from: http://www.ama.ab.ca/registries/marriage-certificates

Okay, this is something destination brides are probably familiar with, but probably not so much if you are getting married locally (read: in the same country in which you live).

Turns out, legal requirements of a wedding are different everywhere. To get legally married in most countries requires paperwork (and often the ceremony) to be in the official language of that country. That can be interesting when you do not speak the language (for example, I only know “traveller’s Spanish – “Where is the restroom?” “No, I do not speak Spanish,” and a few other key phrases). Some countries require blood work (looking at you, Mexico) and most require you to be in a country a specific number of days prior to saying your “I Do’s”. 

All of this stress and confusion and paperwork and such leads most – if not all – destination couples to sit down and wonder, “Should we get married before our wedding?”

I know what you are thinking. “Wait? What? What does that mean? Legally married BEFORE your wedding? How does that make sense?”

Basically, this means that your license and everything is taken care of before you leave for your destination wedding, so, technically, you are already married when you have your actual wedding at your destination.

from: http://everyday-delights.blogspot.ca/2011/08/our-wedding-marriage-certificate.html

To begin with, Brandon and I swore that would NOT be happening. We wanted our wedding to be our only wedding. Then we started looking into the requirements, discussing options, looking at prices… and changed our minds. We talked about doing a legal ceremony as a way to include grandparents, since they would not be able to travel, but some drama started to develop, so we nixed that plan. But the more we looked into it, the more our practical sides shoved themselves forward. So we boiled it down to the following:

PROS: It is easier and cheaper to do our legal ceremony ahead of time. 

CONS: It could take away from the “specialness” of Dominican wedding.

The more I talked to previous destination brides, the more our minds were swayed. Every single one we talked to who got legally married ahead of time did not regret doing it that way, and we talked to a few who did their legal “stuff” at their location, who did regret it (lost paperwork, problems with the language, judges and ministers, and so on). We became convinced that we could have a legal ceremony and have it add to, not take away from, what we see as our actual wedding on the beach. We are really viewing it as part of the planning process, another thing on the “to-do” list leading up to our actual big day. This is how we are trying to keep it that way:

1. We are only having two witnesses – the requirement. We are either going to ask his parents or a couple who are good friends of ours. Our dog may also be joining us.

2. We are not buying new clothes. I have a white simple sundress (I actually wore it to my bridal shower already) and Brandon will also wear something out of his closet. We will keep it nice, but casual. Not too fancy!

3. We pared down the ceremony to as short as legally possible. While we agreed to do the ceremony outside, in a nice place where we have gone hiking here in the city, it will probably take longer to walk to the site from the parking lot than the actual ceremony. We have the legal statements, shortened vows (they are required), and signing the certificate. All in all, it might take 6 minutes.

4. We are not exchanging rings until our wedding on the beach.

5. We are thinking of July 18 – our beach wedding date – as our anniversary.

6. We chose to get legally married after work one day. We might go out for supper after. Maybe. We decided to have the ceremony a couple weeks before we leave on our trip, so we can focus on planning and last minute details afterwards.

7. We are not having traditions, really. I am not walking down the aisle, we are not having music, and so on.

8. We are not broadcasting to the world that we are doing the “legal stuff” ahead of time. If people ask, we do not lie, but we are pretty discreet and vague in general about it all. We do not want to lie, but we also know that it is hard for people to see our actual wedding – on the beach – as a real wedding when they know we are technically legally married ahead of time.

9. I will be changing my name, but I am not going by my new name until after the Dominican.

10. We are referring to our legal ceremony as our “legal day”, and our destination day as our “wedding”. It is amazing the difference it makes just to think of them with different labels.

So what do you think of this idea of being married before our wedding? Would you do it this way too, or would you “bite the bullet” and go through everything else to get legally married on that day?

