Personally, I’m not in favor of cash bars at wedding receptions.  This is the first party you’re throwing together as husband and wife.  Would you charge if they came to your home for a party?  The reality however, is that reception costs (specifically alcohol costs) are a huge percentage of your budget.  Consider how important serving alcohol is to you.

Ways to minimize costs related to alcohol:

• Hold your reception earlier: typically, people do not tend to drink a lot during the late morning, mid-day, early evening hours.
• Ask permission to bring in your own alcohol (that you have found on sale or wholesale).
• Limit the choices of alcohol: keg beer, signature cocktails, gallon wine
• Set a time limit for an open bar.
• Ask a friend to be barkeep rather than guests serving themselves
• Don’t serve alcohol at all.

Of course, consider related factors i.e. do guests have to travel, are they spending the night, etc.?

Prioritize. Decide what aspects to the reception are most important and prioritize your budget from there.  Would you rather your guests be able to sip martinis all night or perhaps wear out their dancing shoes to really great music? Maybe delectable dishes are the most important feature…

So, what are your thoughts on cash bars?

Photo credit: Lovelight Photography, Jonathan Kirshner

Struggling together in a small space or wanting to maximize the space you have?  All it takes to revamp an area is a little creativity and time.  Some folks prefer to begin this organizational endeavor in the kitchen~ the center of activity but I’d prefer to start in the bedroom.  After all, we spend 2/3 1/3 of our lives there…it’s an important room!  Make it as romantic, comfortable and uncluttered  as possible.

I love the above image of the bedroom for the sake of simplicity. It has a clean, soft, organized look.  And, the natural and low level lighting are great for creating ambience.

Tips for Making Your Bedroom oh-so Romantic and Comfortable

1. Say NO to dust and clutter!  Keep it clean.
2. Lighting: Let in natural light, hang white lights, use candles (with fun holders that scatter the light), place battery operated lights in strategic places to create a mood.
3. Soft, high quality bedding.  Lots of pillows.
4. Pleasant scents (essential oils, potpourri, sometimes, just having your lotions out will work).
5. Inspire yourself with a special color scheme, decorations, and memorabilia.

Tips for Organizing Your Bedroom and maximizing space:

First, pull up a chair in a corner of your bedroom where you can see each part of the room, including the closet.  What is bugging you?  Are there belts and scarves dropping to the closet floor?  Are you using your bedroom as an office?  Think about what you might need to do in order to achieve more organization in your bedroom:

1. Closet organizing: Closet organizers that have double bars, cubbies and drawers truly do maximize space.  Also, stackable bins and hanging storage pockets, shoe organizers…
2. Hang pegs and hooks. Use belt and tie hangers to rein in those stray accessories i.e. hats, scarves, etc.
3. Use attractive baskets for catch-all items i.e. keys, buttons, notes etc.  (Go through every 1-2 weeks to put items in their proper places).
4. Paint with soft colors to achieve a larger looking room.
5. Minimize Trinket Collecting: the fewer trinkets you have, the less clutter, the less dusting!
6. Purchase multi-use furniture that has built in storage i.e. night stand with drawers, benches with built-in storage, etc.
7. Under the Bed: (I have a shoe rack that fits under my bed and has casters on it).  Store other items not currently using in containers
8. Store your clothing based on the season.  In other words, if it’s summer, store your winter clothes in the cedar chest, under the bed in bins, or even in your empty suitcases.
9. Use a jewelry case/armoire.
10. If you’re not using it, give it away.  Let someone else benefit from the item.

Get creative! There are other uses for many things that were initally created to serve one purpose.  I’ve found interesting hook racks, baskets, jars, etc. at garage sales and antique stores for organizing and storing items).  Before you run out and buy something, invent some new way to use something you already own, for inventive storage or organization.

Share your ideas in the comments below!

I hinted to the story behind this hopelessly romantic photo in one of our very first blog posts… The guy on his knee proposing to this woman is Jake, and our guest blogger today. Jake’s proposal story is one of theeee coolest wedding proposals of all time. Enjoy the read!

Thanks Natalie and Jake for sharing your oh-so-romantic wedding proposal with the world!