Wedding Budget - Beach Bride

5 Reasons To Buy (Not Rent!) Your Wedding Gown

By Bonnie

You may be tempted to rent your wedding gown, especially if you’re looking for a designer look but don’t have the funds to buy one in your budget. But before you follow through with renting a gown, consider these critical reasons to buy your gown instead.

1. You Can Relax and Have Fun

Beach weddings can be sandy, fun affairs. The wine will be flowing, cake will be eaten, and you’ll be dancing your heart out with your friends. If you rent your wedding gown you might stress during the reception about keeping the dress clean. After all, it’s an expensive piece of clothing that isn’t yours, and you need to return it in mint condition. If you buy your dress instead, you can let loose and have fun during the reception, knowing that you can always have the dress cleaned and repaired if worse comes to worst.

2. You Experience The Pleasures Of Dress Shopping

Wedding dress shopping is a part of the whole experience. You can bring your mom, mother-in-law, and bridesmaids along with you as you shop. It’s just not the same when you’re renting.

3. You Can Keep The Dress

If you rent a dress, the gown that you now have grown close to goes back to the shop. When you buy, you can cherish your gown for a lifetime. If you preserve your dress correctly, it can last without yellowing or deteriorating for at least one hundred years, and maybe longer. That gives you the chance to show your children down the road, or perhaps even give a daughter the opportunity to wear it. Shop now so that you’re ready to ship your dress out for preservation when the wedding is over.

4. Finding The Right Size

When you rent a dress, you may not be allowed to make alterations. If you buy, you can take the dress to a tailor and have it customized to your unique body-shape.

5. Shop In Person

Many rental transactions take place online. That makes it very hard to try on your dress and make sure that you love it in person. When you buy a dress, you can actually go to the shop and try it one.

What do you think about renting a wedding dress? Leave your opinion in the comments section below!

Your Destination Wedding: When To Pay For A Guest

By Bonnie

Are you stressed out about who and what you should pay for when it comes to your enchanting destination wedding? I want you to think of a seesaw (like you might see on a playground). On one side, you have your budget. On the other side, you have “etiquette”. Now that you have your seesaw in mind, imagine what will happen if you lean too heavily on either side. The seesaw will no longer work as it is supposed to! In order to make decisions about what expenses to cover, you need to understand that you must keep this seesaw balanced.

You Don’t Want Grumbling Guests

Your Destination Wedding: When To Pay For A Guest — Source: hvmag.com

Etiquette is a code of behavior that society has agreed on which has to do with being polite. If the word etiquette sounds irrelevant or intimidating, substitute it with “kindness” or “thoughtfulness”. Basically, rules about etiquette help us act in ways that are considerate of others.

Because wedding budgets vary so much, it is impossible to give hard and fast rules about what the bride and groom (and their families) need to cover. The rules of etiquette give us a starting off point, and then we have to wiggle and squirm until the rules fit with our budget.

Etiquette dictates that the couple needs to cover a welcome party, the rehearsal dinner, the reception, and a morning-after brunch. This is considered customary, and if you decide to leave your guests high and dry at one of these wedding time-line events, you might receive some raised eyebrows in the very least. Since no one wants to hear grumbling guests, I advise you to feed and offer refreshments to your guests at these times.

No one is telling you what to feed them! It could be an affordable pizza party rehearsal dinner on the hotel roof! You don’t have to break the bank in order to fill these obligations.

The Wedding Party Deserves Special Treatment

In addition, etiquette dictates that the bride and groom should pay for lodging for attendants. The bride and groom should think carefully about how many people they want in their wedding parties if they plan on paying lodging. Hotel room fees can add up quickly!

When you are deciding whether or not to follow this rule, try putting yourself in your bridesmaids or groomsmen’s shoes. Think about their individual situations and whether you think they can bear the financial burden that you will be asking of them if you don’t cover lodging.

Close friends who are struggling financially won’t want to let you down, and will likely foot the bill with a smile plastered on their faces. Is that what you want? If this perspective makes you see that it will be hard for them to pay, than scrimp and save in other areas, and foot the lodging bill for those special few who you have asked to be a part of your wedding party. Close friends are worth it!

Everyone Else Gets To Choose

You do not have to worry about every single guest that you invite, and whether they will be comfortable paying for the expenses that will come along with your destination wedding. Once you have carefully considered your VIP list (parents, perhaps grandparents, and your wedding party), you should stop there. If a guest is excited to come to your fun, exotic location to help you celebrate your union, they will make it happen! They are free to politely decline.

Keep your seesaw balanced between budget concerns and acting kindly. This way you will see that the choices you make have to keep both ends of the balance in mind! Think about costs from your guest’s perspective. Your guests, especially your wedding party, should be looking forward to your tropical-bliss gathering, not resenting you for the work-out you are giving their wallet.

Do you think these rules sound fair, or do you disagree?

5 Tips for Sticking to Your Beach Wedding Budget

By Jenn

It can be extremely hard to stick to a wedding budget, whether that budget is $5,000 or $50,000. While a beach ceremony traditionally costs less than a ceremony in an expensive venue, it doesn’t mean there aren’t things to watch out for. These 10 tips will help you stick to your beach wedding budget and have the beautiful wedding of your dreams.

