If you’re looking for some CREATIVE + AFFORDABLE wedding reception entertainment options that go way beyond dinner, drinks & dancing, then this wedding planning workshop is perfect for you!

Today’s wedding receptions feature creative entertainment ideas that are increasingly more personalized, more interactive, and more representative of your values, personal style and tastes.

There are endless ways to reimagine classic wedding reception entertainment & activities, and create a memorable, shared WEDDING EXPERIENCE based on your values & priorities.

In this meeting, we’re covering an overview of creative wedding entertainment ideas, and highlighting some fun twists on tradition that you can plan to treat your guests to an unforgettable experience.

GATHERING INSPIRATION FROM PINTEREST

I know podcasts don’t always lend well to visual examples, and I don't like simply rattling off long lists during the show ... so here’s a list of search terms that you can simply copy / paste into Pinterest for instant wedding entertainment ideas & inspiration:

• creative wedding guest book ideas
• wedding seating chart ideas
• wedding place card table ideas
• DIY selfie station
• DIY wedding photo backdrop,
• Bouquet toss ideas
• Garder toss ideas
• Money dance ideas
• Creative wedding toast
• Dessert bar ideas,
• Unique first dance ideas

For easy tips on getting a private Facebook group up and running, you can visit this link.

A LOT of our energy during the wedding planning process is centered around the fear that things will go wrong, and how we can avoid and prevent minor mistakes - and major disasters - on our wedding day.

I’ve been deeply involved with weddings for over a decade, and candidly, it’s a universal truth - no matter how much you plan and prep and delegate and assign, something will go wrong and / or not according to plan at some point during your wedding celebration.

The good news is that big or small, I have some solid practices that you can use right now to be able to adapt, improvise, and mentally overcome any unforeseen issues & challenges that are bound to arise.

Tune in for so much more!

Your wedding planning questions, answered!

Tune in for answers to all of your tricky wedding situations, including:

• We're having a hard time choosing a date that works best for all of our closest loved ones - how should we decide?
• What's the etiquette when inviting just a couple of people from a larger social group?
• Are we obligated to provide vendors a meal / include them in the final head count for catering?
• Food truck wedding logistics - we love this idea but feel unclear about the best way to approach the set up to make sure our guests have a smooth experience.
• Want small & intimate, but every event gets blown up and magnified out of control. I feel shy, anxious, and uncomfortable in large crowds of people and would so much prefer a quieter, small group setting. How can I manage these feelings through the next few months, and especially through our wedding itself?

To submit your wedding questions, please visit our website >>> www.weddingplanningpodcast.co/contact

Would you volunteer to host a party for 40 people and then rush out to the store with no menu planned & no shopping list?

No way!

You’d sit down and plan out what everyone was going to bring, make a menu of app's & drinks, look up some recipes, and then make a detailed list of exactly what you need to buy.

So why on earth would you head out to a WEDDING FAIR / BRIDAL EXPO with absolutely no plan, and just "see what happens"?

Today on the Wedding Planning Podcast we’re going to take inventory of your priorities, and make a list of your top goals for your day spent at the wedding fair.

This way you can MAXIMIZE your time spent with vendors and gathering inspiration, and minimize the stress & overwhelm factor of wandering through hundreds of booths full of noisy commotion.

After our time together today, when the 15th DJ asks you if you want to dance, and the 22nd wedding planner asks you to spin their "wheel o' fun" ...

... you can confidently smile, say no thanks, and keep walking.

To submit questions for an upcoming show, simply visit our website and leave me a voicemail!

"The more thought & intention you put into your wedding plans throughout your engagement, the richer your wedding celebration will be."

Do we really need to hire a WEDDING PLANNER / Day of Coodinator?

In Part One of today's featured show, we review a list of critical guidelines to keep in mind as you decide whether or not to hire a professional wedding planner.

Do you HAVE to hire a professional planner? Spoiler alert - I definitely DO NOT think you have to spend thousands of dollars to hire a professional wedding planner.

In Part Two of the show, we sort out some common misconceptions and FAQ's about wedding planners and day of coordinators.

When I got married, I wasted a lot of time researching and interviewing planners before I realized that A.) I didn’t HAVE to hire anyone, and B.) John and I had all the tools we needed to plan OUR perfect wedding day.

