TFF Quick-Tips: Wedding Budget Fixes

Welcome back to The Friday Five!

Today we're talking ways to reduce the cost of your wedding with these 5 tips:

1. Trim the guest list. This is probably the most popular tip but it's true. Trimming down your guest list can be a touchy subject but it's basic math - the less people the lower the overall cost. Start by talking to your fiancé and your families. You don't want to offend anyone. Ask politely about that second cousin you've never met and explain your budget concerns. Communication with those involved is key especially if they are helping with cost.

*Bonus tip: you don't HAVE to give everyone a +1 but DO be consistent with it

2. Wedding Brunch. We've talked about the wedding off-season before. Not only can the off-season be a less expensive time to tie the knot but sometimes a different time of day can be too. A daytime wedding can be fun and everyone loves brunch. Am I right? Your guests don't have to know it was a budget conscious decision. Have fun with it!

3. Buy your dress used. That's right! Check out our previous blog post to learn more. 

4. Multi-use decor. Choose floral arrangements that can be moved from your ceremony site and repurposed as decor at your reception. Think about where the bridal party can place their bouquets - those little beauties should not go to waste either. Your florist should have some more great ideas as well.

*Bonus Idea: Place cards that double as favors

5. The signature cocktail. I don't have to tell you booze for a party is expensive and you certainly don't want your guests to have to pay for anything while attending your event. An open bar of beer, wine and a signature cocktail of your choice can still be a hit. It's personalized yet budget friendly.

__

We hope these tips helped with some of your budget dilemmas. If you'd like us the elaborate on any of these tips or have any tips of your own please leave them in a comment below.

Happy weekend & as always, happy planning!
xo.

Save|Spend|Splurge: Oscars Edition

As we mentioned before, we love awards season and the bridal fashion it inspires. So I thought we'd play a little game I like to call, Save|Spend|Splurge, with some of our favorite Oscar fashion trends from this past weekend. For each trend we hunted down 3 possible options in varied price ranges so you can bring red carpet style to your big day no matter the budget.

Peplum

A trend I was unsure of at first, peplum's flirty charms have grown on me and we should all get used to it by now as it's shown up and been reinvented on the runway for several seasons now. On Sunday night, Jennifer Lawrence [Dior] and Julia Roberts [Givenchy] rocked this feminine silhouette that is also perfect for a fashion-forward bride.

Vogue.com

Vogue.com

Save|Spend|Splurge

Golden Moment

The newest trends for Fall 2014 were showcased this month at New York Fashion Week and gold certainly had a moment on the runway.

The gold embellishments, embroidery and silk fabrics are what wedding dreams are made of. In the future it would be great to see more gold embellishments on bridal gowns and ways of infusing gold into event decor without going full on sparkly or metallic [future post?!]. What do you think of all this gold?

We would love to hear your thoughts & any other favorite trends from NYFW.

Psssst, we're throwing a golden affair over on Pinterest - come see!

Follow Revelry Alliance's board A Golden Affair on Pinterest.

TFF: Wedding Sentiments

:The Friday Five:

Valentine's Day has come and gone but we're still in a mushy mood.

It may still be chilly or the snow may be melting where you are
but we'd much rather melt your heart...

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

May your weekend by filled with love & productive wedding planning!
&Don't forget we're always here to help.

Follow Revelry Alliance's board The Details: Sentiments on Pinterest.

xo.

TFF Quick-Tips: Trying on Wedding Dresses

image via glitterinc.com

This week on The Friday Five we're offering up 5 quick-tips so you can get on with your weekend! This week's quick-tips you can take along with you when you're trying on wedding dresses.

1. Bring a short bathrobe to the bridal salon.
Because it makes the time between dress changes more comfortable

2. Don’t try on wedding dresses that you cannot afford. 
Because there's nothing worse than lusting after something you can't have 

3. Be open-minded. Try on at least one style you wouldn't normally go for.
Because the vision in your head might not include the best dress for your shape

4. Limit the amount of people you bring along.
Because a few opinions are nice but too many can ruin the mood or make you second guess your instincts 

5. Try to go in with a clear vision of your event's style and major details.
Because the attire is affected by things like location, season and time of day

*Bonus Tip: Check out our Pinterest boards for inspiration!

