Bridal Guide 2016

s t n e t n o c App it out 5 #WeddingPics 6 love bites 11 customize it 12 check it out 15 2 |

Bridal Guide

2016 | 01.21.16 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

P

Welcome to the guide

ardon me while I use this opportunity to get a little sentimental.

When my folks got married 32 years ago, they were poor.

My father owned two pairs of worn-out jeans, one of which my mother patched for the occasion. She, always the type to think of others’ feelings first, hung her only dress—an Easter dress she’d received from my aunt—back in the closet and donned a pair of jeans to match my father’s. The were wed at the Lander County Courthouse in Battle Mountain. That weekend, their honeymoon consisted of watching Romancing the Stone at the theater in Elko and going rockhounding for quartz crystals in the desert.

In 2008, my parents moved back to Nevada after a brief stint in Arizona. They built a house across the street from the courthouse where they were married. In 2014, my husband and I decided to get married at that same courthouse with my folks as our witnesses. It was an honor to follow in their footsteps.

What’s more, it was a wedding perfectly tailored to us—two somewhat odd and shy people who are only ever truly ourselves when it’s just the two of us. And that’s what’s important, right?

Your wedding should be just right for you and your future spouse. So, do you! Whether that’s a ceremony on the playa at Burning Man, a pub crawl reception or a classic church wedding.

Regardless of what your wedding plans are, I hope you’ll be able to put this year’s bridal guide to good use. As usual, we’ve included our wedding checklist. We’ve got advice from wedding photographers. Our restaurant reviewer, Todd South, has the lowdown on restaurants to choose from for your rehearsal dinner. And Shaun Hunter talks with local jewelers to find out what it takes to make a custom engagement ring.

Wishing you a lifetime of love, Jeri Chadwell-Singley, RN&R special projects editor

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Bridal Guide

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Zola Wedding Registry “Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me, but give me the damsel to wife”: Genesis 34:12. Confused?

Don’t be. The modern concept of bridal gifts got started a long, long time ago with the idea of a bride price or bridal dowry. The husband’s family would pay a price to the family of his bride-to-be. It might be in the form of livestock or money or even land.

It’s still a thing in some places around the world.

But the practice of bridal gifting has changed over time. In the first part of the 20th century, department stores set up bridal registries where couples

Appit out

by Jeri Chadwell-Singley jer i c@ n ew s r ev i ew . c o m

Standouts in the sea of wedding apps

The last time we included a story about apps to help you plan your wedding, Pinterest was pretty new and still available by invitation only. Now, a quick look in the app store shows that Pinterest has been downloaded more than 50 million times. Back in 2012, there were definitely wedding-specific apps floating around but nothing compared to the number you’ll find today. After many hours sifting through apps—some good, some bad, some weird—clear standouts began to

would go to pick their china patterns and the like. Today, most department stores, from Macy’s to Best Buy, offer registries. And there are plenty of apps out there, too. Zola Wedding Registry is a pretty cool one.

It allows couples

to choose items from different stores and brands, set up a honeymoon fund, enable group-gifting for expensive items, and even schedule wedding gift delivery for a convenient time. Plus, the app can send the happy couple alerts when items are purchased. See something you like in a store? Scan the barcode with your smartphone to add it to the registry.

FOR: IOS only COST: Free/2.7 percent charge for credit card purchases

Wedding Budget Calculator

A press release from The Knot’s 2014 Real Weddings Study has a lot of interesting information. For example, brides in Nevada tend to be the oldest at the time of marriage, 33, on average. Brides in Nevada are the least likely to register for wedding gifts. Only 68 percent do. Perhaps the most interesting information, though, is the average cost for a wedding in the U.S.—$31,213. With that amount of money involved, it’s not too far-fetched to think that a thorough budgeting app might be in order. Enter Wedding Budget Calculator. While many wedding planning apps have a built-in budgeting tool, this one is strictly a wedding budgeting tool. The app can track more than 50 different types of expenses. You’ll enter actual amounts against each expense type. The different categories will update automatically, allowing you to see what you’re actually spending compared to your budget for a category and your budget as a whole.

