Tips Tuesday: Wedding Invitations!

Wedding budgets can be unbelievably stressful during the planning process. When you're not working with a planner, it is easy for costs to surprise you or for you to leave items out, or to forget them completely. I see it all the time when I am hired on as a "Day Of" coordinator. During our "month out" meeting I am letting my couples know of the added and sometimes not budgeted costs to expect, like thank you cards after the wedding. I don't want anyone to be surprised by something at the last minute!

My little sister will be saying "I Do" in just a few short months. Even though it's hard sometimes as a wedding planner AND a sister, I try to only offer my thoughts when asked! However, I just could not help myself when we were on FaceTime this past Sunday. She kept sending me screen shots of the invites she was putting together and asking if they looked good and they did.  They were beautiful! But sometimes picking the perfect invite isn't the last step in your invitation budget. I reminded Gabby, as I do all my clients, that on top of the price for the invite you fell in love with, you would also need to put stamps on the RSVP envelopes and to bring the set to the post office once they arrived to find out exact postage because depending on what you chose, it may weigh more than the standard.

This week, as Gabby was about to press the finish button on her beautiful invites, she called me for reassurance. I told her they looked great and asked her how many she was ordering. When she told me she was ordering 105, the exact number of wedding guests, I had a good laugh and then filled her in on why! Sometimes a bride gets so caught up in the moment that they don't always think clearly. I explained to her that since she only needed to send one invite per couple on the list, she could cut the amount and, more importantly, the cost almost in half! I wish I could have captured her face right at  the moment because it was priceless! I was able to capture this shot of us breaking the news to her fiancé, Ian, and happily letting him know they would be spending far less then originally thought on their invitations. Sometimes sisters know best!

Tips Tuesday: Hold up, wait a minute, did you just announce your bridal party?!

My beautiful sister getting engaged on
December 6, 2016 in NYC

EEEK your love popped the big question in the sweetest of ways and you were totes surprised! You have a million zillion questions! 7 thoughts racing through your head! And you can NOT wait any longer to share the news with you family and friends! Girlfriend, please let me stop you right there. We know you are excited and we are so excited for you but, please, let us save you the biggest headache and avoid the stress that is sure to come your way if you act too fast!

We get that you want to tell your closest family and friends and share the news via social media and you should.  This is such an over the moon, crazy exciting time for you. However, this is also a time that you should bask in the excitement and joy.

We want to make sure you a prepared for what’s going happen next. The questions, oh the questions! You will feel blindsided with and cause you to think “OMG what do I do? I have no idea, should I think about this? Do I have to answer this now?!” That then causes you to blurt out answers that you didn’t fully think through. Then you’ll have to go back and do damage control or forever hold your peace!

So we put together the survival guide of the epic three questions you are sure to be asked and how to answer them.

Question one: So when’s the big day!?

Epic Answer: We are actually really excited to just enjoy this exciting time of being engaged so we have decided to enjoy this time and start thinking of all the fun details after our engagement party!

Question two: So who’s going to be in your bridal party?!

Epic Answer: We actually are not 100% set on having a bridal party.  We really have to think about how we want the day to look and make sure we are both comfortable and have the same vision.

Question three: Am I invited?!

Epic Answer: Honestly we are most likely going to be paying for all of this on our own so we really have to sit down and crunch numbers to see what is actually feasible. I would love to have everyone there but I’m sure if we can’t, we will have a BBQ or something that’s more laid back to enjoy with co-workers and friends to celebrate.

Fave Fridays: A GoodTime DJ's

Yay it’s Friday!

And who doesn't love a Friday?! So what better way then to share a vendor with all of you that we absolutely love! If you don't know this company already they are a must! Let me introduce you to Amanda Comtois Customer Service & Office Manager at A GoodTime DJ's . It's true when they say a DJ can make or break your wedding so you want to be sure you pick the one that fits you and your needs the best. I swear Amanda never sleeps!  She is there whenever you need her to answer any questions you might have and it's always with a smile! She takes the time to get to know her clients; their budgets, needs, and styles and educates you on what would be best for your big day. 

How long have you been in the business and/or with the company?
Wedding & Event Services since 1982, I have been with the company almost 5 years

Tell us all about your business/ company:
We provide DJ's, uplighting, gobo's, outdoor sound systems, and much more! We strive to make every event or

wedding unique to the clients vision and our customer service is outstanding!

Tell us what you love most about working on weddings:
I LOVE helping clients when they call in the early stages of planning all the way up to the week of their special day! Some couples know exactly what they want and others are not so sure of all the details that go into making a wedding day magical. I love answering all their questions to help them understand how to make everything run smoothly with timely, working with wedding planners and coordinators, and locations of individual services booked at each venue. Our DJ's are the on site professionals that make their wedding day visions come true!

Do you have a fave wedding that stands out to you?
My wedding with this company 7-21-12! What an amazing experience through the reservation process of hiring a DJ and the classic photo booth from Wicked Fun Photo Booth! Everything went so perfect with DJ Kelly, we could not have asked for a more amazing wedding day! I started working for A GoodTime DJ's in August of 2012 what a FUN company to be part of & most of all I LOVE MY JOB!


What is your fave trend right now?
No favorite trend personally! So I would answer any trend that our clients or couples want to have is perfect with us!

What's one thing you wish couples understood about your services/ products?
Customer service, quality of our services provided at events & following up with our clients after their event, along with our great pricing is AWESOME!
Reserving DJ services for any event big or small should be done through a professional DJ company rather than an individual person. I have helped many couples/clients in panic mode book one of our DJ last minute because the DJ they had hired wouldn't return calls or had cancelled on them last minute.

