Affordable Utah Weddings

Image via Max and Ellie

Image Via Max and Ellie

Okay lovelies. I know we can’t all spend a ton on our wedding day, but we still want it to be magical. What’s the answer? DIY.

 I know the time leading up to your wedding can be the busiest time of your life. Have no fear. There are plenty of quick and easy projects you can do to make it your own. One of my personal favorites is the DIY cake plate courtesy of Max and Ellie. If you want a chic display for all the yummy goodies on the big day but don’t want to spend a couple hundred dollars on chargers, here’s your solution:

• Go to any second-hand store and look for plates. They don’t have to be very cute, but if they have a nice, raised design or a scalloped edges or something interesting going on along the edge, it’ll turn out really cute. Also look for candlesticks. Make sure they have a nice, fat bottom and a flat top. I didn’t pay attention to the tops when I bought mine, and one of my trays is wonky because the top of the candlestick wasn’t flat to begin with. None of your pieces have to match at all!

• If you don’t already have spray paint, go buy some in the color of your choosing. I bought a bunch of Krylon for $3.27 a can at Walmart.

• Remove the price tags and all of that nasty adhesive with Goo Gone, then wash all of your plates and candlesticks in hot, soapy water. Let them dry.

• I skipped this step, but it probably would have been helpful, which is why I’m including it: using a measuring tape or ruler, find the center of the bottom of your plate and mark it. I’m a notorious eyeballer. I never measure anything if I don’t have to. And pinning when I sew? Let’s just say I’ve had to pick out many a crooked seam. Ahem.

• Get some really tough glue. I LOVE E6000. Seriously, I use it all the time. Crafts, home repairs, you name it. Anyway, carefully squeeze a thin line of glue all the way around the top of your candlestick. With your plate face-down, place your candlestick (glue-side-down) on the plate. Let it all sit, untouched, for the amount of time prescribed by the glue bottle. If you want to make a tiered cake plate, make several individual cake plates and glue them together after the initial application is dry.

• Take your cake plate into the backyard, put it on something like an old cardboard box that you don’t mind covering with paint, and spray away. Continue adding coats of paint until you like how your cake plate looks. Let the paint dry completely before touching

• If you want to put food directly onto your plate, you need to seal it with something, but I didn’t have any luck with that, so I can’t help you there! The clear acrylic I put on my lovely turquoise stand made the paint blister. My plan is to use my stands for things like cupcakes where the food doesn’t directly touch the cake plate, or to put a cardboard cake circle or a doily or something between the cake stand and the food.

 Tip: For some added charm, get some pearl or lace trim to embellish the edges. Get creative.

Hope this “How-To” was useful!

Check out Max and Ellie’s blog to see these instructions with step by step pictures:

http://maxandellie.blogspot.com

And their adorable Etsy shop:

http://www.maxandellie.etsy.com

Hello friends! I’m Kristie, the Nearlywed. First off I’ll give some info about my wedding style. I’m a quirky, fun person. My wedding is going to convey that. I wanted to have a wedding that displayed my personality, while remaining on a pretty tight budget. The wedding planning has been in the works for about 5 months now. The one most important piece of advice I can give to all you brides out there is to get organized. Go out and buy a $2 notebook or a binder with tabs. I can tell you first hand that this has been the key to my sanity. I have a “Reception” tab, a “Ceremony” tab, an “Odds and Ends” tab, and an “Invites” tab. Speaking of invites, start organizing the guest list ASAP. It’s going to be a long and tedious process to get everyone’s address, so starting early is the best. Figure out what your style is. Whether you have $1,500 or $15,000, you can make this wedding yours. If you trust yourself and be decisive, it will turn out great. I’m so excited to be writing on this blog . It has helped me out so much in my wedding planning process. If any of you have questions or suggestions for Alyssa or me just send some comments our way. Thanks!

Hello all you Beautiful Brides To Be!

My name is Alyssa, my friend Kristie and I are going to be guest posting on here for a little bit, as the “Nearlywed & Newlywed.”

Just a little about us so you can get a feel for where we’re coming from and then we can get down to business:

I’m the “Newlywed.”

