Saving On Wedding Decor

If you haven't been touched by these tough economic times, we here at Smart Wedding Planning envy you! But if you're like most people and you're feeling the pinch, you may be looking for ways to save money on your wedding. It's not easy -- many ceremony accessories and reception accessories are heavily marked up by vendors who know that brides- and grooms-to-be are willing to pay a premium for "the best."

One way to save money on your wedding is to embrace the do it yourself spirit. Yes, putting together wedding favors or making your own bridal bouquet takes time, but the end product is often more beautiful and more interesting than anything you might buy in a shop. We've put together a short list of ways you can save money on your ceremony and reception decor without having to become a master crafter.

1. Use candles for centerpieces instead of flowers. DIY is easy with candles.

2. Decorate with balloons -- this is fun if you're having kids at your wedding. Let each child take home one or more balloons at the end of the evening.

3. Use silk flowers. They always cost less than fresh flowers, plus they can be rented. If you want to make your own bouquets, it's a lot easier to do so with silks.

4. Bridal and bridesmaid bouquets can double during the reception as decoration for the head table, cake or gift tables. Just make sure you have vases ready.

5. To really save costs, have each bridesmaid carry a single bloom.

6. Make your own pew bows instead of purchasing them. See Making Pew Bows.

7. Use more greenery, tulle, and baby's breath for decorating, and less actual flower blooms. Green bouquets and centerpieces are hot right now!

8. Use only flowers that are in season, and consider choosing less expensive flowers like carnations.

9. If your ceremony site is having more than one wedding that day, contact the other bride-to-be and talk about sharing decoration expenses. The worst she can say is no!

10. Purchase candles, white lights, and other white and silver decorations after the holidays when everything goes on sale.


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Wedding Planning Books

Planning a wedding isn't easy and, let's face it, those magazines with all the pretty pictures don't do much to actually help you plan your wedding from start to finish. Wedding planning books, on the other hand, are a lot more useful...especially the ones that take you through the entire process from start to finish or help you put a unique touch on your wedding.

Here are four of our favorites:

In Style: Weddings (In Style)helps you create your unique expression of what is a timeless ritual. A world of inspiring options is shown in exquisite detail, from invitations to dresses to flowers to music to cakes. Tips from today's top wedding planners on how to make it all come together in a way that's personal, meaningful, and just right tie everything together. If you're looking for inspiration, this is the book for you.

Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Bridesserves as inspiration for those who are interested in a vegan buffet, avoiding bouquet tossing, doing away with the elitist guest list and being a control freak without becoming a Bridezilla. Filled with sidebars, tips, tricks and planner encouragement (all taffeta-free) to help you figure out your special day, this book is perfect for those who think the traditional wedding is a little bit tired.


iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But 'Net is great. From venues to videographers, from bouquets to boutonnières, author Christa Terry has put together a treasure trove of resources that give you the freedom to plan a wedding from anywhere, at any time, using your computer. This guide is much more than a list of links, though -- it will help you plan your entire wedding, it addresses issues of wedding etiquette, and it offers reassurance to eclectic brides-to-be.

The Everything Wedding Organizer; Checklists, calendars, and worksheets for planning the perfect wedding features everything a frazzled bride-or groom-needs to get organized. Complete with dozens of worksheets, checklists, pockets, and loads of helpful hints, this handy planner can help you develop a working strategy to create the wedding of your dreams. This wedding planning book is especially good for less organized brides-to-be!


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Wedding Gowns ... With Flair

Sick and tired of seeing the same old wedding gowns in wedding magazines and on wedding web sites? So are we! It's all strapless A-line dresses and princess pouf skirts and beads, beads, beads. Choosing a wedding gown can become positively boring when you're confronted by the same choices over and over again, so sometimes it's good to check out some wedding dresses that defy the stereotypes.

Here are three gowns from Emerald Bridal that are unlike anything you're going to see in the pages of your wedding magazines:




















Get shorty! Richly embroidered lace on organza, completely sprinkled with crystals and tiny glass beads, forms the bodice and the two tiered ruffled skirt that ends above the knee. A gathered ruffle of illusion peeks from under the bottom tier and adds both style and youthful appeal. This is obviously a gown that can be used for multiple social occasions.




