And side note, shocker - obviously, none of the wedding planners I interviewed ever mentioned to me, hey by the way, did you know that you could actually just do this on your own?

Thankfully I came around to that, but it took lots of wasted effort and stress to get there.

Flash forward to today - I literally created the Wedding Planning Podcast so that any engaged couple could tune in and use the episodes and the tools we review in the weekly shows to plan their own wedding - no professional or pricey wedding planner required.

Some alternatives? Try checking out the sites we mentioned in today's show, including your local Craigslist postings, Thumbtack.com, taskrabbit.com and fiverr.com

I also know that there are countless wonderful wedding planning professionals out there, and for some couples it’s a really smart investment … and we’ll get into all of that that much more in today’s show.

Click here for the full blog post from today's show.

Click here to submit your wedding questions or future show topic requests.

Thank you for your support of the Wedding Planning Podcast, and we'll talk soon!

Cheers,
Kara

Streamline + simplify has been a tagline for the WPP literally since I created the show way back in 2015. (Look closely, it's even on our old logo!)

Not only are these two of my favorite words in the English language - that I try and live by in ALL aspects of my life - more specifically, they perfectly summarize my approach to wedding planning.

Every situation you’ll encounter throughout your engagement can be examined through the lens of simplicity and potentially scaled back or streamlined in some way that will make your life easier, more affordable, more relaxing, and overall, more enjoyable.

Often we find ourselves in the midst of a planning roadblock and the first instinct is to explore your options.

In the first example we’re going to talk about today - a couple who has family in 2 different places, many of whom don’t want to travel, you might consider … getting married in each place, what would that look like? Getting married where we live? Getting married on an island with just us?

In all the feelings and family dynamics and charged emotions that fly around throughout your engagement season, it’s sometimes easy to get lost in a million far-fetched options ... when the simplest, most streamlined option is left by the wayside.

On that note, let's explore some other common wedding planning scenarios where things can escalate and become verrrrrrrrrry complicated, very quickly.

I’m going to do my best to point out some straightforward, simple solutions that I hope will make your engaged life EASIER, MORE AFFORDABLE, and put a stop to waking up in the middle of the night with your mind racing over how many passed appetizers there should be, how many people should be in your wedding party, and how much ice to buy for your welcome party.

Ready to get started? Tune into the full show for so much more!

I went to a beautiful wedding in Carlsbad, CA last weekend - tune in for the highlights, including a really unique venue, rocking dance floor, and the most beautiful gift to all the guests.

But first, we're starting this week's show with some newlywed notes from my brother and sister-in-law, Mike & Laura. They share what worked, what stressed them out, and their true feelings on the wedding being "over".

For lots more details on their Rochester, MI wedding, look for a show dated May 12, 2025.

I also have an inbox full of your wedding questions to share:

• Dealing with grief during the wedding planning process,
• Communicating open bar vs cash bar,
• Bouquet toss - outdated?
• How can we end the night without a "grand exit"?
• Dealing with very opinionated family about our guest list

These shows only work with your participation! I know, I know - you can ask chat gpt or get lost on Reddit, but this is so much more fun.

Be in touch anytime >>> weddingplanningpodcast.co/contact

Talk soon,

Kara

PS - A link to the Carlsbad Lagoon venue

Get ready for a jam-packed Wedding Q&A show, full of your planning questions & concerns! Here's a sampling of what's on the menu this week:

• How much alcohol to buy? >>> click here for one of my favorite hosting tools ever (and tune in to my full answer for lots more helpful tips on the topic!)

• What can we expect for the price of flowers?

• Who pays for the bridal shower, & should I offer to help? >>> click here for blog post "Practical Bridal Shower Gift Ideas"

• Fiance doesn't want any wedding party at all, but I do. How to proceed?

• Rehearsal dinner options are way too expensive. Advice on making it more affordable?

• Should we hire a babysitter for our reception?

• What's a good way to ask for cash instead of gifts? Spoiler alert, I don't think there's a "good" way, but creating cash funds that you can share on your gift registry is an option with Honeyfund. There are no fees, and you can even link directly to your Venmo or PayPal accounts.

• Do we have to seat wedding party members with their dates?

Wedding questions on your mind, or topics you'd like to hear more about?

Submit your wedding questions here

Thanks for being here, and we'll meet again next week!

Cheers,
Kara