FOR: IOS only COST: $2.99

Wedding Lookbook by the Knot There are a slew of apps out there that promise to help brides find the perfect dress. And these apps are most definitely not all created equally. Some of them just don’t work. Others are straight up unsettling, like the apps that allow the bride to paste her own face over the faces of models wearing different wedding gowns. Creepy. Another app promises the very best “weeding dresses.” I wear jeans when I’m gardening, thank you. The face-pasting ones are hilarious, but don’t waste too much time sorting through all the options. The creators of The Knot have you covered. Carley Roney and David Liu are a husband-and-wife team who have been helping people plan weddings for about two decades. Their wedding planning app is among the more popular ones in the iTunes and Google Play stores. Their Wedding Lookbook is a tool with actually useful applications. Dresses for the bride, bridesmaids, flower girl and mother of the bride can be searched and sorted by style, shape and price. Bookmarking favorites will help lead to customized recommendations based on similar looks. Plus, the app has listings of wedding salons that carry the styles and designers you’re interested in, and a new feature allows you to request an appointment with a salon through direct messaging.

FOR: IOS & Android Cost: Free

emerge. These apps combine usefulness and usability.

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Bridal Guide

2016 | 5

#WeddingPics

PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL-SINGLEY

In 2014, Mary Meeker of the venture

Balancing something old with something new

by Jeri Chadwell-Singley

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Bridal Guide

je ri c @ne w s re v i e w . c o m

2016 | 01.21.16 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers presented the company’s annual internet trends report at the Code Conference in California—reporting that 1.8 billion photos were uploaded to social media sites every day.

Yep, everyone’s a photographer these days, thanks to the cellphone camera, and weddings are no exception. But it’s not just the dozens upon dozens of nuptial photos and videos being taken by guests. Trends made popular on social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest are making their way into professional wedding photos, too.

Jeramie Lu and Kendall Price are local wedding photographers. They’re used to shooting around the forest of iPhone-wielding hands at weddings, and they’ve been in the business long enough to see trendy, social media-inspired styles—from vignetting to selective desaturation—come and go.

Ceremonies unplugged It’s no wonder everyone wants to snap photos at a wedding. We’ve gotten in the habit of documenting everything from special events to our everyday lives this way. And there’s really nothing wrong with it. But, when it

comes to weddings, both Lu and Price have noticed a recent uptick in couples asking their guests to turn off cell phones during the actual ceremony and just be present as witnesses to the nuptials. Some even post signs asking guests to leave it to the professionals. Otherwise, it can become a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation pretty quickly.

“I have so many times where I’m like photographing a bride and her dad coming down the aisle, and people have their arms out with their phones,” Price said. “I mean, some people think it ruins the shot. Other people say that’s just part of it nowadays. So, I mean it kind of goes different ways, but it doesn’t bother me if people have their phones or their cameras.”

Lu agrees. A telephoto lens is a simple solution to avoid having photos full of extra limbs. For some couples, though, it’s easiest to just ask guests to save their photo taking for the reception. Adding special elements like selfie-sticks or photo booths to the reception can take the sting out of the request.

A gram of prevention Picture snapping doesn’t start with the ceremony. Both the professional photographer

Jeramie Lu photographs a bride on Jan. 9.

“If people are sending you stuff from Pinterest, they’re not hiring you for your photography,” Lu said. “They’re hiring you because they think you can pull off a trend.”

The second problem is that the setting and conditions for a couple’s actual wedding photos may be very different from those in the Pinterest photos. But there’s a solution.

“So, what we try to do is we try to get a bunch of images together and say, ‘What is it that you like about these images?’” Lu said. “‘I like the softness of it. I like that the bride’s always looking away.’ And then that’s kind of how you base your shots off of, if you do a shot list.”

Everything in moderation Both Lu and Price have seen a lot trends in wedding photography over the years. They still do.

Price has noticed an upswing in artistic postproduction editing, with photographers exploring new ways to incorporate bold colors and contrasts.

“You’re seeing a lot of double exposures with wedding photography,” Price said. “So, you know, a bride and groom and then like another exposure on Kendall Price the same picture would be Wedding Photographer flowers, and so you could see a silhouette of them but it’s flowers kind of showing through.”

