Happy Monday friends. I hope you had a grand weekend.
First off, thank you, thank you, thank you – for all the congrats on our engagement and the sweet comments on Isaac’s guest post. He was apprehensive about sharing the story and I assured him it would be well received – and of course it was because you all are awesome!
Overall our weekend was pretty relaxing, although we did get a jump start on a few wedding related things – went to check out a few venues, researched online and all that jazz. I guess I was just sort of out of the loop on weddings before being engaged but they are sooo expensive. Researching online I found that the average wedding in Richmond, VA costs around $26K. <– Holy moly! We don’t have anywhere near that sort of budget (actually we don’t even have a budget yet) so I’m on the lookout for any kind of DIY ideas I can find as well as tips on how to reduce costs. If you have any, please let this lady know. 🙂
Other highlights of the weekend included two awesome workouts – my first hot yoga class in over a year (soo sweaty!) and this Lean Arms workout from the Tone It Up girls.
I actually stumbled upon this while perusing Julie’s blog (Peanut Butter Fingers) and recognized it from the Tone It Up Bikini Challenge. I did the workout 2 times through and definitely felt the burn. I’m already excited to try out the Lean Legs pyramid this afternoon. <– Which just so happens to be today’s challenge.
I also wanted to share the delicious breakfast I had this morning – a cinnamon oatmeal cookie smoothie! It’s sort of an oldie but goodie, because I made a version of this smoothie before. However, since the smoothie was featured in the Tone It Up Holiday Special last month several people have been tweeting about it and asking for the recipe so I figured I would repost the new variation for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to try it.
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Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1/2 – 1 frozen banana (note- peel your bananas before you freeze them)
- 3/4 -1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 3 Tablespoons old fashioned oats
- 1 scoop vanilla brown rice protein powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, add a little more almond milk.
- Pour into a glass or bowl (depending on whether you want to use a spoon or straw) and top with 1 Tablespoon of dried fruit, nuts or other topping.
How exciting, congrats on the engagement!! Speaking of lean arms, excuse me while I go make your shake. Cheers!
I like how you think Lisa! 🙂
I saw this recipe last week and cannot wait to try it, thanks for sharing!
Mmmm.. that smoothie looks and sounds fantastic!
Thanks lady!
I just got married in Richmond this past summer. I was really happy with most of my vendors. Let me know if you want any recommendations! I also worked with Colleen Cook from CCS Events for planning. She wasn’t that expensive, and actually helped me save a lot of money by helping me know what good options in my budget are, plus she gets discounts from a lot of vendors in the area. It’s worth it to reach out to her, or another planner, to see what their packages are like. Best of luck in your planning!
Hi Suzanne! Thank you so much for the tips. I have a feeling I might be emailing you! 🙂
Oh my god yum!! That smoothie sounds to die for!
I love smoaties – smoothies with raw oats. The texture is fantastic! Great simple recipe.
I just got married last summer, and I’m always happy to share some tips!
1) The #1 expense is food and alcohol, no question – food and alc alone will probably cost as much as just about everything else combined. The two best ways to save $$ are 1) invite less people… and 2) have a buffet instead of a plated dinner. For us it cut the cost of dinner literally in half. We also considered doing drink tickets instead of an open bar…but for some reason my dad reaallly wanted an open bar, so we told him it was cool as long as he paid for it if we went over budget. But drink tickets are also a way to save money on booze.
Sort of related – I’ve had a couple of friends who have done the backyard wedding thing in an effort to save money, and found that a) they didn’t save that much (b/c food was still so expensive, and you need to rent a ton of things like a tent, tables and chairs, lighting, biffys, etc…so once you add it all up you almost might as well be renting a venue), and b) it added a ton of stress.
2) The photographer can also get pretty expensive – if you can someone who is really good but is just starting out or building up their client base, you can get a great deal on some amazing photos.
3) Don’t hire a wedding planner! Not worth it, unless you’re planning from a distance. And…I realize this contradicts #2 but if you hire a photographer with a lot of experience, you can leverage them for a lot of the things you would use a wedding planner for (timing out the day, finding other vendors etc)
4) If you have a friend or family member who has done a lot of event planning in the area, ask them for recommendations. My mom does a ton of events for the non-profit she works with and helped me pick out an inexpensive but still awesome caterer and florist within 2 days.
