We just wrapped up the Boston University “Barrister’s Ball” and it’s hard to imagine topping an over-the-top event like that! 600+ guests partied while First Class Band ft. Concetta played amazing dance music well into the night. Special thanks to Tyra Bleek Photography and Live + Love Productions for compiling all of the hilarious photos from the super popular “fotobooth” into one bumpin’ video – guests literally couldn’t get enough of the fotobooth!
In the midst of planning this event, we discussed pyrotechnics, live monkeys, fog machines, red carpets, palm trees and full-size inflatable camels – YAY!!! We loved planning EVERY single aspect of this crazy event and thanks so much to Boston University for bringing Hummingbird Bridal and Events in to help plan this wild Boston party.
Boston University “Barrister’s Ball” March 31st, 2012 (video from Live + Love Productions)
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I get this question all the time, and it’s a completely fair question. 
In the corporate world, we would be “project managers” or even “product specialists.” Imagine that you have an enormous project before you. The project has quite a few details that need to be secured, outside vendors need to be interviewed and hired and you have a set budget that you cannot exceed. And in addition to this one project, you have loads of other projects that require attention. What would you do? You would bring in a temporary specialist.
This specialist may cost some money, but the amount of time this saves you, the level of detail they can achieve and the recommendations they can make thus make your job much easier. This specialist can find you the best vendors for your needs and budget. They can make unbiased recommendations that will elevate the project, and with careful budgetary analysis, this specialist will, in all likelihood, save you enough money overall that their own salary is completely validated.
Sounds great, right? That is what a wedding planner does.
We are specialists with regard to one type of project. For many brides, this is one of the most important projects they have ever taken on. It can be completely overwhelming to plan your own wedding when you have never planned one before, while also holding down a job, a social life and all of the other obligations that life throws at you.
By bringing in a wedding planner, you are essentially hiring an assistant to help you with this one project. Lucky for you, your assistant has handled this type of project a million times before. By hiring a wedding planner, you’ll find that over time, you feel less stressed about the planning process allowing you to focus on the excitement of your upcoming wedding. Maybe you find that you sleep a little easier knowing that someone else is 100% devoted to helping you with your wedding. And most importantly, the amount of money that a wedding planner can save you will often equal, or at least come very close, to the amount of money you spent on said planner. So why not make the investment and hire a set of helping hands?
As always, Hummingbird Bridal and Events is happy to answer any questions you have about our services, but at the end of the day, we plan parties because we love parties, we love the planning process and we love to see a happy customer. Join us for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and let’s dream up something wonderful together.
Finding the perfect officiant for your ceremony is a challenge. This person will be performing the most important ceremony of your new life and you want to find someone who encompasses compassion, kindness, and authority, and can guide you in creating a unique and personalized ceremony. No worries and no stress – this is where your wedding planner comes in.
Your planner can do the preliminary work of sorting through loads of different officiants to find one that fits your style, your budget and of course, is available on your wedding date.
Don’t feel pressured in planning your ceremony. No one expects you to have serious knowledge of planning a ceremony. After all, officiants have done this hundreds of times before, but this may be the first time you have ever gotten married.
If you like the “look” of an officiant, then the next step is to set up a time for you to meet with them. Speaking to them in-person and letting them offer you guidance and ideas for planning your ceremony will give you a sense of how they work, what their personalities are and what direction you should take with planning your ceremony.
You aren’t alone in planning and you should not feel overwhelmed at the prospect of preparing your wedding ceremony. You will have a wonderful, caring and knowledgeable officiant who will walk you through your ceremony every step of the way, but take the time to do your homework thoroughly by reading their reviews, asking for referrals and compiling a general list of what is most important to you regarding your ceremony so that you can present your potential officiant with some ideas to work off of.
This is one of the most popular questions we get asked here at Hummingbird.
“At the end of my event, who do I need to tip and how much do I need to tip them?”
Tipping is done on a case by case basis for each vendor and is always done with the idea that exceptional service deserves tipping.
Caterer: Most often, your caterer will include gratuity in your final invoice, so read through your final invoice very carefully to determine how much has already been included. If your final invoice includes 15% gratuity, but you feel the service and food were better than expected, then you should add an additional tip (5%) to the invoice, or you can hand the gratuity directly to the catering manager at the end of the evening. Keep in mind that this is the largest tip you will need to cover and the tip is based on the invoice total (which is a significant amount.) Make sure you add this gratuity to your overall budget.
