expert tips

Expert Tips for Your Dress Shopping Experience

You’ve just said “YES” to the man of your dreams, now it’s time to find the perfect gown. If you've ever seen "Say Yes To The Dress," you've seen some super stressed brides and gown shopping horrors. Here are a few quick tips to keep your day stress-free.

Real Bustle bride, Trina Cobb Ware. Photo courtesy of Jett Walker Photography.

1. Make an Appointment

Making an appointment with a wedding gown salon is just as important as scheduling an appointment with your doctor - you would never just pop-in on your dermatologist, right?

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Making an appointment allows the salon to prepare for you. They’ll be expecting you on the decided date and time and your consultant will be able to focus entirely on you. Without an appointment, there may not be anyone available to show you dresses - yikes! 

Okay, so you’ve made an appointment. Don’t get caught up in the moment and make 3 appointments for the same day. If you don’t find your dress at the first salon, then go ahead and make second appointment. Decision exhaustion is real - your brain can't handle looking at too many dresses in one day!

2. Know Your Budget

Knowing the dress budget before the first appointment will relieve so much stress. I PROMISE.

If you are paying for the gown, do some research and come up with a number both you and your fiancé are comfortable with.

If someone else is paying, have a conversation before your appointment. This may be uncomfortable initially, but totally worth it in the end. If you know the budget is $2,000, you won't need to wonder if you should try the $3,000 gown in the window!

Consider accessories and alterations. Go ahead and budget for accessories such as a veil or earrings. Most brides need some amount of alterations on their dress, even if it’s just a hem, so make sure your budget has some wiggle room!

3. Limit Your Entourage

It may be best to leave the big party for the wedding day and other bridal festivities. Too many opinions during your appointment can be overwhelming and confusing.

You’ll be the one wearing the gown when you say “I do,” so it’s important to bring only those whose opinions you trust and who encourage you to find the dress that makes you feel the most beautiful.

4. Have an Open Mind

So, you've probably been adding photos to your wedding dress Pinterest board for years. That's ok! In fact, it’s a great idea to do some research on different styles and fabrics to find what you like before your first appointment. However, it’s equally important that you go into each appointment with an open mind. It's not uncommon to fall in love with a dress that you never even imagined trying on!

5. Don't Be Afraid to Say, "Yes!"

Most likely you'll be able to find a dress you love at every bridal salon you waltz into. That being said, it’s okay to find "the one" at your very first appointment! Don’t overwhelm yourself by thinking you need to try on every gown in the city before you can decide. It’s actually pretty common for brides to purchase one of the first dresses they try on when working with an experienced bridal consultant.

So, when you find a gown you love, stop looking and say, "YES!"

Real Bustle bride, Emily Brooks Hamby. Photo courtesy of Sweet Julep Photography.

Bustle is a bridal salon nestled in Homewood, Alabama providing a high-end shopping experience to style-savvy brides on a budget. Bustle specializes in designer sample wedding gowns straight off the rack. Visit Bustle's website to learn more!

Expert Tips: How to Get the Most out of Working with your Florist

How to Get the Most Out of Working With Your Florist

Rachel and Noah Ray bride bouquet giant flower greenery natural

Most people have never worked with a florist before and it’s hard to know what to ask for to get the most out of your wedding day flowers.  Here are a few must-know tips before meeting with your florist:

1.     Come to the first meeting as prepared as you can. 

Be ready to share as much as you can about what you would like your florals to look like.  It’s ok if you do not know what the flowers are called (pinterest boards are always super helpful). There are so many directions to go and showing some form of inspiration, no matter how little, is a great jumping off point.

2.     Trust the florist knows what flowers will perform best for your wedding day.

We want your flowers to look amazing and hold up all day long.  There’s no worse feeling than ordering bunches of something only to have it come in looking frail and wimpy. While we are able to get more and more varieties year round, certain blooms hold up better during certain times of year.  Your florist also knows certain types of flowers that may only be available around your wedding date to make it extra special.

