I just came across this on CocoPerez and had to post – wedding planner David Tutera has created this frothy, bedazzled concoction that is dripping with platinum, diamonds and pearls. It only costs $500,000. Even on a model it looks ill fitting and gaudy. And it costs half a million dollars. I’ll say it again, really?
The process of choosing what to do with your dress after the wedding is almost as daunting a task as shopping for it in the first place. I understand why so many brides vacuum seal their dresses and hide them away in a dark corner of their closet never to see the light of day again – I don’t like it but I understand it.
I just sold my dress (to another wedding blogger no less!) and I have to say I experienced some sentimental pangs as I was packing it up. This was the gown I shopped for months for, harangued the nice people at Elizabeth Fillmore over (I had to have fabric covered buttons), and wore on one of the best days of my life. I don’t imagine there will be too many other days in my life where I can don a floor length satin gown. That wouldn’t go over too well in the classroom.
But part of the reason I wanted to sell my dress is because I did love it so much. It’s a gorgeous designer gown I got through the generosity of my father-in-law, and I wanted another bride to have the opportunity to wear it without as steep of a price tag. I know the bride who wore will give it her own personal flair, and I can’t wait to see how she styles it!
I understand there are a lot of considerations for brides who make this decision, so I decided to put together a few of the other options I came across in my decision making process.
– Keep the dress, but change it up. I already posted about Sheri from Young House Love – I think her idea to dye her wedding dress so she could wear it again is genius. I did consider doing this with my dress as well, but even in another color my gown would be too formal for anything other than black tie!
– Donate the dress. There are lots of organizations out there that provide dresses to brides who can’t afford them, and you can find a few here and here.
– Get creative. I’ve heard of brides using the fabric from their dress to create pieces of art, tablecloths, you name it. Or you could do something similar to the Thousand Dollar Dress project which I think is pretty awesome.
– Trash it. For those brides who don’t mind getting dirty, the Trash the Dress trend can make for some pretty amazing pictures, and at least you get to wear it again!
Obviously, I chose to sell my dress and I’ve been really happy (despite a few seconds of separation anxiety) with that choice. I used OnceWed and it was easy to use and quick – I had lots of inquiries about the dress within just a few days and the responses were easy to manage.
What do you plan to do with your dress?
Remember the couple from A Picnic Wedding? Well the actual event occurred last weekend, and despite all sorts of near disasters (rain, cancellations, a visit to the emergency room) everything worked out in the end, and the whole event was absolutely beautiful.
I just love weddings where every detail is a clue to the couple’s personalities, and this one was one of the best examples I’ve seen. Both the bride and groom are very involved with their community, and are passionate about trying to live as green and locally as they can. Almost every detail was handmade, and every detail had meaning. In fact there were just so many moments that were tear-jerkingly sweet that I think I should rename this the Warm & Fuzzy wedding.
To summarize briefly: the ceremony was in a beautiful little church with a gospel choir, the whole wedding party travelled in petty cabs to the reception closeby, the food was all local and organic (including the best lavender iced tea ever!), the flowers were put together by the bride and friends that morning, and dancing was under the stars. Here are just a few of the many, many pictures we took!
Over a year ago, I wrote a post outlining my goals for writing our ceremony. Since I love to write and I wanted to make our ceremony as personalized as possible, this was my favorite “project” even though at times it was overwhelming. There was just so much I wanted to express in under 20 minutes. Even though there were still sentences I might have tweaked, Drew and I were both really happy with the result and I thought I would our process with you if you’re also planning to write your own ceremony. So let’s revisit my original goals:
1) Alternative Wedding Blessing – We did end up going with the Apache Wedding Blessing which has a spiritual as opposed to religious message.
2) Interesting Readings – Drew and I both searched until we found something that we found meaningful. I ended up with a passage from The Little Prince, one of my favorite stories, and Drew chose an Ayn Rand reading. If you’re also considering unusual readings you can check out Offbeat Bride, Credit Crunch Bride, or this article for some great ideas. I also checked out from this book from the library which had endless ideas organized with an easy to use index.
3) Personal Vows – After several long discussions, we decided to keep our vows very simple. A lot of couples chose to write their own vows to each other, but we liked the idea of making each other promises we had decided on together. I have a whole post planned on how to write vows so stay tuned!
4) Thank Yous – We also kept this very simple, by trying to express how much we appreciated everyone’s love and support at the beginning of the ceremony. The sentiment here was inspired by the script of a handfasting ceremony.
“Bride and Groom have asked you to be here today because each of you has made a unique and lasting impression on their lives. They know that making the journey took considerable effort for many of you and for this they are grateful. Your support, your friendship, and your love helped to make Bride and Groom who they needed to be to find first themselves – and then each other.”
5) Length – I never got an official statement about what our ceremony clocked in at, but I’m pretty sure it was about twenty minutes. We were ready to party!
If you’d like me to send you a full script of our ceremony (I had some friends who did this for us and it was very helpful when I was brainstorming) just comment below!
We all know how much I love Alice in Wonderland, so I was doubly happy to discover a new sweetly snarky wedding blogger who also appreciates a quirky themed wedding. Credit Crunch Bride shares her thoughts on how just such a theme is perfectly suited for brides with a budget:
“So, here’s the secret. If your wedding isn’t being planned by The World’s Leading Wedding Planner with a diploma in Co-ordinating Colours, and is rather more of the budget variety, the Alice in Wonderland theme could be for you. It excuses all sorts of ridiculous randomness, wonky home-made cakes, mismatching decorations and strange behaviour. In fact, it encourages it.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself! And pardon my randomness, but I just love the word “wonky.” Check out the full article to see a collection of awesome Alice inspired boards, including the above one with the perhaps the most enviable wedding Louboutins of all time!
It’s always funny to look at your blog stats – for example, my post on Blue Orchid Centerpieces is by far the most popular just because that particular phrase gets searched for so often and my blog article is the first that pops up. So, it seems that lots of you out there are still on the lookout for creative centerpiece ideas. I understand because flowers can be incredibly expensive and centerpieces are such an important statement that can really help set the mood of your reception. Here are a few of my favorite tips that I learned from planning my own wedding.
- Never underestimate the power of food coloring and a little glycerin. Dying the water in clear vases makes an otherwise simple arrangement really pop!
yellow daisies blue and pink orchids multicolored tulip
- Use alternative materials in your centerpieces. Rocks, feathers, paper, fruit, cupcakes, corks, buttons…the list goes on and on. Not only are these cheaper than flowers, they don’t die after the wedding!
lemons paper lace cupcake bouquet
- Use alternative materials to hold your centerpieces. Wine bottles, vases, mason jars, tin buckets, lanterns, pitchers etc. Even tin cans can make a gorgeous statement. These can be items you would have thrown away or recycled or you can get them from thrift stores or budget friendly stores like Ikea!
black bottles cans for vases citrus bottles tea tins
- A little paint goes a long way. Our florist painted the curly willow at our wedding and the metallic shades made a big difference. Curly willow or other branches are a great and inexpensive way to give your centerpieces some height too.
One of my new favorite blogs is Young House Love – it’s full of awesome do it yourself design inspiration from a couple who turned a boring ranch rambler into a sleek and modern home. And, it just so happens that they applied their crafty and creative talents to their wedding as well. I don’t know which of the following is more impressive, that a) the bride bought her dress days before the wedding and dyed it to be worn again after b) they relandscaped their whole yard so that the entire wedding could be held at their home or c) that their entire budget was under $4,000. Amazing! Head over to their site to check out their wedding album!
Looking through pictures by friends and family is like reliving the day all over again – except this time I can laugh over the quirky little details I was too excited to notice before. For example:
How our guests seemed as excited as I was for the awesome Depot Trolley.
How someone made my dreams come true and ate their escort card.
How even an expert heel wearer bride needs a pair of flat sandals for the afterparty.
(thanks to a fellow Delt wife for capturing these moments!)
Remember the couple from A Picnic Wedding? Well, we just got our invitation (hand-delivered too!) this weekend. I love when an invitation sets the tone for an event, and this one did the job perfectly. Locally made recycled paper, earthy handcrafted details, and simple vintage font – absolutely perfect! The envelope was especially cool and had a great texture to it which you can’t see in the pictures. I can’t wait to attend!
Now that the wedding is over, I can finally rave about our wedding party gifts! Not surprisingly they were from Etsy – we knew we wanted something personalized and unique so I spent many happy hours shopping through the many vendors. For my girls I was looking for a piece of jewelry that could be customized with colors, initials, or something for each bridesmaid – Cindy V. had both! I got each girl a jewel cluster necklace in a different color with a tiny initial charm…I couldn’t resist getting one for myself too.
Shopping for the guys was a little trickier at first (isn’t it always?). We had played around with the idea of cufflinks but didn’t find any we liked until I happened upon these awesome ones made out of antique typewriter keys at QA Create. Sold! We got each groomsmen and Drew a set of cufflinks with their initials which they wore on the wedding day. I thought they looked pretty cool against the classic black and white tuxes. I’ll have detail shots from the day up in the near future!
BridalCheek 