Relationships

My Big Fat Greek Wedding part II: My Kid Sister’s Tiny Budget Greek Wedding

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Get Me To The Church On Time - Athens-Style
A couple on their way to a wedding in Athens. Courtesy of Flickr

As we hear all over the news, things are a little precarious in Greece at the moment.  So what does that have to do with us in the United States?  And why should it matter to brides planning a wedding?

As a drive down any formerly bustling Main Street will tell you, things are precarious for a great many people and businesses here too.  But for engaged folks, the desire to have a beautiful wedding lives on.  And while our celebrities mindlessly plan expensive celebrations that set the ‘ dream wedding ‘ bar abnormally high, couples create  detailed wedding budget spreadsheets to see if they can afford to have a wedding at all.

Here’s our message to any brides worried about the high costs of a wedding. More often than not, (and for sure in our case) vendors want to help you have your celebration.  We believe in weddings, and beauty and love, or we wouldn’t be involved in this crazy/wonderful business.  And without you – wedding vendors would, in fact, be out of business.  So bring us your budget; big, small or anywhere in between and we’ll let you know what your best bet is – even if we end up referring you on to a colleague.

I read this review recently of a stationery store that sneered at a young woman, assuming she wasn’t their type of client.  As I wrote a few weeks ago, we can’t assume anything – vendors about brides or vice versa – if we’re going to celebrate together. So, to quote Kool and the Gang, Celebrate, Come on!

-Dinah

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Once Upon a Time, at the Dining Room Table…

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Photo of a dining room table piled with objects
Don't let clutter kill your fairy tale romance!

We dined, once, at our dining room table.  Then we got engaged. Suddenly piles of bridal magazines, boxes of invitations, and a flower girl basket took up residence.  Don’t let it happen to you.

“Why?” you may ask. “All that lovely flat space for storage.  Certainly a few months of dinner elsewhere won’t kill us.”  And you’re right – but it does, eventually, kill the romance in a relationship.  Normally romance doesn’t come easy, or cheap, but there is nothing so simple and special as to sit across from each other, light a few candles, and have a meal.  It doesn’t matter if you are eating frozen waffles on paper plates.  There’s something in the quality of the light that makes you both remember why you got engaged, married, pinned, whatever.

So watch one of those HGTV clutter busting shows, and keep that dining room table clear for some romance.  Sunday nights are perfect for a lovely dinner, but at the table – not in front of ABC’s promising new show…Once Upon a Time.

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A Reality TV Bride Tells All: why I said “yes.”

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When my then fiancé, and I announced that our wedding was going to be taped for a TLC reality show, people were more than a little surprised.  Everyone was convinced we were adding to an already stressful time.  In fact, saying “yes” to TLC was one of our best decisions. Let me tell you why.

The last weeks before the wedding were a whirlwind.  There was one oasis: shooting the show. Stephen and I spent two hours talking and “being cute” together.  We walked down a street near the beach hand in hand, trailed by a camera, giggling. We sat on a beautiful, sunny,  patio, reading to each other. We talked about how we fell in love.  That afternoon was a brief shelter from the crazy wedding planning storm: we got to reconnect, and remember that under the tulle and the tablecloths, was our unique love story.

The bride and groom, showcasing our use of succulents in a bridal bouquet and boutonniere
incidentally, showcasing our use of succulents in a bridal bouquet and boutonniere

I treasure those two hours, every moment.  The lights, the cameras, and the questions that reminded me why I had said “yes.”

Note – Credit where credit is due: I got, hands down, the most amazing hair and make-up team in Southern California.  Dana and her team from Design Visage in Orange County made me feel like a movie star. Thanks ladies!

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