For years I’ve been telling brides how to plan their dream weddings on any kind of budget. I do it for several reasons, and not only because I want brides to know that they can have a great wedding with budget wedding planning the right way to save money.   But that’s not the only reason I’m here to help brides out with budget wedding planning. I understand that planning a wedding is hard, and it should be one of the happiest days of your life. If you’re stressed out over your budget wedding planning and think you can’t afford anything for a nice wedding, I’m here to lift you out of that hopeless feeling as well. Budget wedding planning is possible – and not nearly as hard as you would think. I’m not going to advise you to take up glass blowing so that you can make 200 wedding favors by hand for each guests – that’s foolish. You see, when I was planning my own wedding, I learned a lot about budget wedding planning, and I didn’t learn it the easy way. I mean, nobody took me aside and showed me all the different ways to save money on my wedding, not enough money to make a difference anyway. My wedding vendors certainly weren’t interested in the fact that I was budget wedding planning, they’re out to make their own money. No, I had to learn budget wedding planning the hard way, and many things I didn’t learn about until after the wedding (and believe me – I’m still kicking myself now!). So here are some great tips for budget wedding planning that can really help you out that I can show you right now. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 20k, Brides, Budget Planning, Budget Wedding, Different Ways, Dream Weddings, Enough Money, Happiest Days Of Your Life, Lot, Many Things, planning a wedding, Planning Wedding, United States, Ways To Save Money, Wedding Budget, Wedding Favors, Wedding Planning, wedding vendors

I was doing some research for a popular article, When is the Right Time to get Engaged, and I found a lot of interesting facts that I had never really thought about before. The first is that while there are statistics for everything from how long people wear their hair to how fat the people in our country really are, there aren’t very many real statistics about marriage. There are plenty of facts about how many people get  married every year and how many divorces there are, the US Census Bureau can track those pretty easily. But since couples don’t have to go and register or tell the government that they are going to propose to their girlfriend/boyfriend (and thank goodness we don’t have to!), they can only guess about what those numbers actually are. So, while I did find out that an average of 2.2 million couples (that’s couples ya’ll!) get married every year, there aren’t any statistics about how many get engaged, or when is it a good time to get engaged. They can guess though, and here are some great times to get engaged.

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Tags: engagement, Marriage Proposals, Wedding Planning, wedding proposals, when is it a good time to get engaged

There’s no doubt that with the Valentine’s day that just passed, hundreds of couples took the opportunity of a romantic holiday to take the plunge and get engaged. There aren’t really any real and concrete statistics on how many couples get engaged every year, but they do estimate that about 2.2 million couples get engaged every year, and somewhere around 10% of those couples get engaged on Valentines day. Doesn’t sound like a whole ot, but that is 10% of 2.2 million couples! But with so many couples getting engaged and married all the time, and the divorce rate astronomical, that a lot of couples aren’t really asking themselves about when is the right time to get engaged? I’ve done some research and pretty serious thinking on the subject,and am ready to present my personal (humble) opinion on the matter. So here are some great tips on deciding when is the right time to get engaged before you take the plunge.

When is the Right Time to Get Engaged? The Experts Weigh In

While most experts and psychologists advise different strategies and dating times, they all do agree on one thing.

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Tags: wedding help, Wedding Planning, when is the right time to get engaged

Planning a wedding can be seriously overwhelming. I mean, if you’ve never had to plan something to big and detailed before, it can be hard knowing even where to start. You’re working with numerous wedding vendors, there are probably hundreds of details to remember, and to add a little more excitement to it, you’ve got to watch out for scammers, or wedding vendors who don’t live up to what they’ve promised. It’s every brides worst nightmare, and it can be easily avoided if you get organized, stay organized and follow these simple steps when dealing with your wedding vendors leading up to your wedding day.

Obtain Wedding Vendor Contracts

Wedding vendor contracts are meant to ensure that wedding vendors will follow through on what they promise you. Negotiating and signing wedding vendor contracts is essential to planning the perfect wedding day, and having some kind of recourse if things don’t go as promised.

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Tags: Wedding Planning, wedding vendor contracts, wedding vendor quotes, wedding vendors

It’s exciting when you get engaged. You have a dream wedding to plan, and a future to prepare for. Seriously, when my husband and I got engaged, it was totally exciting, but it was also very overwhelming! One of the first few steps that I took was to collect a list of wedding vendors in my area to start collecting wedding vendor quotes, so that I could have some kind of idea about just how much this wedding was going to cost me and my family.  There are lots of different wedding vendor quotes that you would need, such as for wedding dresses, a caterer, wedding photographers, wedding invitations, wedding hairstylists, videographers, reception sites, and much more! Understanding the overwhelmed feeling? Here are some great steps in collecting wedding vendor quotes to find a place to start in planning your wedding.

