Weddings with Grace

Who we are

Weddings with Grace is a family based business that began running on October 1, 2009. It has been a project begun two years ago, when as a hobby we planned and organized events and weddings for friends and family. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to study with the Penn Foster program to get our wedding consultant diploma and open our corporation. Thanks to that program we heard about the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC), of which we are now members. When the word "we" appears, it refers to the owners of the company: Grace Lasaga and Jessica Lasaga.

Grace Lasaga received her Bachelor's Degree in Electronic Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana, located in Mexico City. Her jobs before becoming a full time mom were: PC designer, lawyer's assistant, and General  Manager of a supermarket. She is now the Creative Director and main Wedding Consultant for Weddings with Grace.

Jessica Lasaga is currently a college junior at the Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter, Fl., studying a psychology concentration. After graduating in 2011, she plans to get her Ph.D in Health Clinical Psychology. She is the Image Director at Weddings with Grace and also volunteers in the research that the University of Miami's Miller Medical School is currently conducting on Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome.

New Journey

  

This summer we decided it was time to officially open our business, so after having a wonderful road trip vacation from Florida to Tennesse and back, we contacted Peter Flegg (our accountant) for advice. He has been wonderful and very supportive throughout this new journey.

Designing and decorating for parties and weddings is not new to us, but administering a business is. Finances, marketing, and advertising are a lot more complicated than we could have possibly imagined! With the help and tips of Ricky and Gregg Black from Perfect Wedding Guide and Arielle Bekerman from Get Married, advertising has been less complicated and actually fun! Arielle was the one who gave us the idea to start our own twitter and facebook.  We are very thankful to them!

At the beginning, when we were deciding to incorporate and were still unsure as to what kind of corporation we wanted, a friend, Erick Montiel, helped us to better understand  the variations between the different kinds of corporations,  the many aspects of owning and running our own business, and shared some tips about marketing ideas; we also wish to thank him!

It has been a new journey, but one in which we found people who care! This has been a very exciting time in our lives, and we know that it will only get better!

Teachings

On October 1st of this year, Weddings with Grace started running as a business, and like we mentioned before with no idea about marketing or advertising of any kind. With the kindness of people who gave us ideas, the lessons began. Creating a website was our first challenge, but with dedication we built our website on a weekend.

Since we began the company, we did some research about wedding magazines in our area - the wedding industry is a large and important market nowadays - and decided to sign contracts with the following: Perfect Wedding Guide and Get Married. Perfect Wedding Guide is well reknown in Boca Raton, FL. and surrounding areas, has a great vision, and a lot of contacts in the industry. Before even meeting with them, we knew that we were going to sign with them for the aforementioned reasons. Yet, as we got to better know their staff, we found even more reasons for joinging the Perfect Wedding Guide family, they really made us feel like family; they care about their clients and help them to be a success.

It was different with Get Married. Their first magazine was published on October, so we had never seen it before signing with them. However, we love their website and the show. After speaking with Arielle Bekerman, we were sold! Arielle was a great help; she inspired us to join social networking sites. Now you can find us on twitter at www.twitter/wedgrace, facebook, and on typepad with our first blog. We are still amateurs, and are learning all about the technological process. We may make mistakes, but as a dear friend of ours says: "No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. What shows the quality of someone's work is not never making mistakes, but knowing how to cover up your mistakes so that everything seems perfect." There is no perfection, but with the help of our family, friends, and clients, we have been able to achieve making our bride's dreams a reality on their wedding day.

