Secretly Thinking Spring

The Dilemma:

We've found our venue and booked the date, but that's all we've done. It's unsettling to admit, but even among those two decisions, I feel a bit of unsuredness and remorse. I love Oxon Hill Manor (our venue) and I am undoubtly getting married there, but our date is scheduled as October 24, 2010, and I've secretely been thinking about having a spring wedding, not a fall one.

Initially I thought I wanted a fall wedding, because we love that time of year and we'd have about a year to plan. However, the hectic holidays and now-very-cold wheather has me thinking otherwise. I've been so indecisive about everything thus far (our colors and our theme), but I think that if we were having a spring wedding I wouldn't be having such a hard time making decisions. I've got so many ideas for a spring wedding. The list goes on and on. I can see it all in my mind's eye -- a beautiful spring day,  soft colors, flowers in full bloom, and the sun is warming the air... Ahh it's such a refreshing thought!

Spill the Beans:

My secret isn't really a secret because we've talked about having a spring wedding. We've actually talked about it quite a bit, but we haven't commited to it yet. I think both of us think (May, the spring month we like) is just too far away! Adding an additional 7 months to the planning seems excessive. What do you think? Do you wish you had more time to plan and prepare?

I think more planning time would be great, but that's because I'm a girl that loves weddings. Plus, I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm not ready for it to be over in 8 months! I love for it to last forever!

Lacking Ideas for a Fall Wedding:

If we were getting married in May, I'd love to stick with our original color palette of light pink, creme, and green. I like spring colors. I'd also love to incorporate a butterfly theme (have you ever seen a butterfly in October? I didn't think so). I want to have fans and umbrellas outside during our ceremony. I want tulips. I want more daylight and a "May'd for eachother," Save the Date...

So while I continue to covet all of these spring elements, I figured I might as well share them with you. Here are a few pictures that inspire my secretly for thinking spring:

{Photo credit: Martha Stewart}

{Photo credit: Silk Wedding Designs}

{Photo credit: Trendy Baby Boutique}

{Photo credit: Modern Girl Invitations}

{Photo credit: Pink Cake Box}

How did you decide what season you'd get married? Did you and your fiance agree immediately on the time of year? How long did you have to plan?

100 DAYS!!!!

Yes, that is right! We have only 100 days left before our wedding and I am suprisingly pretty calm. Being ahead of the game and being engaged for so long has allowed me to do all of my planning ahead of time. The great thing is that the mental space most brides reserve for freaking out at the 3 month mark, I have reserved for stressing out about my job and working with my moot court team.

Although, I basically have everything done, there are a few projects I do need to work on in the next few weeks to make sure I STAY ahead of the game. I always refer back to my favorite checklist from Real Simple to make sure I am up to date on what should be done during this time. Here is what they suggest:

Three Months Before
Finalize the menu and flowers. You’ll want to wait until now to see what will be available, since food and flowers are affected by season.

-Send florist an email just the other day...see, I am TOTALLY on top of things ;-D

-The menu has been finalized for a while now, but I should follow up with the caterer regarding booze...

Order favors, if desired. Some safe bets: monogrammed cookies or a treat that represents your city or region. If you’re planning to have welcome baskets for out-of-town guests, plan those now too.

-out of town baskets...OH CRAP! *adding to Google calender "work on out of town baskets*

Make a list of the people giving toasts. Which loved ones would you like to have speak at the reception? Ask them now.

-Done...but I should remind them

Finalize the readings. Determine what you would like to have read at the ceremony—and whom you wish to do the readings.

-Done! She just mentioned that she is working on that right now

Purchase your undergarments. And schedule your second fitting.

-Done! First fitting with Angie is scheduled for Jan. 8th (Woo Hoo!)

-I got THE BEST undergarment in the world to hold in my three stomachs, lol, check it out!

Finalize the order of the ceremony and the reception.

-Semi-done...the programs are done and there is a tentative draft for the reception timeline, but that depends on the band and their breaks, which I have not confirmed with them yet...so this remains open...

