mug serves a dual purpose: a handy container for holding your personalized guest book pens and an encouraging mug for all the coffee in your nearby future.
"You've Got This" Mug by Personalized Gallery
Personalized Bamboo Pen by Personalized Gallery
INSPIRATIONAL PRINTABLE SIGN
These inspiring poster will give your recent grads the encouragement they need to take the next step towards their dreams for the future.
"You've Got This" Wall Art Digital Download by Personalized Gallery
"Be Inspired, Be Courageous, Be Creative, Be You" Wall Art Digital Download by Personalized Gallery
CONGRATS WINE STOPPER FAVORS
Geared more towards college grads, send your guests off with this personalized momento commemorating this day.
"Congrats" Wine Stopper by Personalized Gallery
Graduation Wine Stopper by Personalized Gallery
GRADUATION CAP
Display it loud and proud. You earned it!
Easter Sugar Cookies
We decided to celebrate this Easter by making sugar cookies using cookie cutters that will soon be added to our Culinary Keepsake Collection. These Easter themed cookie cutters are just a small selection from the variety of fun shapes that will be available in the nearby future.
To mix our dough, we used one of our Culinary Keepsake Spoons! Being able to fit in as much of our favorite shapes in the dough and carefully tearing the dough apart was a lot of fun. We especially liked the adorable duck cookie cutter. But, the coolest part of making Easter Sugar Cookies was seeing the cookies come alive once we began decorating them with homemade frosting!
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Calling All Chefs...
We believe that good food is always meant to be shared, which is why we encourage participants to spread with word by commenting on and sharing our posts on Instagram and Facebook with friends. Who knows? You might even get rewarded for doing so.
Texas Pinners Conference is Sept 9-10, 2016 - Coupon Codes - Personalized Gallery Booth E6
Texas Pinner's Conference is September 9 and 10 at the Arlington Convention Center. It boasts nearly 100 top classes from the coolest presenters in the nation and 200 exhibitors.
Personalized Gallery will be there at booth E6.
ACC - 1200 Ballpark Way, Arlington TX
Friday 10A-9P, Saturday 9A-6P
Get your admission tickets today
Just shopping - Use code "freeshopping"
Classes and shopping - Use code "personalized" for 10% off
Blush & Lime Inspiration
The vintage & elegant style using lime and blush colors. See this group's pin and other inspiration on my Pinterest Blush Wedding board.
Photo Credits:
- Everylastdetail.com
- Personalizedgallery.com Wine Stoppers with organza bag & tag
- Personalizedgallery.etsy.com Etsy - Wine Stoppers with organza bag & tag
- OldeThymeSigns - Etsy - Painted Mason Jars
- JulieHananDesigns on Etsy - Invitations
- My Wedding Reception Ideas - Gold Card Box
- Wedding Illustrated - Pink Table Centerpiece
Football is like Life Tailgate Parties and Coach Gifts
Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority." - Vince Lombardi
Young athletes are being coached with the values that Coach Lombardi taught. Let your coaches know that you appreciate the life lessons being instilled in your young athlete.
Our football cutting board or personalized frame are a couple of great gift ideas to thank them for their hard work! See our other sports gifts for other gift ideas.
I Heart Typography
I heart typography. It is one of my favorite pastimes.
Browsing MyFonts.com today, I came across this treasure, the lovely garden font family. I will be sure to add it to my wishlist! The ornaments are just adorable. If you use this font, I'd love to see what creations you've made with it!
Check back for more favorites! ~Kim
Welcome to Personalized Gallery!
Thanks for visiting the new blog. My team will be adding favorite recipes, fonts, DIY projects, and tips and tricks. We hope you'll check back. I'd like to take a minute to tell you about Personalized Gallery.
Personalized Gallery is my dream business coming to life. My name is Kim Goodwin, and I am the owner and curator for this shop. I love designing items, then seeing the completed project. It makes my day when a customer loves their customized gift. It is important to me that you're happy with your creation.
I am a born-and-raised Texan. I have a wonderful husband, two delightful children, and a few furry friends. My husband is my go-to person for just about anything. He built my first laser which was the kick-starter to making a hobby into a full-time business. I have since upgraded to two industrial lasers. My daughter is in college studying illustration. My son is in high school and is interested in a business or an accounting career at this time. I am a certifed court reporter that happily "retired" to operate Personalized Gallery full time. I have been selling on Etsy and PersonalizedGallery.com since 2010.
Thank you for being a part of my story. If I can help with anything or if you have a project in mind, feel free to contact me.
~Kim Goodwin