How about sexy? This three piece silk crepe set takes you from the ceremony to the reception in true fashionista style! The off-the-shoulder midriff top features long sleeves with deep lace bell ruffles. An inset panel of lace creates a fabulous train on the skirt and lace panels accent each pant leg.




















Forget the beads and lace! Handmade camellias trim this matte satin mermaid gown where the organza skirt meets the modified sweetheart long torso bodice. Separate organza arm bands with camellias give an off-the-shoulder look. A matching cathedral veil is included to give the final touch.


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Wedding Invitation Wording

When it comes right down to it, very few people on your guest list will notice if you flub your wedding invitation wording and include someone who shouldn't be included or forget to spell out dates or times. The fact is that wedding invitation wording used to be a lot simpler -- the bride's family hosted (read: paid for) the wedding, which meant their names were on the invitation and the groom's parents' names were not.

Nowadays anything goes when it comes to who pays for the wedding. Sometimes the bride's parents pay, sometimes the groom's parents pay, sometimes the couple pays, and sometimes so many people contribute to the cost of the wedding that it's hard to say who actually hosted the event! It's not always easy to know what to write on wedding stationery, even if your family is relatively small and not marred by divorces. But if your family is anything like mine, there are a whole lot of moms and dads involved in the planning.

Below you'll find some traditional etiquette wording for invitations along with some less formal and contemporary wording, too. If you don't see any wording that applies to your particular situation, you can find a more comprehensive list of wedding invitation wording over at Smart Wedding Planning.

General Invitation Wording:

When Hosted by the Bride's Family:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Allen Brooks
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Melissa Ann
to
William James Russo
on Saturday, the sixth of June
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven
at three o'clock
Saint Anne's Church
Manchester, Massachusetts

When Hosted by the Groom's Family:

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Thomas Russo
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Miss (or Ms.) Melissa Ann Brooks
to their son
Mr. William James Russo
on Saturday, the sixth of June
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven
at three o'clock
Saint Anne's Church
Manchester, Massachusetts

When Hosted by Bride and Groom:

Melissa Ann Brooks
and
Mr. William James Russo
request the honour of your presence
at their marriage
etc.

Hosted by Both the Bride and Groom's family:

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Allen Brooks
and
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Thomas Russo
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their children
Melissa Ann
and William James
etc.

When Hosted by the Groom's family:

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Thomas Russo
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of
Ms. (or Miss) Melissa Ann Brooks
to their son
Mr. William James Russo
etc.

Out of Town Wedding Guests

Chances are there will be guests coming to your wedding that live hours or even entire states away. At my own wedding, at least one of the guests came from as far as Germany! Here's the deal: Out of town wedding guests know what they are getting into when they decide to travel to a wedding, so you are under no obligation to provide them with goodie bags, care packages, or other presents. Don't feel like you haaaaave to splurge on your wedding guests.

But if you want to go above and beyond helping with travel arrangements and accommodations, go nuts!

Send out a wedding newsletter early on, via e-mail or snail mail. Make sure your wedding newsletter includes information like the date of your wedding, the location of your wedding, the names and phone numbers of local hotels, restaurant suggestions, and stuff to do around town if you expect they'll be staying for a few days before or after the wedding.

You may also want to include rental car information for those traveling by air, as they will have to leave their cars at home. If you can afford it, arrange to have a car service pick them up at the airport. It's a nice way to welcome them, and helps your wedding guests avoid getting lost.

Provide your wedding guests with transportation to and from the wedding, e.g., a hotel shuttle bus or van. You can even rent a charter bus if it's in your budget! This is a really nice gesture for your out-of-town guests that don't know their way around your city or town. It is also good for any elderly guests that might have trouble driving.

Place wedding-themed gift baskets or gift bags in your wedding guests' rooms before they arrive. You can work this out with the hotel fairly easily. Include food, candy, any local "delicacies," a bottle of wine or mineral water, tourist information, a map, and a special thank you from the bride and groom. Some brides and grooms include fun stuff like rubber duckies!

