#7 Plan ahead! This is a great time to meet with family and decide who is paying for what and when it needs to be paid and booked. It’s the holidays and you are seeing everyone, so when they offer to help make sure that you immediately qualify when and what!

#8. Schedule time off from work for your wedding and honeymoon. The sooner you schedule it , the less stress on you!!

#9. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year! We pray blessings on your love and your marriages!

#4 Focus on your relationship! Remember to keep it in proportion! Spend more time with that man of your dreams then planning the wedding of your dreams. At the end of this process you want a happy marriage not a neglected spouse!

#5 Put your wedding party to work! A great way to utilize your bridesmaids and friends is with your favors! Let them help make favors, escort cards, and decor items. Also, let your bridesmaids help get your guest count nailed down. Let them make generic calls to guests who have forgotten how to R.S.V.P! This will keep your wedding stress free and let your bridesmaids feel like they are an important part of your wedding!

#6 Stay organized ! Get a notebook and a folder and keep everything in one place! List notes from phone calls and appointments. Write down or clip pictures of what you love but also what you hate! Sometimes what you don’t like is more helpful to your vendors. Keep all your reciepts and record all your payments all in one place! Then put all these items in a special wedding bag that you can grab and take to appointments.

More to come!! Stay tuned!!

Of course the drawback of getting engaged over the holidays is that it still is the holidays! So now you are planning a wedding and managing all the holiday excitement too! So to all our newly engaged couples out there, a little advice from the experts to keep you sane and happy!

#1 just breathe! Every time you feel overwhelmed just keep it simple and breathe! 10 deep breaths will jump start your nervous system and make you feel calm and fresh!

#2. Make a wish book or join pintrist! If you are not a techno girl then get some magazines and start cutting! If you love your computer then join pintrist and do it online! Remember to clip everything you love even if it’s just one tiny detail! Such as a color, a texture, or even a overall theme!

#3. Think in order of what is important! Remember that family and your fiancé come first! The vendors to think about first are venue, catering, and photography! Start there and enjoy your holidays!

More to come…

Dear Orchard House,

We just want to extend a heartfelt thank you from the Hostetler/Tollison family for what a wonderful job you did for the wedding of Brooke and Chris on Sunday, October 16, 2011. Everything was absolutely beautiful and was done to match Brooke’s personality for her magical day. All the guests were extremely impressed and had the time of their lives. Please also give a big thank you to all the vendors and helpers who were extremely professional, kind, and friendly. We can’t thank you enough. If you are looking for a stress free, highly professional, beautiful, and fun venue we would highly recommend The Orchard House for your wedding experience, you will not regret it.

The Hostetler/Tollison family

Thanks to all of you for a fantastic experience…

Happy Parents (6-25-11)

I like the courteous manner in which you two always seem to acknowledge us, as if we had known you for a very long time. That was a very good feeling and you were great about getting back in touch with us…

You were very well staffed (on wedding day) and it was evident. Things went so smoothly and they were so helpful. If we or our guests mentioned anything at all, they were “Johnny on the Spot” to get it done.

Amy, mother of the bride (6-4-11)

Much love, Christen and Jimmy (5-29-11)