Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
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| Example of my wedding schema |
It has been a few weeks since my last post, and my sister
has finally picked out the dress of her dreams. While I wont give out any
details, it is the most gorgeous gown that fits amazingly with the beachy theme
she is going for…which brings me to the topic of this post! Planning a wedding
is sort of like mapping out a schema (Angell, 9/18/17). What do you think of
when you think of a wedding? Today I will be talking about a few of the decisions
that have been made in the wedding planning process thus far.
A couple of years ago, my family purchased a property in
Rye, New Hampshire, a small beach town on the coast. My dad grew up in New
Hampshire and his father was a professor at UNH, so he has always been very
emotionally attached and has a strong connection to this area. My entire family
loves spending summer weekends at our house in New Hampshire, so much so that
my sister decided she wanted to get married there. Even though much of this
choice stemmed from her emotional attachment to our house and the joy it would
bring to my dad if she were to get married there, the decision was also based a
lot around the economic value that would come from it. (Angell, 9/13/17). One
thing that I have learned throughout this process is that a wedding is
extremely expensive, and it is important to save while you can along the way.
One cost that has now been eliminated is an event space, which can often be the
highest expense.
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| Backyard of our house in New Hampshire (where she will be getting married) |
My sisters and I were raised in New York, so all of our
friends and most of our family live right around us. Even though you wouldn’t
necessarily think of New Hampshire as a “destination,” her wedding is
technically a destination wedding because most guests will be coming in from New
York, or other places around the US. For this reason, it was necessary to block
off hotel rooms for guests to stay in over the weekend. Luckily there is a
cute, hip town on the water 10 minutes from our house with a bunch of hotels,
but it was harder to secure rooms than anyone thought. Samantha is getting
married over Labor Day Weekend, so hotel prices were inevitably high, and
availability was limited. Luckily we were able to secure a large block of rooms
as we are expecting close to 400 guests.
Once the location was established, my sister began to focus
on other aspects of the wedding, including the entertainment. Because her
wedding is on a holiday weekend, she had to move fast with booking a band, as
it is a popular wedding date. Rye, New Hampshire is only about 45 minutes away
from Boston, the closest major city, which is where she is sourcing the band,
as well as the hairdressers, make up stylists, and photographer. In addition to
having to book the band as soon as possible, we all quickly learned it was also
one of the most expensive costs for the wedding.
Click this link for a compilation video of the band she has hired, District 21: http://nightshiftent.com/artist/district-21/
It is important to note that my sister is working within a
restricted budget, and she has the power to choose what she wants to spend that
money on. With that said, most of her decisions are based on her attitude and
what she perceives to be most valuable to her wedding experience. For example,
it is really important to her to get the best photographer she could find
because she really values the emotional and sentimental aspects that come with
getting married. While having photos is extremely important to her, she did not
find it essential to hire a videographer. She views photos as being completely
necessary, whereas a video of the night is just an extra add on and more of a
hedonic want (Angell, 9/13/17). I have seen my sister use this type of mindset
with many of the decisions that she has had to make. She eliminates cost and
budgets by sorting out what brings utilitarian value to the table versus what
will just provide hedonic value (Babin, 2016)
There are several more decisions to be made, but the wedding
is still 10 months away. Further down the road, Samantha will be making choices
about decorations, flowers, and catering. This weekend I will be flying to New Hampshire with my whole family in order to meet with some potential caterer options, as well as map out our backyard to find the most efficient way to set up the tent. But for now, we have locked in the
most important and time sensitive choices. Stay tuned to follow my journey as a
bridesmaid!
Sources:
Babin. B., & Harris, E. (2016). Boston, MA:
Cengage Learning
Pumped I found your blog because my sister is actually starting the wedding planning process as well, and one of the first things we did together was visit a bridal store to get an idea of dresses and visit a possible location. Super exciting, isn't it?! I like that you discussed the importance of attitude and perception in the wedding planning process. While some consumer trends come and go, there are certain individual preferences that just are the way that they are because of external and internal influences as we grow up (Babin/Harris 167). Bridal planning stores for dresses, cakes, decor, etc. really cater to this mentality by attempting to target and find the perfect fit for the bride to be's hedonic and utilitarian values for her special day (Babin/Harris 30).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of having the wedding on your family’s New Hampshire property! I work for an event planning company and we specialize in tented events at family homes / on family properties (check out our website here! http://adayinmayevents.com/). You’re right that venues generally take up a huge portion of budget, and not only is it cost effective to host an event on land you own, it also adds a personal touch to an already emotional-charged day! I’m sure the property is important to your sister’s self-concept and her identity if she has chosen it as the background for her special day (Angell, 2017). My sister got married last July, and not only was I a bridesmaid but my company planned the wedding. It too was a tented destination wedding with a lot of guests. 10 months will go by quickly! I recommend to start making a Google Sheet timeline that everyone can update as the wedding gets closer. Being organized from the start is critically helpful and can be important to establish guest flow, as you are going to be figuring out layout next time you’re home! There are some examples on this website: https://apracticalwedding.com/calculate-wedding-timeline/
ReplyDeleteAngell, A. (2017, September 20). Chapter 6: Personalities, Lifestyle, and Self Concept. Lecture presented in Michigan, Ann Arbor.