_________________ Thanks for reading Signing the Papers: The Legal Part from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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Most of the posts I write here are pretty general, but every once in a while something comes up specific to destination weddings. This is one such post.

from: http://www.smartdestinations.com/blog/do-i-really-need-a-travel-agent/

It was not that long ago, really, that if you were planning on travelling, you talked to a travel agent (or so I have been told). But then this crazy thing called the Internet happened, and people were able to research online, look at hundreds of reviews online, book trips online… 

I do a lot online. When we have travelled before, we have always used the Internet. We have not even talked to a travel agent before. Even getting a hotel room somewhere; we look and book online. We like the ease of it, and it is usually pretty darn budget savvy too.

But then we decided on a destination wedding.

There was some debate on whether or not to go with a travel agent. On the one hand, not going with a travel agent is generally cheaper. There is no way around it; you can book at your leisure, check prices all the time, score last minute deals…

But for our wedding? That just seemed so stressful. On the other hand was ease of mind – someone taking care of the “what ifs”, and, most importantly, taking care of the “what ifs” for all of out guests. I thought of having to call family members to nag them to book their rooms… no thank you. Then we found out we were coming out of different airports and would need a stopover in Toronto… oh goodness.

Next came the decision – an online travel agent or a local one? This could have gone either way, honestly. I just started emailing local travel agents first, and conversed briefly with those who responded. I did this very early; I figured if they took the time to answer my questions politely and efficiently that far out, they would be a fairly safe bet. One travel agent did just that. We spoke a few times, and I made my – er, our – decision. So we ended up going with a  local travel agent.

Has it all been smooth sailing? No, certainly not. But our travel agent has been helpful, and though she has gotten mixed up a couple times, it has not (yet – knock on wood!) been anything serious, and overall she has been very helpful. It turns out we are flying out of three airports – including one in the States. We are meeting up for an overnight stopover in Toronto, and then carrying on to our destination. Coordinating all of that would have been so stressful for me. Dealing with the numerous (read: four) flight time (and day!) changes also would have driven me crazy. So we are happy with our decision to have a travel agent.

We really did not spend anymore than we would have booking on our own (never mind the peace of mind thing). If we were booking on our own, we would be waiting for a deal close (ish) to the wedding date. This would have been a bad mistake. Our resort is updating, rebranding, and changing to adults-only (read: bigger price tag). However, we booked earlier with our travel agent, so we do not have to worry about the price changes.

Plus, the adults-only change was very scary when we heard about it. My sister / maid of honour would only be 17 during our vacation. Not to fear though! After a frantic email, my travel agent got on the phone – er, email – and contacted everyone who needed to be contacted, and got permission for my sister to stay at the resort. That alone made me glad we did not book on our own.

Here are two tips though:

Tip #1: Find a travel agent who specializes in what you are after, if that is possible. While our specific travel agent HAS done destination weddings, she does not specialize in them (though someone at her office does, and in hindsight we probably would have gone with that individual, just for comfort and confidence, but we are certainly not complaining). Someone who has a lot of experience will be able to answer any questions you have, point you in the right direction, and even suggest locations to you when you are starting your search (we came with a place we wanted first, but if you do not know where you want to get married, they know what is required and good locations). 

Tip #2: Find a travel agent who does not charge you a fee. Ours does not; otherwise we would have found someone else. This just makes sense: Why pay for something you can get for free?

Again, though, so happy with our decision so far! It is great to have someone “on your side” in the booking and planning process. She is not a wedding planner, but she is very knowledgeable and, for us, has been essential in the biggest part of a destination wedding – getting you to your destination!

Do you ever travel with a travel agent? Are you going through a travel agent to book your honeymoon, or handling the booking on your own?

_________________ Thanks for reading Using a Travel Agent for your Destination Wedding from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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On Sunday, April 28, I was blessed enough to have had a simply lovely bridal shower. You know that word, “lovely”? Well, be prepared to hear it a lot. My shower, as it turns out, was also budget-savvy, from what I understand. So here is the low-down.

My fabulous bridesmaid organized my shower. Unfortunately, my resort is becoming adults-only shortly before we arrive, and she has a 3 month old baby, so she is going to miss out. But she wants to be a part of the wedding, and I want to think of her still as my bridesmaid, so my bridesmaid she is. She loves planning, and organized the shower and my stagette and will play a major role in our at home reception in August.

