Decorations

I know, I know the most important is the atmosphere. At least that is what most of you say to themselves to feel better. And sorry for the harsh words, nut no that is not the most important part. It is like saying that the girl’s personality is the most crucial part for a boy. You are wrong he likes gorgeous girls and everybody enjoys nice decorations. I am not saying that you should get crazy, however you should count 2000$ for the whole decorations for something cute. Places you should not forget to decorate.

1 table where all the sitting charts are on

2 lavatories

3 canopies

4 canopies

5 gift basket

6 little girl’s basket

7 front gate

If you want flowers on every table it is going to cost you about 75$ per table for a vase some gorgeous flowers and a few candles. You should remember that when it comes to decorations, candles or a girl’s best friend. Use them, as much as you can. The effect is wow but the coast is minim.

Ps:You should also have a twist in decorations for the “table d’honneur” it should be in the same theme but with a little touch of spectacular.

Love,

Lio

veils

Did you know that veils are expensive, I didn’t know that. Know I understand why mothers pass on their veils to their daughters. I thought it was all about emotions…. I was wrong.

The veils we were looking at where at 400 to 1500 dollars.

-The important thing you should remember is that if you are short don’t take a too voluminous veils. Long yes, puffy no!

-keep it simple, if your dress is very extravagant, then your veil should be discreet.

- Fascinators are great for short or mid-length dresses.

-hair accessories are welcome but no cheap tiaras that look like you purchased at the

 fair.                        

 Different styles:

Mantilla:  veil is usually made out of lace.

Chapel: those long 5 meters veil, very royal.

Blusher:  a short single layer

Elbow: from headpiece and extends down to your elbows. Great for casual weddings or more mature brides.

Fingertip: The end of the veil goes up to your fingertips. It’s any easy choice, it fits everything.

 Full length (Waltz): This long veil will flow from your headpiece right down to your ankles. Great for well fitted and mermaid style dresses

Double-tier:  two layers, one shorter than the other

wedding dresses part 2

Okay ill help you out!

Here is the websites you should check out:

Jenny Packham,

 Reem Acra,

Vera Wang,

Elie Saab,

 Pronovias,

 Rosa Clara,

 La Sposa,

 Ian Stuart,

Bruce Oldfield,

 Oscar de la Renta,

 Monique Lhuillier and San Patrick….

Don’t get to excited and don’t fall in love with those dresses. Pronovias and la sposa or even Rosa Clara are affordable (between 2000 to 5000 $) but for Vera Wang, Reem Acra and Jenny Packham the minimum would be at 10 000$. The prices are huge but you could still find some of those dresses in some outlets. If you don’t care that the dress is form last collection (and believe me you don’t care, a Vera Wang is a Vera Wang, and if it’s fits you it fit’s you!!) then you could find a designer dress for half price.

wedding dress part 1

First thing is to know what you actually enjoy seeing on others. You should scan every possible magazine or site. Every designer has a guideline, and every design is special, but at the end you should be able to go into a shop and pick your favorite 3 cuts. I know It sucks but I have to tell you the truth. I always thought that once you get engaged you enjoy of every appointment; you call up those fancy stores, you go in, and are being treated like royalty. That was just a dream. When we went dress shopping with my sister we realized that most of the shop owners are bitches! They are the elite of the royalty of bitches. You schedule an appointment but they will not give you more than 45 minutes. They will actually make you chose two to three dresses, not more, because let’s face it they have other priorities. The true irony is that the nicest the shop the crapier the service. When you spend about 3000$ on a dress you deserve the nicest treatment. To make sure they will not kick you out, prepare yourself, make up your mind and go to the appointments relaxed. And shut up those skanks if they annoy you, they deserve it.

invitations

Invitations are usually an object of dilemmas. Usually one of the sides will find the invitations a waste of money. Even though I am this wedding freak, I can understand them. Most of the invitations are not observed for long. However, this is the first taste, the appetizer of your wedding.

Bottom line: even if you are loaded, I don’t recommend spending more than 7 dollars on the invitations. Nice invitations are to be found at the starting point of 3 dollars. You should always order 20 percent extra invitations for emergencies. Invitations should be send 6 to 4 weeks before the big day.

The best thing to do is to provide an e-mail address so that the new generation wouldn’t be tempted not to respond. Ohhh and please cut the facebook crap! You seriously don’t want to organize your wedding on a social network. You deserve better.

love,

lio

pompoms or black tie?????

Every wedding should have a certain theme. I know that most of the brides don’t like to hear what they should do, but this will actually help you. Why? Well I am glad you asked…. Because how will you choice the style of decoration, venue, invitations… if you don’t have a general theme yo will get hysterical because there is a lot of options you will like, and then what, how are going to decide. At the bottom line it is nicer and easier to have a certain guideline.

Themes you should ignore:

-circus freak, any animal, any bright color, back to childhood, medicine, Moulin rouge( those examples are not made up, I actually saw those)

Welcomed themes:

-French style, vintage, British chic, black and white, pale colors, Indian glamour white and gold, modern, under the Tuscan sun, thousand lights.

love,

lio

P.s.

I AM ENGAGED!!!!!

Let’s get wasted

Alcohol oh dear alcohol, what should we do with you? As you already understood the goal of this blog is to give you the true insights of a wedding, but the true purpose of my writings is to save money!

Most couples want to have alcohol at their wedding; however there is a large spectrum of options.

Here they are:

1.       Serve champagne at the beginning, wine during, and cognac and other digestives at the end (simple and elegant)

2. You could have an open bar that serves everything at any time (Very BCBG)

3. You could design 3-4 signature cocktails or punches for the beginning and then just continue with wine and sweet Muscat for dessert. (Very French/ vintage atmosphere)

Few tips for big impacts:

-          Add some red fruits in some champagne. Wow effect guaranteed.

