Check out your local museum

While planning my wedding, finding a reception venue was a daunting task. One of the most interesting things I learned was that there were two museums in the area that were available to rent for special occasions. The pricing was much less than the reception hall and hotel ballrooms. It was also a choice that would add a uniqueness to my event. I would suggest that you consider museums when searching for your perfect reception site. You might find what you are looking for.Happy planning to you all!

DIY Aisle Runners

Want to make your wedding stylish without breaking the bank? How about incorporating a custom aisle runner? If you and your spouse to be have selected a monogram for your wedding, you can incorporate this on to you aisle runner. It is very easy to do and is very cost effective.

This is something that I did for my own wedding. What I tried to do was make the process fun, so in enlisted help from a couple of members from my bridal party. I purchased white muslin fabric from Joann’s Fabrics. The regular price for this is $.099, but I had a 50% off coupon. I purchased the exact yardage of my aisle.

Next, I took a copy of my monogram to a local print shop and had it enlarged to about 2 feet by 2 feet. After that I purchased acrylic paint and thin paint brushes from Hobby Lobby. They come in pretty small containers but you won’t need a great deal to paint your monogram (Just a note about Hobby Lobby, always look on line for their 40% coupons. They come in handy).

Once you have your materials, take your monogram and affix it to a flat surface. You might want to consider using poster, card or fiber board. Trust me, you want to do this. There is nothing worse than having acrylic paint on your carpet. Decide where you want your monogram to appear on your runner and clip that area directly over the enlarged monogram.

Okay, this is where you want reinforcements. Using a fine lead pencil, outline you monogram on to the fabric. Utilize one of you bridesmaid for this. It makes the work go faster and it is a wonderful bonding experience. You need a steady hand for this so take your time. Speaking from experience, it is not easy to erase stray pencil marks from white muslin.

Once you have outlined your monogram onto your muslin, it’s time to begin the painting. Take a paper plate to hold your acrylic paints a start to fill in your outline. You want to start with your darker colors. You do this to prevent tenting of you lighter hues. After painting is complete, let it set for about 2 hours to dry.

I hope that this is useful to you and as always, happy planning!

The Great Get-Away

The get-away car! Want something nice for you and your new spouse to ride of into the sunset in and a limo is not in the budget? How about using your personal resources? Think of all the people you know and the kind of cars they drive. Maybe your uncle has a newly restored classic car that he would be willing to let you use as a wedding gift. Or your mother has just purchased a brand new car and will allow you all to use it.

However, if no one has a car that you can use, look into renting a car for the day. Even with renting a BMW or a Mercedes or any luxury car for a day would be much cheaper that hiring a limo.

Another alternative is to hire a driver. In most metropolitan areas there are diver services that can be hired by the hour. They mostly use luxury cars (like Lincoln Continentals) and the expense is still less than renting a limo.

However you decide to do it, make sure that you first ride together as husband and wife is something special.

As always I wish you happy planning.

More Dress Advice

In an earlier post, I discussed one specific online vendor for wedding dresses. I would now like to add to more choices in this discussion. One of the sites that I visited when shopping for my own wedding dress was www.bridalonlinestore.com. This site offers a wide range of styles priced from $99.00 to $799.00. There are a number of pretty gowns on this website as well as other wedding accessories. In searching www.bridalonlinestore.com, you can also find awesome deals on undergarments, tiaras, veils and flower girl dresses.

Another site that might be worth looking into is www.WeddinGo.net. This site also offers a wide selection of designer styles at bargain basement prices. You can find everything from Alfred Angelo style dresses to the styles of Vera Wang. The most wonderful aspect about the site is its prices. The average price of a dress on www.WeddinGo.net is $179.00. They also advertise no tax and no shipping cost.

Just because you are on a budget, you do have to compromise style. I think both of these sites offer a great deal of variety. So when shopping for your gown, check out these sites. They might surprise you.

Happy Planning!

Craigslist.org as a Reasource

Want to get wedding services for free? If so, you may want to take a look at www.craigslist.org. In the events section for your particular city, you may be able to locate individuals that are trying to break into specific areas in the wedding industry. For example, you can find photographers, videographers, event planners and even caterers advertising free or low cost services to build their portfolios or to gain exposure.

Of course with any vendor you select, you want to make sure to interview them and ask as many questions as possible. Make sure you are comfortable be for embarking on a business relationship with anyone.

To find these individuals, go to the website and select your city. Then select events, and search weddings. It doesn’t cost anything to view their advertisements and it may end up saving you a nice piece of change in the long run.

Happy Planning!

Budgeting Tool

As I reread a few of my post, I noticed that I have yet to provide you with the most important information of all….how to create your budget.


There are a number of workbooks out there that you can purchase to aid you in defining and calculating your budget. But if your goal is to remain at or under budget, why spend that money. If you are familiar with Excel, you can create your own budget quickly and easily. However, if the formulas in Excel seem to be a bit too daunting for you, here is a link to a very user friendly budget spreadsheet www.planningwedding.org/downloads/expense_summary_free.xls

And as always, I wish you happy planning.

Cutting Reception Cost

Keeping cost down for your wedding is a very difficult task to master, but there are a few ways to master this. The first place you should look to cut corners is your reception. Why? Because it is the area that you will spend the most money. Take food for example.

Food for your reception is one on the most expensive items when it comes to planning your wedding. Keeping your guest list at a limited number of people insures that you will not over spend in this area. Other tips to consider…

Tip number one….Have ceremony and a brunch reception. Brunch meals are priced much less than a dinner reception. And you still get the feel of having a full meal reception

Tip number two….Have a buffet. I know that it is more elegant to have servers, but they don’t work for free. Having your guest serve themselves will eliminate the cost of hiring servers.

Tip number three….Have an appetizer only reception. If your wedding is early afternoon, provide your guest with an array of finger foods. By doing this, you will give your guest many options to choose from and will save your self a few dollars to boot.

Tip number four….Consider a reception location that will allow you to bring in your own caterer. There are still a few sites in most cities that will allow you to bring in your own caterer. This tends to be less expensive than the alternative.

I could go on, but I will save the rest of this information for an upcoming post. Happy planning to you all.