Lu sees a lot of photographers taking backlit photos. The sun is behind the photo subject, shining into the camera, creating a lens flare.

“It’s kind of like when you take a selfie of yourself looking up into amazing light and smiland members of the wedding party will likely ing,” Lu said. “Everybody looks good that way. start taking pictures as soon as the day’s activiYou can only do that every so often.” ties commence. According to Lu, there’s an The photographers have pretty much the inherent danger in this. same thing to say about trends—they’re great “The bride and groom typically don’t want when used in moderation. to see each other before the ceremony,” Lu said.

In addition to his professional photography, “So, what happens is, the bride’s getting ready, Lu mentors other photographers at Hatch, the her bridesmaids are taking all these Instagram membership-based studio space for photograpictures. Post the picture. The groom goes on phers, videographers and artists he started with and sees it before the ceremony because he has friend Ron Kots. He gives everyone he mentors like 10 minutes of down time, and then sees his the same advice, telling them to make sure they bride on Instagram. The surprise is gone.” get the standard “go-to” shots before playing The solution is simple. Lu never posts any of with new trends and ideas. his own photos until the ceremony is over. He At the end of a wedding, both Lu and Price asks the guests and wedding party members to want to have a set of photographs that their follow suit. clients will be happy with forever. The key to this is to work closely with each new client and Pin pals limit the number of shots based on trendy poses and editing.

“I try to really photograph things that look Pinterest brands itself as “a visual discovery tool timeless and beautiful because I don’t want that you can use to find ideas for all your projphotos for my clients to look dated in 10 years,” ects and interests.” Many brides turn to the site Price said. “I don’t want them to look like, oh, and app to get inspiration for everything from that was taken in 2010 when desaturated colors floral arrangements to wedding photos. Some were popular or the camera was tilted or whateven send their photographers a Pinterest-based ever. So I try not to follow it too much unless a shot list comprised of photo poses and styles client asks me to do something, then I’m happy they’d like to like to see in their own pictures. to do that for them.”

According to Lu, there are two main problems with this. The first is that Pinterest photos are You can see the photographers’ work by visiting their websites: often based on trends that leave little room for a http://jeramielu.com, www.kendallpricephotography.com photographer’s individual style.

“

I try to really photograph things that look timeless and beautiful because I don’t want photos for my clients to look dated in 10 years.

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Bridal Guide

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AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION • FANTASY WEDDING FAIRE 2016 • NEVADA bAllROOM 1862 David Walley’s Resort.....113, 115 AB Custom Photography ..........406 Alexander’s Catering................415 Alfred Angelo ...........................333 All Occasion Rentals ..............213, 215 Arlington Elite Weddings ..........313 Atlantis Casino Resort .............331 Bed Bath & Beyond .................325, 327 Belinda Grant Photography .....209 Best Western Airport Plaza Hotel ....103 Boomtown Hotel .....................208 Camelot Party Rentals.............127, 129 Candlelight & Roses ................430 Carson City BBQ .....................126 Chateau Bliss Fleurs................117 Cottonwood Cottage................420 David’s Bridal .........................203, 302 Déjà vu Bridal .........................314 Delicious Designs ...................226 Divine Destination Weddings & Honeymoons .......................228 DJ Posse Mobile Music ...........312 Duncan Golf Management ......303

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Bridal Guide

EAC Video & Entertainment .....319 Eagle Croft Productions ...........204 EMC Squared Studios, LLC ......105 Everlasting Footprints Photo & Video .........................418 Fig Tree Catering .....................428 Grand Sierra Resort - Weddings .225, 227 Harmony Hilderbrand Photography............................317 Harrah’s Catering ....................216 I Deux Photography .................426 Isabel’s Bakery ........................308 Jalie Events .............................207 KW Group One / Summit Funding.206 Lake Tahoe Golf Course ...........429 Manzanita Glow ......................