Visit Revelry Alliance's profile on Pinterest.

xo.

TFF: Friday Favorites

It's favorites time on the The Friday Five.

When I saw a pin of the cake-topper pictured below in my Pinterest feed earlier this week it definitely put me in a whimsical mood, not to mention every song played at my wedding ceremony was a Beatles song. I walked down the aisle to an acoustic guitarist playing John Lennon's Real Love, so let's just say this was right up my ally. Here are 5 favorites that inspired me this week with a whimsy-Beatles-inspired twist...

{1}

{2}

{3}

{4}

{5}

Speaking of whimsy, any Chicagoans attending Indie Wed tomorrow?! 

It's such a unique event and tons of our favorite wedding vendors will be there.

If you still need more convincing check out the video from last year's event to see what you'd be missing:

Happy Weekend!

TFF: How to Keep the Love Alive During Your Engagement

Don't neglect your relationship during wedding planning. It sounds crazy, right? You would think planning a wedding, a day that is centered around your love for each other, would naturally bring you closer together. It can and should but it can also take attention away from essential aspects of your relationship that you may take for-granted. Just know that the free-time you have together will lessen. It depends on the couple but most of the time one person (usually the woman) takes on more responsibility than the other during the planning process. So we're talking to you, ladies, when we say give yourself a break and take some necessary time out with your partner. Everyone thinks "Not me! I won't be that kind of Bride" but trust me you can easily get wrapped up and feel like there's just not enough hours in the day. You need to step away from those vendor proposals and focus your attention to your relationship. Here are 5 ways to keep the love alive during your engagement...

TFF: Wedding Planning Organization

Welcome to The Friday Five! We're going to kick off the weekend by adding on to last week's TFF topic where we discussed where to start after the proposal. If you're anything like me there's just something gratifying about pretty stationary and chic notebooks like these from Rifle Paper Co.:

It motivates me and makes things like writing a grocery list or taking notes more enjoyable. It's the little things! I was inspired by Sugar Paper®'s new collection for J.Crew to share a couple wedding planning binders and organizers that are sure to motive and inspire your planning process.

Wedding Worthy Dresses on the Red Carpet

My favorite part about awards season is always the fashion. I find myself day-dreaming of what it would be like to wear some of those gowns. For most woman their wedding day could be the only time they get to don a red carpet worthy gown. Award shows get us inspired for our own Hollywood moment. Last night at the Golden Globes we saw some wedding worthy fashion from some of our favorite wedding dress designers. Let's recap just a couple...

Options for the more traditional bride:

top left: Anna Gunn in Donna Karan Atelier | top right: Zooey Deschanel in Oscar de la Renta

bottom left: Sarah Paulson in Marchesa | bottom right: Michelle Dockery in Oscar de la Renta

TFF: Newly Engaged?! Start Here.

This week The Friday Five is for all you newly engaged ladies who need a little push in the right direction when it comes to planning a wedding. You just got engaged and you're already bombarded with guides and checklists that make you feel like you were behind even before he could slip the ring on your finger. Don't stress. We get it. When you're overwhelmed it can be difficult to just get started so let's change all that...

The Friday Five: Pretty in Pink

Happy first Friday of 2014!

I can't think of anything better than a New Year's Eve wedding right now, can you? Especially when it's a celebrity in a petal pink Vera Wang gown that ties the knot. That's right! Actress, Kaley Cuoco, had her Molly Ringwald moment when she married pro tennis player, Ryan Sweeting, this past NYE.

