Cheap Centerpieces

Lets face it ladies, flowers are expensive and overrated, and who really wants to spend a huge chunk of the budget on centerpieces that people will probably not remember and might not even comment on.

Candles

(from:http://finkorswim.com/)

Visit your local dollar store to find beautiful pillar candles and glass bases to put them on for cheap but classy centerpieces. You can even find glass beads to add a little more glam to the middle. You can also go to your local craft store, (Michael's is my favorite because of their constant coupons!) And get a bag of tealights for about $5 which can be spread out throughout the reception site to give a romantic vibe. Let's say you're worried about wind or fire in general, the no flame tealights tend to be a little bit more expensive, but they save you the effort of keeping them lit throughout the night. You also can get floating candles and glass dishes from the dollar store, wrap them in ribbon matching your colors and you have an instant beautiful centerpiece

Picture Frames

(from:http://dollarstorecrafts.com/)

This one is my personal favorite because there is so much you can do with picture frames. You can have the picture frames contain baby pictures of you and your groom to designate the bride's or groom's tables, you can have pictures of yourself with the people who will be sitting at the table, or you can simply have pictures of you and your groom at the tables to create a personal gift someone will love to take home.

Glass Vases with Beads

Different sized vases filled with water and beads are cheap and easy way to make unique centerpieces. Another fun tip is to pick up some cheap food coloring and put a few drops into the vases to get varying hues of colors to match you color scheme. If you are really adventurous, I saw someone get clear gelatin mix and they mixed the mix with a little food color and glitter to create a more viscous glittering creation.



My biggest piece of advice with centerpieces (and with most things) is LESS IS MORE. No one wants to spend the night bobbing back and forth to talk to the people on the other side of the table or wants to feel like they are eating in a sardine tin. Make them small and personal and people will remember them forever.

Happy Crafting
--The Southside Bride

Out by the Sea

It's been getting warmer, and the idea of a beautiful beach wedding is starting to sound better and better. But where do you start?

Locations:
You can really have a beautiful beach wedding anywhere from the beaches of Lake Michigan to the ocean front of Hawaii. Again it comes to the decision between a local and destination wedding. In reality a lakeside beach wedding is a lot cheaper and will still provide you with the sandy landscape of your dreams. Be sure to research your beach carefully because sometimes there are a lot of little rules and regulations youll need to account for, like parking restrictions and clean up costs.

Photographs:
Be sure to ask and see your photographers work with beach weddings. It really is an advanced skill and not all photographers are good at it. A lot of Brides become very disappointed when they see how washed out their pictures look.

Shoes:
This seems like a no brainer, but I can think of quiet a few angry bridesmaids who nearly broke their ankles walking in sand in heels for the bride because "later they would be on land". Brides, be good to your girls. Make flipflops or cute flats a part of your gift to them. They can change into the heels on land if you really want that tall look.

Guests:
Again a lot of beaches might put a limit onto how many chairs you can rent/bring, so be sure to ask ahead of time. Also be sure to have strong ushers, because if grandma is going to make it through the sand to her sinking chair with a walker, she'll need that extra support both in and out of the ceremony.

Quick Tips:
Lint brushes and mini vacs are going to be your best friend post ceremony, especially if you are getting a limo after because they will charge you extra fees if you get sand in their limo. If you can look into alternate means of transportation: a little boat or a trolley are both fun weather appropriate get aways. Also have someone bring a few bottles of water so you can rinse off you feet after you leave the sand.
If you plan on wrecking your dress by running into the water, bring a few people with you, because that dress will get even heavier and you don't want to fall face first into the sand on your special day.
Have someone bring a tiny first aid kit. Even on the cleanest beaches there can be glass or sharp sea shells, and no one wants to remember your wedding as the time they cut their foot open.

My mash up below includes a lake side beach wedding of 150 people at the Promenade in Chicago and music, video screen and lighting.

All of the above is only about 7,800

I can't wait to feel some sand between my toes
--The Southside Bride
(as always I claim no rights or ownership to any of the beautiful pictures above, they were all found on various websites via a swagbucks search)

Swag Your Wedding!

For those of you who don't know what Swagbucks is, you're missing out. It's a real, no scam, no spam, online community that really works. You earn points for using their search engine, watching real cool videos (they have a ton a wedding topics as well as a lot of other cool things), voting in polls, taking surveys, using their amazing coupons in stores and so much more. Then you can redeem these points for various things, my personal favorite is the $5 amazon gift card for only 450 pts.

Now I know what you're thinking, what's the catch?

In order to get points, you actually have to do the things. You get a point every day for voting in the poll, checking to see if you have surveys, and going through one of the NOSO offers. There are also daily codes in their blog which are worth 7-15 pts.

What I do is leave the SwagTV on in the background while I'm working, so that way I can multitask. I also am addicted to a bunch of swag games which also earn you points. You really don't have to be on ALL day, but stopping on a few times a day really helps.

Now think about it, doing things you do everyday, just via this site, can save you some serious cash on your wedding, why NOT sign up?!

