Not all of my groomsmen live locally. What should I do?

                                                         “Are you nationwide?”

                  

Almost every bridal party has someone coming to the wedding from out of town. One of those guys standing up there with the groom lives in another city, state or even another country. This groomsman is probably not going to arrive until a couple of days before the wedding.

How do you make sure that he will be wearing exactly the same thing as everyone else is, that it fits him and it is ready for him when he arrives in town for the big day? Simple, keep it all in one place. Let one store, the one you trust to get the job done, take care of everything. The only thing your out of town guy needs to do is get his sizes taken by a formalwear specialist.

A simple internet search of the International Formalwear Association (www.formalwear.org) website will guide him to where he can go get professional measurements in or near his town. Once he finds a store he asks them for a complimentary fitting. It is a service that tuxedo rental businesses provide for each other. If there is no listing in his area he can go to any store that rents tuxedos and they will do it. No one wants to have him come into town and not have his tuxedo fit because he measured himself.

That being said I know the next question is why can’t he just get his tuxedo there? Let your formalwear specialist do the work for you. Don’t burden yourself or your groomsmen with style names, color and pattern combinations of the tuxedo. Once you have selected what you want let us take care of the rest. Our job is to audit each and every detail of each and every order making sure it’s what you want. Every tuxedo ordered for your wedding is going to be checked and inspected by one set of quality control standards. One call can let you know which groomsmen have their sizes in and which might need a little extra prodding.

Your wedding is the biggest day of your life, but weddings are our life. Let us help you make it as easy and beautiful as possible for you. Trust in a formalwear professional.    

Contributed by Puget Sound Wedding Professional member – Barb of  Top Hat formalwear

Children At The Wedding

It's been nearly 25 years, and I still remember this event: After having sewn half of the bridesmaids outfits, designed most of the flowers, and generally bent over backwards to be a very supportive sister and bridesmaid, moments before the wedding (and not well beforehand), her groom insisted that our 4 month old (still nursing) baby was not welcome in the sanctuary during the ceremony. He said that a baby crying during their vows would ruin the experience for him.

My husband slipped out of the sanctuary and remained throughout the entire wedding in the cry room of the church, with a baby as good as gold. We paid a sitter for our older son, but the babe-in-arms needed to be with mommy, because I'd have to be at the wedding and reception from set up to clean up -- about 11 hours. No other babies or children were present that evening.  My truly biased opinion is this. You are more likely to have your vows interrupted by a ringing cell phone than a crying baby.

However, if you are still worried, try to place yourself emotionally in the shoes of the mother who may still be nursing the baby. Give her plenty of notice to make plans. Offer to have a sitter on site during the ceremony, so she and her partner can enjoy the wedding together.  Little children bear no malice, and will only "ruin" your wedding if your heart is not open to them, or if you have not planned in advance to make any kind of accommodation for them. Most parents will be responsible for their little ones, so check your worries at the door.

I'm sure the wedding planners of our blogging community will have more ideas-- this is just what happened to me.  By the way, he (groom) never did stop trying to control -- and they are now sorting out the final details of their divorce.

Contributed by Puget Sound Wedding Professional Julia Miller of Julia’s Floral. 

What if I Don’t Want Kids At My Wedding?

There is nothing worse than imagining the day of your wedding and during your vows a child starts screaming or crying! Your moment is interrupted and you will be reminded of that moment every time you watch your wedding video.

What is the best way to ask people to not bring their children?

First of all, when addressing your invitations, you only address it to the parents and do not include the children’s names or “and family”. That is the first hint that only the adults are invited.

Secondly, you can put on your invitation at the bottom when mentioning the reception - “Adult Reception to follow”.

Lastly, consider making arrangements with a nanny service to have on-site care for the guests’ children so that they can enjoy themselves and be able to check on their children at points during the evening.

If you are inviting children, be sure and have activities, special meals and treats. Consider an area with tables and maybe an “Activity Director” for them so that everyone can enjoy the evening!

Submitted by Puget Sound Wedding Professional Member Valerie of Valerie's Invites.  You can also find her on Facebook.