Print menu cards, if you like, as well as programs. No need to go to a printer, if that’s not in your budget: You can easily create these on your computer.

-Done with the programs! I plan to do this for the menu (so cute!)

Purchase the rings. This will give you time for resizing and engraving.

-Well...we have my ring...Mr. Glen Echo cannot decide on what type of ring he wants. Hopefully, tomorrow evening when we go ring shopping for him, we will have that all figured out and I can get this also checked off our list.

Send your event schedule to the vendors. Giving them a first draft now allows ample time for tweaks and feedback.

-Ok...this is a big one! In a few days, my plan is to draft a final vendor list that will give me all my vendors in one place. At that point, I will just go down the list and check off which each one as I contact them and confirm times. That seems to me to be the easiest way to do it. Does anyone have any other suggestions on this?

In addition to all of the items listed above that I need to work on, I am also working my escort cards and a few other DIY projects. I found this lovely idea that I plan to do during "FUN FUN DIY DAY" with my bridal attendants in January. I also am using this idea for my escort cards. They are mini-envelopes that you make beforehand and then just add an insert with the table number once you have the seat placements all figured out. TOTAL GENIUS! This means that I can do the escort cards BEFORE I have my RSVP info :-O

Are you ladies ahead or behind the game? Any tips for getting getting through the next 3 months?

6 Months and Counting...

Life has been kind of hectic the past couple of weeks (hence my lack of posting...sorry guys). My car decided to stop working properly and I spent all day Saturday learning about "negative equity" and how shady car salesmen are. Mr. Glen Echo and I did eventually find a car salesman who is not shady and a genuinely nice guy. We got a brand new car (with a brand new car payment...yeesh!) and we are totally excited about that.

With the car and the new payment, Mr. Glen Echo and I decided to take stock of where we are budget and planning wise. According to our budget, our tax return should take care of the rest of the wedding costs, which is quite awesome! As far as planning...being engaged for a year to date, we have been able to get a ton of things done early. According to Real Simple, these are the tasks we should be working on during the 6-4 month interval:

Seven to Six Months Before
Select and purchase invitations. Hire a calligrapher, if desired.

-Done! No calligrapher...but I found a fantastic calligraphy font from dafont.com that did the trick. I printed the envelopes off my printer and our actual invitations should arrive in approximately 2 weeks (I cannot wait!!!)
Start planning a honeymoon. Make sure that your passports are up-to-date, and schedule doctors’ appointments for any shots you may need.

-Pending...future in-laws are handling this for us and we recently just came across a hick-up with booking our trip...but they will take care of that and I am sure our honeymoon will be awesome!
Shop for bridesmaids’ dresses. Allow at least six months for the dresses to be ordered and sized.

-Done...for the most part. All but 2 bridesmaids have ordered their gowns, but both have picked them out and it's just a matter of ordering the gowns.

Meet with the officiant. Map out the ceremony and confirm that you have all the official documents for the wedding (these vary by county and religion).

-Hmm...this is the area of planning that we have not done well. We do have a meeting tomorrow, so hopefully this will be hashed out.
Send save-the-date cards.

-Done!
Reserve structural and electrical necessities. Book portable toilets for outdoor events, extra chairs if you need them, lighting components, and so on.

-No need...so I guess this would be a check!
Book a florist. Florists can serve multiple clients on one day, which is why you can wait a little longer to engage one. Plus, at this point, you’ll be firm on what your wedding palette will be.

-Done! Post soon to come about our florist and flowers...one of the vendors we booked early on because I am OBSESSED with flowers!
Arrange transportation. Consider limos, minibuses, trolleys, and town cars. (But know that low-to-the-ground limos can make entries and exists dicey if you’re wearing a fitted gown.)

-Done! Reserved the 24 passenger van for myself and my gigantic wedding party last week with ING Limo
Start composing a day-of timeline. Draw up a schedule of the event and slot in each component (the cake-cutting, the first dance).