Anyway…

She asked if I wanted a shower. Due to the fact we are having a destination wedding, I was unsure if it would be appropriate, but she assured me and organized the whole thing, with help from my sister (who is my maid of honour). 

Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures (am relying on family and friends to send me them soon!) but I was able to take a few.

The Theme/Decor:

The theme of the decor was vintage travel. Appropriate, since I love vintage, travel, and because of the whole destination thing. She made centrepieces (mason jars borrowed from her grandmother, with old maps torn from an old atlas to decorate each). Most jars had a candle in them; the one on my table, the gifts table (we actually ended up having to use two tables!), and the immediate family table (mom, grandmas, etc.) had tulips in each. There were also little hearts cut from maps sprinkled on the tables.

She also made bunting out of the old maps (and old kraft-style paper) and “Welcome” letters to hang on the invitation I made (which she used as decor at the entrance with framed pictures of Brandon and I). She borrowed lace (and lace-style) table cloths from my family and hers, and used lace-style paper doilies under each centrepiece as well. It was fabulous!

A close-up of the welcome display… and the sign was part of my gift! So I got to keep it!

The Food:

My bridesmaid made cheesecakes (my favourites… soooo good), and my sister made brownies. My mom brought a meat tray and a veggie tray, and my grandma made a tray with cookies and squares. That was the food that was organized, and would have been more than enough. My bridesmaid and her mom (who is awesome and came along to help, celebrate, and look after the new baby when mom was busy being hostess) had coffee going, tea, and had made punch. Heck, they even found colour coordinated napkins (which my sister alternated in every tray to help decorate). Loved the attention to detail!

But I am from a small town, and most of the attendees are also from said town. Most are older ladies and friends of the family… so most showed up with treats! My other grandma came with another square, and a friend’s mom came with a treat she used to make us all the time when we were growing up… When we were cleaning up, we didn’t even know where some of the treats came from!

The Location:

My shower was held on Sunday (as I said) in the basement of my family’s church. I do not believe there was any price to rent that space.

The Games:

My bridesmaid (and host) began the festivities with a little blurb about me, she and I, and Brandon and I. It totally worked, since I met her and Brandon on the exact same day! It was just lovely. Each of my ladies also organized a game. I love shower games, and know that there was another one ready to go, but we skipped it. Too bad… I hope we can play it at my stagette in a few weeks instead. I love games! I know they are cheesy… and I love cheesy!

I had not played either of the games we played before, but had heard of one. The first one all the girls went through their purses (since I love accessories – who doesn’t?) and got points for what they found. The more outrageous, the more points, according to a list. The winners (with the most points, obviously) got hand lotions I believe. The second game was based on my love of cheesy puns. There was a list of types of cake, using hints to fill in the blank (such as “This cake is the name of a boy.” Answer: Johnny Cake.) The table that won was asked a trivia question about me and Brandon, and were awarded a prize. (little plants for this one). 

For the guest book, each lady was asked to fill out a little note saying “Advice and Wishes for the Soon-to-Be Mrs.” So sweet! Then they were instructed to put it in the “spice jar”. I loved reading the notes later… some great advice, some funny tidbits, some sweet notes… and from some elderly ladies, tips about actually using spices! I laughed so much, but totally treasure that. 

My lovely and talented (crafty queen for sure!) bridesmaid and hostess, writing out her advice for me for my “guestbook”.

Overall, I was spoiled absolutely rotten, it was absolutely lovely (no other word fits so well!) and I only wish I could do it all again. The best part, for me, was having so many people show up, getting to catch up with them. I felt completely overwhelmed and supported. It was just… well… lovely. One of my favourite days ever. So much so, I am even looking forward to writing thank you cards so I can go through everything again! 

Now, next week my coworkers are throwing me a shower too… It won’t be “doing it all again”… but at least I get to prolong the celebration!

And, as you can see from the details, it was pretty budget savvy too!

Are you having a bridal shower? Would you like a vintage, handmade shower like me, or something more modern?

