Comments on: fabulous, yes – but really "not a fortune"?

By: hiphostess

hiphostess — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 03:52:00 +0000

hi anon –

congrats to your sister! there are lots of cool wedding sites/blogs out there. I’ll do a special “wedding blogroll” post for you next week!

Jenn

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:34:00 +0000

Hello! My sister is getting married this October in San Diego and since she lives on the East Coast I am helping her out alot. I love this site and would like to see some more things on planning weddings on a budget. Also, if anyone has any good ideas or websites that they find useful for hip/trendy weddings please let me know!!!! Thanks so much!:)Keep up the good work!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:43:00 +0000

I personally love to see inspirational pics, even if I can’t afford everything featured. But it would be great to see themes at different price ranges…like a bridal shower at $1000, one at $500, one at $200, with the same general colours/look, but using different products/sources. It would help to give ideas on how to achieve the same look at a fraction of the cost.

By: hiphostess

hiphostess — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 19:40:00 +0000

Hi Rebecca –

That’s actually exactly what I plan to do on the hwtm.com website – show cost-saving tips for each of the parties – but more often than not, these cost-saving tips will actually be incorporated into the pictures already, rather than the other way around. We’re trying to do a mix of both – but the reality is that we can’t always afford to buy everything we need to show the “expensive” versions ourselves – especially because we want to show a variety of different occasions and several different themes – so just securing everything for the “how-to” pictures is really adding up!

It does make me sad to hear that you feel like the things showcased here are out of your price range though. I honestly make an effort to keep that from being the case and have kept myself from posting on certain things in the past just because they seemed way too impractical – but I’ll still try to be mindful of this in the future and make sure I’m including a good mix of things for a variety of budgets.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:42:00 +0000

I would love to see affordable alternatives to the inspiration pictures. It would have been nice if you mentioned the cost saving details that the comments above mentioned….
This is something I run into every time I look at this site, great ideas waaaay out of my price range. Now that I write that I realize why I don’t visit this site very often.

By: Lea

Lea — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:24:00 +0000

This is a gorgeous display from Colin but I agree, it might break the bank a little. I personally like a challenge, and I love the fact that I can look at this as inspiration and say to myself “oh, I want that look and I’m going to pick this feature, and that feature,” and copy and tweak it at an offordable price for my budget.

By: At Home with kim vallee

At Home with kim vallee — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 04:49:00 +0000

I forgot to mention something in my comment. My renting cost of 550-600 dollars is possible if you rent basic chairs at 4 dollars each (I do not like their look but they are comfortable chairs). The chair used in the Bridal shower segment costs 13 dollars to rent with the cushion in Montreal; 2 dollars less than in large USA cities. Montreal is a relatively cheap city to live in. If you use the chairs shown on the pictures, your renting budget must be at least 810-860 dollars.

By: At Home with kim vallee

At Home with kim vallee — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:00:00 +0000

In all fairness to the bridal shower segment by Colin Cowie, he gave good tips on how to save money like buying a bulk fabric and cutting it in half to create the central runner. I have used in the past premium gift wrapping paper that I found on sale.

The vases were all low-priced. In the past, I found stuff at the Dollar store or at Walmart that I dressed up.

He uses pricey flowers like orange callas and orchids mixed with less expensive species but he suggests buying flowers in bulk to save money. This is true. Since the flower needs to look good for the event, you can go the day to the event on an average flower shop instead of going to a top florist and save more.

The dinnerware was not expensive (20 dollars for a 5 pc setting + 7.50 for the glasses) if you go and buy it. In reality it can be a collective gift to the brides and groom. Usually, in an event like this, I suggest you rent if you do it at home.

When you are planning an event, I organize event in Montreal, the cost of rent the tables, chairs, linens, dinnerware, flatware and glassware for 30 people is at least 550-600 dollars CAD. At that price you have to give up the charger plate that costs at least 3 to 4 dollars to rent. A 450-dollar decoration budget is the bare minimum. Set aside enough time to assembly your look; it is often more lengthy than you expect. I hope it give you a better idea of the pricing of a similar event done on a budget. I base my cost on a low-budget event I did recently.

By: Darla

Darla — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:37:00 +0000

I agree with some of the other commenters about seeing the images for inspiration, then maybe investigating how to achieve a similar look at a low price…

By: greengelato

greengelato — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 03:23:00 +0000

what a great resource this is! i’m a matron of honor for an upcoming wedding and i’ll be sure to reference this site when party planning comes.

btw, my bridesmaids put on an incredible shower for me…i have pictures in the “my wedding pictures” section of my blog.