Celebrate Spring Giveaway: Win a Free Poster Print!

The spring wedding season is in full swing, and it’s the perfect time to host another fun giveaway for an 18 x 24 rolled poster from OnlinePosterPrinting.com!

Just follow the instructions below for your chance to win. Entries will be accepted until 12 p.m. EST on Saturday, May 8, and a randomly chosen winner will be announced the following day.

Ready to enter? Here’s how!

#1 – For your first entry, you should become or already be a Bicoastal Bride follower, if you use Blogger. Leave a comment letting me know, and also share your favorite thing about the spring season, whether wedding-related or not! Be sure to include your email address with the comment.

For extra entries, you can:

#2 – Follow @Bicoastal_Bride on Twitter, and leave a comment letting me know, along with your Twitter name.

#3 – Join the Bicoastal Bride page on Facebook, and leave a comment letting me know.

#4 – Tweet about the giveaway, and leave a comment letting me know.

#5 – Post about the giveaway on Facebook, and leave a comment letting me know.

#6 – Blog about the giveaway, and leave a comment that includes a link to the post.

Good luck, and have a fabulous weekend!

(Photo Credits: OnlinePosterPrinting.com & Google Images)

Right On Time: Part Two

As promised, here’s the second half of our wedding day timeline, complete with notes explaining why things are organized in just this way. Still working out your schedule? I hope ours will help give you some ideas!

Post-Ceremony & Cocktail Hour

4:00 PM
Ceremony concludes, and post-ceremony photos begin at church

4:20 PM
Guests begin arriving at reception site for cocktail hour

4:30 PM
Bride, groom and wedding party arrive at reception site for more photos

5:00 PM
Bride and groom join guests for cocktail hour on patio

(It’s very important to us that we get to mingle during the second half of our cocktail hour, and luckily, it should be no problem, since we’ll be taking a good number of our photos pre-ceremony.)

Reception

5:30 PM
Guests invited to be seated in ballroom

5:40 PM
Grand entrance

5:50 PM
First dance, followed by a second group dance for all guests

(To help get everyone in a party mood, and to take advantage of the excitement created by the grand entrance, our DJ will invite everyone the gather around the floor for our first dance, which will be immediately followed by a high-energy dance song for everyone to enjoy. Also, since we’ll have already done our first dance, guests can feel more than welcome to hit the floor during dinner, if they wish.)

6:00 PM
Buffet opens, with tables released one at a time

(Our day-of coordinator will monitor the line and release tables one-by-one to avoid a huge backup. Stephen and I will be served our meals first, so that we’re then free to visit guest tables throughout the rest of the dinner hour.)

6:55 PM

Toasts by best man and maid of honor

7:00 PM
Slideshow presented by bridesmaids

7:30 PM
Sunset pictures of bride and groom on the golf course

(I’m super excited about these shots!)

8:00 PM
Thank you speech by bride and groom, followed by cake cutting

8:10 PM
Anniversary dance

(Doing this right after the cake cutting will give the venue staff time to plate and serve the cake while the guests dance and watch the accompanying slideshow.)

8:30 PM
Bouquet and garter tosses

9:30 PM

Bar closes for alcohol

(A smart move at any party…)

9:45 PM
Last two dances of the night

10:00 PM
Grand exit

And there you have it! What do you think? Of course, our version of the timeline is much more detailed, complete with notes, song selections, announcements, and so on.

How do you plan to time your cocktail hour and reception?

(Photo Credits: Los Robles Greens & Wedding Aces)

Right On Time: Part One

Call me a geeky bride, but as a self-proclaimed lover of checklists, to-do-lists, and, well, lists in general, creating our wedding day timeline has been one of my favorite tasks throughout the entire process! Of course, I haven’t done it all on my own, and have worked closely with our DJ, hair and makeup stylist, and day-of coordinator to ensure the perfect timing throughout the day.

Here, our current timeline, which I’ll share in two parts, along with some notes about why we made the choices we did. Enjoy!

Pre-Ceremony

8:15 AM
Hair and makeup styling begins

(We’re starting early to accommodate a large bridal party, but my stylist will be on hand right until we leave in order to provide touch-ups as needed.)

