Simple Weddings — by Guest Mom Beth Longtine

We spend a lot of time in our house looking at wedding blogs, and we definitely have our favorites. Yes, maybe it has something to do with my being a wedding coordinator, but honestly I think it’s because I have four daughters. We all love to dream about weddings, and look at the lovely photos.

But if you are anything like us, we often come away feeling like the “perfect” wedding comes at a pretty high price (so how much does it cost to rent 20 chandeliers to hang from the trees?). As a wedding coordinator I have found high-end weddings to be the rarity, most people simply can’t afford more than the basics. And during tough economic times, how much do we really want to spend anyway? Can’t we have an inexpensive and lovely wedding? I think so.

The first step is establishing what is important to you on that day. What are the essentials? A small group of loved ones? A large group of family and friends? A great party? A religious emphasis? Going in with a plan can help you navigate the process more peacefully as you will be able to ignore whole categories of things the bridal magazines insist are essentials. My son and daughter-in-law recently got married and our focus was simple: build a marriage, tell a story, and spend as little money as possible. Oh yeah…and the food had to be great.

Stay tuned this week as I share a few thoughts on how to put together a simple, but beautiful wedding — and know that the same techniques and ideas could be applied to any event.

Note from Design Mom: in the mood for more wedding stuff? Check out Wide Open Spaces. She spent all of last week reporting the details of her incredibly lovely wedding. Also, I found the gorgeous balloon garland photo on Wide Open Spaces via Oh Joy via Tiara Mia.