I recently received an email from Trish at Ajalon Printing & Design.  They are a small, family-owned letterpress printer in Northern California whose focus is wedding invitations.  They are currently offering an amazing price on 100 letterpress invitations – 100 for only $398 (the going rate is actually anywhere from $670-1086,  yikes)!

Ajalon has 34 different styles at this great price.  So it is definitely worth checking out.   Here are some of my favorites:

Gina and Jason were married on July 10th, 2009 in Austin Texas.  It is one of the prettiest weddings I’ve seen. The pink detail is so simple, but a such stunning focal point.  And the intimate celebration with 40 friends seems like the perfect way to start married life.

Here’s Gina’s thoughts on her day:

How you knew he was the one.
Jason has always selflessly treated my family like his own.  I’ve never met anyone with a bigger heart.

Ceremony description
The ceremony was held right outside of the country club.  We weren’t going to have a wedding party at all but decided at the last minute that we would have a Best Man and a MOH.  The senior court judge who orchestrated the ceremony married a friend of ours 20 years ago.  The ceremony itself was short and sweet.  I mean, it was July in central Texas…  Any longer than 15 minutes, someone would’ve fainted. 

Reception description
Because we only invited those who mattered the most to us, we had 40 guests at the wedding.  And because they came from all corners of the world, we had to treat them right!  The seated dinner was out-of-this-world delicious, and our guests raved about how wonderful the steak was long after the night was over.

Favorite detail about the reception
I loved that the pink hydrangeas totally went with the pink paper pompoms that were hung all over the reception areas.  I just loved the look of lots of flower petals!  Also, the mini perfume favors were so beautiful.  Yes, it was a little indulgent, but I wanted to make all the ladies feel super special!

Advice for other brides

1. Delegate.  When your friends offer help on your wedding day, take them up on their offer.  I tried to arrange almost all of the decorations myself on the day of the wedding, and there was simply not enough time.
2. Prioritize.  If you decide to have a party with a group of close friends and family members, you may not need to hire a fancy DJ.  I was surprised to see that not many people even made it to the dance floor.  Why?  They were too busy having a good conversation and catching up with friends.  Sadly, I found out that simply plugging in an iPod would’ve been sufficient (this would’ve saved me over $800).
3. Hire the best photographer.  If you’re lucky enough find a photographer whose style you admire, book him/her immediately!  It’s worth your hard-earned money.

Gina wore Elizabeth Fillmore’s Emanuelle.

Okay okay, so what if the title of this post is a tacky pun? I live for those.

Well, I finally got the price quotes from a string quartet that my dad looked into. He plays trumpet in the local community chamber orchestra, and so I figured that he could connect me to a good string quartet.

Actually, music has been difficult for this wedding! Well, not really difficult, but one of the nameless members of the immediate family thinks that Jarrod and I should hire a brass ensemble play the ceremony music.

Jarrod and I have always been set on a string quartet, though our song interests have changed since we first began throwing wedding ideas around five years ago. Back then, we were young and naive. We wanted a Pachelbel’s Cannon processional and black-and-white cameras at every table.

Now the tune has changed a bit, and we’re hoping to have Air on a G String as the processional. Plus, I have a good friend who made money during college playing violin in a quartet at weddings, and she said that she wouldn’t show up if we played Pachelbel’s Canon.

(Note: The ever non-offensive Emily wishes to say that she has NOTHING against Pachelbel’s Canon! Her parents used it as their wedding processional some twenty-five years ago, and for several years she played a cassette of it to help her fall asleep, until her sister accidently recorded over it in a hilarious accident. Emily just wants to be different, and Air on a G String reminds her of all those chick flicks where the characters get married at the end.)

Anyway, where was I? So, my Dad asked for some information and then sent it my way a few weeks ago. As it turns out, I had sort of underestimated the cost of a quartet. I say sort of because I am able to get a quartet at my budgeted price of $400, but I’m not able to get them for long. I had just figured, “Hey–a hundred bucks per player should do it!” And it kind of does. For a hour, with no wedding rehearsal, and with the players showing up 15 minutes before the ceremony. Yikes! It would actually be way easy to spend a grand on the music, just by hiring them for another hour and making them come to the rehearsal.

I’ll have to ask my married friends if they think it wise to have the quartet at the rehearsal. I mean, how much can you mess up songs, right? But then I’m picturing things going horribly wrong. So I’ll have to see on that.

It would be sort of nice to have them play during the reception, but I figured that we could just set up a sound system and have one of our music-savvy friends DJ an iTunes playlist of middle school hits or something. Is that tacky?

I’m constantly torn between wanting to make this day super-over-perfect, and saying, “Eh, everyone gets married. Whatever goes, goes.” I guess I’ll just have to keep pressing on and finding the right balance.

If you were to buy a new Mercedes for $90,000 and own it for 1 year, the cost would break down to 17 cents a minute.

If you were to buy a wedding dress for $5,000 and wear it for 5 hours, the cost would break down to $16.67 a minute.

Buying a preowned wedding dress (or selling your dress after the wedding to recoup some money) is an idea that just makes good sense.  If you are smartly thinking about buying or selling, here are our tips and tricks for a successful transaction.

Tips for Buyers:

• Research the gown’s retail price online and in bridal boutiques.  Knowing a dress’ market value will help you in your negotiations.
• Whenever possible, try on the gown at a local store (Many pre-owned gowns are still available at retail) so can see how it fits/flatters your figure.
• Ask detailed questions: when and where the gown was purchased, the fabric, detailing, alterations, flaws, cleaning and storage.  If the gown is over 2 years old, ask about yellowing of the lace or other fine fabric. Ask to see photographs of the gown from all angles, including details.
• If applicable, confirm if the gown is authentic to the designer and not a copy. A certificate of authenticity, a photo of the label, or a copy of the original store receipt are some ways to confirm this.

Tips for Sellers:

• Provide as much detail as possible about the fabric, the detailing, the fit/alterations, etc. Offer a copy of your original receipt.
• Provide photographs from different angles, including full length shots of the dress front and back.  Include photos of any detailing like beading or trim, how the train looks down and bustled. Photos taken in natural light are best.
• Be honest, accurate and complete about any flaws to the gown. If the gown is new and unworn, flaws are typically not an issue.  But if the gown was a sample or used in a wedding, provide detail about the amount of wear and any marks, pulls, tears or stains.
• Have a reasonable price expectation.  See our pricing suggestions and guidelines.

For Both:

• Protect yourself in any online transaction.  Get the buyer’s/seller’s full name, address and phone number.  Use a protected payment service like escrow.com so you have recourse if an issue arises.