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My Wedding Planning Process
So I have had a couple people ask me to post up my wedding planning process (I am getting married next month). At first I didn’t know where to even begin with the post, but after thinking about it I have too gone to different sites to get ideas from other people's wedding planning posts. I am trying to include everything I have done so far. So sorry for the very long post! Feel free to take ideas from me for your own celebration; in the end they are not just my ideas but a collection of many people's ideas from the web! :) My colour choice is mostly gold with a splash of baby pink and blue.
Organization - I have been deemed queen of organization by my bridesmaids. Organization is key to any wedding! From the minute I started planning for my wedding I made myself a wedding planning binder. Forget the wedding planning binders you can buy in the store. Sure they have the tabs to help you organize but in the end they are costly and this is something you can do yourself! Plus I found that some of the info they had in there just didn’t apply to me. A home-made binder is the best way to go, and it is custom to YOUR wedding. Plus with all the PDFs you can find online, it is easy enough to make one yourself! I just bought a PINK binder and used page protectors to keep any brochures I might have gotten from the wedding shows I attended. I used the same baseball card keepsake plastic things (the same which I use to organize my coupons and some of you do as well) to organize any cards I get from vendors. And I separated each category with dividers. I had a category for budget (important!), guests, photo/video, flowers, cake, attire, decorators, and limo/transportation. This made it so easy for me in the end when I was choosing each vendor.
Budget – this is the most important part of any wedding. I downloaded a simple wedding budget worksheet from day one of the wedding planning process (http://www.realsimple.com/static/pdf..._worksheet.pdf) which actually shows how much as a percent you should spend for each aspect of the wedding. While I might have meandered a few percentages from their suggested ones, it did in the end help me with my wedding budget. This is important in order to know how much to set aside and start saving. This sheet was the first piece of paper in the budget section of my binder, and I also modified this chart with a “deposit” and “amount owing” columns since many vendors required a deposit (like the cake, decorator, reception hall, etc.). This way I know who I paid a deposit to, how much left I need to pay, and what the total of each vendor’s charge was. I also included any receipts, papers, contracts, etc. in a page protector right after this sheet.
Flowers – I went with the simple silk flowers. I wanted my bridesmaids and myself to keep the bouquets for as long as they want them. Why spend all this money on something you will throw away at the end of the night? I have heard people make nice centerpieces on their dinner tables with their bouquets in the end. What a nice touch! While you might think it is cheaper than real ones, believe it or not but they were $70 cheaper for all of the flowers I got for the wedding than if I was to go with real flowers. The only thing that is real is my throw-away bouquet (which she actually didn’t even charge me for!!) But I have heard from the groomsman that the boutonnieres tend to wilt by reception time. I chose flowers which look real –roses, hydrangeas, calla lilies, and orchids.
Story – I took a day in February to look at flowers and made an appointment with a florist (very first one). During the appointment, she was nice, but her silk flowers looked like something bought from an antique store – old, washed out colours, droopy. I didn’t like it. But me being nice I said ill think about it and come back later that day. Well, she didn’t want me to look around fearing I might never come back so she kept pushing me! She said things like “I only have enough flowers for just your wedding...” and “we have been in business for over 20 years we are the most experienced florists in town...” Ok, thanks, but no thanks! So as I started walking she shouted to me from across the store “see this bride here? She just ordered the same flowers you want for your wedding. I now only have enough to do your wedding. If you leave I can’t guarantee you will get these flowers”. That was my ultimate deciding factor. I said “THANK YOU!”, walked out, and never saw her again!
Dress – I actually bought the very first dress I tried on. I know, I didn’t want to either. But there was something about it that I loved so much. PLUS...I got it for $800 even including taxes since they had their end-of-summer sale in September. Why not...retail price: $1649. I knew I wasn’t going to get the same kind of dress as this one. So I got it. It was the first thing I bought, and I’m happy I made this decision!
Story – so this dress was one size too small! But I was determined to save on the alterations and lose some inches. It fit, but I could barely breathe and I needed the help of two assistants to be able to zip it up. By my first dress fitting by the seamstress at the store 2 weeks ago, honestly I can say that the seamstress just zipped it up!!! She said to me “Hun, you don’t even need to alter this dress...it fits you like a glove!” I was so thrilled! What I did since January was this – 4 days of exercise, one hour each day (P90X and Insanity). My snacks consist of yogurt, apples and peanut butter, fresh fruit, and a more controlled lunch/dinner. Now I feel great and know I look great!! I never thought I could do it but this just proved me wrong!
