Once you’ve established your wedding budget, it’s time to breakdown the expenses and determine who pays for what. Depending on your financial standing, you and your spouse-to-be may choose to split the bills equally with your parents and future in-laws or you can arrange to pay for all the essential stuff and let the contribute parents for everything else .

Wedding couples of yesteryears follow a tradition in breaking down wedding expenses and determining who pays for certain items. Although this tradition is hardly being followed nowadays, it would be a good idea to use it as a guide:

• THE BRIDE
  • the groom’s wedding ring
  • lodging accommodations for her out of town attendants
  • luncheon for her bridesmaids
  • wedding gift for the groom
  • gifts for her bridesmaids

• THE GROOM
  • engagement ring
  • the bride’s wedding ring
  • fees for the marriage license and/or other required legal documents
  • wedding gift for his bride
  • lodging accommodations for his out of town attendants
  • clergy fee  and transportation
  • the honeymoon

• THE BRIDESMAIDS/MAID OF HONOR
  • bridal shower and the bachelorette party
  • their own attire

• THE GROOMSMEN/BEST MAN
  • the bachelor party
  • their own attire

• PARENTS OF THE GROOM
  • rehearsal dinner
  • gift to the couple

• PARENTS OF THE BRIDE
  • reception details, including music, flowers, the reception facility, food, bar costs, etc.
  • bridal gown for the bride
  • gift to the couple

Remember that this is just a guide. Except for the expenses of the bridesmaids and groomsmen, you may arrange for the payment of any of these items according to your financial standing.

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Coming up with a wedding seating arrangement is quite challenging since it involves people many of whom you are only slightly acquainted with. Although everything is up to you, you may welcome some suggestions from your parents. You may also request the help of your future in-laws especially if many of the guests are their friends.

You may also follow the tips below to make your decisions easier. Just remember that you can make some variations to your wedding seating plan according to the size of the venue and the number of guests.

• Seat people of similar age bracket together (or those with similar backgrounds or interests). People who are approximately of the same age can easily find some things in common.
• See to it that you seat guests at a table where they know at least one other person. Although avoid seating them at a table where you know there’s someone they don’t get along too well.
• Mix some out-of-town relatives at a table since they rarely see each other that often.
• If any of the parents of the wedding couple are divorced, you may consider giving them the choice to host a table of their own and pick the family members or special guests they want sit with them.
• Stir things up by seating your guests next to someone of the opposite sex.
• At each table, maintain an even number of guests so no one ends up feeling isolated or like a fifth wheel.

There are no concrete rules in coming up with a wedding seating plan. You may arrange your guests in a way that provide them the opportunity to mingle. The best thing to remember is to have the seating arrangement encourage a good atmosphere.

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Need help in planning a cheap wedding? Then check out the tips below to get you started. Your wedding budget may not be astronomical but these tips will help you make your wedding as elegant as any grand wedding ceremony.

Cheap wedding dress

A typical wedding dress can cost thousands of dollars but for your wedding, it doesn’t have to be. Look for a cheap wedding dress at consignment shops or high fashion second hand shops. Or you may watch out for bridal shop sales. Most bridal shops hold annual sales to get rid of their stocks from the previous year. But if you really want to save a lot of money, ask your relatives and friends if they have a dress that you can borrow.

Cheap wedding venue

Even with a small budget, you still have a lot of options for your wedding venue. You can have your wedding held in a public park or beach. Just check first if there are any permits required. Local college theater and performance halls are good choices too.

Cheap wedding reception

A large chunk of your wedding budget will be allotted to the reception. You can have a cheap wedding reception by having it on the same venue as the wedding ceremony. Based on your budget, prepare a short wedding list, inviting only those who are closest to you and your spouse-to-be.

However small your budget is, you can still make your wedding seem elegant and memorable. Because you know what’s the best thing about planning a cheap wedding? It’s that you are driven to offset your limited wedding budget with creative ideas.

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Planning a wedding yet you do not know where to start? Take heart. Wedding planning is really a piece of work. But that doesn’t mean there’s no excitement involved. Remember, you are planning one of the most special days in your life. Isn’t that exciting enough?

In reality, every wedding is different but basically, they all go through the same planning process. If you find yourself at a loss once you and your spouse-to-be sit down and start to plan, begin with these three basic details.

• The theme or style of wedding that you want. This includes any special features that reflect your personality. You can decide on all other details (venue, decors, attire, favors, etc) once you’ve established the kind of wedding that you want to have.
• Your budget. Determine how much you can afford to spend by creating a realistic budget plan.
• The preliminary guest list. Once you have settled on a budget, you can easily estimate the number of family members and friends that you want to invite.

Start by coming up with some basic idea for these three elements so you’d know where you are heading. Wedding planning can be intimidating at first but once you are able to understand the general idea of how everything falls into place, you will feel more in control.

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It’s natural for engaged couples, especially for the bride, to want a beautiful wedding. The more romantic the setting, the better. For this reason, beach theme wedding has become a popular choice. But other than being romantic, a beach theme wedding has a couple of advantages as well.

Cheaper than church wedding

With a beach wedding, you get to spend less on your attire and on the decorations. Commonly a casual event, a beach wedding doesn’t require the bride to wear expensive elaborately-designed dress. A simple sundress is often the choice as a beach wedding dress. And because of the sand, matching wedding shoes are optional.

