The Reception Cost
The most expensive part of the wedding; experts recommend allocating roughly half of your budget for your reception. Think about all the guests who will attend, especially if your wedding ceremony itself was more private.
Some people pay professional musicians to play live, while others hire a DJ. To save money, some people ask a friend to run an iPod or to create a looping slideshow that combines images and music.
Catering Costs
Include alcohol and champagne in this package and it becomes quite cost prohibitive. Sparkling wine can be substituted more cheaply for champagne.
Cake Prices
While it may seem like a deceptively simple piece of the wedding, the average wedding cake can cost over five hundred dollars if professionally prepared.
Even if a friend or family member volunteers to bake it, they will still put in a lot of time, energy, and money preparing, especially if your guest list is quite extensive.
Wedding Attire Cost
The wedding dress is usually what breaks the bank, but is the most important piece of a traditional wedding, and what people will be talking about years afterward. Many men are skipping tuxedos and wearing a jacket with a button-up shirt and tie that they may already own.
Wedding Photographer Prices
This is an expensive option because the photographer is the person who will allow your memories to live forever, which is why so many people spend a large portion of their planning time interviewing photographers or visiting a variety of studios. You don’t need to pay for proofs, however, as many photographers will offer you a CD that contains the high-resolution images of your wedding.
Rehearsal Dinner Cost
Renting the hall and paying for the food cause this to be a potentially pricey option.
Invitations Prices (and save-the-date cards)
This includes the price of envelopes as well as stamps, which many people forget about. An increasing number of people are sending out e-vites or creating websites that provide the guests with the information about date and place.
Wedding Ring Prices
Diamonds are the recurring favorite jewel for wedding rings, but many people are using their engagement rings to double for the wedding ring itself or are having them engraved. Still others are considering options such as utilizing ancestral jewelry, like a grandmother’s ring.
Transportation Cost
Paying a limo to escort you and your intended to the ceremony racks up a chunk of change. The wedding party may also need escorting.
Flower Prices
Flowers provide a splash of color and class to the ceremony and the reception, but they can also cost an arm and a leg, since they need to be fresh and purchased from a florist. Choosing flowers in season means that they don’t need to be flown in and will cost less.
Happy Beginnings,
Mike

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…For generations, tradition has allowed the bride to choose her wedding dress as well as mementos and keepsakes to create her own very personal vision of her perfect day. However, when it came to the wedding cake there was little to no choice. Traditionally, wedding cakes were three-tiered white-frosted cake with a porcelain bride and groom perched on top. I don’t know what is more apparent that times have changed, than wedding cakes.
Evolving traditions are all about out with the old and in with the new. Modern cakes are reflecting a couple’s style and personalities both through new and inventive flavors and above and beyond artistic talents of bakers. In fact, I would have to say there are as many different wedding cakes as I have seen brides and grooms! For many couples this is the one piece of their wedding puzzle that both bride and groom are gaining equal say in the design and style of their cake; and quite easily the most effective detail when portraying their style as a couple.
Bakers too are evolving and are becoming more skilled than ever at flavor invention, creative design and imaginative architecture; yes I use architecture when describing wedding cakes. Making a wedding cake is a science, an art form, and while Aunt Mary does indeed make yummy cakes, rarely is she in the running to keep up with the ever evolving styling options and structural design. Cakes are being designed in shapes, three dimensional characters and in jaw dropping heights. When I say the possibilities are endless, I mean it, but there of course is always the bottom line question, what is this going to cost.
Purchasing a cake for 150 people is definitely not the most inexpensive thing you will have at your wedding; however, there are some great ways to get that price tag of your dream cake to a more comfortable place. The first is to ask your baker what size they recommend for your guest count; when that is determined then the designing fun may commence. Many couples are having smaller more intimate affairs of 50 people, but don’t want to sacrifice the appearance of not having a grand cake; no need! Bakers can decorate pieces called “dummies” in place of real cake to give you the grandiose appearance without all the extra cake; this of course will help your budget. For large affairs of 150 or more guests a sheet cake is a great route to take; tactless I know to think a sheet cake for your wedding but allow me to explain. You will have your grandiose cake just as you designed it, but with the “dummies” mentioned previously and only one or two real tiers for you to cut. After the bride and groom have done their cake photo ops, the cake will be taken out of the room to be cut and served. But, ta-daa! It’s already ready to dish up and get it back out to your reception! No muss, no fuss! The guests have no idea, they still get the same great taste and your budget took a lot lighter blow to feed cake to those 150 guests.
The best advice when deciding on a wedding cake, think outside the box and dream!!
Happy Beginnings, Mike

