The art of making your wedding LOOK like a million bucks!

by Morgana
(Australia!)

I am not married yet, but my partner and I definitely want to do it for less, as we have a new little bub to care for, and a nice'n'huge mortgage to consider.

I just KNOW we are not alone in these circumstances!

So here are some of my ideas for 'doing things on the cheap' and still having them look like you spent your life savings and got a second mortgage. LOL

If you are lucky enough to possess the skill of sewing, why not try your hand at making your own dress? I am making mine, and the bridesmaids, and I've even been asked to make the bridesmaids dresses for a friends wedding. If you're not a sewer, how about a friend? Or alternatively, a freelance seamstress? There's a woman who lives around the corner from me who whipped up a ball dress just like the store's for a girl I knew (back in high school), the dress retailed at AUD$750, she made it for $150 fee, and my friend spent $200 on fabric, so for a little under half price, a replica dress, in the perfect size!

If you are making the dress yourself, and want diamentes or crystals, DONT buy them at a bridal store, they are a fraction of the cost at a craft/bead shop, and they do discounts on large amounts. An even cheaper place to buy bulk gems is online, make sure you read the description properly though! If it says genuine swarovski crystals, buy! If it says dicromatic beads, don't buy! Unless your planning a psycadelic theme that is! If your unsure what name means what, go in to a store and check them out in the light, you'll love the way the swarovski or lead crystals reflect against any colour perfectly, and catch the light like diamonds!

A wedding cake can be a spectacular thing! Think of that classic white frosting, the kind that seems to have no knife marks, no pocks, no smudges, and looks absolutely expensive$$$! Well, that frosting is called Fondant, and it's simple to make! First though, you'll need a base, pick your favourite cake, not as squishy as sponge, but something like chocolate will do nicely. Bake up a few cakes (depending on what shape your after)(tiers? Bake more!) and don't stress that you don't have cake baking tins in varying sizes, use a large rectangular one and cut out the circle size your after! Here's a trick my daddy taught me, once the cake is cooked and cooled, cut the top (the bit that's risen in cooking) straight off and flip, this leaves you with a nice firm flat surface to work with. After you've got your design organized, go on the Internet, and search 'how to make fondant' on YouTube, my favourite is the marshmellow kind, it's easy and has a great flavour and colour! Speaking of colour, want a pastal pink cake with cherry blossoms all over it? Sounds extravagant, but believe me, it's so so simple. Add food colouring and knead it into your fondant untill you get the desired colour, then roll it out to approximately .5cm thickness and place it over the cake(s), using a blunt and smooth object, smooth down your fondant, leaving an impecible looking cake behind, pop any air bubbles with a pin and smooth down again. Oh I almost forgot!don't forget to put an 'adhesive' layer between cake and fondant,butter cream works well. Next step, decorating! And if your a party-planner at heart like me, this Is all amazing fun! Using the fondant, colour it to the required colours, then use cookie cutters, or a scalple and cut out the desired shapes, and stick them on. This is great because the whole cake, decorations and all, are edible. My description might not be the best, but rest assured, you can find detailed instructions on sites such as YouTube.

Table decorations, let's start with centre pieces! As their name commands, they will be in the centre of everyone's view, and hence either good or bad pieces of conversation. The trick is not to have them too overpowering. You just feel left out if you can't see the people on the other side of the table. Whenever I'm decorating, I like to pick a pallet of no more then 3 colours. Also remember to buy bulk, your making these for 10/20/30 tables! And make the wedding party's table piece bigger then all others. A neat idea I've seen is fish bowls or vases filled with blue-dyed water (or any colour I guess!) with stones at the bottom, and novelty light up ice cubes dropped inside. They don't look like ice cubes, they just look like the bowl is glowing! It's great! But more for a nautical themed wedding. If you don't think you could possibly make a centre piece to save your life, how about taking a single craft lesson on the ins and outs of a centre piece. They do exist! And the $30 you spend on the class will save you hundreds down the track!

Making your own invites, place cards and menu's. I am lucky enough to own alot of crafting tools, such as provo crafts cricut and cuttlebug, these mean I can cut and emboss with the flick of a switch, they even have a wedding cartridge! These machines allow me to cut out envelopes, invites, writing, or emboss details, detailing, and design. But I realise not everyone has these tools, how about a friend? If the answers still no, you could do it all by hand, it'll just take longer. Recently I made invites for a medical themed party, with the help of the cricut, I had little people dressed as doctors, nurses, surgeons and patients doing their thing in the invites, with a "bandage" RSVP card, all made out of card. But beware! The cricut may have CUT 120 tiny shoes out for me, but I still had to stick them all on!! Basically these things are easy to make, they just require patience, a steady hand and some design flare.

Tables, chairs, table clothes etc can be hired from a party planning shop, cut out the middle man (wedding planner) and organize them yourself! They're pretty inexpenaive too, something like 50c a table cloth.

I've always loved the idea of by-passing the band/dj dilemma and just doing it for free by plugging in your iPod, with set lists made beforehand.

If your thinking of a night wedding, try lighting walkways with candles, there's something magical about a garden scene light with hundreds of tea light candles. An inexpenaive and effective way of stopping the wind from blowing them outis by putting them in brown paper bags half filled with sand, and believe me, this does not look tacky at all, they appear like magical lanterns guiding the way, and hide the flicker. (some people detest a candles flicker) I also like solar powered fairy lights for out door night time weddings/reception, they automatically come on at dusk, and require no power point (great for garden/park do's!)

I know there's heaps more, but I'm tuckered out at the moment and need some sleep!

Another thought to consider is getting alot done in Bali for instance, you could get 20 table runners made up, in your chosen fabric and colours for a total of $1 ,

Ok! That's enough for now! :)

And remember, a wedding is not about how much you spend, it's about the union of you and your kindred spirit, your twin soul, your love, your life. Who cares if you spend $500 and elope? Or get hitched in vegas? As long as it is fullfilling to you both, nothing else matters.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

Happy marrying!!