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A good tip for people who want a salon experience, but don't want to deal with the cost: find a cosmetology school in your area. Most, if not all, schools take regular clients so that their students can practice on real people. Go in a few months before the wedding and check out the place; their prices, what the atmosphere is like, explain what you're looking for, etc. Don't be scared off by the idea of going there though. In well-run places, the students aren't allowed on the floor to take real clients until after they've completed many classes and have proved that they won't burn off someone's hair with bleach. Also, a good school won't mind if you ask questions and look at their facilities. There's a local place here that will do a style for $14 and makeup for anywhere from free (basic touch-up) to $20 (full deal with very good quality make up). Places will also offer packages, so you could get a haircut + manicure for cheaper than if you did them separate. It's a great way to cut the cost on pampering the bridal party too.
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Feb 8, 2008 18:11
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Sorry to bump an oldish thread but... (cross-posted from a thread I started, figured I'd get more advice this way) My fiancee and I have decided that we're going to go to Las Vegas to get married. We've talked about it and we don't want to go through the hassle or cost of having a big wedding. If we stayed in town and had a wedding with just our immediate family and close friends, there would be at least 50-60 people. Also, our family is scattered so we'd have people coming from six different states. It just seems like a logistical nightmare. We've done the research on getting the license, we're looking at chapels and creating a budget. We wouldn't be doing this until this fall at the earliest, so we're not rushing into anything either (plus the airfare and hotel rates are cheaper after Thanksgiving). Also, we are going to tell our parents, so it won't be much of an elopement; more like a destination wedding. I'm just looking for any tips that anyone who has eloped (or had a destination wedding) has for us. How much did you plan on spending versus how much you actually spent? What was the most expensive part of the trip? Was there anything you would've done differently if you could go back and do it again? Are we missing anything? We may have two close friends go with us (depending on cost), how did that work out for those who did that? Did you pay for their ticket, or their room or both?
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Mar 10, 2008 15:05
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Gravitee posted:I don't have any advice, but I do have a recommendation. Of the few destination weddings I've been invited to, send out a save the date to let people know what and where you are doing things. The last one was somewhat a last minute invite (2-3 months) and it just wasn't economically feasible. I might have gone if I would have time to save up (it was in Jamaica). I don't think we're going to invite anyone really. We're just going to tell our parents, and maybe invite two or three friends. I don't want it to turn into a large wedding, even if it's in Vegas. Neither of us want to deal with our families. It is a good idea though.
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Mar 11, 2008 15:19
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Guys: If you are having trouble deciding on what to get as your wedding ring, get tungsten carbide. We got my fiancee an awesome band for only $100. The same size in gold was $800 and white gold was $700 (IIRC). Doing that will probably help shave off some money in the budget so you can use it for other things. Also, I would like to point out that a lot of people don't recommend going to mall or chain jewelry stores, may not have much room to haggle, but they have sales all the time. The place we went to actually had the best prices for what I wanted when we got my engagement ring, including the non-chain shops we looked at. We bought my engagement ring in December and got 5 $100 gift certificates for free (some X-Mas promo). All we had to do was spend three times the amount to use it (so 1 $100 certificate = $300 spent). The wedding ring was on sale for $400 (from $800), his was only $100, and they let us use two certificates, so we basically got his ring for free and mine for a great price. What would've cost us around $1000, only ended up costing us around $400 for everything.
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Mar 13, 2008 15:15
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IanCaw posted:Also, of all the engagement/wedding planning traditions, the one I have no clue about is this: Is there an inappropriate length of time to be engaged without setting an actual wedding date? We're nowhere near financially ready to plan a real wedding, but we are most certainly wanting to move to a new phase of our relationship. If we could have the whole wedding paid for magically, setting a date would be no problem, so, it's not that I don't want to happen. Basically, how long have other people held out in the 'engaged, no date yet' phase? If you want to ask her before you have the ring, do something cute like buying a bubblegum machine ring and putting it in a ring box. It'll be something silly and endearing, if she's into that sort of thing. She can even wear it as a placeholder if she wants. As for length of time, the traditional length of time between engagement and marriage is one year. That is for people who can afford to set a date right after the engagement though. My fiance and I got engaged with no date set and neither of us had a problem with it. Just make sure to talk to her so that you're both on the same page as to engagement ring != immediate wedding planning freakout. When we were asked when we were getting married, I told everyone "when he makes a million dollars." Retarded? Yes. But it's a non-offensive way to get people off of your back about it. And you're going to be asked a lot. Seriously. We were going to wait at least a year between engagement and marriage because we have family from all over the US and planning and saving up for it was going to be a nightmare. Now we're getting married a little under our one-year engagement anniversary in Vegas so we don't have to deal with the hassle and expense of having a huge wedding with family from all over.
