Pink and Green Garden Wedding

Project Wedding is featuring a gorgeous pink and green garden wedding today. Go here to check it out.

New Layout

I decide I was in need of a change, so I added a new layout to the blog. I felt the need to incorporate the new wedding colors, so here it is!

You'll notice that up at the top there are some quick links so that you can find things more easily.

I'll be adding new things to the blog throughout the weekend so I'm sorry if you receive any error messages.

Let me know what you think of it!

Contact Me

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at:
navybaby1113 (at) gmail (dot) com

You can also find me on twitter at:
www.twitter.com/brideonbudget

Thrifty Thursday

Discounts

Creative Custom Cardboxes -- 10% off when you put "referred by Bride on a Budget" in the Paypal notes section.

Wedding Paper Divas -- $15 off an order of $99+ Code: JULYSALE

Fredericks of Hollywood -- $10 off an order of $75+ Code: 9WSTRST

The Knot -- 10% off Code: SAVECASH

Magnet Street -- 10% off and free shipping Code: WSMNB129


Giveaways

Wedding Channel is giving $1000 to one bride every month.

Henckles Flatware Purchased!

We received our first wedding fit in the mail yesterday. My dad and step-mom bought our flatware set off of our registry, just cause. I'm so excited because this is something we really, really needed. We're currently using some cheap silverware from Walmart that they sell to students moving into the dormm. Some of our pieces have actually detached from the handle. I'm sad we have to wait for 8 months to use our new silverware though.


Isn't it so pretty?!? And we also get a completion present so I'm sending the form off soon to receive a 6 piece steak knife set.

Block Hotel Rooms

I finally got hotel rooms blocked for my guests at two different hotels. One is a higher price ($89/night) and one is a lower price ($67/night), but they are both fabulous. I used a great website to help me negotiate with the hotels.

It's called Hotel-Guides and you enter in the information about your group and the maximum price you are willing to go to. Then you wait for hotels to put in bids. After they bid, you can contact the hotels and set up a meeting or ask more questions. You can also tell them if they lower their bid to $x amount, then you'll use their hotel. Great way to negotiate if you're not good at haggling in person or on the phone.

The hotel that I got for $67/night was originally $109/night for that weekend. They gave me a great deal!

If you haven't blocked hotel rooms for your guests yet, I definitely recommend you check out Hotel-Guides to help save them some money.

Myra Jean's Cakes Visit

Today we met with Myra Jean's Cakes in Crawfordville, FL (which is located about 30 minutes south of Tallahassee).


Tasting Experience
We got there early and she was working with another bride so we waited around the shop and looked at pictures of cakes until our appointment time. She had prepared a plate of different flavors of cakes for us to try and then let us be while we tried them. After we were done tasting, she came back and discussed what flavors we liked best and the style of cake we were interested. Then, she gave us a quote and we were done. Very quick meeting, but very informative.

The Cake
She gave us 6 basic flavors to try (yellow, almond, lemon, chocolate, strawberry, and marble) and then 3 premium flavors to try (hummingbird, carrot, and red velvet). We also had raspberry filling to try with the different cakes. The hummingbird was by far my favorite. It's the same consistency as carrot cake, but instead of carrots, it's made with bananas and pineapple. Most of the other flavors were good too, but not to rave about. We were thinking about getting a chocolate groom's cake, but the chocolate cake was way too dense and we didn't like it. The only pieces that had anything left on the plate when we were done was the chocolate, red velvet, and marble.

Customer Service
Myra Jean was very nice and knew what she was talking about. She's owned her bakery for about 24 years now. She was definitely understanding of what I wanted and was in it to nickle and dime us. She offered to pipe a monogram on for free and also doesn't charge extra for have different flavors for each layer.

Price Quote
A 3 tiered cake that serves 80 people. Bottom layer is going to be almond, middle layer lemon with raspberry filling, and top layer hummingbird. All with buttercream icing. Square cake with ribbon at the bottom of each layer with piped pearls on the cake and a piped monogram on the middle tier.

80 servings with basic flavors = $240
Raspberry filling = $9.60
Premium cake flavor (Hummingbird) = $8.00
Delivery to Willow Pond = $60

Total = $317.60

Other Bakeries Visited
Visit #1: The Cake Shop

Bridesmaid Dress Shopping

One of my bridesmaids and I went to David's Bridal to try on some bridesmaid dresses. Here's our favorites from the day.


I haven't decided if it's going to be too hot in March for floor-length dresses or not. I love this dress though.


If we did this one, it would definitely be without the peek-a-boo skirt at the bottom. It just made the dress way too long. There are also multiple color combinations with this dress, which I love.

We were trying to avoid strapless, but I think this looks great. This one comes in both pink and green and I'm not sure which one I like better.

We didn't make any final decisions on colors today. It looks like it's all going to depend on what dress I eventually pick.

