Dear Friends,

We’re on an important mission to rekindle the holiday spirit and we need your help.

Quite simply, we’re asking America to believe. This holiday season, join Macy’s and the Make-A-Wish Foundation® to help collect a million reasons to believe.

What is the Believe campaign? Beginning on November 6, children across the country are invited to drop off their letters — stamped and addressed to Santa at the North Pole — in the Santa Mail letterbox at any Macy’s store. For each letter received, Macy’s will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1 million dollars to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. We’ll be picking up letters from our local Macy’s and getting them on their way to the North Pole.

What is the Make-A-Wish Foundation? The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

Be an inspiration. You are in a unique position to really make a difference. Write your own letter to Santa and drop it off at your local Macy’s store today. Inspire your children, peers, family and friends to get involved by writing their letters, too.

This is Part 3 in our 3 part series on saving money while getting the wedding you want. There were great ideas long before these, and there will be more tips after this series – but we hope that some of the info in this series has been a help to you in planning your wedding. If you find yourself in need of some cost saving or trendy ideas, or you need help on your wedding day, please call or email us – we’ll be right there for you.

Videography: Limiting the events that your videographer captures will save room in your budget. Instead of having them film from the time you start getting ready to the time you ride of into the sunset, you could have them capture just the ceremony and the formal events of your reception.

Wedding Cake: Instead of getting an elaborate cake for display and eating, you could have a small 2-tier cake made for display, and then have a sheet cake made that will be served to guests.

Favors: You can save on cost by making your own classic favors from scratch. Buy tulle circles (or cut them out yourself) and wrap some Hershey Kisses or Jordan Almonds with ribbon tied around it. Other affordable favors might include paper fans, coasters, candles, or handmade chocolates.

Hair & Make-up: Depending on the look you want, hair and make-up are easily done by you or a friend. More complicated hair styles will require someone with some expertise, though.

Wedding Planning & Coordination: With enough time and enough organizational skills, you can plan your own wedding and save the money for day-of wedding coordination. Having a professional wedding planner coordinate your wedding day allows you, your family and friends to enjoy your wedding day instead of working. We have the experience with vendors and venues to make sure that your wedding day looks just like you imagined it.

This is Part 2 in our 3 part series on saving money while getting the wedding you want. Why a series? Because trilogies are cool and too many tips at once can make you sick, like too much wedding cake in an hour. Read on our weary friend:

Transportation: A handsome new stretched limo can add a fun dynamic to your wedding. Instead of picking up everyone in your wedding party and taking them to the ceremony, then to the reception, you can save a bit of money and still enjoy the ride by renting it just for your send-off.

Reception Venue: Having your reception at a friend or family member’s home will save you the most money, by far. But, if that’s not a possibility because of guest count or you just don’t know anyone that can accommodate, look for venues that have a low minimum hour expectation, and then limit the total time for your reception. You don’t have to party until midnight to entertain your guests. Half your guests will leave after the formal dances are done anyway. You can make a rockin’ reception in just a few hours.

Catering: Feeding your guests can get expensive - period. A low end estimated cost for a catered dinner is around $30/per person plus tax & gratuity (18%) is approx $5,800 for 150 guests. To scale down the cost of food, you could have a late evening or early to mid-afternoon wedding so that it does not fall during a meal time, and just serve your guests hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

Reception Music:  Hiring a DJ that does an exceptional job at keeping guests entertained with music – no matter the age or background – and serving as your master of ceremonies is incredibly important. There are many people that do it, but few that do it well enough to get repeat or referral business. As with any hourly vendor, limiting the time of your reception can save you some money, but hiring the cheapest DJ is not a valid way to save money. With any DJ you hire, make sure to check references and ask for a sample of their work – either a recording, or to stop by an event and see them in action. Don’t expect to get to come to a wedding they’ll be at though – would you want a stranger at your wedding? It’s rare you’d get to tag along at a reception.

