How to Save On Your Wedding Gown

Unless you are a pageant gal, a wedding gown might be the single most expensive dress you will ever buy. To add to the pressure, you are buying this gown for an important (maybe most important) day of your life. The pressure is mounting already and then you realize you also have a budget to stick to for this gown too. Here are some ways to stay within budget while finding your dream wedding gown.

The pictures with this blog are from Claire Pettibone 2015 Bridal Collection “Gothic Angel”.

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer
If you like our weekly ramblings, LIKE us on our Wishahmon page too! More goes on there!

Simplify

Opting for a classic gown without any embellishments can lower the price tag significantly, since materials like lace and beading are more expensive. If you are afraid your classic gown is too plain, opt to jazz up your dress through your accessories such as jewelry, wedding sash, or wedding veil.

Ask for Substitutes

If your dream is to have a highly embellished dress, there are still options to save on this gown. Ask the sales associate to check if there can be less beading on the gown, either just the bodice or skip the embellishments on the skirt or train. Another option is to ask for the dress to be made with a less expensive fabric. By making these two changes, you can still have the look you are seeking.

Avoid Custom Alterations

Making special changes to couture gowns, such as changing the shape of the neckline or altering a sleeve, can cost up to $300 per adjustment. To save some money, look for gowns you love just the way they are, rather than trying to transform one into something else.

Pick a Less Formal Silhouette

If a big ball gown is out of your reach, you can save by buying a more casual or simple shape, such as an aline gown. The more fabric required to make your gown, the higher the cost of the gown.

Shop at the Right Time

Winter and summer are the two times a year when bridal designers and some retailers, like Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City, will host mega-sales to make room for the next season’s merchandise. If you have your heart set on a pricey designer gown, you might be able to snag it at up to 80 percent less. Just keep in mind: Brides who wear a size 8 (the average sample size) often have the best luck, and you’ll have to battle the crowds. Try going on the second or third day of the sale after some of the craziness has died down.

Try Other Brides

You’d be surprised at how many brides change their mind after their dress arrives and choose to get a new one at the last minute—or they’re just looking to recoup some of the money they spent on the one they wore. Purchasing a once loved gown can save you tons of money!

Buy a Floor Sample

If you’re looking to save some serious cash (or if you need a dress fast!) consider buying the floor sample of the gown you tried on rather than ordering a new one. Just make sure you inspect the gown thoroughly before purchasing it. It is often a final sale.

Scout for Discounts

If you are the queen of social media, keep your eye out for bridal brands, wedding vendors, and even bloggers for sales or deals. Heck you might even be lucky enough to win your wedding gown! Good luck!!

Claire Pettibone 2015 Bridal Collection “Gothic Angel”

V Loves B - DIY Project #1: Wedding Website

I can’t believe it’s just over five months until the wedding! At this point in time my bridesmaids have been warned that my Bridezilla game is going to be strong and they should be prepared to restrain me at any moment. B. and I were sort of coasting for a while because we got the big details for our wedding done early on - date, venue, photographer, etc., but we realize now is the time to deal with the *ugh* nitty-gritty.

During the Christmas break we had some time to put together our wedding website! I will only share some screenshots with you so I don’t get flooded with fake RSVPs, but I’m sure it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what the URL is.

Technical Jargon

There are tons of websites where you can put together some easy-peasy wedding websites, like mywedding or The Knot, but we decided to complicate things a little bit and build our own site using Wordpress. I hosted it on the same site that hosts my business website and my blog. The custom domain name cost us $15 USD.

I was originally thinking of splurging on a wedding theme, as many of them include all the “typical” wedding website elements - RSVP form, relationship story timeline, wedding countdown, etc. A nice one can cost up to $50 USD. B. thought we should just get a free theme, so after some searching, I finally settled on this one.

Homepage

We are foregoing RSVP cards in our invitations and just having everyone RSVP online, so we wanted to make it as easy as possible. When you hit the homepage, you see our smiling faces, confirming that it is indeed, our wedding that you are attending. Then, you scroll down and see a Google Map to our wedding venue…

How to do it - in Google Maps, search for your wedding venue. Once it’s centred in a way that you like it, click on the tiny gear symbol near the bottom right corner (didn’t know that was there, did you?) Click on “Share or embed map” in the little menu that pops up. If you are building a website that allows HTML code, you can just copy-and-paste the code into your website, or you can share the link so people can click on it and see it in Google Maps. If you have more than one venue (i.e. ceremony and reception), I will tell you how to make a map that shows both later in this post.

