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Bride IQ: the wedding test, with Belle

Bride IQ is Belle’s wedding test. By the end of it you’ll be an expert on the things couples usually learn the hard way, at their own wedding, with no second try: the invoice, the final count, the flowers, the fine print. The industry is hard on everyone because the people in charge are new at it every time, so Belle collected what everyone else learned the expensive way and turned it into questions: one at a time, a verdict on the answer you pick and why, and a bird ladder that climbs as you go. Each question points to the careful written guide on Boards.

The test is the short version: 24 questions, the highest-stakes lessons across every subject. The subject IQs go deeper, for the person handling that part.

The subject IQs

  • Money IQ — The invoice, the fine print, the line that looks like a tip. 7 questions.
  • Venue IQ — Touring, comparing, signing, and the date you think you have. 10 questions.
  • Guest IQ — The list, the count, the plus-one nobody invited. 10 questions.
  • Flower IQ — Delivery, water, colour that bleeds, and what to tell a florist. 16 questions.
  • Dress IQ — Ordering, alterations, the timeline nobody tells you, and what the shop won’t say. 9 questions.
  • Food & bar IQ — The cake, the buffet clock, the bar you were going to stock yourself. 10 questions.
  • Photo IQ — The shot list, the family round-up, the light at five. 11 questions.
  • Music IQ — DJ or band, the do-not-play list, who holds the microphone. 8 questions.
  • Day-of IQ — The run of show, the weather, who takes the card box home. 11 questions.

Money & contracts

  • The tablecloths — Ten tables. Rent them finished, or buy them and press them yourself. I have feelings about this.
  • The line that looks like a tip — The 22% looks like a tip. It might not be. Nobody at the tasting will bring it up.
  • The math nobody did — $95 a head, 120 guests, a 22% service charge. Slide to what that one line costs. Nobody does this at the tasting.

The venue

  • The cheaper venue — Two first lines, two venues. One of them is fooling you. Maybe both.
  • The date is the date — The venue said “looks good!” on the phone. The cardstock is gorgeous and it’s right there.
  • “For the day” — The florist wants in at nine. The venue’s access window starts at two. The contract says you have it for the day.

Guests

Flowers

  • The Pinterest board — Forty pins and one word: “this”. The most expensive sentence in flowers.
  • Three florists, three languages — One itemizes. One names a design fee. One asks your budget. Which is cheapest?
  • The wind — Outdoor ceremony, a seven-foot arch, and Saturday’s forecast says gusty. It’s heavy. It’s fine.
  • The flowers on the cake — The baker asks what’s going on the cake. “Whatever’s left from the bouquets.”

The dress

  • Seven months is forever — The date is set, the dress is a tab you keep opening. It’s made to order. How much time is that, really?

Food, cake & bar

Photo & video

  • The light at five — You picked a five o’clock ceremony because five sounded right. The sun has its own schedule.

Music

  • DJ or band? — The fight every couple has at least once. Settle it. Then find out it wasn’t the question.

The day