Right now I redeemed some points for amazon cards to get a new wii remote, nunchuck and game (zumba for the wii, I caught the fever) and all I did was the things I mentioned above.

So while you're at work, chilling at home, or just in between your assignments
Click on the banner and sign up and lets earn some points together!!

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.

Picking an Officiant

One of the most overlooked decisions in a wedding is picking the Officiant. People just assume they have to pick whoever the church gives them or that the location will suggest a person. But I think a lot of us have the experience of attending a wedding where the Officiant was either a little too out there or a major mood killer. I think that taking the time to pick someone that matches you and your grooms personal style can have an unforgettable impact on the wedding.

But where to start?

1. Do you want to have a religious ceremony?
   There are a lot of religious leaders that will not participate in outdoor ceremonies because it's against what they believe in, this is especially true for Catholics. Make sure that you really talk it over with your partner. Take into account your parents because if you just spring on them that you aren't having a traditional church wedding, they may be really hurt. Keep them in the loop too.
   
2. Check out who is in your area
   WeddingMinisters.com is a great starting tool to help you figure out just who is in your area and what your choices are. Make a list of the a few in your area and ask them when you can come see them.
   
3. Start the Interviews
   Make a list of 3-5 Officiants and go to interview them. You are really meeting them to gauge their temperament to make sure they are the right fit for your wedding. You are really hiring them to do a good job, so be a good boss and hire a good person. Some great questions to ask are: Will you be able to write your own vows? We come from different religious backgrounds, can you still marry us? How many ceremonies have you performed before? How long have you been doing this? How much of the wedding can we customize?
   

Look at your Officiant like the director of your wedding ceremony, you and the groom are the writers and actors along with your wedding party. Work together to make sure you can have your perfect day.

Happy interviewing!
--The Southside Bride

Irish Weddings

There are many ways to give a wedding an Irish touch from a little piece of jewelry to an all out traditional celebration. My advice is to pick and choose the traditions that mean the most to you and your partner because having a traditional ceremony simply to say you are really will just cause headaches in the future.

The Ring-Claddagh

(from http://www.thecountiesofireland.com)

The claddagh ring is known across the world as an Irish symbol of love, but few know the meaning behind the symbol or how to properly. The ring is composed of a heart being held by a pair of hands. The heart is also wearing a crown. The heart represents the wearers love and when worn with the point pointing out on the right hand the hands seem to be pushing love out to the world. This position tends to mean that the wearer is single. When worn on the right hand with the point in, it means that the person is in a relationship. When the ring is moved to the left hand, point out means engaged and point in means married. The crown on the ring stands for God, and it is thought that when you wear the ring pointed in the crown is on the outside sealing and protecting the heart.


The Dress-A little Something Blue

(from: http://img.alibaba.com/)

Before white, blue was the color of purity. A lot of Irish brides will work in a blue sash or pendant to represent this. Brides in blue used to walk to the church with their groom and people would recognize the marriage colors and throw everything from rice to pots and pans to bring luck to their journey.

The Flowers-Lavender or Belles of Ireland

(from gardenflowers.com)

Depending on your color scheme, both lavender and green belles are popular at Irish weddings. Lavender stands for loyalty, love and devotion. Also Irish brides tend to wear these flowers in their hair or a flowered headpiece. The Belles of Ireland are great for a green wedding but tend to be a bit expensive, so mixing them with other flowers would be best.

Traditions- Hand Fasting and Bells

(from: http://weddingbycolor.com/)

Two popular Irish traditions include the binding of the bride and grooms hands and the blessing of the matriomnal bell. The hands are bound by various colored cords that have various meaning. It is a physical and visual symbol of the bonds on marriage being created. The bell is blessed during the ceremony and placed in the newlyweds Home to reprsent their wedding vows. It is also said that during a fight the bride or groom can choose to ring the bell and the topic is dropped for the day. But it is only used in serious occasions.

I hope you're wedding and lives together are lucky!
--The Southside Bride

Locations driving you Loco?

There are a lot of brides of there that would be happy having their reception in their backyard just as long as they have the people they love around them (and that perfect dress on of course!). Picking a reception site for these brides can be really difficult because it really isn't a priority despite it being one of the biggest parts of the wedding. I'm going to expand on two favorite places for these brides.

Restaurants

(from http://www.palermos95th.com/)

Restaurants are great locations for small and medium weddings receptions because usually they have amazing deals on the location and food. There is Palermos 95th here on the southside that offers a great meal and bar package and has plenty of parking available for guests in the back.

Banquet Halls

(from:http://gardenchaletbanquet.net/)

Put your location into google maps, type banquets and you will find a countless number of places that might fit your needs. Or if you really just want a one stop wedding a lot of banquet halls hold wedding ceremonies too for a fee (between $200-$600) which includes chair rentals and more. This is personally my favorite because it rolls everything into one. Just make sure you have the minimum amount of people!
My top three picks here on the southside of Chicago are Candlelight banquets, Royal Palace Banquets, and  Garden Chalet Banquet because they might not be perfect on the outside but the inside and their packages are amazing!

--The Southside Bride