-Done! Did this for purposes of catering contract and it has really helped to figure out exactly what I need to get and do in the next couple of months. I do, however, need to work on a day of timeline for the entire day...but my day of coordinator will work on that with me.

Five to Four Months Before
Book the rehearsal and rehearsal-dinner venues. Negotiate the cost and the menu. If you’re planning to host a day-after brunch for guests, book that place as well.

-Done! Thanks future in-laws!

Check on the wedding invitations. Ask the stationer for samples of the finished invitations and revise them to suit your needs.

-Too early to hound her on these...

Select and order the cake. Some bakers require a long lead time. Attend several tastings before committing to any baker.

-Done! Using the fantastic Margie of Artistic Cake Creations...good taste and great price!
Send your guest list to the host of your shower. Provided you, ahem, know about the shower.

-Done!

Purchase wedding shoes and start dress fittings. Bring the shoes along to your first fitting so the tailor can choose the appropriate length for your gown.

-Done! First fitting with Angie is in January!

Schedule hair and makeup artists. Make a few appointments with local experts to try them out. Snap a photo at each so you can compare results.

-Trial is scheduled for next weekend!

Choose your music. What should be playing when the wedding party is announced? During dinner? To kick off the dancing? Keep a running list of what you want—and do not want—played.

-Done! My cousin is working on learning the music and finding someone to accompany him for the ceremony. We have booked our band and will get with them 3 months before to pick out songs.

So it looks like we are on track, with a few minor things pending. How about the rest of you lovely ladies? Are you guys on track?

Productive weekend plus event alert!

I'm pleased to report that we had a fairly productive Labor Day wedding planning weekend. No new vendors booked BUT we sent out our Save the Date email! woop woop. And for the few who don't do email, we made a postcard from the JPG. Ever since we put it together I've been bouncing to get it out, but we were waiting on finalizing the wedding website to include pictures of the groomsmen. So we got that done, and sent out the email. We're really committed to that guest list now, we basically sent the thing to everyone on our lists.. So much for "B-listing" people.. There are maybe 3 or 4 people who didn't get the Save the Date. Whatever! I'm pleased with the way we've done things.

Also, spent some time going over DJs and photographers - found a photog that sounds promising, anybody heard of them? Photo Bisou - found them on Craigslist originally, then looked them up on WeddingWire and was pleasantly surprised to find 6 very positive reviews. So I've sent an inquiry, we'll see.

Event Alert! Got an email from Crate & Barrel announcing their upcoming "wedding parties" coming up at the Clarendon location (and probably other local ones) on Sept 13, Oct 4 and Oct 18 - we've already done that but wanted to pass it along to any newly engaged couples who don't know about these. They're amazing - you go in on a Sunday before they open and they serve you pancakes and coffee and all kinds of other goodies, and you and your betrothed go around with the zapper and scan in everything you want on your registry. So. Much. Fun. Honestly anything with free food = awesome, but this was 10 times better because it was about me and Mr. Fairfax getting married. Which naturally = bananas. Big bananas.

mmmm.. beeeer..

just channeling Homer for a sec..

Miss National Harbor reminded me of our own booze dilemma. We decided early on that we had no interest in paying a per-person "open bar" fee (usually upwards of $25/person), which is one of the many reasons we chose Old Town Hall - they don't care how we handle the alcohol situation as long as we are having a private party and not selling anything. So we are having our caterer provide the bartender and "set-ups" (soft drinks, mixers, etc.) at $3/person, and then we are going to Total Wine or Costco or possibly a local mom & pop store (we'll see what we can afford), to buy all the alcohol we'll need - so our guests will do the drink-till-it's-gone thang. But we're not going to do liquor, just beer and wine (so the mixers provided by the caterer are basically useless but we will have a number of non-drinkers who will welcome juices and soft drinks so hopefully it's worth it).

I had wanted to do a signature cocktail but so far Mr. Fairfax has convinced me beer and wine is good enough (we'll see how we're doing on budget, I may bring him around in the end). So all we have to do is deliver the booze to the caterer a day or two in advance, and they'll take care of getting it to the venue. At the end of the night, if there's anything left, we'll take it to the "HQ" hotel and let the guests have a nice after party.

So the question is, how do you figure out how much you'll need? I've found a few sites that provide calculators - 3000 Drinks, Evite, and then a WeddingWire.com forum where there seems to be a pretty helpful conversation going on about calculating consumption.

By the way if you're not familiar with WeddingWire.com - it's awesome! I've used it a lot in my vendor searches, and they have a great budget planning tool, calendar, etc - and they host wedding websites. We ended up making our own site using Google Sites but the WeddingWire one is pretty great - it even has a function where you can collect electronic RSVPs, and it pulls from the guest list you uploaded (so if someone tries to RSVP and they're not already on the guest list, it won't work for them).

Sidebar: just found this etsy shop and I am in love. Custom bridal flats! uh! eco-friendly and totally affordable.

happy weekend everyone! I'm off to the beach with the future in-laws. :) :)

the binder

Just out of college, I worked for a couple years as a Meeting Planner. This job allowed me to indulge all of my organizational OCD tendencies, including attempting perfectly organized binders and notebooks. I was so excited to put that knowledge to work again now that I was engaged. What better way to organize the quickly mounting amount of paper and inspirational pages than a binder?

I started pulling checklists from various websites (make sure to check out: Russell+Hazel and Real Simple) and made tabs for each section. Any images or ideas I liked that I found in magazines or one websites went into the binder and it very quickly started to grow. As we've moved on in the planning process, the images and inspirational pics that didn't make the cut have been pulled and we've added the contracts that we have so far. It also came in handy to have important questions to ask all the vendors typed up in the binder. I got some of my questions from "The Bride's Book of Lists", by Amy Nebens.

There is a very detailed budget section that is constantly updated (we're really trying not to go over) and where all the payments are coming from and how they have been paid.

Here is the binder now:

When I talk to and meet with vendors, it is so helpful to have everything in one place (I just used it today during my meeting with the florist).
I have no problem finding anything I need in terms of planning and hopefully it will come in handy closer to and on our wedding day when my brain is flying out the window.

<3 miss uva

The Hotel Wedding

Almost immediately after Mr. CP and I got engaged, I was overwhelmed with the planning. Where do we start? What should we do? I decided, we should begin with setting a date and picking a place, which go hand in hand. We knew we wanted a hotel wedding. Originally, I pictured gorgeous botanical gardens, and an outdoor setting, with mason jars of fresh lemonade, but with my hair frizzing in an ounce of humidity, our families not being local, plus that special something about stumbling upstairs after a wedding, we realized a hotel was perfect for us. So we looked at a few places.
We began with Cherry Blossom season. YES! Gorgeous! I loved this idea because it represents DC so well, plus, I had visions of beautiful bunches of pink everywhere.... However, my hopes and dreams were crashed when I realized this was not possible. See, we are Jewish, and a Rabbi won't drive to marry us until the sunsets on the Sabbath, which realistically puts a Saturday wedding, from the months of March-October, beginning at 9:00 pm. That didn't quite work for us. This caused a lot of arguments between me and my parents, about the level of religion we wanted in our wedding, but I did want a traditional wedding, and it meant so much to my parents, so I gave in.
We decided on a Sunday, May 24, 2009 (Memorial Day weekend) to be exact. The venue search began. On a Sunday, it is not "Shabbat," any more, and the Rabbi can come at anytime. Plus, we get an entire 3 day weekend to enjoy the wedding festivities. The only downside is people telling me it is rude to have a wedding on a holiday weekend. To them, I simply, say, "It's rude for you to tell me that." The conversation usually ends there. No, I am kidding, but people do say that to me, all the time!

The first place we looked at was in Crystal City, VA. Mr. CP loves Virgina, and even though I am a MD girl, I agreed to a VA venue. The first stop was a pretty hotel, the main room was gorgeous, but the "feel" of the hotel was more like a conference hotel than a wedding hotel. I had trouble picturing our wedding there, plus, they host "Rolling Thunder" Memorial Day weekend every year, which is Veteran's Motorcycle group. This led to endless jokes from my dad, "Instead of Black Tie, we can have Black Leather!"

(I took these)

The next stop was in Old Town, Alexandria and was on the lower end of our budget. I do love Old Town, and we know we could get some gorgeous pictures with the cute streets and the water. However, it needed a lot of renovations and wasn't in the best shape. The halls looked dirty and the main room was not so pretty. It was exciting that with the difference in price, we could do so much more fun details, but it didn't feel right.

(I took these myself)

The last place of the day, after much frustration, was another Hotel in Crystal City, The Crystal City Marriott. Almost immediately after walking in, I knew this was right. I saw vibrant colors in the lobby, and a long spiral staircase and could actually picture myself getting married here. Almost immediately after we arrived, the front desk person offered to help us. The service was amazing from the very second we got there, and only got better.




source for both of the above images

(I took the 2 pictures above)

Then we went to the ballroom. I love the hallway that leads up to the room, and at the time, thought it would be where the cocktail hour would be. I later found out, they have a totally separate room, but I still love the hallway.



The ballroom doesn't have windows, so I know I will need to make the room gorgeous in another way. We need an exceptionally large dance floor so there is plenty of room for the Horah Dance! The wonderful staff at the Hotel, even offered to come in on their day off and set up the ballroom with 180 chairs, and a full dance floor, so we could see what the room looked like. When we got there, they even had chocolates and champagne for us!




Looks pretty big, right?

Then we got to see the rooms, and after this, it was a DONE DEAL!
Source for the above pictures

The staff was so accommodating, they made us feel really special. . They also gave us free suites and lowered the price for our parents. The food was great too! We are so excited to have our wedding there!!

Have you decided on a venue? Tell me what's important to you!

Introducing...Miss Georgetown

Hi everyone. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Miss Georgetown and an August 2nd bride. (Only 118 days to go!) Why Miss Georgetown?...because both FI and I are Georgetown grads and we are actually getting married at the chapel on campus at school! We are really, really excited about it.

I started working with Mrs. Nearlywed to plan my Georgetown Wedding last year when I moved to NYC. Planning from a far can be very challenging, but Mrs. Nearlywed has been amazingly helpful. I was a bride-to-be who thought everything was in-place before I hired a planner. I had a date, a church and a reception site. To my surprise, two months ago I realized that I contracted a space that was too small for my reception! Mrs. Nearlywed to the rescue...and I was able to find a much better space for my reception. I'm super excited about the space (I just saw it for the first time yesterday), so I thought I'd share it with you. http://www.belmontconferencecenter.com/ The staff is super helpful and nice and if you don't mind a trip to Howard County, it's a great place for your wedding and/or reception.

J'Adore Details

Ahh the details...how we do love them. And we aren't the only ones! Southern California based photographers Jasmine Star, Drew Bittel, Trista Lerit, and Ameila Lyon love them too. So much so that they came up with a brilliant idea. They've created a website devoted to the great vendors they've worked with over the years and the little details that make for fabulous weddings.

I know you're probably thinking "how do a bunch of great California vendors help me plan my D.C. wedding?" The pictures of course! The J'Adore Details website is filled with beautiful pictures for inspiration. Click on the websites of the recommended vendors and you'll have even more details to drink in.

And as if that wasn't enough, be sure to check out the J'Adore Details Blog as well. It has just begun but with four talented photographers contributing I'm sure it will be filled with amazing photos. The blog will be updated with great little details from the brilliant weddings they shoot.



^Photo credited to DrewB Photography

^Photo credited to Jasmine Star

^Photo credited to Jasmine Star

Summer Breeze

This is the time of year when I really start to crave the warmth and color of spring. Winter still keeps trying to hang on, but I know it's on it's way out. I stumbled across these shots on the photography blog of photo artist Marie Labbancz and they totally got me in the mood for summer. It reminds me of a summer harvest but the shot of purply blue makes it new and fresh.

