A Bride On A Budget Was Featured On US News

This is very cool.

I got a tweet this morning about a post on US News -- one that featured A Bride On A Budget.

We have been lucky enough to be featured before on other blogs, and we've been interviewed for major market newspapers, but I've always been personally contacted by those outlets prior to being included. This is the first time that we've been featured and I had no idea about it beforehand.

It's awesome.

I really do my best to help brides plan their perfect wedding without going into debt, and it's really nice to be recognized for that. If you want to check out the post on US News, you can read it here.

BRIDAL BABBLE: It's Friday, so I wanna know: Are you doing wedding planning this weekend or are you taking a break?

Review: Personalized Lotions From Udderly Smooth

A Bride On A Budget received these lotions for this review. All thoughts an opinions belong to ABOAB.

It was a long time ago when I asked for suggestions for your top wedding welcome bag ideas. We actually had a full #BridalBabble chat about it.

My family friend Heidi suggested lotions. It made sense. Her daughter Mallory got married in Washington two summers ago and she had lotions inside of her welcome bags. She had homemade jam and tourist brochures and chips and water (at least, I think she had water), but I really remember the lotions she added. The one I got was "Paris" with a photo of an Eiffel tower on it. It was super cute and gave off that vacation vibe (and we were on vacation, as was everyone else who she gave welcome bags to, so it was fitting).

But the way I am, I want everything to be really special and personalized to us. I didn't find any stores selling North Carolina-shaped lotions or something similar, so I really wasn't sure what to do.

And then I found out Udderly Smooth creates personalized lotion labels (and we got the chance to review these very cool lotions).


If you don't know, Udderly Smooth is a lotion company. The lotions were originally created and used for dairy cows, hence the name. The products are now used on humans, primarily for dry or chapped skin. The brand has products for dry skin, dry feet, hand and body, and for cyclists. You can check out the full product line here.

We actually have a bunch of Udderly Smooth products in our home and I've given them away as gifts before too. They're quality products that I feel comfortable sharing with other people. Traditionally, the lotions are all bottled in cow-print bottles. I thought that these personalized lotions might come with a similar bottle, which might confuse my guests since this is a beach wedding not a farm wedding.

When I was talking to Udderly Smooth about these lotions, I was asked about our wedding colors, an image, and text for the lotions. Our colors are eggplant, lilac, and silver, and I picked a Hawaiian flower, since those are on our invitations.

The text was harder.

I asked my friend Kimie to help me come up with a witty saying, but everything that we could think up with lotion was either one) really long and wouldn't fit on the labels or two) really inappropriate. It was a lot harder than I thought (that's what she said -- see, you see how easy that is? That's why this is difficult!).

I came up with ones like, "Hope you had a smooth trip", but it just wasn't perfect. So I brought my mom into the mix and she couldn't come up with anything witty. So "Welcome to North Carolina" won. Witty? Maybe not, but it captures the sentiment.

Before they were printed, I was able to review the labels that were going on the lotions. I really liked how they came out. They were perfect for our theme and exactly what I was thinking they would be. But all I saw were the labels. I wasn't sure if the cow print was going to be anywhere (especially since I associate the cow print with the brand).

The lotions arrived in clear, round, plastic containers that hold 2.5 ounces of cocoa butter cream, making them airplane friendly (which is really important since I'm giving these to people who are traveling). And no cow print anywhere. The label that I had previewed was on the front of the containers and a label on the back has "Contains: Udderly Smooth Cocoa Butter Cream" on the back. I was happy to see those stickers because it meant that our guests would know exactly what was inside (and wouldn't mistake it for something edible) and because they were already there. Let's be honest. There's so much busy work to do when it comes to weddings, so I was really happy to not have to affix any labels myself.
The lotions are lightly-fragranced and untinted. I like that they are white because it doesn't clash with the colors on the labels. The lotions have a really nice thickness to them. They aren't a very loose lotion, which is good because I hate really thin lotions. The lotions go on smooth (for lack of a better word). It moisturizes your skin, but it doesn't leave a heavy residue behind. That's really important because summers in North Carolina are really, really warm and a thick lotion with a residue just won't work.
I was so impressed when the lotions came. They were so cute and will be absolutely perfect for our wedding welcome bags. You can use these for favors, for bathroom baskets, for thank yous, or, like me, as an item in the welcome bag. No matter when you give them to your guests, they will absolutely love them. I'm really excited to give these to our guests.
BRIDAL BABBLE: Can you think of something witty to write on these? What would you write (or would you just keep it simple)?

