Photo By Foster Cryer Photography

I wish I would have used Reception Lighting. It would have given the bland banquet hall more pizzaz. I also wish I would have had a photo booth. I would have gotten more pictures of my guests and their personalities. A couple of things I’m glad I did was to have a live band instead of a dj. It’s more energetic and fun. Several of the guests were musical and they all got up and played/sang. Made for great entertainment. Also, I got my cake at a local grocery store. It wasn’t extravagant, but it was pretty and tasted good. I also highly recommend getting a good photographer

-Valerie, Oklahoma (wedding photographer)

Small wedding, huge reception helped me out a lot with nerves! Also I loved having the wedding video, but I should of paid for them to do the reception also. The photographer is worth the money, wish I would of gotten someone else but went cheaper. Don’t stress about the small stuff that is what the maid of honor and your personal assistant is there for, I loved my girls for dealing with issues. I also made a lot of my own things and that actually was fun because I saved money and it looked nice. Most importantly, do what you want and you make decisions and don’t let others make them for you.

-Katie, Iowa

My wedding was decades ago…I would not have done an ice sculpture I ordered a swan and it looked like a dragon. It was just another way for the hotel catering to charge daddy more! That “wow” moment we thought was going to be delivered when we saw it…. turned into a “WTF” moment!

-Tami, Florida

I thought doing a bucket of flip flops in the bathroom for the ladies was well worth it. You can get them at the dollar store. My aunt arranged the flowers that we bought wholesale and of course they looked great. We engraved bottles of wine from the vineyard we were married at for gifts for the parents. Bridesmaid dresses were regular dresses from Macy’s because I only had two people.

-Amy, Texas

I’d say, of course use your contacts to your advantage. I found a friend who was good at taking charge to lead the rehearsal. After the rehearsal we had pizza waiting for everyone in the church basement. I borrowed the warmers from the pizza place to keep the pizza warm till we were ready. I had gone to a yard sale and the girl was selling her centerpieces which were red and white. I snatched them up. After the reception, the reception hall wanted to buy them for their collection. Awesome for me! For the dinner I ordered half cornish hens for the main dish. If you know someone in the restaurant industry, they usually will help you out and order from their food truck for cost!

-Nanette, Missouri

My wedding cost a total of $3200 (including the dress & everything) Here’s what I did to save money:  1) I did the food myself (with the help of friends & family) Buffet-style with BBQ  and sides.  2) I bought my cake from Walmart & it turned out AWESOME! (I was shocked too!) The reason I used Walmart was because I forgot to order the cake in time, and Walmart only needed 2 weeks (the wedding cake & groom’s cake both only cost me $105 TOTAL)! Everyone thought it was delicious & no one knew it was from Wally-World.

-Sarah, Tennessee

Don’t get uptight over the “little” things…..the important thing is that you are getting married…something may go wrong—-don’t let it bother you..just smile and move ahead. DON’T go in debt for the wedding either—it’s just one day—you don’t want to start out on the “short end.”

-Angie, Iowa (I was her flower girl at the tender age of 9)

I stressed about nothing and stayed extremely organized. I had a Wedding Notebook to use to compare prices on stuff and keep up with business cards. Fortunately we knew so many people we didn’t have to pay much for labor….as in for flowers, our cake, our caterer, the band, and the DJ. I got a beautiful dress but did not go overboard. I do suggest printing out the order of your wedding and take it with you to the rehearsal. Also have somebody who can take charge and direct and knows your vision so you don’t have to worry about it. But I would have a sheet that makes completely clear what you want. We bought decor from Hobby Lobby and even Party City. It was a beautiful wedding and reception, looked expensive because I decorated it well….but it was not

-Juliana, Tennessee

We had a sand ceremony in the park with our six children. It was the best and everyone commented on how cool it was!