3.     Give them a little creative freedom.

Hopefully you have selected your florist because you like their style. Trust that they have your best interests in mind.  When you allow your florist some creative wiggle room they are more inclined to want to go above and beyond and deliver more than quoted.

4.     Let them know what’s important to you.

Flowers are expensive, and we want to give you everything you want and make it look like the pinterest board of your dreams.  If certain things are especially important to you to have, let us know and we can allocate the best for those and come up with less expensive solutions for others. 

5.     Think Big!

I love a big statement piece, or two!  Especially if you are working on a minimal budget, it’s important to spend your Monday wisely.  Rather than trying to spread your dollars to have something on every table, invest in one or two larger installations.  It will make a major difference in photos and wow your guests!

 

Kathleen is a Birmingham based florist and stylist.  Her business, Edna K, comes from her first name (Edna) after her grandmother.  With a background in prop styling, art direction and graphic design Kathleen brings a unique and artful perspective to her floral design. Visit her website for more information ednakdesign.com or email her at Kathleen@ednakdesign.com.

 

Expert Tips for a Tiny Wedding

How to Have a Meaningful & Minimalist Wedding

At Tiny Weddings Bham, we are passionate about celebrating romance in the simplest ways. We take the traditional wedding experience and distill it down to the most important and memorable parts. We love big weddings just as much as the next person, but we understand that elaborate celebrations aren’t for everyone. This is where we have found our niche—providing high-end, minimalist weddings full of meaningful details, with some of the top wedding professionals around. For couples working with a smaller budget, or those wanting to keep things peaceful and intimate, we would love to share some of our tips!

A Minimal Guest List

Guest lists can be one of the most painful and stressful aspects of wedding planning. It is important to decide at the beginning how many people you want to have attend your special day. It gets easy for others to tell you who “needs” to be at your wedding - from old family friends, to fourth cousins, to high school friends. But we suggest only inviting those who you have close and meaningful relationships with as a couple. At Tiny Weddings Bham, we limit our guest lists to under 30 people. If that number is too small, just make a list of your closest family members and your closest friends. Even if the number is higher than 30, chances are it will still be south of average guest list of 120.

Meaningful Details

We are here to tell you that your wedding can be upscale and minimalist at the same time. The key is to focus on having beautiful details without going overboard. We encourage you to pick a couple of key areas that you want to emphasize, and do them well. Pick a venue that’s already beautiful, such as an art gallery or historic home. Many smaller event spaces need very little help to be gorgeous. At Tiny Weddings, our efforts go into having a gorgeous altar, a pretty cake table and drink station, and personal flowers—that’s it! We take a few focal points, and we expertly design them so that they really shine. Share with your planner, florist, and photographer your vision for minimal but impactful, and ask them to work their magic in your key areas.

Minimal Food

Food and beverages can easily become the most complicated and expensive aspects of your wedding. The easiest way to keep it minimal is to have your wedding during non-meal hours. Consider having your wedding around 10:00 AM and serving light brunch food like a fruit tray, mini quiche, and mimosas, or having your wedding around 4:00 PM and simply celebrating with cake and champagne! You might be surprised how beautiful minimal food styling can be.

A Minimalist’s Wedding Day Timeline

At Tiny Weddings Bham, we aren’t afraid of hitting the highlights. Our couples have a ceremony, cut cake, toast champagne, mingle with their guests, and then have a photoshoot with the photographer. It’s a simple and relaxed experience that lasts around 2 hours. Some couples host after-parties and we love that idea, too! A wedding day does not have to be a long, marathon day, it can be short and sweet and equally (if not more) intimate and special.

We hope these suggestions for how to have a meaningful, minimalist wedding have been helpful. If having a Tiny Wedding sounds fun to you, we would love to chat! You can contact us or learn more about what we do at www.tinyweddingsbham.com.

