By Darin (The Huzz)

Are you looking for a cheap wedding venue?  The unfortunate part about typing ‘cheap wedding venues’ into a search engine is that oftentimes the results you get are truly cheap websites, chock full of spammy, useless links.  Keep in mind that ‘cheap’ and ‘wedding’ is not usually something the wedding industry wants uttered in the same sentence, so it’s not likely they’re gunning for you when you include cheap in your search. But we here at IW know that what you really mean is “reasonably priced.” Here’s hoping that the following list will help you on your way to keeping the wedding costs reasonable when it comes to choosing a wedding venue.

Tip #1 – Stay Home

Consider having an at-home wedding. Christina and I had our reception at our home. We gambled on a perfect day for an outdoor tent reception and won big with sunshine and 72 degrees of low humidity bliss.

We enlisted the help of Christina’s brother and sister-in-law to decorate the tent and set up for us.  We put in the blood-sweat-and-tears of prepping the yard starting in the spring and toiling throughout the summer for our Sept 1 date and plunked down the money for a tent, table and chairs.  The tent came from one company and the table and chairs were separate as we found some nice white wooden chairs that didn’t need the expensive fru-fru covers on them.

Tip #2 – Don’t Lie About Why You Want to Rent the Cheap Venue

One of the real wedding couples featured here ended up almost losing their venue because they left out the fact that the small get-together was a wedding. People who rent out their stately homes for events, weddings included, want to know what kind of event they are being asked to host because that can have a bearing on the decision to rent you the space.  We’ve talked to many a venue owner and they’re few and far between who don’t have a “story to tell” about the wedding that changed their minds.   A grand old century home overlooking the bay of spectacular sunsets may be happy to host the 24 seniors looking for a weekend of rock-em sock-em bridge or euchre, but may not be facilitated for you to show up and inform them at the last minute that “oh-by-the-way that lovely manicured lawn over there will accommodate my tent just perfectly! Did we forget to tell you we’re getting married?”

Tip #3 – Stay in One Location

Stay at one location for your ceremony and your reception. Often smaller venue spaces like bed and breakfasts, lofts, or museums, to name a few have the ambiance and charm for both the nuptials and the intimate gathering afterward.

Tip #4 – Go A La Carte.

Go a la carte. Do you really need a wedding package with all the fixin’s?  Some of the smaller venues that will host weddings may not even offer the “full meal deal” wedding packages anyway, and you have full control over the cost of the catering, alcohol, etc.  For our at-home wedding, we hired a caterer who handled the main dinner and also provided a bartender for the evening who served wine and a couple different kinds of craft beers we selected and purchased ourselves beforehand.  We didn’t go hog-wild with multiple bottles of alcohol and infinite variety, saving us a good chunk of change. No complaints from any of the guests either.

Tip #5 – Off-Season

Choose an off season or non-traditional day to get married. If the guest list is small and you don’t have to accommodate 100 or 300 guests on a more traditional Saturday-in-summer wedding,  you can get away with a nice small gathering on an Sunday or Friday evening, and the venue may offer a break since you’re not competing for the premium time slot.

Tip #6 – Restaurant Reception

Have arestaurant reception.Swanky restaurants off the beaten path or in the heart of the city may not be able to accommodate 300 of your closest friends, but may be able to handle 25 or 40 guests without a problem as long as they have lots of notice. If you like the restaurant’s menu and its atmosphere, you’re done. No linens, tableware, chair covers etc. to rent.  No caterer to hire. Maybe a few fresh flower bouquets or other DIY table accents and blamo, instant cozy wedding reception venue.  You’ll want to make sure the restaurant is well established and has done weddings before. References are always a good idea. You don’t want to find out a month in advance that your venue has shut down because the restaurant went under.

Tip #7  – Go Off the Beaten Path

Have a venue in mind that doesn’t advertise wedding rentals?  Don’t be afraid to ask! When your guest list is small, many more options are available to you. Bed and breakfasts, small country inns, quaint downtown bistros, the list is endless. Often with a small guest list events are a bit more low-key (not always though!) and the owners of unique venues are willing to accommodate weddings.

Photo One and Two: Hannah and Mathew’s backyard wedding; Photo Three: Diane and Doug’s Dazzling Restaurant Wedding; Photo Four: Glass Studio Real Wedding

Green is my favorite color, so naturally I love it as a wedding color. Given that it’s St. Patty’s day, today’s post is all about the color green.

Let’s start with the edibles, shall we?

Green wedding cake.  (source)

Green cupcakes. (source)

Pear lemon fizzies with green drink flags. (source)

Now, we’ll move on to flowers.

