Am I Invited to Your Wedding?

Am I invited to your wedding? Rude, isn’t it? Yet there are people who may very well ask you this question, so it is a good idea to have a response handy. If you are 100% sure that this person is invited, there is no harm in saying yes. However, if there is a chance that they won’t make the guest list, it is best to say something along the lines of that you would love to have them at your wedding, however you and your partner are first working with your parents to get the final number of all the obligatory relatives that you must invite, and once this is done your budget and venue will determine how many friends you can invite.

This is especially useful to say if you are having a particularly long engagement as 2 years down the track your feelings towards who should be invited to your wedding may change, so you don’t want to confirm anyone, unless they are good friends, early on in the planning process. This will avoid any awkward moments later on.

Book Your Wedding Reception in Your Hotel

Some couples are now choosing to hold their wedding reception in the hotel in which they will be spending their wedding night.   The benefits of this being, is that the couple will be checked into their honey moon suite early on in the day, and do not need to worry about missing the check in deadline after the reception.

Ideally, you should be able to negotiate a package deal which will include the reception venue and honeymoon suite.  Ensure that you get all early negotiations in writing, to avoid problems later on.

7 Tips For Choosing a Wedding Reception Venue on a Budget

Saving money on wedding reception venues can be achieved with a little planning.

Are you looking for tips to reduce the cost of your reception venue? For many engaged couples planning a wedding, choosing the reception venue will be one of the biggest decisions that they will need to make, as for most couples the  wedding reception venue is also responsible for the biggest portion of their wedding budget.

If you are looking to hire a wedding venue on a budget, take a look at these  great budget conscious wedding  tips that may end up saving you money in your wedding planning budget.

1. Host an off-season wedding. Hotels and banquet halls generally charge higher rates during peak tourist season, as they know that their premise will be in more demand.

2. Getting married on any other night other than a Saturday night will generally ensure a cheaper rate.

3. Don’t mention the word ‘wedding’ when calling for initial quotes as this usually guarantees a mark-up, just casually ask for a quote on a party or an event.

4. Non-traditional locations are becoming more and more the norm. Leave no stone unturned in your search for a cost-efficient perfect venue. Many wineries organize tours of their vineyards and facilities. Always try to liaise with the manager of the venue as they can offer the best deals. Don’t be afraid to haggle.

5. To save additional costs provide your own table decor and centerpieces.

6. Get an itemized quote for the reception venue to ensure you know if there are any fees if the reception runs later than agreed. This may also help you to trim some areas of the reception that are an unnecessary cost.

7. Some venues offer cheaper rates if you book their reception hall just for the day. This would mean a morning, or early afternoon ceremony with your wedding reception to finish late afternoon/early evening.

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Questions to Ask a Marriage Celebrant

These days there are so many marriage celebrants to choose from that picking just one can seem like a daunting task. By asking the right questions and a doing a little research, you should have no trouble in finding the perfect marriage celebrant for you and your fiance.

Ideally, you should meet with any potential marriage celebrants with both you and your fiancé to see how well you get along. This is the person who is going to marry you, take charge of your wedding ceremony, so you need at the very least, to feel comfortable with them.

Before meeting with any potential celebrants, find out of if the first meeting will cost you anything. Some celebrants change an initial consultation fee which is refundable if hired, whilst others may offer a free no obligation first meeting. Ideally a couple should be able to see a video of the celebrant in practice so that you are happy with their delivery style.

Important Questions to Ask a Marriage Celebrant
• How many ceremonies do you generally conduct on one day?
• What are your qualifications?
• How long have you been a celebrant for?
• Do you have any testimonials?
• Are travel fees included in pricing?
• Do you supply your own PA system?

Remember, you do not need to hire the first celebrant that you meet and you do not need to feel obliged to hire someone on the spot. Having said that, if you find a celebrant that you really click with, try not to dwell on the decision for too long, as good celebrants tend to be booked early.

Planning a Honeymoon (whilst saving money) Online

Planning a honeymoon online can save you big dollars

Planning your honeymoon doesn’t have to break your budget. With a little planning you can easily save money on your honeymoon whilst still having a great honeymoon.

When booking honeymoon accommodation, look outside travel packages labeled as ‘Honeymoon.’ These packages are designed to play on your emotions and may have a considerable mark up price attached. These days it is simple enough to tailor and book a holiday package completely online.

Getting Started

The first thing to do when planning your own honeymoon is to finalise the dates. Will it happen immediately after your wedding or a few weeks later?

Many people are eligible to receive discounts and have no idea. For example, if you are a member of a road service club, have private health, or belong to a union, you may be entitled to a range of discounts from accommodation, attractions, shopping and restaurants.

Once you have chosen your destination, you may want to look into buying an entertainment book. If the location is within Australia. Visit the website and browse the available vendors and businesses that offer discounts and weigh up the cost of the book to the savings. You can find some great hotel deals this way.

The Flight

There are many websites that offer you cheap flights. Webjet is a good starting point to find out which flights are available. On your departure date. Also check the date prior and the date after your proposed departure date, as sometimes you can find significant savings by changing your flight by a day. Once you have found your preferred flights, visit the airlines website and see if they are offering a cheaper price as sometimes .

The Accommodation

Booking accommodation is probably the most tedious part of planning a honeymoon. There are many websites that offer last minute prices on accommodation. They usually only offer accommodation 1 or 2 months in advance, so if booking through these sites, you need to be prepared to be patient.

Research! Research! Research!

You will find that if you are holidaying in popular tourist spots, the choice of accommodation will seem overwhelming. One way to narrow the choice down is by finding out about other people’s experiences at hotels, either through word-of –mouth or from third-party review websites.