I just barely married Mr. Right at the beginning of May and we had two weddings, to accommodate both my family back East and the hubby’s family here in SLC (2 ceremonies and 2 receptions!) So I feel that I come fully armed with tips for both simple and formal weddings.

Kristie is the “Nearlywed.”

She and the man of her dreams are planning a wedding mid- July and is right in the middle of all this wedding planning fun- so she’s got a few tips and tricks up her sleeve as well!

We hope that we’ll be able to offer some helpful information including what we’re going to call THE “How-To’s” and “Who’s Whos” of wedding planning in Utah.

Please feel free to leave comments and opinions about what you want to hear about & how we can be better at what we’re doing! <3

Hey you brides to be and wedding vendors-

Just wanted to let you guys know that I have to take another little break from blogging   I hate that I have to, but my health is just not cooperating! (if you happen to know anyone who’d like to fill in and write some posts please please please send their info my way!  I’d love to keep this site going while I’m unable to write)

Hopefully I will be up and running with more blog posts soon (cross your fingers for me!) but until then please take advantage of my previous posts (you can find them lists by category on the right hand side of this page) and if you have any specific questions, check out our Utah Wedding Forum.  You can write your specific questions there and get answers from other local brides, vendors and on the days when I feel healthy enough- me! (I’ll try to check it when I can, even if I’m not doing posts yet)

I hope that allows you to find all the resources you’ll need in time for your wedding.

Happy wedding planning!

When I first heard about Mrs. Dresses I remember thinking- what a great idea- why didn’t I think of that!? Located in Logan, Utah, Mrs Dresses is a home based wedding gown rental service.  They can set you up with a beautiful gown for your wedding day or, if you’ve decided to purchase your gown you can work with this guys to rent it out after the big day and make a little money to help you and your new hubby get started- great idea if you ask me!

And what’s better, to make your wedding gown rental a little more affordable Mrs Dresses is offering a few of our lucky readers $100 off their rental fee!  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post.  You can enter once a day if you like- the winner will be selected on Friday, April 2, 2010.

I have to admit.  I didn’t feel much like looking up a wedding vendor today.  So today’s post is all about me!  ha!  I was just thinking back to my wedding today.  There are so many things that I would have done differently now that I know so much about what’s offered in this area.  But there are a few things that I definitely would have done the same.  Today I’m going to share one of them.

When I was engaged, both of our parents were having some serious troubles at work.  My fiance and I however were both blessed with great jobs.  In consequence, we ended up paying for quite a bit of our wedding ourselves, which is something I will forever be grateful for.  It’s amazing how much more you appreciate things when you were the one who put in the extra hours at work to pay for them.  It’s also amazing how much more thought you’ll put into a purchase after those long hours of overtime.  A lot of our wedding purchases fit into this category but today I’ll  just talk about our tablecloths.

Tablecloths.  I know, it just sounds like such a small detail that it’s dumb to even bring up. And yet, wow can they cost a lot of money!  We were so lucky to be able to borrow our white tablecloths from a friend (saving us literally hundreds of dollars… and lot of overtime hours at work) but I still wanted a little something on the tables to add color to the evening.  After a bit of thought I came up with the perfect idea (if I may say so myself). I just kept thinking that it sure was a lot of money to pay for just one night, so we planned out our tablecloths so we could use them well after our wedding.

Instead of buying 11 matching table squares out of a fabric that I would never use again, we went to the home decorating section of the fabric store and picked out about 8 different coordinating fabrics that were just beautiful. (I suggest going to either Home Fabrics which is a chain located throughout Utah and Idaho or Design Company Fabric’s outlet store located on 196 West 12300 South in Draper, UT.  Both locations have amazing clearance sections where you can almost always find amazing home decorating fabrics for $2-$5 a yard.  We got all of our fabrics at Home Fabrics for $3/yard)

We used them as table squares for our wedding (see the top picture to check out how they looked on our big day).  Then, after our wedding I used them to decorate our apartment.  I made curtains and pillows and even used them just as tablecloths to cover boxes and ‘create’ furniture since we couldn’t afford any real stuff. (The middle picture shows our newly wed apartment.  I know, it’s still nothing extraordinary- but I was SO glad to have all those different fabrics to use while we were getting started.)

