Five Design Tips for a Bride on a Budget
Planning a wedding on a budget is almost like trying to walk through a maze blindfolded. You hit lots of unexpected walls, you feel a little bit lost, but you also kind of enjoy the unexpected part of the adventure. George and I are planning on tying the knot in Fredericksburg, Texas (my hometown) on New Year’s Eve!
While doing some wedding planning research, I came across Emily from The Hill Country Bride. Emily will actually be helping us plan our rehearsal dinner, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. She even helped us put together a mood board for our wedding reception (simple + classic with a touch of NYE glam). Emily has been in the wedding planning business for over six years, so I wanted to tap into some of that industry expertise. Emily was gracious enough to share a couple of her best, budget friendly design tips for making the special day so magical.
Emily’s tips!
Skip the small stuff. Even though Pinterest can make you feel like you NEED décor EVERYWHERE, the small, unimportant décor details can add up. Skip the aisle flowers for the ceremony, replace the cocktail centerpieces with candles and please don’t buy a sign at hobby lobby for every table. This stuff eats up your budget penny by penny and leaves you with loads of cheesy Mr. & Mrs. décor you end storing for years until you can emotionally part with it.
Create a statement piece with your florals. Whether it’s a greenery installation on windows at the venue or a flower wall backdrop, consider an eye-catching focal point. It seems counter-intuitive to put upwards of $500 into on location but drawing your guest’s attention to one stunning spot makes a reception feel luxurious. Small flower centerpieces on each table (that add up to a lot of $$$) don’t have such an impact. Go for loose greenery and candles on the guest tables and give them something to take a photo in front of.
Use a head table or sweetheart table to make your magazine worthy setup. We all end up pinning photos of beautiful wedding tables with place settings that incorporate a menu, a charger, gold flatware, place cards etc. and wish we could have that look for the entire reception. As you might expect that adds up quickly. I suggest creating another “focal point” using a sweetheart table or head table and really decking it out with all of your wedding fantasies. Renting 20 chargers, fancy flatware & glassware isn’t a huge cost but your guests will get to “ooo and ahhh” at your great taste and you’ll get the photos forever!
Print your own signage. Custom signage can add up quickly too. There are endless pages of templates on Etsy that you can customize and print yourself. Pop them in a frame you already have at home and voila! You can order large signs through vista print and if you do need to buy a frame, don’t you dare walk into Hobby Lobby without your 40% off coupon handy.
Hire a planner. “But that is expensive!” No matter what service package you can afford (month of or full planning and designing), planners will usually throw invaluable budget and vendor tips at you once you have a contract with them. For my clients, I even have special discounts I get for linens, lighting etc. that I pass right along to them.
Emily in her element.
“On the wedding day, be present in each moment and absorb every second. ”
Emily and I also went through a Q&A session together … questions on how she got started in the wedding planning business, the question she gets asked the most by her brides, and best tips.
How did you get started in the wedding planning business? How long have you lived in the Texas Hill Country?
I have been working in weddings all of my career and have been so blessed to work in the field that is my greatest passion. I was introduced to weddings while working for a photographer in Kentucky and eventually did wedding photography on my own. After I was married to my lovely husband, Brent, we decided to make a big move to Colorado, simply for the love of adventure. While in Colorado I worked for two different resorts doing wedding venue sales, wedding coordination, wedding planning, and catering sales. After some amazing years in Colorado, we decided it was time to move back home to the Hill Country of Texas, where I found my talent and creative passion for wedding design and styling, which I have been doing for 6 years now.
How would you describe your wedding planning personality?
Positive and solution focused. When we hit a road-block in wedding planning or snag on the wedding day, I immediately start executing solutions. I try to be a team player with other vendors on wedding day and keep everyone working towards the same goal: making the couple’s dream day come to life! With that in mind I keep a positive attitude and try to redirect any negativity going around (like hot weather, or a mean family member) to the good things (like what a perfect day it is for the Rose the bride picked, or how in love the couple is)!
What is the number one question you get from your brides?
Will something go wrong on my wedding day? The answer is “yes!”. If you get a trusted planner it’s hardly the result of bad planning, but even the best planners can’t control your family, the weather or other vendors. Most of the time you will probably never know the little things that went “wrong”. But if you do, let them go. Let go of things that don’t go as expected. If you stay focused on how it rained, or how your bridesmaid was late, etc. you are missing out on all of the amazing things that are happening in those moments.
What is one piece of advice you love to give your brides on the big day?
There might be a theme here, but once again “Let it go!” After being so involved in the planning (with or without a planner) it can be hard for some brides to step away and entrust the details into their coordinator’s hands. On the wedding day, be present in each moment and absorb every second. It goes by so fast and the more you can hand off your “desire to manage” to a trusted team, the more you can enjoy it. You should be the guest of honor at your wedding, not the host!
What do you love most about your job?
I love stepping back on wedding day, usually around toasts or a little after and just observing the magic. The lighting is golden, the food is great, the music is ideal, the guests are happy and most importantly, the bride is having a great time. Drink in one hand, love of her life in the other and she just looks perfect. Perfectly beautiful, perfectly happy, perfectly in love. It’s such a satisfying moment! It really is a dream job to help bring my client’s dreams to life!
“You should be the guest of honor at your wedding, not the host!”
Such great tips from such a lovely human! Emily was such an angel to work with on this piece. She has such great advice for brides at any stage of the process. If you’re curious to learn more about her services, click here to visit her website! And happy planning to all the brides out there :)
Our wedding mood board :)
