The wedding industry is forever evolving with the times and thanks to that little piece of technology we call the “internet”, we have SOO many resources at our disposal at the click of a button!

One of my favorites would have to be the ever-popular trend of the Personalized Wedding Website! Whether you have a very cute, basic Free site or if you splurge a little on the high tech: video, music, full on production site, your website is a great resource to use as the answer to all of those many, many questions! Freeing up your time for more snuggling and enjoying these next few months!

WeddingWire has an AMAZING FREE option with tons of beautiful designs that correspond with beautiful invitations! They even have Vera Wang paper and Martha Stewart Weddings pages!

The Knot gives you two great options: A FREE site with all the info you can imagine: including your love story, Hotel Room information with links, Directions to the Church and Reception and your own virtual guest book! OR the high tech version, which has a small monthly or yearly fee, that includes unlimited photos, music and video uploads and much more!

You can find these sites in many different places with a simple google search, it’s all about finding the one that fits you the most!

Get creative!!! As one of our fabulous brides has done recently, you can get online and make small business card magnets with their names, the date and their website to put in each envelope with their invites! Or even send it as a cute save the date! It is also a great way to put your registry out there without being too obvious! Hehe Wouldn’t it be easy for them to just click and shop?? I mean they are already online!

The Wedding Website can be a fun resource for you and your fiancé to share your love story and your journey to the altar! Get creative! Have fun! And send me any cute ideas you end up with!!!

Happy Planning! XOXO

Jenna Walker

Color! The hottest color this year will be Honeysuckle – we adore taking when colors have real names instead of pink, blue, etc.

First, I have to say that I LOVE the description of this color.  Courageous, confident and vital.  Perfection.  Pair this color with shimmery nudes, bronze and grass greens.

Intimate Guest Count? In 2010 we did weddings with well over 500 guests, 30 attendants and were full productions.  In 2011 we are predicting that your guest count will be smaller.  We have already met with 2 brides this year who plan to invite less than 75 guests!  130-170 guests  is the average in Kentucky.

Personal! Each year we predict this and each year we see more and more of it.  You get one day to really show off your chic style, quirky personality and touch on the many reasons why you fell in love in the first place.  If you are not crafty- that’s totally ok!  Get the help of your friends, family, etc.

Included in gift bags:

Homemade cookies, two KY bourbon balls, 2 Ale-8′s, 1 Bottle of KY Wine and opener, 2 bags of chips, Directions to venue, Lexington, KY Visiter’s Guide, Tops In Lex Magazine, an area restaurant guide and a personalized notecard from Mary and Billy.  All in green bags with pink/green tissue paper and pink with green dot ribbon.

If you are interested in custom gift bags for your guests, bridal party or out of town guests be sure to give us a call.  Always Planned will gather all items, assemble your bags and deliver them to the designated hotels or venue.

Custom gift bags… another one of the many things we have in our Love-it folder!

Here is one great fun way to personalize your wedding or any other event for that matter.  I think we may do these for the Darby Hen Party (a weekend gathering of 20 fabulous ladies, 4 generations!) that we plan every year.

Instead of doing these as favors, why not use them for your signature drink and for your toast.  Would make for some fantastic photos and you can keep a few to drink on your anniversary!

This weekend we had the privilege to work with Mary and Billy.  I met Mary, Billy and Mary’s Mother Kathy at the Feburary Bridal Show and have been involved in planning their special day ever since.  It is hard to believe that it is already October and I will no longer be working with Mary and Kathy. I have loved every minute that I have gotten to share with Mary and her wonderful family.  They are such a joy and it is no wonder why Mary is such an amazing person.

Mary and Billy are so in love, and there were several times throughout the rehearsal dinner and wedding that we all had tears in our eyes.  We will have their love story listed here when we get the professional photos, in the meantime here are some fantastic pics of some decor that my brother, Nick, snapped for us.  Enjoy!