Wedding planning whether it here in Historic Charleston S.C. or from the comfort from your home can seem like an overwhelming process — with so many details to take care of and options to choose from, where does one begin?
Well we have the answer, Yupper you guessed it! The internet has become a popular source of information for ideas, advice and a helpful tool to get and stay organized, while enabling you to share with your Wedding Planner, family and friends.
So let’s get started…
Let’s start with the two most important things, you’re wedding date and securing a Ceremony and Reception venue. Simply do a Google search for your destination city and hold on to your seats. Not so fast! We recommend seeking out the right wedding planner who can express the in’s and out’s of each venue while translating the contractual jargon at the same time, or perhaps joining a chat room or forum for helpful info.
Next in order of preference we highly recommend seeking wedding planning vendors who take your thoughts, vision, dreams, and budget and make it a reality.
Start with the “Meat and Potatoes” of Wedding Planning vendor’s .What I mean is, you should ask yourself “What do I need not want for your big day. These are what should be on your needs list.Caterer,Photographer,Floral/ Décor, Band or DJ, Cake.
Do your homework when seeking out vendors you are not familiar with. Referrals should be a must as well as a good open line of communication. Did they promptly return or email or phone call or did they just send you to their website? We truly believe in the motto” You only get one chance to make a first impression.
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Getting Started
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Particularly in the early stages, it’s hard to know where to start. Luckily, many sites provide planning resources from the onset. The precursor to any wedding, of course, is getting engaged, and Where to Get Engaged will help you find inspiration for your proposal. Users can discuss how to pop the question on forums and blogs, and watch real engagement videos, as well as find vendors (for things like rings and flowers). You can register in stealth mode to avoid surprises, or conversely, integrate with your existing social media profiles, and even create a blog to document your proposal.
Once you’ve gotten engaged, it’s time to start planning the big day. Because planning a wedding is such a big task, One Wed figures you need all the help you can get. The site enables couples to seek out friends and family to share tips and offer advice. The Wedding Checklist feature provides a customizable task list that can be edited, delegated, and, of course, checked off once completed. By sharing the planning workload with friends and family, you can free yourself to spend more time actually enjoying your wedding.
Weddings, though, don’t generally come free, so you’ll need a way to keep on top of how much everything you’re planning costs and how it fits into your budget. Wed Snap, the creator of a number of Face book wedding planning tools, has a Wedding Budget application that offers an itemized breakdown based on one’s overall wedding budget and number of guests. The budget covers all categories, including the reception, photo/video, fashion, music, flowers and decoration, rings, transport and hotel, ceremony, and stationary.
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Finding Vendors
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The wedding industry is vast, and selecting quality vendors can be difficult, especially when you’re trying to stick to your budget. Large sites like The Knot, Bridal Fever, and Brides.com offer local directories based on region, as well as discussion forums, enabling couples to get advice and reviews about vendors in their area. On the Wedding Channel’s Community, profiles include location, making it easy to reach out to other users in the area, and Project Wedding provides a Vendor Reviews section that can be sorted by date (newest/oldest), score (highest/lowest), and the reviewers’ credibility
Because weddings are one-time affairs, most wedding vendors don’t get a lot of repeat business, so it’s not likely that you’ll have personal experience with many of the vendors you’ll end up working with. Local directories can help you find everything from a venue to a caterer to a photographer and by relying on the reviews of others; you can help assure that you’ll be working with vendors that will make sure you wedding goes off without a hitch.
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Invitations and Wedding Websites
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Keeping guests informed and involved is often a challenge. Paper invitations, save the date cards, and directions to the reception are both expensive and often misplaced. Luckily, there are a variety of online tools that can be easily located and synchronized with email and calendars, as well as cut costs, save paper, and engage guests.
While you may not be able to completely do away with paper invitations (since it is doubtful that all of your guests will be tech savvy enough to rely solely on electronic invites), creating a wedding web site is essential. Your wedding web site will be able to provide guests with vital information about the wedding schedule, location, travel arrangements (such as nearby hotels and restaurants), background about you and your fiancé, and links to your registry. There are a large number of options for creating your web site, including Moment Ville, eWedding, and MyWedding.com.
Another option is Zank You, which provides wedding websites with multimedia capability, so that guests can not only post comments, but upload songs and videos in the guest book. Zink You also provides couples with the ability to poll guests on their wedding websites so you can involve guests in wedding planning decisions (such as whether to go
Wherever you choose to create and host your wedding site, you can augment your site with the Bridal Guide Save the Date Widget, which allows your guests to add your wedding information to their calendars with one click. Also be sure to check out Weddingbook, which is another Face book application from WedSnap that allows users to fill out a profile with wedding details, a countdown, and registry info. Couples can add their wedding party and guest list, enabling guests to connect with each other on the social network before the event.
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Sharing the Big Day
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Even after the wedding is over, your guests will still want to hear from you. Send a thank you tweet once you’re back from your honeymoon, and upload pictures onto Face book and Flickr. Use sites like thisMoment or Panraven to create multimedia storybooks of your big day, and even consider creating a hard bound photo book of your wedding as a keepsake for close relatives (like your parents or grandparents) at Blurb or Lulu.
You can also take advantage of your wedding web site after the big event and encourage your guests to keep in touch and share any pictures or video they may have shot during the wedding. Create an invitation-only group on Flickr and invite guests to share photos, or create a special wedding hash tag on Twitter and ask guests to tweet their memories of the wedding. By keeping connected with guests on social media sites you can share with them other milestones in your new life