5) Don’t get married in the summer or on a Saturday. I know that’s not feasible for a lot of people…and I got married on a Saturday in July so I shouldn’t talk 🙂 But you’ll get lower prices for sure.
6) Don’t try on dresses “just to see what works” without checking the price tags. BAD IDEA. Trust me.
phew. sorry for the long comment! These are just from my personal experience but I know there are tons of other great ideas out there.
Thank you SO much for all the tips Kristina! These are really helpful. I can totally see where trying on dresses that are too expensive would be a bad idea. I’ll have to go in with my budget in mind and stick to it. 🙂
It helps to tell the dress store employee what your budget is when you make the appointment to try on dresses…that way they won’t pull the $4000 Vera Wang for you to try. There are plenty of beautiful dresses available at a reasonable price, so not to worry!
That smoothie looks dee-lish! Have you thought about adding flax seed or wheat germ for an added kick? Yum!
As for keeping your wedding costs down…just remember that no one really remembers the food. You don’t have to have some fancy plated entree. Most people (in my experience) are happy with an easy buffet of foods they are familiar with. Makes things more comfortable.
Also, have you thought of trading vendor services for advertising on your blog? Might be something to think about! Best of luck!
Hi Megan. Isaac and I both talked about doing a buffet style or even serving stations because we’ve never been overly impressed with the seated dinners.
I want to try that smoothie sooooo bad. and I also really want to go out for some hot yoga. I’ve never done it but I’ve heard it’s amazing!
Here are a few things I did to save money- 1. Skip save the dates, the important ppl in your life will know when your wedding is. I sent out invites a little earlier as well.
2. Keep your bridal party small. Since everyone in our wedding party is traveling to Az for our wedding, we paid for suits and BM dresses. It cut costs only having 3 ppl in the wedding..
3. Get recommendations from friends for vendors, and shop around. I saved on some but spent way too much on others bc I was tired of shopping around.
4. Etsy… It will become your friend. I have ordered so much on there and it’s supporting small businesses and most sell things for good price.
5. Someone else said have buffet but our plated dinners were cheaper then baffet…
That’s all I have for now I think. Happy planning!! 🙂
Thank you for all the tips Emily. I will definitely be checking out Etsy. One of my best friends got married and bought her bm’s gifts from two vendors on the site and they were perfect!
yum! I will for sure be trying this 😀
You probably already read Young House Love since it’s so popular and they live in Richmond, but that couple did their wedding on the cheap with lots of DIY so if you’re looking for some tips, look at their blog!!
Yes, I LOVE YHL and I just recently went back to their wedding post and re-read it for ideas.
Congrats on the engagement!
To save money I would say consider everything as negotiable. That includes prices for venues and venders, but most of all the catoring, we ended up getting our catoring cut in half (we did a self-stock bar which helped).
Also, consider eliminating anything you don’t absolutely love. i.e. we had no bridal party at all, no flowers (we were also trying to be more “green”), and no favors (because I don’t feel like you ever get anything worth while…) You might eliminate different things – but don’t pay for anything you don’t consider essential to YOUR wedding (and ignore protocal – who cares what anyone else thinks you should do).
I saw contrasting comments about wedding planners – a professional wedding planner CAN save you money because of their hook-ups with venders, ours definitely saved us more than the $1500 we paid her. But if you go small you can prolly get by with a very organized friend helping out. Just make sure that you have a go to person the day of who will handle anything that comes up so you can focus on looking beautiful and smiling a lot 🙂
Good luck with everything!
Yes – good point about having a go-to person. I asked one of my friends to manage anything that came up behind the scenes and gave her cell number to all of the vendors.
I actually didn’t know that wedding planners could get you vendor discounts! I still don’t think we would have used one, but definitely good to know.
I love your idea to only pay for the things you think are essential. It’s so true that no really remembers or saves their favors for the most part. How did you find a caterer that allowed you to stock your own bar? Is that common?
We did not actually have a choice in our caterer because our venue would only work with one caterer. So the self-stock bar was part of the negotiations. They staffed the bar (for a very reasonable price – like $20/hr) and provided sodas, we provided the other drinks we wanted served. There is a lot of room for negotiation – which I never would have attempted on my own, but my hubby and wedding planner were hard core 🙂
I had a friend who did a charitable donation for her “wedding favors” – the guests got a card with info on the charity. We did something similar… At least you know it is money well spent 🙂
This sounds delicious! I love the hearty texture that oats add to a smoothie. Yum!