Florist: Your florist will not ever expect a tip, but should you feel that the flowers were more beautiful than you imagined and the customer service your experienced was exceptional, than adding an extra $50 – $100 tip to the final invoice is greatly appreciated.
Band: The band will expect a tip and will likely not include this in the final invoice. Expect to tip each band member a minimum of $100 each in cash.
Officiant: You will have spent several hours with your officiant leading into your wedding as you determine the specific wording and style of the most important ceremony of your life. It’s always kind to add an extra $50-$100 to your officiant’s payment as a way of thanking them for playing a significant role in your wedding day.
Photographer/Videographer: Exceptional service should lead to a fair tip. If you feel that your photographer or videographer was an amazing part of your wedding day and that they helped to put you and your party at ease while keeping the energy level up, then a fair tip should be in order. I would recommend tipping at least $50-$100 per photographer.
Bartenders: If the bartenders are hired outside of the caterers, than be prepared to tip them each at the end of the evening. If you served beer and wine-only and you hosted a smaller wedding, $50-$100 per bartender should be in order as long as everything went well. If you served a full bar and had a larger wedding, be prepared to hand over $100-$200 per bartender for their exceptional services.
Transportation: If you rented a trolley, limo or shuttle bus (or other means of transportation,) than as long as they were on time and accommodating of your requests, a $25-$50 tip is appropriate for each transfer.
A transfer is defined as “1 pick-up and 1 drop-off.” If the limo picked you up at before the ceremony and dropped you off at your ceremony site, and then returned at the end of the night to pick you up at the reception site and took you home, this would qualify as two transfers. For two transfers that were perfectly executed by a very friendly, well-dressed and timely driver, you should feel good about tipping your driver $50-$100.
Stationary: This is one situation where tips are generally not expected. You are free to tip whomever you wish, but stationary is purchased as an outside service and I do not normally recommend tipping your stationary provider, but of course, if this is a close associate or a “friend of a friend” who is providing a great service, then you may find that tipping or offering a small gift is a nice gesture.
Ceremony musicians: The same rule of bands/musicians applies (tip each musician,) however, since your ceremony musicians are only playing for 30 minutes or so during your ceremony and then for approximately an hour during cocktail hour (this may or may not be your plan, I am generalizing) then you don’t need to tip $100 per musician. $25-$50 per musician is sufficient.
Baker: If the baked goods are delicious, beautiful and are delivered on time, an extra $20-$30 is a nice gesture but is not expected.
Hair/Makeup: Standard stylist tipping applies: 15-20% per client (bridesmaid, bride, MOB, etc) OR 15-20% of the total bill if you are picking up the total cost.
DAY-OF NOTE: Before your wedding day, place any cash or checks into envelopes that are clearly marked with each vendors name. Hand these envelopes to your event planner or a trusted friend/family member who can hand out these envelopes toward the end of the evening.
Have I missed anyone? Do you have further questions about tipping? I’m always happy to answer any wedding or event-related questions! Feel free to email me directly at Mandy@HummingbirdBridal.com!
It’s a very happy day at the Hummingbird office – one of our recent weddings was featured in the fabulous wedding blog, Ruffled Blog!
Check out the amazingness here: http://ruffledblog.com/offbeat-new-england-wedding/
Joe and Krista’s wedding was so laid back and fun in just the right “organic” (i.e. not forced) kind of way. They went into their wedding with just a few simple rules – “We want it to reflect who we are and we want everyone to eat amazing food and to have a really good time.” The rest was just details.
All photos courtesy of the incredibly talented Kristin Korpos
Wedding dresses can easily run from $500 to $20,000. Even if you are working on a tight wedding budget, you have a 
world of options before you regarding gorgeous wedding dresses. Here are just a few of the top affordable wedding dress options we recommend.
1. Nicole Miller. Nicole Miller wedding dresses are based on the simplicity of French couture. They are no-fuss dresses that hang beautifully. Whether you are looking for Hollywood glam or an effortless garden-party wedding dress, Nicole Miller dresses are versatile for nearly any occasion. Prices run from $500 – $2,000.
2. J. Crew. J. Crew embodies simple elegance. From soft cotton to flowing silk charmeuse, you have plenty of options from the J. crew wedding collection. This amazing pewter gown is only $300!
3. Vows Bridal. This is where Amanda Connor, Owner of Hummingbird Bridal, purchased her wedding gown. She purchased an amazing blush trumpet-style Carolina Herrera gown (originally $6,000) for $1,400. Vows Bridal specializes in couture gowns from top designers, but they sell for awesome prices. Hello! Vera Wang gowns sell for approximately $1,200! You would be crazy not to shop online or stop in to take a look at what they have. We LOVE their Kenneth Poole Collection.