_________________ Thanks for reading My Bridal Shower from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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Well, we just passed the three-month mark in the great wedding countdown. Final projects are wrapping up, major changes are taking place, items are getting crossed off the to-do lists… So I thought this might be a great time to reorganize some of the giant “wedding mess” and take stock of what is what. And this led me to a realization: as careful with money as I generally am, I have been overspending on wedding items.

One of the first purchases I made was from a former destination bride. She posted a few items for sale on a forum I frequent (bestdestinationwedding.com). I knew I wanted my maid of honour and bridesmaid to carry blue parasols, and I had been toying with the idea of having a white one for me. She was selling two blue parasols, and two white ones – one white one said “Just Married”, and the other said “Thank You”. She was also selling blue and white paper lanterns – another item I had been thinking about purchasing. 

Well, I went ahead and purchased the parasols, and the lanterns. With shipping, it came to $90.  I thought the price seemed okay; plus, I felt like I was helping out a former bride. The items came, and I like them… But I don’t really need them now. And certainly not for $90.

I will bring it to the Dominican. The white ones might be nice for pictures, but really unnecessary. And the blue ones… well, it turns out I will only have my maid of honour there with me. So I really did not need that second blue parasol. If I had shopped around more, I probably would have found 4 blue ones on ebay, and then given one to each mom. Now I am stuck with an extra blue parasol. I also thought about bringing it along for me to use, because I like it, but I also have these extra two white ones. I am trying to figure out what to do with them. Maybe leave the white ones here to decorate the hall for our at-home reception and just take the two blue ones…  I really do not know. 

Maybe it will depend on how much room I have when packing! Here they are: Like I said, I like them… I just do not think they were worth the money. I have seen ones for $5 a piece since I bought them; about half-price of what I paid. 

Other things that I spent too much money on? Well, though they were not expensive, jewelry. I love jewelry and will wear it, but I bought some piece from etsy that I probably will not wear for the wedding. These I feel less guilty about, since, like I said, I WILL use them… But I am not sure I would have bought anything if I hadn’t had the wedding in my mind. And even if it is a $5 pair of earrings that I thought I MIGHT wear to the wedding… well, if I do not, that was $5 I did not need to spend. So, it was wasteful. I also purchased outfits to wear for some “special” pictures I was going to take, and then give to my future hubby, for a wedding gift. Since plans changed, I was not able to use some of those items. I can repurpose them, yes, and they were cheap, but still unnecessary. Still wasteful.

This is why I made more comprehensive lists! So I would know what I do and do not need to buy, and so I can prioritize. I guess I just should have done it earlier.

Altogether, I have probably spent $100-$200 I did not need to.

Is there anything you wish you would not have bought, or wish you would have purchased more carefully? Is there anything you felt was a waste of money?

_________________ Thanks for reading In Hindsight: Overspending on Wedding Items from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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ebay.

Yes, I am going to say that again. ebay.

Now I am going to do you one better. Actually, 2 better. My engagement ring, my wedding band, and Brandon’s wedding band, were all from ebay.

Brandon told me (after I already said yes!) where my ring was from. Some girls, I know, would have been disappointed. Not this girl. I was impressed. I actually would have been upset f he spent a bunch of money on a ring; I wanted something nice, but simple. I wanted to be able to wear it to work, in the kitchen, even camping. I wanted a simple stone, with a more interesting band. We did not go looking at rings or anything together, yet somehow, he picked out the perfect ring.

Now, I do not know the seller or anything, but this is my ring, just days after I said “Yes!” We were vacationing in Mexico, so I took pictures of the ring all over the resort. This one was my favorite – in the folds of a beach towel! I loved the ring. I still do. And I do not care at all where it came from. But if Brandon had spent tons of money on it, I would have been upset; we live our lives on a fairly tight budget, and I would have felt guilty walking around with the equivalent of our grocery budget on a finger.

Shortly after getting engaged, we went to a friend’s wedding, where he told us that he lucked out on a tungsten wedding band for himself on ebay. Brandon liked the idea, since he is not a huge fan of a jewelry, and wanted a super simple band. He could not see spending a bunch of money on it. So our plan was to look in stores for my band, and order his.