Congrats! After reading your post I understand totally how you feel! After seeing the average price in RI was $25,000 I had felt extremely defeated. We had to pay for the whole thing ourselves; there was no way we could afford that! Let’s just say it is possible to cut that in half if you are willing to make some changes. First, we decided to have the wedding at a restaurant. Rental fee was only $1,000 included the tables, chairs, and linens. It was a beautiful location with a great view of the water so we couldn’t complain! We also decided to make it a daytime wedding for two reasons. One of course was to enjoy the view, but two we didn’t get a DJ. We used the music piped into the restaurant to save money. Another easy way to save is to keep your wedding party tiny. We only had a bm and moh plus a ring bearer and flower girl. Cuts back on flower costs, gifts, etc. I also suggest booking things in advance. We were able to save $1,200 on our photographer for booking more then a year out. I wish you the best of luck!
Thank you for sharing your story and all the tips Nicole. It’s awesome that you all were able to save so much money! I really hope we can do the same thing. 🙂
There are a few DIY ideas in this post: http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/home/2012/1/5/site-for-sore-eyes-wednesday.html
Congrats!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Maddy.
I need more Hot Yoga in my life – my arms are totally getting flabby! I noticed the other day that they’d lost definition! This post came at just the right time!
ohhhhh my lord, hot yoga…. I literally just can’t stay away. lately, I have been majorly digging the smoothies. I would say they’re more energizing than coffee…. but I would be lying.
I know!!! I am totally feeling it today, but I’m pretty sure I lost 2 lbs of sweat in hot yoga!! And yeah smoothies are energizing but coffee is ennnnerrrrrgizzzing!
Just made the smoothie (added chia seeds)! I pulled out my blender this morning which has been hibernating since summer and than saw your post & made sure to pick up ginger ( I had everything else on hand – never happens for a recipe!). It’s delicious & easy! Perfect for this sweet-tooth diabetic. I’ll be stocking up on bananas.
And your engagement story & Isaac sharing it from his perspective was so sweet, congratulations.
You’re quick!! So glad you liked the smoothie. 🙂
Belated congrats on getting engaged! You should totally check out apracticalwedding.com. It’s all about having a down to earth (and budget-friendly) wedding. thebrokeassbride.com is pretty awesome, too.
The smoothie looks delish. I’ll have to try that for tomorrow morning’s breakfast.
Thank you Leah. I will definitely check out those two blogs. They sound awesome.
We got married in May of 2010 and had a huge wedding (this is what happens when you are both from the same small town) on a fairly small budget. One thing that really helped was incorporating candles in the centerpieces to cut down on the number of flowers that we needed. I had huge candleabras placed all down the center of the head table and they cost about 1/4 of how much it would have cost to have floral centerpieces that large and they were beautiful. I also chose large flowers that were in season like hydrangias. I origninally asked for pink roses and the florist told me she could do it for 1/3 of the price if I used hydrangias instead. I was like “Yes Please!” Hope that helps! 🙂
Those are great tips Lauren. I love the idea of having candles for the centerpieces. Thanks for the ideas!
like the looks of the arm workout – thanks!
did it today – loved it!
I love this smoothie! And about how long did it take you to do that workout through twice? Thanks!
Shoot. I didn’t time myself, but I would guess 20-25 minutes.
I enjoyed seeing this wedding take shape last year via this blog here – lots of great DIY ideas!
http://thingsrbetterwithaparrott.typepad.com/homegrown_wedding/
Congratulations on your engagement. Good luck with all the details. When you get frustrated, just remember, the day is about the two of you, starting a happy life, not a life of wedding debt. Don’t let anyone push you into something you don’t want. Make sure you LOVE everything. Go with your instincts, it will be a beautiful day.
Your smoothie reminds me of my pre-vegan favorite protein powder by Syntha Cinnamon Roll. I am going to try this recipe today!
The best thing i learned while planning a low budget wedding was to negotiate! Everything is negotiable…minimums at reception venues, photographers, flowers, etc. Go in knowing what you can afford and let them know that off the bat. they will want your business. also gather friends for DIY project…make your own seating charts, favors (or part of them, we did small wine bottles, that i made the labels for), programs (you can buy the paper at Jo-anns/Michael’s with their coupons).