Long story short, you can have the Vera Wang/Reem Acra/Carolina Herrera gown you have always dreamed of without the horrifying price tag. Shop smart!
Tradition, shmadition! It’s YOUR day so do yourself a favor and do it your way. Whether you want to have four choreographed flash-mob routines at your wedding or you want to wear a black wedding gown – it’s your day. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to let who you really are set the stage for how you plan and execute your wedding.
I recommend starting with trying something new and exciting with your wedding dress. Take a look at some of these non-traditional beauties below.
1950′s Dior
Congratulations to Joe and Krista who got married on 9/10/11 at the Mass. Belmont Audubon Sanctuary on arguably one of the most gorgeous days this summer.
From their free-form wedding ceremony to one of the most endearing readings we’ve ever heard (A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton) to eating outside under the shade of swaying trees, this wedding was beautiful in such a perfectly organic way.
Guests enjoyed a raw bar (helmed by an incredibly colorful and funny oyster farmer) and sipped vintage cocktails made by two of the top bartenders in Massachusetts (Misty and Ben S.)
And while we spent many hours planning and devising and coming up with creative ideas for their wedding day, this photo is proof that some of the most perfect moments and perfect events just can’t be planned.
Congratulations to Joe and Krista.
From The Father of the Groom (9/3/11):
Dear Mandy,
Speaking again with you yesterday got me to thinking about the fine person behind the wonderful services that you provide. Somehow, theology and proficiency and infantry and Rotary and spirituality all found their way into the mix. So here goes:
Theology – Grace, whether as doctrine (which it is) or practice (never enough of it) is central to Christian theology. Grace is often described as being a gift (not earned, nor an entitlement) given freely by God to individuals, as affirmation of their worth and assurance that they are known and cared for and favored. I personally like the response given by a theologian (and friend) when asked about the Doctrine of Grace: “I think it has a lot to do with being gracious and graceful.” I like it because it identifies grace as an activity which we all can practice as well as experience, to the benefit of others as well as ourselves. As you went about your wedding work on Sunday, you did so with an abundance of graciousness and gracefulness, and everyone felt themselves to be affirmed and cared for and assured that all would be well. You were a blessing to us, and we all felt blessed to have you with and for us.
Proficiency – You don’t need anyone to tell you how good you are at what you do; you know that. You are pleased and proud of your work, but not with any sense of arrogance or superiority. Rather, because of your own centeredness and proficiency you enabled every person at the wedding, and all of us collectively, to do and be our very best in whatever role we had.
Infantry – (Yeah – where did that come from). Many decades ago, I received what I have always carried with me as one of the most meaningful compliments I have ever received (from one career army man to another): “Sergeant Chapman is the only man I have ever seen who could control an infantry platoon by being a nice guy.” Having dealt with wedding parties for over forty years, I can testify that they are often a lot harder to control than a platoon of young soldiers. But you pulled it off – by being “a nice guy.” Bravo!
Rotary – The motto of Rotary International (I”m a member of Brookline Rotary) is “Service above self.” That could also serve as a motto for Mandy Connor. However central you were to the success of the event (key), no matter how well you understood what works best and what does not (when other people didn’t), it was never about you. Your ministry (a synonym for service) was always directed toward others. And it came with a smile…
Spirituality – This is about that “little bit of edgy” at the nape of your neck. I know that “Anam Cara” is often translated or defined as “soul mate.” But that doesn’t really convey the depth of the term (could well be the name of an online dating site – oh wait, it already is). In Celtic spirituality, Anam Cara also conveys not only a sense of connectedness but also a relationship akin to mentoring (St. Brigid commented on the importance of having one). In medieval times, those who developed hospices for the dying (think Mother Teresa) were sometimes referred to as Anam Cara and as “spiritual midwives.” In that deeper sense, you were Anam Cara to Stacey and George, mentoring them through the joyous confusion and chaos of the wedding, being midwife in a sense to their new life as a married couple.
All this long-windedness is by way of thanking you for everything that you did for us around George and Stacey’s wedding, and for the way that you went about it. You made everything I needed to do as father and Father easier; you were a valued and appreciated colleague; you enhanced my joy.
This comes with my profound admiration and heartfelt gratitude.
Siochan Leat.
George C
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