Creative Custom Cardboxes

I'm personally DIYing my card box, but for those who aren't so crafty, I thought you might be interested in this offer.

Creative Custom Cardboxes graciously offered all my readers 10% off of their order. All you have to do is put that you were referred by Bride on a Budget in the notes section of PayPal and she'll refund you 10%.

Here's a few of her cardboxes that I love:

Exciting News

I've had a couple exciting things happen to me in the past couple of days.

The first is that theknot.com started a Budget Weddings board and I'm the new moderator for it. So pop on over and check out the new board.

The second is that I got accepted to Tweet my Wedding. I'm going to be tweeting about my wedding planning and then every Friday I will posting on their blog. So if you're interested, follow me on twitter and also check out the blog on Fridays for my post. There are also 4 other brides that post on the other days of the week.

Color Palette

Someone left a comment asking about the color palette that I'm using for the wedding. I got the inspiration from a knottie who used the colors for her wedding. I fell in love with the colors.


If you were asking about the inspiration board, I found it at the Perfect Palette, which is a great blog if you're looking for ideas or colors.

The Cake Shop Visit

This week I have been very busy making appointments with different bakeries because we're finally ready to decide on our wedding cake!

I met with The Cake Shop the other day and was very excited. I had heard many good things about them and couldn't wait to try their cake.

Tasting Experience
They don't actually do a tasting until after you sign with them and put down a deposit so I didn't get to try too much of their cake. They sat me down with a few books to look at different designs and gave me a small cupcake. It was a yellow cake with buttercream frosting, which is their specialty. They were very busy while I was there. There was at least 5 people that came in to order birthday cakes and about 5 more people who came in just to buy cupcakes and other pastries. It was kind of hard for me to get the attention that I would have liked with them being so busy. Finally, one of the staffers took a picture of the cake I was interested, took my information, and told me she'd call me in a couple days with the price of the cake. She called me the very next day with the quote. I ended up taking two different cupcakes home so that we could try some more flavors. I brought home an Italian Creme and a Coconut Creme. They were also delicious.

The Cake
The yellow cake with buttercream I tasted was fantastic. The Italian Creme cupcake I brought home was really good, but it has nuts in the actual cake. The Coconut Creme was very good, especially when we realized there was coconut filling in the center.

Costumer Service
I contacted them through email and they were always quick to respond. While I was in the store though, the customer service was good, but not fantastic. I'm thinking that's because they were so busy. There was only two girls up front and one was usually on the phone and the other was taking orders for customers.

Price Quote
Not sure of the flavors yet. We decide that at a consultation with the baker later on.
A 3 tier round buttercream cake with ribbon at the bottom of each tier with some "pearls" decorated on the cake.

$3.25/slice
$90 delivery to Willow Pond

Total = $333.75

Wedding Channel's Sweepstakes

If you haven't already registered for your wedding, then this sweepstakes if for you. If you create your registry through Wedding Channel (they have stores like Macys and Crate and Barrel) you can be entered into this sweepstakes. Every time someone buys a gift off your registry, you're entered into a drawing to win $5000 towards a down payment on a house! And the more gifts you receive, the more entries you receive. The sweepstakes is going on until September 15th, so if you haven't already, go start your registry at Wedding Channel.

Budget Blog Winner

Thank you all for voting for me in the Wedding Channel's Budget Blog contest. It was a close run between me and Jessica at the Budget Savvy Bride who's blog I adore. She was ahead most of the night and we came in at last minute. She was the editor's pick for the winner of our category though.


I personally am not a fan of contests where you can vote multiple times a day because you don't actually get the best blog. I think in the end, if it would have been one vote per day, Jessica probably would have kicked my butt. But I have a bunch of diligent blog readers who willing to sit at their computer and click refresh and I really appreciate that. It makes me proud of my blog.

This contest has gotten me a lot of new followers which I greatly appreciate. So welcome to anyone who just started reading my blog!

So thank you everyone for voting and getting my blog name out there.

Free Get Married Magazine

You can sign up here for a free issue of the brand-new magazine debuting in October called Get Married.

Thanks Money Saving Mom.

Today's the Last Day to Vote

Today's the last day to vote in the budget bride category of the Wedding Channel's blog awards. I've been tied with the Budget Savvy Bride the majority of this time, but I fell behind over the night. Help get me back in the lead! Voting last until midnight tonight and you can vote as often as you would like. Thank you so much everyone!

Cheap VS Bikinis TODAY ONLY!

I just found out about this great deal from Mr. Jones and Me. Today only you can get a Victoria's Secret bikini for only $20! Each piece is only $10. Use the code 10BEACH.

And Our New Colors are...

*Drum roll*

Pink and Green!


I asked my fiance his opinion last night and even though he didn't have one before, he decided to express his opinion last night. He said he liked the pink and green better, so that was the final decision.

