You may not have heard of a “little” website called HalfOffDepot.com. If not, I am so sorry you have gone so long without such great deals! One great deal of the moment is for $1200 worth of photography services for only $600! Services are offered by monica B. Photography.
One of the best ways to visually get the best bang for your buck with your venue is to go for a historical house. Banquet halls require a lot of decoration. They are usually just blank canvases that require a lot of your budget to fill up the room with visually appealing additions. Try going for a historical house.
One of my clients sends me links to some wedding dresses that she is choosing from. The dresses were from a site that was new to me so I was intrigued. Once I visited the site, intrigued turned into amazed! Light In The Box has hundreds of dresses to choose from, many under $200!
Most of the dresses are celebrity inspired. Although it says “wholesale”, the site will allow you to buy just 1 dress at the wholesale price. You can even give them your measurements and have the dress custom made at no extra charge! Happy Shopping!
The worldwide support of designers, manufacturers, bridal shops and individuals (who donate a most treasured possession) make possible their Nationwide Tour of Gowns sales. The proceeds from these events help bring a moment of joy into world of someone for whom a cure is too late.
Local brides-to-be will have an opportunity to find their dream gowns while making wishes come true for metastatic breast cancer patients.
Specific gown prices range from $99 and up, including hundreds of brand name and designer gowns valued up to $8,000. Tiaras, veils, crinolines and other accessories will also be offered. Bridal gown donations will also be accepted for gowns 2006 and newer.
VIP Preview Night - $25 Bride Admission, $15 Guest Admission
Thursday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Order your tickets here today
General Sale – Free Admission
Friday, Jan. 29 at 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
To support a great cause, find a great deal or get more info, visit their website.
Alan Friedman is one of the most creative and friendly photographers I have met. As a bride, you put a lot of trust in a lot of vendors. Brides worry the most about their photographers. When the day is said and done, it’s your pictures that help you relive one of the most memorable days of your life. Having only been photographing weddings for about 2 years, Alan’s talent and eye for a captivatingly unique photo has been developed quickly.
Alan loves photographing weddings because they allow him to with a mixture of creativity and photojournalism. He enjoys meeting people, getting to know them, and capturing their personalities in his work. His main inspiration for my work is my hope to capture something truly genuine. His work tends to be very down-to-earth and accessible.
Alan Friedman has been gracious enough to offer a 10% discount on all wedding packages for bookings made by December 31, 2009 to all of our readers. You can visit him at www.dalanfriedman.com and mention “Lavish Designs On A Dime” to receive your discount. Alan will travel anywhere in the U.S. Travel, however, fees apply for locations over 100 miles outside Atlanta.
Some couples search and search for that perfect song to have their first dance to. Others know what that song will be the first time they hear it. Sometimes a song can have the perfect words, but not necessarily the tune of your choice.
However, a little research might turn up a unique mix of the two….
$35… That is what I spent for my invitations. Yes, I did say $35. That’s because I bought them from Party City and printed them at home. Don’t have the time to assemble them yourself. Neither did I! That is why I had my bridal party over for dinner, a movie and free labor. We had an assembly line and before the movie was over, all of the invitations were assembled.
I loved our invitations because they were exactly how I wanted them to be and included a photo of us in a frame. Can you get any more personalized than that? People thought we spent top dollar to have such personalized invitations. It only took $35!
Throughout all of the interviews I do, the same two questions are asked: 1. What is your biggest money saving tip? 2. What is your best wedding tip? I probably shouldn’t tell you this… but I have never had a problem sharing as a child!
My biggest money saving tip is that if you find something you love, it is guaranteed that it is out there for cheaper. There are very few things that are limited addition or one of a kind. If something fits into one of those categories, I say buy it as soon as you see it. If not, you will regret it if it is gone and will probably pay more if you find it later. However, for the other 90% of things you need/want for your wedding, just wait a little before you buy. Your camera phone is your friend. Take a picture of the tag or write it down along with a description. Then, go home to your computer and simply Google it. Yes, it is that simple!!!
Googling an item name or description will give you more (cheaper) options of places to buy your item. Also, many people don’t know that a store’s website will often sell the same item for cheaper. Don’t want to pay shipping and handling, go to Retail Me Not and find a discount code for free shipping or a percentage off.
Think it is just easier to buy it… here’s my story. I found my dream dress at David’s Bridal for $650. I went home and Googled the style number and found someone selling it brand new with tags still on it for only $250 including shipping and handling!
Flowers are one of the top three highest expenditures for a wedding. They are definitely beautiful however can quickly tip your budget over to the red side. Most florists charge you considerably more when they find out that you need flowers for a wedding. Why? Because putting the word “wedding” into a conversation ups the price for all vendors.
The best thing that you can do is to do it yourself. It is a lot easier than you think.
Step 1: Find a place to find beautiful and inexpensive flowers. Every major city has a flower wholesale store. It is basically a big warehouse that a vendor uses to store the flowers that they sell to florists, grocery stores, etc.
Step 2: Go a month before your wedding and speak with a sales associate. There are thousands of different flowers even different hybrids of a specific flower. You can try to decide which flower you want before hand, however, you never know until you see them in person. Also, speaking to a sales associate will give you knowledge on what will last the day, what is in bloom and when to buy for the best price.
Step 3: Once you pick the flowers, set up an order to be picked up the Wednesday before the wedding. Any earlier, they might wilt, any later, you will be stuck if they are not what you expected.
Step 4: Decide on a shape. Look at pictures in magazines or just google for pictures of bouquets. You can do a simple gather at the bottom and cover with ribbon or buy foam ball for fresh flowers and sculpt a round shape. Either way, you can buy the supplies from Michaels for about $10.
Step 5: Make it and make it personal to you. Add whatever necklace around the flowers to add pizazz, add a wide dangling ribbon with your monogrammed initial. The options are endless.
For bouquet design ideas, look for the upcoming bouquet design blog or you can contact me.
What did I do? I bought 3 bushels of 24ct Roses from Costco for $60.
Toasting glasses are one of the few parts of your wedding that is saved and used later. However, I personally think most of them look rather cheap. You don’t have to go with a traditional set of toasting glasses. Like always, I am a fan of having your wedding be a reflection of the couple and their design style.
A great alternative (that also happens to be less expensive) is to buy stemware from houseware stores.
These stemware pieces are from Pier 1 Imports and are, of course, on sale!
Platinum Rim Glassware $1.48
(orig $6)
Garnet Stemware $1.68
(orig $7)
We bought our stemware from Pier 1. The stem of the glasses had red swirls that went with our red motif.