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Apr 5, 2008 18:23
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IanCaw posted:I hate to post with another "What are your experiences?" type question, but, I'm not sure a better way to word this: My fiance asked my dad, and neither of us (nor my family) is traditional in any way. He is from the South, and I had been joking about it because of that, so I guess he decided "why not?" He asked my dad when they were at my dad's best friend's house, drinking beer after working on our car together. (Ain't that cute?) It really wasn't so much asking permission as making his intentions known, and letting my dad know we were serious and committed. Sheri had a great suggested when she said you could ask for a blessing instead of permission. Although if you don't have a good relationship with your future FIL, you probably want to skip that altogether.
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Apr 7, 2008 04:29
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jcschick posted:Sorry to bump but need help. With regards to announcements/invitations: Is it tacky to send out announcements to people who aren't invited to the wedding? You should send the announcements out after the wedding. Otherwise it will look like you're asking for a gift, but not even bothering to invite them to the wedding. You could even choose a nice picture of you and the groom and have some small copies made up at Walgreens or somewhere similar and include them with some/all of the announcements. My wedding plans are going pretty well (yay running away to Vegas!). We have the hotel and tickets booked, suit, dress and rings bought and people invited. Now we just have to find someone not going to watch our pets for week.  On a sidenote: Has anyone had any last-minute things happen/forget anything on a destination wedding? I'm already worrying about that kind of stuff, and it's still 8 months away.
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May 17, 2008 03:56
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For those of you who had a destination wedding: Did you also have a bridal shower? Is it considered tacky to invite people to the shower that aren't coming to the wedding (they're not coming not because I didn't invite them, but because it's a destination wedding and not everyone can go)? Also, has anyone ever done a co-ed shower? I've heard of co-ed baby showers and bachelor/bachelorette parties, but not bridal showers. Lastly, how do I make my shower not suck?
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Jun 6, 2008 13:34
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goatse guy posted:My fiance and I have been engaged for almost two months and there's still no set date or any idea of what we want to do. My mother and father haven't spoken in several years, but they're both agreed to put aside anything they have between them so I don't have to worry about having any fights at the wedding. Have you tried talking to your mom's family? I don't know why your mother's side hates him, and if it's not something as serious as say, abuse or something like that, then you shouldn't feel bad telling them to suck it up and let you have your father there. As testifeye said, if you are paying for the wedding, then you don't have to worry about them guilting you using money. Your father is part of your life, as your mother is. If they can't get over that long enough for you to have a happy wedding, then you should think about who deserves to be there more.
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Jul 26, 2008 21:12
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Cassandra Complex posted:So what would be the best ring/website to browse for me? All I ever see are fragile rings with huge stones popping out of them. I'm looking through suggested engagement ring websites so I hope I can find one. I'd like to hear from anyone here if they would know a solution for me. If you want to have precious stones in your ring, but don't want to have to worry about them, you should look for rings that have either "bezel" (for a single stone) or "channel" (for multiple stones) settings. This means that the stones are actually surrounded by the metal, and not just clutched by a few prongs. Bezel:  Channel:  I don't know if there are any specific bezel or channel websites, but just use those keywords to see if you can find anything. Go to some jewelry stores in the mall and try some on to see if they'll work for you. If you're worried about your future ring getting damaged, you might want to go to a store that has ring warranties, so you can take it in for cleanings, re-dippings and replacement of lost stones whenever you need to. A lot of people say that mall stores are rip-offs, but my experience with JB Robinson's has been great (I can't say anything for other stores). Plus they have a "12 months same as cash" payment plan, which is really nice if you can't plunk down the ring amount all at once, and you don't want to put it all on your credit card.
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Aug 2, 2008 18:55
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GoreJess posted:So we got engaged last night (finally, people were starting to wonder if after 5.5 years together it would ever happen)! And now I have to figure out how to plan a wedding. Does anyone have any recommendations for planners? Or any books to just stay away from? Check out your local bookstore's wedding section. There will be a ton of planning books that will give you a good idea of what you need. I bought one for my friend when we were planning her wedding, and it ended up being incredibly useful. We were able to keep track of everything (deposits, receipts, etc.), and the lists it had for everything were very detailed. I know that there are a few "GRRL POWER anti-wedding I'm a bitch"-type planning books, so that might be something to check into as well. They have lots of tips on how to have a non-traditional wedding, and handy hints on how to save money. Congrats!
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Aug 7, 2008 04:01
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Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:What kind of chump would I be if her parents split the cost of the ring with me? Why can't I find her a similar, but more affordable ring and pay for it all myself? Isn't it usually the guy who goes out and picks out a ring to surprise the girl, and she will love it regardless (assuming he put some thought and effort into it)? It seems like everyone has gone crazy except me, but could *I* possibly be the one in the wrong here? Talk to your girlfriend about the situation. Like GoreJess suggested, find out what aspects of the ring she likes and see if you can find anything similar. If she is dead set on that one specific ring OR ELSE, then you should bring up the large price tag. Tell her that her parents have offered to split the cost if she really wants that one. If she really wants that ring but has a problem with her parents paying for part of it, then tell her she's poo poo out of luck. She either gets the really expensive ring with her parents' help, or she gets whatever you two come up with together on your dime. Tell everyone who is bothering you about it to gently caress off because it's between you and your girlfriend, not them. Also, I would love my fiance regardless of what he got me, but if it's loving ugly, I'd appreciate the thought and take it back for something else. You want her to love you AND the ring. Otherwise it'll be something she will use against you in future fights. 
