Great wedding food idea, or best wedding food idea ever? As I was doing my morning rounds of the wedding news, I cam across an article about a couple hiring a Korean barbeque food truck to show up to their reception at midnight. YUM!!!!

Okay, to be fair, the idea of having food trucks show up at a wedding isn’t an entirely unique concept. I’ve been to more than one wedding where there was a snack truck waiting outside at the end of the wedding, and I’ve been to plenty more weddings where the hosts generously offer late-night revelers a wedding snack. But for anyone who has ever planned a wedding, you know just about every additional amenity you provide guests costs another few thousand dollars, so in terms of wedding savings advice and whether or not you should spend money on providing a late night snack, let’s take a look at the bigger picture.

While a reception snack will definitely cost you a few bucks, it does have some distinct benefits. First, it’ll make your guests happy. Most of the weddings I’ve been to where a snack was provided always leave a more pleasant memory. As the host, it’s a nice way of saying “I know you’re here celebrating with us to the early hours, so I just want to thank you again for coming out.” A late night snack can also be important if your friends are heavy drinkers. And if they are, you’ve probably already considered why… nothing helps keep a party with an open bar going like late night munchies to absorb some of the extra alcohol.

Beyond those two bonuses, I’d have to say I don’t see any other major benefit. Sure it’s nice to offer guests a little extra food, but do folks expect it? What do y’all think? Has anyone out there either thrown a wedding with a late night snack or been to one and want to share your thoughts?

Friends of Mr. Heather and I recently got married but instead of having just a traditional wedding, the couple went on a wedding tour. They didn’t want/couldn’t afford a big blowout wedding, so they got married quietly with just close family and friends. Then, they had a few mini, low key, casual receptions to visit and celebrate with everyone else. It was so well executed that I just had to share the idea with all of you because it brings huge wedding savings.

One of the biggest wedding budget-busters is the ever growing guest list. And, one of the biggest wedding frustrations, is the “wedding surcharge” that seems to be added to normally reasonably priced items. This couple was able to have a very small, reasonable wedding because they eliminated the guest list. Their ceremony was intimate and folks were OK with that… they knew they were going to help celebrate later, and no one was left out. And, when they had their mini-celebrations, they eliminated the “wedding surcharge” because they were no longer purchasing a “wedding cake” or “wedding flowers”. In a smaller atmosphere, a handmade floral arrangement and music from the iPod was welcome. Not to mention, they were able to celebrate and focus a lot more on their guests.

If you have a lot of guests, think about taking your wedding on tour to find some savings… but be careful ladies, a wedding tour does not mean multiple weddings!

New York Just Got A Whole Lot More Fun!

The law allowing same-sex marriages in New York went into effect on July 24th, which is awesome. What an incredible step forward for one of our most populated states to take. That being said, the legalization of same sex marriages in in New York might not be nearly as good for your pocket book. According to this article in the Baltimore Sun, the legalization of same sex marriages has created a huge demand for weddings. And you know how good ole’ “supply and demand” works, right? The more demand, the less supply, and the more expensive. So what’s a New Yorker planning her (or his) wedding to do?

Good thing you’ve come to the rejuvenated wedding blog that’s all about wedding savings advice. If you’re in the Empire State and noticing a rising cost in weddings, let PEA.com offer a good solution: Wait to book. Yup… you read that right. PEA.com loves a wedding just as much as anyone else (OK… a lot more than everyone else) but if you’ve got time to wait, hold off. That includes holding off on booking everything from venues and wedding transportation, to florists, caterers, and even plane tickets. Why? Because the wedding rush is going to lead to an inevitable wedding bust. Right now wedding planners and wedding industries are getting hit with hundreds of extra requests, but in a few months, New York weddings will normalize again, and all those extra service providers will be desperate for more business, meaning you’ll be back in the driver’s seat.

So if you can afford the time to wait on your wedding purchases, know that you’ll be able to afford a lot more of them in a few months when wedding vendors in New York are desperate for more clients.

Yay! Practically Ever After Is Back!!!!!

Hi all! I know it’s been a long (loooooong) time since we last updated PracticallyEverAfter.com. So, first things first, I’m really sorry about that. We had a lot of readers who came to rely on good wedding advice from us on a daily basis, but the time commitment to keep posting updates got to be too much, and… well… no excuses. We’re just bad wedding bloggers, I guess.

But the crazy thing is that even after we stopped making new wedding savings posts, people kept coming to the site. And coming, and coming, and coming. So finally we’ve decided it’s time to start wedding blogging again, and that’s what we’re doing.

So welcome back to Practically Ever After. We’re sorry it’s been a while since our last wedding savings advice post, but we’re going to make it up to you by turning Practically Ever After into the best wedding blog on the Internet. Are you ready to live practically ever after?