Deciding on wedding favors?
Check out our post on  100 Wedding Favors (Your guests will actually take).

The Truth About Wedding RSVP's (and the downright ugly parts of it)

I was invited to a wedding a long while ago. I had just broken up with the guy I was dating for years and had the wedding RSVP card, but was holding out hope that we would get back together and I would bring him as my plus one. And then I wasn't sure. And then the RSVP date came and went and I got a call the next day from my friend (the groom).

"You missed the RSVP date," he said.

"Sorry," I said. "I balked. I'm coming. But just me."

"Okay, great," he said, then promptly hung up on me to call another delinquent.

I felt bad, but I would be lying if I said that was the only time I missed the RSVP date. The only time I ever actually RSVP'd to anything right away was for my friend Nicole's baby shower -- and that actually ended up being the cover up for my bridal shower, so I've actually never really RSVP'd for anything early.

That will change. See, our wedding invitations had an RSVP date of May 14. And I assumed people would catch the card on their fridge on May 14, say, "Oh shoot" and send it. I really wanted to know by May 21, a month before the wedding, so I said May 14 and gave people a month of wiggle room.

But it's May 22 and we still have 22 RSVP cards outstanding (not including the emailed yes from one friend who sent her card late and the assumed no from my great aunt). Eleven are from my side and eleven for Pete's. So this morning, I texted my outstanding RSVP's.

And I received this text back from my friend Keri:

Yes, she's on a school bus. Yes, this is the best part of late RSVP's.

RSVP's are so frustrating. We sent out Save The Dates eleven months before the wedding, so in my mind, people should just know if they're coming or not. But it doesn't work like that. Just because people have advanced notice doesn't mean they will have advanced notice of the funds it takes to get to a wedding or the time off. They have to wait and figure this out and just cannot immediately reply.

And even if they do reply immediately, there are people who change their minds, not by any fault, of course. 

I call my grandma's best friend Obaachan Ni, which, in Japanese means Grandma No. 2. My grandma is Japanese so she's my first grandma but her best friend is my second Japanese grandma (which I think she appreciates since she doesn't actually have any children or grandchildren). She has been to American church ceremonies before but never to an American reception, so she was really looking forward to coming t our wedding. She RSVP'd yes right away and booked her plane ticket and hotel room before the invitations were even mailed. But she recently hurt her neck and has to change from a yes to a no.

We've also seen the opposite happen. People who send in their RSVP as a no and then life changes and they are able to make it, so they switch from a no to a yes.

And then there are the people who verbally said yes and then declined when we received the RSVP card in the mail.

And then there was this one:

That's my actual RSVP card (in case you were wondering) and an actual response we received.

I had read online that you should number your RSVP cards in case you get back one without a name. You can use a regular pen or a black light pen (and that way, you are the only one who knows the numbers are there). I originally thought this was silly and there was no way people sent back cards without their names written on them. Until we received one without a name. This one was graciously (and generously) sent with a check so I figured out who the RSVP was from but, without that, there was no other identifying information.

Save yourself a headache and number your RSVP cards. It might be a hassle at the start, but it will save you later.

I heard the more creative your wedding RSVP card, the better chance you have of receiving them returned. I also heard self addressed stamped envelopes aided as well. We did both. Our RSVP cards are shaped as luggage tags and I included self addressed stamped envelopes. At the beginning, we were getting tons of RSVP cards (five on the first day, seven on a peak day). So these things did help people send them early, but didn't guarantee that they would all arrive in the requested time frame.