The RSVP form, which I made using Google Forms, is right under our map.

What’s awesome about Google Forms is that it keeps all of the responses on a spreadsheet, so no risk of cards getting lost in the mail or having to sort through 100+ emails!

Our Story

An abridged version of this blog post, with more photos.

Out of Town Guests

There’s an “Accommodations” section with info about a hotel room block, plus links to other hotels nearby. Also a (likely futile) call for in-town guests who are willing to let one or two people crash for a couple of nights.

We also made a “Fun Things to do in Calgary” map, which is really mostly places we like to eat. You can make your own in My Maps. If you have more than one wedding venue, this is how you can create a map that shows all of the locations.

Blog

Currently just a link to this blog, but closer to the date we’re hoping to include things like a weather update, unforeseen disasters, and possibly a wedding hashtag.

We are still a few months away from sending our wedding invitations (and thus sharing our wedding website with the masses) so we have time to keep building this page. Let us know in the comments if you think we’re missing anything!

DIY Birdcage Veil

As per usual on this blog, whenever we showcase something stunning, we try to also share a DIY version of it. (With the exception of wedding gowns - we don't think our readers have a huge interest in making their own DIY version of a wedding gown. Comment below if I am wrong.)

We previously shared some pictures of stunning birdcage veils. Here is a DIY version of it. For the full tutorial, check it out here.

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer
If you like our weekly ramblings, LIKE us on our Wishahmon page too! More goes on there!

Stunning Birdcage Veils

Birdcage veils continue to be requested by brides throughout the years. We thought it was just a trend one year and it will soon pass but it has proven to have staying power. Brides are choosing to have a birdcage veil as an alternative to the traditional long veil. While I personally still love the look of a traditional chapel or cathedral length veil, I definitely wouldn't stay no to some of these beauties. Check out the stunning birdcage veils we found!

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer
If you like our weekly ramblings, LIKE us on our Wishahmon page too! More goes on there!


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Tips on Writing Thank You Cards

Now that your wedding day has come and gone, there is still one thing to do. Thank you cards. Yeah, it is not a great task, in fact quite a daunting one if you really think about it. But it has to be done. All of your guests graciously took time out of their schedules to attend your wedding and some even brought gifts to help you get started as husband and wife. The least you can do is thank them properly. Below is our step by step guide to writing thank you cards. (This doesn't necessarily just apply to weddings.)

The photos in this blog post are some stationary options from Paper wink.

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer
If you like our weekly ramblings, LIKE us on our Wishahmon page too! More goes on there!

Be Prepared
Gathering addresses for invites, save list for thank you notes. Have nice stationary and pens. If you are old enough to get married, you are old enough to write with decent pens. Don't write with dollar store pens that leak or gobs up.



Get Comfortable
Find a space, wear your jammies, have a glass of wine, etc. Do whatever it takes to get yourself in the mood to be thankful in spirit and on paper.



Tackle Them Early
Your best bet is to write the thank you notes as gifts are coming in even if it is before your wedding.

• The rule is that you're supposed to get thank-yous out for gifts received before the wedding within two weeks of their arrival; after the wedding, within a month after you return from the honeymoon. Well, it's a nice thing to aspire to, but I say if you get 'em all done before (okay, around) your two-month anniversary, you'll be happy and so will your guests.

Be specific

Thank the guest for their specific gift. 

• If the gift was money, mention how you plan to use it: "Thank you for the generous check. We are using it as part of the down payment on a house."

Check it Off

Once you have completed a thank you note, check it off your list and move on. It would really suck if you forgot to do this step and wrote up another thank you note. You don't want to waste your efforts or stationary. To save even more time, check out the personalized address stamps you can get made from Paper Wink! Having a stamp like this will save you a ton of time! 

St. Patrick Bridal Glamour Collection 2015

Lace, sleeves, and illusion necklines - the collection of  St. Patrick Bridal Glamour Collection has it all. Of course, not necessarily all in one gown! Check out some of the gowns from this collection. 

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer
If you like our weekly ramblings, LIKE us on our Wishahmon page too! More goes on there!





































 St. Patrick Bridal