1. Choose an Indoor Reception Venue

Although a beach wedding ceremony is usually less expensive than a ceremony held in a venue, a beach reception can be much more difficult to pull off. Guests need some sort of seating and tables to enjoy the meal, so this usually means that tables and chairs must be rented and brought in, along with tents to provide shelter. Along with the outdoor décor and other needs, this can get very expensive. Opt for a beachside hotel ballroom or a gorgeous waterfront restaurant, since most items will be supplied and included in the price.

2. Choose Laid-Back Beach Attire

If you don’t have your heart set on formal attire, opting for casual wedding attire can be a huge boost to your budget. Rather than tuxedos, have the groom and groomsmen wear slacks and a button-up, and instead of formal dresses, ask your bridesmaids to wear more casual cocktail dresses or even sundresses. The results can still be beautiful but you can end up spending thousands less!

3. Serve a Signature Cocktail

While it’s tempting to have an open bar for guests to enjoy, this can get quite expensive. If you’re trying to stick to your budget, serve a signature cocktail or a choice of 2 or 3 signature cocktails. These cocktails can be wedding or beach-themed, and can be created from a range of ingredients to please a wide range of tastes. This will let you avoid the significant cost of a full bar, but still provide guests with fantastic drink options.

4. Have a Bruch or After-Dinner Wedding

Food is one of the biggest costs when it comes to the wedding budget. You can serve less food and save more money if you plan to have your wedding after breakfast (so you would be serving brunch) or after dinner when guests are less hungry. Fantastic brunch menus featuring delicious choices can be quite impressive but still cost way less than a full sit-down meal or even a buffet dinner.

5. Skip a Few Professional Vendors

If your budget is really, really tight, you can shave down your cost by skipping a few of the professional vendors. For instance, rather than hiring a DJ, create a wedding play list. You can then have someone change the music to the correct song for important moments such as the father/daughter dance or the couple’s first dance as husband and wife. You can also skip professional caterers and go with your wedding venue staff or kitchen facilities to create the meal.

By using these ideas, you can significantly cut your wedding costs and will be much more likely to stick to your allotted budget! Do you have any fantastic tips for sticking to a wedding budget? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!

5 Beach-Worthy Wedding Favor Ideas

By Shang

Finding affordable, adorable wedding favors is a must for any bride, and when you’re having a beach wedding, you want them to fit with your theme. Even the simplest ideas can make awesome wedding favors that your guests will cherish. Check out these 5 beach-worthy wedding favor ideas to see if any strike your fancy.

Seashell Wedding Candles

These clever seashell wedding candles are pretty, useful and a lot of fun!

5 Beach Worthy Wedding Favor Ideas — wedding-pictures.onewed.com

The great thing about these is that you can do a DIY version pretty easily with some large seashells and candle-making supplies. Plus, your guests will love how genius this favor is!

Beach Sand Keychain

While some brides think key chains as wedding favors are a bit lame, this one doesn’t fall into that same category.

It contains a tiny bottle of sand, an ocean-blue crystal bead and an adorable quote: “May you always have a shell in your pocket and sand between your toes.”

Seashell Cookies

Adorable seashell cookies not only match your theme, but will definitely please your guests.

Edible favors are super popular and they don’t come much more adorable than this! Remember to order well in advance so your favorite baker can create as many as you need and make sure they’re ultra beachy.

Beach Gel Candles

Gel candles are adorable, because they can fit any theme at all – including a beach theme.

Your guests will have a perfect memento of the sand, the shells, and the great fun they had at your big day. Plus, guests love these types of favors because they can use them after the ceremony is over.

Beach Ornament

This is another great favor that you can create yourself if you have the time and creativity.

This beach ornament contains sand, seashells and a cute little sign pointing out the “beach.” This is a great favor, and it can hang on your guests’ trees to remind them of your special day.

Each of these ideas is super cute and perfect for a beach wedding. With a little creativity and imagination, you can come up with the perfect beach wedding favor for your big day.

Average Wedding Costs: What to Expect

By Rachael

If you’re about to start planning your wedding, you’re probably already thinking about what it’s going to cost you. According to various studies and a lot of research, there are some average costs for various aspects of a wedding. You’ll find those below, which might help you determine what to expect when it comes to paying for your wedding.

Average Dress Cost

On average, a woman will pay approximately $1,099 for her wedding dress. To save, purchase last season’s dress or shop online.

Average Wedding Costs: What to Expect — Photo Source: dress2015.com

Venue Cost

The average cost of the ceremony site is about $1,393. You can save money by hosting your wedding at your own home or the home of a family member. Also, booking the venue during the week can save you money as well.

The average cost of a reception site is much more; over $12,000. Of course, this is on average, so not all brides pay this much, and you don’t have to either. Host your reception in the same place as your ceremony or attempt to get a deal from your vendor.

Average Cost of Flowers

The average cost of flowers is approximately $1,988. Brides can save money by choosing flowers that are local rather than having them imported, and by choosing more greenery than blossoms. Also, choosing wildflowers or other flowers that are considered “weeds” but are still beautiful will also help.

Catering

Per head, the average cost of catering is about $61. You can save money by having a “potluck wedding,” or by cooking your own food. You may also want to go the less traditional route of just serving hors d’oeuvres or dessert. This is becoming more and more popular amongst brides.

By knowing what to expect, you can take steps to ensure that your wedding costs less than average and that you’re saving money!