Archive for May, 2009

A little more (un)common sense ideas for saving money on your wedding.

Monday, May 25th, 2009

I’d like to elaborate on the idea of prioritizing. I really do feel that this is the absolute best way to save money on your wedding of your dreams.

There are two main aspects to the prioritized budgetting:


1. Your desires (Personalization), and

2. Visibility / Value (Economic Efficiency).

Personalization

You will start out with the personalization aspect. Sit down with your fiance(e), a notebook, and a pen. You’re going to have an important, probably drawn out conversation here.. so a glass of wine or a mojito probably wouldn’t hurt either. :)

First, discuss each of your visions of a perfect wedding, and write the points down in two columns, one for each of you. His main priorities may be a beautiful venue and good food, hers may be the dress.

Next, compile a list of all of the main expenses for a wedding. This is one of the few things that wedding magazines are actually good for (lol!)… their budget sheets are usually fairly comprehensive.

- Go through and cross out any expenses that don’t apply.

- Looking at your wish list, be sure to add any items that may not be included on the generic list.

- Start another, final list. The very first line item is your absolute top priority. The next is your 2nd most important priority, and so on.

A note about prioritizing: For certain items, there may/will be a tied in “forced priority”,
and this is something you should think about before your final list. A few examples:

- If you get a gorgeous, expensive venue.. you’re not going to want plastic flowers. You don’t necessarily need to have huge, expensive arrangements, but you are going to want to pay attention to the decor, to not waste the venue.

- If your #1 priority is the gown, you’re going to want to splurge on the photographer. If you spend thousands on a dress that you’re going to wear once, because you want that princess feeling, to be high fashion, etc.. you want a photographer that will do it justice.

- If amazing photography is your #1 priority, note that you’ll want to pay attention to visual items, such as your hair, makeup, and what everyone is wearing.

- If you hire a really amazing caterer (like Wolfgang Pucks!) to do the catering, you’re going to want a really good cake. No sense at all in following an amazing meal with nasty grocery store cake.

It’s all a matter or arranging your priorities in a way that makes the most sense, and fully utilizes/accentuates where your priorities are. You don’t want to look back on your wedding and feel that you “wasted” anything. Now, on to the second aspect.. Economic Efficiency!

Economic Efficiency

Economic Efficiency is all about getting the most bang for your buck, on as many aspects of the wedding as possible.

Starting with your very top priority, brainstorm on ways to a.) Get that item as reasonably priced as possible,and b.) Make it do double duty if possible. Some examples:

- Can your dream designer gown be purchased at a sample sale? From an online discounter? Are you willing to forgo the actual “name”, and have a custom designer create a replica?

- Is it possible to get the venue / venue type you want at a discount? Alumni discounts, memberships (museums, zoos, etc), perhaps through your work, through contacts..

- If you want amazing food, but don’t have the budget for a full meal from a high end caterer/venue.. what about the possibility of having an hors d’ouevres reception? (Note: you will very likely need to do this on a day other than a Saturday)

Another important aspect to being efficient with your wedding budget is to take a good, hard look at each expense, not through the eyes of a bride and groom, but from the eyes of a guest at your wedding. Some examples:

- Pew decorations will be seen by people as they come and leave your ceremony, so only enjoyed for a few minutes. If you can’t make them do double duty at the wedding (perhaps by designing pew decor that can be reused at the reception (as head table chair/centerpiece decoration, for your guest book table, cake table, etc), then perhaps forgo them completely. Realistically, your guests will be looking at YOU.. not the end of the pews. Also important to note – if you plan to reuse your pew decorations at the reception, as high-visibility decor.. it’s perfectly acceptable to budget more for pew decorations than normal. You will end up with more bang for your buck!

- If a photographer wasn’t your main priority, but ends up being a priority by default (designer gown), consider only having him/her there for formals and ceremony, or for whatever their minimum package is.

- Your guest book table will be viewed by each guest for under 5 minutes. Your tables will be viewed by each guest for several hours. Plan accordingly!

- If you splurge on an elegant venue, say with gorgeous architecture and an amazing view.. consider hosting your ceremony there as well. Not only are you doing double duty on decor, you’re getting more bang for your buck in renting it in the first place, AND saving on transportation, etc.

- If neither of you are big drinkers, if you have a lot of recovering alcoholics coming, and/or if the idea of your friends getting wasted at your wedding really turns you off.. consider having a dry reception, or only having champagne available for the toasting, but otherwise dry. Not only will it save you a ton of money, but you may avoid some unpleasant memories, too. (My husband and I had to babysit two VERY drunk friends at the end of the night, and were late leaving because we had to talk/force them out of DRIVING home..NOT a pleasant way to end a wedding!). Additionally, you’ll make things much easier for the recovering alcoholics you care about.

- Your guests may notice a grand floral arrangement in the bathroom.. but they probably won’t remember it 20 minutes later.

- NO ONE will notice your shoes if you are wearing a ballgown. Go for comfort, not $$$$$!

Every wedding magazine out there will tell you that you should allot x% of your budget to food, x% to photography, and so on. It’s not realistic at all, especially when trying to have a wedding on a budget.

Budget for / buy the items highest on your list first, and allot money for everything else on a reasonable basis afterwards. Skim money from where you need to, and use it on items that are really important to you!

Also, as a parting reminder – because it can’t be said enough! – one of the absolute best ways to save money on a wedding is to only invite the people you TRULY want to share the day with. Keep your guest list under control, and you will slash hundreds or even thousands of dollars from your wedding.

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Better advice for saving money on your wedding!

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

After reading yet another ridiculous article from The Knot – and subsequently ranting about it – I’ve come up with my own list of Better advice for the aspects of wedding planning that was addressed in their article.

Overall Advice:

- Set your priorities. Spend the money on the things that are most important to YOU. Don’t feel the need to follow the guidelines set out in magazines and planners. It’s *your* wedding.

- Beyond your main priorities, take a realistic look at where you will get the most bang for your
buck. For example, aisle runners, pew decorations – for the vast majority of your guests, they’ll be seen only for a few minutes.. whereas your guests will be seated at their tables for most of the evening.

- Think about how certain elements can do double duty. Floral arrangements from the ceremony can decorate the reception. Rather than ordering a plated dessert, order a delicious wedding cake FOR the dessert. Not only is it the dessert, it can also be decoration! Also, many reception sites can host ceremonies.. centerpieces can be made of cake.. or of your guest favors! Get creative. Efficiency is a great thing!

- Cut your guestlist. You don’t need to invite every person you’ve ever met! If you haven’t even talked to them in, say, 5 years.. they don’t really need to be invited. (Family may be an exception to this – just be reasonable!). Think about it this way. More people = more food to order, more tables to decorate, and potentially even a bigger/more expensive venue. It may mean more staff to cater/serve it, etc. Even if you’re only paying $25/plate for the meal – 4 guests less, that’s a $100 savings! It’s not a popularity contest, and really – a nicer wedding for a smaller guest list is much more memorable and special than a huge wedding with every possible corner cut.

- Take a realistic look at your guestlist. You can usually count on 60% of those invited actually attending. Yet, many, many brides assume a MUCH higher rate of attendance for their wedding, and plan for that. I know, I know – no one wants to think that they’re of “average” popularity – but no one likes to order/pay for food that won’t get eaten, either. Having a realistic number of anticipated guests can slash *thousands* from your bill – and if you end up having more people come, that can usually be handled closer to the date, when you receive your RSVPs.

- Always look at the little charges, they add up! You may find something cheaper online, but once shipping is taken into account, it may not be the sweet deal it originally seemed.

- Don’t think that you *have* to do anything. It’s your wedding, follow YOUR vision!

- ALWAYS ask your vendors before you assume that ANY advice a wedding magazine gives you is the gospel truth.

Stationery:

- Contact design schools. See if you can find an art student looking for a project.

- Craigslist. You will find MANY freelance graphic designers. Hungry freelance graphic designers, at that!

- Do them yourself! Get some decent paper (maybe scrapbooking?), some glue sticks, and have some fun with it! For a professional finish, have your actual wording printed out on nicer white paper (you can fit 2-4 per sheet!) at Office Depot, Office Max, etc.. cut it out, and glue onto a nicer background.

- Ebay. Many freelancers selling sets of stationery MUCH less than $400 for 75 sets!

Ceremony:

- If you are not affiliated with a particular church, find a freelance officiant online. This is one of the most important aspects of every wedding, so please – not only compare prices, but compare personalities/ vision. Find a good match for you!

Flowers:

- Talk to a professional florist. Let them know your budget, and ask advice on how to stay within budget. There are many ways to do this. Have your maids carry a single gorgeous bloom. Buy flowers that are in season. Buy many of a single type of flower, rather than a ton of different ones. Buy flowers that do not require a ton of labor.

- Grow them yourself. Arrange beautiful garden bouquets, or rally your girls/family to help.

- Buy them at a farmer’s market, and/or buy them from a local farmer. Many will take special orders.

Photography

- MOST IMPORTANTLY!! Look for VALUE more than bottom line price! The cheapest is usually NOT a good option. If a photographer doesn’t even value their own time, what’s to say they’re going to value your wedding day memories? Also, don’t be someone’s practice, as much as the “build my portfolio” thing may tempt you.

- Check references. There are unscrupulous photographers out there who steal portfolios (many full sized photo files can be found online!) and pass the work off as their own. Ok, this may not seem money saving, but hear me out. My husband and I found someone reasonably priced.. and our photos were so horrible, so unprofessional.. that $700 or whatever would have been just as good flushed down the toilet.

- Ask for options. Package deals may be cheaper than if you’d bought everything separately, but if you don’t particularly want everything that’s included in the package, you’re wasting money.

- Figure out your timeline, and priorities. Maybe you don’t need them there all night – just the formals, ceremony, and “photo op” times in the early evening. Trust me, you’ll get tons of photos of people having fun from.. well, the people having fun!

Attire

- Make your own gown/bridesmaid gowns, or have someone you know do it. Plan WAY in advance, though!

- Look into second hand! Ebay, Craigslist, sample sales – there are deals to be had. Plus, you’ll
feel good helping someone else pay their bills.

- Contact fashion design schools, or look on Craigslist for a seamstress. Depending on what you’re looking for, you could save a mint!

- Although everyone claims that the bridesmaid dresses they chose can “be worn again”, we all know better :) To truly make this the case, go shopping for more generic-occasion dresses. Maybe have your girls pick out a favorite “little black dress” at a normal department store.

Hair and Makeup

- Craigslist! I found my hair person there, and she was AMAZING. Just ask for photos and make sure you’re getting someone who knows what they are doing.

- Beauty schools usually have GREAT deals. If they’re not open on your wedding day, you may be able to score a talented student anyway.

Reception

- Many city parks will hold receptions, and their fees are incredibly low. Find a freelance catering company: they’re usually a lot more reasonably priced than the “big boys” tied to venues.

- Again, your biggest savings here can come from just having a reasonable view of your guestlist.

Reception Decor

- Get creative. You don’t necessarily need flowers or anything traditional as centerpieces. The
coolest centerpieces I’ve ever seen were stacks of books!

Reception Music

- Find a student.

- Whatever you do, don’t do the “friend with an IPOD” thing. LOL.

Cake

- Order a good cake, and have it double as the actual dessert. Good cake gets eaten, and IS a dessert.. why order 2 desserts?

- Fake cake is not usually cheaper, and in many cases can be MUCH more expensive (once you factor in the extra real cake you’d have to order to serve!)

- ASK your cake person what you can do to bring down costs, don’t make assumptions. Many of the things that people think are “just a simple ____” are actually more work/more expensive.

Transportation

- Rent a car, have a friend drive. You can rent a nice sportcar or whatever, much less than a limo would be (seeing as how many limo places have minimums).

- If all else fails, hire a cab. Seriously. This is a MUCH better option than getting on a subway or public bus.

Favors

- Many, many favors are left at the reception at the end of the night. Keep that in mind as you plan / pay for them!

- Check your venue to make sure that food-item homemade favors are even allowed there. Many venues will not let you do this, for liability reasons. Big waste of money to do them up and not be able to use them!

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What is wrong with the wedding media?

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009


What is wrong with the wedding industry!?

I had a link forwarded to me this afternoon. The Knot had written another article on saving money on your wedding, and it can be found
Here. It’s about time for another rant!

If you’ve ever broached the subject with me, you’ll know that I really dislike about 90% of the “cost saving” advice that comes out of wedding magazines. It’s not that I have anything against employing smart techniques to keep wedding costs from getting out of control. It’s that the vast majority of the advice that wedding media puts out is not only completely biased and self serving, it’s that most of it has no grounding in reality at all!

Like many cake artists out there, I have a major problem with the “get a fake cake designed for you”, with the implication that it should be extremely cheap – if not free! Not only is styrofoam not cheap, but the decoration is where all the labor cost is! I have yet to come across ANYONE where a fake cake is actually a cheaper option (aside from DIY and rentals). Another favorite is the “off season/Friday or Sunday is cheaper” advice. For many vendors, this means overtime, or giving up their only weekend day that week. For me personally, I can only do x number of cakes per weekend – doesn’t matter if it’s Friday or Saturday. It doesn’t cost me less for ingredients or kitchen time for Friday or Sunday weddings :)

As far as bias and self-serving goes, you’ll notice that none of the major wedding mags will ever recommend making your own wedding dress, or getting Aunt Betty to do it. Why? Because 95% of every wedding mag (more or less) consists of advertisements for wedding gown designers. The mags want to keep their bread and butter happy, afterall. In that vein, you may notice that many mags do not carry ads for online gown discounters, second hand shops, or rentals. Many actually have policies prohibiting it.

Anyway, I could go on for hours… but – back to my main rant. There are so many things wrong with this article, I don’t even know where to start!

Well, I guess let’s start from the beginning:

Stationery for $400. For a 100 person wedding! This is an article looking to cut the cost of a wedding from the average noted ($27,000) down to $10k. $10,000 being just over 1/3 the “average”. That’s a reasonable goal – and one that’s not difficult at all to meet – but to recommend spending $400 for 75 invites with THAT goal in mind is insane. More on this later.

Ceremony for $65. Expecting everyone to stand is hardly reasonable, especially when older guests are involved. Not only is expecting everyone to stand inconsiderate in many cases, it can be downright rude. Seating really should be planned for – the comfort of your guests IS an important consideration! Additionally, this “well thought out article” (/sarcasm) completely neglected to account for the fact that you’ll need to pay for an officiant to hold the ceremony! That usually runs at least $100, but usually more like $200-300.

Ok, sorry.. not “neglected”.. just totally glossed over the issue of officiating. Sure, you can get a friend “ordained” online, but this is definitely one of the cases where you really should have a professional do it. This is your wedding! While I’m sure that some of us have friends that would do a passable job, is it worth the risk? This is what your wedding is all about!

Flowers for $150. Realistically, fans or parasols can cost just as much – if not more – than well chosen, thrifty flowers – ESPECIALLY when you consider shipping on something as long/irregular as a parasol! If you’d prefer the look of them, that’s one thing – but if you have your heart set on flowers, then this advice makes no sense whatsoever.

Photography for $500 This is a really, really low goal. It sort of blows my mind that they’re considering photography only marginally more important than stationery when it comes to the budget! These are your photos, that you’ll look at forever. It’s tempting to cut the cost here,but as someone who feels a not-healthy combination of sick-to-her-stomach and outright RAGE when looking at her wedding photos – it’s NOT worth going as cheap as humanly possible on the photographer. $500 is very, very low. It’s not just the time AT your wedding, it’s post production, print costs, travel, time getting ready.. I think it’s really easy to lose sight of how much work really goes in to shooting even a 4 hour wedding.

Attire for $400 I don’t have a ton of problem with their advice here, amazingly enough.. but check our next entry for more ideas!

Hair and Makeup for $160 Again, not a ton of problem with their advice, even if they’re missing some great advice!

Videography for $300 Realistically, for the “quality” of video you’ll get for only $300, you may as well just have a friend set up a tripod. Pay for a real pro, or don’t waste your money at all. Unless you are adept at editing video, getting uncut footage is a bad idea / waste of money also. Either you won’t enjoy it, or you’ll be paying for someone else to edit it later – probably more expensive than the original videographer would have been!

Reception for $6500 Eh, not bad.

Reception Decor for $325Decent.

Reception Music for $500 I’m truly amazed that they didn’t suggest having a friend bring an IPOD. That one always makes me cringe!

Wedding Cake for $225. I’d glad they said “local bakery”. Ordering cake from a grocery store or big box discounter is throwing money out the window – GOOD cake gets eaten. I do think that you’d be hard pressed to find decent cake at the prices listed in this article.

Transportation for $4 Pardon me, but OMFG!!!!! Are they serious?! $400 on invites, but take the SUBWAY on your wedding day!? In your gown. Wow. Just.. wow. NYC Subway at that? Lovely way to travel on your wedding day. Ugh. Take some of that stationery money and invest it in proper travel arrangements!

Favors for $20 So they want you to spend $15 on PLASTIC BAGS (from their own site, no less).. but allot only $5 for the actual ingredients to make them? Wait, less than $5 – I’m assuming there is shipping on top of the $15!

Overall, on top of some unrealistic ideas of pricing/priorities (SUBWAY!), I was also unimpressed with how much they did not consider. Aside from the officient, things like gifts for your attendants, gratuities to vendors, etc were completely left out. Every little bit adds up.. and while it IS possible to do a wedding for $10,000… it’s not realistic to think that the wedding they describe would come to under $10k.

This is getting long, so I will be splitting this into 2 entries. Up next: BETTER ways to save on your wedding.

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Our Special Angels

Monday, May 11th, 2009


Things have been insane around here, with all of our evil plotting and the new mix launch later this week.. so I’m a bit behind on blogging.

I do want to give a shout out to the “Our Special Angels” group, though.

Our Special Angels is a volunteer organization which sets up learning and social opportunities for disabled youth.

Every weekend, the girls get together and learn (or hone) another new crafting skill: knitting, crocheting, and now cake decorating. To quote the organization: “Angels participate in fun activities while developing skills leading to greater independence such as leadership, organization, budgeting, socialization, and self care.”

The group began with just two young adults wanting to learn how to crochet. They invited some friends.. who invited some friends.. their parents noticed them becoming more relaxed and happy.. and Our Special Angels was born!

A few weeks ago (and a couple of weeks before that!), I had the pleasure of teaching some basics of cake decorating to a great group of girls.

I must admit – I was very, very nervous going in! I’ve never been good with crowds of people, I don’t consider myself a people person, and I tend to shoot my mouth off – none of which seemed like a great package for doing this!

My first day there, I planned to arrive very early. Figured I’d get my bearings, get set up, and have a few minutes to get comfortable. No such luck! They were all there, reading and excited to get started. Augh! Luckily, I had thought ahead and brought cake. When doubting one’s ability to handle a situation.. cake distraction usually works. LOL!

Everyone was so nice and friendly, and my lack of ease with the whole situation went away pretty quickly. The girls were so much fun, and so eager to learn! That first day, we mixed frosting colors, loaded our bags, and piped words, stars, and rosettes on cardboard. It was actually over way quicker than I expected.

I was looking forward to the next time (I had volunteered to do 2 sessions), and decided to surprise the girls by giving them actual cakes to work on. 15 small, individually boxed cakes were baked, frosted, and packed along with the practice boards. We started the second class with a little review, then learned how to pipe shell borders.

As I started handing out the cake boxes, it was awesome to see faces light up. I’ll never forget it.

It happened to be one of the mother’s birthdays that day, so I helped her daughter Laura “surprise” her by suggesting that Deb (the mother) go help others. I loved watching Laura put so much love into her cake, and then announce the birthday to the room as she presented the cake to her mother. Made my week!


(Laura Gives her mom Deb a Birthday Cake)

I had a blast, and have already signed up to teach another class next spring! Looking forward to it!

If you’re interested in getting involved with (or donating to!) Our Special Angels, their volunteer coordinator can be reached at ourspecialangels@comcast.net

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Celebration Generation in Wedding Cakes Mag – 4th time!

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Check us out in the next issue of Wedding Cakes magazine! Our 4rd in a row! Haven’t seen it yet, so we’re not sure which cake(s) made it in, but.. cool!

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