bride to be

Ways to save on your wedding

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We are still in the heart of engagement season (that's right, Valentine's Day is coming up). Which means many new couples will begin their wedding planning early this year. With wedding costs on the rise (the average wedding is now between $20-30k depending on the area) it is good to know some ways to cut costs in general. Here are a few tips we think are noteworthy: 1. Cut down. Have 100 guests instead of 150. Have a buffet instead of a 5 course meal. Have 3 bridesmaids instead of 7.

2. Loosen up. The less formal the affair, the more affordable. Instead of a sit down hotel dinner, go for a casual brunch or appetizer only event.

3. Pick and choose. Go for a designer dress but skip the expensive shoes and accessories, serve cake but skip the candy/dessert bar. Have an amazing photographer but settle on having cousin Doug in film school videotaping the event.

4. Hire a wedding planner! Wedding planners are professionals and know even more ways to save and cut costs, they even get discounts with many of the wedding vendors who would normally charge you full price. (Hey, I think I know a planner...)

Stay tuned for more tips on getting started with planning your wedding!

Meet Annie our Bride-to-Be

Meet Annie our bride, getting married this July 5th at the beautiful Rock Creek Gardens. I asked Annie a few questions about her and her fiance Joe.  Read on to find out about the story of a young beauty and a military man who instantly clicked on their first date and plan to spend their life together! Also, read about the great wedding planning tip she has for other brides!396198_10100335633923980_1141788811_n 598786_481474698549851_1283784331_n How did you and Joe meet?

 Joe and I met on Match.com August 2010 and September 17,2010 was our first date. We met at the Panera Bread in Federal Way. The date lasted 5 hours. It wasn't a typical date, we went to an arcade after eating and challenged each other to table hockey, skee ball, basketball toss, and a few others. In the end, he did win more games than me but that's ok. It was a lot of fun. We had all these tickets from our games so we traded them in for plastic colored vampire teeth and walked around The Commons with them in our mouths. Then we went to Borders books and hung out in the kid's section because it had a cool couch to lay on. We both were laying on it and talking about memories as a child. Then....we caught eyes and leaned closer to each for our first kiss. By the second date we both knew we had found something special and by January of the next year we exchanged 'I love you's', in March we got a dog together and by May I had moved in. Before we knew it we were a family before our one  year anniversary came around.

How did he propose? 

I was hoping for a proposal by one year but it didn't happen, that's ok maybe for my birthday. How awesome would that have been. Nope didn't happen for my birthday. So at that point I knew it wasn't going to happen before our two year anniversary. Little did I know he was planning the proposal since May of 2012. But it didn't happen until August 26, 2012. It was a nice Sunday and we wanted to spend it with our two dogs. We went to the dog park then down to Ruston Way in Tacoma. On our walk on Ruston Way we stopped at a sundial and I spotted one of our friends running by and I thought it was strange she was running in jeans with a camera in hand. I called her over and while I was trying to figure out why she was there, Joe turned me around and he was down on one knee. It was a flash of excitement and then I heard "Will you marry me?" I tried to compose myself and when I did I said YES!.
What is the inspiration and theme for your wedding date?
We already knew that July 5th was our date before he even proposed because many our guest were going to be out of towners, so it made sense to us to make it for that weekend because the military gets a 4 day weekend. Joe is a Captain in the Army and many of his friends are also in the Army so they get that long weekend off as well.
The theme of our wedding is vintage romance and pictures through the ages. I love seeing pictures of me as a child and I knew it had to be a part of the wedding. I have been gather pictures of both Joe and I's family to incorporate in a few aspects of the wedding. It really started forming as a theme when I was exploring Pinterest. What a great site to get ideas from and I just took it from there. I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.
What is one wedding planning tip you have for other brides?
The one tip I have for brides and future brides is get yourself a wedding planner or day of coordinator. I am absolutely thankful for the knowledge and expert industry opinion I have my amazing planners Christina and Ashley. When I needed Christina to go to bat for me on an issue I was having she jumped on it and fixed it in a snap. Get a planner!

 

 

Thanks for sharing Annie,  we can't wait until your wedding!