Weddingbee Blog

First_Loves had an interesting link to the average cost of weddings by zip code on her site. I don’t know how accurate it is, but I put in my home zip code and it gave me an average cost of $80,132 excluding honeymoon, engagement ring, and wedding planner. Including that it says the average can be as high as $106,247. I know New York weddings are expensive but I didn’t spend nearly that much!

Here are some more wedding statistics from Hallmark:

Weddings by the Numbers

• For the past 20 years, 2.25 million to 2.40 million weddings take place each year in the United States, a third of them remarriages.
• Most brides (30 percent) plan their weddings for 7 to 12 months.
• An average of 189 guests attends a wedding.
• The average cost of a wedding is $20,000 to $25,000.
• 48 percent of Hallmark wedding cards are sold during summer months (May through August).

The Most

• Most (85 percent) weddings are held in a church or synagogue.
• More than half of all weddings take place in the afternoon.
• Hawaii is the favorite honeymoon destination.
• Most (about 75 percent) first-time brides will receive a diamond engagement ring (67 percent of repeat brides).
• A third of men’s wedding rings have diamonds.

June and August Wedding Favorites

• August is the top month for weddings (10.2 percent) and June is second (9.9 percent).
• While June typically has been regarded as the month for weddings, more weddings have been in August in the past decade than in June, including the past three years.

Today’s Bride Is Older and Wiser

• The average engagement is 16 months (up from 11 months in 1990) and the average ring costs $2,000.
• The average first-time bride was 22 in 1980, 25 in 1990, and 25.1 today.
• The average age of remarrying brides was 32 in 1980, 35 in 1990, and 34 in 2000.
• The average age of the first-time groom is 26.8 and 37+ for the remarrying groom.
• Four out of five brides are employed.
• Money is the most-desired wedding gift.

Till When Do Us Part

• About 50 percent of marriages end in divorce.
• Half of all adults in the United States are married.
• More than 4.2 million unmarried couples live together.
• 59 percent of brides under 18 are separated or divorced within 15 years.

Wedding Trends

• Wedding ceremonies in unusual venues
• museums, zoos, gardens, etc.
• Black-and-white photojournalism-style pictures.
• Wedding consultants to direct the event.
• More platinum rings.
• Couples showers.
• Professionally-produced videos to be played at receptions.
• Focus on guests having fun: novel floral arrangements; more elegant foods, wines, cakes; focus on detail
• parking, favors, maps, etc.
• Honeymoon registry.
• Longer, more elaborate, exotic honeymoons.

Comprehensive wedding statistics according to each state here.

Poll Results! This is completely unscientific based solely on the people who commented.

Rings:
1. Round - 22%
2. Ascher - 19%
3. Princess - 17%
4. Radiant - 14%
5. Cushion - 10%
6. Emerald - 10%
7. Marquee - 3%
8. Oval - 1%
9. Pear - 1%

How You Met
1. Through friends
2. College
3. Online
4. High School
5. Club/Bar
6. Party

Average Length of Time Dating Before Getting Engaged: 2 years and 8 months
Average Length of Time From Engagement Date to Wedding Date: 1 year and 2 months

Average Age at Engagement: 23.9

Average Age at Wedding: 25

I need some hair advice. This is how I originally wanted my hair done:

The stylist thought it would look better parted on the side with some bangs (more pics in earlier post):

I like it but a few people have said that I look Hispanic with my hair styled this way. Looking Hispanic isn’t a bad thing, its just, well, that I’m not Hispanic and my goal is to look like my everyday self during the wedding.

Also, to create the style, the stylst took out the curl in my hair and then re-curled it with a curling iron. By the evening, it was pretty much straight in the back (below). I think (hope?) the re-curl might hold better in June when there is more humidity and my hair naturally springs up.

This is my 5 second take at styling my hair like the original model above. It’s still a bit wet and would need to be teased for some more oomph… but what do you think? It’s the way I wear my hair to work, so it may look a little too much like the everyday me.