-Sandee, Iowa

I didn’t want to waste money on favors, so we took about half of the money that would have been spent and donated it to the colon cancer society in honor of my aunt. On the tables we put little notes that stated what we did instead of favors. We saved money and it was better then spending money on favors that people don’t really care about.  We did serve a meal but we bought lasagnas on sale and baked them the day of the wedding, added a salad and green beans and no one had a clue we did the food! It looked like it was all catered

-Amy, West Virginia

I felt bad about asking my bridesmaids to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress they’ll never wear again so I just told them all to pick out their own. I just asked they all be the same color. Something they liked that they could wear again. Some people may not like not having all the bridesmaids match, but I loved it. Each bridesmaid is a different person and so was her dress!! They all wore black cocktail dresses.

-Tina, Virginia

It seems like as soon as you announce an engagement, you’re instantly flooded with questions and unsolicited advise, as well as opnions that you may or may not want.  I thought it would be a fun project to reach out to family and friends for thoughts on things that they would have done differently with their own weddings.  I’ve gotten some good food for thought.  I ended up getting several responses and wanted to share them with the BSB World!

I’m happy Nick and I opted to do things our own way and not to feel obligated to do things the ‘traditional’ way. Instead of a DJ and the dance, we had a charter bus and went to a bar and then picked up the tab. We had visited the bar prior and agreed w/ the bar to flag us when the tab got to a certain amount so we would be surprised We also didn’t have a wedding cake because we both hate cake. But, we did have a dessert bar and then our own personal cheese cake.  We got a lot of flack before the wedding because of some of the things we cut out but afterwards received so many compliments on how nice it was because it was obvious it was about us and what was important to us. We also got the idea from ‘Friends’ to have our friend, Peter, get ordained to marry us. I think more people do this now,but 7 years ago it was a bit usual.  Oh, and I had Taylor (my daughter) AND my dad give me away. With so many second marriages or children born first, it was something nice and I know she remember is vividly even though she was 5.

-Jessica, Iowa

I definitely have one thing that has bothered me ever since my wedding almost five years ago that I wish I could go back and do over. We decided to skip the receiving line after the ceremony (for the sake of taking pictures/saving time), and greet the guests at our reception instead. However, our wedding was in our local town, and the reception was about 20 minutes away, downtown. Some of our older relatives decided not to make the drive on the interstate downtown, so we missed even being about to thank them for coming. I really regret that.

-Lindsay, Indiana

We didn’t have a helpful wedding party. My wedding party was more concerned about themselves than helping me – so be careful who you pick!

– Janet, Ohio

I would have NEVER have picked the colors I ended up with – it was a bad compromise & a long story but I hated them (sage & butter).  Something I DID do that was super cheap & effective was look at dresses in stores, write down the designers & styles and then ordered mine online (so naughty!).

-Jennifer, Missouri

I would have had a larger wedding.  We were given a generous budget by my parents, and chose to use part on a smaller wedding, and the other part to buy a new car.  I don’t remember a thing about the car now, but wish we would have had a larger wedding.

    -My Mother, Iowa

I would not have had my sister-in-law stand up with me.  She was a pain, hated the yellow dress, and complained the whole day. 

-”Don’t put my name on this”, Illinois

Photo By Image Trick Photography

I wish I would have taken more time making some decisions. We got engaged on April 17th and got married on August 15th, so that literally left me with 4 months to plan a wedding!  A short engagement is definitely do-able but I wish I would have thought a little more about what I wanted certain things to look like. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with the way everything turned out, but if I would have had a little more time I would have probably chosen a few different things: I would have discussed (in details) with the florist what my bouquet was going to look like.  I would have gone over the final look of the cake before the wedding. It had too much ribbon and stuff on it, I would have liked it a little more simple (but it was delicious!) I would have liked more pictures done outside too.

    -Stefanie, Tennessee

If getting married in a facility where you have to use their food and beverage (unless you are tied to a sit-down meal), offering buffet style heavy hor’devours or food stations in a reception style, can many times be more economical than a plated meal.  If your reception time is “between meal times” –plan on approx. 4-6 pieces of food per person.  And…if you are tied to a plated meal….negotiate serving a lunch portion rather than dinner.  For hotels, the per person cost can be as much as half the cost for a lunch portion meal.

