New Year, New Engagement

Was one of your gifts this holiday season a small wrapped box enclosed with an engagement ring? The blessing of an engagement truly brings excitement for the new year! Informing all your family and friends is only the beginning. After a few days your holiday and nuptial celebrating starts to subside- and the overwhelming amount of planning and things to do starts to add up.

When preparing for your wedding day, dozens of ideas and details and venues come to mind. Our site, www.idoido.org is a great place to start. We limit the number of vendors in our association – and screen our vendors before they join.

One of the first things is to set the wedding date. Choosing your church and reception hall are usually among the first things booked for a wedding. Your other wedding vendors will generally want to know if they are available for your date- before you get too far in the booking process.

The next thing you need to take into account is the amount of people you plan to invite and amount of money you plan to spend for your big day. The expense for invitations, wedding dress and tuxedo, photography, catering, transportation, music, honeymoon, etc. need to all be assessed. Getting an idea or ballpark of reasonable costs will help save you and your spouse future finances.

If you are looking to trim costs- the best thing to do is to take a second look at your guest list. The fewer people you invite...

• The fewer invitations you have to send
• The fewer meals you need to order
• The fewer tables you need to decorate, etc…

Send me an email if you need any help getting started!

The Spectacles of Northern Lights

We have some great members in the Central Minnesota Wedding Association- and we are going to start highlighting some of them in this blog- as a way for you to learn more about them.

Usually, when you hear the word “northern lights," the first thing that springs to mind is the natural light displays in the night sky. However there is another type- one that lights up the eyes of a bride- Northern Lights Ballroom & Banquet Center.

Located right near Milaca in Pease, MN is the all-inclusive facility that is an accommodating host to many weddings. The venue is spacious with four rooms and and a captivating chandelier lit canopy.

Northern Lights is offering a fantastic special for 2009 weddings:
Book your wedding on any available date for this year- and you will receive a half-price room rate.

If you need another great reason to scope out the Northern Lights Ballroom & Banquet Center, make a reservation for the Valentine's Day Dinner and Dancing event. Couples can come for an all-you-can-eat meal and dance the night away on Saturday, February 14th. Call 320-369-4622 for reservations.

People planning weddings also will not want to miss the Northern Lights Wedding & Prom Expo on Sunday, March 1st.

Check out http://www.northernlightsbanquet.com for more details.

Happy New Year!

The Central Minnesota Wedding Association wishes you a happy 2009! We have big plans for 2009 to enhance your wedding planning experience.

We are committed to connecting engaged couples to the best vendors Central Minnesota has to offer.

Stay tuned for some exciting announcements that will make your wedding planning even easier in 2009!

Flowers for Winter Weddings

Happy December Readers! As winter is settling in, Central Minnesota Wedding Association would like to educate our readers about trends for winter flowers. We talked to Lesa from 101 Market to get the inside scoop.


A common flower being used this winter is the Stephanotis, a beautiful flower from an evergreen vine. It's a popular flower for wedding bouquets with a jeweled or pearl pin placed in the center. White and green Calla Lilies and any blue flower such as Delphinium and Carnations are beautiful flowers that add a splash of color to delicate displays. As always, red and white Roses are another typical flower found in winter weddings. However, an elegant candy apple green rose is also becoming increasingly seen.

Lesa says December weddings sometimes use Poinsettias to tie in the holiday season. Floral bouquets of Calla Lilies with a silver wire for a caging effect are a beautiful accent along with pom-poms which are tiny spider like flowers that people think resemble snowflakes.

Other accessories include jeweled pins or pearl pins. Lesa suggests brides purchase these from a place like Claire’s Boutique in the mall because they are often less expensive than wholesale pins.

She also suggests some other cost friendly suggestions to stretch your floral budget and stay classy. Try to use your flowers for more than one use. For example, have the flower girl walk down the aisle and place her flowers around the unity candle. The guest book flower bouquet could be the bouquet the bride throws. Pew flowers could double for the back of chairs at the reception or become the center pieces.

Lesa's last piece of advice is to go with the feeling of the wedding. Do not get stuck on certain flower choices because you can save money by finding similar choices. It can end up achieving the same look that is wanted. Winter weddings are elegant and beautiful with the white snow back drop. Hopefully, these floral suggestions from Lesa are just what you need to add color to your fairytale wedding.

CMWA Commercial

The Economy

Everyone is feeling the pinch.

From the bride and groom, to their parents, to many of the vendors, the economy is affecting everyone.

So what are some ways to still have a great wedding, but cut down on some of your costs? I have 5 ideas to get you started on trimming costs on your wedding.

1. Prioritize. Talk with your future spouse and decide what you both feel is very important. Is it flowers, the photographer, the cake? Establish what your priorities are- then take a look at what could be trimmed down or eliminated.

2. Look at your guest list. The largest cost for most weddings is at the reception. If you trim two or three tables from the guest list- that is less money on food, centerpieces, table cloths, drinks, etc.

3. Have a smaller bridal Party. If you have already called your friends to be in your wedding, it's probably a bit late for this. But if you have not put together your bridal party, consider lowering the number. This means less money at the rehearsal dinner, for bridal party gifts and you could downsize your mode of transportation from the ceremony to the reception.

4. Have your ceremony and reception at the same venue. You can save big on transportation and other costs by having your ceremony and reception at the same place. Not all reception halls can accommodate a ceremony- so be sure to look into this before you book your venue.

5. Look beyond Saturdays. Saturday is the most popular day for weddings- and many venues and vendors will give discounts for weddings that are not on a Saturday. You can also find discounts for booking a wedding during a non-peak month (November - April).

We have a lot more tips for planning your wedding on our Web site, http://www.idoido.org

Happy wedding planning!

Grandview Lodge

It's not too often I get to attend a wedding- and not have to worry about working at it. That was the case over the weekend as I spent Saturday night near Nisswa, MN at Grandview Lodge. My wife's friend, Julie, got married to her best friend, Brandon. There was family coming from North Dakota and the Twin Cities- so Nisswa was the middle point to have the wedding.

We did not make it to the ceremony portion of the day, because I was taping a wedding at the Basillica in Minneapolis. From what I was told, it was a beautiful outdoor wedding on a perfect day in October.

At the reception, I must admit, it was a little weird not having a camera in my hand. I think this is the only wedding in the past year that I have not worked at. I usually end up doing something for family and friends- but I did not for this one, since I knew I would be running late from the wedding in Minneapolis.

Ok, funny story. When we arrived, my wife said she would get the keys to our room- since she made the reservation and I would find our seats at the reception- and we would meet. As I walked from the car, I could see a wedding reception happening outside- so I went to the outdoor bar and grabbed a beer. I walked inside- and looked around, and the room wasn't decorated in the way I thought it would be for Julie and Brandon. I walked over to the gift table and saw all sorts of gifts for Brian and Katie. Wrong wedding. I found my wife a few minutes later and we found the correct reception hall. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brian and Katie for the complimentary beverage.

The fall colors were awesome- and it was neat to get away and attend a wedding as a guest, not a vendor.