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Aug 16, 2008 21:34
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My friend and I planned her wedding for 250 in 6 months, and it was great. You just have to remember to be VERY organized and not let things get out of hand. Be willing to edit anything if necessary.
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Aug 22, 2008 01:19
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Bread Set Jettison posted:I was contemplating doing a sand ceremony but instead using spices but I can't imagine that will look very good. Check this out: http://offbeatbride.com/2011/04/unity-ceremony-options Fourth one down is a spice ceremony, they used white peppercorn and lava salt rocks. It looks really cool.
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Jan 13, 2015 00:47
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Buggiezor posted:My husband and I were engaged for about a year and a half. I felt like as soon as my brain finished making the switch from Boyfriend to Fiance, that's when I had to switch again to Husband. This is a really cute idea. 
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Jan 15, 2015 18:51
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Relevant to gift discussion Have you checked out the kitchen knife thread in GWS? They might be able to give you some good suggestions for a chef's knife. Also, anyone can hit up etsy and type in "groomsmen/bridesmaids gifts" and see a ton of awesome ideas. The growler suggestion is pretty cool too.
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Mar 23, 2015 14:10
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OssiansFolly posted:Thank you for your generous gift and for attending *insert event here*. We are happy that you could help share this special event with us. This basically, something Mad Libs style. "Thank you for the [gift] you gave us! We really appreciate your thoughtfulness." You can even throw in a specific line about the item if you want, like, "Can't wait to buy some fancy towels at BB&B!" or whatever.
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Mar 31, 2015 21:25
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gtkor posted:Destination wedding question. What part of Costa Rica? My friend moved down there recently for six months, and we're thinking about coming down for a visit. If you do anything awesome near San Jose, would you shoot me a PM and let me know about it? Have fun!
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Jun 18, 2015 17:34
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Anyone have any experience getting married/attending a wedding on a cruise? My boyfriend and I have kicked the idea around a bit, and it seems nice. I've been married once before, but this would be his first, so I'm completely fine with doing whatever he wants. Neither of us want to plan a wedding at all, so doing something inclusive like a cruise wedding seems ideal. Plus we can go to a cool destination and have fun, and our friends and family could join us if they wanted, and also have a fun trip.
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Sep 13, 2015 05:35
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Sweet Custom Van posted:My caution on this is that it really depends on your guest list. If you have people who you would love to have at your wedding (or relations who would love to be there/would be problematic socially to not invite) who have children, normal 9-5 jobs, a limited budget, or, most likely, all of the above, a cruise wedding is not going to be popular. Aquatic Giraffe posted:I have the same thoughts on this, but it really does depend on your guest list. I also loving hate cruises, I'd go to a destination wedding (also a giant pain in the rear end as a guest) over a cruise wedding but that's my personal opinion. I could see a cruise wedding adding up really really fast if you don't want to stick all your guests in steerage and feed them poo poo food and you could have a much nicer wedding on land for the same price or cheaper. We have already discussed this with the few people that we would invite, and they all have said they love the idea. We live in Florida, so there are many nearby cruise ports, accessing one isn't a problem. Pretty much all of our friends (including the handful on the potential invite list) go on cruises regularly, so they're familiar with the whole thing. We would also probably pick a short cruise and our possible date(s) would be on a weekend, so less time off of work. I would be completely fine with people not being able to attend because of money or time issues, and I would definitely let them know that up front. I do appreciate the both of you pointing out all of those details though. I was more asking for personal experiences with it to see if it would be worth it, or if we should decide on something else.
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Sep 14, 2015 23:38
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) with a dinner cruise reception. That way you're not trapping your guests on a boat for multiple days but you still get the fun cruise feeling.
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stabbity posted:I'm in the middle of planning for an October 2016 wedding, and this is almost exactly what we're doing (except in Milwaukee, not SF). My best friend is incredibly frustrated with me/our plans because they're so not traditional. I've had a lot of "but you HAVE to have *insert random traditional wedding thing*! You're going to be so disappointed if you don't!" thrown at me over the last few weeks. It will never end What's up October 2016 wedding buddy?  Just got engaged last week (at Epcot no less!), and we want to have our wedding next year on the same date. We're still deciding between whether or not we want to do a cruise/destination wedding and keep it really small (as mentioned previously) or do a local Justice of the Peace/big reception instead. We might be leaning more towards the latter, especially since it would be on Halloween weekend, and I think I can talk him into having a Halloween-themed wedding. That would be cool and not dumb, right? 
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Nov 5, 2015 02:50
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