A bride recently emailed me and asked me "What should I do if my bridesmaids are all over the country? And what to do if they all have different body types? I don't really want to do the normal David's Bridal stuff."
That's a great question! One that I am sure more brides have asked themselves. David's Bridal is certainly a great option. They are all over the country and it's easy to pick your color/fabric.
But my biggest suggestion would be to check out J.Crew. They have a variety of styles, colors, and fabrics. You, as the bride, should pick the color and fabric you like the best, and then if you are worried about body types, let each girl pick her own style. This will ensure she gets something she is comfortable in! J.Crew stores are all over the country so it should be easy for a bridesmaid to get to one and try the dresses on. If there isn't a store nearby, their special occasion consultants are incredible!! Mine was the best guy ever! He helped me get everything ordered for everyone (even the groomsmen!!) He made sure if something I needed wasn't in the warehouse, he would check all of the stores nation-wide and have it shipped to me.
The prices at J.Crew aren't bad either. Because remember, if you are being a bargain bride, you need to look for bargains for everyone in your wedding part too!
Cake is obviously a must at a wedding, but it doesn't have to be a 5-tier castle of a cake! Cupcakes are becoming a big trend at weddings...and why not? They are less expensive, easy to transport, and even easier to serve/eat! Not to mention they are adorable!
In the Richmond, VA area, I did a lot of research when it came to my wedding cake. Who made the best cake...who had the best price?
We decided to use cupcakes instead of a cake. For our wedding, it just seemed to fit. Our wedding was pretty informal and fun (as you can see from the pictures throughout my blog). So why shouldn't our cake be any different?
I finally decided to go to our local grocery store, Ukrop's. Their prices were unbeatable and nothing is better than a Ukrop's cake with their signature butter cream icing. The folks at Ukrop's were a pleasure to work with and made sure I was the happiest bride ever.
They don't have a ton of options to choose from at a first glance, but if you talk to them, they will make it happen. My cake topper was pictured as a white iced cake with opalescent dots on it. As you can see, I changed it all up and made it work for my wedding. We ordered 100 cupcakes to ensure each of our guests could have up two cupcakes if they wanted. To make sure the cupcakes looked professional and nice, we ordered a cupcake tree. My wonderful MOH took the time to glue the ribbon I used throughout my wedding onto the structure to it matched prefectly!
All in all, my wedding cupcakes and topper cost us less than $200! You can't beat that!!
When I posted a few months ago, I didn't have photos of my wedding bouquet. I finally have a gorgeous photo of it and wanted to share with everyone. Just goes to show you that real flowers are not always the best choice!
This photo is by Rebecca Ward Photography (don't worry... you will hear all about how awesome she is sometime soon!)
A friend of mine is getting married in just a few months. She has asked for a little of my help. This is definitely going to keep me motivated to blog a little more about the wedding bargains I suggest to her and the ones we find along the way! Stay tuned for some new adventures that are coming up.
One last post of the morning. I just removed my maiden name e-mail address and added my new one so I just want to make sure I can still post correctly! Thanks for being awesome and patient!!
Have you already decided you are getting married at the beach next summer?
If so, check out J.Crew's web site today! All of the final sale stuff has gone an additional 20% off! Their embossed beach dress is the perfect wedding dress! I wore a short version of it, but it's usually available in a gown too!
I just checked, but I didn't see the gown version on the site. The short version is only $40 right now!
It's a great beach wedding dress! The extra detailing of the pleats, make this embossed beach dress one of J.Crew's fanciest. It's comfy and casual - everything a beach wedding should be! It even has pockets!!! What more could you ask for?
Another tip for inexpensive flowers is to use the pre-made bouquets from the grocery store! Who needs a fancy florist?! Flowers at the grocery are usually gorgeous and they're way cheaper than a florist. Of course, you have to pray that your local grocery will have flowers you like the day or two before your wedding. At my wedding, my MOH accidentally forgot all of those beautiful flowers that she had assembled a few months earlier! (slight crisis? yes!!!)
But I wasn't about to let her drive all the way home to get them. We went to the grocery down the street and got some flowers for about $30 and made new bouquets! They actually were even prettier than the ones we made. I was incredibly pleased with how they turned out.
I am in training this week and the girl next to me is a blogging fanatic. She writes a cooking blog, that I am looking forward to following. Check her out!
I apologize for being MIA lately. But don't worry... I will be posting some more awesome tricks for being a bargain bride. :-)
