How a Wedding Planner Can SAVE You Money

When starting to plan your wedding day, there are numerous costs associated with the big day. From the rentals to the venue, the food to the photographer, it seems like your once modest budget can easily expand with each element. Hiring a wedding planner on top of everything else may seem like it is an added expense that perhaps isn't necessary. We want to let you in on a secret -- a wedding planner can actually SAVE you money in the grand scheme of things. Here are three ways:

1. More bang for your buck! Think of planners as a valuable insider resource into the wedding industry, able to scope out the absolute best values for you. At Sip & Twirl, we are proud to have strong, lasting relationships with vendors and venues that have time and time again proved their talent to us. They consistently demonstrate 5 star talent at a 3 star price point. Introducing you to these hidden gems are one way we are able to deliver top notch quality while saving you money.  Additionally, Sip & Twirl, like many other full-service planning companies, owns some of our own rentals and can offer clients a great discount on those items.

2. Planners can help you read between the lines. There are contracts associated with nearly every aspect of a wedding (think caterer, photographer, venue, etc.) and we have seen our fair share of them. As planners, we carefully read and deal with these contracts for you and make sure that you are getting charged only for what you should be. Unnecessary extra charges and any fine print clarification can and should be dealt with before it's too late!

3. Time is money! Planning a wedding is a time consuming job. It can be difficult for a working bride and groom to sustain full-time jobs AND devote the appropriate amount of time to planning their big day. Planners are hired to help take the burden off of your shoulders by assisting in the decision making process in a timely matter to keep things moving along on schedule!

Perhaps more valuable than the money a planner can save you, is the peace of mind a planner can provide for you. Our job is to make the entire process easy and fun for you while saving you the unnecessary headaches and stress. There are sometimes unexpected last minute changes and fine-tuning to be made on your wedding day, and having someone there by your side who is able to gracefully handle all of that is, in a word, priceless.

Sip and Twirl Equality Corner

Sip and Twirl would like to celebrate the successes of 2013 and looks forward to the upcoming year.   We have added an important new area to our website.  The "Equality Corner."  

In Arizona, LGBT couples are not yet allowed to obtain marriage licenses.  Sip and Twirl are among many Arizona wedding industry professionals who would like to change that.  A great number of us encourage, celebrate and would welcome the opportunity to participate in designing and planning your ceremonies in Arizona, with or without a law. We, at Sip and Twirl think that this issue is of critical importance and work with many, many vendors who share our sentiments.  But we are aware that a ceremony without the license is, frankly, not good enough. So until the time when Arizona passes a Marriage Equality Act of it's own, I am proud to say that my home state of Hawai'i has provided us with a tropical alternative.

The Hawai'i Marriage Equality Act was passed by Hawai'i State Legislature and signed into Law by Governor Neil Abercrombie on November 13, 2013.  The Law took effect on Monday, December 2nd.  

Many folks have questions about getting married in Hawaii and we would like to help.  You do not need to be a resident of the State of Hawai'i in order to be married in Hawai'i and obtain a Marriage License.  For more information, check out this FAQ. 

If you and your partner would like to marry, but are not currently able to do so in Arizona, please contact us for a complimentary consultation and wedding packet and let's discuss your path forward. 

Engagement Season is Here! First Steps and Tips to Keep You on Track

The holiday season is upon us again, and as we reflect on the past year (where did 2013 go?!) we also embrace the new one with much anticipation. Amidst the shopping, eating, and enjoying time spent with loved ones, the holidays are the most popular time for proposals!  As a new wave of couples begins to celebrate their engagements, there are also a lot of questions and next steps that come along with such an exciting time. As planners, part of our job is to make those next steps a breeze for you. Upcoming deadlines and "to-do's" can really be made a lot less daunting if you stay well organized and have a planner who is able to track and remind you of each step. Here are some of the first few items to complete post-proposal:

1. Decide on a date and venue: Many venues fill up months (sometimes years) in advance. If there is a venue that you are set on, make sure you book it as soon as you are decided on a date. If you don't have a dream venue in mind, that's okay! Discuss with your wedding planner what you envision for your big day and they are sure to show you some fabulous options.

2. Agree on a rough guest count with your partner: Having a guest count goes hand-in-hand with picking a venue. Which venue you choose will depend on how many guests you plan on inviting, and vice-versa.

3. Plan an engagement party! Traditionally, the bride’s parents host this. But these days, we are seeing engagement parties hosted by other relatives of the couple, close friends, or the bride & groom themselves! Do what works for you, but don't miss out on the chance to celebrate this exciting new step in your lives before the wedding planning really begins!

4. Start Pinning: If you don't have a Pinterest account, RIGHT now is a good time to sign up! Create boards for all things wedding: dress, linens, hair, makeup, color schemes, flowers, cakes, and anything else wedding-related you can possibly think of. Here at Sip & Twirl, we link our Pinterest account with our brides' so that we can "pin" images to each other to create the perfect wedding vision for our couples.

Staying organized during your engagement is also important, and we have a few simple tips to keep you on top of things:

1. Make Time: This seems obvious, but the weeks can tend to slip away from you, especially in the glow of celebrating your engagement. Take in the moments (see #3 above!), but also make sure to set aside time each week to focus on wedding planning. A good tip is for you and your partner to set a certain time one day per week to sit down together and collaborate. This will also help in making sure you are communicating well and often about your needs and wants for your big day, and ensuring that both of your ideas are heard.

2. Start Calendaring: If you don't already have one, buy a day planner. We, personally, live by ours. Whether yours is a physical day planner, an online calendaring system, or a structured system through a wedding website like The Knot or Wedding Wire, we can't recommend this enough. Keep track of important deadlines and best of all - make a checklist. Sip & Twirl offers clients interactive software that includes all of these items, so both bride & groom, and planner can stay on the same page every step of the way.

3. Hire a Planner: OK, we swear we aren't just saying this because we are, well -- planners. Having a planner to assist you along the way can make a huge difference in the process (and your level of stress in the months and weeks leading up to your wedding).  We fully believe in the importance of our work. This step alone is sure to take a LOT of the pressure off our your shoulders! Stay tuned for upcoming posts detailing “how wedding planners can SAVE you money” and “the differences between your venue coordinator and your wedding planner.”