Planning a Friend's wedding.......

September is proving to be a hot month in Nairobi so far a perfect weather for weddings here.Since I'm all about weddings so I'm more interested in what it takes to plan a friend's wedding. Its said that friends can help you launch your career and most people who start small rely on friends to get the word out there about their work and most of the time they are not so tough on how many clients you have handled like complete strangers are.

Planning a friend's wedding the Nairobi way. Let's explore a typical scenario....You have a friend whose wedding is coming up. By you I refer to vendors_florist,tent and decor supplier, DJ and music, photographer, video person, private venue hire, and they call you and not only say are interested in your services but most times would like to involve you in the committee that helps them raise money for their wedding so the question is: How do you join the committee and still make money for your business?





As a friend to the bride and groom if you have an established business and wouldn't hurt your business there are several ways to go about this you could:-

• Offer your services as a gift to the bride and groom and not charge them. That can get you out of the committee but still support the couple on their big day.
• Instead of contributing cash to the bride and groom you could give your services at really reduced prices which you wouldn't normally do so for other clients or would normally reject clients on such budgets.
• Another alternative would be to offer cash towards their wedding and your services at friendly rates but you have got to be at a comfortable place business wise to go this direction especially if you settle for a substancial amount to offer the couple for their wedding.

For a start up business not established I consider option 2 as a way to get your business out there. Even if its a friend's wedding its important to work out a contract because you are still running business  at the end of the day.It protects the couple also at the end of the day. Remember the planning started out as friend helping friend whether for free or paid at a reduced rate and at the end of the wedding, the still want to remain friends not foes.

Icing on the cake

There is one thing to be said about the wedding cake: there is got to be some form of icing to complete it. It never matters whether its glazes, butter, flat, foam, fondant,fudge, and royal icings. What's important is the cake is attractively finished to the preference of the couple.  In last week's blog we looked at wedding cakes and a bit about the icing which won't be part of this week's article but a reference to what I hoped to explore this week.

In my DON'T GET MARRIED WITHOUT IT article, I wrote on the fact that that the most important aspect to a wedding varies from a couple to the other  to which a variety of things can top the list with varied reasons as to why its considered to be so. If a cake is badly cooked, stale or for some reason not as tasty as expected by the couple or their guests, then no matter how attractively finished the cake is (good quality icing); it just won't  make much difference.

If the flowers are the icing on the cake, its important that they're beauty shows. In the arrangements selected by the couples. Budget weddings and extravagant weddings have one thing in common the wow factor can be achieved by the flowers and for this to happen, the minimalistic or Cinderella brides have to work with flowers well. The one thing about Kenya, our weather is favorable and a lot of flowers are available most year round at reasonable cost. These flowers include and are not limited to: carnations, calla lilies, mums, tiger lilies, rose flowers, and tulips. Despite the availability, flowers need to be ordered in advance to ensure the color, type and amount is available on time, during the wedding and also less disappointments as far as the wedding is concerned.

 Well besides use of flowers as beauty, the whole theme can be enhanced when flowers are well arranged,
most weddings in Kenya use flowers for bridal and maids bouquets, flower girls, bridal car, flower arch, ceremony aisle, reception tents and walkway stands to the cake the arrangements are most of the time similarly done as weddings use reception set ups for a majority, others have center pieces for restaurant set ups. The arrangement have to be attractive and meet the theme of bride and groom in order for theme to be "the icing on the cake."

Sugar and spice

I love poetry not composing but reading what other people have written and making sense of some while others are self explanatory. The poem Sugar and spice and all things nice that's what girls are made of.............are words I have heard over the years I wasn't sure the source or how the rest of the words continue but Wikipedia.org-the online encyclopedia is quite helpful as I was able to trace the origin to  of Sugar and Spice to a 1963  song by Merseybeat band The Searches. A further search led me to scrapbook.com and the rest of that poem brought to my mind a lot of things that I can easily associate with weddings:


Sunshine and rainbows
and ribbons for hair bows
that's what little girls are made of

Not to drift too much to the poem: one thing most guest in Kenyan weddings await at a reception is the wedding cake. So why the poem: Cakes are sweet (sugar) and the flavors (spice) vary from individual wedding, The cake flavors vary from: chocolate, marble, lemon, carrot, and even black forest are amongst cakes that I have seen being selected by brides around especially in Nairobi. The wedding Icing can include: Royal Icing, Fondant, Whipped and Butter creams.

Whatever option one settles for its important to remember:

1. The groom should also be comfortable with the flavor chosen, it would be terrible if its a flavor he hates or even a few people close to him can't it eat.
2. Its good to keep in mind the color scheme of the wedding so that the cake blends with the overall theme.
3. If you choose to keep a tier for yourselves having it done in fruit cake is important. More importantly to check with your cake vendor before you settle for your option.
4. Whether you settle for decorations for your cake that are flowers that are either silk, icing or fresh flowers your cake decorator is in the best position to advice you including how much cake-the number of tiers that will feed your guests.
5. Be sure to check out the wedding cake servers, knives, and stands the vendor plans to use for your wedding.         
   
   
   

After all is said the overall cost should fit within your budget and enjoy the day, when it comes without much worry. Our next article will discuss the second part of the poem that I highlighted on this article. Feel free to leave a comment

Don't get married without it!