So just expect that. Expect RSVP's to be a mess, get yourself mentally prepared for that, and make the date far enough out that you give people time to send them late or change their minds. Truth be told, you will not be the one bride who gets all her RSVP's on time. You will not be the one bride without guests who change their mind. There will be disasters along the way, there will be people who flip flop, there will be people you have to hunt down.

But if anything went smoothly, it wouldn't be wedding planning.

(And ... small aside, I literally just got a text from my mom. Obaachan Ni is going to come to the wedding. Really, I can't even get through one post about RSVP's without having a change. This is real life brides. Get ready for it.)

BRIDAL BABBLE: What's your wedding RSVP horror story?

Review: Preston Bridal Cake Cutter Set From Reed & Barton

A Bride On A Budget received this item for review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB.

When you start planning a wedding, costs add up. You have to pay for everything. Want premium alcohol instead of house? You have to pay for that. Want the upgraded chairs? You have to pay for that.

There are things that a venue will (most likely) have available for you to use: plates, linens, a cake cutter. But personally, I wanted my own cake cutting set. It's one of those things that you can use and pass down to your kids for them to use at their weddings, especially if you get a very classic and timeless set.


We were lucky enough to receive the Preston Bridal Cake Cutter set from Reed & Barton. The set, which contains a cake cutter and server, is made of 18/10 stainless steel. Personally, if you're looking for sets, stainless steel is the way you want to go. Silver is nice, but you have to polish it or it will tarnish. And if you forget about it, it's not something that you can break out in ten years and just expect to be ready to go. Stainless steel has a lot less upkeep. Be sure to wash and dry it (never putting detergent directly on it) and use a stainless polish to remove any discolorations.

I love the look of the Preston set. It has a classy double barrel at the "throat" (where the handle and head meet) and a fluted hollow handle. Very classic. I looked at a lot of cake cutter sets and some were so trendy. Plastic handles that you fill with beads, bedazzled handles, rhinestones galore. They're things that could look pretty now and might really match your wedding, but they're things that will look really dated when you look at your photos in years from now.

Classy and classic is the way to go. And the Preston set is just that.

The knife is a lot lighter than I thought it would be -- and the server is heavier than I thought it would be, so go figure. Better than the other way around.

If you look close at the photo above, it looks like you can see imperfections in the server. It's not. The set comes packaged in a very nice box with "beds" for each piece. They "imperfections" are actually a dusting from sleeping in the box (oh, such a technical explanation). Once you wash the pieces, this will be removed. I would suggest washing these and bringing them outside of the package to your venue so that you don't have to rewash before you use it. Bring the box, though, so you can store them after (after they are washed, of course -- although mention you want it back. Our venue ended up tossing our box so we don't have it anymore).

Reed & Barton sells a ton of other wedding-related items, like toasting flutes and picture frames.

But back to the Preston Bridal Cake Cutter Set items. I love this set. The photos make it look amazing, but it's even better in real life.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you pass this cake cutter set down to the next generation?

How To Find Out If Your Wedding Limo Company Is Actually Authorized To Operate

I was watching television last night and Fox Wilmington kept teasing a story about prom limos and how they might unauthorized to drive. I don't care about prom. But I do care about limos ... especially since we've hired one for the wedding.

The woman we worked with was great and has a great reputation, but I still had a bit of worry because it was something I didn't think about. I just trusted her and booked. I didn't even know there was a way to look at limos before you booked. Not even that, I didn't know that unauthorized companies were able to exist and that there was a chance that a wedding party wold be riding around in a limo that actually wasn't legally allowed to carry passengers.

Oh the things you don't know you need to worry about when you accept a proposal.

What I learned yesterday is there is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA). You can head to the FMCSA's website and there is a box on the right that says: Search US DOT# or company name.