Now we’ve been married for a few years and have built up enough furniture that I don’t have to stack boxes and cover them with fabric (though we still have a couple of those fake tables around the house… what can I say- they don’t look too bad and they sure are great for storage!) which left me with a pile of beautiful fabric to use again.  This past Christmas I took it all and made beautiful bags that we now use to wrap our Christmas presents (see the bottom photo to check out how they turned out).  It saves SO much money on wrapping paper, is much ‘greener’ than throwing all that paper away, and they just look so pretty under the tree!  Not to mention the fact that they were our wedding tablecloths so they have an extra special meaning to us when we use them.

So, the point of this very long story is this- as you spend money on your wedding reception, stop and think about ways you could spend the money on objects that can be reused.  You could  get beautiful fabric for your tablecloths that could be used for years to come.  Or instead of paying for ten matching centerpieces you could buy ten coordinating ones.  That way you can use all of them in your new home after the wedding without having too many of the same thing.  Or have your center pieces be something that can double as your bridesmaid gifts.   You could pick jewelry that can be restrung into a necklace that you’ll actually get to wear again, or one that could be restrung into several necklaces that you could then save to give to your daughters one day. As you pick out a backdrop, look for one that will be pretty to put in a garden later on.  Serve your food on platters you’ll be happy to use as you and your new husband entertain your friends in your new home.

With a little extra thought you can not only have the wedding of your dreams, but plan for your future.  You’ll feel better about the money you spent because it will be on things you’ll use for years to come.  And on top of everything, you’ll have items in your new home that you’ll cherish even more because you used them on the most romantic day of your life.

I have to admit, I’m not much of a flower person myself.  In fact, I’ve told my husband never to buy me flowers because I don’t like them enough to make them worth the money he’d have to spend on them.

Knowing that about me, you should be just as surprised as I am that I found a website full of wedding bouquets that I just love.  Ever single one of them literally takes my breath away and I just cannot stop flipping through the photo gallery!  Now, before you get too exciting, let me preface this by saying that I’m listing this website on Affordable Utah Weddings not because it’s an affordable Utah wedding vendor but because I believe this artist deserves known throughout all of wedding planning as the perfect inspiration for brides.  Her work covers so many styles, you’re bound to find a floral arrangement that you love!  Not to mention the countless, amazing wedding planning ideas she also has on her site.  Everything is beautiful and perfectly done- so go get some inspiration! Here’s her site-

http://www.michelleragoltd.com/

Great photos of you and your fiance are something that you’ll cherish forever.  Nickell Photography offers fantastic services for a very reasonable price.  And today we’re offering an engagement session at a VERY reasonable- FREE!  That’s right, one of our very lucky readers will receive a free engagement session, no strings attached.  All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post to enter.  The winner will be chosen on Friday March 12, 2010.  You can enter once per day until then!

Don’t forget about our other giveaway, Agent Kat Design will close this Friday, March 5.

Congrats to Alice!  You won this giveaway!  We’ll give the photographer your info so you two and get in contact.

Thanks everyone!  Keep checking back- we have a ton of giveaways still to come!

A wedding video can caption moments of your day that a photo just can’t.  The innocent laugh of your flower girl, a tender toast from your best man or even those secret glances between you and your new spouse.

Forever Visions Video is currently working to help your record those moments on a budget.  For a limited time, they are offering a free bridal video with the purchase of any package.

Check out their prices and work at http://forevervisionsvideo.blogspot.com/

After the big night is through, all you’ll have left to remember of your wedding day are pictures and videos.  As you think about this fact, it begins to make a whole  lot of sense to make sure your favorite things of the day are the ones you’ll be sure to get photos of.

If I were you, I’d make sure I really liked my wedding cake.  One shot that just about every newly wed couple gets on their wedding day is one of them in front of the cake as they cut the first slice, so why not make it a photo you love by finding the perfect wedding cake?

My personal favorite wedding cake decorators are the ones who will create a cake exactly how you like rather than give you a list of 10-15 options that you have to choose from.  Sweet Perfection is a wedding cake designer in Bountiful, Utah who will do just that for a reasonable price.  So start flipping through those bridal magazines and find the most beautiful cake you like because now you have a way to get your very own photo in front of it!