11:30 AM
“Getting ready” photos begin

1:00 PM
Wedding party heads to “first look” location

1:30 PM
Photographer and videographer arrive at “first look” site for the big reveal

(As I’ve mentioned before, we’ll do a “first look” to ensure that the majority of our photos are taken while my hair and makeup styles are fresh, and so that we can share a special private moment before the ceremony.)

2:30 PM

Church available to vendors

2:30 PM
Reception site available to vendors

(The two above items are extremely important to your vendors, since they'll need to know when they can begin setting up and how much time is available. Don’t forget to ask the coordinator at your venue!)

2:45 PM
Bride, groom and wedding party arrive at church for more preliminary photos

3:00 PM
Guests begin to arrive, and are greeted by the groom and groomsmen

3:15 PM
Prelude music begins

3:30 PM
Time to walk down the aisle!

Have you worked out your pre-ceremony timeline yet? What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in trying to put it together?

(Photo Credit: Gardens of the World)

Floral Design Inspiration: Capturing Romance & Simple Elegance

I’m defintiely no floral expert, but when it came to choosing a look for our wedding day, I had a ball finding the right inspiration to create just the romantic, elegant and soft, yet still simple, look I’m dreaming of.

Working with our amazing florist, I’ve been able to see the creative vision grow into the reality it will be on our wedding day, complete with bouquets of roses, white hydrangea centerpieces, and fresh petals strewn across the tables.

Here, a few photos by our florist and others, and how each look has inspired my own plans.

Bouquets

I’ll carry a classic round bouquet filled with cream and lavender roses, pearl-studded white stephanotis, and dark purple lisianthus. The stems will be completely wrapped and tied off with dark purple ribbon featuring a row of pearl studs. My bridesmaids will carry smaller round bouquets of cream and lavender roses.

Centerpieces & Table Design

Our centerpieces will include cream and lavender roses, white hydrangeas, and other seasonal flowers fitting our plum, white and silver color scheme. Each table will be strewn with cream rose petals against a plum tablecloth, plus a series of small crystal votives, each holding a lavender rose head.

Altar Arrangements

At the church, we’ll keep things simple with a couple white and purple altar arrangements, plus pew bows designed by Stephen’s mother. After the ceremony, we’ll move the arrangements to the reception site to help decorate the place card and gift tables.

Boutonnieres & Corsages

The groom’s boutonniere will include purple lisianthus and white stephanotis, and the groomsmen will wear just purple lisianthus. Our fathers will sport cream rose boutonnieres, while our mothers will wear matching cream rose corsages.

What is your floral and décor vision for the wedding?

(Photo Credits: Happy Flowers & Google Images)

Disney Daze Bachelorette

I may in many ways be a classic bride, but when it came to my bachelorette party, things were about as non-traditional as you can get! As I mentioned in my sneak peak a few weeks back, five of my bridesmaids treated me to a fun day at Disneyland, followed by an Easter brunch the next morning. Here, the highlights of the celebration!

Here I am, decked out in my Minnie Mouse ears and bride sash, which was created by bridesmaid Bridget.

All five of us on Thunder Mountain. Bridget made sashes for the girls, too, and we got lots of attention throughout the day, including shout-outs from ride operators and permission to skip a line or two!

Bridesmaid Pooneh also created a fun game where we were given a series of riddles about different Disney rides, and had to try solving them throughout the day. Some of the questions were hard, even for a Disney buff like me!

We ate dinner at the Blue Bayou, which is located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and has a great New Orleans vibe. Our waiter even ended the meal by bringing me a special treat since I was the bride-to-be!

Our Easter brunch the next morning included a delicious meal of waffles and fresh strawberries, plus games. First, Bridget asked us each a series of questions about me and Stephen's relationship, and the girls had to answer the way they thought I would. It was fun to hear their responses!

After breakfast, we hunted eggs, which each contained candy and a question about the groom. To my surprise, Bridget had already asked Stephen the questions, and we “tested” how many I got right. The results? I didn’t know all of the answers, but overall, I know my groom very well!

Thanks for a wonderful time, girls! What are your bachelorette plans?

(Photo Credits: Pooneh Nasrollahnia)