Photography: You will have your wedding photos forever, so choose your photographer wisely. Like hiring a DJ, the least expensive photographer isn’t always the best choice. Ask for referrals and look through their portfolio. Asking for custom package quotes and limiting the number of hours that you require them to be with you can save some money you can put into other areas of your wedding..

Look for Part 3 coming soon. And if you have any tips that you’ve used or like but don’t see here, please comment and share.

More and more brides and grooms are asking us how to fit all their dreams and desires into their wedding day on a budget that isn’t as big as it once was. Here’s the good news – it’s totally possible to have the wedding of your dreams on a limited budget – you just need to think outside the box to get there. Sounds like a good time for a quick tip series. This will be Part 1 in a 3 part series – because trilogies are cool and too many tips at once can make you sick, like too much wedding cake in an hour. So here we go:

Ceremony Venue: Set up your ceremony in a large back yard of a friend or family member, or have it at a local park ($50-150). Rent chairs from a party store such as AA Party Rental or Alexander Party Rentals for approx $300 including delivery/pick-up for 150 chairs. Metro Parks Tacoma offers the Rose Garden at Point Defiance during the summer for $400 for 2 hours (chairs included).

Bouquets, Boutonnieres & Floral Arrangements: Local farmer’s markets are a great place to meet growers and florists, and are a wonderful place to find flowers in the summer-time, as long as you aren’t particular about the colors. You might contact a local grower early in the year before they plant their seeds and see if they will grow specific flowers or colors for your wedding. Buying in bulk from a grower will save you big money too. You and your friends could make the flower table arrangements and bouquets during the last couple of days prior to the wedding. You can also find affordable vases at your local dollar store. Talking to a florist early about flowers that are in season during your wedding will help make better decisions and save you money.

Officiant: The cost for an officiant is generally around $200 – if you belong to a church or synagogue, you might ask your pastor or rabbi if they’d be willing to officiate your wedding for free as a gift.

Stationery: Buy make-it-yourself kits from Michaels craft store for around $40 for 50 invitations ($120 for 150). Generally you can find matching place cards, table numbers, thank you cards, and more in the pattern you’ve chosen. They are easy to make and print from your own computer. If you’d like to have raised lettering, you can purchase embossing powder and an embossing heat gun to create raised letters immediately after printing.

Attire: Attending a bridal dress show like the South Sound Wedding Show can net you deep discounts on designer wedding dresses. Or, choose a dress from David’s Bridal in their online outlet section.

Look for Part 2 coming soon. And if you have any tips that you’ve used or like but don’t see here, please comment and share.

Hosting a family reunion at a local park can be a fun way to gather together. Pierce County and the City of Puyallup have a variety of parks with picnic shelters available for rent – my personal favorites include Bradley Lake, Clarks Creek, DeCoursey and Wildwood Parks. A theme idea for your family reunion could be an “Old Fashioned Family Picnic”. Imagine picnic tables set up with white and red checkerboard table cloths, white china dishes, red linen napkins, a wooden basket filled with mixed nuts located in the center of the table with a fresh edible fruit arrangement in the middle, with pitchers of icy pink and yellow lemonade on the table ready to enjoyed. Lunch or dinner could include a buffet of traditional barbecue fare – hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon slices, macaroni salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, baked potato salad and kettle chips. The perfect dessert for a hot summer day would be a shaved ice machine offering a variety of flavors (you would need a power outlet, which most of the Puyallup picnic shelters offer).

Family reunions are not just about eating and comparing stories from years gone by, but also having fun together as a family and making new memories. Outdoor games are a great way to mingle and have fun as a group, and are also great ice breakers for families who may have some barriers to break through when they gather. Old fashioned game ideas include arranging a 3-legged-race, potato sack races, object-on-a-spoon race, badminton, croquet and bocce ball. Last but not least, buy or create an invitation that sets the tone for your Old Fashioned picnic theme. Happy picnicking!