Alright all you brides-to-be we’re starting our summer giveaways!  The first of the season is some FREE design work done by the very talented Agent Kat Design.

Let me just begin by saying that there are people who know how to use Photoshop, and then there are designers who use Photoshop merely as a tool to express their amazing talent.  Kat is definitely a designer.  Her design portfolio is full of incredible work in all different styles.  She is working in a level of design that is hardly ever offered to those of us looking for an ‘affordable wedding’.  It’s simply too good!   I hope you all jump at your chance of having such a professional level of design brought into your wedding planning for free! (I know I certainly would if I were engaged)

And with that, I introduce our giveaway-

Our winner will receive free design work for her wedding invitation and/or guest book (that’s right, you can choose one, the other or both!) from Agent Kat Design.  You will receive your design and the rights to use it on a CD to print as you wish.

To veiw an entire guest book designed by Kat, check out http://www.agentkatstudios.com/portfolio.php?f=wedding

To enter, simply leave a comment at the end of this post.  You may enter one time per day.  This drawing will run until March 5, 2010.

Congratulations Anna! You won this week’s drawing!  I will pass your info along to Agent Kat Design so she can get in contact with you!

Thanks everyone else for entering!

I used to get offended if I didn’t get a wedding invitation to a friends wedding.  Then when I got married myself I realized what a crazy event sending out invitations really is. I literally had piles of envelopes floating around my house for weeks- no wonder a couple of them got misplaced!

I remember asking our parents to gather the addresses they wanted included on the list.  They’d send us one list.  And then another with people they forgot.  And then another with changes to the previous lists.  And then yet another with a few more address and so on.  It was so hard to keep track of everything.

Momentice.com has finally  brought us a FREE solution to this problem.  You can sign up for a free account and create your own guest list by gathering addresses from Facebook, blogs, Twitter or adding them in  yourself.  If you make a sign in name and password that you can share with family members, you can even have each set of parents go in and add the addresses they want on the list. (then they can be in charge of all the changes they need!)

The site also allows you to keep track of who which invites and thank you cards you’ve sent and who has sent in their RSVP card.

If you want a little more ease while planning your Day, check them out at http://www.momentice.com/

Valentine’s Day is coming and if you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve got someone special to celebrate it with.  But what should you do?  If wedding plans are stressing you out too much to think of something creative, perhaps I can help.

I just read this great article in Main Street, a magazine published  the same group as Utah Valley Magazine.  They suggested finding V-Day inspiration by considering the Five Love Languages. (If you haven’t read the book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman I suggest you put it on your to-do list.  It’s a fast read and will seriously help you and your fiance as you begin your life together. ) The basic idea is that there are five basic ways that people like to give and receive love.  If you ’speak’ to your significant other in the way they best receive love they will appreciate more.  The languages go as follows, Quality Time, Gifts, Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Physical Touch. You can read up on exactly what each one is on the Five Love Language website.

Once you figure out which is your fiance’s love language, use this list provided by Main Street to get some great V-Day ideas.

Quality Time- If your spouse believes time equals love, give him or her tickets to concert, sporting event or play.  (I’d like to add, if money is tight right now, you can find a way to spend time together without spending a dime.  Go sledding in a park, pack a picnic, plan a movie night with his favorite show and make some yummy popcorn.  If he’s really a quality time guy, it probably doesn’t matter what you plan, as long as you’re together)

Gifts- Your gift doesn’t have to be extravagant.  Give your loved one a basket of favorites: favorite candy, favorite music, favorite candle, favorite anything! (And for my little two sense I’d like to mention that this category doesn’t mean the person is materialistic, it means they see the thought and love behind the object more than most people would.  If something that will make him think of you every time he sees it- a pair of mittens, a new watch, a new tie- you can even write secret a little note in the lining to make him feel extra special each time he wears it)

Words of Affirmation- Write a list of all the reasons you love your significant other or detail your top 10 favorite memories with him or her.  The more detailed and specific you get the better!