Mark Estee Events...................321 McClain’s Mobile Music ..........414 Men’s Wearhouse ....................202 Michael & Sons.......................324 My Wedding Library ................421 Nakoma Resort .......................219 Nevada Museum of Art............416

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No Bull Media, Inc. .................402 Nothing Bundt Cakes ..............419 Nugget....................................413 NutriChef USA .........................217 Paper Moon / Serendipity .......218 Peppermill Hotel & Casino ......318, 320 PicBox Photobooth..................306 Reaney Photography ...............417 Red Hawk Golf & Resort ..........425 REMSA -Running Red for Heart 5K............................408 Reno Media Group ..................Stage Reno News and Review ...........Front Reno Rodan and Fields, Christina Hull ..........................316 Reno Tahoe Limousine ...........304 Reno Tahoe NACE ....................114 Reno Tuxedo Shop ..................432 Rockit Productions .................307 Rolling Thunder Entertainment Co./NV ...................................109 She Said Yes / Silver State DJ ....221 Siena Hotel ............................205

Silver Legacy Resort Casino.....133, 232 spavia day spa ........................330 Stylish Scribe ..........................

Tahoe Wedding Collection .......125 Tannenbaum ...........................309 That’s Entertainment ...............328 The Boulevard of Dreams ........

The Chateau & Aspen Grove ...124 The Club at Arrow Creek .........404 The Grove ...............................233, 332 The Original Traveling Photo Booth............................229-231 The String Beings ....................107 Thunder & Lightning DJ ..........214 Thunder Canyon Country Club ....128 Washoe County Regional Parks & Open Space ...............315 Weddings of the West ..............305 Whitney Peak Hotel.................119 Winter Creek Lodge .................433 Zephyr Cove Resort ................326

American Heart Association

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e s v e o L bit

restauraunt

s g n i list

by

Todd South

Local

restaurants for your

rehearsal dinner

As either a member of the wedding party or a performing musician, I’ve attended enough weddings to have experienced a rehearsal or two. A wedding rehearsal can often be a greater pinnacle of stress than the actual big event itself. By the time the happy couple and their closest friends and family are done working out the inevitable last-minute kinks, it’s not a bad idea to do something that lets off a little steam while allowing the two families to get to know each other a little better.

Traditionally, a dinner is hosted directly after the rehearsal by the groom’s family. Of course, in an age when many wedding costs are carried by both families, the rehearsal party may be just another item of the overall wedding budget. However the bill gets paid, there are plenty of options to consider. Will there be gifts provided to the wedding party by the happy couple? Are children included or is this an adults-only affair? Will the officiant and his/her spouse be included? Planning this party-before-the-party shouldn’t be overlooked in your wedding preparation (and invites).

Some couples choose to invite the wedding party to a meal at the place they first met, or perhaps the special restaurant that was scene to a nervous public proposal by an incurable romantic. If going for fancy and intimate, small upscale spaces such as Lulou’s, Bricks, Beaujolais and 4th Street Bistro come through with fine dining flavor and service—if you’ve got room in the budget ($30-$75 per person).

I’ve been to some weddings where it was convenient to set up a meal at the rehearsal venue itself, or at a nearby home or similar space. Sometimes this is catered or take-out is ordered from a favorite restaurant, but on very memorable occasions a family potluck allows the soon-to-be in-laws to share favorite family dishes. One fun option I’d suggest is to host your pre-wedding cook-off at Pignic Pub & Patio, a unique location with plenty of relaxed, outdoor seating, cook stations with grills and tools provided, and a full bar for everyone to choose their own type of nerve tonic. When done, you can leave the clean-up to the staff and have one less thing to worry about ($10 per person at the bar in order to use grill/prep facilities).

An even simpler option is to skip the idea of a big meal and go with cocktails and small plates. Many area restaurants are now catering to this culinary trend, though some have really stood out in recent months. Centro, Twisted Fork, The Depot, SoDo, The Bridge, and M3 are all good examples of eateries offering interesting small plates options with a full bar and creative libations. Most of these have a varied enough menu that everyone in your group should be able to find something they like ($15-$30 per person).

Space may be the primary concern if you’re inviting a large group of people to your post-rehearsal party. Nearly every casino resort in town has one or more restaurants that can accommodate large parties, but there are plenty of family-owned options in town that don’t require having grandma hike through parking garages and casino floors. Listing every family restaurant with enough space for a good-sized party would take up this entire article, but a fun option I recommend is taking the whole group for family-style dining at either Louis’ Basque Corner or the Santa Fe Hotel. Though both offer plenty of seating, my preference would be the spartan-yet-comfy dining hall at the Santa Fe, especially if you’d like to seat more than 12 at the same table. It should be noted, Basque cuisine isn’t an ideal option for vegetarians, but the omnivores will love you for it ($15-$20 per person, house wine included with meal).