Regarding the veils – I honestly don’t understand why they are crazy expensive! For even the basic veil with no decor is over $100!! WTH! So, after seeing a very expensive veil worth almost as much as my dress $649...cause it has silk (who gives a...!) me and my mom went to fabricland, bought all our material, and out of $20 she created an even better replica of that $649 veil. Plus the fact that she made it and no one else will have one like mine is priceless!!! I never knew how easy it was to make (ok the edging she did on the sewing machine said took her 30 mins to do, and stitching the pearls and lace trim took another 40-50 mins).
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Invitations – I bought these early. Michael’s had a display of a variety of invitations on clearance from the “Brides” collection. One box of 40 count was $15-something. So I bought 2. The box included RSVP cards with envelopes as well. Sure it was a make-it-yourself type. But I loved the invitation as it was so simple and so elegant. It has a single pearl with a ribbon running across it. Since my dress has pearls as sequencing, I thought it would be perfect to match! Plus, the less decorations, the less costly postage will be.
Decorations – my venue is at a golf club, so the rich and beauty of the floor to ceiling windows really adds decorations in themselves. So I only opted for a gold theme to suit the elegance of my theme and the venue. I chose gold chair covers with pink sashes, gold tablecloths with gold charger plates. The centerpieces are just cylinder style vases (I think??) filled with water and a floating candle with an orchid (again matching my bouquet) and crystal rocks (matching the crystal-like sequencing on my dress) in the bottom of each cylinder. There are 3 cylinders, each small, medium and tall. They will rest on a mirror (to add more light) with pink rose petals sprinkled around. I wanted this theme to be elegant and romantic. I think it suits it. I will have a backdrop, under lighting both against the backdrop and under the head table tablecloth. My DJ is providing with up lights against the walls for more lighting/decorations. So this was pretty cheap for me. Plus I searched throughout my area for the cheapest one I could find, but that has to be a good person/company to work with. I am happy to have chosen mine who is a fantastic person to work with!
Regarding the escort card table – I have seen different styles and different ideas. I am going to try to make this...
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Party Favours – I didn’t want to completely spend a lot of money on this. But then again I didn’t want people to just toss it in the end. Who needs another tea cup or photo frame? I decided to go to my local winery and purchase bottled wine in a favour size (355mL). Plus the labels and wrapping is all free and included. It was cheap, ended up being $3.50 per person. Not bad! I also heard of people donating on behalf of each guest a certain amount to a foundation/organization they associate with (breast cancer society, Alzheimer’s society) and provide with a little card to put for each place setting at the table.
Photography/Videography – i went with a friend and his wife who both very good photography (not professional; they are both profs at my university). Since we know each other it will be easier to work with them. We did an engagement session with them and the pictures turned out beautiful and very professional. So we cut out a large cost by going with them. Regarding the video though, it was a bit expensive. But I really wanted to capture almost every moment of that day since I know I will be so caught up in the moment that I won’t have time to really see everyone’s expressions. Plus with the “documentary style” of video editing, I like to see the most important events captured as a film, I guess you can say. Both sets of parties will be at my wedding for an unlimited amount of hours (no strict timeline like other companies). I am happy with my investment!
Odds and Ends – cake cutter I’ll buy from the dollar store and just decorate with fancy ribbon, lace, etc. (Why spend so much on something you will use only once...yes they are pretty but seriously!!). Cake topper from bulk barn (they have nice ones, and maybe when they have their next coupon if I’m lucky!). Bride and groom glasses for the champagne: my mom already decorated those; we just bought glasses at home outfitters $10 for both including the decor. As a traditional Romanian wedding we have a band accommodating us through the entire day (even at pre-ceremony festivities at my parent’s house).
Did I miss anything? Lol. I am not bragging that my wedding was cheap, cause its not turning out like that (mostly the food at the golf club is the most expensive one, and with an open bar...yeah!). But we are getting the help of our parents to pay for some. So in the end we won't be going into debt as a newlywed couple.