Well, that lasted until we actually went to look in stores. Bands started at $300 – for something I wanted, you could go well over $1000 easily. So, Brandon convinced me to look online.

So here we go…

This was similar to a ring he saw in a store that he liked for his band, for over $500.

from ebay seller real_tungsten.              Brandon’s band.

This is an authentic tungsten band.  You will not BELIEVE what we paid for it.

Wait for it…

This band was $17.18, Canadian. With shipping, it was barely over $20.

I want to say that again. $20!!! Honestly, if it ends up being poor quality and we have to replace it, we will spend another $20. But it came and we are super happy with it so far.

This is the ring I ended up loving:

from ebay seller devco12

The retail price tag is $899 for this ring. I paid $175 (approximately, including shipping), for a white gold ring with 26 mini diamonds. Again, I was SO happy when it came. It looks like great quality, especially for the price, and I cannot wait to see the way in sparkles in the Caribbean sunshine!

If you are thinking about ordering your ring from ebay, here are some recommendations:

First of all, ask couples you know who have been married for years if they wear their rings every day. Neither of our parents wear their rings everyday. My grandmother wears hers everyday, but she is actually on her third band; turns out, after over 65 years, rings go missing, get thin, lose diamonds, and generally just get replaced.

Look at your lifestyle and job. I would be nervous walking around with a huge rock on my hand. I am clumsy and forgetful. I spend time in sweats marking papers, building campfires, shoveling snow, cleaning out backstage props, cooking with a large group of teenagers, going to movie theatres, playing with my dog, crafting and painting… and I want to be able to wear my ring(s) through all of that, and be totally comfortable doing so.

Weigh your priorities, and look at the jewelry you already wear. I wear a lot of jewelry; costume jewelry and handmade items mostly. I have a set of pearls I love, also bought on extreme sale. A giant ring would look out of place with my other jewelry. And quite frankly, jewelry like that is simply not a priority for me. Brandon and I agreed that one day I would maybe get a family ring, or an anniversary band, so I may not be wearing my rings then all the time anyway.

Limit your searches. Because of concerns with the way certain things are manufactured in certain countries, we limited our searches to rings from Canada and the United States. We also limited our ring search to never-worn, new items, with tags, from reputable companies with high levels of customer satisfaction. Finally, what sold me on my ring is that it guarantees the use of natural, non-conflict diamonds. I would love Canadian diamonds, but even on ebay that was way out of my budget.

Though I was cautious at first, I am SO happy with our decision to buy our rings the way we did. I love all three of them.

Would you consider buying your ring(s) on ebay?

_________________ Thanks for reading Wait, My Ring is From WHERE? from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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This detail was actually one of Brandon’s ideas, and I love it!

There are cake toppers that I like on etsy; some are upwards of $150! For a cake topper? I don’t think so! So Brandon proposed an idea, which I immediately (and excitedly) agreed to – it is creative, inexpensive, and really shows our personalities. Perfect!

Before I explain our topper, I should let you know – we actually will have two: one for our wedding, and one displayed at our at-home Alberta reception. Before she knew we had a plan for our cake topper, Brandon’s mom offered us the use of the topper from her wedding – which in turn, was her mom’s. No way we were turning down that! We love it! But we did not feel right packing it in a suitcase and taking it to the Dominican, so we elected to just use it in Alberta.

Anyway, this was his idea for our topper for the wedding itself: use two little characters, each representing our interests and personalities. And by little characters, he meant toys. Action figures. Namely, Star Wars for him, and Disney for me.

So, while visiting his parents one weekend, he ransacked a box in the basement full of his old toys, and came up with a Han Solo action figure (I am not to call it a doll or toy I am sure). Totally free, and I love the fact that it is actually one that he played with as a child!

