Carmeow....YOU FOUND IT!!!! LOL

Sure I'm talking to myself but yes I did find it :) I knew I could count on you.

Sounds like you are on your way. . . Also designate someone to be in charge to hand out checks and make sure that you had got what you had asked for in your contract. So you don't have to worry about anything on your day. Except for having fun. . .cupcakes are a nice idea. And you don't have to pay for a cutting fee !

Your itinerary is a great idea especially if you have many out of town guests. When I got married we did not have a computer so my friend's son a graphic artist typed and drew photos for a newsletter I named the Wedding Watch. We had several events, starting with a dock party rehearsal dinner, a ladies brunch, a guys boat outing and a day after barbeque. Since this was before smart phones and GPS we had maps to everything. My guests really appreciated this since it made things easier for them.

I put a lot of effort into figuring out how to trim money out of the behind the scenes stuff, the stuff that the guests would not see. I wanted to give the guests a little goodie bag when they checked in to the hotel, so at the dollar store I got packs of three gifts bags for a buck and bought bulk food items like nuts and candies and put them in little plastic bags with pretty ribbons along with some bottled water and a hand written note. The hotel gave them to each guest when they checked in. Since I was getting dressed at the church and would arrive before the guests, myself and the bridal party drove ourselves to the church. My sister and I picked up our flowers along the way. So I did not have to pay for a limo or delivery fees. Our best man's girlfriend was in charge of taking the flowers used at the church to the reception hall. I also had my bridesmaids help me make homemade chocolates which we used as wedding favors. From a guest perspective it was a pretty nice wedding because LOL they did not see all the behind the scenes cost cutting measures I went to plus I really enjoyed doing all that stuff myself.

I went to a very expensive wedding and they served cupcakes. Like Teri said it is a good idea to have someone you can count on to be in charge of basic stuff, I had someone that did just that and be sure to go over things in advance.

Look on the last page Carmen... I gave you a bunch of money saving tips! :)

Bridesmaid dresses are bought! My two big sisters and a best friend of mine will be my bridesmaids. No maid of honor really. Is that weird? Lol

Okay so we originally were going to fly Spirit airline for around $600. But it's another $100 each way for Luma so $800. Even if we did fly we would have to rent a car to get around Myrtle Beach.

Then I had the idea that maybe we could rent a large SUV and split the cost of gas between us, Tony's mom, and whoever else wants to drive from TX to SC with us. We both have been road trippers our whole lives...and we drove to Disney last year so we can handle it. It's 17 hours there and 17 hrs back. I'm just trying to find an estimation of how much gas would be. I'm guessing gas would cost around $300 for the round trip. Anyone been on a trip approx 17 hours? How much did you spend on gas?

In the end I'm not sure how much we'd really save vs. flying, but we need to have a car to drive anyways and a large SUV means we could bring more stuff with us, like decor, rather than scrambling to do the DIY stuff in sc, days before the wedding.

Good luck with all of your planning. I hope it brings you joy. If you go to Mapquest and under get directions, you can just put in the cities. It will give you the option of estimating gas prices.

I don't know any of your details, but if linen rental is in the picture, please don't! This is the first anniversary of our older daughter's wedding, and we were able to purchase banquet chair covers for a fraction of the cost of renting them. Two of her cousins have used them in the last year, and I will probably try to sell them as soon as they are returned.

Our other daughter is getting married in 13 days. I was able to save about $8 per tablecloth by purchasing them, the bride is less anxious because she KNOWS they are here and the right color, and I will either sell or contribute them to a church when we are done. Win-win-win!

The trick is to do it all online--free shipping for "large" orders! Have them shipped to someone near the wedding.

We have done cupcakes as well for several showers--That time in our lives--you can use cake mix, substitute milk for water, butter for oil, and add one extra egg to make them tastier. I freeze them beforehand and thaw just before decorating with a piping bag to cut down on the last-minute prep.