One good website that is comprehensive and offers reviews from world-wide tourists is Trip Advisor. However, be aware, that every hotel has both positive and negative reviews. Hotels can’t please everyone, so have an open mind when reading reviews and weigh up what’s important to you.

Once you have chosen your hotel, take the time to research all the different ‘last chance’ websites that offer accommodation as you will find that there can be significant differences in price. For example, personal experience has found that Hotel Club’s website has been set-up to offer more bonus nights promotions, such as stay 3 nights and pay for 2. If you are a frequent traveller, you could also take advantage of Hotel Club’s bonus credits. Every time you book a hotel, you will receive credits to redeem the next time you book a hotel. You might also like to check out hotels website directly as they tend to offer specials to entice guests to book though them rather than a third-party site.

After you have booked the hotel and flights, you should do some research on the destination’s attractions and restaurants online as you are likely to find printable coupons that could end up saving you a bundle by the end of your honeymoon . You could also pre-book any attractions that you plan to visit to save time and money.

Planning your own honeymoon does take time and patience, but it can end up saving you money, which could mean putting that money towards having a longer honeymoon!
Links

Webjet http://www.webjet.com.au

Trip advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com

Last Chance Website
Wotif http://www.wotif.com.au

Last Minute http://www.lastminute.com.au

Hotel Club http://www.hotelclub.com.au

Should I Buy My Wedding Gown on eBay?

Thrifty

I often get emails from soon-to-be brides asking me all sorts of wedding questions. One of the most reoccurring questions is whether or not one should buy a wedding dress from eBay. Let me just start right off by saying there is no right or wrong answer to this question. To help you make up your own mind, we will go through some pros and cons on whether buying a wedding dress on eBay is a viable option and let you make up your own mind.

Reasons For Buying a Wedding Gown on eBay
Wedding dresses are one of those things that go down in value as soon as you buy it. For that reason, it makes sense that a second hand gown will cost considerably less
Wedding outlets buy their gowns for significantly cheaper than its retail price via Chinese wholesalers. Some of these wholesalers sell their gowns direct to the public via eBay. So if you play your cards right, you could end up with a designer gown for considerably less than you would find in a bridal store.

Last year bride Hannah Kovacs spent a mere $180 on a wedding gown, that includes postage and insurance from a manufacturer on eBay. The same dress retails for $1500 in Australia. (source: Poll finds ‘average’ wedding costs $49,000

Reasons Against Buying a Wedding Gown on eBay
You will find some eBay sellers are actually based in China selling gowns through the auction website. They custom make dresses to the bride’s measurements. Although many brides have reported successes with using Chinese based eBay sellers, it can be difficult to address problems if complications occur. It’s one of those situations where if everything goes according to plan, you may end up with a good outcome. However, if the dress ends up differently to what you wanted, you may run into problems sorting it out in due time due to shipping times and language barriers.

Fake wedding gowns are rampant on eBay. Be wary if you find someone selling a designer wedding gown and offering to make it for you in any colour and size. Do your research. It’s probably a fake.

Things To Consider
If you do decide to buy a dress on eBay, use the following pointers to ensure you have a smooth transaction.

The Wedding Guest Dress Code: What Should Your Wedding Guests Wear to Your Wedding?

Let your wedding guests know the dress code.

When planning a wedding, try to remember that your wedding guests may be having a hard time trying to figure out what to wear to your wedding. They may also  be having difficulty determining the dress code. Different types of wedding call for different levels of dress. Many factors influence what the dress code will be whether it will be a church wedding, beach wedding, summer wedding  or winter wedding.

Don’t feel awkward to give your guests a heads up as to what the dress code will be. For example, if it is expected that all  female wedding guests need to wear hats to your church wedding, guests would much rather know this before the ceremony than walk into a church and be the only one not wearing a hat.  I know this from personal experience! I felt extremely awkward walking into a small church wedding being the only female other than the bride, not wearing a hat.

Letting the wedding guests know about the dress code is best conveyed through word of mouth, or a small mention either on the invite itself. Additionally, you could slip a small general note slipped inside the invitation.

Unique wedding dress

This unique wedding dress took 7 people, 20, 000 flowers and two full days to make!

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Wedding Toast Tip : To The Couple

Knowing that you will need to give a wedding speech to the bride and groom can cause anxiety for some guests. A great site to check out is Angel Vows They have a range of traditional and non-traditional vows which you can use. Here is a sample that we like here at Daily Wedding Blog.

May the most you wish for be the least you get.

May you both live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love, and they blossom when we love the one we married.

To the two secrets to a long-lasting happy marriage:
Here’s to good sense of humor
–and a short memory!

May your troubles be less
And your blessings be more.
And nothing but happiness
Come through your door.

My Greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each other will so deepen and grow, that years from now you will look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least.

May the roof above you never fall in, and may you both never fall out.

May we all be invited to your golden wedding celebrations.

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Here’s to marriage, that happy estate that resembles a pair of scissors: So joined that they cannot be separated, often moving in opposite directions, yet punishing anyone who comes between them.

May all your ups and downs come only in the bedroom.

To keep a marriage brimming with love in the loving cup-
When you are wrong, admit it and when you are right, shut up!

Daily Wedding Blog: Church wedding choir

If you are having a church wedding, you might be lucky enough to be able to utilise the church’s choir.   Attend a choir practice with your partner to see if you like how they sound, as not all church choirs are the same quality.

If you like what you hear, inquire if their church choir is available to provide their services for wedding ceremonies, as many churches may already offer you the services of their in-house choir as part of their wedding package.

If you do opt for a church choir, give them plenty of notice in case they need to learn new songs as not all choirs will learn new songs, especially on short notice.  They may already know a selection of suitable songs, but may need preparation for any additional tunes that you and your partner request.

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