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.
We are now offering gift certificates! You can purchase them through our website in any denomination and we will send them to your bride at no cost. We will then consult with your bride to provide the services that best fit her need! We hope that you will help your bride choose us to plan the wedding of her dreams on even the smallest of budgets!
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.
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.
This season’s hottest trends for fashion are ruffles and the color grey. These are two trends that I am more than willing to follow (even after they aren’t officially trends anymore). How can you incorporate these trends into your wedding? The most obvious answer is in your dress. Many wedding dresses have graced the runway this year featuring ruffles, the color grey or both. Another way is to have greys as your color palette for the reception. Although this may sound drab, it can actually be very chic. If only using grey isn’t your thing, try using it with a pop of color like purple, orange or red!
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!
I was talking to a friend of mine who is getting married soon and she asked me what I gave as favors. I put a lot of thought into favors. I had heard people say that they couldn’t remember what they received as a favor. The people who did remember, only remembered because they didn’t like them. I wanted to give something that people would keep and display.
I decided to incorporate the favors into the reception instead of them just being an after thought. Our favors were picture frames that had different pictures of my husband and I. Bellow the picture had our names, the date of the wedding as well as the guests name. Not only did the frames serve as favors, but they were also place setting. Each reception table had a different picture of us. When guests walked into the reception site, instead of finding place cards, they found miniature picture frames with their name on it that corresponded with the picture on the table that they were sitting at.
This was a unique and inexpensive way to do seating arrangements, give favors and have another part of your wedding personalized.
Cost… $3 for 11 large frames for the tables + $30 for 100 miniature favor frames = $33
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.
What did you do with the favor you received from the last wedding you attended? The last favor I received is in a box somewhere. Not that it wasn’t nice, I thought the gambling chip with the couple’s faces on it was really cute. However, I wasn’t sure what to do with it afterward.
A trend for favors is a Candy Bar. When I first mentioned it to my fiance as an idea, he had never heard of such a thing. There are many brides taking advantage of the cuteness and convenience of a Candy Bar. Brides can do anything from having their favorite candies from their childhood or candy that is coordinated with the color theme of the wedding.
How to construct a Candy Bar?
1. Buy different sized glass dishes with lovely silver scoops to hold the candy. (Dishes can be purchased from my favorite, The Dollar Tree and scoops from a restaurant supply store).
2. Buy your favorite candy. It can be personalized M&Ms, personalized mini Hershey bars or kisses, vintage candy or bags of your favorite candy.
3. Buy small bags or takeout boxes.
4. Add a thank you note to your bag or box.
5. Fill dishes with candy and arrange dishes and boxes on the same table that you would put your favors on.
That’s it!