I think I told you guys we did cupcakes with a small cake on top, I think it only ended up costing a little over 100. I think they turned out very elegant looking. They were delicious too! Everyone loved them. I also saved a lot of money buy buying mostly fake flowers. We used faux flowers for all the bouquets and petals for the tables and only a few real roses in the center pieces. This is where I got mine from: Wedding Bouquets Online | Silk Wedding Flowers | Wedding Flowers
I had my MIL modify them a bit with ribbons and sparklies, they looked great in all the pictures and now I have keepsakes :)
I'm so excited for you, it goes by so fast. I will say please invest in videoing the ceremony, I went the cheap route and we set up a webcam but something happened and it didn't work, I didn't get any video of my wedding :(

These are all great tips, Donna, I especially love the idea of a little welcome basket for my out of towners. I could do little tubes of sunscreen (sc in May requires sunscreen trust me), snacks, water, etc.

Oh my gosh, that's awesome thank you! Very helpful. And yes, the planning may be a burden or stress to some but I've always enjoyed packing, organization etc. so this is pretty fun to me.

I saw the pics you posted of your wedding forever ago, and everything looked so beautiful! Those flowers were awesome for silks. I think I\'m going to DIY paper flowers because it\'ll be extremely cheap to do and it goes with our theme. Our centerpieces are going to be borrowed hardback books, stacked and tied up with lace or twine. On top of the books will be mismatched painted/glittered wine bottles I\'ve been collecting for years. Add in some tealights and babysbreath. All we have to buy is the babysbreath...I already have all the craft supplies.

Today I worked on our invitations AND I bought my wedding shoes! I may or may not add some sort of sparkly shoe clip to them. I love them on their own really.
Attachment 400848

Update.
 

My turn to update, almost 4 months to go! I have bridesmaid dresses ordered, flowers and decorations picked out, and hotel rooms reserved. Just have to figure out what we're doing for food. This destination stuff is the way to go!

I'm doing a welcome bag for our guests, but having trouble trying to decide what to put in it. I'm making do not disturb signs for their hotel room doors. I've also got sunglasses, flipflops, chapstick, water. Think those are enough? I need to keep any other items down to tiny and able to be flown/shipped. At the rate I'm going I'm either going to have like 5 huge suitcases of stuff or have to ship alot! Not sure which way of getting everything there will be cheaper.

Anyone know of a good website to get maps of areas to download? I want to make little pamphlets to put in their bags.

My wedding dress still isn't in :( its estimated arrival date is August 28th, and I ordered it March 8th! I'm starting to get nervous about alterations. They measured me at a size 10, when I usually measure in between a 4 & 6. From what I understand wedding dresses tend to run small. Oye!

Sounds so fun! Can't recall where you're going for your wedding bc my brain is dumb right now...but ideas for welcome bags: gum, mints, chocolate, lotion, SPF lotion (if tropical?)...?

Jenni, did you end up picking Kauai as your wedding destination?

The local "ABC" stores have tons of cute small inexpensive Hawaiian souvenir type stuff like key chains, fridge magnets, mini Hawaiian floral perfumes and soaps, note pads, pens, small photo albums, and that kind of stuff.

Yes, we're doing Kauai! I can't wait!

Great idea! I'll have to pick some things out when we arrive! I forget about the ABC stores in Hawaii.

Those shoes are so cute! Sometimes just a few sparkles here and there can really change the look of something. I love the paper flower idea, I almost did that but let my family talk me into using real (and fake) flowers, but they paid for them so I said ok. It sounds like it is going to be so unique, I love that. I got a big pack of tea lights at Costco too, super cheap and with cool flickering flame like light action. I think making stuff is fun, makes you feel more involved and makes everything so much more about you- which it should be :D

Take it from somebody that went to college for 3 years for a degree in floral design and wedding planning that your idea of an itinerary is a VERY smart thing, also make a time line chart of when things need to be done by so nothing gets skipped to allow proper amount of time needed!! I used to type one up for my brides when I still did weddings.
I always loved unquie little touches that fit the couple... Like one couple always when stop for Krystal burgers after a night out so towards the end of the evening Krystal burgers were passed out lol another couple skipped a huge cake and had an ice cream bar. But even if you skip a cake and do cupcakes I still say do at least a small little two tier cake for pictures of the cake cutting and to save the top layer for your one year anniversary.
Another thing a couple once did was have a wooden box that had a lock and the bride and groom had to write a special letter sharing their feelings of love and how important the other was to them during the wedding both put the sealed letters in the box and lock it (this couple had a special box that also had space for a bottle of wine) and the rule was if they were ever fighting so bad they doubted their marriage then they were to sit down share the bottle of wine and each read the letters out loud to each other to help remember their love for each other.