Acts of Service- Take a few items off that endless to-do list for your partner.  While it isn’t quite as romantic as a dozen roses, he or she will appreciate it more.

Physical Touch- Book a massage or spa treatment for your significant other. (I’d like to add that, like the category Gifts, Physical touch is often misunderstood at first.  This isn’t all bedroom business, but rather simple things like holding hands in public, or putting your arm around her at dinner.  Maybe for your gift you could make an effort to hold her hand whenever you can all day long.  Or give her a certificate for a foot massage that she can cash in whenever she likes)

I know we’ve been talking about a lot of photographers lately, but let’s be honest here- the photographer you choose is one of the most important decisions of your wedding planning.  After all, what’s the point of having a beautiful dress or cake if you don’t have pictures to show for the rest of your life to prove it!

I know a lot of you are thinking that you just cant’ afford a wedding photographer.  I see where you’re coming from- they get expensive!  I hope I can sure you a few options that really are affordable enough to let you hire someone to capture every perfect moment on your perfect day.

One great and very affordable option is Nickell Photography and Videography.  This company offers wedding day photography packages starting at $475 which includes 2 hours on your wedding day, an engagement or bridal session, your photos on CD plus some prints.  Starting at $725 you can get a package with both a photographer and videographer (if I could go back to my wedding day, I would definitely have budgeted for a videographer).  That’s a great deal!

On top of that, right now they’re running a student special- if you’re a student you get 10% off of your package.  If you’re both students you get 20% off!  Check out their site to see more of their stuff and find a package that fits into your budget.

Alright, so if you ask me, it’s pretty rude for a guest attending any event to complain about little details when the host as obviously gone through so much effort to create a nice evening for them.  However, the fact remains that there will be people who get upset about someone you’ve planned.  I found a great article on BrideMix.com listing eleven of the most common complaints guests have had at weddings.  It’s a great list!  If keeping your guests happy is something you worry about, you should definitely check it out.

To go along with the BrideMix.com list, I’d like to make my own little Utah specific list of a few common complaints I’ve heard.

1.  Reception is boring. Alright, I’m just going to be honest here.  A lot of  Utah weddings really ARE boring.  There.  I said it.  After thinking about this a bit I think I’ve discovered the problem.  Many Utah weddings don’t serve alcohol- this is not the problem,  I think is a wonderful thing. The problem is that most people don’t plan around that fact.  I mean, they plan not to serve alcohol, but they forget that without drinking a little most guests won’t feel comfortable on the dance floor.  So how do you plan around it?  Hire yourself a great DJ who will lure the people in despite their reservations.  Or ask some outgoing friends to fill the dance floor all night and ask other guests to dance with them.  Or find another activity all together.  Play a wedding video, serve a sit down meal, plan a schedule so you have announcements (such as the bouquet toss) made throughout the evening  or have your reception in a location such as a park or museum where guests can wander about as they please.

2. Reception Line was SO long.  Reception lines can be a great way to see each of your guests, but the entire idea of a reception line came about because the bride and groom would stand outside the doors as each guest would enter for the big wedding feast.  The ‘line’ would take only moments to get through and then the bride and groom would enter the room and the reception would begin.  My point: The reception line was never meant to be the main event of the reception.  If you have so many guests coming to your reception that you plan on standing in line all night long, you might want to consider a different way to greet your guests.  Maybe make a formal toast,  visit each table (that way you say hello to 6-8 people at a time rather than one) or leave a note on each plate thanking guests for taking the time to come.  If you want to stick to the reception line tradition, schedule a time for the line to end so that you and your guests can enjoy the evening together.

3. The reception was too far away This is actually a complaint that drives me crazy.  I guess it’s because people go to so many weddings in Utah, but for some reason if the reception is more than 10 minutes away they think it’s far.  Personally I think they’re crazy and if you’re really important to them they’d drive the whole 30 minutes to share the most important day of your life with you.  But, I didn’t grow up in Utah so my views are different.  The truth is, if your reception is far away they won’t come, so if that’s important to you plan something close by.

