Snapshots

Paul just finished a double wedding weekend.  Melissa & Kevin on Friday and Kari & Bobby on Saturday.  Paul’s hard at work finishing the images up so that both couples can see photos when they return from their honeymoons.

Kari & Bobby’s wedding reception was at the historic Summit Inn located in the Laurel Highlands.  The inn was beautiful and I’m glad we decided to stay overnight.  There was a huge fireplace in the lobby and guests were able to warm up after dodging through the pelting rain.  It’s said that rain on your wedding day brings good luck.  If that’s the case then this couple will win the lottery in about a week! 

Here’s a photo from Sunday morning.  The inn has this beautiful car parked out front as a tribute to its origins on the National Road.

        

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I love this photo of Nadia.  It’s right before the start of the ceremony, she’s just about to walk down the aisle and you can just feel her anticipation…

 

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Here’s another tip from our own personal wedding file.  Instead of renting a limo or trolley for one afternoon, rent several Town Cars or Cadillacs for the weekend.

Paul and I rented a Caddy for $350 for 4 days over our wedding weekend.  It was great to have the extra vehicle and we had no shortage of fun carting 6 women around to the hair salon in that fat ride.  Talk about smooth….

Our friends, Mollie and Chris, acted as our chauffers for the weekend and drove us from the ceremony to the reception in grand style.  Paul and I had a quiet moment to ourselves to reflect on the ceremony, joke around a bit, and just take a deep breath before the reception festivities started.

Outside of the wedding day the extra car came in handy for collecting people and luggage from the airport, toting out-of-towners back and forth from the hotel, and just running errands without adding a million miles to our own cars.  We had no shortage of “volunteers” who wanted to take the Caddy for a spin and would run errands which further freed the two of us up for other tasks. 

Total cost:  $350. 

Memories of 6 women in the car with their hair all poofed up and looking great zooming around downtown Pittsburgh singing 80′s songs at the top of their lungs:  Priceless.

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Believe it or not but you can get a fabulous wine for $2 a bottle.  If you’re in the Washington DC or Michigan areas, swing by any of the Trader Joe’s and pick up a bottle of Charles Shaw wine.  Affectionately known as Two Buck Chuck, the wine is fantastic and has won several competitions against $50/bottle wines.

Since we’re on the East Coast, away from the vineyard, we have to pay the kingly sum of $3.99/bottle.

Paul and I used this tip for our own wedding.  We had relatives in the DC area that wanted to contribute to our wedding festivities.  We asked Michael & Judy to pick us up 5 cases of wine for the reception. And just like that, half of our reception spirits taken care of!

In case anyone is wondering, we had a wine and beer reception and it worked out perfectly.  No one complained about the lack of mixed drinks and our beer was in bottles so that any unused portion could be enjoyed by Paul in the months that followed the wedding.

We’ve also attended receptions where the bride and groom were beer aficionados and ordered chocolate beer to go with the chocolate theme of their wedding (bridesmaids’ dresses, linens, and cake were all chocolate colored or flavored).

Unfortunately the Virginia and Michigan stores are the closest ones allowed to sell wine but if you’re up for a getaway weekend add the side trip to your plans and save a little green at your reception by providing your own liquor.

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Here’s a money-saver that I used for our own wedding.

I found 100% silk formal dresses at the Talbots Outlet in Monroeville for $18 a piece for my bridesmaids.  The Talbots quality was fantastic.  The dresses were flattering.  And the price couldn’t be beat.

I bought one for each bridesmaid and sent it to them with my tailoring preference to have the dress hemmed at just above the knee.  Since the girls were out of town, they were free to use their own tailor and things turned out great.  In essence, I saved each of them probably about $200 when you look at the typical cost of a BM dress and tailoring at the salon.  And these are dresses that are designed to be worn more than once, so the tailoring of the seams is done well, the zippers are designed to last, and the dress fabric isn’t polyester.  (I’ve been to plenty of weddings where bridesmaids had to do emergency repairs on their dresses because seams and zippers have come undone)

But someone else found an even bigger bargain than I did.  Another bride was able to find her dresses at Talbots for only $11/each.  She bought each girl’s dress and that was her attendants gift to them.  A nice gift and a nice savings.

The beautiful thing about Talbots is that their return policy is fantastic.  If you don’t want something, take it back anytime and they will give you a full refund with no questions asked. 

I found my flower girl’s dress at Talbots as well.  A beautiful white 100% Duponi silk dress that even had a built in slip and crenolin.  It fit her perfectly!  But then she had a growth spurt and I needed to get a new dress.  I took the first dress back to Talbots, six months after I bought it, and they gave me my money back without blinking an eye. 

Some other ideas:  Look at Macy’s after the prom season has finished.  They have some great dresses as well.  And if you’re creative, you can find a shell to use and accessorize it with ribbon or pearls of your own choosing.  Become your own designer!

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