A friend of mine shared this video with me on Facebook. It's a great look at why they're so expensive and why you should shop around when you're looking to buy the dress.
http://mobile.slate.com/articles/video/slate_v/2012/04/why_are_wedding_dresses_so_expensive_.html
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Have You Registered?
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of getting married is registering for gifts. After attending many weddings and showers and filling out my own registries, I have to say that there is no such thing as scanning too many items. While, at times, it may feel like you're scanning nonstop, it leaves your guests open to many options for picking out gifts.
- The first suggestion I have is to scan often. I would suggest scanning items right after your engagement and updating your list towards the 8-6 month mark before your wedding as you make purchases or find new things that you may need.
- My second word of advice would be to scan everything you may think you need. And I mean this down to the accessories to other items that you have registered for and have not yet received. This makes it so guests can go in together on a set of gifts, or someone can buy something small if they can't afford something much larger. Even if you don't receive the large item that the accessories go to, they can be exchanged for something you need.
- Another suggestion is to do all of your registering in one day (or two days back to back). I suggest this because it will make your life infinitely easier while trying to remember what you've already registered for, what you still need, and where things might be cheaper. The day will be long, but having it all done at once will feel great and can take a great deal of stress off of your shoulders.
- Also be sure to give your guests plenty of stores to be able to choose from. I don't mean going on a spree to all of your favorite stores, but I mean a max of four and a minimum of two. Prices and store availability will vary based upon where your guests live, so you want to give them as many options as possible.
I hope some of these tips will help you through your registry process!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Help! My Guest List is Too Long!
Is this something you find yourself saying when taking a look at the prices for the reception vs the people you want to invite to take part in your ceremony and reception? This is a situation that I found myself in this past week as we worked to finalize the guest list (and make sure that we invited the people my parents knew needed to be invited as well). While creating our guest list, we started with making a list of everyone we wanted to have at our wedding. This list was huge! We knew our limit was around 150 people, but this paper list ended up being around 200. This was even before my parents' list was brought in. Adding my parents' list brought the number to about 250, and we needed to start making some decisions. We started with a high lighter, and went through and high lighted the names of family, very close friends, and people who had some part in the wedding day (my friends doing hair, my hairpiece, photographer, wedding party, officiant, etc). With the absolute essential people taken care of, we moved onto the people who we would like to see come but may not since they're coming in from out of state. This ended up being around 30 people; we will send them invites, but we're assuming they're not going to make it out (they are counted in our current count right now, so it won't be a big deal if they actually do come). The final group of people that we colored were the people who would probably be there (those ones who weren't coming from out of state) for the whole night. This left around 40 people who weren't high lighted, but we had a plan for a few of these. After some discussion with my event planner at the hotel, I found out that I could have any number of people at the dance, after the dinner has been cleared. While there are some wedding sites (The Knot being one of them) that say this is tacky, I don't think it actually matters that much. It's a great way to save money, and if your wedding is at a time of day where some people might still be working (since we're having ours mid-afternoon on a Friday, this could very well be an issue for some people), it assures them that you still want them to be a part of your big day if you invite them to the party after the fact. I'm also lucking out in this area because we will be having a hosted bar for an hour after the dinner service, so my guests won't miss out on too much (there will also be some extra cake, so they can probably get some of that, too!).
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Guest Book Alternatives
After some lengthy discussions with my fiance, we had decided that we wanted to do something unique for our guest book. Something that stood out. After some looking, we knew we wanted to do something with wood, particularly a puzzle.
We did some investigating, and discovered that a wooden puzzle guest book doesn't quite fit within our allotted budget, so we needed to come up with something creative. The alternative didn't come to me until last night while I was pricing out invitations with my mother. Why not take the concept that we were planning on with the puzzle (people signing them and leaving words of wisdom) and change it into letters for our initials? It's oodles cheaper, and I think it's even more unique.
These letters, along with our unity painting, will decorate our home and will be able to be on display for everyone, not just tucked away into some box that we won't open until our children talk about getting married.
We did some investigating, and discovered that a wooden puzzle guest book doesn't quite fit within our allotted budget, so we needed to come up with something creative. The alternative didn't come to me until last night while I was pricing out invitations with my mother. Why not take the concept that we were planning on with the puzzle (people signing them and leaving words of wisdom) and change it into letters for our initials? It's oodles cheaper, and I think it's even more unique.
