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The Benefits of Using Silk Flowers at Weddings

Silk flowers can be an inexpensive alternative to having fresh flowers at your wedding. You could either opt to use silk flowers for all your floral needs, or use a combination of fresh flowers and silk. For example, your bridal bouquet could be made up of fresh flowers and your bridesmaids bouquets could be made up of silk flowers. Another approach, would be for the all the bouquets to be made up of a mixture of silk and real flowers, using the silk flowers as the ‘filler’ flowers.

Some Benefits of Using Silk Flowers

1. The main benefit of using silk flowers is that it is a cheaper alternative to fresh flowers. If flower arrangements feature heavily in your wedding (table décor, room décor, bouquets) fresh flowers can end up being very costly.

2. Using silk flowers, you have a greater variety of flowers available to you. Certain flowers are only in season at certain times of the year. If you are after a certain flower, one that has special meaning to you, you will find that it will be available to you all year round as a silk flower.

3. The silk flowers that you use at your wedding can be transferred into your home, so that you have a reminder of your wedding day.

4. Silk flowers are great for brides who suffer from hay fever.

5. You can pick-up the silk flowers as early as you want, alleviating the pressure from the ‘wedding week.’
They key in using silk flowers as an alternative to fresh flowers is to buy from a quality supplier. Good quality silk flowers can really look like the real thing. You could even add some floral essence to the petals of the flowers to give it a more genuine effect.

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Disposable Wedding Cameras

Disposable cameras at weddings are a popular choice amongst couples who can only afford a limited amount of funds for their photography needs.

Whilst it can be an inexpensive choice, if proper precautions are not put into place, it can become a potential disaster.

Following are some tips to consider.

1. Avoid buying ‘cheap’ disposable cameras from unknown brands. You may end up saving a significant amount, but it is too big a gamble on your wedding memories. I have heard horror stories about a bride who bought around 50 disposable cameras from an unknown brand, only to discover that none of them worked properly. They all jammed after the first shot. Fortunately, the bride realised this prior to the wedding and was able to quickly order replacements from a leading brand. However, she was unable to get a refund for the first set of cameras.

2. You don’t need to buy one disposable camera per guest, as this could end up being quite costly if you have a large guest list. You really only need one or two cameras per table.

3. If you are worried about getting ‘drunken’ wedding photos, predetermine which members of your guest list will be given disposable cameras and ask one of your bridesmaids to distribute the cameras at the reception.

It’s a good idea to still have a wedding photographer to take the important wedding photographs. That way you will ensure that you still get the photographs that you want, whilst getting extra coverage from your disposable cameras. You may choose to only hire a photographer for the official photographs after the ceremony. You could opt for a professional wedding photographer, or ask one of the talented members of your guest list to take the photographs. Alternatively, photography students would be willing to do the job, either for a low fee or in exchange of photos for their folios.

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Save Money by Hiring Your Wedding Gown

One option to get a wedding dress for significantly cheaper is to hire your gown rather than buying one. The first thing you need to do, is to truthly consider whether this is the right option for you. If you have any strong notions of preserving your wedding gown for an heirloom, then obviously hiring a gown is not for you.

Another major consideration when hiring a gown is allowing yourself enough time to source and book a dress in advance. Obviously there are far less gowns available for rent than for sale, so you need to ensure that you have adequate time to find your ‘dream’ gown and more importantly that it is available on your wedding day

Many rental places can also provide you with packages that include all your wedding gown accessories, such as shoes, veils and jewellery. If you are renting the gown anyway, it is ideal to hire out the entire ensemble and the store would have matching accessories on hire.

As with any aspect of your wedding planning, ensure that you have thoroughly read the contract (and fine print) before signing. Make sure that you are familiar with the renting terms, such as when the dress will be available to you and any associated fees. Find out whether the gown cleaning fee is included in the price of the gown or whether you are expected to pay an additional fee for this. Make sure that you get a copy of the signed contract. If you and the rental outlet make any verbal amendments to the renting terms such as picking up the gown a day earlier than the usually store policy, make sure that this amendments is added to the contract. This is extremely important, as from the time that you make the verbal agreement, to the date of the gown pick-up, months could have passed and words can easily be forgotten and staff and management could have changed.

There are some cases when hiring a gown is not always the most financially beneficial option. You need to do all the sums. If you are comfortable wearing a used gown, you may even find that buying a second-hand dress could end up being value for money, as the gown would have had less usage out of it than a rental one and consequently would be in better shape.

At the end of the day, what’s important to remember, is that as a bride, there are plenty of choices available to you. Whether you decide to buy or hire your gown is a purely personal choice that only you can make.

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Cut the Cost of Your Wedding Photography

To trim the cost of your wedding photography, unless the album is free, don’t get one from the official photographer. Chances are you will get an album for a wedding gift anyway from one of your guests and if you don’t you can find one cheaply from a department store. If the package comes with an album, ask the photographer if they can reduce the fee by eliminating the album from the package

Planning the reception

Display a family tree photo montage

How many times have you been to a wedding and wondered who was the bride and groom’s family members were? Sure it’s easy to pick out the parents of the bride and groom, but for other important family members it can get a little confusing.  Wedding guests like to piece together the family members at a wedding, so it can be an interesting idea to... [Read more of this review]

Guest Tracker Record Sheet

With our free wedding guest tracker sheet you can keep all important details about your guests in the one spot. Sheet includes things like a guest’s special meal requirement, RSVP status, contact details, seating arrangement and more  Read More →

Naming the Wedding Tables

Naming wedding tables, rather than just designating numbers to each table is always popular at wedding receptions, and with a little thought, can be a great way to reflect the personalities of the wedding couple. Another bonus in naming tables rather than designating numbers is that your guests won’t wonder why they have been designated to sit on... [Read more of this review]

Have someone keep an eye on the time

If you and your partner need to leave the reception by a certain time to check into a hotel or resort, ask someone in your bridal party to keep tabs on the time for you, so that you don’t have to worry about it and can just enjoy your day. This is especially important if the hotel does not have a 24 hour check in. If the limo driver is your transportation,... [Read more of this review]

Reception after party

Some couples like to have a post-reception after party. It’s really just a wind-down of the events of the day and does not have to include the entire guest list that were at your ceremony and reception. Close family and friends is usually all that is required. You could either hold it at a nearby bar or even back at your own home. Whilst some... [Read more of this review]

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