4. I didn’t get invited to see the ceremony.  Many religious ceremonies only allow you to invite a small amount of guests to your actual marriage ceremony.  Of course this is a hard reality to those who will not be invited to attended.  Do your best to make them feel welcome, plan a picnic for them during the ceremony or have a close friend there to show them around the area and explain what’s happening in the ceremony and why it is such a small gathering so they understand your point of view.

5. I felt too awkward to stay longer than a few minutes. I remember before I was married, wedding receptions were not my favorite thing.  First of all, it was like rubbing salt in my wound of singledom.  On top of that, it’s really hard to walk into a room full of people you don’t know when you’re walking all by yourself.  Make sure single friends know they can invite a date or friend to come along, or invite an entire group of friends to come together.  If you have a friend from out of town who won’t know anyone, give them something to do at the reception so they won’t feel out of place (maybe they could check up with you every 20 minutes and see if you need anything, help with the food, or make sure the gift table stays well organized etc)

6.  I didn’t want to pay a babysitter. Most people will go to several weddings each month during a summer in Utah.  That can get pricey after all the gifts, travel expenses etc.  If you feel many of your guests might opt out of coming because they just can’t pay for a babysitter, make sure they know that children are welcome.  Plan an activity for children to do during the reception (maybe make a craft or have wedding coloring pages ready for them) or reserve a room for children to play in during the reception.

Finding a wedding photographer can be one of the hardest things when planning a wedding.  There’s so much pressure to find someone who will be professional enough to catch every moment, and yet relaxed enough to help you look your best in your photos.  And that’s not even considering pricing.

I love it when a photographer contacts me and I can tell right away the professional quality that will be found behind his work.  That’s how I felt when I was contacted by Jim from Inkley’s Portraits.  With studios all over Utah (Ogden, Layton, Bountiful, Salt Lake, Cottonwood, and Sandy), tihs company has had countless opportunities to fine tune their skills.

The prices currently start at $599 which includes 1 1/2 hours of coverage and all your images on CD to use as you like.  Jim also let me know that he is offering a free bridal or engagement session to any couple or bride who comes into any of their locations to book a wedding.  A great deal if you ask me!

For more information you can visit their site at www.inkleysportraits.com/

A guest book is one of those things that can be full of wonderful memories but, if it’s not done right, after your wedding it could easily just sit on a shelf .  I’ve seen all sorts of guest books from a few loose scrapbook pages that will eventually begin the couples wedding day scrapbook, to seashells to for each guest to sign (the couple then took the shells and glued them onto a mat that they framed and kept in their living room) to a game of Jenga set out to allow each guest to sign one piece so the couple could remember their big day each time they had a game night.

If you’re dreaming of a fun, custom made guest book but simply don’t have the time (or creative knack) to create one for yourself check out Guest Books by Mel.  With prices starting at $20, you can get a guest book customized to your wedding colors and with your own photo.  For prices starting at $50 you can get that same customized book, but with a personal photo on each page.

You only get to live your wedding day once, but you’ll get to relive that perfect occasion through memories and keepsakes.  Create keepsakes that you’ll love to remember and you’ll have a wonderful time reliving your wedding day for years to come.

Alright all your brides, it’s time to start informing you about some upcoming Utah wedding giveaways!  Today I’m doing a shout out for Green Orchid Photo.  The photos on this site are crystal clear and full of personality.  And the best news of all?  If you visit their website you’ll have a chance to win one of TWO free wedding packages that they are giving away!  These packages are a $1000 value and include full day wedding coverage, your choice of a bridal or engagement session, plus a disc of all edited images.

To enter their drawing visit http://greenorchidphoto.com/?p=341

*note* this drawing is not being given by AffordableUtahWeddings.com.  Please do not try to enter the drawing on our site!  I’m simply passing along the news of a good find.

I love it when readers inform me of great deals.  It seems like the ones I hear about from all of you are always the best ones out there.

Today I’ve got a nice little treat for all of you who are searching for an affordable Utah wedding photographer.  One of our forum readers let me know that she’s starting up a photography business and needs to build her portfolio before wedding season hits.  She’s offering complete wedding coverage to a couple getting married between now and the end of February.  This includes also engagements, bridals and all photos on a CD for FREE!  That’s right!  And, she’s even willing to be a second photographer (so you’ve hired someone else, you could still have her taking extra pictures of the day, she only asks that she does get some time with the bride and groom all to herself)

Again, the only catch is that you have to be getting married between now and the end of February.