Consider inviting your out of town wedding guests to the rehearsal dinner or a post-wedding brunch. It is a nice way to make them feel included in the proceedings, and it keeps them from spending too much time locked away in hotel rooms.


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Diamond Engagement Rings

(Looking for our first article about engagement rings?)

Much like we do today, people from cultures throughout history have paused before saying "I do" after saying "Yes, I will." For thousands of years, couples were betrothed before tying the knot. Sometimes the bride and groom were promised to one another by parents long before the wedding... sometimes before they were even born!

Whether the marriage in questions was an arranged marriage or a marriage of choice born out of love or convenience, the engagement provided time for the members of the larger tribe or community to react to the betrothal and to plan the wedding.

Engagement rings, however, didn't hit the scene until much later, and in fact, historians aren't even sure when the practice came into vogue! Yes, engagements were almost always marked by an exchange of some kind of wealth, whether in the form of oxen or precious metals or money, but the practice of giving a gift to the bride-to-be, rather than to her family, is fairly new. But of course once grooms started giving their brides engagement rings, a new tradition was born.

Many different types of engagement rings were given as symbols of binding promise, including rings made of every metal from gold to iron, set with no gems at all, or emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and of course diamonds. Yet diamonds weren't always a girl's best friend -- for quite a long time, they were considered inferior to gems like sapphires and pearls.

The prevalence of the tradition of diamond engagement rings dates to the 1800s in Europe and America. Diamonds were at first exceedingly rare, and their hardness, brilliance, and value lent an extravagant air to the act of proposal. As the 1800's unfolded, more diamond veins were discovered and the gem became more widely accessible. Smaller diamonds became relatively affordable even among less wealthy members of society. The near-indestructibility of diamonds, combined with their crystalline purity and light-reflecting dazzle, makes them the perfect stone to symbolize the serious commitment to marry.


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Pink Wedding Favors

What do you think the newest wedding favors are? There are tons of great ideas out there and lots of hot products that work well as wedding favors. In fact there are so many different wedding favor types that it can quickly become overwhelming for the uninitiated. One of the easiest ways to choose your wedding favors is to base your selection on your wedding color scheme. Pink is a very popular wedding color choice because it is feminine and pink represents love. We've put together a selection of beautiful pink wedding favors from American Bridal. Maybe one of them will help you choose your own wedding favors!










Adorable “Love Notes” Sticky Note wedding favors are perfectly suited for wedding day gift giving. They are engagingly presented in a white box sprinkled with pink hearts and enduring sentiments, like “Hold Me Tonight,” “One Heart, One Soul, One Kiss,” and “Do You Know How Much I Love You?” If you're buying one hundred or more, they're only $1.95 each.










These clever Mini Heart-Shaped Hand Warmer wedding favors spice up a snowy ceremony with comfy creativity. These reusable handwarmers are the perfect solution for your winter wedding favors, adding a welcome note of good cheer…and cozy warmth to your winter wonderland. These favors are great for skiers and cost $2.98 per piece if you're buying seventy-two or more.










Contemporary Hearts Hand Fan wedding favors are excellent additions to a summer wedding ceremony. These elegant wedding fans are decked out in romantic colors, making them perfect for your garden nuptials. Guests will enjoy the lovely breeze created by these beautiful keepsake fans, which are sold in sets of six.










"We Clicked" Mouse Pad wedding favors pay trendy homage to the technological age! Your guests will be delighted to receive these perfectly practical wedding favors and use them for their daily surf through their favorite web sites. These romantic and handy favors are sold in sets of six.










Having a Vegas themed wedding? Why not give your guests mini slot machine wedding favors? If you buy more than seventy-two of these cute wedding favors, they are a mere $2.98 per piece.


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Choosing a Wedding Photographer

When it comes time to choose your wedding photographer, you should think about more than just the eventual photographs. Yes, you should love the pictures your chosen wedding photographer takes, but if they're sketchy in other ways or they simply disappear without ever giving you your prints, you're out of luck. It's better to protect yourself from the very beginning, by getting a vendor contract and choosing a photographer with great references.

That said, there's nothing wrong with wanting to save a little money. After all, the wedding photographer you love more than any other might just be out of your price range, forcing you to compromise by choosing a second or third favorite. Here are some tips that will help you get the best wedding photography possible for the least amount of money.

