Consider this your invitation to Indyspire: The Independent Wedding Fair!
On Saturday, Feb. 16 from 1-4pm, join a hand-picked selection of more than 25 local, passionate wedding professionals at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.
Indyspire features a casual atmosphere to encourage conversation as well as a series of wedding workshops to help you plan your wedding smarter, better, and more beautifully by sharing hands-on tools, tips, and secrets.
“We’re all part of the wedding industry, but that doesn’t mean we like how industrialized weddings have gotten over the past decade or two,” says event founder Becca Dilley , a Twin Cities photographer, Heavy Table contributor, and author. “Our event will highlight specially selected wedding professionals who take joy in their work and are great values for their clients — we’re creating a guild of passionate professionals rather than hosting a pay-to-play mega-fair.”
Clear demonstrations and lots of time for Q&A make these educational sessions the secret weapon in your wedding planning, and topics include “How to choose a photographer,” “Adding DIY into your wedding,” and “Personalizing your wedding ceremony.”
Still not sure? Join us for some amazing snacks from Cocoa & Fig, Chowgirls Killer Catering, and Patisserie 46, or just relax in the lounges with music and take it all in.
Tickets are $15 for a set of two, and include access to the workshops! Information at independentwedding.com
THE CONTEST
We’re teaming up with Independent Wedding member Cocoa & Fig to put some sweet gift certificates in the mix. Here’s how to enter:
1. Post a comment at the bottom of this story, using a valid name and email address.
2. Your comment should be a tip for planning and enjoying a great wedding — something you wish you’d known, or something a bride and groom might not necessarily think of before the day of. Tips can be ways to save money, add style, or just enjoy the day.
We’ll use the best ideas to add to our booklet that we’ll give out at the wedding fair, and we will choose two tips — drawn at random — to win the submitter a $100 gift certificate (first place) and a $50 gift certificate (second place) to Cocoa & Fig.
Contest Deadline: Drawing will take place midnight, Sunday, Feb 10.
Heavy Table contributors and Independent Wedding members are not eligible to win.
Cocoa & Fig
Cocoa & Fig is a boutique bake shop and dessert catering company located in the Twin Cities specializing in unique, elegant, and creative desserts for life’s greatest moments. Offerings include cake lollipops, French macarons, cupcakes and mini cupcakes, layered dessert shooters, sandwich cookies, fruit tartlets, birthday celebration cakes, wedding cakes, miniature dessert tables, and more!
Cocoa & Fig has a reputation for creating beautiful and delicious cakes and confections. All of the celebration cakes, cupcakes, and desserts are made from scratch with the highest quality ingredients we can find like pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans, Valrhona Chocolate and Cocoa Powder, and local cream and butter.
Retail location downtown Minneapolis
Gaviidae Common
Skyway Level, Saks Wing
651 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Instead of centerpieces, provide board/table games at each table. This creative alternative allows for fun interaction between guests. Bonus points for retro versions of classics like Connect Four and Scrabble.
Even if you don’t want to spend money on a videographer, have someone somehow record the toasts, even if just on a phone, or cheap handheld recorder. I so regret not having this at my wedding. The speeches and toasts given by our parents and siblings were beautiful, they spent time writing them, and put tons of thought into them, they made me cry in the moment…. but the moment is one of so many on that day. So many details are forgotten. I would love to be able to go back in time and hear what my dad had to say, or the welcome my brother-in-law gave me into their family. Its just words, but feels irreplaceable.
If you’re going to do a wedding registry, try to go on a weekday rather than a Saturday. My fiance and I registered on a Monday afternoon and we basically had the store to ourselves. The salesperson that helped us register told us that on Saturdays they would usually have about 9 couples trying to register at the same time.
Find a photographer that will give you a cd of your photos with printing rights. I didn’t and 7 years later I wish I had more prints from that day.
If your venue doesn’t provide a day-of-coordinator, consider investing in one! They help coordinate vendor deliveries for you, and make sure everything on your big day goes smoothly! I’m currently planning my own wedding, and I already feel less stressed about my wedding day, because I know someone will be worrying about the logistics for me.
I’ve eliminated much of the usual stress associated with weddings by not feeling pressured to include all the ‘must-haves’ – just do what feels right for you as a couple. For example, choosing a bridesmaid dress in ivory (still beautiful but costing much less than a traditional bridal gown) helped save money that we can spend on other aspects that are more important to us, like food and drink.
Consider opening up your rehearsal dinner to all of your out-of-town guests: we did, and it was great to feel like we had an opportunity to connect with all of the people who had come so far!
My tip for wedding planning is to remember that the point of the wedding is to start your marriage. So at the end of the day, if you wind up married, the day has been a great success! Everything else is just details.
Don’t get so hung up on trying to make your wedding “blog worthy.” You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to meet and/or exceed the images, designs and styles in the wedding blogosphere. Just make it you! db
Don’t forget to spend some alone time with your new spouse at some point during the day. With the busyness of it all, it’s easy to get caught up in pleasing others and to find time to remember the reason you are there in the first place.
It’s better to cut some things out so you can splurge on really great vendors (who might not be the cheapest). Knowing that I’ve hired talented, trustworthy people has made my wedding planning experience stress-free. I’ve met the owner of all the companies I’ve booked and I have no worries about my big day.
I never thought to consider this before I started planning, but I think its good to think about the voice of the officiant, especially for weddings in nontraditional venues. Do I like his or her voice? Is it pleasing to listen to and easily understood in the venue or by older guests? Not to high or low. Is he or she a natural speaker with a good cadence? It was helpful for me in choosing our officiant.
Take 30 minutes before the ceremony to relax and breathe deeply. We are doing all of our photography before the ceremony and I can’t wait to take a few minutes to gather my thoughts before such a memorable moment.
Make sure to plan ahead-especially if their is a venue or photographer you are dreaming to work with. Remember the wedding day is not only about the bride – so incorporate things into the wedding that showcase both of you and your love for each other! Weddings can be stressful but in the end make sure to enjoy the moments as the engagement ( and the wedding day) goes by fast! :)