There’s no need to heavily decorate the place as well. Thanks to the natural beauty of the azure sky and the sea, you got yourself a beautiful backdrop.

Flexible

You have the option to make the event as informal or formal as you like. While generally casual, you can make a beach wedding a little formal, depending on which part of the beach you plan to get married.

Special and unique

If you want your wedding to be memorable, then a beach wedding is just perfect. However you plan your beach wedding, your guests will most likely remember it with fondness.

As an extra tip, we suggest making your wedding really unforgettable – by incorporating a more specific theme, such as a surfer or a pirate theme. Enjoy planning!

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Wedding and budget don’t seem to belong in one phrase, let alone one sentence together but with more money-conscious couples and the current state of economic affairs, sticking to the wedding budget is very common. The amount doesn’t really matter.

Doing a wedding on a budget does involve a lot of planning, very detailed, and very hands-on. Fortunately there are tools that help a couple plan their wedding, stretch their dollars, and have a great day at the end.

And just because you’re on a budget doesn’t mean you won’t have a fabulous wedding. Take this opportunity to be creative, resourceful, and crafty about everything.

One of the first things you have to do as a couple (once engagement festivities have started to die down) is working out your budget. Agree on the amount you will spend on the wedding and figure out how much you are willing to spend. Wedding websites have become aware of budget conscious couples and have addressed their concerns by providing them with a budget worksheet such as the one found here. In this worksheet, wedding elements are divided and the percentage of the budget provided accordingly. For example, it says there that 3% of the total budget goes to the rings, 10% to the attire (gowns, suits, et cetera). It also helps that no exact amount is set, which makes it flexible for any couple to use.

More concrete fixes for having a grand wedding on a budget has a lot to do with resourcefulness and creativity. A lot of the better weddings I’ve been to had elements of DIY. That gave the wedding such a personalized atmosphere, something custom, and something that guests are not bound to see again.

Wedding favors are one aspect that can benefit from the spirit of DIY, especially to a wedding on a budget. With a little help from your friends and a little elbow grease, you could save dollars upon dollars by making your own wedding favors.

Wedding dress problem? Do you have a seamstress friend? Perhaps she would like to gift you with a wedding dress? Vintage and thrift shops also hold a lot of treasures for the budgeting bride. A trip to the seamstress to take some seams in and adjust a hem here certainly costs less than buying a designer one.

A wedding, while meaningful, is but a day in the collection of days that you and your spouse will spend together. You don’t want to go into debt because you want the exact wedding that a celebrity had. Make your wedding your own, make it personal, use your resources, and nobody would even think that it’s a wedding on a budget.

The idea of getting the gifts you want from stores you like is enough to get any bride all giddy and perhaps a bit too excited about the prospect of setting up a wedding registry.  The excitement can mount up so much so that there is also a tendency to overdo things.  Keeping calm and retaining that straight head you’ve always had is a way to ensure that you don’t alienate your wedding guests with your wedding registry.  A few suggestions and some wedding registry etiquette:

1. Keep it low. While there is the possibility of registering in every store in town, it is better to stick to about two or three stores you really love, ideally a national chain store that has branches everywhere and online so your out-of-town guests can purchase the gifts and one local store so your hometown guests can also have the option of shopping local.

2. Register ahead of time. Not only will this give your guests plenty of time to choose gifts for your upcoming wedding and wedding shower, you will also be able to inform them in more detail about where you are registered.

3. Do register for plenty of gifts. You should register for more gifts than you have guests, but don’t go overboard and register everything you see in the stores.  Registering for a number above the guest count will give your guests enough options to choose from.

4. Think ahead. While wedding registry items could certainly consist of practical items such as everyday-use silverware and china, remember that you have a lifetime to share and that includes many special occasions.  Include items such as Thanksgiving platters, champagne for the many New Year’s parties you’ll throw, and other items for special occasions.

5. Don’t put where you are registered on the wedding invitation. If you have a wedding website, it is proper to put the wedding registry information there, but don’t put that information on the wedding invitation itself.  Ideally wedding registries should be spread by word of mouth either from a friend or family member who knows.  If you are asked where you are registered, it is proper to tell, but don’t put in on the wedding invitation.

6. Thank-you notes. The moment you receive the gifts you have registered for, remember to write a thank-you note right away so you don’t forget.  It is still good manners to send them up to 2 weeks after receiving the gifts, but don’t ever forget to write these notes, but the busy season before and after the wedding makes this difficult.  Make every effort to send a thank-you card up to 3 months after your wedding.

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Ohio River Festival of Books continues with Madcap Puppets performance at MU The Ohio River Festival of Books continued its week-long schedule Wednesday with a handful of authors discussing their books around the region. Read more on The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

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Pennington’s Dahlia Floral Concepts not your average flower shop Just in time for spring, Dahlia owner and Pennington resident Adriene Presti discusses her passions, her 10-year-old business, and what sets it apart. Read more on Pennington Post

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When planning an outdoor wedding, the time of year and region is crucial to consider. Plan an outdoor wedding withtips from an event coordinator in this free video on wedding planning. Expert: Lori Randall {\fonttbl\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Verdana;} Contact: www.Simplydevineevents.com Bio: Lori Randall is an event coordinator who works for Simply Divine Events in Florida. Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

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