I'm on a Boat!

Looking for a small intimate wedding setting?
More and more couples are jumping on the boat for both local and destination cruise weddings for their all inclusive packages and beautiful scenery.

Now getting married on a boat even locally will be expensive (think about 100-150 a plate), but everything from music, linens, alcohol to a wedding planner is usually included so if you were spending money on all of those things separately the high meal prices almost even out.

The big downfalls beside price include

• making sure you or your guests don't get seasick
• you MUST have a small wedding for a local cruise
• you have no other menu options
• you can't personalize you package at most places
• if you choose a larger boat, you wont have a private setting for long. 

But all in all, some people look good on the sea and bundling the ceremony,a location and honeymoon is awfully tempting for destination wedding lovers.

As Pretty as a rose

One thing that always is a shock to brides just starting their wedding planning is just how expensive flowers can be! According to the Bridal Association of America the average flower cost of a wedding is nearly $2,000. This price include the bride's bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquets, the Boutonnieres/Corsages for the groom, grooms men and mothers of the bride and groom, the flower girls flowers and decorations and centerpieces.

Now maybe it's just me, but I really don't want to spend that much of a  budget on something that will die in just a few days. So here are some alternatives for you budget savvy brides that want more bang for your buck

The Bouquets

picture from everlasting-rose.com

Let's say your heart is set on having roses for you and your bridesmaids, why not go for Wooden Roses. They are just as beautiful as real ones in pictures, they can match any color scheme and they double as a beautiful gift to the bridesmaids and a lifelong keepsake for you. Now I wouldn't recommend throwing the wooden bouquet, maybe get a small $15 dollar throwing one from the local florist.

image found at weddingplanningadvice.net

If your heart isn't set on flowers, then go wild! A lot of brides are making their bouquet and extension of their wedding theme or themselves by having seashell bouquets for a beach wedding, Candy Flowers for a fun twist, feathers for every color, delicately arranged bottle rockets and american flags for a 4th of july wedding, the possibilities are endless!


The Boutonnieres

                                                            image from       izismile.com                                                                          

The boutonnier is probably the second most traditional floral piece in the wedding. Most Grooms and groomsmen wait till the last minute to put it on and it is usually the first thing off during the reception. One fun trend that is replacing the flower are crafty patches and charms. If your groom is a musican, let him wear his favorite instrument, if you are having an irish themed wedding have green ribbions, again you can make this an unique as the two of you!

Flower Girls

image from flicker.com

Despite the name, flower girls don't only have to use flowers to mark the coming on the bride. A lot of brides are opting out of silk rose petals, but I think you could go even cheaper. Head to a party supply store and pick up some glittery confetti (make sure if you are having an outdoor wedding that you use larger pieces to make cleaning easier), or for our DIY brides gets some pretty paper and make your own confetti. Another thing I saw that was beautiful was having the flower girl blow bubbles all the way down.

I will be writing a whole separate piece on centerpieces later but those are my saving tips for now!

Happy Findings!

The Southside Bride

Getting Away from it all

Don't have enough money for an amazing wedding and a unforgettable honeymoon, why not combine them together? Destination weddings are on the rise because they present an opportunity to get married somewhere you've dreamed of and they are traditionally cheaper than traditional weddings.

A lot of people have a lot of "what ifs" about destination weddings:

• What if people won't come
• What if no one will send us gifts
• What if our luggage gets lost 
• What if I get cold feet while we are there
• What if people think we are silly for having a reception at home

If you are even considering a destination wedding, be sure to inform your wedding party right from the start so that if you and your hubby do agree on one, they have ample time to start saving money. Also when looking at destinations think of all your options in order to save money, Why fly all they way to Mexico when you can have a gorgeous beach wedding on the Flordia Keys or on the Gulf coast? Why go to Italy for a winery wedding when we have California (or Southern Illinois ;-) ) right here? Who Says you can't get married on a cruise on Lake Michigan?

Also search around for the best prices. There are a lot of scam websites trying to scare you into paying for their services because the hotels may "push you around". I've never heard of a hotel pushing someone around when they are offering to book rooms for an entire wedding party plus a few guests. Again, be sure to ask outright if you can have the rooms at a discounted rate, it's said that over 50% of people who ask for a discount with a good cause receive one. 

And it is NOT silly to have a small gathering when you get home. It can be as fancy or as low key as you want.  A nice thing one of my friends did was have a BBQ a month after their wedding in Hawaii. They made a DVD with all of the professional and other pictures shot throughout the day and had it playing during the whole night on repeat so people could come and look whenever they wanted. Then later in the evening they gathered us all to watch the wedding video and passed out little favors for each of us for coming. It was very fun and it was a wonderful celebration of their wedding day. 

My best pieces of advice when planning a destination wedding are

1. Inform your family and the wedding party the moment you seriously start considering it. That way there are no surprises or hurt feelings if someone backs out.

2. Picture where you want to be, a beach, a forest, a waterfall and then make a list of the top 3 places you could go to make that picture come to life. Also if you want this to double for your honeymoon, pick a scene you want to be at for a few days. (ie a forest wedding sounds beautiful, but a yellowstone park honeymoon isn't ideal for us all)

3. Get a portfolio file and spend a day making phone calls, searching online and pick out the best place for you and your hubby. 

4. Check out hotels in the area to see what kind of deals they can give you, most offer a ceremony, reception and photographer package or they can provide you with that information. 

5. Make a detailed calendar with the flight information for you and your party, the hotel check in times, and everything else.

6. Have a lovely wedding day

Personally, a Hawaiian wedding sounds ideal when you're buried in snow like me. 

Happy searching!
The Southside Bride