Wedding Planning Apps

Wedding planning can be stressful and time consuming. These phone apps can be a great help when you’re planning your wedding, and even after planning! 

Budgeting- Mint

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Weddings can be expensive no matter where you’re getting married. Creating a budget for your wedding can be a surefire way of making sure you don’t go overboard and break the bank. Sticking to a budget and recording your purchases can be helpful when things start to add up, especially those small costs that you don't necessarily think of.

We recommend creating a budget with a free app like Mint, its a great way to budget for a fixed amount each month to go towards your wedding expenses, or to add wedding-related line items to be budgeted for. When creating a budget for your wedding,  keep in mind that unanticipated costs can add 30% to your budget, so it can pay to prepare.

Wedding Website - The Knot

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The Knot is soon to be your best friend. It’s a wedding website host, checklist, it keeps a handle on your guests for you, and has a ton of reviewed wedding vendors from across the country. The Knot is a great app no matter where you are in the wedding planning process. It can help you find vendors at the very beginning of your planning process and the checklist helps keep you right on track so you don't fall behind. 

The other great thing about The Knot is the wedding website tool. A wedding website can be a great and efficient way to get a bunch of information to your guests. You can link your registries, share specific wedding details and hotel block information. You can also personalize your website with pictures, wedding party information and even share your love story. 

Registry- Zola

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We recommend trying Zola to mix it up when it comes to registry shopping for your guests. This company has created a dream registry, it’s everything you’d hoped a registry could do for you. Through one registry you can combine all of your favorite brands and allows  add some unconventional gift ideas that your guests can contribute to, such as experiences and cash funds. This registry also allows group gifting. Multiple friends can contribute to any item that you mark for group gifting.

You also have tons of control over your registry. For example, once a gift is purchased for you, they will notify you and give you the choice of shipping the product now, swapping it out for something else, or convert the purchase into store credit.

Inspiration- Pinterest  

An obvious choice. I'm sure many of our couples have had their dream wedding board filled with dreamy inspiration even before they were engaged. Pinterest can still be your go-to after you’re engaged. You can create public and private boards for all the specific details of your wedding. Be careful, sometimes things you see on Pinterest are really cute but can be very expensive or might not work with your venue and other vendors or time of the year you're getting married. Before you begin obsessing with a projector or look you found on Pinterest, please make sure to contact your vendors to make sure that it will be achievable. We have a Pinterest page that has a lot of different real wedding and inspirations that we highly reccomend you check out! 

Bread & Chocolate's Guide to Goshen


Welcome to the beautiful city that we love! We want guests of Bread & Chocolate to enjoy this city just as much as we do, so we’ve compiled a list of places we love to frequent that are unique to Goshen.

FOOD + DRINK

Goshen Brewing Co.
Handcrafted beer and food that is all locally and organically sourced. They have a great outdoor space so if you're here in the summer, be sure to keep an eye out for their concerts and outdoor movie nights. 

Venturi
Certified Neapolitan pizza and voted in the top 15 most life changing pizza by Esquire Magazine readers - we couldn't agree more. 

Common Spirits
Craft cocktail bar that has fresh, unique twists on classic favorites.

Maple Indiana Cuisine
Delicious Indian dishes with fresh ingredients. 

Los Primos
A Chipotle style restaurant.

South Side Soda Shop
A classic 50's style diner complete with favorite home cooked recipes. 

Electric Brew
Goshen's original coffeehouse.

The Chief
A summer staple in Goshen, expect long lines but creamy, delicious hand dipped ice cream.

Dutch Maid Bakery
Enjoy a wide variety of assorted pastries made with fresh ingredients.

Constant Spring
A 21+ restaurant and bar featuring locally sourced ingredients.

Elephant Bar
A late night bar that is also BYOF (bring your own food).

Olympia Candy Kitchen
A great diner for breakfast, lunch and dessert with old-world charm.

The O
Newly renovated hometown bar

PARKS + RECREATION

Ignition Garage
Record store with regular live music shows on their stage.

Pumpkinvine Trail
A trail connecting many communities, it's a great place to take a stroll, either on foot or wheels.

The Bubble
A building with bubble shaped window containing LOL Health & Fitness, Embody Massage and Spacious Heart Yoga.

Goshen College
A beautiful campus to experience.

Goshen Farmer’s Market
Locally sourced produce and goods.

Fidler's Pond
A beautiful park with kayak and canoe rentals.

Kercher's Sunrise Orchard
Family owned and farmed since 1922.

SHOPPING

Soapy Gnome
Handcrafted soap with fresh ingredients.

Ten Thousand Villages
Unique, Fair trade gifts from all over the world.

Goertzen Pottery
Beautifully hand crafted pottery located on the first floor of the Old Bag Factory.

The Nut Shoppe
Specializes in hand dipped chocolates.

Found
Fair trade art and antiques from all over the world. 

 

As you can see, there is plenty to do around our town! To learn more about the town that we adore, please visit Good of Goshen

 

Assigned Seating


Photo by Cory + Jackie. Styling and planning by Stellaluna Events.

Photo by Cory + Jackie. Styling and planning by Stellaluna Events.

One question that we often get is whether or not clients should do assigned seating. Our answer is always yes! As with most decisions when it comes to wedding planning, we acknowledge that it's a personal and if you opt not to, that's fine too. We know that assigned seating creates a bit more work for you ahead of the wedding, but it's definitely worth it. This is one of those last minute details that must get done as you often don't know your final RSVP count until about a month before the big day, but not one to overlook. 

So, why do assigned seating? We often hear from guests that it's comforting to know that there is a certain spot for them to sit. This is especially true to guests who might now know that many people at the wedding and finding their own seats can be overwhelming and quite frankly, awkward. The other thing that we've seen happen is that, inevitably, not every table gets filled to capacity so there might be 1 empty seat at every table, and then a family of 5 comes in and we either have to set up an extra table for them to sit at (so awkward!) or the family has to split up between tables. We've seen both of these scenarios happen quite often, and trust us, it is not ideal. Plus, how cute are all of these seating displays?!

Photo by Bekah Taylor.

Photo by Bekah Taylor.

Again, we know that creating a seating assignment can be a daunting task, but it definitely pays off in the end and your guests (and catering staff!) will thank you. So, grab a glass of wine with your fiance and make it as fun as you can! 

Photo taken by staff member.

Photo taken by staff member.

Photo by Ashley Dru.

Photo by Ashley Dru.