Anything else you want to add?
Contact us anytime! I look forward to helping you with any event planning! 

When you book more than one service with us, we will give you a free hour of overtime up to $200 savings. when you mention KAGEMfave.

Mondays Are About ME!

Today kicks off my Birthday Week! Whoop Whoop! On Saturday, I will be blowing out 27 candles on my cake! WHAT?! How did this happen where has all the time gone?! It truly does fly by when you're having fun!

I am constantly trying to be the best me that I can be and have been reflecting a ton on my journey to 27 in the past few weeks. As I go into this next year of my life, I truly feel blessed and so thankful for all that life has shown me...the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because everything I have gone through, experienced, and seen has made me the person I am today and for that I am thankful.

What better way to start off my birthday week then to also officially kick off wedding season for us here at KAGEM?! We start busily working on all the final details for our upcoming weddings. Today, I got online and was greeted by this lovely review left by the sweetest bride, Rhisa ( you can see her stunning wedding here!), it gave my day a positive start that everyone benefits from on a Monday!  

So get excited! There is a lot of exciting stuff that will be popping up on here and over on insta as we go through this exciting season. I can't wait to share all the fun stuff we have planned for this season along with this journey through my 27th year with you!

Psst...I’m an adventure seeker so leave me some comments on what I should try out during this next year and I will document it when/if I can make it happen!

Wedding Wednesday: Rhisa & Jeff July 9, 2016

It's Wednesday! And what better way to get through a Wednesday then to talk about our favorite weddings! Rhisa and Jeff said "I Do"! On July 9, 2016 during a beautiful outdoor ceremony with a gorgeous view. The weather was not ideal, with heavy downpours off and on,  however that didn't get their spirits down one bit! I'm the type of planner who will do anything and everything to make sure you have the day of your dreams and for Rhisa and Jeff that was to do the ceremony as planned. As I checked the radar, I saw a chance of opportunity and we went for it!  Within two minuets the rain settled and everyone was seated and ready to go. The ceremony went off without a hitch! Check out some of these amazing highlights from their beautiful day.

Wedding Planner: Kagem Chic Designs

Venue: Longlook Farm

Caterer: Magic Foods Catering

Band: Ripcord

Videographer: Yothann Productions

Photographer: Laura Wagner Photography

Florist: Simple Bouquets

Photo booth: xo photo

Officiant: Steven Dembow

Bus: First Student Charter Bus 

Hotel: Holiday Inn, Tilton, NH

Bakery: Triolos Bakery

Trends Thursday: Color Goes POP!

Everyone loves a little pop of color. Color makes you smile, laugh, get excited! So it’s obvious that this new wedding trend is a great one!

This year you will be sure to see the crisp classic all white wedding with a beautiful twist. That twist is a Pop, Bing, Bang of color!

Currently several of my 2017 couples are doing just this and let me tell you I can not wait to share the pictures with you because it will be GORGEOUS!

One of the best pops of color to really tie together the crisp, clean, and classy look is green.  When you use green as your color pop you are tying in the go-to color of your floral arrangement, which you are already spending money on! With that you could also do greenery on each table setting and Bam, you are all done with your pop and it is super classy with just the right amount of pop!  Your guests will have their breath taken away by the beauty of it all!

Now there are definitely ways that you can go wrong with this trend, like adding too many different color pops or just going a little to cray-cray and then you lose track of the vision you were going for. 

Are you thinking of going with this trend for you upcoming wedding? Did you already use this trend for a wedding or event? Or did you attend a wedding or event that did? Tell us all about it and, of course, we love pictures!

More questions on how to achieve this look on your dime? Just ask we are always happy to chat!

**Photo Credit: The Pixel Perfection**

Tips Tuesday: Budget’s got you like Whoa?!

Have fun with your stamp choice!
We love these pretty bloom stamps!

Let’s face it, budgets can be terrifying and something you just don’t even want to deal with especially when planning your dream wedding. We get it. No one really likes to think about not being able to have the wedding they have been dreaming of all because of a budget.

However, I’m all about doing the budget first just to get it out of the way.  Then you can start planning on a realistic budget, that won’t make you eat Ramen for the next year, as you plan. Once you actually get down and do it, it’s truly not nearly as bad as you think and a lot of couples are pleasantly surprised.

See that ocean we love so much pops
up everywhere <3

Budgets allow you to have a starting point and a great layout of every possible expense you might encounter. Budgets are truly very valuable in the planning process and it almost gives you more motivation to come in under budget!  

Pssssst! Check out these top budget items couples often forget!
1. Postage
2. Wedding bands
3. Vendor tips

Everyone loves a little
"cup noodles" every now and then!

I’m a firm believer that you can have the day you have been dreaming of on the budget you have. It all comes down to being chic on the cheap and putting the time into finding the best vendors that are willing to work with you to create your vision with your budget. (Look out for another Tips Tuesday with more on finding vendors within your budget)


Budgets allow you to prioritize areas that you are firm on and areas that you realize you can eliminate or compromise on. They also let you set realistic savings goals.  When you know what you need to save, it’s a lot easier to manage and come up with a plan that will still allow for date nights and fun with the girls because without that you will feel like you’re in spending jail and that will just make you miserable!

Have questions about where to start or how to create the best budget possible? Just ask, we are here for you!