Wedding Week: Save vs. Splurge

Let's just get something out of the way - most weddings aren't cheap. Tyler & I wanted to have an amazing day, but we didn't want to start our lives together with wedding debt. So we pinpointed some of the areas we were willing to spend more on & then did our best to save, save, save on the other parts. For us, we wanted good food, plenty of booze, music, & a space big enough for all of our family and friends without whittling away the guest list. Working with the family members that helped fund our nuptials, we set a budget & it ruled all planning decisions we made. If not, things can get out of hand & quickly!

So where did we save the most?

1. DIY flowers - after getting a quote from a local florist for $4,000+ I had to reassess my flower design dreams. My stepmom mentioned using silk flowers & I immediately turned up my bratty nose. I associated silk flowers with icky 80s arrangements & funerals… not what I was going for. But then I found Afloral.com & had to eat my words (typical… you think I would learn!)

Turns out I could have all my flower dreams, for 1/5th the price & without having to worry about wilting! For about $750 I purchased all the flowers for the wedding (centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, etc.) & was able to assemble them months ahead of time to cut down on last minute stress. Amount saved? $3,250.

In the market for silk flowers? I thought the peonies & anemones looked very realistic. Shop these: here, here, here, here & here. (our photographer didn't even believe me they were silk & they stayed fresh looking all day!)

2. Crafty family & friends - my sister made my veil & wrote on the chalkboards, my stepmom made my garter, my mom made the flower girl dresses, my aunt and cousin made our entry way picture (out of a vintage window, so cool!), my grandparents designed & made our Mr. & Mrs. chair signs, a friend made our cut cake, & two of my friends played the ceremony music. Amount saved? Family touches are priceless!

3. Affordable Wedding Party Attire - Asking your wedding party to pony up for bachelor/bachelorette parties, showers, engagement parties, gifts, flights to your wedding AND an outfit… that's not nice. We wanted to make sure that our friends enjoyed being a part of our party & still had money left in their pockets. The ladies got to pick out their own blush chiffon dresses & wore shoes/accessories they already owned. The gents wore charcoal pants and white button downs they already had & Ty gifted them their shoes and ties. All they had to pick up were $5 suspenders. Amount saved? Friendships.

4. Booze - we splurged on our venue, but they let us pick our own vendors, allowing us to save or spend as much as we wanted on these services. Some venues lock you into using their vendors, including wine packages that can start at $15 a bottle (& that's for the cheap stuff!) By sticking with only wine and beer & getting to buy it in bulk from our bargain liquor store, we saved big & everyone's cups stayed full all night long. Amount saved? $3,000+

5. Guest Favors & Sky Lanterns - the key here is to buy early & in bulk quantities if possible. We knew that we wanted mason jar guest favors & a Chinese lantern grand exit, so we bought these on the wedding off season & in bulk all at one time. You could also look for Groupons or re-sale items on wedding message boards. Total spent = $300. Amount saved? $1,000.

As I mentioned, we splurged on our venue, photography/videography & professionals to do our lights, DJ & photo booth services. The biggest thing is to sketch out what your perfect day looks like & then focus the most funds on the non-negotiables for making that vision happen. Some things are cornerstones of your dream day, while others (ahem, $2000 draping… true story) are going to only be noticed by you. 

Firsthand tip: When it comes to DIYs, DIY early, or do NOT DIY at all. For the sake of your sanity, do not plan on doing major DIY crafting the month before. Your friends, family & future husband will thank you!

Married people, what were your saves vs. splurges? 

all photographs, Jessica Ranae Photography.

Wedding Week: Saying Yes to the Dress

I couldn't help but show a sneak peek of our big day on Friday, but now wedding week is officially underway! 

As much as I love fashion/clothes/shopping & all that, The Dress was not the top of my wedding day MUSTS. Sure I needed a dress to wear, but it wasn't one of the details that I OBSESSED over. That is until I won a 20% off coupon to a boutique wedding dress shop in Brooklyn, New York. Thus the idea was sparked that my sister & I just had to take a trip to NYC for wedding dress shopping. My sister & I hadn't ever taken a solo trip together, so it was a great way to celebrate sisterhood and my entry to the world of married people. You might remember that weekend whirlwind recap, but if not, check it out here.

Obviously, the first time I tried on wedding dresses, I hadn't ever done it before, and learned as I went. So I thought that sharing my experiences might be helpful to others out there too!

