Jessica at MIPhotobooth sent an email asking me to post 5 must-have's for the budget-conscience bride. It seems that she has a number of friends getting married this summer and she wondered what I would tell them they 'need'. So, here goes!
- Theme - Think about what you and your fiancee like. Do you love to be outdoors? Did you meet on the baseball field? Do you love music and theatre? Is the beach where you want to be? Figure out what you love and weave that into your day.
- Color - Every wedding or event needs it. Figure out what colors speak to you and go with them. I always infuse at least three colors into every event I design. Try to do the same.
- Linens - This is a non-negotiable in my book. I don't care how small a budget you have, spend some of the money on a great table linen and napkin. It's what will set a ho-hum event apart from a 'wow' event.
- Coordinated Paper Suites - You may not have the budget for fancy letterpress but you can still do a rockin' invitation suite. Go to a scrapbook store and find papers that you love. Use it to make your invitations {side note: there are lots of free fonts available online...find two that you love and use both of them...one for your names and the second for the remaining copy}, programs, escort cards, place cards, menu cards and favor gift tags. I never do an event without all six of these coordinated pieces.
- Good Food - We've all had the rubber chicken at weddings and when we leave that's all we remember. Don't skimp on good food. Limit the bar or even do away with it if that will allow you to offer a great meal and a couple nice appetizers. To find more money for food in your budget, consider offering just a 'signature' drink during cocktail hour and a couple of appetizers and then a fabulous meal. You may also want to limit the number of people you invite in order to offer something spectacular.
There you have it! My list of 5 must-haves for a beautiful and memorable event. What are your must-haves?
~Jodi
6 comments:
Hi there. Great tips for every bride...budget or no budget! Thank you for listing our site and for checking in on our blog. Looking forward to lots of great blogging!
All the best,
Matthew
www.artfool.com
Great post Jod! I couldn't agree more about the specialty linens. Thank you this information is priceless, literally!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I feel that I can use this list for all 3 of my friends' weddings to make them spectacular on a tight budget, while creating three unique events! This is exactly what I was hoping for- you're the best!
Matthew, thanks for checking us out, I am a huge admirer of your work and I love following your blog! You always share amazing photos and great ideas!
When you suggest having three colors do you consider black, white, and ivory to be colors or are they neutrals?
Hi Anonymous ~
You ask a wonderful question that on color theory that has been debated by scientists and artists for many, many years. Artists say black is a color while scientists say black is not a color because it doesn't reflect light. It's all theory to me and something I don't worry about too much :)
This still leaves the question of whether or not I consider black, ivory and white to be neutrals or colors. And I belive them to be, and use them as, colors. Sometimes as a dominate color and sometimes as an accent color.
I thought it might be helpful if I illustrate this by telling you the colors we used for some of the events of 2008. Here goes:
Wedding - gold, dark brown, beige and ivory as an accent
Birthday - saffron, green, sunshine yellow and black as an accent
Wedding - white, orange, lime green, and navy blue
Wedding - black, gold, fuschia and ivory
Wedding - brown, gold, sage green, ivory, and blush pink as an accent
As you can tell, I love color. And I use as many different colors as I can to create the look I'm trying to achieve. As long as they all blend harmoniously, don't be afraid to use 4 to 5 colors in your event design by using neutral colors in conjunction with your pinks, blues, greens, etc.
I hope this answers your question and I wish you the best as you color mix away!
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