No, I am not talking about the voted #1 Wedding Location: Oheka Castle

I am referring to having one location for your ceremony and reception.  Using the same venue for all of your wedding events will increase your wedding savings and be more convenient for you, your guests, and your vendors.

Most venues are able and happy to flip any space within a cocktail hour.  Having only one location will cut the cost for event space.  Also, you can just have one set of decorations instead of having two separate sets (one set for the ceremony and one set for the reception).  And if your vendors are on an hourly rate, they will need less time for set-up and tear down.  Furthermore, you can cut transportation expenses for your wedding party and guests because there won’t be any need!

I saw this article and I just wanted to share it. I’m not much of a pop-culture aficionado, but I knew it was really bad wedding savings advice, which is kind of like what I imagine most of the advice from Simon Cowell is anyway!

His idea for a wedding performer: Elton John. Umm… I’m pretty sure Elton John doesn’t come cheap!

But really, the more important thing I want to point out is the idea of getting a “really good” performer for your wedding.  I was watching that Dream Wedding show on, I think, USA a few months back, and on every episode they would bring in someone famous to sing the couple’s song. But there seems to be a problem with that to me. Why would you want your performer to overshadow the rest of your wedding? I mean, in the case of Simon Cowell, I guess he’d have mostly celebrities there anyway. But if you have the brilliant idea to spend $50k on a well-known name to perform at your wedding, just remember that not only is it bad wedding savings advice, it’s also going to be the only thing the guests are talking about when they leave. And you don’t want that, do you?

There was an article in the Washington Post with wedding savings advice. Well… it kind of had wedding savings advice. To be fair, it was more about how ridiculous people are for spending so much money on their weddings. You might think, as a lover of all things extravagant-wedding-related, I’d be the first person to take offense at people criticizing the desires of brides on their “big days.” But actually, I fully agree with the author of the article. Wedding costs are absurd. The amount the average couple (and their families) spend on weddings is way, way, way too much — somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000. Worst of all, that doesn’t even include the costs of attending a wedding. Remember, everyone who attends a wedding has to have an outfit, a gift, and might even have to travel. Sure, some people choose to save on their wedding expenses to attend other people’s weddings, but a lot of people are also prone to buying new outfits, flying across country, buying expensive registry gifts, and so on. These costs all add up.

At the same time, I LOVE weddings. I love what they symbolize, and I love the joy they provide, and I love the experiences they create, and just love the way they always make me feel. So that’s kind of why I agreed to help with this wedding savings blog (though to be honest, I know I’ve been a bit bad about my new posts recently… so sorry!). I think it is possible to have a fabulous wedding and achieve fabulous wedding savings at the same time.

Remember… a wedding is about bringing your loved ones together and celebrating your marriage to someone you truly care about. All those details, like flowers, rings, dresses, and whether or not the DJ should play YMCA, are all there to support your celebration, not be the focus of your attention.

There seems to be  a renewed wedding trend: Lace.  I have no problem with Lace in day to day life; however, for some reason I don’t like Lace when it comes to weddings.  Originally, I really wanted a Lace wedding dress, but when I tried on Lace wedding dresses they did not look good.  I’m sure quite a few of you have been there: you look through wedding magazines, you’re confident about what type of dress you want, and then BAM- you suddenly find out you can’t pull off the look you wanted and you’re back to the drawing board.  In any case, I’m not bitter about Lace.  I just think you have to be really careful about how you use it in a wedding.  That’s my disclaimer.  Now, here is what I wanted to show you: Lace Tape. Little DIY details, like Lace Tape, are great to add finesse to your wedding but at a low cost.

Happy Friday everyone!   I saw this post from Groomsadvice.com and thought I would share…

I like to think most brides try to get a little crafty for their wedding, and that those same brides don’t have a stock pile of craft supplies ar0und.  Well, that’s definitely my scenario.  For example, I am going to make our rehearsal dinner invitations.  No, they will not be anything super fancy but I am going to borrow my office’s paper cutter for the weekend.  Sure, I could buy a paper cutter… but when am I going to use it again?  I also might use one of our printers to run the invites off.  Yes, I do have a printer at home but the one at the office is quicker and I won’t use up all of our ink!

If your office isn’t equipped with useful tools, or your wedding usage would not be encouraged, then check with your friends and family.  You might be surprised as to what their offices have and they can borrow.  Now, don’t go all re-con to get the materials, and don’t get greedy with what you take.  You won’t be able to pay for your wedding if you get fired!  I will definitely ask my office manager if I can borrow the paper cutter for the weekend… if he says no maybe I will just bring everything into the office and stay late one day.