• Ask your photographer to limit the time they spend taking pictures. Consider a "ceremony only" package where the photographer takes pictures before and during the ceremony, but not at the reception. Your wedding photographer will take all of the formal pictures of the bride and groom, family and wedding party, and photograph the ceremony. How many pictures of Aunt Edna eating cake do you need, anyhow?

• If you go that route, ask friends and relatives to take candid photographs at the reception. Some brides and grooms even provide a laptop with memory card readers at the reception venue so wedding guests can download their photographs before they leave.

• When using disposable cameras or rented digital cameras, think twice before placing one at every table. The film cameras themselves are inexpensive, but the cost to develop 20-30 roles of film is not! And while digital photos are all but free, renting a camera for each table can get pricey.

• Choose a photography package rather than purchasing individual shots and print sizes separately. If there is something that you really want that is not included in a package, ask the photographer if something can be swapped without increasing the price.

• Sometimes choosing the smallest or least expensive photography package is not the most cost effective option. One bride chose the least expensive package and afterwards spent $700 to buy additional prints that were not included in her original package. A more comprehensive package would have cost her only an additional $250 more if purchased up front.

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Memorable Weddings

Imagine not being able to see your spouse as they speak their wedding vows. Now imagine you have only so long before you'll lose the ability to see your spouse. That was the fate Paul Jenkinson of North Wales was facing. A rare eye condition slowly robbing him of the ability to see threatened to prevent him from ever seeing his bride in her wedding gown.

“When I proposed to Angela I wanted us to marry quickly before I lost my eyesight but I only thought we would have a small do.

“I don’t know how long my sight will last. I have had some treatment to improve it but doctors can’t seem to give me any answers. I just wanted to be able to see Angela in her wedding dress.”

The couple didn't have a lot of money, but neither did they have all the time in the world to save up and plan the perfect wedding. Paul's mother, seeing a possible solution to that conundrum, entered Paul into a national competition to win a fairytale wedding worth over £20,000 from Diane Roberts, owner of bridal store Wedding Belles.

Amazingly, he won. This meant that everything from the transportation to the reception venue to the men's suits were paid for. Everything was taken care of...including the bride's wedding gown.

Paul got wish and more...he was able to buy his bride the lavish wedding he felt she deserved, and he was able to see her clearly as she revealed herself at the foot of the aisle. (source)


Click to read about wedding planning basics and romantic weddings

Jewish Wedding Rings

Incorporating wedding rituals and wedding traditions from different cultures into a wedding or into the wedding vows can make your wedding that much more special. Even if you're not Jewish, consider co-opting some or all of the Jewish wedding ring ceremony into your own nuptials.

I wouldn't suggest that you go the Orthodox route and skip the double ring ceremony (unless you're into that) but consider the merits of the traditional gold band and all it represents before you opt for something flashier!

Now, onto the ceremony...

The Jewish wedding ring ceremony consists of the groom placing the ring on the bride's right index finger. Afterwards, most women move it to the customary "ring finger" of the left hand. You can modernize the ceremony by also placing a ring on your groom-to-be's right hand.

The reason the ring is placed on the right index finger is that in the time of the Talmud, it was commonly believed among Jewish people that the right index finger was more closely connected to the heart. The Christians, on the other hand, believed that the left index finger was more closely connected.

In most Jewish wedding ring ceremonies, with the giving of the ring, the bridegroom repeats a Hebrew vow after the Rabbi. The bridegroom declares, "Behold, thou art consecrated to me with this ring, according to the law of Moses and Israel." In Hebrew, this phrase is Hare at mekudeshet li betaba' at zo k'dat Moshe v' Yisrael. With a little practice, you can easily learn to roll this phrase off of your tongue in no time at all, but don't worry if you or your spouse-to-be would rather say it in English. It's just as meaningful.

This statement signifies that husband and wife are holy to each other. It is as if they were saying, "As Shabbat is to Jewish time and as Jerusalem is to Jewish space, you will be to me."

Beautiful, no?

Click to learn more about wedding etiquette and wedding traditions