My hair is really thin these days, I think they’re cutting too many layers into it! And again… I really do need to do something with those eyebrows! (Sorry, not the best lighting in the pic, I look tanned in the picture from last week compared to this one).

My Birthday isn’t for another two weeks, but I’ve been “borrowing” my fab birthday present - a Canon Powershot SD 550. Was finally able to take pictures of my engagement ring:

I bought a wedding band while we were on the cruise. It has princess cut diamonds, .5 carat total weight… can’t really see the detail in the pictures. I can’t wait to actually wear both rings!

Cakes:
bijoux doux - new york
confetti cakes - new york
jolly be bakery - new york
lovin sullivan cakes - new york
morning starr creations
sylvia weinstock cakes

New York Decor:
armour products - vases
candles 4 less - candles
crate & barrel - vases
durwin rice - vases
etch world - vases
flowers by design - dried flowers / vases
fresh rose petals - fresh rose petals / fresh gardenias
hampton store - candles
illuminations - candles
jamali garden - vases / floral supplies / candles / seashells / ribbon
loves me, loves me knot - (uk) great site for decoration ideas
nettleton hollow - tree branches
romantic flowers - vases
save on crafts - vases / ribbons / candles / etc…

Dresses & Gowns:
amsale
bargain bride
kleinfeld bridal
sae young vu

Shoes:
amazon
bellisima bridal shoes
best bridal prices
david’s bridal
grace footwear
my glass slipper
quality bridal shoes
wedding shoes boutique

Favors:
beaucoup - favors / hanging votives / favor boxes / ribbons
bliss weddings market - favors / favor boxes / ribbons / out of town boxes
divine events - favors / decoration ideas
e favors - favors
journey of love - favors/gift baskets
lucky weddings
plum party - candles / place cards / some wedding decor
sophie’s favors - favors / favor boxes / ribbons
the favor warehouse - favors / invitations / disposable cameras
the uncommon bride - favors / invitations / diy’s
the white aisle - favors / invitations / jewelry / paper goods / decor
wedding things - favors / invitations / cake toppers
wedding favorites - favors / favor boxes / ribbons
wrap with us - favors / ribbons / guest books

Florist:
annie siu - san francisco
art in bloom - ne cali
artfool - new york
bella signature design - seattle
belle fleur - new york
chesnuts in the tuileries - new york
elegant wedding flowers - central cali
fleur de lis florist - baltimore
flower sculpture - se pennyslvania
flowers by madison - new york
flowers of the world - new york
kampo floral design - new york
kate healey flowers - central cali
lilla bello studio - los angeles
lilly pilly - oregon
loop florist - san francisco
michelle rago - new york
blooms boutique - new york
murphy & klein floral studio - se pennsylvania
petite fleur - los angeles
reve design studio - san diego
simply blooms - san francisco
stonekelly - new york
that girl creations - ontario
unique floral expressions - georgia
magnolia florist nyc - new york

DJ:
touch of class - new jersey

Jewelry / Hair Jewelry / Veils:
dorable anna
agatha
alex woo
american bridal
american pearl
amy’s bridal accessories
beautiful silver jewelry
belle
ben-amun
boucher jewelry
bridal blue book
bride’s head revisited
carolee
carrie d mader
cathy’s concepts
claires
creme de luxe
cynthia louise designs
emma & me
fragments
glamgal designs bridal
hair boutique marketplace
ice
lee angel
linea nervenkitt
liz palacios
lrs design
m flynn accessories
maggie t new york
melanie michelle
naugi
orkyd pearls
park ave designs
perfect details
princess bride tiaras
regina b new york
robert chiarella
saori c
shimmer & stone
shop nbc
silver moon glass
something blue tiaras
spring dream
star girl jewelry
sundance
swarovski
taylor rayce creations
tiffany
turq bridal
voila! Bridal
ylang 23

