Two Lady Bits Got Married!

Lady Bit Rachael and Lady Bit Anna married their fellas within one month of each other.  Hooray! They both planned beautiful weddings and would like to share their wisdom with all ye other Lady bits out there.

1. Having creative friends contribute their talents to your wedding is completely wonderful and can add a special touch to your day.  But be aware that you are essentially hiring your friends and that can sometimes get tricky, especially if you aren't paying them. I suggest setting up expectations early on.  What is the time commitment?  When do you want to see the final product?  What expectations do you have for their communicating their progress to you? -Rachael

2. Set the level of casual/seriousness that you want -- not the level you think your wedding should have. I chose to run my ceremony like a talent show. We heard a little from the officiant, a song, a poem, another song, a little more by the officiant, our own written vows, and a quick ending. It was important to me to have clapping in between each act -- smiles, laughter, and touching moments too. Jokes were encouraged, fumbles were perfectly ok, and smiles were essential. -Anna

3. Large wedding parties can be incredibly fun and I wouldn't change a thing about my Bridal Party.  But you need to go into it really understanding the extra stress involved when scheduling around so many people and their varying schedules. -Rachael

4. It can be so difficult to choose a wedding party. But I think in the end you just have to follow your heart, and trust that your loved ones will love you whether they are sitting or standing during your wedding. If you think about it, it really doesn't matter, because everyone ends up on the great equalizer together by the end of the night (the dance floor). -Anna

5. When it comes to the physical aspects of your wedding prioritize the things that are really important to you and keep coming back to those.  For my husband and I, the food, finding a venue that didn't require us to put our friends/family to work, and the right photographer were our top three.  So that's where the bulk of our budget went. Having that clarity made it easier to cut things like centerpieces, wedding cake, party favors, things that in the end we didn't really care about. -Rachael

6. If you don't have tons and tons of time to plan a wedding, pony up for a venue that provides a planner and staff. Initially I thought the venue that I chose was way too expensive but then I thought -- wait. They provide a ceremony planner, reception planner, food, bar, decorations, valet, and a crap ton of other things? Worth it. DIY weddings are a blast I'm sure, but too much work for this gal! -Anna

7. "You will not remember what your wedding looked like, you will remember what it felt like." The Wedding industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. It is designed to play on your emotions and make you spend, spend, spend.  So when you start thinking you need customized napkins, step away and remember, no one will remember what it looked like, they will remember what it felt like. -Rachael

8. Try not to kill your husband before you're even married. Remember your partner might not be as good at this stuff as you are. If you're better at this kind of stuff, or you have more time to do it, just suck it up and do the work, and try to remember how much you love him. Also remember that it's normal to have the wedding planning process be messy. You're normal, ok?! It's ok! You're gonna be ok!! -Anna

9. Weddings are expensive.  So always ask for a discount at every single vendor.  If you have a set amount you can spend on something, but your dream vendor is waaaay above that. ASK. I was able to work with some incredible vendors that are normally way out of my price range simply by asking what they could offer me for X amount. This is especially true if you are getting married on an "off day" like a Sunday or a weekday. -Rachael

10. Like Rachael said, if you want a cheaper wedding, do it in off season (November-ish to April-ish), and on an off-day. You will spend literally half the money you otherwise would. -Anna

And above all else -- be grateful. Be so, so grateful for it all! -Rachael and Anna

And now Pictures!

Lady Bit Rachael and her husband, Andy

 

Lady Bit Anna and Man Bit Tom

 

 

Creative Decorating- On the Cheap!

I really like finding wall art and other decorating items in unlikely places.  One of my favorite finds was a French cooking book that was left in the free book exchange at Escuela Falcon, a language school I was teaching at in Guanajuato, Mexico.  (Want to learn Spanish in an immersion setting in a lovely Mexican town? visit http://escuelafalcon.com/)

I love how the images inside are simple and have a fresh but bold color palate.  Perfect for a rental apartment where I can't add any color by painting the walls.  To turn my find into usable and basically free art, I simply cut out 6 of my favorite images, put them in some $1 frames from IKEA and voila' kitchen art taken care of.  And I can easily change out the pictures if I get tired of them!

Another great find was this old scalloped window frame I found at an antique shop for $6.  All I had to do was string wire through the screen, get some picture clips from IKEA and then it became a fun way to display photos and show postcards. My former room mate even borrowed it for her wedding to display photos of the bride and groom.

So keep your eyes open, you never know where you might find items that can be turned into fun decoration.

Mixing "High" and "Low" Fashion

Are you like me? Do you hate it when magazines and stylists on TV complement a star on mixing "high" and "low" fashion and then when they break down the pieces the "low" fashion is a "bargain" at $300?! Or they spent $75 on a T-shirt?!

I am a bargain shopper. In other words I almost NEVER pay full price for anything when it comes to clothes, but I like high quality things that last a while.  I like to spend a little bit more on shoes, bags, coats if they will last me 5-10 years.  So I mix higher end (by this I mean J Crew not Chanel) and lower end (think Target and thrift/consignment stores) in order to achieve a put together look that won't destroy my wallet but also won't fall apart after a year.  If you buy only cheap things and end up replacing them in a year you'll spend more in the long run than if you buy one quality item that lasts longer.   Example, when I was a junior in high school (10 years ago!) my sister and I went shopping for boots.  I got a pair of Antonio Melani boots which at 50% off, still cost me $110.  My sister, not wanting to spend that much bought a pair of cheap brown boots for $20.  I still have my boots, which I wear all the time and continue to get compliments on while my sister has gone through multiple different pairs spending $200 over the course of the same 10 year span. Sometimes it's worth seeking out those deals and spending a bit more for a high quality item. BUT that's the whole point of actually mixing "high" and "low" fashion pieces!

Left:
Shoes- Target, $29.99
Dress- Forever 21, $9 end of summer sale
Sweater- Banana Republic, $19 on sale
Purse- J Crew, $140 everything 50% off on cyber monday sale plus I had a coupon
Scarf- hand me down, $0
"Headband"- thrift store, $1 I wish you could see it better in the picture, it's an old tie with a great           pattern that I found at a thrift store.

TOTAL $198.99 (without the purse it's only $58 for the whole outfit!)

Right:
Boots: DSW, $79 with $20 off coupon and they're designer!
Skinny Jeans: Wet Seal, $19
Shirt: Target: $10 on sale
Purse: same as above

TOTAL $248 ($108 without the purse)

Disclaimer: I'm planning on doing many posts about saving money on clothes while still having a pulled together fashion forward look so I guarantee there will be better examples, better pictures, and better outfits than the ones here, but I wanted to get the ball rolling. You know?