Hi Sheila,
I'm getting married this year myself -- July 24, 2004!!!! Only 98 days away!!!!!
So far, we've got the date, the Church, the priest, the photographer, the reception hall, the cake, have picked out the food, decided which invitation we wanted though we haven't ordered it yet, the wedding dress, the bridesmaids dresses, we've picked out the flower girl dress, and done alot of research along the way.
We went with the package deal photographer because it was the difference between $900 and $2500, but going to the school sounds like an even better deal.
We did go to a baker and get a professional cake because it was affordable because of the package discount that we got, but a friend recommended an even cheaper route. She said that many wedding cake bakers do it on the side at home cheaper if you can find out who does it (ask at cake decorating schools). And that wedding cakes baked at home turn out moister than those baked in commercial ovens. Also, big bakeries do their cakes ahead of time and freeze them. Independent bakers make them fresh the day before or the day of. She also suggested going to places that teach cake decorating and asking if a talented student would be interested in doing the cake decorating for less. You could even bake the cakes yourself and just have someone do the decorating (if you have lots of time). Of course, if you have lots of time, you could just learn cake decorating and wedding cake construction yourself.
This isn't money saving. It's just neat. A friend had their engagement picture blown up and matted and placed it where the guest book would have been. Instead of having guests sign the guestbook since people seldon read them, they had them sign the matte around the photo (they protected the photo), and had it all framed after the wedding. It now hangs in their dining room.
We were having problems with our head table when we first began wedding planning -- seating issues with difficult relations, so we just simplified the whole thing. The head table will be just me and Steve. It's certainly appropriate. We'll be like the king and queen -- which we are for that day, no one is insulted or uncomfortable or separated from their spouse, and we might actually get a couple of minutes to eat before we start visiting all the different tables or dancing.
Another tip from a friend. When the bride and groom are announced at the reception at the beginning, go immediately into the bride and groom's first dance. After everyone eats, people don't pay much attention. Before they eat, you've got their attention. Then, you can have the other dances after dinner.
When we got engaged, I bought a bunch of books on wedding planning. I found "Bridal Bargains" to be most helpful. I recommend that one. They give you websites to visit too.
For flowers, we'll probably go with the package deal, but I am tempted to go with
www.freshroses.com. They're in CA, and do volume discounts on roses and wedding flowers. Here's one package they offer:
Standard All Rose Wedding Package $390 including shipping
Contents
16 bunches (400 stems) standard roses, 5 bunches of filler, 5 bunches of greens, and FedEx priority overnight delivery. Available in bridal white, champagne, sonia, dark red and bright red. The listed varieties are the only available in the standard package. For premium varieties, like Black Magic or Leonidas, please look at the premium package.
What can I do with this package?
Enough roses, greens, and fillers to make 11 table arrangements (18 stems each), 10 boutonnieres (1 stem each), 6 corsages (3 stems each), 5 bridesmaids bouquets (18 stems each), 1 brides bouquet (25 stems) and a head table arrangement (59 stems). Of course you can break that down however you want. For example you could use all 400 roses for tables if you wanted.
I've also heard of people going to their local supermarket or to Sam's club and ordering their roses (if that's what you like) ahead of time and at a discount. BTW, some supermarkets do wedding cakes too. It IS cheaper. The downside is you generally have to assemble the cake yourself and that is not easy. You don't want the cake to fall over.
I'm not sure how long my reply is allowed to be, so I'll just open another reply to continue this.
Jeanne