Paper / Invitations / Wrapping Paper / Packaging:
amadon - wrapping paper
envelopments - envelopes
fete - invitations
paper girl wedding - asian themed invitations
paper mart - paper / packaging
paper source - invitations / envelopes / wrapping paper / kits
sweet lily - invitations
gaddis design - invitations
invitation box - invitations
kate’s paperie - invitations / paper / albums
luxe paperie - invitations / wrapping paper
manifesto letterpress - invitations
my gatsby - invitations
paper mojo - decorative paper / wrapping paper
papeterie store - invitations / programs
rock paper scissors - invitations
shindig invites - invitations
shop heidi - wrapping paper / gift cards
smudge ink - invitations
paper presentation - paper / envelopes / invitations / stickers

Boxes / Packaging:
paper mart
snow drift farm
the box depot
veripack

Seating Chart:
documents & designs - seating charts / programs / menus / etc…

DIY Projects:
diy centerpiece
diy orchid basket
diy pocketfold

Wedding Resources:
brides
by recommendation only - san francisco & seattle
elegant wedding - boston & philadelphia
li weddings - new york
my new york wedding - new york
my philadelphia wedding - philadelphia
one wed
party space - philadelphia
the knot
the wedding library - new york
the wedding spot
ultimate wedding
wedding channel
wedding solutions

Today we went to pick out our weddings bands and to get my engagement ring fitted. It turns out that it was a 4 but after I got it resized I found out I was a 3. Damn midget fingers.

Ok so back to the wedding bands. Woohoo! Mr. Ladybug’s like “Ok it doesn’t have to have diamonds hun. We’re gonna have to cut costs.” I agreed. So while he went looking for parking I went with his mom into her friend’s jewelry store. By the time he came in his mom and I picked out this one with little diamonds going around the entire ring.

“I thought we talked about this.”
“We did.”
“What happened?”
“Your mom and her friend said it looked better with diamonds. I swear!!! I picked up a plain one with nothing on it. For reals! It was them!”

So it’s being made. Ha ha…. Not my fault. Shoot. Blame me will you? Who am I to argue with the older generation? One might call it disrespectful. Mmmhmmm…. (muhahaha)

His looks exactly like mine but wider and he didn’t want any bling on it. His mom’s like “why not!” so I explained to her in my bad Korean but I think she got me when she heard me say the word “gay”.

Does anyone have any diy info for this? Also, what is this called? Floral monogram? What’s the correct terminology for this? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Borrowing a question from theknot NYC message board:

Married and almost married girls, if you could have done something different with your wedding, what would it be and why?

Right now, I think I would have opted for a small (immediate family and close friends) wedding in the Caribbean or maybe Miami (for easier travel)! Less money and less aggravation!

Each insert you put into an invitation - rsvp card, reception card, direction card, etc. costs $$$. Having very little time to get anything specialty printed for my brother’s wedding, I made maps out of vellum paper and inserted them into the invitations.

Total cost - $20 for the vellum paper.

I finally sent out my save-the-dates. Woohoo!

I sent out my 2nd deposit for my reception hall. Woohoo!

My minister won’t marry us unless we take pre-marital courses which means we have to go to church. Boooooo. (I’m joking! I’m joking! God I’m sorry. I joke.)

I ordered these from paper-source. I thought they were $3.00 each so I ordered 70 but when I got it I realized it was $3.00 for a PACK of 10. Which means - I can’t do math - but I do know I have a whole LOTTA envelopes to send back.

These were actually 19×25 sheets so I had to cut them down to 5.5×4 for my pictures.

I ordered these 8×11 magnet sheets. They’re thin enough to feed through the printer.

note: If you’re gonna do this make sure you feed it a sheet at a time so they don’t stick to each other and you end up damaging your printer. 1 pack comes with about 5 sheets so I was able to fit 4 photos on each. I don’t remember how much the pack was but i think it’s about $6/7 something a pack. You can get these at staples or any office supply store.

My magnets! Aren’t they pretty? It’s an evening shot of Philly but in a sepia tone. If you find a photo that you like on line, copy it, then paste it onto word. Once you do that, double click on the photo and it’ll give you a choice to write on the picture itself or next to it.

Next cut the photos out with the paper cutter. Make sure that you line it up correctly so that you don’t ruin all 4 magnets.

