Top Hacks: The Hit List

 Will be creating dedicated posts for each of:

1. Flowers: we had a fantastic experience with GlobalRose and a local floral wholesaler. $1/stem. 500 yellow roses and 100 cream snapdragons. One afternoon of flower arranging and giggles. Our cat had a great time too.
2. Reception Venues: 
1. TL;DR your game plan is to identify a restaurant where your minimum spend benefits them too because it removes their risk. You'll have more luck targeting new restaurants, smaller restaurants (which in restaurant world can still mean 80-100 people), independent restaurants, etc. 
2. To set expectations: I got quotes from about 5 restaurants in Cambridge and the South End that fit this description. Generally, you can expect to see a couple of options (partial buyout, full buyout, buyout from opening till 10/11, buyout from opening until close which may be as late as 2 AM). I found that a minimum spend for 4 hours of a full buyout on a Saturday night ranged from 10K-15K. You also need to factor in tax and tip, just like with a traditional venue's catering. 
3. Ours was a culinary incubator in the South End. I'm trying to confirm their current pricing/get permission before I post in detail. 
4. Am currently reaching out to multiple restaurants for information on current price ranges, menu offerings including expected changes by time of year, # of guests, and other information that may be relevant. Hoping to build a database or at least feature several restaurants. Please let me know if there is information you would especially like me to capture in these interviews. 
5.  Shoutout to Chef Ty Emelian, head chef of Ukemochi, then-resident at the culinary incubator (Wink and Nod in the South End). He went above and beyond for us, basically acting as a built-in day-of coordinator. 
3. Ceremony Venues: This one was tricky. We both wanted a traditional ceremony, but were trying to blend 2 different traditions. We found Emmanuel Church/Central Reform Temple to be extremely helpful and accommodating, and not to mention responsive. I'm reaching out to them out of respect before I share more detailed information, but strongly recommend. Will also talk about how I found them so that readers in other regions can still benefit.
4. Music: We saved a lot of money by forgoing the DJ and letting the restaurant help us choose a playlist that suited their vibe. It was perfect. However, we really wanted a choir and organ for the ceremony. Your venue should be able to source singers or musicians on a gig basis. You'll pay them for performance time, but usually not for travel time, and you can expect their rate to be 50-200/hour.
5. Dress: I paid $400 for a true vintage (early 1930s), pure silk, handmade, art deco gown on eBay. What few alterations it needed, I tackled myself. It felt like sheer luck or magic, but actually it was a result of dedicated work. I spent an hour or two every day for a few months searching the Internet for secondhand styles, and I knew my measurements so I was ready to pounce when I found one that would fit. I also spent time learning what I liked so I could put in the right keywords. In addition to eBay, Etsy, and Stillwhite, I frequented Ruby Lane and Fashion Conservatory, and would regularly enter my keywords into Google Shopping. See? Plenty of similar dresses at a similar price for sale right now. Not magic. But the experience of resurrecting this treasure was magical.
6. Veil: I went to some wedding boutiques to try on different styles with my dress to see what I liked. Then a friend of mine taught me how to measure and cut tulle to the desired length and tack it onto a comb. I'll post a tutorial. Done. $200-1,000 saved right there.
7. Photography: A fantastic photographer does not need to cost a fortune. Elyse Heise's rates are public. She did a phenomenal job and is a phenomenal person. I found her simply by posting on budget wedding Facebook groups.
8. Makeup/hair: Ok this one is controversial. I had a horror of someone else doing airbrush makeup on me and having it turn out abysmally. To feel like I was in the driver's seat, I actually paid for professional lessons with Katrina Hess several months before the wedding, had her refer me to the same products she would use, and I practiced every day. I got her stamp of approval before the wedding. Day of, I had some of my childhood friends join me to calm my nerves, and I had my friend give me a simple blowout with her hair dryer. You can see her rates online; I paid for the $500 multi-lesson set, whereas the minimum for professional applications day-of is $1,800 according to her website. I posted about this on Reddit and was met with skepticism. The honest truth is that if you compare my photos when Katrina did my makeup versus when I did my own makeup, she did a slightly better job. However, the makeup lasted all day, the photos look great, and now I have a life skill and can make myself feel pulled-together whenever I want. I'll post a detailed rundown and let you all decide for yourselves whether you'd be comfortable doing this. As far as I'm concerned, though, this was totally the right call.
9. Wedding party: Also potentially controversial. But does all the bridesmaid drama make anyone happy? I told my mom, my sister, and my MIL to choose dresses they liked in a dark blue or dark green velvet. Velvet is a great choice because higher-quality velvet looks the exact same as lower-quality. I paid for my sister's dress ($30 from Asos), my MIL already had one, and my mom bought one from Nordstrom that she liked (not totally sure of cost, but not expensive). I still had the "getting ready" experience by inviting two of my childhood friends to get ready with me the morning of the wedding. 0 drama, minimal needless expense. 

Will do a deeper dive on all of these topics in the coming months, and am currently reaching out to restaurants in the area to be able to provide you with concrete information! Please let me know what else would be helpful!

Fine print: Exact pricing information is often highly confidential to businesses, particularly businesses where this price point is a "win/win." I will never share pricing without express approval from a business or vendor, except where that information is publicly available. I will strive to be maximally helpful to my readers without compromising trust placed in me by any businesses. Thank you for understanding and please reach out with any questions!