It’s late Sept now so I’m sure some of you are busy planning your winter wedding now.  Here’s some ideas that might help you set the mood.  For part of the world, it will be warm during your winter wedding (like those in Florida, Australia, Central America, etc) but it doesn’t mean you can’t capture the dreamy “winter wonderland” feel to it.  All you need are some little frosty touches!

1. TASTE!  Pick a cake and some dishes that remind people of WINTER?  How can a flavor remind you of winter you ask?  Rich dark flavors like caramel, spice, butterscotch and mint all remind people of Christmas and threfore relating it to winter!  Pick a MINTY flavored desert to finish off; it doesn’t need to be a mega mint blast but what about a rich chocolate minth cake?  Or a nice warm pudding?  No need to go Christmas Dinner all the way but some of the comfoting elements can go a long way.

 2.  COLOR THEME!  Light icy blues, white with chocolate browns and rich reds.  All colors that remind us of cozy winters and nights cuddled up by the fireplace. 

3. ADD ON TOUCHES!   Winter inspired shapes are the easiest way to convey the winter theme.  Snowflakes, the most obvious one, can be used for doilies, sugar snowflakes on the cake, and cutout decorations.  Poinsettas and holly can be strung up and used to accentuate the table centerpieces and room.   Gathered pinecones from the ground, splatter the ends with clear glue and roll them in fake snow or white glitter would be a wonderful table accent.

 Bright gold is soooo reserved for 80’s stockbroker chic, which I’m sure most of you are not!   Unless you’re persian & wear a ton of gold chains to match, while keeping the top 6 buttons on your silk shirt unbuttoned. j/k.  Just be glad all you young husbands;  you have a HUGE array of trendy NON-GOLD rings to choose from, and many under $300 too!  Like this beautiful black titanium wedding band with a black diamond for only $249.  It’s pretty pimp and black will match pretty much all your outfits.  Plain wedding bands aren’t just for guys either, girls can rock them as well, almost like a indirect snub to the “traditional” big shiny diamond engagement ring.   Screw the old school wedding traditions, pave your own way & do it like you want to.  

Damn… now I want this ring. Is it too late to change wedding bands??

Gone are the days of the bridal clutch with the goofy sequins and beads sewn on.  Don’t get me wrong, those can look, ummm crafty and unique; probably not your style but perfect for a couple generations before you.  I found this very sleek and very affordable Kayla clutch in white patent on eBags.com for only $32.   It’s just big enough to hold some touch up makeup and your ID.  Anything else should really be held by your Maid of Honor because isn’t that the point of having a wedding, let alone assistants?  To have everyone dote and fuss over you, hold your stuff and tell you look perfect?  So let them do their jobs while you look stunning in your dress and little clutch!  If you don’t like this clutch there are dozens under $40 on ebags.com .  Just search for white clutch and it will bring you dozens of products. 

Get the white Kayla Clutch for $32 on Ebags.com

Oops!  Forgive me for not posting this wicked coupon code earlier.  All you have to do is enter 20PSEP during checkout at InspiredSilver.com , ends Sept 30, 2008.  There is literally 100’s of reasonably priced .925 silver pieces, inlcuding necklace / earring sets that are inpsired by celebrity jewelry, hence the name inspired silver. Now with this extra 20% off these already great prices you can also get matching sets for your MOH and your moms too to match you & without breaking the bank!

What better way to keep your family & friends reminded of your upcoming wedding date than these adorable lil fridge magnets, and even better, if you order the minimum number of 25 they are totally FREE!   Yup, it’s just that easy, just find a design you like from the 100’s of premade designs & pay for the shipping (which is pretty cheap in the US).  Not only do they have business card sized free magnets but 250 free business cards, 100 free postcards (which can also be used for wedding invitations) and sticky notes, all customizable of course!  If you don’t like any of those already made designs, feel free to design your own and upload them.  There is a $5 uploading fee for each graphic or photo BUT, you can use that graphic for multiple items forever.   A cute idea would be uploading a photo of the two of you together with the date & place on it. 

 Just check out VistaPrint.com for tons of free and cheap deals of printed products to keep people notified of your wedding day (AS IF they need reminding, everytime you talk to them you should ALWAYS drop the date, LOL) .

I know I know, the Las vegas wedding has always been the equivalent for running away and eloping but sometimes it just makes sense in many ways.   This is going to be post #1 of many many posts covering things like, how to get a liceanse to best hotels & attractions.  I’ve been to Las Vegas many times over the last  years, for pleasure and for business conventions so I think I can talk about this subject well.  Plus I ALWAYS thought my own wedding would be in Vegas

If you’ve even entertained the idea of a Vegas wedding here are some convincing points I’ll make:

1. Wedding and honeymoon in one!  For those of you who have never been to Las Vegas it would be a perfect change to see it plus you don’t have to fly anywhere else for the honeymoon, it’s all outside your hotel doors.