I searched for a while before finding a Disney princess that would work for me. I am obsessed with Disney. Name the movie; I have seen it. I know ridiculous amounts of random information about characters and plots and movies and parks; I have been to Disneyland way more times than anyone who does not live in the immediate area should lay claim to. When I am sick, I cuddle up with tea and toast and the classic princess films. So what princess did I choose? Definitely Cinderella; the ultimate princess. (Plus, as Brandon pointed out, her dress is blue – one of our colours! – and her hair is blonde – which mine will be a shade of for the wedding!) I had a little trouble finding an appropriately-sized Cinderella to match up with Han. We wanted them to work together, keeping in mind that I am much shorter (at 5’2″) than my 6’6″ fiance, and it would be great if we could also show that. All the princesses we found were either too tiny or too big.

We finally lucked out one day at Toys R Us. For just over $10 (with tax) we found what we were looking for. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but we are getting to the point now where it needs to be finished, and everything else was free, so we were okay with it.

For the base, I am using a wooden heart that I found while cleaning out my grandmother’s craft supplies.

So now I bet you are wondering how it turned out, right? Well, here we go… without further fanfare:

So, for just over $10, we got a completely unique and creative cake topper, that shows our interests, and yes, a little of our nerdiness. I could not be happier with it!

What do you think? Are you going to have a cake topper? Would you consider something unconventional?

_________________ Thanks for reading A DIY Unconventional Cake Topper from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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Yes, another DIY project.

One boutonniere is included with our wedding package, but I wanted to have something for the dads and best man. And then, when I started making them, I could not stop! So now I have more than necessary, but that is okay; now we have choices! And the grandfathers who come to the Alberta reception can wear one too.

To start out with, I had envisioned a single sea shell, with maybe a knot of raffia around it. Each man would have a different type of shell. Simple, right? Well, one weekend a friend of mine – a very creative friend, who is also getting married this year – came to visit. We decided to spend one afternoon doing “wedding stuff”, and she brought along a young teenage girl she was babysitting. This was the day I decided to create the diy boutonnieres.

What started as simple, quickly evolved into something more creative. Each one is unique, since there were three of us creating, and many I would not have even thought to put together. It was a very fun afternoon, and now we have so many to choose from!

Here are a few of them.

These are REALLY simple. I had lots of shells that I accumulated from vacations and craft store (and dollar store) sales. I also had pin backs, again from an old project years ago, but I know that you can get them at dollar stores and craft stores too. They come in pretty large packs. Then all you need is a glue gun.

• Step 1: Put the shells in the order, placement, design that you want.
• Step 2: Use hot glue to join them together.
• Step 3: Hot glue a pin backing to the back.

That is it. Seriously.

A tip: If you have an odd-shaped shell, I have heard you can put a piece of felt or cardboard or something between the pin back and the shell. We didn’t do this, so I am not sure it is really necessary.

And here they all are together:

Please ignore the shadows!

So there you have it. This project was free for me, since I had the materials before, but if you were to buy everything (except the glue gun) you would probably spend about $5.

What do you think? Are the fellas at your wedding wearing boutonnieres?

_________________ Thanks for reading DIY Boutonnieres from: The Budget Savvy Bride

Looking for more budget savvy weddings? Visit our Real Weddings gallery! Need to find some DIY projects to save you money and create beautiful details? Check out our DIY project gallery! Connect with The Budget Savvy Bride on the web: Pinterest :: Twitter :: Facebook ::

For our at-home-reception, in Alberta, I really, really, really want a dessert table, with treats made by me from recipes passed down from the moms and grandmas on both sides of the family. I do not know if I can do that yet (the caterer has not gotten back to me with a yay or nay yet). More on that later.

But in my vision of the dessert table, there are thrift store cake stands put together by me, little paper tent cards labelling each food item, a “Love Is Sweet” banner hanging from the table, and a ribbon garland backdrop behind it all. And, while waiting for the okay from the caterer, I have been gathering plates from thrift shops, made the paper tent cards (which were free, so just time was wasted if I do not get the go-ahead), and created the banner. The plates and banner can be used if she insists on supplying the dessert anyway.

Next on the agenda was the backdrop. I loved the pictures of ribbon garlands and bunting I saw on pinterest, and knew that it would be plenty easy enough to create something on my own.