-          Replace real brut champagne for simple champagne, most of people do not perceive the difference.

-          Give cool personalized names to you cocktails.

-          Chose for young selections, less costs.

-          Chose for regional wines, guests will appreciate it and the costs are reduced.

-          No money for cocktails chose for a selection of fruit punches. It’s only rum and the beautiful bowls and fruits are always appreciated.

love, ohhh very in love

Lio

Wedding cake or no wedding cake, this is the question.

Here is the deal; there was a time where wedding cakes were included in the price of the catering. However, every good thing comes to an end. Now you will have to order a cake on your own. Price: app. 500$.

I love cakes but there is a catch. If you are ordering a cake and then you will serve it as your main dessert, great! BUT, if your attention or to cut this ridiculous little piece and then let it rot in one of the corners of the hall I say No. As every epicurean this action is perceived as a sin. No cake should be left uneaten. The cake IS the dessert. So you might say, that not everybody likes chocolate or vanilla cake. Where there a solution: if you have a 5 layer cake pick out 3 different flavors.

In certain cultures, like the Jewish community, the cake ceremony is not something very popular. In this you should be brave. If you want a cake, buy the damn cake and SERVE it. You could always add some mignardise or cascade of red fruits in the center of the table to be sure to please your guest.

Love,

Lio

So this is included….?!

Caterer:” this is the price per head”

You: “and everything is included”

Caterer:”yes mam EVERYTHING is included”.

 Question: do you see the red banner saying “ trouble” because seriously I see them from here!

Here is what is normally included in the price:

*Food, soft drinks, one waiter for every 2 table (when no buffet) hall, cleaning.

What’s not included:

* Taxes, alcohol, barman, extra waiters so that you guest won’t be served with a 20 minutes interval between each table, parking, lights, sound, decorations,flowers, extra hours if you don’t want to end you wedding at 12, extra money if you want to set up the decorations for the hall early, master of ceremony, canopy, chairs cover, chairs for the ceremony, wedding cake….

Sorry dear readers, but I have to burst your bubble, a wedding is freake’ expensive! I guess you will install a no shopping policy for the next 6 month… well at least you will try! And hey, it’s the attentions that count.

Love,

Lio

first things first

Now that the excitement has passed let’s get serious! grab your Mr. right, get into any type of transportation and check out what could be the perfect location. In most cases the right thing to do will set a meeting with the owner of the hall that will give you a tour of his property. And here is the catch: every owner will tell you what you want to hear. Please girls, don’t be fooled!!! It doesn’t matter how hard you want to believe him, no one can fit 200 people on 15. The best thing to do is to actually visit the hall during an event.

Here are 3 valuable reasons to do so:

-          Girls love to review weddings and day stuff like “on my wedding this will never happen…”. and let’s face we are still human beings, so it is much easier for us to do so if we do not know or care about the bride.

-          appetizers, and let’s say that free food in this hard times of savings is always welcome

-          This is the only way to differentiate between real promises and real bullshit!

the 6 first steps

So the engagement is done and the families have met, now you are wondering what are the first steps that you should take in order to get it started….

6 first steps :

1.       Officially announce your engagement, make sure that people are aware that you are not misses single anymore. This is actually the fun part. For the Facebook fanatics this step includes changing you relationship status to “engaged to….”

2.       The second step would be to decide of a month or a season in which you would like to celebrate the big day. Try to be as specific as you can. If you have family abroad this step should be done 4 month before the wedding to give them time to organize themselves and to book cheap tickets. In most cases these 4 months will be used by the guest to find a very well constructed excuse not to spend their entire “vacation budget” on your wedding….

3.       The next step consists of creating a budget. You and Mr. Right should sit down and see if you have the same notions of a nice wedding. Statistically speaking, this is not the case…. For him a nice wedding consists of guests dancing and eating kebabs while for you it’s Moët champagne and goose liver or nothing.

4.       Try to browse the internet and create a list of your top 10 halls or gardens. Don’t limit yourself to 3 picks…. You might get very disappointed. When you create this list I beg you to stay REALISTIC. If your budget is limited you have to face the fact that you won’t be able to marry in a private island with the royal family as your guest speakers….

5.       The next step consists of choosing your maid of honor and your bridesmaid! It’s very easy….. be a b***! If you don’t speak to them at least twice a week they probably will not be that committed to your wedding.

6.       Start buying those awesome wedding magazine. You should purchase the most regional magazine you can find for some very useful addresses BUT…. There is a golden rule in magazine shopping: even if you live in Saudi Arabia you should always buy the Martha Stewart seasonal wedding magazine. It will soon become your muse!

Love,

Lio

The engagement

This is the night when you change your status of sister to the amazing status of « sister of the bride ». My sister has been dating her fiancé for more than a year. However, the shock was major. As a good stereotypical woman the first thing I did was crying!

An hour later I was at her place to give a look to the most important detail of this night: the ring!!!!!

In most cases your role would be to support and encourage the general hysteria… and damn I am pretty good in doing that.

On this night I realized how terribly men and woman are different. I will illustrate it in a few points:

1.       Once a guy proposes he feels like his job is done

2.       When a woman accepts a proposal she DIRECTLY starts working. When I say directly I mean that most woman start working on her wedding before she even has a fiancé ( this starts approximately at the age of 6, oh yes baby)

The next step is calling the concerned parents and deciding what kind of engagements is going to take place. Isn’t that a treat…..

Love,

Lio

Here is the deal

This blog is dedicated to all of the sisters standing behind the bride.

love,

Lio