Some excellent news: our last minute financing came through! So the last thoughts about not being able to pay have finally disappeared. It is so good to have a huge weight lifted, but now we have 18 months to pay it off or we have to pay an exorbitant amount of interest…
Monday we fly away to Maine! We just have to tie up loose ends, spray tan, nails, you know, bride stuff. 🙂
Looking over all the details of this wedding gives me a headache. So I have thought over the idea of hiring a planner. After all, weddings like this don’t just happen:
Photo By: Still Music Photography
So after placing MAAANNNNYYY calls to several wedding planners and getting quote after quote that was about half my wedding budget, I wondered how these brides do it!
So is it worth it? Yes and no…or, it can be. Though the original quotes were astronomical, you can scale back the amount of a planner’s help. He or she may offer day-of planning. It’s a great service because, although you have to plan everything up until the day, you don’t have to worry about anything the day of!
Photo By: Will Pursell Photography
First I had to figure out what I really needed. It would be wonderful to have someone just take over (believe me there are days when I’ve thought about it), but at this moment the budget doesn’t allow for it, and I don’t really need it. I’ve gotten most of my vendors in order and my contracts situated, there are just little details to be work out. However, I don’t know that I could enjoy my wedding day, if I was also organizing my wedding day. Because my wedding is very “destination” I won’t have enough hands to really help out with much. That extra help would really make things easier.
Now here it is, my BEST FINANCIAL TIP EVER: Invest in start-up companies! If you do you research and find little businesses around the area that are start-ups, you can really get a great deal AND get pretty much their full attention because they will have a short client list. The downside may be lack of experience but that doesn’t mean they don’t have talent.
I ended up hiring a small start-up company to help with the day-of planning. The lady that runs the company is very passionate and excited to help. She loves weddings and loves to plan, I am happy to have her help and her skills so that I can just relax on the day of the wedding. You can read more about her business here.
Give your consideration to some start-ups. You would be helping local business grow, and saving your wallet a HUGE chunk of change! Not to mention how beautiful your wedding can be!
Photo By: Ellie Grover Photographer
I know those crazy brides…the ones with the HUGE binders where every detail of the wedding is planned out down to when she pees, and who goes with her to hold her dress. I don’t want to be one of those brides. But…
Well really, what do you show the caterer when you are describing the cake you want? What do you show the event coordinator when talking about your table arrangements? You have to have SOMETHING to show for it right? So I broke down and made…a book. Now don’t freak out. There is no way I’m going to plan my pee break times or anything, I just needed a place to keep all my ideas together.
It’s nothing fancy, and I’ve just started, so it’s quite meager at the moment.
If you are an avid reader, you know I spend countless hours trolling the internet trying to figure out what I love and don’t love, and what I think our vision is. You can pin all the pictures you want to Pinterest but you need some way to make them portable, and organized. It’s a simple scrapbook (I’m weird and have extras of those lying around the house) and I started making my own inspiration boards. Then all I did was print out my boards and stick them in the sleeves of the scrapbook. The boards then go into “The Book” so I can bring that with me. Props to the people who put together inspiration boards! It takes me at least a half hour to do each one!
Here’s my board for what’s going to go into my table décor. The only things not in it are the flowers, since they are being made, I don’t have pictures.
Courtesy Right to left:
Stacked books, Flower Pots, Scrabble Coasters, “I do, Me too” Forks, Tea Cup & Flower, Book Table Number, Tea Cup and Books, Origami Hearts
I’m working on other boards as well, hopefully I will eventually have a comprehensive list of the elements of our wedding in picture form! As I put together more boards I will post them. All the photos will be from my Pinterest, or ones I took myself, but where they came from will always be on them as well! You can check out my personal inspiration boards on a new page I’m adding to my site. Every time I make a board, I will post it here, and you can look at it all together. Please, please, please comment! I need all the styling help I can get! I love to hear new and fresh ideas!
Flat Broke Bride 