Thrifty in White

PART I: Samantha and Cort = The Wedding That Family Created

Remember that teaser from last night? Well buckle those seat belts, because this post is about to get really thrilling!

From Samantha, the bride: "When I was planning my wedding I was a glutton for punishment. I watched bridal shows where the budgets were $500,000+ and I wanted everything I saw...huge centerpieces with 700 hand-opened roses, up lighting, down lighting, spectacular venues with beautiful table settings. How was I going to get the biggest bang from my much, much smaller budget?"

Girl, we've all seen "Platinum Weddings" on WeTV & have felt the same way. You thrifty readers can relate, right?

"Easy. Enslave--I mean recruit--my friends and family for a year and make almost everything myself."

  * * *

So Samantha and Cort spent a year planning, patiently waiting for sales, and crafting their DIY projects like a true thrifty guy & gal.

Are you going crazy with anticipation yet?

 

 

Feast your eyes on PART I of this wedding (yeah, there were way too many helpful tips & pretty pics to cram into one measly post)...

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

The bride found these yellow parasols at Hobby Lobby for under $5 each! Her tip? Wait for what you want to go on sale...because it will.

 

 

 
  
 
  
 
 

  

One of the first things I noticed about the lovely bride's ensemble was her veil...which is shocking, because I am so not a veil person. The best part about hers? She made it herself. For about $20. Cha-ching!

"I couldn't stand the thought of paying hundreds of dollars for a few feet of tulle! So, I made my veil for around $20. I spent less than $4 on tulle (wanted lots of extra in case I made a mistake), bought a  plastic Goody comb for under $2, and bought a few packages of Swarovski crystals for under $15. It was all from Wal-Mart!  My veil was easy to make because the tulle on my dress had a raw edge, so to make my veil match, I didn't have to worry about adding piping or sewing along the edges. I simply cut (very carefully), gathered it at the top and ran a stitch through, tacked it to the comb, and sewed on the crystals individually."

 

 

 

 

 

Are we in agreement here? Can you even stand how great that veil project turned out? A bride never spent $20 so wisely.

 

 
Super cute bridesmaids' dresses right? Well they're from J.Crew, and you guessed it: She got a deal on those, too:  "I ordered all of the girls' dresses at one time over the phone looking at the website. I was waiting for a day when there was an online sale (20% off), opened a credit card (saved an extra 10%), and talked them into free shipping, which wasn't hard to do."
 

 
 
 

 
Those perfect patent leather yellow shoes? From Cato. Totally cheap!

 

 

 

(Photos by Deidre Lynn Photography)

 
 

Part II is coming at you tomorrow. Prepare yourself for country line dancing, DIY up the wazoo (eek!) and, oh yeah...those 4,000 handmade flowers.

I'm not kidding, you are going to totally rethink your florals after seeing these pictures.

 
 
Coming at you with more thrifty scoop tomorrow,
Hollie

 

 

 
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Designers: Please Jump On This Bandwagon. I'm Begging You.

Sometimes, the wedding dress industry befuddles me. Just kidding...it's all the time.

Sure, they're out to make money just like everybody else, I get that. But with all the chatter and well-deserved hype concerning recessionista bridal, they need to open their freaking eyes and see this green-saving message: YOU HELP US, WE'LL HELP YOU.

Let's take J.Crew bridal for instance. I understand that for a lot of J.Crew-wearing brides, money is no object and they get the dress because they genuinely like it and they are quite possibly J.Crew-aholics. But in my case, I was introduced to this line because of two important words: AFFORDABLE and PRETTY.

But let's look at some of the 40 dresses on the J.Crew wedding site right now:
 
 

(click the photo to check out the listing)
 

Meet Analisa, the most expensive gown on the site at $2,995. Coincidentally, it looks like it would add 2,995 pounds to the lucky bride wearing it on her wedding day. All of those horizontal ruffles? Let's just say I'm no size 0...even if I was, look at what it does to the size 0 model in this photo.

Style aside, I do think I can speak for other truly budgeted brides when I say this price is so not in our vocabulary.

 

How about the least expensive, hmm?
 

(click the photo to check out the listing)
 

Here's sweet Sophia at $295. It's simple, which is right up my alley, but considering how popular (and expensive) Pnina Tornai gowns are right now, it might just be too simple for other gals' tastes.

With 75% of the J.Crew dresses priced at over $500 (and almost half of them over $1,000), I've changed my mind about their role in budget-friendly weddings. But it doesn't mean that a new store isn't gonna swoop in and take that crown...
 

'Tis true, dear readers: The Limited will be launching a bridal collection online this June with wedding dresses under $300! Take a gander at the gowns for yourself:
 

(photo source: Luckymag)

 
 

And don't forget the cheeky short gown for all you tradition-shunning brides:

(photo source: Glamour)

 

Thank you, Limited, for catering to the limited-budget (har, har) brides out there. You have taken the place of faux-thrifty J.Crew in my heart, and I can't wait to see the collection on June 3. 

 
Do you have other sources for cheapy-cheap finds? Any exciting wedding deals this weekend?

Stay thrifty,
Hollie

 
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