Hi,
I am organizing my marriage in Zurich in August and it is getting quite stressful, can anyone give me advise on ( possibly with realistic - not Swiss - prices) :

Florist: full wedding day decor

Make up and hair artist : Anyone knows someone who would come home to do my make up ( + some of the ladies too ) and hair do? It is on a Sunday, not sure this make it easier.

Table mise en place: where could I rent good quality linens, glasses and cutlery for approx. 80 pax?

Give aways: anyone knows of a company who would be wrapping the give aways with " confetti " , without charging a fortune?

Calligraphist: looking for someone with a great/special hand writing to write the addresses on the wedding invitations ( I did have someone, but she asked for Euro 6 per invitation, and since I will need to send out approx. 100, it would be ridiculously expensive.... ).

Entertainer: child entertainer at the reception?

Finally, I am looking for ways to make my wedding more fun. Currently, it just feels like an expensive party that I can only hope others will enjoy. I would like to do something unique to make this special day more fun both for me and for my guests. Any ideas you can share with me?

Thank you for all the help you can give me!
Amanda

For hair and make up I recommend contacting Michelle at The Green Room (www.finemore.ch).

If you need cake/cupcake ideas PM me.

As for fun things we did at our wedding.....

- we had an outdoor wedding and hung large antique picture frames from trees and had people stand in them and take photos. It was our alternative to a photo booth and folk loved it.

- we had 2 Polaroid cameras and tons of film, my highlight of the party was taking photos of everyone. We have hundreds of photos in an album and are so happy we did this.

- instead of clinking glasses to get us to kiss, we had the DJ play kids songs (ex: I'm a little tea pot) and everyone from the table had to get up and dance. It was hilarious.

- while we were waiting for the food to be served, we played a game. Hubby and I sat on chairs back to back, and I had one of his shoes and one of mine, and he had the same. The MC asked us things like "who's a better driver" and you had to hold up the shoe you thought. Our MC was great so he came up with some hilarious stuff, we got our best wedding photo from this game and had a lot of fun in the end.

What did it for us was the music - the music will make or break your party. We played all oldies music - malt shop memories, old time rockin' roll kind of thing - and the dance floor was packed all night long. Friends have had weddings with new pop music and the older crowd didn't get into it. Honestly though, good food and good music are all you need!

I agree. the two best weddings I have been to, were both organised as ceildgh dance/parties. Every single person got up to dance, with this sort of dancing being fantastic for mixing up people who might not otherwise know each other.

Do you really need hand written invitations? Yes, they look nice, but are they going to make a difference to your enjoyment of the day?

I do like your thought of there being an entertainer for the children. But, at the same time, remember that children are imaginitive at amusing themselves - just make sure they have the space to play , and a few things such as paper and bright,pencils. ( even quite young children can join in some of the ceildgh dances.)

Florist: Hhhmmm, no cheap options that I can think of, sorry.

Printed invitations, names filled in by hand. Oldies music, buffet food, dancing, just one low level simple flower arrangement on your table. Maybe a conjurer to quieten people down?

Keep it simple and don't waste money! You need the atmosphere, not a showy greenhouse.

Search Google for "partygeschirr mieten"

http://www.catering-miete.ch/?gclid=...FcZc3wodwG75kw

http://www.top-events.ch/?gclid=CP29...FYUw3wod3mf3jg

http://www.rentinorio.ch/mieten/vera...ite_1_847.html

Search google for "hochzeit shop schweiz" you will shop such as:
http://kissloud.ch

Good Luck!

Great ideas, thanks a lot, we will definitily use some of your suggestions ( I love the old frames ideas!I am a bit shy, but might also try the MC questions game ).

Thanks so much, we really love the things on this website, and will be ordering some for sure!

Great ideas, thanks a lot, we will definitily use some of your suggestions ( I love the old frames ideas!I am a bit shy, but might also try the MC questions game ).

First, congrats!

I am getting married 05.05.2012, and we are very excited about it.

Cheap, however, it is not.

The only thing I can recommend is saving money by bringing back printable programs, placecards, etc, as this is often easier than dealing with the Swiss to get it perfect. I am also good at graphic design, so I take inspiration from what I find online and design it myself.

I also noticed that the cost doesn't change much based on where you have it. For example, the 5 course dinner we are having was the same price at a small 3 star hotel verses a 5 star hotel, which was a big surprise, so if you are getting it priced one place, also get it priced at the nicer location too.

We also had to schedule things like a boat, buses, and more. The event coordinator at the hotel offered to do it for 10% of the food cost, and that has been a big help. I write to her in english and she gets back to me offers for companies, so it is really great. Maybe your reception location can offer something like that?

Anyway, good luck and PM me if you need more tips!

Also, for hair and makeup, there is a great salon called Hex+Beauty, http://www.hexandbeauty.ch/, and they will come on site and do hair and makeup for as many of the girls as you need. She is doing my wedding as well. The cost includes a "try-out" before the ceremony day too, of both the hair and makeup. If you want to speak in English, write an email so the correct person will call and give you a quote.

As for the place-settings, what about the caterer? Don't most of them include this in the pricing?

My hairdresser can come to your place and do the hair and make up. If you need info - I can send you his phone number.

Do you have any recommendations of wedding invitation stores in Zurich? I am having a wedding in June.

You can buy it online here:
http://kissloud.ch/en/pre-wedding/pl...vitations.html

It is cool because the paper is plantable. Which means everyone can cut up the paper afterwards, put it in a pot and then a wild flower will grow.

A nice website with some good ideas for inspiration: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/