Real Life Wedding Planning

Wedding planing on a budget does not mean you’re forced to have a plain, boring wedding.  Vogue magazine talked to three fashionable brides and got 17 chic wedding planning ideas.  Here are a few of them:

• Document all your ideas and resources in a journal or scrapbook, this keeps everything in one place.

• Use letterpress or flat printing instead of engraving on invitations.

• Asked talented friends and family members to help with things like calligraphy or music.

• Instead of hiring a DJ or band for your rehearsal dinner or pre-reception cocktail party, use an iPod with external speakers.

• Your “something borrowed” can be your wedding dress, wedding jewelry, or vases for your floral arrangements.

Pick up the June issue of Vogue to get the rest of the ideas and don’t miss the photo of tennis star RogerFederer’s bride, Mirka Vavrinec, in a beautiful wedding dress from Oscar de la Renta’s spring collection and the fashion photos of model Sasha Pivovarova’s “reenacted” wedding.

To help you prepare your wedding budget, I’ve added two calculators to this blog, the Wedding Cost Search, which you will find on the right, and the Wedding Cost Estimator, which you can find by clicking on the tab at the top of the page. Both will give you an idea of the amount of money couples in your zip code are spending on their weddings for typical wedding products and services.  Spending and prices vary so the amount you spend may be higher or lower according to the vendors, products, and services you choose.

Planning your wedding on a tight budget?  In the current issue of Us Weekly Magazine, Jen Schefft, from the television shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, spoke about her plans for her upcoming wedding.  Schefft recently lost her job so she is being really careful about sticking to a budget.

Here are some of her cost-saving ideas:

• Guest List – keep the count low
• Venue – chose a location that has it’s its own tables, chairs and linens.
• Linens – use what is available at the venue, no special order colors or textures
• Food – have a cocktail party reception with finger food or only serve three courses at dinner
• Music – use a DJ instead of a band
• Wedding Dress – try sample sales, check online. In the magazine, she modeled wedding dresses that were priced less than $500.
• Shoes – buy a reasonably priced pair that you can use again
• Jewelry – wear what you already have
• Makeup – Schefft is doing her own, do it yourself only if you do it well
• Hair – use your regular stylist

Think about how you can use some of her ideas to keep your wedding costs low.