Wedding Day Deals????

[freesia39]

fireworks might be a bit much. i looked at a location in pasadena, and they said i had to get a permit to LIGHT CANDLES. i had to bring my proposed candle ideas to the fire department, pay for a permit, and get approval from the fire chief.

 

so yes, ask the catering manager at your venue to see what the restrictions on fire are... i know we couldn't do fireworks, we'd need clearance and make sure it's not windy and that we're not doing it over a wooded area... but i'm in CA and we seem to go up in flames every few years.

[maaj]

fireworks might be a bit much. i looked at a location in pasadena, and they said i had to get a permit to LIGHT CANDLES. i had to bring my proposed candle ideas to the fire department, pay for a permit, and get approval from the fire chief.

 

so yes, ask the catering manager at your venue to see what the restrictions on fire are... i know we couldn't do fireworks, we'd need clearance and make sure it's not windy and that we're not doing it over a wooded area... but i'm in CA and we seem to go up in flames every few years.

 

Oh I know. We are having it at a Southern Mansion that is historical in town. They have a 10 page booklet of all the "rules". They have certain candles that only their staff can light. There is only one smoking section and if they find cigarette butts anywhere else, you get fined so much money per butt! They are VERY strict, but they have one vendor that does pyro. They are HUGE sparklers. The house has a curved driveway in the front and they make to to where each barrel of sparklers goes off as you drive off, it is amazing.

 

My father-in-law is quite wild. At the engagement party he ended up dancing on top of one of the tables at the country club, ha. I told him he could not dance on any chairs at the venue because they charge $100 for each arm that is broken should one break off of the chairs, lol. It ought to be interesting!!!!

[jerseygirl]

Oh I know. We are having it at a Southern Mansion that is historical in town. They have a 10 page booklet of all the "rules". They have certain candles that only their staff can light. There is only one smoking section and if they find cigarette butts anywhere else, you get fined so much money per butt! They are VERY strict, but they have one vendor that does pyro. They are HUGE sparklers. The house has a curved driveway in the front and they make to to where each barrel of sparklers goes off as you drive off, it is amazing.

 

My father-in-law is quite wild. At the engagement party he ended up dancing on top of one of the tables at the country club, ha. I told him he could not dance on any chairs at the venue because they charge $100 for each arm that is broken should one break off of the chairs, lol. It ought to be interesting!!!!

My FIL fell into the cake table 20min into our reception. One of the cousins had the bright of idea of pumping him full of Kamikaze shots instead of food during cocktail hour. But after the 22in of snow I had the day before, my nail & hair girls not showing, my Dad's Bronco catching fire @ 3am that morning (gotta love Fords & their recalls!) the cake going down was minor.

 

Wishing you an "uneventfull" wedding!

[JackJack]

I have been a professional floral designer (freelance, party and retail) for over 20 years. So if you have any floral questions....shoot them at me...I'd be glad to help!!

I will say just keep in mind, many people (if you aren't a "flower person") try to skimp on flowers, but when it comes to bouquets and wearable flowers (corsages, bouts etc) try to spend as much as you possibly can afford. When you look back at your wedding pictures 40 years from now your flowers will still be in the picture.

People will forget your favours, chair covers and all the stuff that look pretty (and eats up huge amounts of cash) that day but will really never be seen again. But if you have your great aunt Betty do your flowers in her basement, you may regret it someday. JMO but I have had girls in my shoppe the day of their wedding in full bridal attire bawling their eyes out, as I try to fix the floral mess that someone else has "created" at home.

[JackJack]

My FIL fell into the cake table 20min into our reception. One of the cousins had the bright of idea of pumping him full of Kamikaze shots instead of food during cocktail hour. But after the 22in of snow I had the day before, my nail & hair girls not showing, my Dad's Bronco catching fire @ 3am that morning (gotta love Fords & their recalls!) the cake going down was minor.

 

Wishing you an "uneventfull" wedding!

Oh my gosh!!!! Too funny.....my FIL got so drunk at our wedding he threw up in the parking lot in a mud puddle. My MIL noticed when he got home he was missing his dentures!!! Thank goodness she remembered where they had parked and low and behold there they were in the vomit filled puddle. EEEWWWEEE............:yuck:

[emptynest-2]

I helped my DS and now DIL w/ their wedding. We started 1 year early. We made all of the wedding invitations, wedding shower invitations, etc. I purchased the cake topper on ebay and the 3-tier cake stand w/ satellites also on ebay. Then we traded the 3-tier cake stand w/ satellites to one of their friend’s friend to make the wedding cakes. The theme was Precious Moments. The cakes were beautiful and very delicious this also included the Grooms cake.

Purchased tulle from Hobby Lobby when it was on sale by the bolt. DIL dress came from bridal shop in town approx $300 and the bridesmaid dresses at JC Penney’s on sale.

The kids rented a wedding chapel here in town, DIL dad gave them Money and they used it to rent chapel. It was already decorated no expense there.

Another friend’s friend made the bouquets and corsages and boutonnieres from artificial flowers purchased from HL and ebay. DIL’s mother and aunt made food for reception. Her aunt also made a DVD of the Bride and Groom as kids and through the growing up. Everyone enjoyed the DVD.

There was a lot of work, but worth it in the end.

Congratulations and Good Luck

[sas377]

My fiancee and I are DJs on top of our regular job, so planning our wedding has been fairly easy. It's not until 10/10/09, but I already am about 60% done with everything. We're doing it for $5000. Here's what we have so far:

 

Ceremony/Reception Site (at one place): $900 (brand new building at a golf course near us).

Caterer: $1800 (feeding ~150, buffet style, 3 main dishes, 2 veggies, a starch, fruit, salad, etc. Fiancee has known them for 20 years and we are their recommended DJs)

Cakes: We're doing centerpiece cakes, so it'll come to about $150-$200.

Invitations: Printing our own without a kit ~$50.

My dress: looking at spending ~$200, going to BridalMart in NC with my aunt for this one.

Brdiesmaids: Well, I found the dress I want for them, now to find it about 75% off is the key!

Groomsmen: May go with just nice suits depending on my dress. My brother will be in his military uniform.

Music: We're pre-programming everything and another friend who is a DJ will MC, so it's free.

Photography: Fiancee's daughter's boyfriend (future husband) is a photographer, so that's free also. Just have to pay for prints.

 

The only major thing that I feel I haven't figured out is flowers and decorations, but I'll do that closer to the date. Also, we have to provide out own alcohol, which is a BIG money saver. My hint is to have a few common mixed drinks (Vodka/Tonic, Rum/Coke, etc), one or two beers (in kegs), and a red and white wine (not in boxes!!!) :) I've seen a lot of weddings through DJing and it has allowed me to see the good, bad, and just plain ugly!

[JackJack]

Just wanted to let you girls know JCPenny had some bridesmaid type dresses 75% yesterday. Some really cute styles....

[stlmom]

We did a 1pm wedding, and served lunch afterwards. It saved us TONS of money! Plus we didnt have to worry about the whole alcohol dillema we were able to enjoy our day, go take pictures, and get to our hotel by like 8 pm it was perfect! We had ours at the church all my DH's family goes to so they did the ceremony & also let us have the reception there for free. I think we spent around $2,000 total!!

[boblabontefan]

Another place to look for dresses would be chadwicks.com. Especially if you are not into the "frilly" wedding dress. Their bridesmaid selections are also pretty nice.

 

A neat idea for weddings (I wish I would have know about this when I was getting married) is a butterfly release. You can check it out at this web site. http://www.butterflyreleasecompany.com/

 

My Niece was married this past summer and she loves butterflies. I threw her a bridal shower and we did a small release (a dozen painted ladies). She loved it and the butterflies stayed around in her garden for a few weeks.

[dantegirl]

We did an afternoon wedding and served appetizers (got all the food at Costco) and cake. We spent the most $$ on the location (a horse ranch in Washington) and even that was only $500 but AWESOME scenery and pics.

We had our cake made by a "little old grandma" who made cakes out of her house and charged very reasonably (3 tier, fed 100 for $100) for exactly what we wanted. She and her husband delivered the cake and stayed to enjoy the wedding. It was THE BEST cake we've ever had in our lives and to this day everyone still talks about that cake :) Anyway, moral of the story...you can find great deals off the beaten path :)

Final suggestion....disposable camera's. Found great sales throughout the year and put them on the tables for the guests. Some of the best pictures we got were from those cameras (like my 13 yr. old BIL posing James Bond stlye with my bridesmaids...completely oblivious... in the background!!!)

Good luck :)

[trbarginhunter]

Walgreens has Kodak flash disposable cameras, 27 exposures, 2 for $9.99...we bought 2 for DD, she has a couple of events coming up where the school doesn't want to deal with digital cameras getting lost. This was the best deal I could find at short notice, don't know how great it is overall.

[akdillard]

Just FYI, I got my cake at Publix. They made a beautiful cake, fed 100 and it cost $199. I was taken back by how many compliments I got about that cake. People said it was the best cake they had ever had. So, I completely advise anyone getting married to look into Publix. And they will work with you to make the cake you want!

 

About the disposable cameras, PLEASE be careful where you buy them from. I bought mine online and the pictures came out terrible. Turns out they were passed their expiration!

[Promom]

To Momofthebride I saw an episode of Martha Stewart adn she did the ide you were talking about, it was around christmas. Just thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to look it up on her website.