Award-winning luxury wedding planner Taylor Lea Thomas of Elite Soiree unveils tips to have a celebrity style wedding on a budget. With a little creativity, the average bride can have her dream wedding on a limited budget with tips inspired by celebrity brides used in their own weddings. Here are a few of Taylor’s favorite tips for the average bride to have a celebrity style wedding:
Tip! Sometimes even the prettiest shade of pink isn’t a girl’s best friend. Instead, have a cocktail hour in your favorite color in a smaller setting rather than in an entire reception hall. For Star Jones’ $2 million fall wedding, she had a cocktail hour designed around a hot pink theme with a buffet of desserts in different shades of pink.
Tip! Honoring the memory of your loved one during your ceremony is one way to create a truly personalized wedding. To make it even more special, ask your florist to include a favorite flower of a deceased loved one. Princess Diana included golden Mountbatten roses in her bouquet to honor the memory of Prince Charles’ late uncle.
Tip! To save on the cost of a room rental, opt to have your wedding in the afternoon rather than in the evening since prices tend to be on the lower end. Jennifer and Brad’s outdoor summer wedding was held on a Saturday afternoon in July of 2000. No one has to know you’re trying to cut costs. Simply inform anyone that asks that you’re having a Jen and Brad style wedding.
Tip! Now that you’re engaged, you’ve probably seen or heard of many ideas for your bouquet and centerpieces. But what do you do if you’re allergic to most flowers like Debra Messing? For Debra’s fall wedding in 2000, she used calla lilies for her bouquet since they’re easier on the nose. You should too. Besides, you don’t want to be sneezing profusely at the altar! For centerpieces, a beautiful and oh-so-romantic alternative is to have floating candles in glass containers.
Tip! It’s okay for the groom to have “something borrowed” for the wedding as well. In his destination wedding to Carolyn Bessette on September 21, 1996 John F. Kennedy, Jr. wore his father’s watch and a pair of his cufflinks. It would be especially touching if the groom borrowed something his father wore in his wedding to the groom’s mother.
Tip! “Here Comes the Bride” is not your only option when walking down the aisle. If the ceremony site allows it, choose ceremony songs that best encapsulates your relationship like David Bowie did to his bride Iman in their summer wedding in June of 1992.
Tip! Honor your family heritage by including it in your wedding. For example, Matt Lauer honored his bride’s background by having the menu cards printed in both languages. In her wedding to John Stamos, Rebecca Romijn honored her Dutch background when her family changed from their formal tuxes into farmer costumes and wooden shoes and sang Dutch songs during the reception.