-Jill, Tennessee (also works in event planning)

No moonshine!

-Lisa, West Virginia

Things I wish I had done differently are researching/asking around more about my photographer and caterer. Wish I would have gotten a bigger venue. Wish I would’ve waited a couple more months to get married to we could have a little bit nicer wedding. Things I’m glad I did are starting and maintaining a binder with pictures of things I liked and ideas I got about decor, etc. Glad I stuck with the vision I had for the actual ceremony even though some people seemed to think it wouldn’t work. (It did work!) Wedding was January 2006.

          -Lauren, Kentucky

I would have never had an open bar.  The cost ended up being a LOT more than we had anticipated because we paid on a per-drink basis.  I felt like we were secretly looking around to see who was drinking a $15 glass of champagne.  We also had a few people “overindulge” and cause drama, which may have been avoided.

    -Nicole, Tennessee

Keep things about the two of you– My wedding was more my Mother’s than mine.

-Annonymous, Ohio

Photo By Henderson Photography

I would have asked my bridesmaids in a more creative way.  I would also recommend a venue that does not make you cater from them alone, but allows outside catering.  They get you with that!

-Lindsey, Tennessee

Gazing balls and glass buoys are lovely works of art that can do double duty as pomanders for the party and gifts for garden decor after the wedding!

No area of budget savvy-ness has brought me more strife than that of flowers. You see, I love flowers. I’m a huge fan of bright colors, so I was really stoked about learning more about this whole flora and fauna thing for our wedding extravaganza. Early on in our planning process, a recently married coworker of mine directed me toward a florist who does fantastic work—I loved everything I saw from her. The problem? She requires a $1,000 minimum order. My co-worker assured me that it was not difficult to spend that much on wedding flowers.

But meeting a minimum was not the problem. The problem was that I was not comfortable spending that much money on something that was going to die in a day or two (not to mention the fact that if we jet-setted out on our honeymoon right away, we wouldn’t get even that much enjoyment out of them!).

So I asked myself—as I always try to do in these types of situations—“if there are no flowers at my wedding, will I enjoy myself less? Will my interactions with my friends be less fulfilling, or the commitment to my husband be less significant?”

The answer was no.

Sure, I went through a bit of a mourning period. As I said, I think flowers are beautiful. I love pouring over the bursts of color and texture you see in bridal magazines. But I learned quickly that my bouquet alone could easily cost $200, and I just wasn’t prepared to spend that for something so short-lived.

I also felt just a little better when I found this quote:

“You shouldn’t feel pressured to have [your bridesmaids] carry flowers at all… the tradition of bridesmaid bouquets comes from the less hygienic days when the fragrance from flowers were used to cover up body odors.”

~Simple Stunning Bride, by Karen Bussen, 2010.

So giving your bridesmaids a bouquet to hold is actually offensive! Right? Right?? <nudge, nudge, wink wink>

Ok, maybe not. But the point is that your wedding will not suck because you did not spend a lot of money on flowers.

For me, the goal was color. Color brightens my day and makes me feel just a little bit more alive. Wearing colorful clothes gets me through the endless gray of the winter months. I needed color in my wedding. I just needed to find it from some other source.

Pinwheels are fun, colorful, and a DIY option! Great for garden weddings!

So I began considering the options.