Some factors to consider BEFORE you shop, selecting a store:
1. What is the range of prices carried? If your max budget is $1,000 & the dresses at that shop START at $1,000 you might want to pass. Sure they might have ONE $1,000 dress, but you are going to fall in love with the $3,000 one every time Budgeting is much easier when you aren't temped by gorgeous white gowns… they blind you I tell ya!

2. Do they allow you to take pictures? If you aren't sure you want to lay down the big bucks and take the dress home that same day, pictures to remember the dresses by are key, but not all places let you snap away. 

3. Is there a sample sale coming up? Again, if you can wait for a sale, it might be worth it to your precious budget. Call around, these are mostly openly advertised.

4. Champagne? I mean, you want to make it an experience, right!? Call ahead & have that bubbly ready for you on ice!

On the big day, don't forget:
1. Your shoes, undergarments, accessories. Sure you might not have the exact pieces yet, but start to get an idea. Do you want a sash? Should you bring the flower crown that you purchased the day after you got engaged, even if it means wearing it on the plane so it doesn't get crushed in your carry-on… probably.

Also, most bridal salons put the dress on you, so whatever you are wearing under your clothes they will see it. TIP - at least bring a nude no-show panty and nude strapless bra for starters.

2. Do your hair & makeup. You are going to be done up the day you actually wear the dress, so take extra time to gussy yourself up for the try-ons. You will feel more bridal.

3. Patience! Yes, this is YOUR time, but you also might be 1 of 10 brides in the shop that day… patience my dear!

4. Not everyone cries when they find The One. TV shows might have ruined us on this one. When you put on the dress you end up buying, you might not get all emotional, everyone is different. 

Biggest advice (applies to all aspects of wedding planning) - when you make a decision, stick with it and move forward. Once you walk out of the store gown in hand, that is your gown (again, your budget will thank you).

So now, where I tried on dresses.

Dress Shop 1: Olia Zavozina, Nashville TN

I already had the NYC trip booked, but my Maid Of Honor was in town, so we popped into this local designer's Nashville dress shop. It was hands down the sweetest, least stressful dress shopping experience I had - bestie, bubbly, beautiful dresses. This designer's line is also now carried at Nordstrom for anyone interested.

Dress Shop 2: J.Crew 5th Avenue Wedding Salon, NYC

Wow, what a let down! I always imagined myself in a J.Crew gown, but this dress shopping experience ruined it for me. Unfortunately my sister's plane was delayed, so I had to go to this appointment alone. They put you in a dressing room with the dress options they have on hand (usually 3 - 6), then walk away and leave you. Lots of selfies and "do I look pregnant" in this thoughts later… I was out of there! 

The upside - in the grand scheme of things, these gowns were pretty affordable. I liked the one in the middle the most for $600.

 Dress Shop 3: Macy's Herald Square Bridal Department, NYC

Definitely the most options here! But no bubbly & no pictures allowed (we broke the rules… shhhh) Overall we left feeling overwhelmed. The prices were decent for a major department store (start at $1,000), & if you have a clear idea of what you want going in, Macy's most likely has it. I was waiting for the right dress to find me, so that many available options was not helping me narrow down what exactly that was.

Dress Shop 4: The White Gown, Brooklyn NY

This is the shop I had won the discount to, & the final stop on our wedding dress shop tour. I immediately LOVED the vibe of this shop. Boutique like, every dress was absolutely stunning, and superb bride treatment! I ultimately fell in love with 2 dresses, & knew that one of them would be MY DRESS… I probably put them each on 5 times, going back and forth. Again, I made my decision and then stuck with it, but even now, I know I made the right choice for me!

Dress 1 was covered in lace, with an open back and fitted through the hips.

Dress 2 was fitted to the waist and then flowy, with a totally open back and dotted Swiss tulle.

Once I put it on with the veil I had this "OMG I'm getting married" freak out… in a totally good way!

So that is my wedding dress shopping story. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments!

P.S. Nashville bride-to-be ladies, don't forget to enter to win tickets to The Not Wedding!

Sunday Shopping: Dorm Do-Over

The glory days, graduating high school, packing up to head to college, dreaming of running wild & being free. Oh and the hot pink + neon green dorm room that my roommate and I had planned. It. Was. Epic. Blinding. 5 years post college graduation & I'm still trying to ditch those horrific lime green tubs, and hot pink furry pillows.

