Here are a few posts from other blogs that you might find interesting as well:) Enjoy!

The $11K Badgley Mischka gown worn by Carmen Electra when she married David Navarro is up for sale once again.

Disney Bridal 

 Eco-Friendly Photography Tips

In The News | 2 Comments »

Hey guys - we have been invited to attend the 2007 Dream Bridal Expo! It takes place April 12-14 and includes a number of workshops, presentations and PRIZES!!

You can find the schedule here.
The prize list is here.
And additional information here.

The Dream Expo is a great way to find some new ideas, great unique vendors, and win some prizes as well. Check it out:) TELL THEM CHRYS SENT YOU:) Thanks for the invite girls.

In The News | No Comments »

I have talked before about finding affordable flower girl dresses at local department stores like Target and Walmart. Target has their spring collection out on their website, and here are plenty of Toddler size gowns that are perfect for spring/summer flower girls and are all under $20!

Weddng Party Attire | 1 Comment »

With the average wedding now costing £17,000, many couples are now looking for ways to have a ‘celebrity’ stylish wedding, without the celebrity price tag. The first tip is simple – ask for a discount. The worst that can happen is that they say ‘No’. You might be a bit embarrassed, but what have you lost? We’ve pulled together 5 other top tips to help you create your dream wedding on a shoestring
budget.

1. Choosing The Wedding Venue

Your venue is probably going to be the single biggest wedding expense that you’ll have to pay, with many of the more popular venues charging £2000 upwards. But you don’t need to spend this sort of money to have a fabulous venue.

Wedding Venue Cost Saving Tip:

Many village halls, golf and rugby clubs have suitable rooms available for a fraction of the price. The trick is to see past the existing décor and imagine it sprinkled with hundreds of fairy lights or candles – think of Ross’s wedding on the hit show Friends that Rachel ruined!

If you’ve found the wedding venue of your dreams, but it looks as if it will be out of your budget, don’t despair. Many venues offer significant discounts for mid-week or ‘out of season’ weddings which can run into thousands of pounds.

2. Food At The Wedding

Deciding what kind of menu you want to offer for your wedding can be difficult enough without having to see the price tag that goes along with it!

Food Budget Cost Saving Tip:

There are lots of ways to cut back on your food budget, and still have a memorable day. Selecting a venue where you can bring in your own caterers is often a much better value than using the existing venue catering. You can even go as far as preparing all the food yourself, though be careful of taking too much.

If you don’t have a choice about which caterer you use, there are still ways that you can trim your spending costs. Try replacing the starter course with canapés, instead of having both. Or, replace dessert with your wedding cake – so often wedding cake gets forgotten about because guests have already had so much to eat.

A new idea that brides are buzzing about is the wedding ‘cheese’ cake. Literally, it is three slabs of cheese turned into a wedding cake for that special ‘cutting of the cake’ photograph and ceremony. Why not combine the two instead of having a separate cheese and cake course? Or serve this with crackers, chutney and pate for your evening guests?

3. Drinks At The Wedding

To have a free bar, or cash bar? Such a difficult question to answer. Of course, it would be fantastic to offer a free bar to all your guests, all day, but with limited funds, it’s not a realistic option for most people.

Booze Budget Cost Saving Tip:

The ideal in this instance is to use a venue where you can bring your own booze. I was lucky enough to be able to do this at our wedding and managed to pop across to France and buy 180 bottles of wine and 240 beers, plus Pimms and cassis for under £500. We had stacks left and our guests were restricted to beer, wine or soft drinks, but no one seemed to mind.

Another option is to come to an arrangement with the hotel regarding corkage. A friend got married in a hotel, which charged £10 per bottle of wine. She arranged a flat fee of £500 for all of her beer and wine opening. Although it seems like a lot, it meant that she could afford to supply beer and wine for her guests.

4. Bridalwear

With most bridal dresses starting around £600 and running into thousands of pounds, this is a huge expense.

Bridalwear Cost Saving Tip:

You can still look fabulous for a fraction of the price and feel that you’re minimising the eco-footprint of your wedding by buying a ‘pre-loved’ wedding dress.

Many charity shops have specialist ‘bridalwear’ departments where you can purchase new and designer dresses that have been worn once. You can try the dresses on before buying and you’ll get a warm glow from doing something for ‘Charidee’.

