Archive for April, 2012

« Older Entries

It’s More Expensive to Get Married Some Places Than Others

Monday, April 30th, 2012


We all know that getting to the altar can be an expensive proposition. There are clothes and flowers and food and decorations and photography and music and a thousand other things to spend money on. But it’s useful to know that there are two things that affect your budget hugely: geography and culture.

The average wedding in the US has hovered roughly around the $20,000 mark for quite a while, give or take. One year it’s more like $22,000, another it’s more like $19,800. The fact remains, however, that in some areas of the country, that average is an insane amount of money to play with, while in others it’s a painfully tight squeeze to get a wedding on that little money.

According to Cost of Wedding.com, the average wedding in California’s most infamous zip code (90210) runs closer to $40,000. Not far away in El Centro, Ca, the average price of a wedding drops to roughly $26,000 and change. Still well above the national average, but a heck of a lot less than Beverly Hills! Up in Marysville, though, the average cost of a wedding drops very slightly below the national average.

If you look at statistics in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, and Idaho, you’ll find the average wedding runs well under the national average.

Then again, when your wedding starts feeling ridiculously expensive, you might want to thank your lucky stars you’re not trying to have a wedding in South Korea. According to this article from Reuters, the average wedding there runs in the neighborhood of $200,000 in US dollars. Many of these couples go into huge debt to hold their weddings.

Where does all that money go? Mostly to the huge guest lists and lavish gifts to one another’s families.

But the most important thing to remember about averages is that they’re just that: averages. Your wedding may or may not fit into the averages comfortably in either direction. And you know what? Whether your wedding is average in cost or not isn’t the most important thing about it. What matters is that you hold the wedding as close to your dreams as you can within the budget you have.

Posted in Budgets | 1 Comment »

Twistie’s Sunday Caption Madness: The Alternative Transportation Edition

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

Hello Cleveland!… er… readers!

It’s time once again to play Twistie’s Sunday Caption Madness. You all know how this works. I find an image that’s baying at the moon for a funny caption or two. You provide said captions via the comments function. Next saturday I declare a winner and we all have a good laugh or three.

This week’s image comes from the ‘was this the best way to cut the budget?’ file and it looks a little like this:

Ready… set… snark!

Posted in Sunday Caption Madness | 2 Comments »

Gypsies Getting Married

Friday, April 27th, 2012

On sunday night, TLC will bring us the latest in their string of bridal reality programming, My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding.

Based on the UK hit version of the story, MBFAGW will feature real brides and real families among the American Gypsy and Traveller communities. It’s a window into a world most of us would never see, otherwise.

In some ways, it’s a throwback to a world that a lot more people lived in not too long ago where a woman’s wedding really was the One Special Day she had to shine for the world. It’s a world where girls are left ignorant about the facts of life, kept from dating, taught mostly to cook, clean, and take care of children, and then married very, very young. And then she will mostly cook, clean, have and tend children, and plan huge weddings for her daughters. The gender roles are strict and unforgiving for both men and women.

But the weddings are certainly colorful, if nothing else. Oh, and if you go over to Huffpo right now, you can read an interview with Sondra Celli, bridal designer to American Gypsies, whose work is featured on the show.

Will I watch the show? At least an episode or two. But I don’t think I’ll take to the road. I’m a Gorger, and happy that way.

Posted in Media, Television | 1 Comment »

LOVE/HATE: One Tight Trumpet

Thursday, April 26th, 2012


Okay, setting aside for one moment the fact that this gown is about the bisect this poor model’s bazooms, can we talk about the extreme hobble effect of the super-tight skirt? Because I think this woman is going to need to hop down the aisle with that little room at the knees.

And then there’s that… sleevelet? That odd little blip hanging halfway down her left arm. Is that meant to be a sleeve? Is it meant to be there at all? Because it looks a little like someone told Ramona Kaveza that sleeves are in and she tucked a Kleenex around the model’s arm to see how it would look and forgot it there.

In short, I’m HATING this one, and I don’t think if it fit it would help very much.

What say you all?

Posted in Designers, Dresses, LOVE/HATE, Romona Keveza, Wedding Dresses | 4 Comments »

Quickie Question: Famous Guest?

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012


I’m guessing it’s not every bridal blog where you would expect to see a picture of Edgar Allan Poe looking all creepy at you.

The funny thing is, if I could have invited any famous person – dead or alive – to my wedding, Mr. Poe would definitely have made the short list, along with Oscar Wilde and Vincent Price. Mr. Twistie probably would have voted for Eddie Cantor.

Why these men? Because, in a word, they all knew how to have a good time. Oh, and Vincent Price was also known for his fabulous cooking. Had his arm been properly twisted, he might have brought along something tempting to eat.

Hmmm… maybe Vincent should win, after all.

What about you? If you could invite any famous person from any point in history to your wedding, who would it be? Why?

Posted in Guests, Quickie Question | 1 Comment »

Let’s Talk Emotion, Shall We?

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012


Grace Kelly was the epitome of serenity and dignity when she married the Prince of Monaco.

But not every bride is so serene.
(more…)

Posted in Advice, Brides, Weddings | 3 Comments »

Treat Your Bridesmaids Well

Monday, April 23rd, 2012


(Image via WedLoft where you can see some great photos of and thoughtful advice for dressing pregnant bridesmaids)

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks catching up with a bridal reality show I’d managed to miss for a long, long time. Say Yes to the Dress Bridesmaids is yet another spinoff of the original Say Yes about shopping for wedding gowns at Kleinfeld in New York City. This one, though, is a spinoff of a spinoff and takes place at Bridals By Lori, featured in Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta.

The series is on par both in production values and general sorts of message offered with the other shows in the franchise. The search for a dress is presented as a power struggle with a villain, a damsel in distress, and the heroic members of Lori’s team arriving to save the day… or at least the appointment. And most often, in the episodes I’ve seen, at least, one or more bridesmaids take on the role of villain.

This can happen. I have actually been in a wedding where one bridesmaid ran amok and tried to change the entire wedding to suit her rather than the bride.

But my experience has been that the vast majority of bridesmaids, like the vast majority of brides, mean well and honestly want everyone to be happy. It’s just that not everyone may have precisely the same priorities and needs. Taking a moment to really think about your bridesmaids’ needs and priorities might just avoid some awkward situations along the way.
(more…)

Posted in Advice, Attendants, Bridesmaids, Bridesmaids Dresses, Bridesmen, Dresses, Junior Bridesmaids | Comments Closed

« Older Entries