The Guide Gals Podcast

Deciding which vendors to hire for your wedding is no easy feat. There's the research involved in finding them, the in-depth consultations, the nailing down of your style and vision, not to mention those pesky details like packages, prices, and contracts. It's enough to make anyone's head spin!

And let's not forget that the vendor team can literally make—or break—your big day. Sooo yeah. Choosing your wedding vendors is kind of a big deal. Never fear! We've created The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Your Wedding Vendors to help you navigate the vendor selection process.

Whether you're searching for a talented photographer who can swiftly capture candid moments or a skilled floral designer who can transform your venue into a peony-filled paradise, we've got you covered with the best tips.

See this episode's show notes on our website and poke around there for more behind-the-scenes details and tips! (oh, and our freebie library is pretty good too) 💌

You can also see our pretty faces on the Here Comes The Guide YouTube channel for the full visuals of this episode. (and all of the other ones too!!)

There's a fine line between a Themed Wedding and a kids' birthday party... and it can be a tough one to navigate!

Hang out with us as we talk about the ins and outs of pulling off a themed wedding and the ways to accomplish the themed wedding of your dreams.

From Romantic to Moody, Western Chic, or maybe even Lord Of The Rings (lol) there are so many themes that you can choose from for your wedding. Creating a themed wedding doesn't have to be cheesy, in fact, it can help you accomplish your overall goal in a more streamlined way.

So yeah, we are huge fans.

This episode's show notes can be found on our website and you can find many more planning tips and tricks there too.

If you want to see our faces, head over to the Here Comes The Guide YouTube channel to see all of our episodes there.

This week's episode breaks down the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of the wedding party! This group of people is a huge part of your wedding day (and the time leading up to it) so we want you to feel well-prepared in choosing your players.

We also are well aware of all of the drama that surrounds the bridal party, and believe us, we are always looking for ways to make this easier and staying focused on what matters.

SO, how do you choose these people? How do you limit the drama? And do you know where the wedding party tradition even began?

Learn all of this and more as we chat through each of these details to help you find the crew to help you say "I do!"

Follow us on social media to see more behind the scenes of our podcast and visit our website to see the show notes and other details from this episode and more.

Watch this episode on YouTube to see our faces!

The hard truth is that in our post-pandemic world, wedding costs are rising. According to Think Splendid, as of 2022, "Wedding costs are minimum 40% more worldwide because of product shortages, increased labor costs, and supply chain issues. And that 40% doesn't factor in the higher rent prices for studio/office/warehouse space, repayments on any new debt taken on to survive 2020, nor the raise wedding pros should have given themselves just to break even with inflation."

The good news is the wedding industry is back in full swing. But the bad news is that the swing has collided with a whole slew of complications beyond anyone's control—leaving both engaged couples and wedding industry professionals under pressure.

For example, did you know that there's a global champagne shortage, or that the California drought and wildfires impacted the supply of many popular wedding flowers, or that there was a paper and ink shortage that limited the availability of wedding invitations?

As romantic as weddings are, they're not immune to real-world issues. So here are some tips to help you keep your wedding budget in check—even in these most unprecedented of times.

Episode 19 of The Guide Gals Podcast

Check out our website for more wedding planning goodness! https://theguidegalspodcast.com/

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When basking in the pre-wedding glow, it's easy to have rose-colored glasses on. But sometimes, a wedding professional may throw up red flags that couples shouldn't ignore.

We're here to help you spot warning signs that could turn your fairy tale into a cautionary one. Here are the major red flags to watch out for when vetting your wedding pros that could save you from a potential wedding disaster—or at least save you time, money, and stress!

See this episode's show notes on our website and poke around there for more behind-the-scenes details and tips! (oh, and our freebie library is pretty good too) 💌

You can also see our pretty faces on the Here Comes The Guide YouTube channel for the full visuals of this episode. (and all of the other ones too!!)

The words "Let's elope!" evoke visions of throwing caution to the wind, grabbing your fiancé's hand, and riding off into the sunset together.

But let's be real: Although an elopement has fewer moving parts than a large wedding, there's still some advance planning you'll want to do. Why? Because despite the simpler process, there are plenty of important things you won't want to forget!

To help get you straight to your happily-ever-after with as little stress as possible, we've put together this Elopement Checklist.

Head over to The Guide Gals website to see the show notes, details, and grab yourself a checklist.

Want to watch the episode? Go to our YouTube channel to see our episodes there!

And check out all of the gorgeous venues with Elopement Packages at HereComesTheGuide.com 😍

But, reality check: If you're planning an international affair, your wedding planning challenges just got taken up a notch. Tack on a few thousand miles, language barriers, and regulations in a foreign country, and things can get pretty tricky.

Luckily, we've put together a comprehensive Destination Wedding Checklist to help you navigate through the logistics and smoothly sail to Happily Ever After.

Get the full checklist on our site and visit HereComesTheGuide.com to check out some of the Best U.S. Destination wedding venues.

You've already landed the fiancé. Now it's time to nail down the venue.

Hey, we know (because couples tell us every day) that Here Comes The Guide is a fantastic resource to help you find the perfect wedding venue. But once you've narrowed down your list and scheduled some site visits, you gotta know what questions to ask!

To make this task easier, we've come up with this comprehensive list of questions to ask a wedding venue—before you put down a deposit. Scratch down some notes and don't forget to download your printable PDF!

Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

Don't forget to head to our website theguidegalspodcast.com for more information and check out our socials @theguidegalspodcast for all of the behind-the-scenes details.

Episode fifteen of The Guide Gals Podcast brought to you by Here Comes The Guide.

Wedding planning is hard enough, but there can be many things that happen on the big day.... that don't always go to plan!

We asked some of the Here Comes The Guide staff to share their horror stories from their wedding days and boy are they wild! From weather mishaps, fights between family members, and unexpected allergies we heard it all.

We hope that this episode gives you some perspective on what truly matters on your wedding day AND helps you find the silver lining amidst the chaos. We won't sugarcoat it, things are bound to go wrong on your wedding day! There is always something (big or small) that goes awry, so please take note of all of the good that comes out of these stories.

Do you have a horror story to share with us? Go to our website theguidegalspodcast.com and drop us a line or head over to our social accounts and DM us your stories! We are dying to know.

While your on our socials give us a follow and share our podcast with a friend! Your support means the world to us and helps us do more episodes like this.

This episode tackles questions of what to do if you had a ceremony but not a reception, if your wedding was affected by covid, and other unique celebrations.

This has personally affected Caroline's plans, which is why she is tackling the topic in this week's solo episode! When a listener wrote in with their question about what they should do about having a later celebration, it prompted even more questions to tackle for other's making this decision.

Do you have a destination event? Just a styled photoshoot?? Forgo the whole thing?!

No matter how you decide to celebrate your big day, never forget that what YOU want is the most important thing.

See the shownotes on our website and follow our socials for more behind the scenes details.

And check out HereComesTheGuide.com for all of your wedding planning needs!