Too Many Wedding Vendor Quotes???

By living in a small town, I had it better than some people who live in larger cities. I simply didn’t have the choice between all of the vendors that someone in a larger town would.

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Tags: Wedding Planning, wedding quotes, wedding vendor qutoes, wedding vendors

While many brides planning their wedding just choose flowers and colors that they like and different effects that can be done on a budget, many other brides look at the recent trends from celebrity weddings. Celebrities pay for experts and wedding planners who will transform their wedding into just what they’ve dreamed, and they pay enough to make sure that they are keeping up with the most current trends. So if you are wanting a trendy wedding, but still keep your budget in check, then check out some of the details that have been prevalent in the most recent celebrity weddings for some ideas. The Today show posted an article a few weeks ago about some great celebrity wedding trends we’ll be seeing in the near future. It got me to thinking about how easy it would be to copy those looks for cheap. So, here are some of the top celebrity trends for weddings, and how you can easily copy them for a fraction of the cost.

Landscape Wedding Centerpieces

There have been many different styles for wedding centerpieces in celebrity weddings. At one point the trend was large centerpieces that were only one color, and more recently wedding centerpieces turned into lots of little centerpieces on one table for a more interesting look. But now, according to Today, landscape centerpieces are a great new trend for your wedding centerpieces. What does this mean? Look for some beautiful potted plants or flowers with moss. Today even suggests these helpful components for creating a landscape wedding centerpiece, pretty bowls, moss, mushrooms, or any other large potted plants or flowers. You can visit your local florist for some potted flowers and replant them into decorative bowls that won’t cost near the amount of buying flower arrangements from your florist. Plus, you can use them later on.

Shorter Wedding Veils

In celebrity weddings, don’t expect to see too many long and flowing wedding veils. Many celebrity brides are going for the shorter wedding veils that look a little retro for their wedding ceremonies. A short wedding veil adds an excellent romantic and dramatic appearance to your wedding day look, so it’s something to consider. I purchased my wedding veil from a lady who could make some beautiful veils herself. I only paid about $10 for my veil, and it’s pretty easy to go this route. If you are handy with a needle, then there are several bridal books in craft stores that will show you how to create a wedding veil, and tulle is only about a dollar a yard.

Groom’s Wedding Cake

Now, according to the article written by Today, groom’s cakes are really only a Southern tradition. Living here in the south, I had always assumed that every wedding had a groom’s cake. But I just never thought about it before. Groom’s cakes are great way for the groom to personalize the wedding a little bit. At my sister’s wedding, her groom’s cake had a fire truck on top since she was marrying a fire fighter. The cake should pick up on some special thing about the groom such as a favorite sport or team, home town, occupation, or even a nickname. Since a groom’s cake is less traditional than the white wedding cake, it doesn’t have to be done up as fancy, so you can buy a regular sheet cake and have it decorated to your specifications.

Wedding Favors of the World

Wedding favors are a great way to thank your guests for coming out to support you. Many celebrities are making their wedding favors support some kind of international theme, such as chopsticks, colorful bangles tied with a ribbon, or even a blend of your favorite spice from a particular region. You can find many wedding favors on the Internet with an international theme that really don’t cost very much. Another solution, visit a nearby oriental market and pick up different packs of beautifully decorated chopsticks, and then separate them and tie a set together with a nice ribbon and a note.

With the bleak outlook on our economy and the nervousness that consumers feel, the bridal industry has taken a bit hit. Many experts predict that the average spending for an American wedding will be down this year as brides are looking for ways to save money on their big day. It never hurts to look for deals, as nothing in your wedding will have the price tags for your guests to see. But a little bit of planning ahead and research can help give you the trendy wedding you’ve been wanting at a price that won’t take your breath away.

Tags: celebrity weddings, trendy wedding ideas, Wedding Planning

While I was doing my wedding planning, I was determined to find what I considered a modest wedding dress. I knew that I wouldn’t be comfortable wearing anything strapless or too low cut. And the last thing a bride needs on her wedding day is to be self-conscious of her dress, or worried that she didn’t buy the right style of wedding dress. But as I started looking around in the different wedding boutiques and shops in the areas around me, I found that the kind of dress I was looking for just wasn’t available in the places I was looking. I wanted something with perhaps a cap sleeve, as I knew I’d be uncomfortable in anything else. So I set out looking for some kind of a modest wedding dress that I would feel comfortable wearing. And it took me on quite a journey. So if you’re in this position, trying to find some kind of modest wedding dress, let me tell you that it isn’t impossible to find. Here are some great places to find what you’re looking for.