These letters, along with our unity painting, will decorate our home and will be able to be on display for everyone, not just tucked away into some box that we won't open until our children talk about getting married.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Deciding on Wedding Colors
One of the first things that brides often decide upon is the wedding colors. Many couples will choose to go with their favorite colors, while others look to a color wheel (and color meanings) and plan very methodically.
For some brides, this may look intimidating, but I think I have a solution for you on how to pick colors that you love and still be happy with them. Picking the colors that my fiance and I would use was easy for us. We both share a similar favorite color that we knew we wanted included in the colors. The slightly more difficult part was deciding on how to pick companion colors (and I knew, unfortunately, that pink was out, so this took a little research on my half). Since I was planning on picking up bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal, I started doing some looking on their website for the colors they had available.
While their 44 color selection was a little intimidating, I used a bit of my graphic designer background to pair colors together. We knew we wanted Clover included, but other than that, we were open to suggestions. I "print-screened" the image and went to work in Photoshop. Using the eyedropper, I selected the color I wanted to use and created a large square on another page to give myself enough space to see what other colors would match. Picking red was an easy decision, but it came down to what shade we wanted to use so that it wouldn't look like Christmas (our wedding is in September, and that would have been a bad idea). I finally decided on Apple, but then we needed a new color. Pink was still out, so I started looking towards the blues. It came down to two: Marine and Horizon. This final decision wasn't made until I went to see my bridesmaids at David's Bridal. I knew that one of the bridesmaids was for sure wearing blue, so I made certain to see her in both colors. The decision was made on Marine, since the color provided some nice muting to the other colors that we liked and it looked the best with the skin tone of my maid of honor.
I don't necessarily recommend this method for most couples (this took a lot of trust on behalf of my fiance), it was effective and worked.
If you find that you can't include your favorites in the main palette, don't forget that you can include them in the bouquets and as accent colors. That is ultimately what we had decided on the Clover color. The Apple and Marine worked very well together, and we wanted only light touches of Clover. This allowed us to be able to wear accents of the Clover (I'll have a Clover belt and shoes, and he'll have a Clover vest) without overwhelming everyone with the color.
Picture is cropped from: http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Strapless-Ruched-Satin-Ball-Gown-F13974_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-Long-Bridesmaid-Dresses
While their 44 color selection was a little intimidating, I used a bit of my graphic designer background to pair colors together. We knew we wanted Clover included, but other than that, we were open to suggestions. I "print-screened" the image and went to work in Photoshop. Using the eyedropper, I selected the color I wanted to use and created a large square on another page to give myself enough space to see what other colors would match. Picking red was an easy decision, but it came down to what shade we wanted to use so that it wouldn't look like Christmas (our wedding is in September, and that would have been a bad idea). I finally decided on Apple, but then we needed a new color. Pink was still out, so I started looking towards the blues. It came down to two: Marine and Horizon. This final decision wasn't made until I went to see my bridesmaids at David's Bridal. I knew that one of the bridesmaids was for sure wearing blue, so I made certain to see her in both colors. The decision was made on Marine, since the color provided some nice muting to the other colors that we liked and it looked the best with the skin tone of my maid of honor.
I don't necessarily recommend this method for most couples (this took a lot of trust on behalf of my fiance), it was effective and worked.
If you find that you can't include your favorites in the main palette, don't forget that you can include them in the bouquets and as accent colors. That is ultimately what we had decided on the Clover color. The Apple and Marine worked very well together, and we wanted only light touches of Clover. This allowed us to be able to wear accents of the Clover (I'll have a Clover belt and shoes, and he'll have a Clover vest) without overwhelming everyone with the color.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Photography
When picking a photographer, there are plenty of things that you should look for. The first thing that many brides look for is price. I would say that this shouldn't be the first thing you want to look at because there are plenty of times that you're getting only what you pay for (this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we'll go over that later). Another thing that brides look for is the package details. This is important, because this details what you're paying for. There is also the possibility that your photographer won't include a copy of your pictures on a DVD in the lowest package (this isn't common, but it can happen) without paying a fee first. You will definitely want to find out how many photographers you're going to have on your wedding day. Multiple photographers means different angles at the ceremony, pictures of the bride AND the groom getting ready (this is especially nice if you're getting ready in separate locations--for a wedding at a hotel, I recommend the groom and groomsmen getting ready in a room at the hotel so that the photographer(s) have an easier time getting pictures of both of you), and two people putting their creative spins on your pictures.