http://adayinmayevents.com/
https://apracticalwedding.com/calculate-wedding-timeline/
I really enjoyed reading your post because of how unique and personal it was. It did not feel like I was reading a marketing blog, (not because of lack of marketing examples, but because of ease of read, and narrative style. I admire your ability to take the reader on a journey, and give us the details we year for. I was curious about her “schema.” I wanted to know more about her priorities- where is she spending the money. What’s more important- band or food? Location or number of guests? Cake or decorations. I think it would be so hard to put value and order on these things, so I would like to know how she does that. Also, to what extent are all of these the choices of the bride, versus the choices of the groom, or the family, or everyone together? What are the sacrifices he has to make (Angell, 10/1)? Is there a difference in the millennial generation in terms of weddings? (Angell, 10/18). I am curious about this, because I have never been to a millennial wedding, but I can imagine that they are different than the more traditional weddings.
ReplyDeleteAngell, A. (2017, October 1). Value. Lecture presented in MI, Ann Arbor.
Angell, A. (2017, October 18). Consumer Culture. Lecture presented in MI, Ann Arbor.
Sadie, I absolutely loved reading your blog! Since I also have two sisters, I know that my future Maid of Honor duties are inevitable. Your tips for planning for the big day have been a huge help. I haven't ever been a part of a bridal party (in fact, I've only really ever attended 2 weddings in my entire life) so to hear about how much planning goes in to making the perfect night is so interesting to me. One of the most shocking parts about it is how far in advanced everything has to be booked. From the mental schema of tasks that you created it seems like you are the right person for such a huge role (Babin/Harris, 2016).
ReplyDeleteI think you're doing a great job as Maid of Honor keeping everything organized for your sisters big day. From your blog, I can tell you're being extremely supportive and respecting all of your sisters wishes to help her plan one of the most important events in her life. In a way, the wedding encompasses, not just that one night, but all of the preparation and excitement leading up to it. You have clearly contributed to helping make this experience easy and calm for your sister. After all, positive attitudes deliver value and you're certainly doing a great job at making the journey to the alter an especially positive one (Angel 9/25/17.)
I bet that standing “to the side of the bride” probably isn’t always the easiest. Here is a hilarious Buzzfeed article I found that names the “26 Things that Inevitably Happen When You’re a Bridesmaid”: https://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/things-that-inevitably-happen-when-youre-a-bridesmaid?utm_term=.mbYO1L5AK#.ibnwbv2g6. I got a kick out of this article and I bet you will too. I can’t wait to hear how the rest of your MOH experience goes!
Angell, A. (2017, September 25). Consumer Culture. Lecture presented in MI, Ann Arbor.
Babin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). In CB 7 (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Chack, Erin. “26 Things That Inevitably Happen When You're A Bridesmaid.” BuzzFeed, 29 Apr. 2013, www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/things-that-inevitably-happen-when-youre-a-bridesmaid?utm_term=.mbYO1L5AK#.ibnwbv2g6.
Hi Sadie,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog especially interesting because my brother got married and because I was the sister of the groom, not the bride, I didn’t get the same experience or involvement with the wedding as you do. My brother and his wife chose to get married in New Orleans, their choice of venue also came from both their emotional attachment and the economic value of having it there (Angell, 9/13/17). They not only met and fell in love in New Orleans, but they and most of their friends live there so it was both sentimental and reasonable. I really can’t wait to see your sisters dress, because I know how long it took my sister in law to find her perfect one. I didn’t get to be very involved in the wedding, I wasn’t even in the wedding party so reading your level involvement really gets me excited for one of my other brothers to get married so I can be more involved now that I am older! I’m sure your sisters wedding will be beautiful and I am so excited to see how it turns out.
Angell, A. (2017, September 13). CB Chapter 2 Value. Lecture presented in University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
After reading your blog I can only imagine how busy you have been as the maid of honor! I can tell that you have spent most of your discretionary time preparing for your sisters wedding (Babin et al., 2016). It is extremely tough to plan events for 400 people so I can only imagine the pressure you feel from your sister’s friends and family (Babin et al., 2016). Last year, I was the event chair of my sorority and had to plan numerous 400 people events for my sisters and their dates. I had to do everything all on my own; I had to find the venue, photographer, transportation as well as deal with all the insurance paper work and transactions so when it comes down to party planning I am well equipped to make high-involvement decisions (Babin et al., 2016). I gather that you are well aware of the guests that will be attending the wedding so you know exactly what the event should entail in order to keep the guests entertained. Additionally, you are familiar with your sister’s interests so it is easy for you to come up with the appropriate arrangements that will meet the desires of her ingroup (Babin et al., 2016). As for wedding decoration ideas, you mention that Samantha will be making these choices herself so I did some research and came across this website for some potential flower arrangement ideas: https://www.theknot.com/wedding-flowers Let me know what you think!
ReplyDeleteWork Cited
Babin, B. J., & Harris, E. G. (2016). CB (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage-Learning.
Wedding Flowers. (1997-2017). Retrieved 2017, from https://www.theknot.com/wedding-flowers