Happy Planning 🙂
I just tried this smoothie this morning. It’s amazing how much more filling smoothies are with the oatmeal! I substituted soy milk for almond milk and whey protein powder for the rice powder (because they were what I had) and it turned out really well! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve seen that workout floating around Pinterest and have wanting to give it a try. I’m getting married this year (welcome to the club!) and one of my goals is to tone up my arms a bit. 🙂
Congrats again!
also, don’t be afraid to borrow…I borrowed my slip and bra from a good friend. I also borrowed my veil….it was a veil that i picked out when my matron on honor got married, so kind of cool that she let me borrow it. That there was a huge savings
Check out 2000dollarwedding.com !
This recipe sounds fabulous..I love the Tone It Up team!! Planning to do the Lean Legs Pyramid later today!
Yum! This sounds delicious (and I think I already have everything I need at home)!
A few wedding tips (although mine was 10 years ago – eek!) that came to mind when I read your post and some of the comments:
– Pick what 1 or 2 things are most important to you and use your funds there. There are so many other details that you won’t even remember!
– Look for a venue that is “self decorated” so you don’t feel that you have to spend on decorations. We had ours at an historic B&B that was already decorated with antiques and flowers. All we did was throw some rose buds (from Sam’s Club) in little fishbowl vases on the tables and we were done! We had friends do something similar at a local art gallery.
– Ask if your venue works particularly closely with a caterer or baker. Ours recommended a baker and because they worked so closely together, the venue let the baker use their cake hardware for our cake so we didn’t have to buy the hardware (which we would have never used again!).
– Don’t be shy about using flowers for double duty – we used our alter pieces for the food table at our reception.
– Depending on your personality, a videographer might not be a must-have. I can tell you we have watched our video exactly 1 time since we were married. Thank goodness my husband’s uncle was the one who did the video (for free)!
– Seriously, don’t spend too much on favors!
– When you’re looking at your special clothes for your special day, remember how long you’ll be standing – comfortable shoes are invaluable.
– If you have a friend who is a photographer and perhaps trying to make a name for herself, you might ask if she would do the photos as her gift to you. A great way for her to build her portfolio and she’s off the hook for a present. One of my best friends did this and it worked perfectly for her and her photographer friend!
Thank you for all of these tips Victoria. I’m definitely going to try to put some of them to use. 🙂
Congrats on the engagement. I had the same apprehension when I started planning for my wedding a couple of years ago. The reception costs can be really scary! I know that some venues offer discounted rates for receptions on Friday evenings/Sunday afternoon. Have fun planning!
hi brittany! food and drink is super expensive BUT if you can find someone who’s really wanting to get into the catering business and want good practice that is a GREAT way to go because they can work WITH you to plan a menu and then you can pay for the food and they’ll go for fairly cheap on the labor since they need the practice! also…you’re smoothies always look AWESOME! happy tuesday! – jasper
Great recipe… Has a touch of Christmas flavor to it.
Those pyramid workouts look great! I’m on the lookout for some new ideas!!
Hi Brittnay – Just wanted to send you a quick note and let you know I made the Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie for breakfast this morning…it was delicious! I added ground flax seed and chia seeds! Every morning I have my Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie (thanks to Julie at PB Fingers) and I can never convince myself to try anything else because I love the PB/Chocolate combo, but I am glad I did! Now, I can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Nickie, Thanks for checking back in and letting me know you tried the smoothie. I really appreciate it and I’m super pumped that you enjoyed it!!
Here are some wedding tips that I either used or have heard of – hope they help!
-Flowers are expensive!! We used glass plates from the dollar store and homemade cookies and candies for the table centerpieces (we had a candle in the middle, but some places don’t allow them). Our guest ate our decorations and minimized clean up!
-Skip the favors all together! People don’t come to your wedding to get gifts (i hope 🙂 ) We ordered a too-big cake and served out “to go” boxes of cake for people to take home.
-I have heard that if you say you are planning an “event” instead of a “wedding” the prices are cheaper. This would apply to rentals of tables, linens, etc.
-Get a good photographer. We went cheap on ours and regretted it.
Whatever you decide, i’m sure you’ll love it!
I loved my wedding day. I got married 8 years ago when there weren’t any blogs about weddings so I mostly got my inspiration from a ton of magazines. Although I loved my wedding, if I had to do it over, I might do something like John and Sherry at younghouselove.com. They have a ton of great ideas and spent about 1/6 of what I did.
Good luck! Try not to feel overwhelmed and enjoy every bit of the planning!!!