Of course, this isn’t a complete list of options for a post-rehearsal get-together, but I hope it helps get the wheels turning.

My examples assume you’re looking to do something memorable and a little special for this occasion, but it’s just as likely you’ll want to choose a favorite dining establishment of the comfort food variety. Though dining options for those with special diets should be considered, remember that this is your party. Choose a place that will allow you to relax and let your hair down a bit before the big show.

Each establishment I’ve listed varies when it comes to how far out they’ll accept reservations, so you’ll want to find out well in advance when you start planning your special day.

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Lulou’s Restaurant 1470 S Virginia St 775-329-9979

Bricks Restaurant & Wine Bar 1695 S Virginia St 775-786-2277 bricksrestaurant.com

Beaujolais Bistro 753 Riverside Dr 775-323-2227 beaujolaisbistro.com

4th St Bistro 3065 W 4th St 775-323-3200 4thstbistro.com

Pignic Pub & Patio 235 Flint St 775-376-1948

Centro Bar & Kitchen 236 California Ave 775-737-9062 centroreno.com

Twisted Fork 1191 Steamboat Pkwy, Ste 1400 775-853-6033 twistedforkreno.com

The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery 325 E 4th St 775-737-4330 thedepotreno.com

SoDo Restaurant + Bar 275 Hill St 775-322-2710 sodoreno.com

The Bridge Restaurant & Bar 425 S Virginia St 775-432-1633 bridgerestaurantandbar.com

M3 Restaurant 6950 S McCarran Blvd 775-384-1538 m3reno.com

Louis’ Basque Corner 301 E 4th St 775-323-7203 louisbasquecorner.com

Santa Fe Hotel 235 N Lake St 775-323-1891 themenupage.com

Bridal Guide

2016 | 11

Custom rings are easier and more affordable than you might think by

Shaun Hunter PHOTOS/SHAUN HUNTER

Erica Lorenz stands at the Create Bar at Michael and Son’s Jewelry in Sparks

Doug E. Moore sits with his sketchbooks at D Street Designs in Reno’s Midtown

Jose Fernandez, a stone setter at Michael and Son’s, works on a ring in the store’s jewelry lab.

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Bridal Guide

2016 | 01.21.16 | A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW

with emotional value into the ring, such as family and heirloom jewelry.

Lorenz pointed to a picture on her work tablet. “We just did a wedding ring for a customer,” she said. “We took her grandmother’s earrings, her grandmother’s engagement ring, and her great grandmother’s wedding band, and we incorporated it into a whole ring. She cried when she picked it up.”

Wolf estimates that 65 to 70 percent of custom ring customers at BVW jewelers bring in their own metals or stones.

Customers generally assume that custom designed jewelry will be significantly more expensive than buying a generic product, but Wolf was quick to point out that this is not necessarily the case with ring design.

“People have an idea that custom jewelry is more expensive than going into a store and picking out a design, but—if you provide your own materials, your own stones—the price is comparable, if not less expensive for a custom design,” Wolf said.

Lorenz scrolled through the huge array of designs on the TV at Michael & Son’s Create Bar while she talked about the next step after a design is chosen.

“We use our 3-D printer to show you

“

I’m not the designer.

The customer is.

Erica Lorenz Michael and Son’s Jewelry Designer

“

When it comes to shopping for wedding rings, the choices go way beyond just what’s on display in jewelry store cases. Many local jewelers have staff on hand to help couples navigate the process of custom ring design, for an end product that’s perfectly tailored to the couple’s tastes and budget.

“I’m not the designer,” said Erica Lorenz, a third generation jeweler at Michael & Son’s Jewelry in Sparks. “The customer is. I want them to be 110 percent involved in everything we do.”

Erica’s title is “jewelry designer,” but she emphasized how it’s the client who guides her through the design process.

