BUDGET TIPS & TRICKS #1

I have decided that it is far overdue for me to share some budget tips/tricks from a wedding planner perspective. Ok are you guys ready?? Here it goes... As you know used to be a wedding planner and now I do event design and linens . Check out my website http://www.acoveredevent.com/




TIP#1


When choosing you tablescape for your reception- use the linens available at your reception venue if you want to add a pop of color to your table use colored napkins or a table runner!





If your venue does not supply linens and you really want chair covers order them. When you have chair covers you can get table linens that fall half-way and the chair covers will hide beneath the table. No one will never know! Most places uses round tables which is called a 60 inch round, the tablecloth that goes to the floor is called 120" rd so halfway would be a 90" rd. The rental price difference ranges from about $ 5-25 depending on the type of fabric/material you choose. Hey that's a lot of money saved for a bride on a BUDGET!

Here is an example of a 90" round can you tell that the tablecloths do go all the way to the floor?

Thursday Thoughts #6

happy thursday! well this week was the first full week of school and it has been rather difficult and i will be STUDYING all weekend! YAY for me right...WRONG!! i haven't been the greatest FI lately. busy..busy..mee so it got me to thinking about time management in relationships and i wandered to the world wide web and found that time management is one of the seven secrets to a "successful marriage" and really i must agree with this assessment.

"Time management is one aspect of marriage that many are unprepared for. When you’re dating, you have your personal time and your couple time. Marry, move in together, and everything changes. Now, any hour not spent at work or another previously scheduled appointment enters the realm of “together time.” You can’t go home when you get tired of your date. You live with him!"

So now what? How do we deal with all of life's responsiblites and priorites? I have all the questions and no answers ..... those are my thursday thoughts....

FOLLOWERS/ READERS

To all of you who follow/read this blog I want to say I really appreciate your comments and suggestions!!!

I don't always reply to your messages and comments but I really appreciate everyone's insight!!!

Photo Session: E.Pics

So it's about that time for us to do our engagement pics and I scheduled our first photo session with this photog that I saw on Craigslist. He is offering free photo session for engagement pics (Epics) so of course I booked him for us but in the interim I booked him for my mom's 50th bday party to see his work. He was offering 2hr birthday party session for $70 including a printable CD. I have this specific location in mind for the session and I want to use the pics from that location for our STDs so I am not sure if I should book our free session for that specific location or just book the photog that we hired for the wedding b/c I know she will do a great job and the pics will come out perfect and we can use the pics for the STDs and use the free photo session for another shot. I thinking I will gage his work after he does my moms party and make a decision from there.

We have discussed this and came up with the perfect STDs and Epics to reflect us and it goes with our theme. I am super excited. Today I noticed my countdown clock and we are only 13 months out and that scares me. So much do with so little time... and I have been doing horrible with my weight loss. I have to stop making excuses. We are a little short of 2 months before we take the Epics so my new goal is to loss 15 pounds by then we are taking them on our 3 year anniversary weekend in October so wish me luck!

These are from a photog that I really like her name is Corey Cagle.

These are from our awesome photog Patty Hallman!

I have to start planning FI's 30th B-day party that's coming up very soon! I want to have something at our new home that way it will be more cost-effective but we may have to rent a facility. It was going to be a Harlem Nights themed event. We have to see how things are looking and go from there.

WE GOT APPROVED! &Thursday Thoughts #5 (on a FRI)

Well since this week has been super busy and I forgot to blog yesterday due to my hectic schedule. I decided not to skip it and wait until next week. So here we are. As you know FI and I are trying to move in together this month. Well the goal was to move in and be settled before school started well that didn't happen. We were planning on buying a house this summer and then taking the summer months to get things ready. Viola be moved in and ready to roll.... NOT

WELL from my recent posts you know that's not how it happened. So this week we found out they we were APPROVED for our loan (YAY:) and we have put a bid on a house that we liked.. We don't love the neighborhood but we like the the house and it's location a lot (big decision right? I know.) I know this my sound silly but our method is if we like it we pray on it put a bid on it and see what happens. If it doesn't work out it wasn't meant to be. Now we are waiting for hear back from our broker/agent. Buying a house and planning a wedding is EXPENSIVE to say the least and WE ARE STUDENTS this sounded like a good idea in theory but boy are we feeling it financially. We were going to wait and just rent but we decided to go ahead with our plans to buy this year and get married next year! Anyway with all that going on it really made me think about how we work as a team....