Every time there is a wedding, its important to have a check list. The planner can keep one, in case he/she is hired to work for the couple, the couple can keep one or even the best maid/man can keep one. Who ever is in charge helps to remind them of whats needed to have a success of the big day. Its Friday today and a majority of Nairobi weddings take place tomorrow though quite a number one done today and at the end of the day the day is judged as successful or not based on the standards of who is doing the judging.

A few instances when guests or even the couple are asked how the day was the response would be something like this: "it was nice but......" this could come in a vatiety of reasons. Some I have heard around Nairobi include:

the food wasn't well cooked, the icing on the cake wasn't to my standards, the bride arrived too late, it rained at the reception, the bride's make up was ruined, the maids dresses weren't attractive and the list goes on as to one thing that would have resulted in a perfect day.

So what comes in mind when you here the words: DON'T GET MARRIED WITHOUT IT?, could it be a great vendor, planner, an item of value past from generation to generation in a family during wedding. It kind of reminds me the famous words in wedding preparations: something borrowed, something blue.....

What ever these ends up being sometimes they can be forgotten. What could lead to this? A couple could decide to settle for a cheap wedding that's simple and due to a strict budget do away with things considered basic for a wedding, a piece of item could not sit well with their theme and even though you only have this one great day to remember there are alot of things to be done that one can forget basic things needed for example forgetting rings at home during the wedding ceremony.


Every other thing can go wrong but it will still be a wedding if the bride and groom show up and they have a legal officiant the rest of the things missing doesn't stop it from being a legally binding agreement and with time can become history-

A Picture's worth Part...........Part 2

Time flies so fast when you are busy, its something I here people say and its so true so much time has flown since I wrote the last article and missed my Monday deadline for which I am sorry. To get back to my last

article, photography is quite an important part of weddings. Are there any fast rules to go by when it comes to where to have your wedding photo shoots.

Most couples have always preferred having them at beautiful gardens, hotel grounds, parks and even photo studios. What makes a choice attractive ranges from a variety of reasons but a common choice would be that this grounds provide a beautiful scenery that one wants to capture and remember forever. When you combine a happy couple and lovely scene its such a beauty to behold. Most gardens in Nairobi  hotels, individual homes and parks have hired the services of land scarpers and the grounds are attractive places for photo shoots.

Sometime couples however, choose to go against the current and settled for unexpected grounds and venues for their photo shoots this could include in railway stations, garage, at airports and wherever we would least expect a shoot to be taken. Wherever a couple choose for their shoot, its important that they have fun and this be evident from the picture that they did this. So have a lovely shoot irrespective of your choice.

A picture's worth........

Its a slow weekend here with no functions for me. One to reflect on the activities of the first half of the year and consider what worked and didn't and see how to make things better. As a blogger I have from time to time suffered from writer's block (if it applies to a blogger also) and haven't had a chance to have as many articles as I would want published regularly but its one of the things I hope to make better in the months ahead.

I would like to explore photography from a Kenyan perspective especially the Kenyan bride. Every time I meet a potential client and have a chat with him or her one main thing that crosses their mind is

Do you have photos of work you have done?

. Its a question that doesn't escape many here in Nairobi even when you meet them at Wedding Expos. Why the question? Pictures attract and capture the eye. What we see attracts us to what we want. Its generally agreed that first impressions count and that's why some fall in love at first. What do we see in a wedding picture: the quality of photography,a loving couple, a well arranged reception and decor set up, happy friend and relatives and the list is endless. I am an avid reader of a Kenyan magazine called true love, one of the reasons that makes me purchase it is the attractive photos I like looking at-besides the fact that the quality of articles written is exceptional for local content. Glossy magazines, advertisements appeal to many because of the quality of photography conveys a message.
Which brings me to why I thought about today's article: wedding photos can tell a lovely story of the day. Its common practice in Kenya for a couple to select a venue for their photo shoot right after saying I do. How they go about selecting a venue is a topic I would like to pursue in a second part of this article this coming Monday.

Eyes of the Beholder

I can't say enough of this but its wedding season again (at least here in Kenya). In this half of the year more people get married than in any other season. It reminds me of the famous saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". The thought comes to mind as at the reception there are those famous for asking "what was he/she thinking?". There are always those who think another man/woman would have been better for the bride/groom. Whats sad the negative talker in most instances was ditched by the bride/groom. Which begs the question : should you attend the wedding of an ex if they left you at the alter?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder means that you can't quite explain why someone choose a particular individual for a mate if you don't see the same qualities that the individual does. As weddings seasons progress....many couples choose vendors for completely different reasons: referrals, bridal shows, online search and also based on the good work they have done before. I like watching on DSTV the show Whose wedding is it anyway? several brides watched previous shows and they loved what they saw especially how well organised a planner is, how they came to the aid of the couple who are their clients at their time of need and also how they put value for money and quality work before anything else what ever makes you select a vendor one thing is for sure we like working with vendors whose work is known and has worked with those in our own circles. Take this past weekend as an example Vera Wang had the opportunity for two of her gowns to be worn on Saturday by A list celebrities: Alicia Keys and Chelsea Clinton. What do you think that does for her sales this wedding season......

As a bride how well know is your vendor do you just use their referral list or have you attended some of their events and had they done events for friends with weddings or functions before you or is price the only reason that leads you to a vendor? Why is beauty again in the hands of the beholder? Whatever your reasons for selecting a wedding vendor I hope your choices don't lead to disappointment. One things is for sure you can hardly go wrong with a well known vendor online, on TV or in your locality.