“I’m going to ask about her,” Lorenz said. “What does she like? What type of shapes has she shown you? Does she have a Pinterest board that I can look at? And so you can pull different concepts from the examples that you’ve seen.”

The next step is to sit down with the customer in front of the large-screen computer, known as the store’s Create Bar, where Lorenz is able to pick and match from a huge number of designs, stones, colors, and other details.

“When you scroll through the Create Bar, there are so many different pieces to choose from,” Lorenz said. “And we can rotate stones. We can make them bigger or smaller or alter their color. We can set them lower, add scrollwork.”

Speaking to Erica, it’s easy to see that the design possibilities are almost limitless.

And, thanks to evolving technology, the options are just getting broader.

“Before you would use a blowtorch, but now lasers and computers have gotten so efficient that it saves time, and it allows for designs that no one was even thinking of before,” said Britten Wolf, the owner of BVW Jewelers in South Reno.

Wolf has 26 years experience in the Reno area, and, like Lorenz, embraces recent technological changes within the industry.

“I will sit the customer down, and I have a large TV screen where we can show every type of combination—the colors of the metals, the stones,” said Wolf. “The technology is expensive, but it is much more efficient. That’s what technology has brought.”

Another aspect of custom jewelry design that couples find attractive is the opportunity to incorporate existing pieces of jewelry

what the design looks like,” Lorenz said.

“Our printer upstairs is about two years old.

But before that, my dad used to take a day or two to hand carve an example from wax.

Before the Create Bar and its digital display, examples were demonstrated through artist sketches—lots of artist sketches.”

While many in the jewelry industry have embraced the influx of new technologies that change the creation process, one local jeweler feels strongly about basing his custom ring creations off more traditional design methods.

Doug E. Moore crafts his D Street Designs custom work out of a retail space in Midtown.

“I didn’t want a traditional jewelry store,” Moore said. “I wanted to try to build a brand around custom jewelry and focus on that, so I intentionally limited what I brought in jewelry-wise for sale. That’s 99 percent of my workload, custom jewelry, all one-of-a-kind.”

Like the other custom jewelers in town, about half of Moore’s custom work incorporates heirloom jewelry into the new pieces.

As tastes and trends change over time, it’s not uncommon for clients to want old jewelry and stones recast and re-used in new pieces. But, heirloom or not, Moore’s pieces never go through a 3-D printing process.

“The industry didn’t start using 3-D printers until the last decade, but jewelry’s been around a long time,” Moore said.

“There’s benefits to the intricacy and the detail of using a 3-D printer, but then that connection is gone from the piece of jewelry. It looks cold. That’s what you lose with a computer.”

At BVW Jewelers, Wolf relies on the 3-D printed prototype ring to give customers the opportunity to wear the ring before it’s finalized.

“Sometimes what appears on the screen, it turns out when they wear it, it’s too thin, or maybe they don’t like the profile,” Wolf said. “Then we can correct it before they make the final decisions.”

The local stores may differ in their use of technology, but when it comes to casting and stone setting, each store relies on in-house production to make sure customers aren’t kept waiting too long. The average wait time after a ring is designed varies from 10 days to several weeks, depending on the complexity of the piece.

“No two pieces are ever the same,” Moore said. “For couples that want that unique one-of-a-kind piece, they can bring in ideas they have and photos they have, and we’ll work off of those and design them together. I’m passionate about coming up with unique designs for each person.”

Lorenz echoed the sentiment. “I can engrave your own fingerprint on the inside if you’d like that,” she said.

For more information on the jewelers in this story, visit their websites: https://michaelandsonsjewelers.com, http:// dstreetdesigns.com, www.bvwjewelers.com

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59,814 married adults

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18-12 months out · ·

· ·

·

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Figure out your budget. You’ll need to consider the contributions from your families as well as what you and your intended will chip in.

Decide who will be your officiant. You can book an officiant, or you can talk a friend or loved one into becoming one. The process isn’t terribly difficult.

Pick your date and book your venue(s). The earlier you decide, the better your chances of getting both the date and location you want.

Pick your wedding party. People are going to start wondering about this as soon as they hear you’re engaged. Knowing who—and how many—will be in your wedding party will be necessary when it comes time to plan for lead-up events like bachelor and bachelorette parties and the rehearsal dinner.