When you type the limo company name or number in the box, you'll be brought to a second page. There, you want to look for an out of service date. If there is one, it means that carrier is not authorized to operate. From that page, you are also able to see what the carrier is authorized for (passengers, property), the address of the company, the number of drivers, and more.

The news report also said that licence plates should have "for hire" on them, so keep that in mind as well. This is such a great resource and I'm so glad to have stumbled on it. Transportation is such a large cost -- but it can definitely be larger if you get into an uninsured and unauthorized vehicle.

I did check our limo company immediately, and it is authorized to drive. Thank goodness.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Did you know you could research your potential limo company?

Thinking about a limo?
Check out our post  Why You Should Book A Limo For Your Wedding (and what you should ask before booking).

Wedding Gift Idea: Watch (with cute DIY insert tutorial)

Have you thought about what you're going to give each other as wedding gifts? It's actually a really common practice.

Personally (and this is just my personal opinion, not the popular one), in today's world, I don't think the groom should give a gift to the bride. He already bought her an engagement ring and a wedding band, the cost of which far exceeds the wedding band she bought for him.

Now, once upon a time when only the bride's family paid and the wedding was completely not the groom's financial obligation, it was different. But with both sides paying (or the couple only paying), I still say no gift from the groom to the bride, other than her rings.

So what, then, should you get the groom?

Groom's Wedding Watch Gift DIY

I really like the idea of a watch. But a watch in a box, oh, that doesn't make it special. But my wedding twin Kristiana came up with a brilliant idea.

Add a note ... that includes the time of your ceremony. Cue the awws.

What You'll Need:

• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Marker
• Corner rounder
• A watch

What You'll Do:

Lay the cardstock across the box and cut it so it will fit.

Round the corners with the mini corner rounder from EK tools (my favorite tool ever).

Write your note with the marker, sign it from your (almost) wife and stick it in the box. Be sure to get this to the groom's father or best man before the wedding and have it given to the groom before the ceremony.

According to the time on the watch, this took me 13 minutes total to put this together (including time to snap photos). But, I did spend a considerable amount of time writing the message in pencil (about four times) before figuring out what I wanted to say and how to space it. If you aren't as picky as I am, this will take you much less time. Plus, what a great way to send a cute message to your groom before you see him.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Are you planning on exchanging wedding gifts with your groom?

Wedding Cake Alternative (and a review of Batter & Cream)

A Bride On A Budget received these items for review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB.

There's been a trend to move away from traditional wedding cake and go with individual and bite-sized treats. We went to a couple weddings in the recent past with cupcakes instead of wedding cakes.

And, although cupcakes were the hot trend for a while, you might be trying to catch the next trend. What about whoopie pies?

When I was first contacted about a review of Batter & Cream whoopie pies, I didn't know this was a thing. I had heard of them and had them when I was a kid, but I didn't know they existed outside of preservative-heavy packages in supermarkets. In fact, when I was talking to Pete's dad about them, he didn't even know a whoopie pie existed so here I was, thinking we were the first to hear about these for weddings.

In fact, one glimpse at Pinterest shows that there are actually other people in this world who have heard about whoopie pies for weddings. But, honestly, how did people get married before Pinterest?

If you are like Pete's dad and haven't heard of a whoopie pie, it's more of a cake than a pie. There's no pie crust. It's two cake layers with filling between. So it's more like a cupcake than anything else. Plus, Pinterest taught me the right way to eat a cupcake is to cut the cake part in half and stick the bottom on top so the frosting is in-between. Whoopie pies save that step.

These whoopie pies arrived in a plastic container holding 15. There were five different varieties and we got three of each (which was great because Pete, his dad, and I were the ones having them, so we could have one of each).

They weren't labeled but we did get a card with various flavors and we were comparing what the photos looked liked with what we had in our hands.

The pies were shipped from New York, and the shipping package says it was shipped with dry ice (although, I'm gonna be honest: We weren't so sure about that. They came in the packaging in the top photo, and that was in a silver, padded envelope. We didn't see any dry ice packaging, so unless the dry ice was in that padding, we didn't find it).