Modest Wedding Dresses on the Internet

This one is really kind of a no-brainer. There are many different websites that offer lines of modest wedding dresses that you can purchase off of the Internet. If you’re nervous about buying something that important off of the Internet, then no need to fear. Nearly all of the websites that sell wedding dresses are trustworthy, just make sure that they have a secure system to take payments. Take your measurements so you know what size of dress to order, and any other basic alterations the dress needs once it arrives can be done with a local trusted seamstress or family member.

Design Your Own Modest Wedding Dress

This is the route that I chose to take, and it’s easier than you might think. All I had to do was find several wedding dresses that I liked, or rather, wedding dresses with particular attributes that I liked. For example, I found a picture of a wedding dress with beautiful capped sleeves that I liked, one with a a higher cut V-neck, and a dress wtih the beading that I liked. And then, my aunt had a dear friend who made wedding dresses, and I went and showed her the pictures I had collected. She took my measurements, went with me to pick out fabric and beading, and created the modest wedding dress I had been dreaming of.

Altering A Wedding Dress to Your Desires

I have a dear friend who went this route. She purchased a wedding dress with beading and style that she loved, and then she took it to an alterer and had pieces of fabric added to the top to make into a more modest wedding dress. This method can get a bit pricey, and you do run the risk of making the dress look unnatural if your seamstress is less than par.

These are just a few of the routes that you can take to either find or to create your own modest wedding dress. But just bear in mind that if you are not comfortable wearing any kind of wedding dress out there, then don’t settle until you have the wedding dress that you love.

Tags: Alterations, Attributes, Beading, Beautiful, Brainer, Cap Sleeve, design your own wedding dress, Family Member, Journey, Measurements, Modest Dresses, modest wedding dress, modest wedding dress online, Modest Wedding Dresses, Seamstress, Secure System, Wedding Boutiques, wedding day, wedding dresses, Wedding Planning

If you haven’t felt it already, the stress on your wedding day will be unlike any other stress you’ve ever felt before. All the work and time that you’ve put into planning your wedding is all coming together on your wedding day. And yes, it is a very exciting time, but if you’re not careful you could let the stress put a damper on your wedding day – and that is something you definitely don’t want. So I can’t stress just how important it is to keep your head and be able to manage your stress. The first thing you’ll want to do is (if you don’t know already), learn to delegate some of the work to close family and friends that you can depend on. This really will help you alot, and will give you some time to relax on your wedding day as well. The other thing you need to do is create a wedding day checklist so that you can be sure you’re not forgetting anything. I’m a big fan of lists. A wedding day checklist made in advance can help you relax on your wedding day knowing that everything is taken care of, or will be taken care of. Here are some important things to remember on your wedding day checklist so there are no surprises later.

Wedding Day Decorating

Due to my circumstances, I was unable to decorate my ceremony location and reception hall until the day of the wedding. But luckily, I had many family members come up early that morning ready to help make everything perfect. My wedding day checklist had to include everything that I wanted as decorations to be out, such as the pew bows, flower arrangements, prayer bench and aisle runners. So my list consisted of making sure that everything was where it needed to be for my family to decorate. Same with the reception hall. So if you have to decorate your wedding locations the morning of, it’s best to have all the decorations you need on your wedding day checklist so you can make sure you have everything you need in the right place.

Wedding Day Vendors

Another thing you’ll need to have on your wedding day checklist is the vendors that will be dropping off things for your wedding, and when they are scheduled to arrive. It’s best to have their phone numbers with you in case they get lost, or are running late.

Wedding Day Payments

Typically, your wedding day is when you’ll need to hand out payments and offerings for many of the vendors and other people playing a role in your wedding. Your wedding day checklist needs to say who should be getting a check, and how much.

Wedding Day Necessities

Most importantly, your wedding day checklist needs to include a list of necessities for your wedding day. Have a bag packed and ready with everything you will need to get ready for the wedding such as : your dress, hose, special underwear, shoes, bridal tiara, jewelry, and anything else that could apply. Also, your wedding day checklist needs to include what you will need for your honeymoon. You should have already packed for your honeymoon before, but make sure you remember your suitcase, boarding passes, and any other documents you’ll need for the trip.

When making your wedding day checklist, just remember to do the best you can. The more time and thought you put into it will help ensure the least amount of surprises you’ll have to deal with on your wedding day. Typically, there is always something small or trivial that you will forget – but with careful planning and delegating of responsibilites, you’ll be able to keep the damage to a minimum.