Thursday Thoughts

Marriage and teamwork are quite similar in many ways. Both take individuals who have different abilities and outlooks on life and put them to working together. In each case, the individuals must learn to sacrifice part of themselves in order to achieve something greater. Otherwise the team will not survive. Married couples are partners and must learn to work together to accomplish goals.

From the past couple of days I honestly feel that FI and I work well as a team we both have our strengths and luckly my strengths are his weaknesses and vice versa. I feel really blessed to have that!!!

S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D!!!!!

I AM SO STRESSED RIGHT NOW! WE HAVEN'T MOVED YET!!! SCHOOL STARTS ON THURSDAY FOR ME. MY FI STARTED TODAY AND WE STILL ARE NOT SURE WHERE WE ARE GOING TO MOVE!!

And to top it of my program is going to be very intense this semester and they meaning school administration just changed my class schedule without notice which in turn conflicts with my work schedule which makes me broke and UPSET!! Not to mention irritated!

And to put a cherry on top the expenses for school is very expensive and the other misc stuff is just the icing on the cake and I have an dentist appt on Weds and since I am grad student with limited insurance I have no clue how much getting this tooth fixed is going to cost me. I am broke!! I am the new broke ass bride! Shout out to thebrokeassbride.com!

Needless to say I haven't been doing alot of wedding planning. I am meeting a prospective planner tomorrow and my FI went to a bridal show yesterday all by himself! YES YOU READ IT RIGHT HE WENT ALONE TO SIGN US UP FOR THE FREE GIVEAWAYS!!! I was working @ another show.

Wishing everyone prosperity and love. I gotta headache I will be back God willing !!! Thanks for letting me vent!

Publix

If you can recall we went on a cake tasting with Baker #1 and it went very well. Well my mom didn't like the cake from Baker #1 and but she did however like the cake we had at our engagement party which came from Publix so I called them up for pricing and a tasting. On Monday I went and picked up the samples and I wasn't was impressed with their work . I use them all the time for parties and the cake is normally delectable but I didn't really enjoy it and the prices really did beat Baker #1 so needless to say we are still looking for a baker :{

I did enjoy the carrot cake but I wasn't a fan of the chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet!

We will continue our search I am considering calling the venue and see how much it will be to add a cake/ cupcake to our menu.....That's an option. My fav baker doesn't do cupcakes so ... back to the drawing board...

I'M BacK!!

Ok so I took a few days off from blogging but I have returned! What did I do wedding related? NOTHING! I did set-up a vendor partner program for my company and other business related tasks. I am now packing to move! We are moving in together but I don't know where yet. I know that sounds crazy but we are in between buying and renting so I am doing all the preliminary packing and the such. The one thing about all this is....I look forward to actually living with the man I LOVE! School starts in a few weeks and I am getting my mind ready. I will be starting clinicals this semester and I am EXCITED!!!... I did work out last week without the trainer! I almost forgot about my mother's 50th birthday next month so I have to plan something for that :0 I got something in place I just don't want her to read it. Sometimes she reads this!

While I was looking at other blogs I came across this idea that I find very interesting and I think we will incorporate in our wedding. It's called a "love letter box" the tradition goes like this:

The couple writes love letters to each other. In their letters, they detail why they fell in love with each other and what they really, truly admire about the other person. The letters get sealed up. The point of all this? If, at any point, the marriage is in serious jeopardy, the couple is to open the box, read the letters about why they fell in love with each other in the first place, and drink the wine together before making any irrational decisions. Things needed love letters, a wooden box, and a bottle of wine.

I really like this concept and think it a nice touch to add to our rehearsal dinner or before. Some couples use this instead of a unity candle or sand ceremony!

What do you think?

NoW WhAt?

