To Dos Before I Do Wedding Podcast

In this episode of the podcast, I’m talking about long distance wedding planning. Wedding planning, in general, can already become overwhelming at times -- so couple that with being hundreds or thousands of miles away from your wedding venue location -- yikes!  Well, in the episode, I’m going to share some tips with you on how to make long distance wedding planning more manageable and enjoyable!     www.todosbeforeido.com

Wedding ceremonies are the reason why all of your friends and family come to celebrate you and your fiance!  They are there to watch you two exchange your vows and pledge a lifetime together.  Sometimes the wedding ceremony details get overlooked because let’s face it, when you’re planning your wedding, the reception details are more fun and exciting to work on.  You will most likely spend hours upon  hours obsessing over every detail of your wedding reception, and with good reason -- you want it to be  the party of a lifetime. But take a step back and remember that your ceremony calls for just as much planning too.  Your wedding ceremony should have just as much careful consideration as your reception. After all, that special moment when you and your fiance are pronounced husband and wife is the true highlight of your wedding! Depending on what type of ceremony you have, it could already be pre-written and very structured and you have to follow a certain timeline. &n

Question: “What should I look for when a picking a DJ?” www.todosbeforeido.com

In this episode, I’m going to share some tips on how you can avoid turning into a bridezilla!     When Jeff and I got married in February 2014, I was pretty organized when it came to planning our wedding. Jeff joked around with me and said that instead of being a “bridezilla,” he called me a “bridechilla.” The blog, Once Wed, defines a bridechilla as the complete opposite of everything a bridezilla represents. A bridechilla is a soon to be married woman who is cool, calm and collected, perfectly poised, dependable and level-headed. I think Jeff called me this because he rarely saw me have a meltdown. Don’t get me wrong, I was far from the perfect bride - I don’t even think those exist!  I did have my occasional breakdowns and some tears were shed, but that is all natural and to be expected!  Looking back at mine and Jeff’s experience, I think he gave me that nickname because I didn’t let the wedding planning process completely consume m

On this episode of the podcast, I’m sharing my latest Five on Friday with you. During my Five on Friday segments, I share a list of 5 planning tips or 5 interesting wedding related things. In this episode, I’m giving you 5 honeymoons that you can actually put on layaway! We all know, weddings aren’t just pretty, but they can also have a pretty price tag.  Not only can wedding costs add up, but so can the honeymoon!  For some couples, Jeff and I included, we paid for our own honeymoon.  While we knew we wanted a romantic and fun getaway to celebrate the new chapter in our lives, we also didn’t want to be broke newlyweds!  We wanted to make sure that we weren’t blowing our entire budget on a trip.  For us, the day after our wedding, we went on a 7 day cruise that ported out of Miami, FL and we visited Jamaica and Mexico.  It was the perfect escape for us and we enjoyed it so much that we want to go again! So, I recently stumbled across an article on B

Question: “What are alternative guest book ideas?”   www.todosbeforeido.com

This episode is a great one and I’m happy to share it with you.  This episode focuses on planning the perfect bachelorette party.  I’m sharing a recent interview I had with Ken Davenport, a successful Broadway Producer.  Ken’s most recent creation is called “That Bachelorette Show” which is a dancing-room-only interactive Off-Broadway parody in New York City.  It is a unique show, in that the audience members get to interact with the cast and instead of your typical theater style seating, “That Bachelorette Show” is in a night club type setting!  Many groups travel to New York City for their own last fling before the ring celebrations and end up making “That Bachelorette Show” part of their itinerary.  Because of this, the team over at “That Bachelorette Show” have even developed a concierge type service to help you plan a bachelorette party - they know that planning a bachelorette party can be a super stressful ex

In this episode, I’m giving you 5 apps that you and your wedding guests can use to collect pictures from your wedding day.   So, pretty much everyone is connected to their cell phones at all times, especially during weddings, when everyone wants to snap and capture memories of the big celebration!  And over the course of the past couple of years, wedding hashtags have become so common! Almost every wedding Jeff and I have been to lately have a cute hashtag for their weddings!  For mine and Jeff’s wedding, we used #francopartyof2 to document all of our wedding day pictures and even pre-wedding celebrations.  Because cell phones and social media are super popular when it comes to weddings, companies have been developing apps to help couples crowdsource their wedding pictures. So here are 5 wedding apps you can use to collect your guests’ pictures.   Eversnap: http://www.geteversnap.com/ Wedpics: https://www.wedpics.com Wedding Party: https://www.weddingpartyapp.com/ Gu

Question: When should I order wedding invitations? www.todosbeforeido.com

Over the last few episodes, I’ve been covering my “How to be an efficient bride” series with you and sharing tips on how you can be organized and achieve maximum productivity with minimal wasted effort or expenses.     In this episode, I’m covering another part of the “How to be an efficient bride” series and focusing how being efficient during the final week before your wedding.   Finalize the details   Create your packing lists   Create an itinerary / timeline and share it with your bridal party   Create a wedding contact sheet   Delegate a wedding contact person   Stay healthy   My biggest piece of advice is to just enjoy the whole process of wedding planning -remember the reason why all of this planning is taking place -it is because you are going to marry the love of your life!  Keeping that end goal in mind will definitely make your wedding planning experience that much sweeter and more enjoyable.  Especially whe

