Wedding Budget Breakdown

Brides often ask me how much should be spent on each wedding category.  As I always tell them, "We'll start with a template, but you can adjust the budget according to your wants and needs."  Here is the template that I am referring to; it will give you an estimated breakdown of how much you should be spending on what in order for your plans to run smoothly.

Category	Percent Breakdown
Venue/Rentals/Caterer	45%
Flowers	10%
Photography	10%
Planner	10%
Entertainment	8%
Lighting	5%
Hair and Makeup	4%
Stationery	3%
Transportation	2%
Videographer	2%
Officiant	1%

Hope this helps!

Erika

An Engagement Ring For Her

The Emerald Cut offers glamor, grace and charm; it is timeless and elegant. I think this will be my next ring...hint hint to my hubby :)

When I think of the emerald cut I think of Grace Kelly and Jackie Onassis.  The rectangular cut - which has a relatively larger open top, flat surface, and fewer facets - highlights the clarity of the diamond more than any other shaper.

Choose the Emerald Cut for her.

Erika

After Six

6630

6628

After six is one of the Dressy Group's collections which offers elegant, yet very reasonable gowns.  Their dresses come in a wide range of sizes and colors for your bridal party.

There are a couple of my favorite ones:

Style 6630 - I love this dress, it is very sheik and it has pockets; I love pockets.  You can even adorn your dress with a rhinestone broach.

Style 6628 - This dress is very fitted and will look nice on most bridesmaids.

Take a closer look here!

Erika

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Wedding 101 - Wedding Registry Etiquette

First is first, it is not greedy to register.  However, it is not appropriate to put your wedding registry information in your wedding invitations.  Instead, this informations should be spread via word-of-mouth; in other words share the information with family/friends verbally or by posting links onto your website that guests will be visiting.

Remember, you can never register for too many items/appliance.  In fact, your guests will appreciate
the fact that you took the guessing game out of their gift purchasing.  You can even register for cash; it has always been acceptable to give cash to the bride and groom.  However, if you're uncomfortable with using the word "cash", you can use "donation", "help" or "contribution" as substitutes.  Also, there are many websites to help facilitate the cash giving.  Just be sure to read the fine print in the agreements that you may make with the website; there are terms such as paying a percentage back as a fee to them.

Lastly, say Thank You!  Sending Thank You cards is a must, sharing your gratitude with those who have contributed to your new life is imperative.  In addition, make it personalized; sending a generic Thank You card to each guest while only changing the greeting is completely unacceptable.  Make sure to elaborate on how important their gift is and how you look forward to utilizing it.  And yes! Thank You cards should be sent a few days or weeks after your gift is received, don't wait too long.

I hope these tips help you with your gift registry.  Make sure to look at the past Wedding 101 posts for more about gift registry.

Happy Wednesday!

Erika

Getting Engaged?

...find the perfect ring for her.

This Princess Cut is what I have - I absolutely love it.  I get so many compliments on my ring, thanks to my hubby who picked it out all by himself :)

Much like the Round Brilliant, the Princess cut is classic and elegant; it adds a little bit of a contemporary style with the square edges.

This is the second most popular shape; the intricate facets increase its sparkle.  You all know how much I love sparkle :)

Wedding Day Color Palettes

Pantone's Color of the Year: Emerald

Emerald happens to be my favorite color; hear are some ideas for wedding color schemes.

- Emerald green and gold (notice the hint of gold in the green charger plate...simply gorgeous

- Emerald green and tangerine (add a little navy for a nice twist).

I hope these give you some ideas for your special day!

Erika

Everything Is Moving Along

Erika's Elegance took a  very short  break from blogging last week.  I am so happy to get back into the groove of things.  During my break I was informed that Erika's Elegance was in Inland Empire Magazine!  What a tremendous accomplishment!

Their June issue is their bride issue and I have been working with my team to get an ad inside of their magazine for the past month.  It is amazing to see that hard work and faith in God definitely pays off.  It is even more amazing to hold the tangible copy in my hands.

Pick up your copy of Inland Empire Magazine, on news stands all around the Inland Empire!

Erika