Yay! we have a new feature for our blog. Along with our blog posts we will be including featured guest bloggers every once in a while. Which will be great, because we will be able to create a great resource for brides to be.
Meet, Diana Romero From Ah! Le Party Wedding Planning. I first met Diana In 2008 when we worked a gorgeous wedding together at the Prado Balboa Park in San Diego. Ah! Le Party is a San Diego based full service wedding & event planning company. Diana Romero who is the owner and lead coordinator established Ah! Le Party in October of 2004. Diana has coordinated over 70 weddings and has a great team of assistants that work closely with her. Diana has been writing wedding articles for a few years and loves to offer brides tips on all wedding planning aspects. The following are great cost saving wedding planning tips to keep in mind for couples on a budget. If you have any questions, Diana’s email is ahleparty@yahoo.com. Diana loves hearing from couples!
• The most important thing to do in the beginning is to create the budget and guest list so you know what you can allocate to each area.
• When you are hiring vendors and buying wedding items stay within your financial parameters.
• Acquire vendor referrals that are within your budget from your wedding coordinator.
• Give yourself plenty of time to decide on who you hire and what you buy. Any rush decisions at times leaves you spending more than you are prepared for.
• Get married during an off-peak time such as Fall, Winter and early Spring.
• Have your wedding during a time that’s not in high demand, such as a Sunday or Friday.
• Have a smaller guest list and do not include coworkers you do not associate with outside of work, children and those haven’t seen in five years or more.
• Buy flowers that are in season and simplify the number of flowers in bouquets and centerpieces (I have seen bridesmaids carry one cal lily or one rose).
• When buying flowers, avoid peak-times such as Valentines, Mother’s Day and Easter.
• If you have a church ceremony, make your own pew decorations or do not have pew decorations.
• Hire a DJ that will cover both the ceremony and the reception to save on ceremony music costs.
• Ask a friend to sing during your ceremony.
• Have a smaller bridal party – this saves on money for flowers, transportation etc.
• Attend bridal fairs where you are able to talk to multiple vendors and take advantage of bridal fair discounts and promotions.
• If you want to have a second photographer, do so only at the wedding ceremony.
• Instead of a plated dinner reception, have a breakfast, brunch, lunch, cocktail, or hors d’oeuvres reception.
• Know your guests – not everyone eats desert so only order wedding cake for the amount of guests who will have cake and keep in mind some guests will leave before the cake cutting.
• Have a smaller decorative wedding cake and have sheet cake served to the guests.
• Place one favor for every two chairs rather than every chair.
• Use place cards or centerpieces that double as favors.
• Purchase less expensive cake cutting items and toasting goblets or use the ones provided by the venue
• Order less programs – for example if you have 100 guests, order 40-50 because not everyone will pick up a program
• Create your own save the dates.
• Stick with smaller wedding invitations which are less expensive and will require less postage.
• Wear a less formal gown or a white bridesmaid dress.
• Hire a wedding planner. They usually have access to industry discounts that you don’t. (They also have cost saving tips and can keep you on track on referring vendors within your budget. A wedding planner saves you money in more than one way! ) Visit http://www.ahleparty.com
Written by Diana Romero, Ah! Le Party Wedding Planning ~ http://www.ahleparty.com
So there you have it right from a actively working full time Wedding Planner. You can reach Diana Romero By visiting her website on the links above. And because blog posts are no fun without photos, here is some eye candy. 
- Thank you for visiting My Wedding photography blog
- Feel Free to visit my portfolio.
- Contact me. (800) 497-1815
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Dan was cool and calm as can be with his boys! I think the Johnny walker helped… 