What I'm doing for my wedding is using an amateur photographer. While there are people who will say that this is a risk, there are plenty of benefits for myself and my photographer. The benefits to me include my own creative direction will be taken into account, I'm saving TONS of money, and I know the photographer personally (and we both know what kind of photography the other does). For the photographer, the biggest benefits are exposure and a direct payment. This photographer also did my engagement photos, so I know what kind of pictures he takes.
What I'm doing for my wedding is using an amateur photographer. While there are people who will say that this is a risk, there are plenty of benefits for myself and my photographer. The benefits to me include my own creative direction will be taken into account, I'm saving TONS of money, and I know the photographer personally (and we both know what kind of photography the other does). For the photographer, the biggest benefits are exposure and a direct payment. This photographer also did my engagement photos, so I know what kind of pictures he takes.
Photo by Alexander King
Perhaps the biggest piece of advice I hope you take away from this is that you need to weigh the risks, decide what you would like to do and how much you would like to spend. While it is easy to just have someone take pictures with your own digital camera, invest in some sort of photographer, be it professional or amateur. You don't want to regret the pictures that you have when you look back years later.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Don't forget to change your name!
A Facebook friend of mine put out a nice reminder of all the places you'll want to change your name to avoid issues after you get married! Here's the link she posted to:
They're little things that you might not have thought of before the wedding.
The other thing to be sure of is to get your marriage license more than five days before the wedding. In Minnesota, you have a five day waiting period before you can retrieve your license (they might even mail it to you, so it could take even longer than that). Hennepin County lets you pick it up right away, but you can't use it for five days. Dakota County lets you do it online, which is nice, but you'll still have the waiting period. The nice thing is, in Minnesota, that you aren't bound to applying for your license by where you live or where you will be getting married. If you're taking a honeymoon right after the wedding, you'll have to apply for the name change months before you get married so that it has time to be changed before you leave. You don't want to be detained by customs on your way to your romantic getaway...that would be embarrassing.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Pinterest? Oh yes!
Perhaps one of the best things to come about in the past year is Pinrest. This can easily become one of your best friends and resources while planning your wedding. For those who don't know, Pintrest is a virtual pin-board that you can use to keep track of ideas that you like for anything! You can use it for your home, wedding, kids, books you want to read; the possibilities are endless. Since I'm getting married this fall, I've found myself using Pintrest for most of my wedding ideas. Most of what I have on there right now is hairstyles and pose ideas for my photographer. There was also this little gem that I found after following the planners at my venue (they were part of the deal--so awesome! And they threw this awesome little luncheon that was free and amazing :D):
Instead of a unity candle, she found the idea of a unity painting (though this one is much smaller than the one I would like to use).
There are plenty of other things that you can find on Pintrest that are great for weddings or showers, or for when you have kids.
If you're wanting an invite to Pintrest, let me know in a comment and we'll get that squared away.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
What to Look for in a Reception Venue
The biggest suggestion I have is to look at what is included for your precious money. While you may have found the ideal location, there may be some hidden costs that you're not seeing right away. You also don't want to go too cheap, because you'll have the same problem of things not being included. When we were looking for our reception venues, I had two that I was seriously considering going with. I didn't realize that I had already made my decision until we came home from the second venue. The first one I looked at was the Embassy Suites. Their packages were a little expensive but super tempting (not to mention I had a great deal from a wedding fair), but we wanted to check at least one more location before we made a final decision. Our next stop was the Holiday Inn across the street. While I liked the interior of the reception venue better than the Embassy Suites (and I did change hotel locations for the Embassy Suites to one I liked much better), the packages weren't as nice--they were definitely cheaper, and that was evident by the things that they included.
