#AskWendy

We asked all of you lovely brides out there to submit your burning wedding questions for our expert Wedding Coordinator, Weddings With Wendy, to answer. Wendy has been serving the wedding industry for decades here in the Seattle area and knows a thing or two about planning for a wedding.
Find the answers to your burning questions from her below!

Question #1: Are there ways to get loans or free money to offset the cost of weddings?

I am sure there are however the question you want to ask yourself is do you really want to begin your marriage with debt? A wedding can be super fun with almost any budget and I highly recommend putting a budget together before you start your planning and doing whatever you need to in order to stay within it.

Question #2: When it comes to your bridal party, is there an unwritten rule about whether or not the bride should pay for the bridesmaids’ hair and makeup and/or bridesmaid dresses?

Traditionally the bride will pay for hair and makeup so on her special day all your bridesmaid will feel equally pampered and equally special and pretty. When it comes to the dress choice it is typical for each member of the bridal party to pay for her own dress. When a bride is picking out her bridesmaid’s dress she should keep in mind the affordability of it. You don’t want one of them to have to back out just because she can’t afford the dress and there may be times the bride should offer to pay for it. You’ll just want to be very sensitive to the way you handle it.

 

Question #3: With cultural weddings, it’s hard to accommodate and please everyone involved due to direct involvement of family members. Do you have any useful tips or great advise on how to plan a large wedding with family involvement without hurting anyone’s feelings or sacrificing things that matter most to you?

It will be difficult to keep everyone happy 100% of the time and if that is your goal you’ll probably find yourself being frustrated most of the time. I would recommend that you ask your immediate family (mostly the mom’s and dad’s) what is most important to them. Even ask them to write it down and then go through the list letting them know that you will do what you can to accommodate as many of their wishes as possible. If there are things on the list the bride and or groom won’t be able to do they should let the family know ahead of time so there are no surprises. The main thing is to just listen. Your family mostly wants to be heard and to know their wishes are being considered.

Question #4: Real flowers are pretty for weddings, but so expensive. Is there any way to save on Flowers while still getting a full effect of flowers for your wedding décor? Are there places where I can hold off on real floral? Can you suggest pretty flowers that won’t break the bank, but will make a wow factor at my wedding?

You would be surprised on how much you can save and how pretty potted flowers or potted plants are. I myself use these kinds of flower at my home on a regular basis and often take them to my wedding shows and events with spectacular results. Often I’m asked about silk flowers and in general find there to be a significant price range on these and the nice ones often will end up costing more than real flowers. The only advantage is that you can take the silk flowers home and use them again and again however you can also do this with the potted plants and flowers as well and probably at a lower cost. Your other choice is to go to Pike’s Place Market and buy your own seasonal fresh cut flowers however you will have to do your own arrangements and provide your own containers if you choose to do it this way.