If I had the chance for a dorm room do-over, I would definitely plan a more neutral decoration design & head directly to Pottery Barn Dorm. PBdorm is the place for finding the key pieces to make your dorm room social central. It's funny but you don't really think about how your bed will also be a couch (folding chairs are key). How you will meet your future bridesmaids in the communal bathrooms (be sure to dress for shower line socializing in monogrammed bath wraps). Storage is a precious commodity (hello cute & versatile trunk). Or that the laundry room on a Saturday night is indeed where the party's at (get ready with cute laundry bags).

Make your dorm room stand out with stylish desk accessories, a lamp that pulls double duty (not like your phone battery ran down because you were texting in class or anything), cozy rugs, a conversation starting desk chair, Greek pride cork board, & girlie sheets! Have fun and make it YOURS! Added bonus, monograms take the personalization up a notch too!

So did your dorm room decor transition to post-grad life, or did you have to try and erase your neon color + zebra printed EVERYthing obsessed younger design decisions?

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 

Thanks to PBdorm for sponsoring this post and reminding me how chic dorm rooms can be!

weekend reading: 06.07.14

1 // 2 // 3

This weekend why don't you :: Kick off your Summer on a clean slate!
Speaking of organizing, we are having a yard sale today, if you're in Nashville & want to stop by, please email me for the address!

{what you might have missed on Here&Now}

{1.} Kicking off wedding week - with our wedding video trailer!  

{2.} I kid you not, this is casual dress perfection. 

{3.} It's music festival season! Sharing my festival style with two looks: 1 // 2 

{4.} Rolling out my easy, breezy island honeymoon style. 

{5.} Gift picks for your Pops (only 7 days until Father's Day!) 

{posts I'm loving around the internets}

{1.} How to rock cropped white pants this Summer.

{2.} What does your blog name say about you?

{3.} Beginner blogger? You definitely need to read these tips!

{4.} Are Bermuda shorts a YAY or a NAY?

{5.} I love when bloggers I follow wear something I can immediately recreate in my closet. Kendi killed it with this look. What blogger inspired outfits are you wanting to make your own this Summer?

Wedding Week: Tyler + Jessica

Well, this has been a long & crazy week, so I decided to start the wedding reveal festivities early!

Hiring a videographer was a decision we waffled over for months! It was on the expensive side, we already had an amazing photographer lined up, did we really need a wedding video? I started casually looking around the internets for local videographers & stumbled upon John Hillin's beautiful work. After watching perfect strangers' wedding videos with tears streaming down my face, I knew we had to work with John. (Funny story, Tyler walked into the room when I was watching wedding videos on my laptop & thought that something was horribly wrong… what can I say, I'm an ugly crier!)

Fast forward to the big day, & John was a total rockstar. We had a ball hanging out, and I am blown away by the footage he captured. I literally don't know when he captured some of the little details… sneaky sneaky! I thought the wedding video trailer would be a good place to start with the "wedding week" coverage, so you can see the big picture of our wedding, and then next week I will focus on some more of the details. (If you have any wedding planning questions, let me know & I will try to cover them!)

So without further adieu, our video. You can click and watch below, or check it out on John's website (spoiler: if you head over there you will get sucked in watching touching videos of other people get married, and will probably cry... you've been warned)

Jessica + Tyler // Wedding Trailer from John Hillin Videography on Vimeo.

*for clarification, Tyler & I did a "first look" before the actual ceremony and read our personal vows to each other then. This was a very sweet & emotional time, and I'm so thankful that we got this time to just the two of us (+ 2 photographers & 1 videographer…but just the 5 of us doesn't sound as catchy!)

And, because it's Friday & we all could use a little extra reason to celebrate, I have a wedding related giveaway!

Last year I got to not only participate in a bachelorette themed shoot for The Not Wedding, I also attended their big fat fake wedding when the awesomeness rolled into Nashville. This is not your mother's wedding vendor fair. The Not Wedding is local vendors throwing a "wedding", the only exception, no one is actually getting married. 

But you can see the vendors in action, soak up inspiration & enjoy champagne + wedding cake! I definitely LOVED the rustic/industrial look their used in the Nashville Not Wedding last year & directly incorporated it into our big day.

If you are a local bride-to-be, or have a friend who is, The Not Wedding is giving away 2 pairs of tickets to the 2nd Nashville Not Wedding, July 18th. I will be there & would love to hang out with you too!

Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. Two winners will be chosen at random to receive 2 tickets each. The Not Wedding will be contacting the winners directly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway