Planning a Wedding & Wedding Budget

My fiancĂ©e proposed on Valentines Day, and it was the most romantic moment of my life… Unlike all the other brides, however, I did not jump on planning our wedding right away… Something always came up which required my attention, and I kept putting it off as long as I could… After all, I was never one of those girls who had a wedding binder by the time they were ten… And, thus, I avoided the planning for as long as I could -- I guess, in that sense, I am very un-bridezilla like – but I have procrastinated long enough, and now is the time to start… So, please join me on my journey of wedding planning as I hope to share the tricks -- and “secrets” I uncover along the way -- with those of you who will be some day planning your very own wedding…

First thing first… I was told I have to create my very own Wedding Binder... Ahh, that infamous yet mysterious Wedding Binder…. At the very least, your Wedding Planner should have the following categories:

  1. Your Budget
  2. Checklist & Timeline
  3. Dream Wedding Dress
  4. Guest List
  5. Reception
  6. Ceremony
  7. Photographer
  8. Flowers
  9. Cake
  10. Food
  11. Music
  12. Favors
  13. Invitations
  14. Miscellaneous
It makes sense that the first thing is to set up a budget. If you are not sure what your budget should be, you can obtain some estimates based on your zip code at this site. Mine is something along the lines of “Champagne Wedding on a Beer Budget.” I made a list of what I call “priorities” (things we absolutely must have) and crossed off all the items we personally see as not important to us. For example, there will be no Bridesmaids' Dresses – my bridesmaids will wear whatever they want in any color they want… What is important to me is that everyone has a good time – regardless of what they wear… Am I breaking a tradition? Perhaps… But aren’t all traditions meant to be broken?

*** NOTE: If you have not seen 27 Dresses yet, I highly recommend renting it for all brides-to be…

The bottom line is, budgets are very subjective as they will be based on what kind of wedding you want to have. Will it be a backyard vs. ballroom, big vs. small, summer vs. winter, local vs. destination wedding, etc. Due to the size of our families, we are going to have 2 ceremonies/receptions – one for our families in NYC and one for our friends in the Caribbean. Both will take place in the fall of 2010, which gives us plenty of time to plan…

To be Continued…

~~~ Baked Amish Oatmeal ~~~

1/3 cup butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla + 1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 - 1.5 cup milk
3 cups oatmeal (I use steel-cut oats)

Melt butter and let it cool. Grease your baking dish. Beat eggs, add brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well until there are no lumps. Whisk in butter and milk, then add oatmeal/oats. Stir well, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake uncovered at 350F for 35-45 min. Serve hot with warm milk poured over.


Movie nights at home

Netflix: We have recently signed up for Netflix, which we absolutely love. For a low monthly fee, a movie is delivered to your mailbox, you can watch it anytime at your leisure, and then -- when you are done -- drop it in the mailbox in a PRE-PAID ENVELOPE and wait for the next one. We love the selection of new releases (beats our cable which generally plays older movies). And, you can build your own list of movies so that the movies are continuously shipped to you after you return them. There is no driving to the store to pick up or drop the movie off. And the best thing – there are no late fees, no matter how long you keep the movie. Also, if you have the right equipment, you can get the instant streaming to your TV. Netlix unlimited plans start with $8.99 a month plus tax (1 DVD out at-a-time) and go up to $16.99 (for 3 DVDs). You can also select the $4.99 a month (plus tax) plan for a 1 DVD at-a-time (with a limit of 2 per month). We have the $8.99 plan which works for us. On average, we get a new movie once a week (if I mail the movie back Monday morning, there is usually a new movie in our mailbox by Wednesday-Thursday). If we managed to watch it the same day we received it (which we never do), we probably would have gotten more movies. But, you can select the plan that works the best for you based on your needs and lifestyle.

RedBox: Another option is the RedBox. It is basically just that – a stand alone Red Box usually found at supermarkets or pharmacies where you can rent a movie with a swipe of your credit card. The cost is just $1.00 (plus tax) for 1 night. BUT the catch is that you have to return the movie the following evening by 9 pm or you will be charged an additional $1.00 (plus tax) for each night you are late. This option only makes sense if you remember to return the movie the next day, otherwise, if you are – like me – don’t want to be bound by any time constraints and would like to watch the movies on your own terms, you would be better off signing up for Netflix. Although Redbox is available throughout the country, when I searched the Redbox locations in Manhattan, only 2 came up -- Walgreens at 350 5th Avenue and Walgreens at 1471 Broadway. There are some additional locations in Brooklyn as well. So if you are one of the lucky ones to live near those locations, this may work for you. Also, Redbox sends out promotional codes for a FREE MOVIE every Monday to customers who sign up to receive SMS text message. In addition, you can google Redbox promotional codes to get your FREE MOVIE, just don’t forget to return it on time.

Hulu: Check out their site here where you can watch your favorite or missed TV shows and movies, all for FREE.

YouTube: Finally, don’t underestimate Youtube when you looking for clips, etc. For example, I use Youtube to watch cooking demonstration videos (for example, how to make a miso soup, or how to cut up a chicken), destination videos (for example, videos of resorts before we book our travel), music videos, or clips of shows I missed on TV. You can pretty much find everything on Youtube – I even found a video of the town I grew up in…

Now, grab some popcorn and enjoy your movies!

Weekend in Atlantic City

If you need to get away for a weekend, check out $29 coach fares from Penn Station to Atlantic City on Atlantic City Express Service ("ACES") train. There is only 1 short stop in Newark, and the trip takes 2 hours 40 minutes. Once you arrive, there will be a FREE shuttle service to take you from the Rail Terminal to Borgata, Caesars or Harrah's Resort in only minutes. For more information, click here.

In addition, don't forget other promotions offered by individual hotels. For example, Tropicana currently runs a promotion - if you register for their Diamond Club card, you will get $25 to spend at the slot machines (valid for Saturday-Sunday stays, promotional amount is reduced to $10 for midweek stays).

Coney Island Events

You can visit this site to see what is going on at Coney Island throughout the summer, but here are some of the highlights...

Event: Mermaid Parade
Date: June 20, 2009, 2 pm

Cost: Free
The Mermaid Parade is the nation's largest art parade and one of New York City's greatest summer events. The Parade is characterized by participants dressed in hand-made costumes as Mermaids, Neptunes, various sea creatures... Each year, a different celebrity King Neptune and Queen Mermaid rule over the proceedings. In the past, David Byrne, Queen Latifah, Ron Kuby, Curtis Sliwa, Moby, and David Johansen presided over the assembled masses. See the website for more information.

Event: Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Championship
Date: July 4, 2009
Cost: Free
The Nathan's Famous International Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Championship has been held each year on July 4 since 1916, according to archives.

Event: "Coney Island Boom-A-Ring" presented by the Ringling Bros.
When: June 18, 2009 - September 7, 2009
Cost: Tickets start at $10
The show includes Vincenta Pages and her seven white Bengal tigers; the Urias family, known as The First Family of the Motorcycle Globe; the New York debut of The Negrey Troupe, a world-renowned retinue of Russian acrobats; "Eccentric Personality Extraordinaire" Justin Case; and a trio of Asian elephants. The show runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. For additional information, visit the site.

Event: Brooklyn Cyclones @ Keyspan Park
When: Ongoing
Price: $8.00 (for bleachers) and $12.00 (box)
Baseball games... Should I say more? See website for more information and tickets. Click here for a special promotion "Buy 1 ticket get 1 FREE" with a purchase of Kraft singles cheese.

Shecky’s Girls Night Out

Gather your besties and enjoy five hours of the coolest cocktails, delicious beer and food pairings, hot summer fashions with fantabulous markdowns, fun beauty discoveries, and of course, Shecky’s Famous Goodie Bag. Tickets are $30 in advance or $40 at the door.

Date: June 23 - June 27, 2009
Time: 5pm-10pm (1pm-5pm and 6pm-10pm on Sat.)
Place: The Puck Building293 Lafayette St. (@ Houston St.)

For more information, check their website.

Dining Out in NYC

If making dinner reservations in NYC, you can use Opentable.com to earn points which can be redeemed for dining gift certificates (2,000 points will get you a $20 certificate, 5,000 points will get a $50 certificate, and you can get a $100 certificate for 10,000 points). Standard reservations earn 100 Dining Reward Points each. You can also earn Bonus Points -- just look for "1,000-point" reservations on the site.

In addition, twice a year (usually in January and July), there is a unique opportunity to experience some of NYC finest restaurants for a fraction of the usual price. Throughout the city, restaurants participate in "Restaurant Week" where they offer a three-course lunch for $24.07 and dinner for $35. Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try out a restaurant that may usually be out of your budget, or test some new restaurants with a little less financial risk. You can also use Opentable.com to make your Restaurant Week reservations. The next Restaurant Week is coming up (July 12 - July 31, 2009) so make your reservations early.

Finally, check out Restaurant.com where you can purchase dining certificates for listed restaurants at a discount. For example, you can get a $25 certificate for only $10. If you google promotional codes for Restaurant.com, you can purchase those certificates for even less (I previously have gotten $25 certificates for only $3 using promotional codes).

~~~ Potato Salad ~~~

1 cup low-fat mayo
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced celery
½ cup chopped onion
2 hard-boiled eggs (optional)
2 lbs potatoes (5-6 medium potatoes) cut in ¾ in. chunks

Mix all the ingredients. The salad tastes better if it is refrigerated overnight.

For more great salad recipes, visit
Life As Mom.

Research your travel

Of course, everyone is aware of widely used travel sites such as Travelocity or Expedia, but you may get more bang for you buck from other less known sites. If you are not sure about the destination, but want to get out of town on a short notice, check out Travelzoo which publishes great travel deals that can be searched by location, type of vacation, etc. You can also sign up for their Top 20 travel deals emailed weekly. Another site Skyauction allows you to bid on airline tickets and hotel rooms, among other deals. Just make sure to review all the details of the auction - especially the small print - before bidding. One of my other favorite sites to check out is Kayak which allows you to see the lowest published fares from numerous airlines on the same webpage. For international travel, be sure the check the website of that country's airline as you may find cheaper packaged deals (air + hotel) than if you purchased those separately on your own. Other sites to review are FareCompare and AirfareWatchDog.