Today's deal is $130 of stationery from Vistaprint for $50. This is a great deal since vistaprint is so cheap to begin with. Their Magnet Save the Dates are especially great!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wedding Channel's Daily Deals
The Knot/Wedding Channel has debuted a daily deal site of their own. Just like Gilt, Rue La La and Hautelook, Wedding Channel offers a deal every day. They have one national deal everyday and some for specific cities. I've seen awesome deals on tuxes, photography, beauty and dresses. Sign Up to get daily deals sent to your email, and help you achieve the wedding of your dreams on a dreamy budget.
Today's deal is $130 of stationery from Vistaprint for $50. This is a great deal since vistaprint is so cheap to begin with. Their Magnet Save the Dates are especially great!
Happy Shopping!
Today's deal is $130 of stationery from Vistaprint for $50. This is a great deal since vistaprint is so cheap to begin with. Their Magnet Save the Dates are especially great!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Rent the Runway
Looking for a way to cut costs for your bridesmaids. Rent the runway is a site where you can rent dresses and accessories for a fraction of the price. You can rent For 4-8 days and you also get a free backup size dress. Most dresses start at $50, but they are some for less.
Here are some of my faves:
$50.00
$50.00
$75.00
$75.00
$100.00
Here are some of my faves:
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Timeline: 3-5 months
Order wedding invitations*
This is important, for obvious reasons. Depending on where you get your invites, they will take a few weeks to produce. Your invites should be sent out 1-2 months ahead of the wedding depeding on when you have to give your final head count. Make sure you leave enough time for ordering and addressing the invites and for your guests to respond. If you are going DIY (which I definately reccomend) You should start early, because the invites are a pretty big project.
Plan honeymoon
If you're going on a honeymoon, decide where you want to go and for how long. Reservations for hotels are the most important to be done early. Plane tickets can be delayed if you're waiting for a good deal.
Select and order wedding favors
This is just easy to be done early, so you can get it out of the way, especially if you're going DIY. I reccomend edible favors, as they're most likely to be used by your guests. Most guests won't want a mini picture frame of you or a candle with your wedding date on it. Keep it simple and keep your guests in mind and you'll be find.
Order groom’s & groomsmen’s attire
I think this can actually be finished up to a month ahead of time with Men's Warehouse. You should know the general style and reserve your date though.
Select wedding bands*
This is super important to order early, you do want to have bands on your wedding day, right? There are a lot of factors that cause bands to have a long processing time: unusual sizes, engraving, special orders/custom designs
Book hair and makeup*
If you are getting your hair/makeup done, you should book this soon. Most of the good artist book ahead of time and your hair and makeup need to perfect, so make sure you get the best!
Finalize menu for reception
Not too important, just better to get it finished early. This can really be done up to a month ahead of time.
This is important, for obvious reasons. Depending on where you get your invites, they will take a few weeks to produce. Your invites should be sent out 1-2 months ahead of the wedding depeding on when you have to give your final head count. Make sure you leave enough time for ordering and addressing the invites and for your guests to respond. If you are going DIY (which I definately reccomend) You should start early, because the invites are a pretty big project.
Plan honeymoon
If you're going on a honeymoon, decide where you want to go and for how long. Reservations for hotels are the most important to be done early. Plane tickets can be delayed if you're waiting for a good deal.
Select and order wedding favors
This is just easy to be done early, so you can get it out of the way, especially if you're going DIY. I reccomend edible favors, as they're most likely to be used by your guests. Most guests won't want a mini picture frame of you or a candle with your wedding date on it. Keep it simple and keep your guests in mind and you'll be find.
Order groom’s & groomsmen’s attire
I think this can actually be finished up to a month ahead of time with Men's Warehouse. You should know the general style and reserve your date though.
Select wedding bands*
This is super important to order early, you do want to have bands on your wedding day, right? There are a lot of factors that cause bands to have a long processing time: unusual sizes, engraving, special orders/custom designs
Book hair and makeup*
If you are getting your hair/makeup done, you should book this soon. Most of the good artist book ahead of time and your hair and makeup need to perfect, so make sure you get the best!
Finalize menu for reception
Not too important, just better to get it finished early. This can really be done up to a month ahead of time.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wedding Websites
A Wedding website is an extremely valuable resource for you guests. The website is also a value to the bride; Since the guests will (hopefully) look at the website before contacting the bride about their questions, it will save her a lot of time and frustration from dealing with the guests.
There are a few places to make to a wedding website. Popular hosts are theknot.com, mywedding.com, and weddingwire.com. I personally prefer mywedding.com, because it's really simple to use, has a variety of templates and backrounds and most importantly, has an easy url. With mywedding the url would just be http://mywedding.com/(whatever you choose)
Now that you know why you should make one and where to make one, you're probably wondering what to put on it. At the very least it should have the venues, date and times, and accomodations. A more comprehensive website would include:
1. Your story/the proposal
2. The wedding party
3. Wedding events (Engagement party, bridal shower, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception)
4. Accomodations
5. Transportation (Buses/routes, local taxis)
6. Airports (if your guests are out of town)
7. RSVP
8. Your Registry
9. Guestbook
10. Photo Galleries
11. Contact
To inform your guests of the website, you should first send the address with your save the dates. For magnet save the dates, the website address can be placed at the bottom. For paper save the dates it can be at the bottom or on a separate small insert, like printed on a business card. The site should also be sent when the invitations are mailed on a separate small insert.
There are a few places to make to a wedding website. Popular hosts are theknot.com, mywedding.com, and weddingwire.com. I personally prefer mywedding.com, because it's really simple to use, has a variety of templates and backrounds and most importantly, has an easy url. With mywedding the url would just be http://mywedding.com/(whatever you choose)
Now that you know why you should make one and where to make one, you're probably wondering what to put on it. At the very least it should have the venues, date and times, and accomodations. A more comprehensive website would include:
1. Your story/the proposal
2. The wedding party
3. Wedding events (Engagement party, bridal shower, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception)
4. Accomodations
5. Transportation (Buses/routes, local taxis)
6. Airports (if your guests are out of town)
7. RSVP
8. Your Registry
9. Guestbook
10. Photo Galleries
11. Contact
To inform your guests of the website, you should first send the address with your save the dates. For magnet save the dates, the website address can be placed at the bottom. For paper save the dates it can be at the bottom or on a separate small insert, like printed on a business card. The site should also be sent when the invitations are mailed on a separate small insert.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Timeline: 1-2 Months
At 2 months out you should try to get as much done as possible. The earlier you get these things done, the easier and more relaxed your life will be around wedding time. Trust me you want to enjoy the week of your wedding, not be freaking out the whole time that you have all of these things to do and not enough time.
Get marriage license**
This is important for obvious reasons. Most marriage offices will allow you to get your license up to two months in advance, but some only do one month. Make sure you know what the rules are for your city, especially waiting periods. Some cities require a waiting period, where you can get your license but you have to wait X amount of days before you actually use it to get married. Make sure you have enough time to get the license and wait out the waiting period before the wedding.
Send out invitations**
Obviously you want to give your guests enough formal notice to make travel arrangements and plans. Usually, you want to give the guests a few weeks to respond, so you can get a final count for the venue, caterer etc. So start from the date you need to tell your vendors your final count. Add a week for calling up the guests that haven't responded yet. Then add about 2 weeks min. for the guests to respond, and a few days for mailing time and that will be the latest date you should send out the invites.
Purchase gifts for wedding party & parents
You should get gifts for the groomsmen, bridesmaids, and ushers. Parent gifts are usually given, but if they're not paying for anything, it's not a necessity. Gifts are usually given at the rehearsal dinner.
Make the seating chart*
You should have a seating chart or at least assigned tables unless you have a handful of guests. The seating chart can't really be completed until you receive the rsvps from the guests, but you should get this done as soon as the responses come in.
Finalize honeymoon plans*
If you're taking a honeymoon, finalize all reservations within these months. A few weeks before contact the hotels to confirm your reservation, especially if it is out of the country. Also, for international trips make sure you have your passport(in your madien name) and order any necessary travel accessories.
Plan rehearsal & dinner
If you're having a rehearsal dinner, plan the date and time of rehearsal, so the bridal party can plan to make it. Also, if going to a restaurant, make a reservation sooner than later, as most restaurants will need advanced notice of such a large party.
Have your final dress fittings*
Dress fittings should be done at 6, 4 and 2 weeks before the wedding. Make sure you are wearing the shoes, and undergarments that you will be wearing on the wedding day, as these will alter the shape of the dress and alterations needed.
Arrange Hair and Makeup trials
These trials are important so you know what you want and what you will be getting on your wedding day. If you are doing DIY make sure to pratice multiple times and start trying which makeup products will work on your wedding day.
Get marriage license**
This is important for obvious reasons. Most marriage offices will allow you to get your license up to two months in advance, but some only do one month. Make sure you know what the rules are for your city, especially waiting periods. Some cities require a waiting period, where you can get your license but you have to wait X amount of days before you actually use it to get married. Make sure you have enough time to get the license and wait out the waiting period before the wedding.
Send out invitations**
Obviously you want to give your guests enough formal notice to make travel arrangements and plans. Usually, you want to give the guests a few weeks to respond, so you can get a final count for the venue, caterer etc. So start from the date you need to tell your vendors your final count. Add a week for calling up the guests that haven't responded yet. Then add about 2 weeks min. for the guests to respond, and a few days for mailing time and that will be the latest date you should send out the invites.
Purchase gifts for wedding party & parents
You should get gifts for the groomsmen, bridesmaids, and ushers. Parent gifts are usually given, but if they're not paying for anything, it's not a necessity. Gifts are usually given at the rehearsal dinner.
Make the seating chart*
You should have a seating chart or at least assigned tables unless you have a handful of guests. The seating chart can't really be completed until you receive the rsvps from the guests, but you should get this done as soon as the responses come in.
Finalize honeymoon plans*
If you're taking a honeymoon, finalize all reservations within these months. A few weeks before contact the hotels to confirm your reservation, especially if it is out of the country. Also, for international trips make sure you have your passport(in your madien name) and order any necessary travel accessories.
Plan rehearsal & dinner
If you're having a rehearsal dinner, plan the date and time of rehearsal, so the bridal party can plan to make it. Also, if going to a restaurant, make a reservation sooner than later, as most restaurants will need advanced notice of such a large party.
Have your final dress fittings*
Dress fittings should be done at 6, 4 and 2 weeks before the wedding. Make sure you are wearing the shoes, and undergarments that you will be wearing on the wedding day, as these will alter the shape of the dress and alterations needed.
Arrange Hair and Makeup trials
These trials are important so you know what you want and what you will be getting on your wedding day. If you are doing DIY make sure to pratice multiple times and start trying which makeup products will work on your wedding day.
Timeline: 6-8 Months
Plan hotel accommodations for out-of-town guests*
This is actually a pretty easy task, although it may seem annoying. For this Hotel Planner is your best bet. You just input the information for your dates and what you need, and local hotels will "bid" you a price for each room. When reserving a block of rooms, the most important thing is to make sure that you are not financially responsible for the unused rooms in the block. Most hotels will give you a discount and a link or contact person that all of your guest can go through to reserve a room. Typically they will reserve a set amount of rooms for your date, so your guests are guaranteed a room if they book there. Also some hotels will give you a free wedding night suite with the block, so negotiate.
Finalize guest list & send Save-the-date cards*
The guest list should obviously be completed before you send your save the dates, unless you are splitting the list into an A and B group and don't really care if your B group receives a save the date. Also, make sure you have your hotel block and website up, so that you can put the information with your save the dates. Usually save the dates are sent 6-8 months before the wedding.
Book photographer and videographer*
Really amazing photographers get booked way ahead of time, so if you have your eye on someone and if photography is really important to you (which it should be) get this done asap. Sometimes the photographer will also do the videography and a lot of brides are not even having videographers now, so the photographer is really the main goal with this task.
Create your wedding registry
Same as the wedding website and hotel, you'll want to have this done generally around Save the dates, just so the info is on the website, which will be on your save the date. This can probably wait for 2-3 months before the wedding, because most people won't start shopping until last minute.
Order wedding cake
You really just need to book your cake baker and do your taste tests so you know you have someone that can give you a cake for the date you need. You should have a general design in mind, but it's really not necessary to have the whole cake planned to the tee.
Book ceremony officiant
This is pretty important if you don't have a lot of officiants in your area and your date is during season.
Select bridesmaids’ dresses
Bridesmaid dresses take around 2-4 months to come in depending on where you get them, so its helpful to the bridesmaids and your sanity to get this done early. At the very least decide your color and general style and the price range that is doable for your bridesmaids.
Book florist
Again, not too important but you don't want to put it off to the point where there's no one left to do your flowers. Decide whether you want to do DIY or are going to go with a florist, and have a general budget and idea of what you want.
Book DJ and ceremony musicians
In most towns there are tons of DJs, so if it's not too important to you, this can be delayed a little bit. You should know a few price quotes and have it narrowed down to a few DJs though. Ceremony musicians are pretty scarce for the regulars, so if you really want musicans this should be done by 6 months.
Book wedding day transportation
Not a necessity, but if you are using limos, vintage cars, carriages etc. make sure you know what you want and you'll probably want to put a deposit down around 6 months, just to reserve your date.
A word of caution: Just because some of these timeline items aren't too important and I say you can push them off, doesn't mean you should. I did for my wedding and it worked out well, but that's because I was a good planner and knew which vendors I wanted ahead of time, I just didn't officially book them. If you do leave these tasks to be done later, just be aware that you will most likely be a little stressed out about having so many things to do. You would be surprised the amount of little things you don't think of having to do until the month of the wedding.
This is actually a pretty easy task, although it may seem annoying. For this Hotel Planner is your best bet. You just input the information for your dates and what you need, and local hotels will "bid" you a price for each room. When reserving a block of rooms, the most important thing is to make sure that you are not financially responsible for the unused rooms in the block. Most hotels will give you a discount and a link or contact person that all of your guest can go through to reserve a room. Typically they will reserve a set amount of rooms for your date, so your guests are guaranteed a room if they book there. Also some hotels will give you a free wedding night suite with the block, so negotiate.
Finalize guest list & send Save-the-date cards*
The guest list should obviously be completed before you send your save the dates, unless you are splitting the list into an A and B group and don't really care if your B group receives a save the date. Also, make sure you have your hotel block and website up, so that you can put the information with your save the dates. Usually save the dates are sent 6-8 months before the wedding.
Book photographer and videographer*
Really amazing photographers get booked way ahead of time, so if you have your eye on someone and if photography is really important to you (which it should be) get this done asap. Sometimes the photographer will also do the videography and a lot of brides are not even having videographers now, so the photographer is really the main goal with this task.
Create your wedding registry
Same as the wedding website and hotel, you'll want to have this done generally around Save the dates, just so the info is on the website, which will be on your save the date. This can probably wait for 2-3 months before the wedding, because most people won't start shopping until last minute.
Order wedding cake
You really just need to book your cake baker and do your taste tests so you know you have someone that can give you a cake for the date you need. You should have a general design in mind, but it's really not necessary to have the whole cake planned to the tee.
Book ceremony officiant
This is pretty important if you don't have a lot of officiants in your area and your date is during season.
Select bridesmaids’ dresses
Bridesmaid dresses take around 2-4 months to come in depending on where you get them, so its helpful to the bridesmaids and your sanity to get this done early. At the very least decide your color and general style and the price range that is doable for your bridesmaids.
Book florist
Again, not too important but you don't want to put it off to the point where there's no one left to do your flowers. Decide whether you want to do DIY or are going to go with a florist, and have a general budget and idea of what you want.
Book DJ and ceremony musicians
In most towns there are tons of DJs, so if it's not too important to you, this can be delayed a little bit. You should know a few price quotes and have it narrowed down to a few DJs though. Ceremony musicians are pretty scarce for the regulars, so if you really want musicans this should be done by 6 months.
Book wedding day transportation
Not a necessity, but if you are using limos, vintage cars, carriages etc. make sure you know what you want and you'll probably want to put a deposit down around 6 months, just to reserve your date.
A word of caution: Just because some of these timeline items aren't too important and I say you can push them off, doesn't mean you should. I did for my wedding and it worked out well, but that's because I was a good planner and knew which vendors I wanted ahead of time, I just didn't officially book them. If you do leave these tasks to be done later, just be aware that you will most likely be a little stressed out about having so many things to do. You would be surprised the amount of little things you don't think of having to do until the month of the wedding.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Another Sale!
Gilt is having their Wedding Shop sale now through April 21st @ Midnight. They have everything on sale; Dresses, gifts, beauty, jewelry, groomswear, honeymoons, and favors. They are even selling early access passes to Klienfield's Sale. Gilt is also running a contest for a Marchesa gown and a trip for two to go to New York to choose the gown and have a custom fitting.
A new item is their "Wedding in a Box" This a a whole wedding with chef Mario Batali in New York. It includes for 100 guests:
• Standing wedding ceremony location, to include setup (chairs) and music during ceremony
• Bridal party bouquets and boutonnieres
• Cocktail reception for one hour to include chef’s selection of passed assaggi
• Four-course seated dinner: antipasto, primo, guests’ choice of secondi, dolce
• Premium open bar throughout
• Wedding cake
• Tables set with Masa & Frette white linens and silver candelabras with white candles as centerpieces
• 5-piece Del Posto house band (with vocalist) and space for dancing
• Use of Gattinara Room as bridal suite for getting ready
It does come at a steep price though, $40,000, but still really awesome.
Some favorites from the sale are:
Happy Shopping!
A new item is their "Wedding in a Box" This a a whole wedding with chef Mario Batali in New York. It includes for 100 guests:
• Standing wedding ceremony location, to include setup (chairs) and music during ceremony
• Bridal party bouquets and boutonnieres
• Cocktail reception for one hour to include chef’s selection of passed assaggi
• Four-course seated dinner: antipasto, primo, guests’ choice of secondi, dolce
• Premium open bar throughout
• Wedding cake
• Tables set with Masa & Frette white linens and silver candelabras with white candles as centerpieces
• 5-piece Del Posto house band (with vocalist) and space for dancing
• Use of Gattinara Room as bridal suite for getting ready
It does come at a steep price though, $40,000, but still really awesome.
Some favorites from the sale are:
Happy Shopping!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Wedding Sale!
Hurry up and go to Ideeli. Today starts their Ready, Set, Wed Sale and Dresses have started to sell out within minutes! They have everything on sale; Dresses, Bridesmaid dresses, accesories, veils, honeymoons, housewares, photo books, lingerie, jewelry, shoes and bachelorette wear. These are some of my favorites: 
Now go, save some money! This sale ends in a day!
Now go, save some money! This sale ends in a day!
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