I printed my photo on the off-white sheets. I did this because of the older generation guests. I don’t want them to open the envelopes and see the magnets and be like “Um who the hell is so-&-so and so-&-so?” A lot of my relatives know me as Senna and not Susan. Plus the added bonus is that it’s a funny picture.

I ordered an envelope liner kit from paper-source so my sister came over this weekend and helped me cut these out. I love the paper, also from paper-source. They rock!

Insert the liner into the envelope and use double sided tape just on the flap part of the envelope to make it stick to the envelope.

I was worried about people cutting the envelope open at the seam instead of at the point. Why? Because the bottom part of the liner isn’t taped on, so I bought glue dots at AC Moore to seal the deal.

I didn’t really like any address labels that were out so I printed mine on thicker paper, cut it out with my paper cutter and then used double sided tape to stick on the envelope.

Tada! The finished product. I loved the stamps we got because it looked very vintage.

I still haven’t changed my last name. There was a time when everyone I knew changed their last names immediately after marriage. Nowadays I see brides wanting to keep their last names more often. Some plan to change their names eventually but want to hold onto it just a little bit longer. Some don’t want to change their names but do it because they want to have the same last name as their children. Some hyphenate their last names. And some just keep their last names.

Why the dilemma? Is it hard to let go of a name you’ve had your entire life? Does changing our last names forfeit a part of our identity? For me the answer is yes and yes. I like my last name, though it’s a common one, because it reveals my ethnicity and that’s a big part of my identity. Having had a Korean last name my entire life and all of sudden having an American last name is a huge change. I wonder how differently people will perceive me. Will people treat me differently? I wonder if it would have been easier for me to change my name to another Korean last name.

Initially I didn’t change my name because I was pursuing a business venture targeted to the Asian market and thought that it would be better if I had an Asian last name. That made it easy for me not to have to face the decision immediately. It’s not that I don’t want to change my last name…. I do. I’m just having a hard time letting go because I’ve had this name for 27 years. Some people do call me Mrs. **** and I like the way it sounds. I like it when people acknowledge that I’m married. Mrs. Bee just doesn’t have that same feeling.

Mr. Bee doesn’t care whether or not I change my name - I’m the one who wants to change it because I do want the world to know that I’m his wife and I want our entire family to have the same last name. I know many brides whose husbands have put serious pressure on them to change their last names. To the guys out there… how important is it to you for your wife to change her last name?

Do you plan on changing your last name after marriage? Why or why not?

So it looks like we are going to have a wedding party ….

This is the dress my best friend picked out a few weeks ago (Watters & Watters #4545); hopefully my sister will like it too. They would probably wear the sleeves just straight on the shoulders (gathered like a tank top/spaghetti straps), rather than like cap sleeves.

I tried it on too; it was very flattering. I’ll probably order the dresses from NetBride - their prices were $50 less per dress than RK Bridal!

I’m not crazy about any of the colors in which this dress comes, but I’m okay with dusk (below) and I think it will look nice next to my dress with green and cream flowers.

Wow what a lot of work this guy put into his proposal!! Congrats!

Someone asked me this week what I’m going to do for centerpieces since I’m not doing the cube vase look. So thank god for Martha (my lower case god) I’m gonna go with this. Found it in the winter 2006 issue…

She even tells you how to do it. Martha, you so crajee! I wanna be yo baby’s momma.

(God I love my scanner) I can buy the vases in bulk and I’ll still put some flowers in small candle votives but it’ll save a lot on flowers and still look romantic. I’m still gonna go with naming the table with whatever flowers are in the votives though. I still love that idea. I’ll put up photos as soon as I do a test run once I get all my supplies ordered.

As for my place cards… I thought this was a great idea! I love taking photos. So I was gonna have a seating chart made and that that way the guests could go to, let’s say the hydrangea table, and look for their photo which will be set up something like this on their plate…

Unique, yet personal. I’m an f’in genius.
Now to get photos from everyone.

Oh and also here’s a question for you:
Do you have to be Jewish to have a chuppah?
I mean would that be odd if I requested one? Cause I really want one!
Also has anyone ever had one and if so do you know what the cost for that would be?