One inspiration picture.  from: http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/diy-dessert-table/

I started with my trusty pile of hemp cord. I used to make hemp jewellery way-back-when (like, in Junior High), so I have TONS of the stuff left over, and use it for pretty much everything. I strung out the hemp cord the length I wanted and cut (I used one plain colour and one dark blue, since I wanted the cord doubled). Easy enough.

Next came the fabric. Yes, fabric; no ribbon was actually used in my ribbon garland. While doing some early spring cleaning, I happened upon a small curtain valance. I have NO idea where it came from, but it has been hiding in my closet for year and years. I forgot it was there. I think maybe it was hanging in the laundry room when we moved in… Well regardless, we do not use it, and I am trying to declutter… and that is when I realized how much cheaper it would be to just make the garland out of that fabric. It was blue, after all. Next was a trip to a thrift store (I think Value Village) where I found a pair of pillow cases in as close to coral (our other colour) as was available. With tax, that came to $2.09. I cut all this fabric up into thin strips. I actually tried to vary the widths, because I like that raw look, but you could measure it out precisely if you wanted.

The “before” material; curtains and pillow cases

And all cut up into strips. While the strips are in the “ballpark” of the same size, they definitely vary in length and width. (Please ignore the laptop cord in the picture!)

Now I took the hemp cord I previously measured and cut, and started tying on the fabric, strip by strip. It is helpful to tie one end of the cord (or ribbon or string or whatever you use) to something so it can stretch out and you can see your progress. One nice thing is that you can actually slide the tied-on fabric strips along the string, so you can space it the way you like it. For example, I had to go back and even out some spacing and add some more blue mixed in with the coral.

A simple knot is all it takes!

Once you have all your material on, stretch it out completely to make sure that it is the way you like it. You could trim off uneven ends (either the tied ends or the ones hanging down), but I chose not to do that. I like the look of it uneven.

All finished!

Hanging in the bathroom to stretch it out more and keep it out of the reach of kitty-cat claws. Plus, when I run hot water, the steam will take care of some of the wrinkles.

So there you have it. My dessert table backdrop, completely finished, for only a few cents over $2. Now hopefully I can get the rest of the dessert table the way I want it too!

What kind of decor elements are you DIYing for your day?

_________________ Thanks for reading A DIY Dessert Table Backdrop from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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For us, photography was a major priority; in fact, after our destination, it was THE major priority. I know most brides say that it is a priority, but trust me, when most of your nearest and dearest will not be in attendance at your wedding, it is an even bigger deal.

When we knew we were going to do a destination wedding, we also knew that many people important to us would not be able to attend. One of the most important people in my life – my maternal grandmother – was one of those people. We knew that if nothing else, we wanted to be able to give her photographs of our day. We knew that we wanted to be able to watch a video with her of me walking down the aisle. Will she cry then, sitting in her living room, watching that with us? You betcha. Will I? Probably even moreso. So, we wanted photographs and a video. For us, for those who were not there, and for my grandma.

Now that is just impressive! from: http://favim.com/image/280855/

We are not getting married in a popular resort town in the Dominican, so I had to do a little research (i.e. stalking of former brides) to find out about photographers in the country who would drive to Samana to shoot our wedding. We found three local photographers. They all had their positives and negatives, but one was way out of our price range (even though her style was awesome), so we had to eliminate her. Then there was one photographer, middle-range price-wise, but this one came with a videographer! The pictures were nice, the video was nice, the price was good… SOLD. Am I in love with the style? Not oh-my-god-they-are-the-most-amazingly-artistic-photographers-in-the-world. But I like them. So I am happy.

