Every Girl's Biggest Day Ever!

Guys, check out these adorable and affordable wedding ideas! I helped out with my friend's wedding, which culminated in an amazingly cute and successful outdoor event over the weekend. This may not be my big day, but I've learned a few things that I wanted to share with you!

I don't have many pictures to share. Most pictures include a picture of wedding guests, my friends, the bride and groom... so I don't want to post publicly about that.

Speaking of which, a belated Labour Day to my American friends! I hope everyone had an awesome long weekend!

And I was amazed to see that even though I haven't blogged in forever, I still received steady views and visits to this blog over the last few months!

Anyway, on to the actual topic of this- THE WEDDING.

TIP 1: Order online! 
The happy bride wanted a very simple affair, but she was kind of pressured into having a bigger wedding than what she wanted, so she compromised by going online to buy most things at a cheaper rate. If you're going to do online shopping too, it's a good idea to do it wayyy in advance, because... shipping. #youdontsay

You also want to check if the store allows you to return/exchange goods in case of a wrong fit/you changed your mind/defects. And that's also why you need to factor in long-ass shipping time.

And this is very important... read reviews before purchasing!! Reviews about customer service, product quality, shipping time, etc...

What was bought online:

• Wedding favours/door gifts
• Wedding gown (ikr!!!)
• Flower bouquet 
• Decor - paper crepe pom poms, fake plants, vases

Most things that were bought online were things that the bride wanted to use to decorate her home with, so not much wastage there! 

TIP 2: Borrow from friends!

Forget the something blue, something old, something new, something borrowed. Just borrow whatever you want but you won't be using after the wedding.

Things we borrowed:

• Table decor - lamps, fairy lights, plastic vines/flowers, light up heart-shaped decor piece, display glass pieces, etc
• Table cloths

TIP 3: Be Creative!

So my friend opted out of the typical guestbook where you ask guests to sign and write nice things to you and your partner. Instead, she bought 2 boxes of mini Jenga wooden blocks for guests to write on! 

Also, we placed 2 tables together to form one long table, then overlaid smaller pieces of tablecloths on this long table. Smaller pieces of tablecloths can be more affordable and you're more likely to find a use for smaller pieces in your home than one super long piece. Then, we placed a round lacey tablecloth that kind of resembled a gigantic doily to disguise the ugly part where the 2 cloths overlapped!

We even got some random parts for plants, and used a hot glue gun to spice up an otherwise plain pot of plant! Shredded crepe paper can be really nice when it's stuffed into a vase. #asthetic

TIP 4: Ask for help!

If you want professional services, then don't do this (unless you have professionals for friends). However, if you don't mind amateur work, just ask your friends for help! It can be to do simple set up of the venue, of decor, designing work, etc. 

Things friends helped with:

• Table decor
• Wall decor
• All decor, really 
• Setting up of the venue (tables, chairs, and everything else)
• Music (the groom was in the band!)
• Makeup for the bride
• Photography/videography
• Moving stuff (get a friend or a few friends with a car/van, whatever)

Don't do it for catering though, unless you're very confident about it. It takes forever to cook, wash up, bring the food to the venue and keep food looking and tasting fresh even after it's been sitting out for like an hour or so (because you gotta set it up in advance- don't do last minute things for your wedding, or anything in life, actually!)... you get my point. 

All these tips helps to cut costs so much! 

For example, bridal gowns can cost upwards of a thousand dollars. Or, if you rent it, it could cost you a few hundred dollars. My friend (i.e. the most practical bride ever) bought a beautiful gown online for about S$200, with shipping. It fit so well that she didn't even have to spend a dime to re-fit and alter it! 

Oh yea, another small tip: if you buy your wedding dress online,  you can play it safe by buying one with a lace up back detail instead of a zip-up one. Lace-ups fit a lot better since it's adjustable to a certain extent! 

Hope these tips help... or are somewhat entertaining to read! :)

Anna