“Never lose focus of the marriage while planning your wedding.”
Mike

In today’s world, planning ahead has become a necessity. Save the dates allow your guests to plan for your wedding day well in advance. This is especially important for out-of-town guests, or destination weddings. Remember, this is not an announcement, it’s just a heads up

Guests
Save the date etiquette is vital here. The most important thing to do before sending out a save the date card is to finalize your guest list. The save the date card is a pre-announcement that lets your guests know that they will be invited to the wedding.

Once you sent out a save the date card to a guest, you cannot un-invite them. If, by chance there is a wedding budget crisis, and you need to make guest cuts, it is good to know this before you send out the cards. You can trim a guest list easier when the guests are not yet pre-invited.

When you send out a save the date card, be sure to list if the person invited can include a guest. There are a couple of ways this can be done. If you know the name of the guest that will be invited, include them when addressing the card. If not, it is acceptable to include “and guest”. Also, if children are to be included, list them on the card as well.
When should save the dates be sent?
Send them as soon as you set your wedding date and have secured your ceremony and reception sites… This can be from 6 months to a year before the wedding. When planning your destination wedding, the more time you can give your guests the better, it can be a year or mom in advance.
Helpful info:
The only guests who will be invited to the wedding should receive a save the date. For wording, keep it shirt and sweet! Your names, wedding date and “Invitation with details to follow.” If it’s a destination wedding how about including travel agencies along with resort and hotel information.
Your save the dates can be anything from refrigerator magnets to photo postcards, skies the limit!

Wedding Gift Amount Etiquette
Wedding gift amount etiquette is a topic that has been discussed with set amounts one should give the happy couple. It is important to remember that the gift is a representation of your love for them… no matter what it costs.
It is not good wedding gift etiquette for a couple to ask for money or gifts when they invite loved ones and friends to their wedding. It is an opportunity for those invited to help the couple start their lives with the gifts that they choose.
Wedding gift etiquette states that if you are invited to the wedding you should present the couple with a gift. It is appropriate to send the gift to the couple or a parent before or after the wedding. If you choose to give the couple money, you can give the card to them during the reception.
When you are deciding how much to spend on a gift, the most important thing you need to do is look at your budget. Also, be mindful of how many weddings you will be invited to during the year. Purchasing multiple wedding gifts in a year can add up quickly, especially if you are invited to bridal showers as well.
Also, you need to take into consideration the amount of travel you will need to do in order to attend the wedding. If you are traveling some distance to the wedding, those costs will need to be factored into the budget amount you have for the wedding gift. The bride and groom will be so grateful that you took the time and expense to attend their wedding, they will not be expecting an extravagant gift.
Once you have looked at your budget and determined how much you have to spend, get creative. Take what you know about the bride and groom and find a gift that is either on the registry, or one that you know they will enjoy. Our favorite gifts from our wedding weren’t the ones that were really expensive. They were the little ones that came from the heart of the guests. After 13 plus years of marriage, we still know who the gifts were from.
Wedding gift amount etiquette comes down to what you, the guest can afford. For those you are really close to, it is appropriate to do more for them, if you can. The bride and groom will show their good wedding manners by being grateful for anything and everything that they receive.
Happy Beginnings,
Mike