Marie shot this table scape for Bride and Bloom Magazine. The flowers were done by the extremely talented Donna O'Brien of Beautiful Blooms (check out her site for major floral eye candy) and the tablescapes were put together by Kendall Brown of Eclatante Event Design.

Speaking of New Blogs....An UnWedding for an UnBride in D.C.

Many of your probably remember Justine Ungaro's gorgeous work from the premier issue of Ines del Mar Weddings. Her photography highlighted the gorgeous floral art of Janie Medley and was featured in the first post of Janie's blog The Bride's Cafe. Below is one of Justine's images from that shoot as featured on Justine's own photo blog.



Justine shoots weddings in D.C. and L.A. (I don't know how she does it!) and has had her own professional photo blog for quite some time. What many of you may not know is that Justine is getting married herself this October! And it'll be in D.C.! So she has begun a personal blog detailing her own wedding planning. The Unbride blog has just begun but I'm really excited to follow along.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I love to see the weddings of wedding professionals. Think about it...they've seen it all. They've worked with great vendors, they've seen all the color combos, they've seen the best venues and there probably isn't a single idea they haven't already seen featured in a million weddings. So when you've seen it all, what does your wedding look like? What florist do you chose? Who bakes your cake (or do you even eat cake?!) Who takes your photos when you yourself are a photographer?! Justine promises in the first post of The Unbride blog, that as beautiful as traditional weddings are hers won't be that. She'll be planning an un-wedding for an un-bride. Exciting!

While you're checking out her new blog don't forget to check out her professional photo site and professional blog. You'll be rewarded with some gorgeous bridal images like the ones below. All photos credited to Justine Ungaro.



^I had to pick this photo b/c calla lilies are my flower!

^This picture is from one of my favorite weddings on her blog. I Luuuuved the bride's dress.

Real Simple Weddings - The Book Review

Subtitle: Spending my money so you don't have to.

As Mrs. Nearlywed mentioned below Real Simple Weddings went on sale today at Crate and Barrel. They call it a "magazine" but it's softbound, 160 pages, and around $13 so it really is more like a book.

I was really excited for this b/c I like the "Real Simple" style of life. My expectations were for a lot of inspiring images of simple yet elegant weddings that wouldn't break the bank and similar bits of advice and hints on how to achieve such a look.

Here are my 2 cents. The book in general is more of a "I just got engaged, now what?" type of book. So it has chapters on things like Venue, Invitations, Registry, etc. It includes things like a wedding timeline, what dresses are flattering to each figure, what flowers are in season etc.

What I Didn't Like:

1)Each chapter starts with advice on "how to chose X." I found a lot of the information a bit too simplistic for any bride who has thought about her wedding. For example, in the venue section they devote two pages to types of venues and they say you can have it traditional (church), at home, destination, or "quirky." Then it gives the pros and cons of each. Do you really need a book to tell you this?

2)Similarly, each chapter has a "questions" section. In general I find almost all "question" sections of bridal websites, magazines, books, etc. too simplistic. This wasn't an exception. There are questions like "do I have to do a bouquet toss?" or "is it possible to get an inexpensive dress that doesn't look cheap?"
Are there any brides out there that really can't answer these questions themselves? Is any bride really up at night thinking about this stuff? What is the answer going to be? "If you don't do a bouquet toss your wedding will end in divorce"? "Only expensive dresses look nice"? Of course not, so why put these softballs in a book? Don't get me wrong, there are hard questions out there but these never get answered in print.

3) My biggest disappointment- The pictures! As I had hoped they did showcase a handful of "Real Simple" weddings. But each wedding got a small paragraph of a description and then one page of thumbnail size photos. Wedding books are all about the eye candy and I could tell that some of these pictures would be great but they were so small you really couldn't soak them all in. There were some full page pictures at the beginning of the chapters but other then that the rest of the photos were more on the smallish side.


What I liked -

1) Each page has a "Save Money" or "Save Stress" hint. I actually, thought some of these were pretty useful. Like square envelopes can cost up to 17 cents more to mail then rectangular envelopes. Who knew?

