Wedding Barginista Tips!

I love weddings. They are beautiful, romantic, fun... and expensive!

Justin and I got legally married on December 7th, 2007. We went to a pastor friend of ours' office, he signed our certificate, we prayed, and we were married!

Well, Heather, how do you have wedding pictures then?

In July of 2008 we had a wedding. I wanted the pics, I wanted the party, I wanted the cake. So we did it. Ceremony, reception and all. We were not financially able to pay thousands and thousands of dollars towards this thing, and we had 250 guests coming... WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO?

Well, I made it work, with only $1,500 and it turned out beautifully! Now, take into consideration that my FIL is a chef, so we did not pay for food or our cake... but everything else was paid for out of our pocket.

It is truly easy to do, here are some of my tricks and tips of what you can do to make your wedding beautiful, yet inexpensive:

*The dress... this is where most brides have the hardest time cutting corners. You want your dream dress, no matter what! Its what you have always imagined and will not do without! I completely understand, but there are ways to find your dream dress less expensively! Go to the stores, try on all the dresses you can, have the experience, but DO NOT buy your dress in the store that day! Write down the style number, designer, model number, everything you can off the tag that you may be able to use to describe your dress. Then go to google and type it in! You never know what you will find. My Dress, in the store was marked $798. Online, at that store's website, I got it for $348! No joke. I guess when you take out commission, stocking, etc charges you get a GREAT deal!

*The flowers...some girls are totally flower lovers and want them everywhere, I was more of a minimalist. I bought 12 dozen roses the morning of my ceremony. Some floral tape, and some black ribbon and girls putting flowers together for hours and they turned out so pretty. I loved my flowers! Pink and white roses really stood out against the bridesmaid's black dresses beautifully.  Total cost, about $120 for 7 brides maids bouquets, my bouquet, and two centerpieces,

*Hair... I know not everyone is a hair stylist, so not everyone can do the hair for their own wedding. Chances are that you know someone who knows someone who is a stylist, or used to be, or just LOVES to do hair. You can usually pay one flat rate, or a much lower rate per person if you have the girl come to you, instead of doing it in a salon. There is also the option of having girls just wearing it down and straight or wavy. Natural hair always looks pretty in pictures.

*Pictures... With digital photography being all the rage, editing sites like Picnik, and inexpensive print sites like Snapfish and Walgreens your photography should NOT cost you an arm and a leg anymore. I have lots of friends who do photography as a hobby who LOVE doing weddings at inexpensive rates. You may also just ask people to bring cameras, and provide them with memory cards that they can just give to you at the end of the night.

These are my favorite tips and tricks to not spending too much on your wedding! If you have any specific questions, feel free to throw them at me! I love this kind of stuff!