• Artificial flowers: True Touch/Real Touch flowers from Hobby Lobby are a nice alternative to the flowers you might purchase from a florist. They have a wide variety of options, and these two brands (as well as others) are made of a rubbery material that actually looks and feels a lot like their real-life counterparts. Plus, you get to keep your bouquets afterward!
• Gazing balls or glass buoys: You know how in the summer, you walk by beautiful gardens and see these brightly-colored glass or metal spheres on elegant pedestals? I love them, and they often come in shades of blue and green—matches our wedding colors AND the whole garden theme! I thought about having one of these encased in a lace or ribbon holder (to hang down like a pomander) and then having each bridesmaid place theirs on a pedestal when they get to the front–additional decor and everyone wouldn’t have to worry about awkwardly holding bouquets the whole ceremony! http://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Japanese-glass-float-net-bottom.png
• Tissue-paper pomanders or paper lanterns: These are a wonderful and inexpensive option that mercifully comes in/can be made in any color.
• Feather Fans: I love the color options you can find when using feather fans, and they have an elegant look. Plus the peacock feathers (one of my original palette inspirations) are lovely!
• Balloons: Also available in every color, and inexpensive as well! You have probably seen these used in engagement sessions, though not often in wedding pictures. I love balloons because they are fun and child-like, which would make for some fun pictures!
• Pinwheels! Fun, colorful, and they bring the element of motion to an outdoor ceremony! These can be handmade as a DIY project or purchased from a garden store.
• Lanterns: Decorative lanterns, particularly Moroccan-style (if you’re looking for an easy search term) found in places like Pier 1, Cost Plus World Market, or on Amazon are a lovely option and come in lots of colors!

So for every budget-savvy bride who has been told that you have to have flowers or is mourning the loss of expensive and short-lived wedding-magazine-quality bouquets, do not despair! There are all kinds of options available out there,  and I promise that you will have an amazing wedding, no matter what you choose!

What creative options have you found?

I had never really been one to dream about my future wedding.  As a little girl, I loved Disney movies just as much as the next kid, but never thought I was a princess, never tore wedding photos out of magazines as a teenager, and never anticipated the day when Prince Charming would sweep me off of my feet.  I always assumed that I would end up married when the time (and guy) were both right, and that’s all of the planning and reassurance that I needed for the time being.  Obviously, several things have had to quickly change since then.

As I’ve mentioned, Eric (fiancé) and I have both been in several weddings, ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other.   We’re both fairly low-key, laid-back people in general.  Although I did grow up performing with my family at music festivals, I don’t in any way have that burning desire to be the center of attention, and neither does Eric.  We both liked the idea of an outside ceremony (with a good back-up plan for rain that wouldn’t make me borderline suicidal), and having both the ceremony & reception at the same venue.  Above all, an event that we would actually have fun with our family and friends at, yet still feel like it was our wedding and not a backyard barbeque.  After much Google Imaging & scouring Pinterest, the perfect solution seemed to be a more rustic/country (but not tacky) event, with our colors being green, brown & ivory– Both a “feel” and color scheme that lend perfectly to a DIY affair!

 

Click to link to image source:  Photo Window, Curly Willow Centerpiece, Bridesmaid Dresses, Ticket Save-the-Date, Cupcake Display, Bouquet, Moss Monogram, Pews

Wedding Inspiration: A low-key, vintage inspired seaside party!

The first time my fiancé and I started to discuss what we envisioned our wedding to be, we were right on the same page. Forget fancy details and stuffy venues. We were on a budget and to keep costs down, we knew we were going to get married somewhere free. Yes, free.

We live in a beach town in Florida. Getting married on the beach is pretty common (though I, myself, have never attended a ceremony on the sand!) and can be free if held on a beach where a permit is not required. We have spent much of our free time on the beach and continue to have date nights at beach bars. We are blessed to live where we do, and getting married on the beach seemed simple enough. The only cost would be renting décor (if we decided to use any) and an officiant.

My fiancé actually thought of the color scheme for this beachy wedding—aqua & peach. These colors remind him of a beautiful sunset and are quite perfect for our personalities.

Source: Grey Likes Weddings

Now that we knew our colors, I started thinking of the details. I was drawn to things that were personal, a little funky, and a little old. I definitely wanted vintage touches around.

Like a typewriter for a guestbook.

Source: Every Last Detail

And a vintage style wedding dress.

Dress 1 |  Dress 2 |   Dress 3

No, none of those are my dresses but I wanted something ivory in a mermaid style.

With lots and lots of rhinestones.

Now, those are actually my shoes!

Now that we know the overall idea of the wedding, it is a lot easier to work on the planning. I hope you can find inspiration and thrifty ideas as I plan a party on the beach that will be the most amazing celebration my friends and family have seen. =) Next Up: We pick a venue!