Don’t give your guests botulism: the secrets of a self-catered wedding
We didn’t mean to self-cater. But we went for it. Our venue included a “caterers kitchen” (two huge wood-fired stoves, a ton of charcoal grills, and a spigot with running water), so how hard could it be? Here are the things I failed to anticipate, in hopes that if you decide to go down this ridiculous path, you can avoid surprises…
Wedding registries: The gateway to lifestyle creep
Wedding registries. It’s awesome to get presents, but it sucks when you realize that all your presents mean you have to spend more money to upgrade everything else to match. You will find yourself purchasing things so that they can “match” your new items. Even if your stuff up until now was perfectly fine, even if you never thought to replace it.
Wedding video real talk: Professional versus home movies
As we walked down the aisle, I had a moment of panic when I noticed multiple cameras on us — not only were our husband-and-wife photographer team standing at the end of the aisle waiting for us, there were two people with video cameras up there, too! Thoughts of wedding crashers who got in under the guise of being the hired videographer crossed my mind… but it turned out that both my wife’s dad and my mom had decided to surprise us with a videographer. Here’s what I learned from this unique experience of having the home video-style photography AND the professional videography…
Choose your wedding party carefully, and 6 more pieces of wedding advice I needed
I read every advice blog there was. I knew what should be in my emergency kit, and I was completely on top of all to-do lists. I had thought about all the things brides forget about. Despite how excited I was (and am) about my marriage, despite how awesome our loved ones are, and despite how much I love projects — I HATED planning our wedding. I believe my experience would have been a bit different if I had read this advice first…
Confidence: the secret key to pulling off a guilt-free budget wedding
When I was planning my wedding, cost was a big factor. While I wanted to enjoy the day and have it represent my partner and me, I didn’t want to do it at a premium cost. So I SCOURED the internet to find ways to slash my budget. The problem was that some of these “20 Ideas to Cut Your Budget” just weren’t feasible. Here is where I think the biggest difficulties in planning a budget wedding lie: that it’s really hard to find affirmation in choosing the “cheaper” way. So here are my tips for planning a guilt-free “budget” wedding…
The 10 things to help you keep calm and plan a destination wedding
I have been planning my destination wedding for over a year. I’m part of several destination weddings forums and I’ve heard my share of horror stories. So take what I say with a grain of salt, but here is some advice that might help newbie destination couples keep their sanity while planning their wedding.