Get on the list. The guest list can be an immense source of stress and even confrontation between future spouses. Keep things in perspective by creating a spreadsheet to help you track guests and related costs. In addition to name and contact info columns, consider adding columns to track RSVPs, gifts and anything else you think might help.

If you’re going to hire a wedding planner, this is the time to start shopping around for one.

12-8 months out ·

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RN&R’s Wedding checklist has what it’s all about

It’s time to hire a photographer and videographer. You’ll also want to take this time to book the entertainment. If you haven’t decided on a band or entertainer yet, take some time out to attend the candidates’ shows.

Got guests coming from out of town? Want to avoid having them crash on your floor? If so, go ahead and reserve a block of hotel rooms.

If the venue you’ve chosen doesn’t offer catering, you’ll have to decide where to get your grub.

Now is a good time to start meeting with caterers or searching around to find out which favorite local restaurant is up for the job.

It’s time to buy the dress, or pantsuit, or whatever you want to wear to your wedding. Between ordering and altering, a wedding gown may take upwards of six months to be ready.

Get your wedding registry up and running. It’s fairly customary to give your guests at least three stores to choose from, but that’s at your discretion. Are you and your betrothed not a young couple just starting out? You might want to consider something in lieu of a registry.

How about a “honey fund” to help pay for your honeymoon?

Speaking of which, it’s probably about time to start planning your honeymoon.

7-6 months out ·

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If that honeymoon you just planned involves a great escape to foreign shores, it’s time to get your passports up-to-date and make sure you’ve got any immunizations you may need.

You’ll need to start shopping for bridesmaids dresses. It’s important not to put this off, since bridesmaids may need multiple fittings to get their dresses just right. But here’s a thought. If you’re super busy, why not choose a color and let each bridesmaid choose her own outfit?

It’s time to send out “save the date” cards, emails, texts or whatever you choose. You should also probably choose the actual invitations for your wedding and get them ordered.

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Meet up with your officiant to plan out the ceremony. This is especially important if your officiant is a friend or family member who doesn’t have experience in the wedding arena.

You’ll want to make sure the person who’s doing you the honor is confident and comfortable with leading the ceremony.

Book your florist. By now, you should know what your wedding colors and theme will be.

5-4 months out · · ·

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Book the venue for your rehearsal dinner. See the article in this guide for ideas on where to book the dinner.

Choose your cake and get it ordered.

If you’re having your hair and makeup done, you should begin shopping around to find the right person(s) to do it. Remember, your skin may be more or less tan depending on the time of year you’re actually getting married.

Start making lists of music. Decide what you want playing during each part of your wedding day. It’s unlikely that you’ll come up with enough songs to fill the entire reception, so make sure you also have a list of songs you don’t want to hear. Send this off to your band/DJ when done.

3-2 months out ·

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It’s time to start double-checking things on your list, starting with your rehearsal and reception menus and the flowers you’ve ordered. Make sure the foods and flowers you want are in season.

If there are particular people you want to have speak at your ceremony or wedding, make sure you give them a heads-up.

If it’s not done, now’s the time to buy your wedding rings. This should leave enough time for them to be sized, if necessary.

Write out a preliminary rundown and timeline for your ceremony and reception, and give copies of this to the vendors who will be providing food, music, flowers, etc. for your wedding. This will give you plenty of time to answer any questions they have.

Send out your invitations about two months before the wedding, asking everyone to make sure they RSVP within two or three weeks.

1 month out · · · · · ·

This is a month when you should be trying to send out as many final payments as you can.

It’s time to get your marriage license. If you’re changing your name, get several copies.

Send out the invitations to your rehearsal dinner.

You should have a pretty good idea how many guests will be attending, so go ahead and order the booze!

If you’re assigning seating at the reception, you’ll want to take care of that soon.

Don’t forget about bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts.

1 week out · · · ·

Pick up your dress.

Call your vendors to make sure they’re all set.

Send your final guest list to the caterer.

Don’t let little worries stress you now. Relax, it’s time to embrace the growing excitement for you big day.

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE RENO NEWS & REVIEW | 01.21.16 |

Bridal Guide

2016 | 15

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