Tags: wedding day checklist, Wedding Day Tips, Wedding Planning

Planning a wedding by yourself can be difficult. If you have friends or family helping you out, then you are truly blessed, but typically even with help planning a wedding can be difficult. I had some help from family and friends, but a majority of the wedding planning details were left to me. Wedding planning is an exciting time of your life, but it can also be pretty stressful as well. In previous articles, I’ve advised many brides to buy themselves a huge binder or other organization helper to keep track of all of their wedding vendor information, quotes and pictures for the wedding. But personally, I think it needs to go a little farther than that. I think that by creating a personal wedding planning list that you can really help maximize your time, and make sure that everything gets done. Here are some great ways to create and use a wedding planning list to aid in your wedding planning.

Using a Generic Wedding Planning List

When I first started my wedding planning, this is what I used. I went on the Internet and found a free wedding checklist that went month to month on what tasks I needed to have completed in this time frame. This wedding planning list was helpful, but it wasn’t tailored to fit what I needed to have done in my wedding planning, so I could only use it so much. My only advice here, is that if you use a generic wedding planning list, be sure that most of the tasks listed in the list are items that you need to worry about…otherwise you could be forgetting something important.

Creating Your Own Wedding Planning List

While this option can be a bit more tedious, you can be sure that your wedding planning list has everything that applies to you. You can even use one of the generic lists as your guide and set aside what you need to do month by month. But when you create a wedding planning list yourself, you know what needs to be done and when, and every item on your list is something that applies to your wedding.

Using a Combination Wedding Planning List

As I mentioned above, I started out using a generic wedding planning list, and then quickly found out that it wasn’t going to fit what I wanted to have done for my wedding. So I ended up printing off the generic wedding list and crossing off the items that didn’t apply to me. Then, I added to that wedding planning list the items that weren’t on the original wedding planning list. It saved me a lot of time creating a whole new list, and everything applied to my wedding. Plus, there is some level of satisfaction in being able to cross items off of your list.

I’ve found that creating lists in my day to day life really helps me to stay on task and complete what needs to be done each day. The same applied to me with my wedding planning. I can’t imagine a time in someone’s life when they have more things to do and remember than when they are planning a wedding. My piece of advice for staying organized? Definitely create your own wedding planning list….it will keep you from going crazy and forgetting things later on.

Tags: planning a wedding, Wedding Planning, wedding planning list

There are Some Weird Weddings Out There

I got the idea to do this post a few months ago. I’m not exactly sure where it came from, but in all the research and time that I’ve put into weddings, you can’t help but run across some pretty weird weddings. Seeing some of these weird weddings in action kind of makes me think, who are these people and what makes them want their wedding to be so out of the ordinary? I can understand wanting to make your wedding day all your own, but there’s a point when you need to sit back and wonder if it’s actually worth it, or if you’re just doing it to make people talk. Here are some examples of some pretty weird weddings out there that I’ve seen and heard about as well.

Dressing in Character

If you think about it, the bride and groom are already dressing up in character on their wedding day. One with a big beautiful white wedding dress, and the other in a nice suit or tuxedo, to play the part of the bride and groom. But when the bride and groom decide to dress up as something else instead, to me that makes for some pretty weird weddings. For example, having your groom dress up as Elvis is just the start for the making of weird wedding. Or the bride and groom in afro wigs. Don’t laugh, I’ve seen it done. Another odd one to me is the Medieval weddings where not only do the bride and groom dress in character, but ask that all of their guests do the same.  You’ll definitely have some wedding pictures to show the kids.

Being Adventurous

I’ll probably never understand while some couples choose to pair their wedding and bungee jumping together. To me, they just don’t mix, and thus leads into another option when it comes to weird weddings. Do they realize just how risky bungee jumping can be, and that there is a chance that one of you won’t make it? I can understand wanting to be adventurous, and that a wedding is a “till death do us part” thing, but wouldn’t you at least like to make it the whole 24 hours before that’s fulfilled?  In my opinion, bungee jumping weddings and other weddings that include ‘life and death situations’ definitely make for some weird weddings.

Married in the Produce Aisle

Many couples want to go the romantic route for their weddings, and I can totally understand that. Romantic and weddings really go hand in hand. Also romantic is revisiting the place where you both met and remembering when you first saw him/her. But what if you take it farther than that? I’ve read about several weddings where the couple chose to get married in the place where they first met, and it’s a totally romantic idea….depending on where that is. I’ve read about couples getting married in grocery stores, bowling allies and other such crazy locations. To me, that translates into some pretty weird weddings.

Now I’m not trying to put anyone down who wants to plan these kinds of weddings. I understand that not every bride wants to have a traditional wedding in the church, and that they really want to make their wedding stand out and be memorable. But in the case of being adventurous, just be extra careful or you could be planning a funeral on your wedding day.

Tags: Wedding Planning, weird weddings