I had a reader question come in recently that I thought I would share with all of you. I frequently get questions emailed to me from readers and I do my absolute best to respond to them. (One of the reason my inbox often gives me anxiety- I hate not responding to people who ask me for help.) But this question in particular stumped me- because her plight is a situation I am not familiar with since I am a Shorty McShortPerson. Here’s her question:

Hi Jessica
I have been following your blog since I got engaged last December. A lot of your ideas I will be using in my wedding and will allow me to stay within my budget, but there are many problems I am facing that have not been addressed on your blog. The reason for this is that my problems are uinique for a bride, I am 6’5″ and my height is hurting my budget in certain areas. Most obviously is my dress adding length and alterations are going to run me about an extra $370. Shoes I don’t even want to discuss ($80++ and selection is limited for formal shoes) Also my fiance is 6’7″ so his tux and shoes are also a problem.  I was wondering if you had any ideas for the taller bride who doesn’t want to get punished financially for being a few inches taller than most.
Thanks
Your Taller Bride

I tweeted this Q last night and got a Response from a Twitter Follower,@joannraydesigns:

Being tall myself, when I found the gown I wanted I ordered through Pearl’s Place, cost for extra length only $100. Netbride is also about the same. Not to mention the gown was silk and $1000 less than what the local store wanted.

In addition to this advice, I would also recommend checking out ebay or sites like OnceWed.com or PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com. You can search for “extra length” or “added length” (use quotations to find the phrases with words together for better results.) You might be able to find something that way!

Any other tall brides out there reading BSB?

Do you have any advice for our friend here?

We’d love to hear from you!! Leave a comment if so!

I just love Sebrina– she was a longtime reader and supporter of BSB so I am so excited to share her wedding with you! I really love the black, white and yellow color scheme- especially the way she totally rocked her black bolero and the black lacing on her gown. I’m a huge fan of the sunflowers as well- which the couple got on the cheap for their bouquets and centerpieces. She picked her favorite things to splurge on and still pulled off this fab wedding for under $6k! Way to go, Sebrina– thanks for sharing your special day with us!

What was your budget?

Originally we set our budget at $5000. At the end I think we spent $5806. I was a little bummed about going over but I am happy that we stuck to our plan of having zero debt after the wedding

Save the Dates: $25 w/ postage
Ceremony Officiant: $300 donation to cover travel expenses
Reception Location: $250
Wedding Invitations: $170 w/ postage
Rings: $125
Wedding Dress: $323
Veil: $13 for supplies
Bolero: $52 for supplies
Shoes: $28 for both ceremony and reception pairs
Hair: $32
Make-up: $20
Nails: $100
Flowers: $70
Food & Drinks: $1000
Dishes & Napkins: $240
DOC: $200
Photographer: $500
Rentals: $566
Gifts: $165
Cake: $800
Linens: $362
Decorations: $365
Misc. Expenses: $100
Everything else was free through freindors and skilled family members. For instance my dad was the dj

How many guests did you have?

We invited 450 and I think we figured around 250 came.

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

Basically, everything about our wedding was personal and mostly handmade by myself, my mom, and our very amazing friends and family. We fell in love with the Old Pumphouse because it offered the picturesque butterfly garden that was perfect for my dream outdoor wedding and the fact that it’s a museum was great for Luke because he’s a mega history buff. I kept having to drag him away from the various plaques through the course of our reception

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

We saved a lot of money by making and doing things ourselves. My mom was able to make all our linens and table toppers for less than $10 a table. We contacted local sunflower farmers who let us pick the huge sunflowers for our bouquets for free. The smaller ones were picked from wild fields so we only had to buy the filler flowers for our bouquets. This meant we got to have floral centerpieces that only cost $.24 a table. Originally we planned on having a local restaurant provide the food but that would have been way out of budget, so we contacted a friend who used to be a caterer. He provided all the fajitas and sausage for the cost of the meat. Another family friend made the rice for a very reasonable price and we had our DOC prepare the beans in roasters on site along with the salad. Some friends gifted the mexican wedding cookies and punch and we bought concentrated tea from a restaurant supplier. So we were able to provide unlimited drinks and dinner for everyone for under $5 a person.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

All the wedding blogs can get overwhelming so don’t feel like you have to catch up on every post from every single one but don’t rule them out either because I found life-saving inspiration from one barely 2 weeks before our wedding. Also account for about double the estimated time for diy projects and call in as many friends and family to help. There’s no way I would have been able to get through without my amazing support system. And don’t pick vendors hastily but give yourself enough time to do your research while booking early. We probably saved nearly a thousand dollars by booking our photographer and venue a year early.

