A Guide for Your Groom’s Attire

Choosing your bridal gown is usually one of the most exciting preparations during your wedding planning stage.  Chances are your groom would not spend the same time or effort it took you to pick your gown in deciding what to wear at your wedding.  However, his attire should be as well chosen as your gown (without upstaging your bridal gown, of course); after all, it is his wedding, too.  Here are some tips to help you and your groom, in choosing his wedding attire.

[Read more]

How to Choose Your Bridesmaids’ Gown

After reading some horrible stories about the 10 ugliest bridesmaids’ dresses, I admire those bridesmaids who kept their chin up and wore those horrible gowns to prove their love and friendship to the bride on her wedding day. Brides today, I believe are more compassionate and would not dream of being a bridezilla by insisting her bridesmaids to wear gowns that are totally despicable, to say the least! Here is a video that I think you would enjoy watching when planning for your bridesmaids’ dresses.

Bridesmaid Dresses: How To Choose Your Bridesmaids’ Dresses

One update, the bridal shop, Belle Bridal is closing soon. If you happened to live near Redondo Beach, California, you can call them and see if you can get good bargains from their remaining inventory.

[Read more]

Gifts of Gratitude – Wedding Favors

Wedding favors are a great way to thank your guests with simple yet elegant gifts that do double duty:  They express your heartfelt gratitude and serve as elegant accessories for your reception.  Here are some of Bridal ‘N Beauty’s new wedding favors for 2009 to start your thank-you gift planning.

Butterflies Laser-Cut Favor Boxes

Small gifts inside a pastel pink or sage green Butterflies Laser-Cut Favor Box with color-coordinated, satin ribbon and bow accented by a finely detailed, metal, silver-finish butterfly will leave your guests with pleasant memories of an exquisite day.

[Read more]

101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding – Part 16: This and That

101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding

And now – the last of our 16 part series on 101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding, we close with miscellaneous items that will help you cut your wedding budget, thus saving you money for your future expenses such as your honeymoon, furniture for your new home or even to add to your down payment for your own home.  We love to hear from you on your feedback to our just concluded series.

Part 16- This and That

98. Skip the limo – You can hire town cars instead of a limo for your transportation.

99. Have a friend drive – Enlist a friend with a nice car to be your driver for the event, and save on a limo.

100. Buy simple thank you cards – If you want a personal touch, print your own thank you cards. For an even easier approach, simply buy a box of simple thank you cards from a craft store. Even stores like Target and Wal-Mart carry these.

[Read more]

101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding – Part 1: Planning

101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding – Part 1: Wedding Planning

With the cost of weddings spiraling upwards of $27,000 (depending on where you plan to have your wedding), and the unstable economy, many engaged couples are looking for ways to save money on their wedding.  Over the next few days, We, at Completely Weddings,  will share with you 101 ways to cut your wedding cost and thereby saving you money to use somewhere else such as your honeymoon or savings for your first home.  As we publish each part, we will add a link at the end of this article to enable you to have a complete list of our 101 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding.

WEDDING PLANNING

1.    Set a budget.   Before you begin shopping and planning, set a goal for yourself of how much you want to spend.  You would not want to start your married life with debt, so do not over spend.  Use cash, if you can.  But, if you are going to use a credit card, get or use one that charges the lowest interest you can find.  Pay the loan as soon as possible.  To give you an idea of a wedding budget, download our “Wedding Expenses Table“. The percentage are not set in stone.  They are merely suggestions and you can change them depending on our priorities (see #2 below). Once you determined the percentages,  download our “Wedding Expense Record” to keep track of who pays for what and how much does it cost per item.  Make an effort to keep your costs in your budget, and remember that any additional money you save can go towards your honeymoon or your first home together.  Here is a “Planning Calendar Checklist” to keep your wedding planning activities in a timely manner.

2.    Determine your priorities.  Sit down with your fiancé and determine which area are most important to you.  Do you both value traditions or could you do without a lot of them? Is a DJ the most important thing to have at your reception, or is it a full meal?  Chose where you want to cut costs and what things are too important to you to skimp on.

3.    Make your own traditions and ditch the old ones.  If there are certain traditions that you don’t enjoy, such as throwing the garter and the bouquet (especially difficult if you have a very small wedding), don’t feel obligated to include them.  You can create traditions all your own.

4.    Don’t hire a wedding planner.  If you are planning a small event especially, you don’t need a wedding planner.  Invest in an accordion file and a wedding planning book from a bookstore and do it yourself.

5.    Keep your eye out for bridal shows.  Bridal shows are a great place to get freebies, gather information, and enter contests.  The least you’ll walk away with is a better idea of what you want in your wedding, so find your next local bridal show and mark your calendar!

6.    Order online.  For everything from dresses to flowers to favors, you can get some great deals when you shop online.  Do your homework before you make a purchase at any store and see if you can’t find the same thing cheaper on Amazon, EBay, or Overstock.com.

[Read more]