Comments on: Advice From the Pros: Sasha Souza

By: Carol

Carol — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:57:16 +0000

I agree photography is something to focus on. In keeping with that, you’ve got to have the right hair, makeup and jewelry so that you can enjoy the photos. A little help has arrived in that area, called the Bridal Mini. It looks like the top half of a wedding gown. Brides wear it to their trials, take a photo of the results, and can select their wedding day look with confidence. I know I wanted my gown with me for those decisions and wouldn’t risk staining it before the wedding. The Bridal Mini is the perfect practice garment.

By: Tim Halberg

Tim Halberg — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:19:35 +0000

I appreciate Sasha’s honesty in wanting to say that photography is the most important area to splurge on, but at the same time, that might be a bad idea if the look of the wedding is being sacraficed.

From the standpoint of a photographer, I think the portraits of the couple together are the most important ones and you’ll definitely want to make sure you hire someone who is good with those.

Great article, really excited to see you having other wedding professionals writing articles and sharing their wisdom and knowledge.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:49:30 +0000

We’re trying to do the best with what we’ve got. Our budget isn’t very big, but we do want a bar…. so we’re doing beer and wine. We MAY (if I can squeeze out some more money from somewhere!) have champagne too…. we’ll see.

I think you should throw your wedding as one you’d like to go to. If flowers are really important to you, then cut your budget someplace else. But we’re using candles for our centerpieces – which is saving us some money.
I know bands make such a big impression on weddings, but we didn’t have the budget for a good band, so we went with a good DJ instead. Not a cheesy bad DJ, but a good one who’ll play good music that we like.
And I agree with Sasha on food – people will definitely notice if it’s really bad. It would be better to just have cake and hors d’oerves vs. a bad meal. I will always remember a certain wedding where we served ourselves from the buffet with our fingers (no serving utensils), and they ran out of cold-cuts for the make your own sandwiches. (Seriously).

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:54:33 +0000

Obviously, it depends on the guests in attendance, but I’d have to disagree on what guests will notice first. Yes, of course first and foremost, they’ll notice the quality of food, but from weddings I’ve been to, I don’t think flowers and nice linens are what is most memorable. Personally, I think a great band makes a wedding that much more fun. Now, if your guest list doesn’t like to dance — obviously — it would be a waste of money. But there is a HUGE difference between a band and a DJ (really, there is) and thinking back to the last 5 weddings I went to other than my own, I couldn’t tell you what types of flowers or how the flowers were arranged (aside from my own wedding, of course) or anything at all about the linens (if they were standard white linens, upgraded, etc), but I CAN absolutely tell you if the couple went with a band or a DJ, and if it was a great band, an acceptable DJ, or a crappy DJ. And every single wedding that I’ve been to with a live band has had WAY more people out on the dance floor having a great time than a wedding with a DJ. In fact, the band vs. DJ is probably the MOST noticeable part of the reception, at least amongst my group of family and friends.

Obviously, it all comes down to personal preference. But when we planned our wedding, we did it from the point of view of a guest — if I was attending my own wedding, would I rather a) sit at a table with fancy linens or b) sit at a table with normal linens and have a great band to dance to all night? I don’t guests will notice if you use the standard white linens and regular chairs instead of upgrading to chivari chairs if they are up on the dance floor all night!