The Cost of Scaling Back on Wedding Costs

I was reading this article from the LA times about how brides plan to scale back on wedding costs. Sadly, some are even intending to cut back on the cost of a gown, which is really tough considering that a wedding is really that once in a lifetime event. While there are those who choose to buy from places like ebay or at bargain houses, it is still one of those elements of a wedding that is so hard to cut back on. What would you choose to save on??

Read the article for more insights!

Alternatives to the Wedding Cake for the Recessionista Wedding

While we all gasp at wedding cakes, their grandeur and beauty is not always affordable. So, I've come with four alternatives to an actual wedding cake:

1. Serve up cupcakes in a cupcake tower - you can still have these displayed in a tiered fashion. Isn't this one cute! Cupcakes are really a great way to make things colorful at a wedding, too.



2. Donuts have always been popular and they can be presented in many creative ways.



3. A candy buffet stand wherein you display different kinds of candy. You can have it based on the theme of your wedding such as this one, which is a "sweet sailing-inspired" candy table:



4. Have pie carousels or you can serve different kinds of pies on a variety of stands. This idea is great especially during a Thanksgiving wedding or even during a summer 4th of July party. You can have apple, blueberry, and strawberry pies placed on pretty stands. Then you can also have smaller pies or even tarts for a festive display. And for chocolate lovers, serving a chocolate mousse pie will surely be a hit.

The Affordable Bridesmaid Dress

It's time to look for bridesmaid dresses! And for the budget-conscious wedding, I've found some dresses all under $100 bucks. How great is that? Here they are:

Satin Bridesmaid's Dress with Sash - The sage one is nice.



Satin V-neck Bridesmaid's Dress - So demure.



These are cocktail dresses but they could look nice for a bridesmaid dress, too. Hey, we are on a budget now!

Empire Waist Dress - Luv the persimmon color.



Chiffon Evening Dress - This turqoiuse is so elegant.

Weddings 2009

Dahlia's back! After a much needed break, it's back to blogging. Considering how bad the economy is and as it continues to loom over our heads. I am going to try to make my entries cover not only money-saving ideas but also simple ways to save on a wedding. It could mean curbing the guest list from 100 to 50, but yet still having a nice event. Or how about trading that fondant cake for cake cookies (these care cookies that are bundled together in threes and tied with a ribbon). You save a lot by doing that. This can also mean having a home wedding reception instead of a grand one in a hotel or resort. In the end, it's time to be more creative while still having the most elegant wedding ever.

My Favorite Winter Wedding Theme with Snowflakes

Cold weather is here! Since the weather in many places shows snow, I thought, why not have a snow themed wedding! Imagine a venue all decorated with faux snow, floating lights, and a winter-inspired pine tree decorated with touches of Christmas. You can also put a twist to the scene with a theme or motif inspired by a dreamy, fairytale scene. Here are my "LOVE-IT'S" for such as winter theme:

The Cake Has to be White via Earlene's Cakes


The Flower Bouquet - An all porcelain-made bouquet via Porcelainroses.com



The Favors for Guests - Whimsical eggs with a chocolate truffle via Bellenza

Winter Stoles for Weddings

It's a looking like winter baby! I've really fallen in love with the notion of a white winter wedding. Picture this: snow, peppermint candy, champagne, and a white chocolate wedding cake! But, one of my favorite aspects is wearing a lovely stole or cape! The look is just so romantic and elegant.

Some of these styles are so unique that you gotta love getting married in the middle of winter:

Bolero style from Pierotucci S.r.l.



Cape in cream from Julie Fleming



Faux fur from WonderfulWraps.com - my favorite!

Seeing Orange Wedding Cakes

It's almost Thanksgiving and I am seeing orange wedding cakes everywhere!



from left top: Laurie Lucov Wedding Cakes ; Cupcake Fairy; Edible Artistry; Traceys Cakes

DIY Wedding Invitations - Cool Ones

I was really happy to stumble upon these diy wedding invitations. Since times are not the best, it's a great way to save on invitations. At Uniquity Invitations, these guys offer some of the coolest templates. The price is also quite friendly as they are offering a complete invitation collection for $79 that consists of all of these goodies: matching place cards, favor tags, menus cards, programs and table numbers, along with the invitation and rsvp card! Here is just a sample of one of my favorites:

Winter Weddings

I found this beautiful inspiration board from finstationery. I'm thinking of winter colors in white, silver, and blue with this stunning board. Also, you can put ivory as another hue of white. Pretty indeed!

Cupcake Pansies

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the cutest cupcakes from Fancyflours.com. I must say that they are just the thing you need for a winter time bridal shower. Plus. those pansies are so elegant and colorful. They're also not that hard to find. You can even make them as part of a lovely dessert or tea party table. As for that little picket fence wrapper, so cute!

At home for a Thanksgiving wedding party

With the times being so bad, I thought that a Thanksgiving wedding party at home would be great! Now, I am talking about a really low-key, intimate, but fun party here. As a way of getting things started, you can try out some of these ideas:



The invitations - how about going paperless? These are so easy to send out and you can keep track of things quite conveniently! Plus, less paper means less trash on our planet.

The cake - do something different and make them with cookies in the shape of Turkies. Put a fun twist to them by making bride and groom ones. These puppies look so unique!



The favors - double them up as table decorations and even centerpieces

The food - get these ideas from Food Network

In fact, many of the ideas above are not even related to weddings at all because you can gather that this kind of celebration calls for some real creativity!

Quirky Cake Toppers

Oh! These were just too cute to pass up and not share! As a cake topper this Halloween, I think this one wins.

Orange

With Halloween just 3 days away, I'm definitely loving the color orange. It's actually a color that you can use at any time of the year. Check out this slideshow from bhg.com:

Wedding Color Trends: Be Bold with Orange

Romantic cap veils

Back in the 1920s, cap veils were considered de rigeur. They have a certain romance to them that just can't compare with those you see today. Maybe it's the fancy lace and embroidery or the classic appeal they hold. But most of all, it was the style that Grace Kelly wore for her royal wedding. The nice thing about this kind of look is that you don't have to worry about wearing a tiara. Not to say that I'm not into tiaras because they're also quite elegant! That's for another post.

groom's cakes

Let's have fun with groom's cakes! I actually find them to be more interesting than wedding cakes because you can have so much imagination and creativity with them. My personal favorites are:

R2D2



Wii-Cake



TIVO

Regifting for a Wedding Gift

While cleaning out my closet this afternoon, I found an old wedding gift from a friend. Duh, so what? The amazing part of this find was that I realized that the gift was a "REGIFT!" It was a box of Lenox china consisting of a dinner plate, salad plate, a dessert plate, and a saucer. Why didn't I notice the green marking on the back of these porcelain plates? I don't know. Call it blind, maybe? I can't say this enough that the regifting is an art. You've got to know how to do it gracefully and without insulting the recipient. To the friend whom I plan to not contact anymore, please read this book called aptly The Art of Regifting. Please, if you are going to be a guest at a wedding, do your groundwork and please put some care into the packaging. Lastly, include a more personal note with the gift!

Vintage wedding dresses

I'm absolutely addicated to these vintage wedding dresses. Their timeless appeal is what makes it truly romantic. Materails such as lace and tulle are given the most beautiful forms. You may find that these dresses are little more form fitting than usual because of their cut, however, this design is actually what makes vintage dresses so distinct and classy!

Some favs:

Vintageous Cream Lace & Tulle 1950's Wedding Dress



Candy Anthony Couture Bridal Gown



1950's Woolfe Brothers Cream Lace Dress



And if at this point, you still can't enough of vintage? Then, check out this fantastic board from Flickr:

Giant Cupcakes

I'm just hooked on the idea of giant cupcakes! If you're already a fanatic of cupcakes, then these giant ones just made things a whole lot more fun. You can actually get giant cupcake pans at Target, too! They're great as a whimsical groom's cake or as a wedding cake with a fun look. The great part is that they can be made with fillings inside as well.



Check out these sites, too:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/detail.jsp?select=C1036&byCategory=C1038&id=5875

http://www.mariannescreativecakes.com.au/index-1.html

http://blogs.hgtv.com/hgtv/etips/kids/

http://housewares.about.com/b/2008/01/12/bake-a-cool-birthday-cake.htm

Pingg Invitations

Want to leave one less carbon footprint on the planet? I just love these online invitations from Pingg. They've got loads of stylish designs and their great when planning a party such as bachelorette party or even wedding. Plus, it's so convenient! Your cyber friends will understand and you're doing the environment some good, too.

My favorites:







Would you send an invitation such as these for your wedding? Or, do you find them a bit informal?

Perfect Wedding, KIIS-FM

Last but not late. Today is the last day to enter the contest in one of LA's most popular radio stations. The contest is a chance to win an all expense paid wedding. How's that! If you've got 30 minutes to spare before 12nn today, it's still possible to enter.