What was your biggest splurge?

While planning we discovered that my mom and I are cake snobs. So we ended up spending nearly as much on the cake as the rest of the food. But it was so worth it because it both looked and tasted amazing. Unfortunately we ordered way too much and ended up with nearly 150 pieces to take home.

What was your favorite detail?

Looking back it’s really hard to pick one favorite detail because I absolutely love how everything came together. However, we both agreed that the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse is what really made the event. Luke loved the museum part of it and I couldn’t imagine finding a more beautiful venue.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Our first dance was very special to me because it was a surprise I planned for Luke. I took a song he had written for us called “Let’s Grow Old Together” and gave it to my dad to play for us. He took the original lyrics and matched it with a melody he had written 20-some years before for my mom. So it made the whole moment really sentimental and unique especially since we had to keep it a secret from Luke right up until my dad announced the song.
Please also include a list of all your vendors including any website links.
Venue: Old Hidalgo Pumphouse
Save the Dates: Vistaprint
Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal
Photographer: SixFourteen Photography
Rentals: All Party Rentals
Cake: Honey’s Cakes by Nancy Cortez

I recently found out about Paperless Post through a friend and I am just in love with this idea! Paperless Post is a company that lets you send online invitations, save the dates, cards and more in a customizable, efficient and fun way! This isn’t your standard e-vite: Paperless Post invitations look like real paper and are animated so it’s like opening a card in your hands. Best of all, it not only keeps track of  your RSVPs but you can even track who has opened the invitation but has yet to reply– so you know which of your guests just doesn’t respect the necessity of a RSVP.  (One of my biggest pet peeves by FAR) When it comes to digital wedding invitations, Paperless Post really has some snazzy options!

The possibilities are nearly endless with their software. You can customize the colors, fonts, paper, etc. You can even add pretty envelope liners to your design for additional credits. They even have some designs where you can upload your logo or photo to customize it even more. You can manually update RSVPs from the back-end for the older folks who aren’t too computer savvy. You can buy credits as you go, but you can pay $15 to get 300 stamps– which equals out to be 5 cents per invite. Totally worth it in my opinion to save on real postage and real paper! Can you imagine how much you could reduce not only your budget but your paper waste when it comes to invites if you used this program for your showers, parties and announcements? I am loving the idea and can’t wait to send one out for a party this month! You can even earn free ‘stamps’ by referring your friends! Have any of you used Paperless Post before? What are your thoughts?

This is not a sponsored post but I’d love if you’d sign up to help me earn some free stamps and to try it out for yourself!

What makes you the Ultimate Budget Savvy Bride?

Okay, everyone isn’t Chelsea Clinton and can’t spend $3 million on their nuptials. So, the BSB and Blooms By The Box are joining forces to make your wedding a little easier on your wallet. So, we want to know how are you planning on saving some cash at your wedding! What DIY aspects will you be incorporating? From making your own invitations to arranging your own wedding flowers, we want to know it all. What advice can you give other brides during the wedding planning process? What worked for you? What didn’t?

We want to hear your stories! The BSB and Blooms are looking for innovative, detailed responses. Feel free to write as much as you’d like! Pictures are welcome and encouraged! Submit your entries to danielle@bloomsbythebox.com before 11:59:59 p.m. CST on Sunday, September 19^th, 2010. We will choose the top five entries and open up the contest to votes from BSB readers to determine the winner, who will be announced on October 1! But what’s the prize?

The winner will receive

a $500 gift certificate

from Blooms By The Box!

With Blooms great prices, that’s ALL of your wedding flowers!! I know this could help many of you greatly in your budget savvy wedding endeavors, so I cannot wait to see your entries!

Good luck to all who enter! See the official rules below for details!

Essay Contest Period

Launch: Monday, August 30^th, 2010 at 12:00:01 a.m. CST.