We're going to be going with more of a rose pink and sage green color combination with some champagne thrown in. I'm so excited and can't wait to actually start buying decorations.

Final Change of the Colors

Okay...I'm sure you're sick of hearing this, but I'm doing one last change of the colors. I think I'm going to go with a pink, green, and champagne color scheme instead of the blue, pink, and champagne. Not 100% sure yet though. I'm just worried the blue and pink is going to come off as too baby showerish. Plus, I've loved pink and green from the beginning. Here's some inspiration boards for you to peruse. Which one do you like better?

Here's our venue for reference:


There's pink flowers that bloom all around this area in the spring time.



Blue and pinkInspiration board from Bridal Buds.


Pink and green (my colors would probably be like the first inspiration board with a rose pink and sage green)

Cakes I Love

I'm currently in the process of contacting bakers. I expect this to be the most fun vendor!

Here are some cakes I love:





I really want a white cake with ribbon at the bottom of the tiers, with a monogram on it and maybe some kind of piped pearls. I'm also thinking I want a square cake.

Which Veil?

As I mentioned before, I'm debating on whether I'm going to wear a elbow length veil or a cathedral length one. I got my cathedral length veil in the other day and now I'm thinking it might be too long. Maybe a chapel length veil would look better.


And here's my dress with an elbow length veil for reference. The elbow length veil I have though is a two tier.


Which do you like better?

Bubble Send-off

We originally wanted to do a sparkler send-off, but our venue doesn't allow fireworks, so we decided to use bubbles. I think it will still look pretty cool in pictures and it's cheap.



I decorated the majority of my bubbles over the weekend. I bought 50 bubbles from a knottie for $1 and then I bought the curling ribbon from the Dollar Tree for $1. I need to buy a couple more boxes of bubbles, but they have them at the Dollar Tree which is 9 in a box for a $1. So all in all, even if I buy 3 more boxes, this entire project was only $5.



Sorry for the crappy pictures, I took them with my blackberry. All I did was take the curling ribbon and tie it in a bow around the bubbles. Simple, but cute.

50 bubbles -- $1 (bought from a knottie)
Curling ribbon -- $1
26 extra bubbles -- $3

Total: $5

Wedding Channel Budget Bridal Blog Finalist!

I'm a Wedding Channel Budget Bridal Blog Finalist! I'm up against 2 other ladies in this category and then if I win, I go on to be a grand finalist and go up against blogs in other categories. You can vote as many times as you want, so head on over there and vote for your favorite blog!

Hey Lady Shoes Are Here!

My shoes that I won in the giveaway are here! They're a tad bit small, but I think I'll be able to stretch them out by wearing them around the house with some socks. Hopefully it will work or I'm going to be sad.

Look at the gorgeous packaging they were sent in!


And now for my lovelies!
Ignore the mess. That's our spare bedroom and it's kind of taken over with stuff to donate and wedding items. And of course I put the shoe on the one place where the dog chewed on the bed frame. Oops!

Catering Contract Points

Here's things that you need to make sure are in your contract before you sign it.

- Names and contact information for you and the caterer
- Date, starting time, and length of the reception
- Location of reception, including exact address and name of room
- Date the caterer needs a final head count
- Approximate number of guests
- Staff details: waiter to guest ration, number of bartenders
- Type of service
- If buffet, will you be charged by guest or by plate count?
- Acceptable food substitutions
- Liquor: what kind and how much?
- Rentals: what's included
- Name and contact information of wedding day person
- Proof of license and liability insurance
- Cost per person (usually 3 levels: adult, child, and vendor)
- Extra fees
- Total estimated cost of service
- Deposit amount
- Balance amount, due date, and preferred method of payment
- Cancellation and refund policy

Questions to Ask A Caterer

The caterer is going to make or break your wedding. If the food sucks, that's what the guests are going to remember. So make sure to ask these questions so you know you're going to get the most bang for your buck.

Food
How far in advance is the food prepared?
Do you have a printed price list for food selections?
What is your specialty?
Considering the time, budget, and formality of the wedding, what would be your recommendations for food?
Could we include a family recipe in the menu?
Will you provide special meals for children and what will be the rate?
Are vendor meals cheaper than guest meals?
Do you charge a cake cutting fee if we use our own baker?

Bar
Do you have liability insurance/license to service alcohol?
Do you have a set wine list? How is this list priced? Can we have a wine tasting?
Can we provide our own alcohol?
Is there a corkage fee if we provide our own alcohol? How and when should we get the alcohol to you?

Service
What is the ratio of servers to guests?
Do you work with the same servers regularly?
What's the servers attire?
Do you handle the setting of all tables? Will you put out all my place cards and favors?

