99 tips for staying within budget

Saw this on The One.

May I add one?

#100 - Haggle your arse off.

Branching out

While looking up materials for my proposed guest book tree, it occurred to me--this can be a really awesome centerpiece! I love the minimal simplicity of the manzanita branch. Add a few orchids,and the look is very fetching. The hard part is finding the elusive manzanita branches. I checked out craigslist and folks are selling manzanita branches for as cheap as $10 to even a $1 each! But I'm a little wary of some of the dealers on Craigslist. I contacted a few of them (who suspiciously have different email address but use the same photos) and they claim I can't come to their location to check out the branches myself. I have to send them the money first...hmmm, suspect.

But then I thought about that tall manzanita branch on top of my table. Would I get frustrated that I can't talk to the person across from me because I can't see their face? The fiance and I orginally nixed tall centerpieces because of that reason. We want people to interact, to talk to each other. We definitely don't want people craning their necks to see what's going on.

So...manzanita centerpieces: too distracting or not?

Fierce

This is what I call an unconventional wedding with attitude, style and sophistication. Very beautiful!

One of the most beautiful photos of a wedding dress!

Check out more photos at snippet & ink

Bridal Expo Part I

I attended my first Bridal Expo this past weekend at the Riverside Convention Center in So. Cal. I had my reservations about attending a bridal expo. I imagined a stampede of irate bridezillas dragging their bored fiances from one booth to another. Sure, there was a few of those at the one I attended, but I must say, a bridal expo can be a very beneficial experience.

For one thing, you have to know what you're looking for. Expos will usually have a floor plan of their vendors. If you know what vendors you're looking for, it will save you a lot of time waiting in line, or even the crowds.

Also, do your research. Ask the important questions. I grilled each wedding coordinator, photographer, DJ, and florist I came across. You can usually tell who's the real deal and who's not when you exactly what you want your vendors to do for you. We knew that if we went with a professional DJ, we would want them to have a lot more duties and responsibilities--in a way, function as a reception coordinator. They would need to keep the reception  and entertainment moving along as planned. We found one DJ who seemed totally clueless to that concept. C'mon, we're not paying you $1000 just to play music off your iTunes! One DJ marveled at how many great questions we asked. I know a little about Photoshop, photography and retouching. When I asked one photographer of the basics of her technique and the software she uses, she kind of skirted the questions and never really answered them.

We did find some really good professionals who seemed to know what they were doing. It was really helpful to see who was out there, their rates and ask them questions. Really, it's a one stop shopping adventure.

There was a bridal gown fashion show and a selection of designer wedding gowns at discounted prices. There weren't really any dresses in my budget that I really liked, but  I suspect I should have come earlier for the deals.

Another great perk at a Bridal Expo is that there are usually contests you can enter for free stuff (I entered our names for as much free stuff I could!) and deals on a variety of items. I got a card for an extra $50 off of any dress I purchase at David's Bridal. Perfect because I have another appointment with them in a couple of weeks!

One other piece of advice--set up another email account just for wedding stuff. When you register for the expo, you'll be asked to give your email address. If you don't want your primary email to explode with Wedding spam, it will be good to set up another account.

We found a church!

Whew! What a relief! We finally found a church we both really like and in our price range! It's St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Altadena. Built in 1922, St. Elizabeth is a lovely church with ornate paintings, frescos and woodwork. The outside courtyard is lush and green--a really picturesque place for a wedding. It's also really close to Old Town Pasadena where we'd like to have our reception.

 The priest, Fr. Edwin, was very approachable and didn't try to scare us away with strict guidelines. People at the parish seem very welcoming and close-knit. There was no marriage information meeting night. I was able to schedule a meeting with the priest within a few days of contacting the church. The stipend fees for the church is in the $500-$600 range--still a little more than what we budgeted, but far more affordable than St. Andrew in Pasadena. We were even able to set a tentative date --August 7. Now we have to meet with their wedding coordinator to finalize everything. We're so happy! It's such a great feeling to get the ceremony venue--the most important item on the list--finally squared away! Now we have to book the reception site. We already have one in mind, so here's hoping everything works out!

Oh, man! A DIY guest book tree!

Yes! The DIY wheels are turning again! So far I have invitations, ceremony programs and bridesmaid bouquets on my list of DIY Wedding projects. Now I can add a guest book tree to my list. When I saw the below photo, I knew I had to have one at our wedding! It doesn't seem like you can buy one ready made. When I googled "Guest Book Tree," nada. Then, I found this little tutorial on My DIY Wedding Day.

Image from My DIY Wedding Day

Apparently, they're not that hard to make and relatively affordable too. Check out manzanita branches on ebay or look for them at Michaels, pot them in a nice vase, find a bunch of silk orchid flowers and wire them onto the branches. Voila! You have a guest book tree!

I haven't tried it yet, so it may be a lot harder (and pricier) than it looks, but I am inspired. That's the first step!

Table "Places"

I love this idea from My Modern Vintage Wedding. Instead of your usual table place card numbers, why not table "places." Our bride used places both the bride and groom traveled together for inspiration and used vintage-styled postcards as table themes....I likeeee! I was actually thinking of the same idea (especially since I'm an avid traveler and looove to collect postcards of places I've traveled to.)

But the fiance and I are thinking our wedding theme will be about our own multicultural backgrounds--incorporating my Filipino roots with his Chinese-Samoan heritage. So each table would signify a place or landmark of our cultural background.

My Modern Vintage Wedding had a graphic designer recreate these vintage looking postcards. I tried googling postcard images and I couldn't find any suitable ones of the places I wanted. I still like the idea, though. Hmmm, shall I add this to the growing DIY list?

Image from My Modern Vintage Wedding