Love as a Story

 
  This week, one of our brides came to visit her family and called us. We were very fortunate to spend some time with her, her husband, and her parents. We watched the movie "The Blind Side"  with them - an amazing and inspirational movie with Sandra Bullock - and ended thinking about how love evolves. It's always great to see how a couple deals with all of the changes the preparation of a wedding brings, how ecstatic they are on their wedding day, and how they glow and act when they are sharing their life as husband and wife. It was a delight to share that love story with them. Both are adapting beautifully to their new life as a married couple, and their happiness is evident. As they were going through the wedding planning and preparation process, they were often talking about compromise, something they are still employing; they're finding a balance between what they like and dislike of each other such that they complement one another perfectly. We hope to stay in touch with them for a long time to see how their love matures as time passes by and wish them much luck and happiness in the years to come. Below is a picture of them right after their marriage ceremony was concluded.

Ten Best Ways to Cut Costs

"The key to a great wedding is knowing where to spend and where to save." Mindy Weiss, in her Wedding Book, gives us ten ways to start cutting on our budget to keep the bills down:

1) Trim the guest list; this can cut down your biggest expense (caterer).

2) Choose a gorgeous setting so you can save on decorations.

3) Go with a reception site that provides the site, tables, chairs, flatware, and staff. Renting everything aside plus a tent, will add up to a susbtantial expense.

4) Think about getting married during daylight. Breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon tea cost less than dinner. Also, people tend to drink less earlier in the day, so you can have non-alcoholic beverages lowering your drink's costs.

5) Limit the alcoholic offerings to wine, beer , and a signature cocktail.

6) Move the wedding from Saturday to Sunday; if you need to bring down the price down more, move it to a weekday. Vendors lower their fees for days that have less demand.

7) Eliminate the champagne toast. Have the toast with whatever your guests are drinking.

8) Intead of a band, hire a DJ.

9) Choose with an inexpensive printing method on your invitations, or design your own. There are many magazines that can give you some ideas.

10) Skip favors. Instead you can do something for everyone at your wedding, like a candy bar.

Just posted two new pages about the timeline for a wedding.

Adding two new pages to our blogg. We would really appreciate your reviews. Thank you.

Duties of the Maid of Honor

 

Maid or Matron of Honor.

The Maid of Honor or the Matron of Honor is a close relative or friend of the bride who supports the bride emotionally during the wedding preparations, helps with wedding tasks, and serves as an official witness to the marriage. If the bride has a sister near her age, she will usually serve as the Maid of Honor. A close cousin, a best friend, the groom’s sister (if the bride knows her well), or a close male relative or friend could also be asked to fill this role. If the male is serving as the bride’s Maid of Honor, he would be referred to as an Honor Attendant.

The only difference between a “maid“ and a “matron“ of honor is that the matron is married. Sometimes, if the bride wishes to include two sisters or close friends, she may choose to have both a Maid of Honor and a Matron of Honor.

The duties of the maid or matron of honor will vary with the size and formality of the wedding. However, the following are some typical tasks that are assigned to a Maid or Matron of Honor:

Help the bride plan her wedding. When the bride needs someone to run errands, make phone calls or go shopping, she should be able to turn to the Maid of Honor first.

Be the great communicator between the bride and the bridesmaids.

Help the bride to address invitations.

Help organize the bridesmaids on the day of the rehearsal and on the wedding day.

Help the bride dress for the wedding.

Adjust the bride’s veil and train at the ceremony.

Hold the bride’s bouquet at the ceremony.

Hold the groom’s ring during the ceremony.

Take part in the receiving line.

Toast the couple at some point during the reception.

Help the bride change to her traveling clothes after reception.

Make sure the bride has packed everything she needs for the honeymoon.

Inform the bride’s and groom’s parents when the newlyweds are ready to leave the reception.

 

Bridesmaids Duties.

 

Bridesmaids.

With few specified duties, the bridesmaids are typically sisters or close relatives of either the bride or groom, or close friends of the bride. It is acceptable at a modern wedding for the bridesmaids to be either single or married.

Bridesmaids take part in the processional, and recessional, and may stand in the receiving line. At the reception, they mingle with the guests and are seated at the bridal table. Bridesmaids may organize showers (either together or separately) and will either give a luncheon for the bride or attend one given by her.

Weddings with Grace.