All Entries must be submitted by: Sunday, September 19^th, 2010 by 11:59:59 p.m. CST.

(We (BBTB and BSB) will review entries for a few days and collectively pick the top 5 we think are the most deserving)

Voting Period: Thursday, September 23^rd, 2010 at 12:00:01 a.m. CST and ends on Thursday, September 30^th, 2010 at 11:59:59 p.m. CST.

Winner Announced: Friday, October 1^st, 2010 via blog post on BSB and Blooms By The Box’s Facebook Page.

Official Contest Rules

Eligibility: All participants must be Brides-to-Be and legal residents of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and other territories and possessions of the United States) at the point of entry. All participants must have a valid e-mail address.

Entry: Limit one entry per person. All entrants must provide a valid email address in order uphold the official rule of one entry per person. All entries will be submitted via email to danielle@bloomsbythebox.com by the times stated above and will then be posted. Any entries submitted after the deadline for submission will not be eligible. Entries must be entrant’s own original work, must not infringe on any third-party rights and must be deemed suitable by both The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box.  Entries deemed lewd or offensive might be disqualified, at the BSB and Blooms By The Box’s sole discretion.

General Conditions: All participants must “Like” Blooms By The Box Page on Facebook and The Budget Savvy Bride on Facebook in order to qualify and be eligible for winning the prize. All essay entries submitted after the specified dates will not be eligible. Voting will be conducted on The Budget Savvy Bride via comment where as the voting participant will comment on what essay they liked the most and their reasons why. Comments on the BloomsBlog will not count towards the contest votes. All comment votes submitted after the specified dates will not be counted. Both The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box will review all entries and choose the Top 5 essay entries we feel are most deserving. Then the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite essay, which will determine the winner. The essay with the most comments (votes) will receive the $500 gift certificate from Blooms By The Box.

The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box are not responsible for malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer hardware or software, or any other technical problems related to website entries. Any attempt at entry as above stated is void. Entries become property of The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box and will not be returned. By entering submissions, entrants are agreeing to have their submissions published and promoted on both www.TheBudgetSavvyBride.com and www.BloomsByTheBox.com and any affiliated websites. The Budget Savvy Bride’s computer will be the official clock of the Contest.

The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box both reserve the right to disqualify any individual they find to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest, or any web site related to the Contest; to be acting in violation of the official rules; or to be acting in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner.

Prize details: The winner will receive a $500 gift certificate from Blooms By the Box. Cannot combine with any other promotions or discounts. The awarded $500 can be spent on any items available at www.BloomsByTheBox.com. BloomsByTheBox.com will only ship in the United States. Prizes are not transferable. No cash redemptions or prize substitutions are allowed. If the prize or any part thereof is unavailable for any reason, as determined by Blooms By The Box in its sole discretion, Blooms By The Box reserves the right to substitute the prize with another prize of equal or greater value.

Winner Notification / Selection: The winner of the contest will be announced on Friday, October 1^st, 2010. The winner will have 7 days from notification to respond to Blooms By The Box via email (danielle@bloomsbythebox.com) to accept the prize. Failure to accept the price within 7 days from the notification, the winner will then forfeit the $500 gift certificate. In the event that no one claims the prize, the participant who received the second most votes will receive the prize and the same rules apply. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received during the Contest Period. The drawing of the top 5 essays to be voted on  will be conducted by The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box, the judges of the Contest, whose decisions on all matters related to these official rules shall be final and binding.

LOVE this dress. I am so into ruffles right now. And gold. I dunno what has come over me but I feel like I’m back in 1992…except better. I have a special place in my heart for Suzi Chin/Maggy Boutique dresses because I wore one for my rehearsal dinner and I flippin love it. Still one of my fave dresses ever. This little ensemble could be great for a rehearsal dinner, shower or even for bridesmaids!

Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique Ruffled Cotton Blend Dress from Nordstrom for $118.

14kt gold plated Smokey Drop Earrings from Stella & Dot on SALE for $22

14kt gold plated Tiny Flower Necklace from Stella & Dot for $29

Dyeables Women’s Juliana Slingback Sandal for $44

TOTAL: $213

not too shabby for a gorgeous dress and gold plated jewelry!