I loved John and Sherry’s wedding as well. I wish I knew someone that had a big (and pretty) backyard! 🙂
Congratulations, Brittany!
We’re all very excited for you and “Mr.Isaac” 🙂
If you don’t mind a little chaos, J.Crew’s warehouse sale (going on now in the Far West End) has LOTS of dresses…bridal, bridesmaids, and a few flower girl dresses, too. The wedding gowns are only $50!
Thank you for the congrats Amanda! We’re super excited as well. And, thank you for the tip about the warehouse sale. I haven’t been this year but I was wondering if they had wedding dresses because I went to the sale with a friend last year and she found her wedding dress!! I better check it out. 🙂
That smoothie looks and sounds amazing – a definite must try.
I am not engaged…yet…but i constantly browse http://www.pinterest.com for creative ideas for anything – especially weddings! Careful – pinterest is addicting if you are not already aware 🙂
Wow, if this isn’t the best pairing of food & fitness I don’t know what is!!! YUM!
T
The average cost of weddings was a shocker to me too! I just got engaged in December 🙂 I’m sharing the expense with my parents, but as a college senior with 2 younger siblings also in college, the budget is SUPER tight. However, I am hoping to launch a career in wedding planning myself and had a really great internship this summer with a successful wedding planner who really knew her stuff.
The one thing I’m really focusing on to keep costs down is using my resources! You might be surprised to find out how many family friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. have some type of vendor experience and will be able to give you a good deal. Also asking friends or acquaintances who got married in your area what vendors they used. We’ve already got a florist through our church, and are getting a TON of great tips from friends who used caterers, photographers, etc. that are nearby. Also, I would totally recommend printing your own savethedates, invites, programs, and thank yous. It will save you hundreds 🙂 (weddingchicks.com is great site for that) good luck with your planning!
Thanks for this delicious recipe! Great for a post yoga snack. It’s feature in the latest post at: http://berryhappybodies.com/2012/01/12/computer-feng-shui/.
P.S. We had same wedding problem (just married in Sept.). I once had a gal tell me our wedding budget was actually the drink budget ( I live in So Cal). Anyways, once we decided to have the wedding in my mom’s backyard in upstate NY everything really came together. It ended up being so beautiful and such an amazing day, way more than I ever imagined. Some pics are on the site as well. Congrats and Good Luck- it will work out!!
I didn’t get to comment on your previous posts (I was at work) but I am SO SO excited for you guys! I only wish I lived closer…I would make your cake. Thank you for sharing your joy and your delicious smoothie with me! From first word to last, I was glad I visited you and your site today. I hope this finds you happy and well. Congratulations and much love.
I love that arm workout! I’ve had to cut out the tummy tucks because of my preggo belly but everything else still burns – and it is fast!
First thank you for the tasty smoothie recipe!
I just got married last year and budget was a HUGE concern for us when we first made plans. Setting a date was the first order of business – but without a budget it was hard to do. I got the nerve up to talk to my father. With his help we could get married sooner, without we would have to plan for a full year, if not more and save for our big day. And make it much more intimate.
Your biggest splurges will be on food and drink – you want to keep your guests fed and happy. The other biggest money item is venue, usually.
My father ended up helping/paying for mostly everything. There were a few items we didn’t feel fit for him to have to pay for and took that upon ourselves.
My best bit of advice is shop around, follow your gut and stick to that budget. The day goes SO quickly and often times little things you thought were SO important get lost in the shuffle. Stick to the most important things on your list, things you’re passionate about and let that be your guide.
As far as DIY check out pinterest.com it was a life saver for ideas and I printed out a ton of items from that for my planning binder. I had it all organized dresses, flowers, concepts, themes. It helps to be organized and while you plan you’ll find your way. I was SO up in the air. I was never a girl that dreamed about her wedding day and planned it since age 5… I was flying by the seat of my pants and it was a wonderful day.
Trust me … you might change your mind 20 million times but in the end the most important part of the day is the wedding, the union, and the party with your family and friends. Everything else falls into place.
Congrats again and I cant’ wait to hear about all your plans. We got married in October and I’m just NOW writing my recaps!!! hehe
Hi there, I’m new to your blog and site. Firstly, congratulations on your engagement and secondly, I made this smoothie for breakfast and I.AM.FULL! So tasty! Thanks for sharing.
mmm that smoothie looks great!! 😀
I tried the lean arms this morning… Wow! I feel great! Lean legs tomorrow!