2) Their registry information is for real people. I hate registry lists that say stuff like you need "12 white wine glasses, 12 red wine, 12 water glasses, 12 snifters, 12 cordial glasses, 12 whisky glasses," etc. It's like, seriously who needs all this? Their registry is short, sweet, and "real simple." It's the things you ACTUALLY need and will probably use the most.

3) They recommend some good money saving websites you don't normally see mentioned in typical wedding books. Like VeilShop.com. Us brides have known about this great secret for getting reasonably priced veils for a while but most magazines just want to sell us $500 veils so they don't mention these gems. I found most of the Real Simple store/website recommendations spot on for a "Real Simple" bride.

4) Even though the weddings they featured don't have the best pictures, they really are "Real Simple." There aren't any $5,000 dresses, no huge ballrooms with uplighting and gigantic flower displays, no over the top decorations, etc. Just classically elegant soirees. They even feature a "pot luck" wedding!


Final Opinion
Overall I'd say save your $13. Most of the information is either self evident or easily found online for free. In fact you can find MANY parts of the book on the wedding section of the "Real Simple" website! Seriously, some of the exact same pictures and articles. Just look for the articles with "Real Simple Weddings" in the title. The other articles are good also, though, so read them too!

The DC Wedding For $20K

Sounds Crazy no matter which way you look at it.

TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for one day...

or $20,000.00 for a wedding in a city where the venue alone can eat up 75% of that budget (Literally.) Here are some objective tips for my Brideys as you begin the process and before you become uber obsessed with the whole thing and can't hear Logic any longer :)

1. What is important to you? Be honest and list all your items in order of importance. Is it the venue or the Food? Your dress or the flowers? Photography or Music. If you prioritize you will be able to allocate your dollars to the areas most important to you and find you can spend less on less important areas rather than just booking vendors willy nilly.

2. Be Open To Options. Friday versus Saturday really isn't going to make much of a difference in this market. Sunday will net a lower rate but the real savings are during the week. I know CRAZY. But you would be surprised when I tell you that I did more Tuesday weddings this season than ever before. It's a European thing where weddings take place on any day. Think about a Thursday or a Monday before or after a long weekend. Make YOUR wedding the destination and treat it as such. If everyone were on an island, they wouldn't care what day you had the ceremony.

3. Put your vendors to work. If you have a vision in mind, you are the client. Have them embrace your vision. If they can't or won't perhaps they aren't the best vendor for you. It should not be that you are so flattered to have ____________________ "do your wedding" that you let them run the show. You are hiring them to work with your vision. (ALWAYS be polite, sometimes a No is the right answer.)

4. DIY is wonderful. A few projects here or there are about all any one bride can handle (Between work, grad school, the dog, the fiance and life...) If there are DIY projects you would like to incorporate, then incorporate your bridal party to assist. Give over the task completely and don't micro-manage them.

5. Use your contacts. If you are using a planner that can purchase wholesale ask them about the items you fall in love with that may seem to be out of your budget. If you need 200 pieces of an item, they can probably nab them wholesale with only a modest mark up and the cost of shipping.

6. Read the Resources Section. All the great items you find perfectly staged in the magazines... Turn to the very back of the magazine and find out where you can get them. Most of the information you need is already there in print. Name of the item, shop name, location, website or phone number and often price.

7. Spend your money on the WOW and accent your WOW on the cheap. Use a terrific specialty linen in vibrant colors and accent your tables with an inexpensive flower like carnations or baby's breath en masse (in large quantity). the effect is stunning and the linens will cost less than an elaborate centerpiece would have.

8.Finish everything to the edges. Rather than have 15 DIY projects all over the place that don't really work together, but were done because it was a "cute idea" choose items that will work together and give a finished look. For instance have a custom monogram designed for your wedding and have it go through on everything, invites, programs, napkins, chair sashes, water bottles, favor boxes etc. Everything at the event works together and the entire event looks "finished to the edges".