The other piece of advice while looking for a venue is their preferred vendors. While you may have someone who has agreed to make a wedding cake for you at low cost, the venue may not allow it. This was an issue that I had encountered as I was deciding upon my location. While I would have loved the cake balls to be my wedding cake, I think it was a good call going with Embassy Suites and using their preferred cake vendor. The same goes for the reception flowers. They include different types of center pieces based upon the package that you choose when you go to your tasting. Now, we've made the decision already about the package, but that's because we weren't able to get the tasting date that we wanted.
Something else you'll want to be careful of is the venue's liquor license. If the location has a bar, you're usually okay, but if they provide a bar and don't have one on site, your beverage choices may be limited to beer and wine. This can be a problem for your guests if they don't like beer/wine.
You also may want to ask if the venue will allow you to have more guests arrive after dinner (to save you money). While a few sources call this being cheap, I call it being smart. Who cares if everyone isn't invited to dinner? Are you really that close to everyone that you're inviting? It will make seating guests much easier, and it means that you can have people come to your wedding reception who may have had to work earlier in the day (this is especially nice for me since my wedding is on a Friday afternoon, and I'm sure a few of the people that I am inviting won't be able to get the time off requested). It will also help add to the party atmosphere of the reception by having people who are really energized (and not super full after your reception dinner) come in for the best part of the night.
Be sure to ask about what days are cheapest at your venue as well! All venues have a food minimum and some even have a beverage minimum that will need to be met in order to have your reception at that location. The cheapest day is Sunday, but it will make it a little harder to have a hopping reception unless Monday is a holiday (this is the case with my aunt, so she's in good shape here). Fridays are also a little cheaper (but not as cheap as Sundays), but sometimes it can really make a difference in the price (there was a big difference at my venue for Fridays vs Saturdays).
When you've picked your location, you're also going to want to make sure that you put in your room block as soon as possible. In some hotels, blocking the room when the price is the cheapest can alleviate the cost for your guests, since they'll lock that price in for them.
I hope that these small tips can make a difference in your venue choices!
The other piece of advice while looking for a venue is their preferred vendors. While you may have someone who has agreed to make a wedding cake for you at low cost, the venue may not allow it. This was an issue that I had encountered as I was deciding upon my location. While I would have loved the cake balls to be my wedding cake, I think it was a good call going with Embassy Suites and using their preferred cake vendor. The same goes for the reception flowers. They include different types of center pieces based upon the package that you choose when you go to your tasting. Now, we've made the decision already about the package, but that's because we weren't able to get the tasting date that we wanted.
Something else you'll want to be careful of is the venue's liquor license. If the location has a bar, you're usually okay, but if they provide a bar and don't have one on site, your beverage choices may be limited to beer and wine. This can be a problem for your guests if they don't like beer/wine.
You also may want to ask if the venue will allow you to have more guests arrive after dinner (to save you money). While a few sources call this being cheap, I call it being smart. Who cares if everyone isn't invited to dinner? Are you really that close to everyone that you're inviting? It will make seating guests much easier, and it means that you can have people come to your wedding reception who may have had to work earlier in the day (this is especially nice for me since my wedding is on a Friday afternoon, and I'm sure a few of the people that I am inviting won't be able to get the time off requested). It will also help add to the party atmosphere of the reception by having people who are really energized (and not super full after your reception dinner) come in for the best part of the night.
Be sure to ask about what days are cheapest at your venue as well! All venues have a food minimum and some even have a beverage minimum that will need to be met in order to have your reception at that location. The cheapest day is Sunday, but it will make it a little harder to have a hopping reception unless Monday is a holiday (this is the case with my aunt, so she's in good shape here). Fridays are also a little cheaper (but not as cheap as Sundays), but sometimes it can really make a difference in the price (there was a big difference at my venue for Fridays vs Saturdays).
When you've picked your location, you're also going to want to make sure that you put in your room block as soon as possible. In some hotels, blocking the room when the price is the cheapest can alleviate the cost for your guests, since they'll lock that price in for them.
I hope that these small tips can make a difference in your venue choices!
Picture from: http://embassyweddings.com/ceremony-bloomington.html
So Many Weddings, So Little Time (and Money)!