We've seen more and more celebrities in recent years stray from tradition when it comes to the dress and we happen to like it. Shenae Grimes-Beech is a recent favorite and I enjoy the sincere story behind her choice. Believe it or not white was not always a wedding tradition. The white dress first became popular in the Victorian era when Queen Victoria wore an all white lace gown at her wedding to Prince Albert. Before that European women were wearing a variety of colors to be wed. So it seems what's old is new, as fashion usually goes, and of course celebrities are the most daring bunch. Here are our top 5 celebs, in no particular order, that took blushing bride literally and pulled it off:

The Friday Five: How to be NYE Party Ready

Happy Friday, everyone! We're going to start a new series called The Friday Five to kick your weekends off right. This week, with 2014 right around the corner, we're talking how to pull together the perfect party look to ring in a new year.

Tips on Buying a Used Wedding Dress Online

When I tell people I bought my wedding dress used online, naturally I get a few concerned looks. It’s not as scary as it may sound. I promise. After I got engaged back in 2010, aside from the immediate venue search to set a date, I went straight for the dresses. I did the inevitable and fell in love with a dress I saw on Pinterest that was out of my price range. I spent months trying to find something comparable but no such luck. Then I came across a website called OnceWed, an online listing service for wedding dresses. I squealed, probably out loud, when I found my dream dress was listed at a discounted price AND in my size. You know my story ends in success but before you start binge searching dresses there a few major rules to follow.

Style: Wedding Flats

Heels aren't for every bride!

I especially love the idea of ballet flats with a sweet little tea-length day time dress, so that you can actually see these little gems:

Ann Taylor Perfect Patent Leather Ballet Flats

Lanvin Embellished Ballet Flats

Miu Miu Glitter Flats

BHLDN Bowtie Flats

 

Vera Wang Lavender Label Laetitia

Vendor Portfolio Pages

Need some inspiration?

Check out our new Vendor Portfolio page, which features great galleries of some of our vendor's work!



Honeymoon Style: Swimwear

Having spent my honeymoon in a tropical location, I spent a lot of time thinking about the swimsuits - and the number of swimsuits - I would bring for our trip. When you're spending a week at the beach, you simply can't just rotate the same two suits over and over again, am I right? Seems like five would be a nice minimum... :)


Fashion forward color-blocking:

 

Araks for J.Crew Yanelis Bikini $350

A one-piece in a great shade of royal blue:

Tory Burch Solemar One-Piece $225

Shoshanna never fails in fit:

Shoshanna Casco Bay Twist $211

Something more feminine and floral:

Nanette Lepore Toile Print Bikini $156

Simple, sexy and bright pink:

Splendid Bayside Reversible String Bikini $98

Style: Short Wedding Dresses

Whether you're having a daytime wedding, or just looking for something more casual to change into for the reception, sometimes a short dress is just the ticket.

Here are three little white dresses we just love:

BHLDN Lively Chevrons Dress

J.Crew Rosebloom Dress

Monique Lhuillier Lace Dress

Love how the textural elements and details on all these options make them so much more special.

Inspiration: Great Photography

While so many different aspects go into making a wedding special, photography is especially important. After all, this is how you will visually reflect on your big day for the rest of your life!

Some shots that I find particularly stunning, to use as inspiration for your own photographer:

Amaris Giselle

David Wittig

Kenny Kim

Angela Garbot

Shane Welch

The 2013 Bridal Tour Chicago!

We're so excited about this event!

The Bridal Tour offers brides and grooms an exclusive look at some fantastic Chicago wedding venues and vendors. It's an entire day of touring, tasting and sampling, courtesy of Windy City Limousines, and capped off with an intimate soiree at Loft on Lake. Champagne is involved!

Revelry Alliance is proud to be a co-sponsor of this event. It's happening March 3rd, so if you want to get on board, reserve a spot today.

Details and registration here: http://glitzinspiration.com/the-bridal-tour-chicago/

Valentine's Day Gift Guide

V-day is one week away!

We suggest sending a link to this post to your groom-to-be... Sometimes, a guy just needs a little nudge!

Diptyque Rose Duet Candle $65

Dogeared Gold Heart Earrings $40

Lily Pulitzer Charter Sweater $148

Coach Interlocking Heart Valet Keychain $58

Sugar Paper Card Set $30

Love!