I am CONFUSED! I don't really know which way to go! We are planning a wedding, trying to purchase a home or move in together, school is starting in a few weeks and I am OVERWHELMED! This is a lot!!!! i need a little break so I said that I would take a few days away from wedding planning including talking about the wedding, THE KNOT and this blog! I am going to start packing and get business affairs together. I have been eating like crazy it's what I do when I am stressed but I have been working out however, I know I am only burning off the extra calories that I have been eating. SOME PEOPLE DRINK, SOME PEOPLE SMOKE, I EAT :) BB (FI) is great! He is the calm one and I am the worrier so I think we balance each other out! We have some much going on and now I feel like I am at a stand still as far as the wedding is concerned.

I spoke with a DJ today, which as you know is a VERY VERY VERY important factor in this wedding. I liked his personality and energy but I just can't decide if we should give the "green" light or not! We plan to attend an event that he is doing next month from there we will be able to decide. I am waiting on a quote for his pricing. I have a ballpark and he is in our budget so we will see....

Videographer search is not going well at all but I have an idea so we see what happens with that. One of my friends attends SCAD and I going to see what who he knows .....

I am hosting a mixer for my girls and I wanted to do it before school started back but it doesn't looked like we will be moved and settled before that so I plan it for later. We have a tasting scheduled for Sunday so that should be fun. I really don't know what else I should be doing... I am having a moment...that's how I know I need a break!!!

I know that all will be well! I believe in the law of attraction so everything will work our fine! I got a good feeling by this end of this month we will be settled and LIVING TOGETHER ( which will take some getting used too but I LOVE THAT MAN and I CAN'T WAIT)!!!

I really feel better now! Well I am a business meeting in the morning and then off to the gym so GOODNITE and be blessed!

STUNNING!!

It is my duty as a bride to share with you these pics that I came across today on Project Wedding website. This wedding was absolutely amazing! Photo credit: Luna Photography

Enter the world of ALISON + DAVID

I GOT THEM!!!

Our pre-ceremony customized monograms are done and I LOVE THEM!!!! As you know from here I worked with Val from Custom Printables on these babies and she is a pleasure to work with. Without further ado:

I can't decide on which date I like!
What do you think ?

B-U-D-G-E-T ok i said it....

Tonite I spent some time looking over our budget and our 'wedding breakdown' and this wedding is costing us and our families big time.... I have been thinking of ways to cut some of the cost but really I am coming up short. Where we live it hard to find venues that are large enough to hold ceremony and reception w/out having an outdoor wedding. Though I think outdoor weddings are beautiful and very cost-effective. I am afraid of the weather not holding up. Remember my eParty post. So I ruled our outdor ceremony from the gate..

So I scowered our town to see we could host our wedding in one location well I found a handful of places and off went FI and I. He was sold on our venue on the 1st visit and yet I loved it. It was kind of pricey and honestly I never thought we cold afford it. Well things worked in our favor after we spoke with our parents so we booked the venue which is about half of our budget including catering and bar...

As I have posted many times I am cheap hey I will admit to it. I want a nice wedding but I don't want to spend 20K having it. Sorry to each his own but we can not afford that. We are both college students and are not set in our careers so I am watching our pennies :)

Back to the budget....as a bride the 3 most important things for me are:

1. Photography



2. DJ



3. Venue/videography

The least important are:

1. Invites/programs



2. Flowers



3. Food/catering

Don't get me wrong I want cute invites but at the right price! People just throw them away anyway and the same for programs! I will have hints of flowers and that's all. I could DIY the flowers but I don't want to deal with finding someone responsible for it and thankfully I know a florist who can work with my budget. As far as the food is concerned, I want a family style sit down dinner and I want guests to be served not stuffed. If they like it great, if they don't that's ok too. I am really you can't please everyone! The food is FREE! I know this sounds mean but REALLY we have to live after this wedding! I truly want our guests to have a good time and ENJOY our celebration but I do not want to be one of those brides who go overboard! Maybe we should wait until 2011. My FI shut that idea down. Quick! So 2010 here we go! Please take your time getting here I need all the time I can get!!!

I know that we will be OK but gosh this stuff is intimidating sometimes!!!