 Tiny Weddings Bham is a collaboration of Birmingham’s best wedding professionals, curated to give you an exceptional experience without the huge wedding price tag. We come together once a quarter to provide a short and sweet experience for couples to get married in style.

Vendors:

Tres Beau Weddings

Photos by Heart

Jennifer Woodberry Photography

Gold Leaf Floral

Studio Flower

Swan Lindsey Lettering

Bustle

The Nest

Clubhouse on Highland

Décor to Adore

Bandit Baking Co.

Olexa’s

Pastry Art Bake Shoppe

Savoie Catering

Expert tips for planning a bachelorette party on a budget

Courtesy of Guest Blogger: Aimee Lyons of diydarlins

Image courtesy of Unsplash by Colin Maynard

Being asked to be someone’s Maid of Honor is, well, a huge honor. Your beloved friend is trusting you, out of everyone she knows and loves, to help ensure that her wedding day goes according to plan. Of course, being designated as Maid of Honor also comes with a lot of responsibility, both during and leading up to the wedding day. One of the most fun responsibilities, however, is planning the bride’s bachelorette party.

As we all know, a bachelorette party is a night to remember. You want your friend to have the time of her life during her last night as a single lady - and you want all her guests and bridesmaids to have fun, too.

Bachelorette parties can be memorable bonding experiences, but they don’t have to break your bank. Even if your bride has expensive taste, you can still show her the night of her life while staying under budget. Here are some of our favorite tips for planning an affordable bachelorette party.

 Pick a theme

Ideally, this will be a theme that takes the interests and personality of the bride into consideration. Is Beyonce her favorite musician? You’ve got endless Queen Bey-themed options, from “He Put a Ring On It” balloons to “Feyonce” shirts. (See what I did there?)

Or you could go with the theme of her favorite television show or movie. From Parks and Recreation to Sex in the City, I’ve seen bridesmaids have a ton of fun getting creative with this one.

If you’re struggling to find a theme, maybe consider your friend’s hobbies or the story of how she met her soon-to-be-husband. I once planned a California-themed wedding for my Kentuckian friend, who was marrying an Australian man that she had met while vacationing in Malibu. The possibilities truly are endless when it comes to planning a theme for the big party.

 Pick a location

Although every bride dreams of a picturesque European spa getaway with her girls, it’s best to try to pick a location that is central to all of the guests, as people will have varying budgets and abilities to travel. Sometimes, it might be best to hold a bachelorette party in the city where the majority of the guests already live.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to scrap your plans if you had your heart set on a destination bachelorette party. If the bride loves to travel and the bridesmaids would love to join her, consider some weekend getaway locations that are driving distance and easily accessible by the majority of the guests. Ask guests if anyone has any mileage points, military discounts, or AAA memberships that could be used for discounts on hotel rooms and other services.
 

Decide who’s doing what

Delegate tasks to each attendee to avoid overwhelming any one person. It’s important to not delegate any bachelorette party tasks to the bride, however; she’s likely already got her hands full with wedding planning. Besides, this is the night that you’ll want to pamper her. Allow the bridesmaids to handling the planning for this ladies night!

While delegating tasks, be sure to have someone remind all the bridesmaids, the bride, and the other guests to take care of any home security needs before departing for the party. The last thing you’ll want is to put a damper on the weekend by discovering someone’s home was broken into while you were partying.

As you can see, there’s no need to stress about planning and affording a bachelorette party. It’s even possible to plan a destination party on a budget! With help from the tips listed above, you’ll be able to throw a flawless party that honors your friend while creating memories you will cherish for a lifetime. Cheers!

Aimee Lyons loves DIY and spends every bit of her free time on pet projects--crafting, refurbishing furniture, remodeling rooms, turning her yard into a landscaping masterpiece, and her latest interest--DIY weddings! She created DIYDarlin.com to share her DIY knowledge while also serving as a forum to learn from other DIYers.