How to Create a Wedding Budget
The best plan for creating a wedding budget is taking a series of important steps before making your first plan or purchase. You can’t create a realistic budget, one that will allow you to choose most of the elements you want for your big day, without knowing approximately what things cost in your area.
Filed under: Wedding Planning
Wedding Music that Will Get Your Guests Dancing
I think the best weddings have romantic and beautiful ceremonies, and receptions that feel like great all-out parties. Wedding music is perhaps the most important element of making your guests go home saying, “Man, that was a fun wedding.” If you want to ensure that your guests are dancing and having fun all night long, here are my tips for great wedding music.
Filed under: Wedding Reception
How to Thank-You
Simple white or ivory fold-over notes or correspondence cards on heavy stock are always in good taste. Traditionally, when you personalize notepaper, you use your maiden name or initials if you send the notes before the wedding; your married name or initials if after the wedding. Though that’s still correct, you may also use a monogram consisting of both your initials.
Filed under: Wedding Etiquette
11 Wedding Trends for 2011
Music videos, moonshine and man caves — here’s what’s hot for 2011. Take a look, get excited, and then steal a few of these ideas for your wedding day.
Filed under: General
The First 10 Steps for Wedding Planning
Congratulations! You’re about to embark on two amazing adventures – the first, of course, being your life as a wedded couple and the second being the exciting, yet often overwhelming process of planning a wedding. A wedding will probably be the biggest and most involved party or ritual either of you have ever put together. Before you get overwhelmed, take a deep breath, then do these ten things.
Filed under: Wedding Planning
How to save money on your invitations without compromising on style
By Jeana DiGuiseppe Koerber, owner of JDK Invitations
Many times couples think they cannot afford to have the wedding they really want to have… BUT, it’s really not the case. With tight wedding budgets, couples need to become more creative on how they spend their money. When it comes to your wedding invitations, you want to make them stand out. After all, they are the first glimpse that your guests have of your wedding. Build anticipation AND save money at the same time. Here are some of my favorite tips I like to share with my customers that will help your wallet and create and event that is unforgettable at the same time.
Bring in a photos from magazines or online. If you have your heart set on a specific element or style from a photo, let your stationer know! This will help to save money in the long run because your stationer will not have to guess at what you like. You won’t have to go through many rounds of samples (could be $10-$25 a sample). However, don’t expect your stationer to copy a photo exactly, which is stealing someone else’s work. Use the photo as inspiration.
Think about assembling your invitations yourself. Most stationers give the option for you to buy DIY invitations (do-it-yourself). By eliminating most of your stationer’s labor, you can save some major money. By doing this, you can probably add more of the elements you want (envelope liners, ribbon, etc.) Have a DIY party – invite your wedding party and set up an assembly line. Serve some snacks, but save the alcohol for AFTER the assembly! You don’t want crooked invitations!
Don’t choose a square invitation. The USPS requires an envelope to be rectangular to meet standard first class pricing guidelines. The square shape makes the envelope difficult to process through their sorting machines. It could also add $0.13 per envelope (you could be using that money elsewhere!). In addition, don’t tie a ribbon or use anything bulky on the outside of your invitation. The post office will charge you more per envelope for the same reason.
ALWAYS order more invitations than you need. There are many reasons for this, such as last minute guests you forgot to invite (yikes!), a guest who’s invitation got lost in the mail (yikes again!), keepsakes. Plus, if you order a small number of invitations at a later time, it is a lot more expensive.
Forego the inner envelope. The inner envelope was an element used when mail had more of a journey to go through (think messengers on horses). These days, they are not needed with all of the advances of the USPS. Do, however, make sure to take your finished invitations to the post office and ask the clerk to “hand cancel” them to eliminate the need of running them through the mail sorter.
Use an RSVP postcard instead of an RSVP card with an envelope. This will save you money in 2 ways: First, you don’t have to pay for an envelope. Second, the postage is cheaper. Postcard stamps are $0.28 each versus a first class stamp for an envelope, $0.44 each. By the way, postcards are very “in” right now.
Have an open mind. If you like a certain printing process, but it’s just not in your budget, ask your stationer what other options there are. Your stationer will be able to tell you what other beautiful and stylish options are out there. For example, if you really like embossed invitations, ask about using thermography instead. Thermography gives your printing a raised effect without the high cost of embossing.
To reach Jeana or to schedule a consultation, email her at sales@jdkinvitations.com, or visit www.jdkinvitations.com.
Filed under: Wedding Invitations
Wedding Budget: Little Ways to Save
It’s easy to sink $10,000 into a wedding. It’s an art to do it for $2,000. Unless you’re a die-hard traditionalist, you can save hundreds by cutting the cost of showy formalities like bridesmaid dresses (your friends will thank you) and even corsages. A backyard reception can be just as fun — and more intimate — than one in a restaurant or banquet hall, where the space will cost you.
Filed under: Wedding Planning
Marriage Proposal Dos and Don’ts
Before your big marriage proposal, you’re sure to be nervous, and wonder if you’re doing it in the right way. Before you get down on one knee, read these dos and don’ts of marriage proposals.
Filed under: Wedding Etiquette
Throwing a Great Bridal Shower
A bridal shower is a fun way for a woman’s friends and family to celebrate her, prior to the wedding. As they “shower” her with gifts, they prepare her to start her own household. Historically, bridal showers started when women wanted to marry “unsuitable husbands” and thus their families refused to provide a dowry. Friends of the couple gathered to pitch in and make up for the lack of a dowry by helping them set up house. Today, they are a time to share stories, eat great food, and pay special attention to the bride.
Filed under: Wedding Bridal Parties
Remarriage: Getting Started
Getting remarried? Congratulations! This time around, anything goes. If your last wedding was in city hall, have the grand gala of your dreams. Prefer an intimate party with friends and family? That’s okay, too. Children are often a common addition to second (or third or fourth) weddings, making this a true family affair! Planning a wedding can be even more fun the second (or third) time around. Here’s what encore couples need to know.
Filed under: Wedding Planning
