Weddingbee Blog

All hydrangea arrangements from my bridal shower last weekend…

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As Mrs. Bee mentioned yesterday, we’d like to start featuring reader-submitted, complete budgets from former brides. We think this will be super helpful to all the brides-to-be out there, as budgeting is a tricky process for most everyone.

We’d like to post budgets of all sizes: small to large and everything in between. Metropolis brides, suburb brides, countryside brides, etc.  For privacy, we’ll post them without names (initials only, or just anonymously, if you prefer).

Below are the typical expenses to fill out, but you can adjust them to fit your particular budget (or include other categories). And you’re welcome to write short explanations of your expenditures as Mrs. Bell Pepper did here.

Please send your info to guest@weddingbee.com. 

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In today’s hive:

1. C would like to know how to figure out what to wear to a wedding (as a guest).  An invitation she’s received doesn’t say black tie, but she has the impression it’s pretty formal.
2. Andrea and her fiance will be honeymooning along the PCH, from San Francisco to Seattle.  Any recommendations on where to go?  Sonoma?  Mendocino?  Northern CA?  Also, how long does it take, and what should they know first?
3. AmandaB is looking for inexpensive vases to hold her bridesmaids’ bouquets at the reception (four or five while calla lilies, presentation style).
4. kandaceandjason are going on a cruise for their honeymoon, and they’ve heard it’s cheaper to organize shore excursions outside of the the cruise line.  Can anyone advise, or recommend books to look through?  Also, any suggestions for fun, free port excursions?  (They’re cruising on Carnival, through Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.)
5. e needs an NYC alterations recommendation.  Also, is it OK to go to cake tastings at more than one place?  Or should she only go to those places that offer to set one up?  (Her cake is very small; some vendors don’t offer tastings for cakes that size.)
6. currystrumpet is considering DIY’ing her aisle runner by handpainting, block printing, or stenciling her wedding emblem.  What’s a nice, inexpensive fabric to use?

To add your question to the beehive, leave a comment below and we’ll update this post to include your question. See all past beehives here.

Our invitations are done! They were designed by the wonderful Lee of Pearl & Marmalade, and I couldn’t be happier with them. I think they are perfect. This picture kinda sucks, but they are beautiful in real life. We printed them at Kinkos on 100% post-consumer content recycled cardstock. It was pretty cost-effective to have them printed that way, especially since they are 3-color.

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Trunk Shows and Sample Sales

- Mika Inatome is having a 50-90% off sample sale through tomorrow @ her New York store.  Original prices range from $2500 - $3000. Call 212-966-7777 for an appointment.

- Vera Wang is previewing her Spring 2008 Collection, July 5-7th @ her New York store.  Call 212-628-3400 for an appointment.

Sales

- Get an extra 15% off shoes today only at Bluefly.
- Get 35% off all sale items at Shoes.com with coupon code 35OFFSALE.
- Take and extra 15% off all jewelry and watches at ICE.com with coupon code LS-ICESSAVE. (all via bargainist)
- Ragshop (east coast chain similar to Joanns and Michaels) is going out of business.  Everything is 30-70% off. (thanks, Yach!)

Please feel free to add sales you’ve come across!

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So, a lot of people have inquired about just how in the heck I printed on my escort cards…and I’m here to tell you that it’s much easier than you think!

First, you need to consider the program that you’re using to print in. In the best circumstances, you have a design layout program like InDesign or Illustrator. The next best thing is a graphics design program like Photoshop… (remember you can always download the FREE opensource designercopy of Photoshop known as GIMPshop). Now, you just need to figure out the measurements of whatever you are printing, and create a new file with those exact dimensions. Read more…

9 days left! Yikes! I went in for my final dress fitting last week. It felt so good to put my dress on, and I fell in love with it again after second-guessing my decision. I questioned my style of dress for my beach wedding but the only thing that matters now is I’m in love.

My dress is Maggie Sottero’s Madeleine in diamond white with a white sash. I got my alterations with Mahtab in Lake Forest, CA. She was very easy to work with and did a great job. I had it shortened and bustled (not shown) for a reasonable price.

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I have been slowly acquiring my wedding accessories throughout the last couple of months.