Well, it's been a while and I seem to be the only one following this thread so here's the update/my rant, and it's a doozy:

About a month ago, our venue essentially backed out on us. After we had already put a deposit down and signed a contract, I got an email saying due to competitive pricing, they are adding $900 onto our total. I was dumbfounded. I read our contract over and over and while it said pricing was subject to change I figured that meant quoted prices were subject to change, NOT locked in prices that I had already put a non refundable deposit on. I was so pissed. I had all our paperwork and I sent it to her, with the prices we had agreed on...but she wasn't answering our calls or emails.

Two days later she calls to tell me the price changed because a couple had been penciled in for the same date, no deposit down but she was supposed to call them first before giving the date to anyone else. She forgot to call them before giving us the date. Now they were angry and saying they wanted the venue's largest, most extravagant package and they were missing out by giving the date to us, who wanted the smallest package possible. So to make up for the loss, the coordinator now wanted $900 extra from us due to "competitive pricing".

Needless to say I demanded she honor the contract I signed or she give us our deposit back. No response to my repeated calls, but days later I received the deposit back! With no note or apology. I emailed her to say what a disappointing experience it was working with her and she replied offering to give us another date at a discounted price! I was heartbroken. Cried a bit. We wanted NOTHING more to do with them at that point. The entire thing was SO unprofessional. A nightmare, really. I had to break the news to all the parents, grandparents, out of town family, my sisters I had asked to be bridesmaids...good thing I hadn't bought the invitations (I had already designed) yet.

We are now booked to have a very small ceremony with the two of us, our parents, and a friend or two, in a gorgeous garden here in Texas. No reception, no cake. We are renting the private room at our favorite restaurant. Not the wedding I was originally expecting, but it'll be more about the two of us, no fuss. Plus now we have way more $ to play with or save. They even gave us a free night at the local bed and breakfast! Still a little upset that everything is changed but at the end of the day we just want to be married, dangit! Lol. No wedding goes without it's share of drama so I think it should be smooth sailing from here ;)

I'm very sorry all of your hopes and dreams for your wedding were shattered, but you're right that what's more important is to be sharing your life life with someone you love so dearly. Your wedding still sounds beautiful, one I hope will be very memorable. You are going to be a beautiful bride.

:( I'm sorry. How terrible of these people to do this to you! I hope you're reviewing them everywhere possible so other brides hear your story! Sad that they wouldn't stand by your contract, bad business!

You definitely deserve smooth sailing!

I am incredibly sorry that you ran into such a miserable vendor! Yes, please review them on every site you find. I hope that the new plan turns out to be lovely, warm, and charming--I am sure it will! Go on and order a wedding cake. If you double wrap any leftovers in plastic and then in foil, they keep well in the freezer. One can never have too much cake!

I am sorry you had such a rough time but you may be surprised how much you enjoy the smaller ceremony. I was a little sad more of my family couldn't be at my wedding but in the end it was really special having it so small, I got to spend time with each of the guests and it made it a more close knit occasion. I sent pictures to my family that couldn't make it. I hope it's smooth from here on out!

Guess who is getting married finally on Friday. MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I am so excited. :)

Getting Married.
 

Congratulations!! Hope you have a wonderful wedding and a long and happy life together. :-)

:thumbup::thumbup:

Have a beautiful wedding!

So we can expect pics late Friday night? lol!!!! Have a blessed, beautiful and happy day, I hope you have a beautiful life together.

It isn't going to be anything big. We are doing the courthouse wedding thing... Just a few people will be there.

Christinee, Congrats! :) Hope its a great wonderful dream-filled day for you! :)

Carmeow, I'm so sorry.. that is HORRIBLE and soooo unprofessional. Make sure you put reviews about them everywhere you can. Yelp and any other review site. I had a very sour experience with my wedding venue until 10 days before the wedding, then they let go of the wedding coordinator and the owners daughter in law took over and made everything right ... thats how service should be! Your new plan sounds wonderful though! :)

Thank you. Looks like it's being pushed until next week. I will post a pic or two of our little ceremony afterwards.