One tip for you fellow destination brides, though: It is possible to maybe save a little moolah if you bring a photographer you love from home. Many will waive their fees and only charge you the price of their flight and hotel room. Some destination weddings have employed this tactic with great results, and yes, we thought about doing the same. We found a photographer here that we liked, who was trying to get into destination weddings, but at the end of the day, the price was very comparable to the local Dominican photographer, except that company had experience in the area, and it came with a video, and we end up with all rights to the pictures. How do you say no to that? Now came the tricky part. We are getting married near Samana. The destination wedding photographer/videographer are in Punta Cana. That means, not only are we paying their fees (which are very reasonable), we are also paying a travel fee, and… wait for it… their hotel room. For two nights. Those extras sure work out to a lot! Actually, the room prices are more than the original package we went with. Sigh. Big sigh. Really though, it works out to, altogether, about the same as a photographer here, but we still get a video and all rights; that would not happen here. I have read and heard a lot of amazing reviews about the company, spoken to them with several questions (all of which they answered quickly and efficiently) and am happy with our choice. I cannot wait to meet them face-to-face and then see what they come up with!

from: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/78330/caribbean-emotion

So here is the cost breakdown:

Multimedia Package: $1100 (not bad, right? Wait for it…)

Reception: $300

Trash-the-Dress Session (Next Day – more about this another day): $200

Travel Fee: $500 (almost enough to make us want to rethink a more popular destination. Almost)

Hotel Fee (2 nights; night before and of the wedding): $645/per person (so, $1290 altogether here… ouch. Seriously ouch.)

TOTAL: $3390

Altogether, considerably more expensive than we had planned on, but still, I am pleased – so far – with our decision, though it was rather hard to hand over the cheque for their hotel room!

Is photography one of your major priorities?

_________________ Thanks for reading Choosing our Destination Wedding Photographer from: The Budget Savvy Bride

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An early project I took on was wrist corsages. The wedding packages we were looking at from our resort included a bride’s bouquet and groom’s boutonniere, and you could pay extra for bridesmaid bouquets and so on. Pay extra? I think not!

I already knew that I wanted the girls to carry parasols. I liked pictures I had seen, and thought they were beachy and practical for keeping the sun off. No way was I going to be buying more flowers in addition to the parasols! But I still wanted something. So I ransacked a collection of hand-me-down ribbons and flowers and DIY’d some wrist corsages for the girls, me (for rehearsal party, if we have one), moms, and grandmas (for the at-home-reception.) The grand total for this project was $0. The only thing I had not had for years was the flower for mine, which was a leftover flower from my veil and hair flower project (a future post!).

The final product. From left to right: Mine, my two bridesmaids, four grandmothers, and the two moms.

I will start with the corsages for the mothers and grandmothers, and mine.

1. Find a flower (or several) that you like. I went with blues and whites, since blue was one of our colours.

2. Find a complimentary ribbon. Measure it so it is long enough to tie around the wrist, with a little hanging down.

3. Hot glue flowers to ribbon in the centre.

It is that simple!

Some of the flowers have a bead in the centre. If that is the case, take apart the petals (usually very simple once removed from the stem), push the ribbon through the hole in the centre, string it through the bead, then back through the rest of the flower.

For mine, I added a brad to the centre of the flower, and then I just poked the brad through the ribbon.

The bridesmaid ones were a little more finicky, though still simple. There are a few ways you can do this, and googling will probably get you a lot of ideas. Unfortunately, I did not take step-by-step photos, but I will try to describe it clearly.

1. Lay out the lace trim of your choosing. Add hot glue around one edge for about a length of 2 inches.

2. Fold the lace trim back on the hot glue. Do this a couple times (think of it like making a paper fan). This is now your centre.

3.  Continue working the lace around the centre, doubling back on itself every inch or so.

4. Continue this until it is as large as you want it. Then trim it, glue the edge down, and hot glue to your ribbon to make it into a wrist corsage.

Some notes: Make sure you are checking the lace is lined up the whole time. Also, it is VERY easy to burn your fingers on the hot glue (speaking from personal experience!) so be careful.

I also created boutonnieres for the men, but that is a different post as well.

These were easy and fun, and something different. What do you think? Are you creating bouts and corsages?

_________________ Thanks for reading DIY Corsages: Part of An Alternative to Bouquets from: The Budget Savvy Bride

Looking for more budget savvy weddings? Visit our Real Weddings gallery! Need to find some DIY projects to save you money and create beautiful details? Check out our DIY project gallery! Connect with The Budget Savvy Bride on the web: Pinterest :: Twitter :: Facebook ::