If you’re a little braver, you can venture online, where there are some fantastic bargains to be had in the ‘pre-loved’ lines. Take a look at some of the ‘For Sale’ forums of the popular wedding websites and you’ll see bridal dresses, veils, tiaras and those Jimmy Choo shoes that you know you want for a fraction of the cost.

5. The Wedding Photography

Many couples feel that photography is a major part of the day and are prepared to pay upwards of £2000 for a beautifully presented wedding album. Photographers have confirmed that it isn’t the actual photography, which is the major part of this expense, but printing and preparation of the formal wedding albums.

Wedding Photography Cost Savings Tip:

Many photographers are prepared to attend your wedding day and then provide you with a DVD of your photos for around £600. With the DVD, you can then use some of the fantastic online services to prepare your own ‘Photo Book’ - costing much less. Or, as many guests will no doubt have digital cameras with them, combine place cards with little notes asking them to share their wedding photos on your online directory.

Another excellent tip for having a photo keepsake of your wedding is to use several Instant Photo Guest Books, which combine Polaroid Instant Photos and hand-written sentiments from your guests. These photo guest books are ready to enjoy the “instant” your wedding is over — and creating them adds great fun to the wedding reception!

Article by:

Helen Rankin, Founder of Instant Forever — www.instantforever.com and distributor of Adesso Albums in the UK and Europe, helps you capture your wedding memories forever. The Adesso Album is the only guest book alternative that captures your wedding event in an Instant in both pictures and words, and preserves it Forever. Capture your wedding in an instant with a Wedding Photo Guest Book

Wedding Planning | No Comments »

I wanted to drop a note and apologize for the lack of new postings over the last two months! I have been overwhelmed with the launch of a new blog - <a href=”http://whitelacewedding.com”>White Lace Weddings</a>. This one is also a wedding blog, but more about wedding trends, ideas and news. Don’t worry, this blog is not going anywhere, and I promise to start posting new posts full of money saving ideas for you again this week:)  Of course, your help is appreciated - if you have ideas for posts, or questions you need answered, post them here in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.

Wedding Planning | No Comments »

On March 18th, I attended my second wedding for 2006. This wedding was special for me as well. My baby girl was the flower girl, and the bride was a very dear friend of mine. She was also wearing one of my dresses, which was exciting for me:)

The most spectacular thing about the wedding was the children! The bride owns a private daycare and has a lot of children in her life. Her wedding party contained 14 people, 8 of those were children! She had three “Angels” who were escorted up the aisle by 3 page boys, and dropped petals along the way. Then my 2 year old was driven up the aisle in a little electric riding toy! It was adorable.

Surprisingly, with all those children involved, the wedding was very calm and uneventful! The bride lost her voice the night before, and it was hard to hear her saying the vows, but that was okay. The people witnessing heard, her husband heard and God heard. That’s all that matters.

The wedding, with about 300 guests, was followed by a catered dinner including table service. The bride and groom choose not to have a dance, but their families put together a fun program for the guests to enjoy before the evening was over. It was lovely!

Some of the ways they saved money: The wedding dress was $300 from Chrys Cross Bridal. All four flower girl dresses were bought on ebay for less then $100 total: including shipping!! The organza bags used for favors and the white silk callla lillies used for the boutineirres were also purchased on ebay. The catering was done by the local ladies auxillary group who charged $300 to prepare and serve the food. The bride was able to then purchase the food in bulk and save a great deal of money. The decor featured white pillars with cherubs and lots of faux trees and ivy. These were rented, and created a romantic garden feel for a very low price. The invitations were hand made: a engagment picture was printed in black and white, and navy blue card stock was cut just slightly larger then the picture. Then a corner punch was used to create heart shaped slits at each corner to hold the picture. The invitation was printed on frosted vellum and placed over the picture. They wedding program was made using paper from the stationary store with a daisy design on one side. The program details were printed on the inside, and then they were rolled up and held together by a little silver ring (you get them for about 5 cents a peice at the craft store).One of Christine’s dearest friends is a ex-wedding cake decorator, so she asked is she could provide the cake. She made a wonderful three layer cake with a weave design, accented with a few fresh burgundy gerbera’s(the same ones used in the bridesmaid bouquets).

Picture 1: the flower girl(my baby) and the programs by the guestbook table

Picture 2: the flower girl and ring bearer getting ready to go up the aisle

Picture 3: The new couple!

More pictures available on the Real Weddings page at Chrys Cross Bridal: http://chryscrossbridal.com/real.htm

Real Weddings | No Comments »