Workplace Wedding Etiquette

Soon to be brides should be take heed. Tred lightly when it comes to discussing your wedding in the workplace. Although it is easy to be consumed by the planning and details, it is important to be thoughtful when it comes to discussing every shade of pink, and type of rose with the people in your office. You don’t want to be “that” girl.  Save it for meetings with your wedding planner. For further insight on how brides should navigate the workplace we asked etiquette expert Toni Downs of Etiquette For Success for advice on how to gracefully manage these types of situations:

Q: Should you invite coworkers to your wedding?

Toni D: I believe it depends on how close you are to your co-workers. If you are close to several, go out socially, and if the budget allows it, ask them.

Q: What if there are some coworkers I want to invite, but not others?

Toni D: You may tell your other co-workers there is a limit to how many people you can invite to your wedding.

Q: What if all your coworkers chipped in for a wedding present?

Toni D: If everyone at the office chips in to buy you a wedding present, then everyone should receive a personal thank you note. This is a thoughtful way to share you care about your coworkers.

Q: What if a coworker is angry with me for not inviting them to the wedding?

Toni D.: There will always be hurt feelings with someone, but it is your and your man’s day. Don’t let other people ruin it.

Thank you Toni for sharing your great advice with us!

Wedding Colors Quiz

The Knot's website conveniently offers a Wedding Colors Quiz for all you brides-to-be who just don't know what colors your wedding will entail. While it may be right on the dot for you, don't take it too seriously. If you agree with the results, go for it! If it couldn't be further from the truth, disregard it with a laugh. If nothing else, let if give you something to ponder on! Take the quiz here!

Tell the Men You Love: Choking Will Kill Them

This weekend, I attended the Association of Bridal Consultants Florida State Conference, where one of the seminars was a CPR certification class.  Almost 3,000 people die in the U.S. each year due to choking.  The good news is, the Heimlich Manuever, the traditional treatment for choking, is extremely effective in saving thousands of lives each year. However, there is one catch:  You have to ask for help!

We were told that more women suffer from choking (probably because we talk so much while eating so fast!) but more men die from choking.  The reason?  Men won't ask for help.  They go somewhere, usually the restroom, and think that they can use their finger to dislodge the food they are choking on.   90% of men who die of choking do so on a bathroom floor, alone.

Please pass this message along to all the men in your life!  If you are interested in CPR/Rescue Breathing/Choking Rescue classes in North Florida, check out the local American Red Cross website.

Charity Donations as Wedding Favors

We're busy getting ready for another wonderful wedding at TPC Sawgrass this weekend, and bride Lauren had a question that I thought might good to share.

Lauren and her fiance Jeff are making a donation to a charity, rather than giving their guests favors at the wedding.  So how is it best to let the guests know that they just didn't overlook the favors?

We considered a few options:

• 2 small cards placed on each table around the centerpiece
• a note tucked into each napkin (they were not having a sit-down dinner so we didn't have menu cards to compete with)
• a small sign near the guest book
• a note in the ceremony programs

We finally made the decision to go with the small sign near the guest book, with a few small cards (business-card sized) scattered around the sign for the guests to pick up in case they wanted to visit the charity's website for more information about this special cause.

Do you have other ideas you'd like to share?