Friday, August 10, 2007

#144: more tips.


Leigh Miller Photography

after i mentioned knottie greengelato in the previous post, i took the time to read through her profile. and boy, am i glad i did because i found some great tips. plus, i was reading through her blog and discovered that she's the super creative gal who hosted a fantastic bridal shower party that i had seen featured a few months ago on hostess with the mostess! small blog world.

here are the tips that gave me some fantastic lightbulb moments:

Bridesmaids dresses- BCBG Warehouse
One of my bridesmaids friends works at BCBG headquarters and she hooked me up with a free pass to their warehouse store for employees and their friends. The dresses are gorgeous in person and get this, were only $30 each! They have periodic sales to the public…the next one is on December 9th- it’s definitely worth going to (and waiting in line for). I was able to find 6 dresses in their exact sizes.

Favors- Papermart and 99 Cent Store
To my surprise, I found out that papermart.com was located in Los Angeles! I was able to pick up my favorboxes- 200 for like $50. I filled the favors with rainbow tootsie rolls from the 99 cent store.

Votives- Walmart
I did my research and walmart has the absolute cheapest votives- a 24 pack for only $4.99. The wick is right under the rim of the glass, which meets most fire hazard standards.

Cocktail Hour food and alcohol- Koreatown & Costco
I actually had Korean food during my cocktail hour in order to appease the Korean guests. I had dduk (ricecakes), fried shrimp, little veggie wrap things, potstickers, mini chicken things, a fancy fruit platter, and some other items. My mom did extensive research to find the best appetizers that would not be too crazy Korean and visually appealing. My caterer allowed outside food since it was “ethnic”. I saved a lot of money doing this, considering that SAG charges 2 bucks per potsticker!! I also purchased all the alcohol at Costco. This saved SOOOO much money

Rentals- Mary’s Rentals, La Puente 626.855.0209 Mary’s Rentals is one of the best deals I found. They are a small mom and pop rental company in East LA and their prices are the lowest I found. Their rental list is not as extensive as the bigger companies, but I was able to get most of my items via Mary’s. They also didn’t charge me extra for satin champagne overlays since another bride had just special ordered them for her wedding. Great personable service.

Rentals-
Event Professionals Mary’s didn’t have wood chairs so I ordered natural brown wood ones at Event Professionals for only $1.50 each! That was at least a dollar cheaper than I found elsewhere.

her tips also give insight as to what the venue will allow. i love that she was able to purchase her own alcohol! plus, she was able to rent her own tables/chairs/etc which most likely saved her some money. granted, her wedding was at the overall more expensive SAG (santa anita gardens) venue Villa del Sol D’oro. but still...perhaps if she was able to rent her own ware and purchase her own alky, it'd also be allowed at SAG's other, more economically-friendly featured venue, Prince Erik Hall? hm...

4 comments:

talda said...

her comments/notes were the best. i wish more people would do the same...it'd make planning a lot easier. yay for blogs!

erica said...

oh my god. i wish i had had korean appetizers at my reception. of course, i would have forced everyone to eat dduk bok gi and experience the joys/pains of korean spicy foods.

costco alcohol! trader joe's is also great, if you start stocking up in advance. i hate venues that won't allow you to bring your own alcohol.

Linda Ly said...

Can you tell me more about the BCBG factory sale, like what time it will begin on Dec 9.

margaret lee said...

wow! i feel so honored that you posted about me. the internet world is a strange and small one.

there is another venue in fullerton that is pretty nice- the villa del sol. it's a courtyard surrounded by several restaurants and you cater via the restaurants.

i love helping brides save $$. i shoulda gone into planning, yo.