Legal Aspects
How many years have you been in business?
What percentage of your business is dedicated to weddings?
Who is our main contact? Will this same person oversee the meal service on the day of the wedding?
What items do you provide? Tables, linens, flatware, dishes, etc?
How much gratuity is expected?
Does the per person charge cover just the food? Or does it include service, rentals, linens, etc?
When is the final headcount needed?
How much time will you need for set-up and for clean-up?
Do you clean up after the reception? Do you charge an extra fee for that?
What is your payment/cancellation policy?
Do you accept credit cards?


Always ask for referrals and call them ask them some questions. Here are some questions to ask referrals:

Number of questions, venue, menu, etc.
How satisfied were you with the meal?
Was it good, hot and well presented?
Were guests served and tables cleaned efficiently?
Were there any surprises on the final menu or bill?
Was the food prepared and served on time?
Was the caterer pleasant to work with? Did he respond to your calls/emails quickly?

Coming late: Catering Contract Points

Choosing Between 2 Hotels

I'm debating between two hotels and I need some bridal opinions. My fiance has given me his opinion, but I need some more. I have one hotel blocked already for $89 a night. Now I'm trying to decide on a cheaper hotel for those who can't afford that one.

Option 1:
- $67 a night
- Refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker in all rooms
- Wireless internet
- Complimentary full breakfast (including waffles, bacon, eggs, etc.)
- Gorgeous outside heated pool and patio area
- Inside jacuzzi
- Honeymoon suite (this isn't a deciding factor though because we live in town)
- Very nice staff and sales representative
- Right at the interstate exit
- Complimentary airport shuttle during weekdays

Option 2:
- $72 a night
- Refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker in all rooms
- 1 suite upgrade per every 10 rooms booked (we would give these rooms to either our bridal party or our parents)
- Complimentary full breakfast (including waffles, eggs, biscuits, etc.)
- Wireless internet
- Outside pool
- Fridge and microwave in every room
- Complimentary meeting room (we would most likely use this for a day after brunch)
- Sales representative gossiped a lot and a lot of the staff didn't speak good English.
- Right at the interstate exit (a different exit than the other one)
- Closer to our venue
- Closer to our house
- Construction is going on on the road between the hotel and the city.

So our choice is either the cheaper, nicer hotel or the one with the free meeting room. They're both nice hotels. I think I'm leaning towards option 1, but I just wanted to get some more opinions.

Which option would you choose?

• Option 1
• Option 2

View Results
Create a Blog Poll

Zazzle Custom Stamps Sale

I'm not doing custom stamps for our invitations, but I know some ladies are, so I thought I'd pass this along.

Zazzle.com is having a 25% off sale. It's valid for any order of 5 or more sheets.

Use code: WEDDINGPOST9

The sale expires on July 17th.

How to Save Money on Catering

A caterer is usually the most expensive part of a wedding budget. Here's some ways to help save some money:

- Make your own appetizers. If you have a Sams or Costco membership, you can buy boxes of appetizers for a fraction of the cost your caterer would charge you. Then you just have to heat them up and place them on trays.

- Skip the salad course and the soup course. Between appetizers at your cocktail hour and your main course, your guests won't miss it.

- Make sure your seafood is in season. If it's not, it's going to cost you an arm and a leg.

- Arrange for a different meal for your vendors. They do not have to eat the same thing as your guests. Caterers will usually give you vendor meals at a discounted price.

- Try to get your cake cutting fee waived. Also, try to waive the corkage fee.

- Ask a friend to keep an eye on uncorking. You pay for every bottle of wine opened, even if it's not touched.

- Remove the bar stools from the bar. That will keep people from sitting and getting drink after drink.

- Remove bar snacks from the bar. The salt makes guests want to drink more.

- Close your bar about an hour before the reception ends. This way, you also don't have to worry about your friends and family driving drunk.

- Ask if they'll serve coffee at the end of the night for free. Caterers are normally willing to throw in some freebies if you use them.

Guest Book

When I bought my dress from David's Bridal, they gave me a couple book which included a couple for a free photobook at Shutterfly. I decided that I'm going to do a coffee table book for my guest book.

The software isn't as customizable as some of the others out there, but for free, I really can't complain. I'm still trying to decide on the background, but I think I'm satisfied with what I have so far. I also wish they had more layouts for the writing and pictures.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Rain Drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

A Girl in Pearls tagged me to list six of my favorite things.

These are the rules: Tag and link back to the person who tagged you. List six little things that make you happy. Tag six bloggers and let them know they're “it".

1. My puppy



2. Starbucks

3. Tanning

4. Having margaritas with my girlfriends

5. Spending time at the beach

6. Cruising
6 bloggers:

1. After the Yes and Before the I Do

2. Budget Savvy Bride

3. Emmaline Bride

4. Feathers and Pearls

5. Future Mrs. Chicken Nugget

6. Momfrontations