Green mum pomander. (source)

Green bout. (source)

Green bouquets. (source)

Green pom poms. So pretty. Learn how to make tissue paper pom poms. (source)

Green moss ring pillow. (source)

Green glasses for the sweet tea and lemonade station. (source)

Green bridesmaids. I love how each maid is in a different shade. (source)

And for the boys – love these. (source)

We love vintage weddings here at IW! And we also love giveaways! We were tickled when Toronto designer offered up one of her awesome vintage-inspired hair fascinators ($100+ value) as a prize for one lucky IW reader!

Before we get into the giveaway details, we’d like to share a little about about Blair Nadeau from Blair Nadeau Millinery.

What’s your design background?

Blair: I’m classically trained in fashion design from Ryerson University in Toronto and Textile Design from Beal Art School in London, Ontario.

Why fascinators?

Blair: I was on a buying trip in England in 2008 and discovered a beautiful fascinator boutique in Selfridges.  I was always interested in hair accessories and millinery and was blown away by the beautiful and intricate Royal Ascot type fascinators that I discovered in England. With my background in fashion and design, as well as my love of textures and textiles, I returned home to Canada and began designing my first collection of feather fascinators. I launched the company in 2009.

Tell us about your fascinators:

Blair:

The first collection, Whimsical Wonderland, is charming and whimsical. It includes vintage feather fascinators, cocktail hats, birdcage veils and flowers in beautiful romantic shapes and ethereal colours. Each piece is made from the highest quality feathers imported from Spain and the UK and are all hand-shaped and hand-trimmed and applied individually to each piece.  They are finished with handmade clusters of freshwater pearls or Swarovski crystals.

Now, onto the giveaway details.

There are three fascinators to choose from. Simply pick your fave from the following:

#1 – Whimsical Nude Fascinator

#2 – Whimsical Ivory Peacock Fascinator

#3 – Whimsical White Fascinator

Leave a comment below letting us know which one is your fave and why, then head on over to the IW Facebook fan page and ‘Like Us’. Winners will be selected randomly by the random number generator. Contest closes Saturday March 26, 2011 at 11:59 pm. Contest open to U.S and Canadian residents only.

Good luck!

Aren’t these pink DIY pomanders stunning? Want to make them for your wedding? All you need is a flower punch, pretty paper,  styrofoam balls and some pearl tipped corsage pins.  Check out the DIY pomander tutorial over at Pizzazerie.

Ever wonder what’s hot in UK weddings? Or how they differ from weddings in the US and Canada?

Dannii, who is based in Manchester England, is going to give us a UK slant on getting hitched.  She’ll be discussing some of the hot trends in the UK, as well as some of the challenges she faces as a UK bride.

Take it away Dannii!

By Dannii Martin

To all those Americans and Canadians reading this, you should count yourselves lucky. To all those English reading this – I feel your pain. Apart from us having to endure this awful weather and some very questionable TV programs (okay, it’s not all bad – we have awesome tea and cake), when we plan our dream wedding in our own country, we are somewhat limited.

1. No Outdoor Weddings – There are some big differences in planning a wedding in England compared to planning one in North America. Whereas Canadians and Americans have the choice to get married outside, overlooking stunning scenery, here in England that is not legal. Neither religious nor civil ceremonies can be conducted outdoors. However, maybe this is not necessarily a bad thing. The unpredictability of English weather is well documented. We don’t have the year round sunshine of California, and we rarely have the romantic snowy winters of New York. We have rain, and lots of it. Not too great for outdoor weddings. Wedding photography is just another obstacle we face when it comes to our unpredictable weather.

2. No At-Home Weddings – We also can’t get married in our own home, our parents home, or anyone else’s home for that matter. The building we get married in has to be licensed for weddings, and this is not something you can do to your own home.

“But, you have beautiful castles you can get married in” I hear you cry. Yes, we do. But, for those of us planning an intimate wedding, this isn’t usually an option when said castles cater for 200+ people. (That said, check out this castle wedding in Scotland, and this Scottish destination wedding.)

3. No Friends as Officiants – Ever since Joey married Chandler and Monica on ‘Friends’, the idea of having a loved one perform our wedding ceremony for us appealed to people the whole world over. Again, we don’t have this option. We can’t just get someone authorized to perform the ceremony. Instead, the only option we have is a stranger standing in front of us.

But of course I don’t mean to sound bitter, here in England we still get celebrate our love in some truly beautiful buildings and (weather providing) our receptions can take place in the grounds of one of our many historic buildings. It doesn’t matter whether it is indoors or outdoors, a castle or your grandparent’s home, celebrating your love for each other is the most important thing and that is pretty similar, regardless of what side of the pond you are.

Dannii Martin is a 26-year old writer and criminology graduate from Manchester, England. She volunteers at a drug treatment centre and also writes her own health and diet blog which she hopes to turn into a book.  She enjoys writing about weddings and is eager to share a UK perspective on wedding planning with IW readers.

Photo of bride and groom: Lovely Bride