Because they traveled to North Carolina, the frosting arrived a little melted. A quick stay in the fridge changed that. I'm not sure if there is a proper way to enjoy whoopie pies, but I would definitely say chilled. This is good too because if you do order these for your wedding, you can have them shipped to your venue and immediately refrigerated. You can serve them chilled -- and it will give the centers a little time to stiffen.

The pies were great. The actual cake portion was really moist. They weren't overly sweet, which is just how we like our desserts. The mini cakes were just shy of two inches (yes, we measured) so they were the perfect size to pop into your mouth (although I did eat mine in three bites).
I would definitely overestimate the amount your guests will eat, if you do decide to have these in lieu of cake. They are really easy to grab and enjoy, and your guests definitely will. Batter & Cream has a bunch of flavors, but I would advise you to limit to two choices. That way, you can kind of suggest (without saying it) that your guests only grab two. If you have five flavors, they might grab five so they can try them all.
My favorite of the ones we got to try was the chocolate one. Looking at the website, I would think it's the Chocolate & Orange Zest, but none of us tasted any orange zest. A very close second was the Fig, Honey, and Goat Cheese whoopie pie. It was fantastic. Such a great mixture of flavors -- and yes, it's a great dessert profile, even though reading that might have you think otherwise.
You can do a cake tower filled with these pies and then a traditional cake on top for your cake cutting. Or, heck, just get a six-inch whoopie pie instead of a six-inch round cake and cut into that! And if you want to try these at home, you could pick up a whoopie pie pan at this book --  Whoopie Pies: 30 Recipes for Treats for Every Occasion -- and see what delicious combinations you can dream up.
BRIDAL BABBLE: If you were creating a whoopie pie, what cake/filling flavor combination would you make?

To Veil Or Not To Veil (and a graphic to help you figure out veil lengths)

When we got engaged I, like every other woman, started thinking about my wedding dress. And that got me thinking about a veil. My thought was no. I didn't want a veil, didn't want to spend the money on something that I would wear for the ceremony, and that was that.

I didn't tell anyone about my decision, though. Just kept it to myself.

A few months later, my mom was talking about my cousin's wedding. "Grandma was so upset she didn't get a photo of Erica in her dress and veil."

Oh yeah, I thought. She's gonna be really upset that she can't get one of me either because I'm not doing a veil.

But my grandma is 92 and she gets what she wants. So when my mom and I went dress shopping, we went veil shopping. And now, actually, I have two veils. I'm not exactly sure which I'll be wearing on my big day, but I'll have one of them on for sure.

For the time you spend in your veil, I don't think it's really worth it to drop a ton of money on it. Mine was between $100 and $150, but you can get them for a ton cheaper.

Photo credit

This one on Amazon is only $7.59 shipped. It's from a company I don't know, so maybe the quality on a $8 veil isn't really there.

So then I kept searching on Amazon and found one from Darice (which is a well-known company).

Photo credit

This one is really simple, but it's also only $8.76 -- and has a four-star rating on Amazon. It looks very similar to this one from David's Bridal -- and the David's one is $99.

If you do decide that yes, you want a veil, you then have to figure out what length you want. One of my veils is a cathedral length and the other is fingertip. There's also birdcage and chapel and, well, this photo from Bridal Guide is a big help to figure out what is what.

Photo credit: Bridal Guide

The style of veil you choose definitely depends on the dress you pick, so you need to decide on that first. A cathedral veil is long and dramatic ... and will not work with a very short dress. A birdcage, on the other side of the spectrum, wouldn't be best for a dress with a large scoop back, especially if you're planning on having a church ceremony. That's just too much skin.

If you do plan on having a church ceremony, and you have a strapless dress and no shawl, a veil is a good way to keep those shoulders covered and be reverent in church without sacrificing your personal style.

To veil or not to veil? I say yes ... which is ironic because I was such a strong no. But grandma knows best.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Are you planning on wearing a veil?