2.  It can be as cheap or as lavish as your budget allows.  It is one of those cites where you can accomodate your whole extended family for under $20 per person per night OR you can spend the downpayment on your future house on a fancy resort.  From cheap all you can eat buffets downtown to Emerils new steakhouse… you make the call.  Either way, you will have a blast.

3.  Cheap entertainment.  Spend hours walking to each hotel on the strip to see their free sights, cheap 2×1 show tix, fun museums and natural attractions like Red Rock Canyon allows everyone to have fun on a budget. 

4.  It’s central for most people.  Sign up to receive news from the Airlines that fly to vegas from your city and you will find tons of great last minute deals.  Fly & stay during the weekdays & you’ll notice it’s cheaper.   

5.  Hotels are competitively priced, due to the sheer number of hotels being offered in the area, they must have deals & promos to attract customers.  If you stay in old downtown, prices can start at $25 per night!

Next Vegas post will be “FINDING YOUR HOTEL ROOM”

Meanwhile check out Las Vegas room prices on hotels.com & see!

I found these custom brides maid tote bags for only $18 on CafePress.com just now.   They make a super cute thank you gift as well as giving them something to carry all their makeup & clothing in for the big day!  And the best thing is… cafepress is fully customizable, meaning all you have to do is upload your own graphics file or pictures and tada, you’ve got a custom gift for a good price. 
Either you can puruse through the 10000’s of user created images or you can open up your own store and price it however you want.  You can even make items and then guilt trip your whole wedding party into buying them for the sake of uniformness & support ( or to fund your new Miu Miu purse!).

Make personlized wedding favors at CafePress.com

Assuming that you don’t already have a plethora of skimpy clubbing tops in your closet already, or are in need of more (who can have enough clubbing tops, really?) and nothing in the mall catches your eyes, check out Fredericks.com for some cheap yet sexy clothing ideas.  “But don’t they just sell lingirie?” 

Not at all!  If you hit the “CLEARANCE” link at the top right on the site you’ll see some killer deals like sexy tops from $11.99 and  dresses from $19.99.  The dresses they’ve got on special now are the satiny, evening party type dresses but those can always be worn for events before the wedding itself like receptions or dress rehearsal dinners.  Plus you can save them for holiday dinners or Christmas work parties if partnered with a shrug or satin jacket Right now you can get $10 off every $75 you spend, or $20 off every $100 at Fredericks

Hello!   If you’ve found this site then you’re probably either planning a wedding, thinking about planning a wedding, helping your friend plan her wedding or are daydreaming about your future wedding and are looking for ideas.  Just a few things about myself so you know where I’m coming from.

 I’m CHEAP!  Not to the point where it’s embaressing for everyone else around me, but I do enjoy good value for my money and if there are ways to save yet get the end result and perhaps do a little more work than NO work at all, then I’m all for it!  Remember, you work hard for your money so spend it well.

 I HATE big traditional weddings.  The ones where you follow all the steps from a big thick book, telling you where to walk, what to say & what type of flowers you need to be carrying.  Think about the original point of having a wedding.  It’s to show your friends and family “hey, this is my chosen life partner and I’m going to publicly state my love for this person!”  THAT IS ALL!! It’s not a contest to see how much you can spend or that you spent 25K on a dress you’ll wear once.  Heck, my parents got married at city hall & that was it!  They are still happily married to this date and it really doesn’t matter if she doesn’t have a 4 caret ring or not… No one should tell you how you want to profess your love for one another… except you.

 I’m CHILL.  I’m a pretty relaxed pers

on and secure.  People feel the need to show off and surround themselves with material good as a way of defining their self worth.   It’s part of the materialism & consumer culture North Americans have grown up with.  It’s your wedding, have FUN, DANCE (unless he absolutely hates dancing) KAROAKE, have a FOOD FIGHT!  Have it the way you want.

 I’m MARRIED.  I got married on February 29, 2008, planned very quickly and on a budget and on a beautiful beach location in Costa Rica.  I had so much fun planning it, saved a lot of money & also learned a lot about where/ how to get all your wedding needs met without spending big bucks, yet still have everything covered!  Some people commented that it was the best / funnest / nicest wedding they’ve ever been to.  Its’ not that I CAN’T spend tons of cash on a wedding, but there’s about 1000 other more important things I’d rather spend that money on, for our future.   Recently, I’ve been teaching others how to find good deals for their upcoming wedding dates so why not just blog about it?