Special events call for special ways to preserve your memories. Photo books or albums are the perfect way to create a keepsake item of your wedding pictures and engagement pictures. You can turn them into something that will let you and your significant other relive your special day.  So my parents have been married for 29 years and it is still so fun for them to look through their wedding albums … and my sister and I enjoy flipping through the album too!   Wedding photo books also make for wonderful gifts for your parents or grandparents.  I’m sure they would love to have a copy of your wedding pictures and be able to show them off and brag to their friends about how beautiful their son or daughter looked and how proud they are of you!   This episode I’m sharing my latest Five on Friday list with you.  The topic is saving your precious wedding day memories by creating wedding photo albums or photo books.  So, I’m sure that your wedding photographer

Question: For a destination wedding, should you book a room for your bridal party to stay together or is it asking too much for them to stay apart from their families for a night?   www.todosbeforeido.com

  Part 3 of my series: how to be an efficient bride. I’ll be talking about communicating with your bridal party.   Bridesmaids play a big role in a wedding. Selecting your closest friends or family members to be a part of your special day is a pretty big deal and for me personally, I think it is such an honor to be asked to be a part of someone’s bridal party because that means you truly value the friendship you share. It means you want them to play a part in one of the most special and memorable days of their life.  Since bridesmaids have such an important role on your wedding day, it is important that you don’t forget about communicating your expectations, the details and any help you may need from them.   www.todosbeforeido.com

Jeff here, Shaina’s husband and the guy behind the computer of the TO DOs BEFORE I DO Wedding Podcast.  I recently shared my perspective on what grooms can do during the wedding planning process and after those couple of episodes, we received some feedback that you wanted more episodes that focus on the groom.  So, here I am! I’m sharing a Five on Friday with you.  This episode will cover 5 things the groom should do the morning of your wedding.There are so many moving parts that you’ll be juggling and thinking about the week of your wedding, especially the morning before you say “I Do” to the love of your life.  So, I hope that these 5 to dos are helpful to you: Eat breakfast Know where the rings are Practice your vows Make sure you shave, carefully!   Let your future wife know how excited you are!     www.todosbeforeido.com

Question: Is it required for the bride and groom to host the day after the wedding brunch?   www.todosbeforeido.com

This episode is Part 2 of my series: How to be an efficient bride. I’ll be talking about how you and your fiance can stay organized during your wedding planning process. When Jeff and I got married in February 2014, I was pretty organized when it came to planning our wedding.  Jeff joked around with me and said that instead of being a “bridezilla,” he called me a “bridechilla.”  The blog, Once Wed, defines a bridechilla as the complete opposite of everything a bridezilla represents. A bridechilla is a soon to be married woman who is cool, calm and collected, perfectly poised, dependable and level-headed. I think Jeff called me this because he rarely saw me have a meltdown.  I think that one of the things that really helped me not freak out during the planning process was I tried to stay as organized as possible.  As you know, there are so many moving parts, deadlines, people to communicate with, meetings to set up and things to check off your to do list!  

In this episode, I’m sharing with you my latest Five on Friday list.  This episode is focusing on that sparkly thing on your left hand … that thing that you can’t take your eyes off!  I’m talking about your engagement ring and sharing 5 tips on how to take care of that beauty!     When Jeff proposed to me, I’m not gonna lie, I couldn’t take my eyes off my beautiful engagement ring!  Whenever I was driving in the car, I would catch a little glimmer as my hand moved and I got butterflies!  Or when I was typing or texting, I would get so distracted when I looked down at my left ring finger!  And you know the first couple of months after being engaged, everyone wants to check out your engagement ring and congratulate you!  So, how do you make sure that beautiful piece of jewelry is properly cared for?  Here are my 5 tips for you:   Get your ring insured   Clean your ring   Bring your ring in to a professional jeweler

Question: Do I have to send save the dates?

This episode isn’t focusing on the wedding details and planning process behind your big day but instead, it is focusing on the topic of you and your fiance and what you two can do to set up your relationship for success before marriage.   I’m sharing a recent interview I had with Luis Congdon and he has some incredible insight and advice to share with you about how you can set up your relationship for success before marriage.     Luis is the host of the podcast, Lasting Love Connection, the leading resource for relationship tips and advice.  He is an experienced relationship coach who has helped hundreds of couples over the last seven years.  As a trained coach, Luis, specializes in creating healthy communication styles.     http://www.lastingloveconnection.com/   http://www.todosbeforeido.com

Today’s Five on Friday list is focused on the fun times at your wedding!  I’m sharing my 5 ideas of how to keep your guests on the dance floor at your wedding reception!   For most brides and grooms, Jeff and I included, we wanted to make sure that our guests were having a great time at our wedding.  We wanted our family and friends out of their seats and on the dance floor!  After all, there's no bigger buzz kill at a wedding than a totally empty dance floor. So here are 5 ways to keep your guests dancing at your wedding:   Trust your band / dj   Start the night off on a high note   Mix up the types of music   Engage your guests   Make sure you are on the dance floor too!   www.todosbeforeido.com