Shoes - check
Drop veil with crystals- check
Monogrammed wedding garter - check
Monogrammed dress tag - check
Pearl earrings from my mom - check
Hair brooch- check
Soon-to-be Mrs. Jellybeans hoodie (I know this is somewhat passe, but it’s my wedding and I can wear a hoodie if I want to)- check

Now all that’s missing is my Haute Bride bracelet (hint, hint Mr. Jelly Beans) and a vintage-inspired beaded clutch. Read more…

I’m not a big fan of aisle runners. To each their own–just not for me. Instead, I’m going the petal route. There is a long driveway to the church and I’m planning on hauling in a couple of tons of rose petals to cover every inch of the asphalt. Very romantic.

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So it dawned on me after a comment on one of my recent posts that I have an awful lot of graphics that we are incorporating into the wedding. I think there are four specific designs we are using, six if you count the two fonts that have found their way onto everything.

The lobster, clam, hydrangea and monogram seem a bit much to me when I think about it, and now I am worried that it won’t all look cohesive in the end, but rather like a hodge-podge of mismatched, icon overkill.
The lobster is on our save-the-date, the response cards, the stamps on the envelopes for the response cards and the table place cards.

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Please please PLEASE don’t rain on our wedding day. I really really REALLY want to get married OUTSIDE please.

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There’s been a lot of discussion about budgets on weddingbee, and I thought I should share our budget details..

Our Ideal Wedding Budget: about $20,000

The Actual Wedding Budget, here’s the breakdown:

(Note: The major budget costs are accurate but less significant budget expenses such as candy buffet jars, candy, DIY stuff, are an approximation of the original cost)

Ceremony/Reception Site Fee at the PAFA: $2000. The rental fee is typically $4000 at the PAFA, which is a pretty standard rate for renting a museum. For having a guest list under 100, the museum offered half the original rate.

Liability Insurance: $225

Officiant: $500

String Trio: $465

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…is a skill that I do not possess! The other day I was chatting with a friend who recently got married, and she revealed that she wheeled and dealed with each and every vendor. That brought me to the realization that I tried to avoid negotiating at all costs, haha . Mr. E would *sigh* after each vendor meeting and ask why we didn’t push harder for this or that (and yes, he did inject his 2 cents in sometimes, hehe). But then it occurred to me that I had my reasons for why I didn’t really try to haggle too much:

1) I did my research
2) I pretty much knew the “going rates” for each of the vendor categories
3) I knew what I wanted to pay

SO, if I met with a vendor I liked, and they could provide what I wanted within my budget, then SCORE! It was a done deal. Also, I was afraid that if I pushed too hard to lower the price or get upgrades, perhaps I was insulting or belittling their work. At one point prior to booking our photographer, Mr. E tried to do some negotiating before agreeing to sign the contract. When we didn’t hear back from him for about 3 days, I started freaking out and was all worried that we had offended him!! But in the end, he accepted and everything was hunky dory.

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I designed our invitations this weekend! I must say, I’m pretty darn proud of the semi-finished product. I’m a complete novice when it comes to Adobe Illustrator (never touched the program before wedding planning), so you can imagine how ecstatic I was when they came out looking pretty professional! You’ll have to wait until I get the invitations printed for a peek.

Also, my sample order from Cards and Pockets came in on Saturday:

I ordered every shade of pink, green, ivory, and brown under the sun.

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There has been a lot of discussion regarding money lately. What we’re spending, why we’re spending so much (or so little). Mr. Kiwi and I began our wedding planning basing our budget on what we were paying for the hotel reception (which is the only thing we knew at the start), and what we imagined we’d be spending on other things.

Gradually, the budget began to change, my dress was more than expected, our DIY flower idea went out the window, and now we have church fees, which are actually less than it would have been to have the ceremony at the reception site. I admit, I was proud, my future husband and I were planning what to do with the money we hoped to save. Month by month, Mr. Kiwi added more money to his savings, and I was still stuck in the “look at me! I saved $50.00!” phase. After a few months, I couldn’t understand why I was having such a hard time - I was putting money away, but it was all being spent! What the heck?

Then, Mr. Kiwi reminded me that I was buying all the stuff for the wedding out of my checking account. The candles and shoes and dress deposit, it all should have been from the savings. Thankfully, this made sense, and was a heaping relief.

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