Perhaps some introductions are in order. I'm the Poor Bride. My fiance and I decided to start planning our wedding last September, and here we are. Why am I the Poor Bride? My fiance and I both work two jobs and go to school, but still don't seem to have enough money left over for anything other than food and a few bills (to be read as, I have a very hard time paying rent to my parents). We are going to make this work, though, with help from my family and our friends.
I was on the ball right away, acting as if my wedding was only weeks away as I started planning with my mother. After one wedding fair, I had already picked out my reception venue (Embassy Suites), which also ended up being my ceremony venue as well so we wouldn't have to worry about the weather being a key factor. Two weeks later, I had my dress (at a cool $100 off from coupons and sales) and about $500 worth of coupons from David's Bridal. Continuing on, my fiance and I finally agreed on some wedding rings (they're quite beautiful--simple titanium bands with stripes of color). To save money, I had already started asking friends and coworkers if they were willing to help me out with my wedding. So far I have one coworker doing my ceremony flowers, two coworkers doing the styling of the wedding party, one making me a head piece, and two making my party favors. At this point, however, I still hadn't picked out a DJ. Here I was, stressing out about having to pay the DJ all of the money up front, so I had been waiting for my tax return to do so. That's when I learned that they only wanted a deposit ahead of time, so I was off the hook there.
Starting at Christmas, my wedding party started going through some changes. By Valentine's Day, two of my three bridesmaids were engaged, and one of them is having their wedding on June 8th (Elly)! Now, here's where some of the biggest stress started. Elly's wedding is in four months. Some alteration places and bakeries prefer to have six months notice on things like this, so I started stressing out for her.
My goal with this blog is to show other Poor Brides how to extend their budget and have a fantastic wedding for less than $15,000.
Here is my current list of vendors:
Instant Request DJ (ceremony and reception sound)
Embassy Suites Bloomington (ceremony and reception location)
David's Bridal (bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses)
RomasBanaitis (wedding rings)
Kikuike (cake topper)
Buttercream Bakery (cake--sans frosting--provided by venue)
Sweet Pea's Floral (reception flowers provided by venue)
Pocket Full of Posies (ceremony flowers)
Brianna and Joordan (hair and makeup)
Amanda and Rachel (cake balls)
Sara H (custom head piece)
Alexander King (photographer)
HyperSmash
I was on the ball right away, acting as if my wedding was only weeks away as I started planning with my mother. After one wedding fair, I had already picked out my reception venue (Embassy Suites), which also ended up being my ceremony venue as well so we wouldn't have to worry about the weather being a key factor. Two weeks later, I had my dress (at a cool $100 off from coupons and sales) and about $500 worth of coupons from David's Bridal. Continuing on, my fiance and I finally agreed on some wedding rings (they're quite beautiful--simple titanium bands with stripes of color). To save money, I had already started asking friends and coworkers if they were willing to help me out with my wedding. So far I have one coworker doing my ceremony flowers, two coworkers doing the styling of the wedding party, one making me a head piece, and two making my party favors. At this point, however, I still hadn't picked out a DJ. Here I was, stressing out about having to pay the DJ all of the money up front, so I had been waiting for my tax return to do so. That's when I learned that they only wanted a deposit ahead of time, so I was off the hook there.
Starting at Christmas, my wedding party started going through some changes. By Valentine's Day, two of my three bridesmaids were engaged, and one of them is having their wedding on June 8th (Elly)! Now, here's where some of the biggest stress started. Elly's wedding is in four months. Some alteration places and bakeries prefer to have six months notice on things like this, so I started stressing out for her.
My goal with this blog is to show other Poor Brides how to extend their budget and have a fantastic wedding for less than $15,000.
Here is my current list of vendors:
Instant Request DJ (ceremony and reception sound)
Embassy Suites Bloomington (ceremony and reception location)
David's Bridal (bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses)
RomasBanaitis (wedding rings)
Kikuike (cake topper)
Buttercream Bakery (cake--sans frosting--provided by venue)
Sweet Pea's Floral (reception flowers provided by venue)
Pocket Full of Posies (ceremony flowers)
Brianna and Joordan (hair and makeup)
Amanda and Rachel (cake balls)
Sara H (custom head piece)
Alexander King (photographer)
HyperSmash
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