To see her work, visit blog.campbellphotographyutah.com/

To get in contact with Cambell Photography email campbellphotography1@gmail.com

While doing a little wedding research online I ran across another fun little wedding blog, simpleexpressionsllc.blogspot.com.  She’s got some great links to more local vendors- I just thought you guys might like to check it out!

Last summer we had a fantastic give away from Something New- one lucky bride won a custom guest book for her wedding day.

I just love the idea of this company.  They take your wedding colors, your personal style and of course pictures of your and your fiance and create a beautiful, coffee table worthy guest book for your friends and family to add a little love to at your wedding reception.  I love that the book will provide a guests with a way to get to know you as a couple right as they walk in the door, and that after the reception you’ll have a beautiful book that you’ll pull out time and again to share that great day.

I recently heard from Something New and the guest book they created for their giveaway is done and they wanted to share it with all our readers.  I love this book- I have of course never met the couple but I really feel like I’ve gotten to know them through looking at their pictures, reading the adorable quotes they picked out to have printed throughout the book and just seeing their personalities come out through the style of the book that is carried through each page.   It’s a great way to get ideas for your own guest book whether you want to hire someone to create it for you or do it yourself.

To check out the whole book go to- http://picasaweb.google.com/ltlewanda/AmandaSignInBook#slideshow/5377433174037137506

Alright all you brides and grooms to be- get ready for some more amazing deals!  I’m so excited to be writing posts again.  You have no idea how hard it was to sit in bed all day for MONTHS just wishing I could get out there and search for deals.  I’m still not technically ‘on the mend’ ( none of the doctors I’ve seen have a clue why all of the sudden I lost so much strength that I can now barely sit up… any ideas anyone?) but I’m going CRAZY from having to lie down all day every day so I’m going to do my best to post from bed.  Hopefully it won’t make me too sick!  Now’s the time when I’ll need your help the most- I can’t get out and search like I used to.  If you’ve found any great deals PLEASE post them on our forum so everyone can benefit.

Luckily for now, I’ve got a few great companies that have been whispered into my ear by some loyal readers (thanks you guys!).  Today’s feature: Angell’s Originals

This shop features both consigned and overstocked bridal gowns, which basically means you’re going to find some killer deals.  The owner herself emailed me and told me their prices range from $50-$429  (yes that’s right,$50.  That two digit number was no typo!) and they carry sizes 2-32. With a store like this you’ll just have to check things out for yourself to see what they’ve got.  I haven’t had a chance to visit them yet myself, but I did  find some online reviews for their store- all of which gave them 5 out of 5 stars and commented that this is a must see store when searching for a wedding dress. (search for their store on Google Maps to check out the reviews yourself)

Angell’s Originals is located at 4014 Highland Drive, Holladay, UT (801) 272-4711

no appointment necessary.  Closed Sun and Mon.

Hello all you wonderful wedding blog readers!  You might have noticed that the blog posts have been quite slim lately.  Trust me, it’s been on my mind quite a bit as well.  Last October I was hit with some pretty impressive health problems and then suddenly it was January.  I’m really not sure where the time went!

I’ve been so happy to see that so many of you have been able to use my past posts as reference during these slower months.  I’m happy to announce that I’m slowly getting adjusted to my new level of health and am slowly working on getting more amazing wedding information posted for you all.  In fact, I have a few companies who have been patiently waiting their write up since October.  Hopefully they will not have to wait much longer!

Thanks for all your patience.    Stay tuned for as many great wedding ideas as my strength will allow!

L K Events offers a variety of wedding services, including wedding rentals, floral design and event design.  I love that they can take care of so many things for you all at once!  (nothing’s better than crossing off a few things in one trip!)

Located in Layton, Utah, this wedding company specializes in making your wedding day look perfect- even down to the tiny details.  I love the photos featured in their online gallery- these pictures look like they’ve come out of a bridal magazine!

While the prices of their services vary depending on what you’ll need for your wedding, they do have four pre-designed packages all at $500 which include: