I just started planning my honeymoon and I came across a travel blog called Champagne Travel on a Beer Budget. I must admit, it caught my eye simply because we have rather similar slogans…champagne wedding on a beer budget vs. champagne travel on a beer budget.

I checked out the site and discovered that it’s a valuable resource for soon-to-be newlyweds planning their honeymoon. The blog offers great tips on how to get an upgrade when you fly or where to get the most bang for your buck. I love the post about where to rent your own private island for less than $100! I never knew that was possible but it sounds like a truly romantic honeymoon if you ask me. Champagne Travel on a Beer Budget is a great blog and will come in handy even after I’ve planned my honeymoon.

In the early stages of my wedding planning, I truly had no clue what I was doing. I booked a hair and makeup artist without doing any research whatsoever. Her fee was $375 and an additional $150 for the trial. Of course you can’t go without a trial run…so that put me at $525 for hair and makeup and that doesn’t even include tip!

“Are you nuts?!?!” was the reaction I got from a close friend. Retrospectively, I think I was. Haha! Who in their right mind would pay that kind of money on hair and makeup alone? Since then, I’ve discovered ways to avoid spending that kind of cash on your wedding day hair and makeup.

Let’s start with makeup. You should not have to hire a professional for this.

• Do your own makeup. Most of us have had 10+ years of experience doing our own makeup, I think we can manage just fine the day of the wedding.
• If you aren’t comfortable doing your own makeup or if you just want a different look, try recruiting a friend or a bridesmaid. I’m sure you have at least one friend who’s great at this.
• Go to the makeup counters at department stores and learn a tip or two. Try on different colors and techniques to achieve the look you’re going for then replicate it.
• Practice makes perfect so practice, practice, practice!

You may be able to do your own hair on a day to day basis but it’s difficult to do wedding hair or know someone who can do wedding hair. This is where I think it’s worth spending the money to get it professionally done. But that doesn’t mean you have to pay an obscene amount of money for it either.

• Instead of hiring the hair stylist to come to you, go to them. It’s convenient, yes…but at what cost?
• Ask for a group discount at the hair salon. Chances are your mom and your bridesmaids will want their hair styled as well.
• Consider getting your hair done at a salon school. I know it sounds scary but that’s what trial runs are for.

I’m lucky to have a friend tell me I was nuts. The day after, I canceled my contract and lost $25 for the processing fee but got the rest of my deposit back. That was a good lesson learned…not bad for $25 because in the end, I still came out a winner!

Check out these cute Personalized Wedding Lemonade Mix favors from MyWeddingFavors.com. If you’re having a summer wedding or beach wedding, these favors are perfect! There’s 20 designs to choose from with two lines of text for your names and your wedding date. So cute and so unique! At $1.60 a piece, these are definitely an affordable option for favors. Plus, MyWeddingFavors.com has an ongoing promotion for 10% off if you spend over $150. Use coupon code “SAVE10″. That brings the price down to $1.44 per favor! It doesn’t get better than that.

The time has come to talk about the dreaded topic…the wedding budget. With our economy in a recession, the dollar just doesn’t stretch very far. As if that wasn’t bad enough, you’ll soon realize that the mere mention of the word “wedding” drives prices up through the roof. I call it the “wedding tax.” This is how the wedding industry remains a multi-billion dollar industry year after year.

Since most of us have never planned a wedding before, wedding budgeting can be a real challenge. The first step is to find out who is contributing to the wedding and how much. It’s quite common for couples these days to pay for the entire wedding themselves. Tally up the total and take 80% of that figure. This is your budget. You will want some breathing room because you will soon realize how easy it is to go over budget.

Next, find out the average cost of a wedding in your area by going to CostOfWedding.com. This is a very good resource. They show you the average spent by couples in your zip code and they also break down the costs into categories such as, wedding dress, ceremony & reception locations, flowers, wedding cake, etc. You can get a good sense of how far your budget will take you.

After you do some research, create a budget list for yourself. I like to use The Knot’s Wedding Budgeter. It’s a great tool to keep you on track. Remember…when entering in your budget, put in 80% of what you can afford to allow yourself some leeway.

This should be a good start to your wedding budgeting. I will get into finances at a later time. Happy budgeting!

Wedding cupcakes have become a popular choice for couples these days. Not only are they far more affordable than the traditional wedding cake but they’re also convenient to serve to guests. You can save extra expenses on the wedding cake itself as well as the cake cutting fee (usually $1 per slice!).

The cupcakes are usually displayed on a beautiful cupcake tree and decorated to match your wedding theme and colors. Something to bear in mind when decorating your cupcakes…don’t get too carried away. Wedding cupcakes can be as expensive as traditional wedding cakes when the decorations become too elaborate.

If you are on the traditional side and you want to have a cake to cut into with your groom, you can still have cupcakes…just add a miniature cake on the top tier (like the one pictured here). You’ll still be saving a considerable amount of money while keeping with tradition.

When I first got engaged, I was giddy as a school girl. I was immediately on the search for my dream wedding gown. Before I had done some proper research, I thought I’d have to shell out at least a couple thousand dollars for a single dress I’m only going to wear one time in my life. I guess over the years it’s been ingrained in my head that if you want a wedding dress, you have to pay big bucks for it, right? WRONG! Here’s a list of ten simple ways to save loads off the original retail price of your wedding gown.

1. Buy your dress from a reputable site online. Online bridal stores have much lower overhead than your average bridal salon. They can afford to offer lower prices for the same gown. Just be sure to review all their policies.
2. Find the gown in a less expensive material. Often times, wedding gowns come in a variety of fabrics. Opt for the more affordable option such as the taffeta rather than the silk.
3. Find out if the designer can make your dress with fewer embellishments. Hand-sewn beading is extremely labor intensive and results in high prices. If you can do without some of the decorative pieces, don’t be afraid to ask for it.
4. Negotiate! Even if you go to a full service bridal salon, don’t think the price on the tag is the final price. Always negotiate. Ask the retailer if they do price matching. If they won’t budge on the price, ask if they can throw in some accessories such as a veil or a tiara.
   
   

5. Consider a pre-owned wedding dress. These gowns are generally in good condition at about half the cost. Most have only been worn once, just like you will only wear your wedding gown once. These gowns will need to be professionally cleaned and altered but will be good as new at a fraction of the cost. After the wedding, you can resell the dress and hopefully get most of your money back.

6. Buy from a sample sale. These dresses are the ones brides try on at bridal salons. When the gowns from the new season arrive, they put the old samples up for sale at a discounted price. Because of the high traffic, they will require professional cleaning and alterations.
   
7. Search for sales and promotions at bridal salons and department stores. Put yourself on mailing lists or sign up for newsletters at your local bridal stores to be notified of upcoming sales.
8. Go to a bridal outlet store. You’ll be surprised at the selection.
9. Purchase a new or used gown on eBay. See my post on how to find the best prices on eBay.
10. Make sure to order as close to your size as possible to avoid unnecessary alterations. If you’re on the shorter side (like me), ask if the dress comes in petite. You can avoid extra hemming costs.