• About
  • Find a Vendor
  • Submit
  • Advertise
  • Brides Club
  • Your Jewish Life
  • Contact

Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

  • Real Jewish Weddings
    • City Chic
    • Fashion Forward
    • Outdoor
    • Destination
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • France
      • Beach Weddings
    • Super Luxe
    • Budget
    • DIY
    • Same Sex
    • Covid Weddings
  • Jew-ish Weddings
    • Real Jew-ish Weddings
    • Jewish-Catholic Weddings
    • Jewish-Chinese Weddings
    • Jewish-Christian Weddings
    • Jewish-Greek Weddings
    • Jewish-Hindu Weddings
    • Jewish-Humanist Weddings
    • Jewish-Irish Weddings
    • Jewish Japanese Weddings
    • Jewish-Muslim Weddings
    • Same Sex Jew-ish Weddings
  • Inspiration + Guidance
    • Engaged? Start Here
    • Ceremony
      • Chuppah ideas
      • Jewish ceremony music
      • Jewish wedding ceremony 101
      • Jewish ceremony traditions
      • Ketubah Ideas
      • Jewish wedding legalities
      • Jew-ish ceremony ideas
    • Reception
      • Music
      • Speeches
      • Entertainment
      • Venues
    • Food & Drink
      • Kosher catering
      • Wedding cakes
      • Drinks
    • Decor
      • Decorations
      • Favours
      • Floristry
      • Guestbooks
      • Stationery
    • Style
      • Brides dresses
      • Shoes & accessories
      • Grooms
      • Bridesmaids
    • Advice
      • Converting to Judaism
      • Real blogging brides
      • Dear Karen…
    • Honeymoons
    • STG Live
    • Five Minutes With
    • Wedding Must-Haves
    • Wedding Consultancy
  • Jewish Brides Club
  • Find a Wedding Vendor
Home > budget wedding

8 ways to stick to your wedding budget without compromising style or elegance

13/05/2016 by Smashing The Glass

HOW-TO-STICK-TO-YOUR-WEDDING-BUDGET
This is a guest post by Alex Boucher

It’s very easy to get  carried away when planning your wedding (it’s all part of the fun after all!). Pinterest boards, blogs, magazines and Instagram accounts are full of ideas you hadn’t even realised you liked; photos of celebrity weddings showing just what a huge budget can buy you.

Setting a budget may not be the most thrilling part of the planning process, but it still beats the panic of overspending! The simple truth is that weddings cost money, and depending on exactly what you want, that could be a sizeable sum. But while there are plenty of articles out there on how to plan your budget, there are not that many on how to stick to it — at least not without losing any panache. So how do you keep your big day classy whilst sticking to that all important figure?

1 . Think carefully about your guest numbers

A brief mention of the budget basics before we start chatting about the details. Firstly, you need to look at the amount that you can honestly afford. With that done you need to prioritise elements of the day eg. if you have a particular venue in mind, or know you want a designer dress. If you haven’t thought about venues yet then I always suggest writing a rough guest list. Sure it won’t be close to the final cut, but it should give you an idea of numbers.

Now, I am aware that Jewish weddings are often  quite large affairs, but this trend is slowly changing and while perhaps still a little controversial (especially with more traditional family members), one of the best ways to stick to a budget without losing class is trim your guest numbers to only people that really mean something special to you; the atmosphere will be more intimate and it will cut the costs dramatically. When you know roughly who you want to invite you can start looking for venues that suit.

2.  Consider venues that don’t need much in the way of decor

Now, here we go with a few little ideas for you to consider when you are thinking about a venue. When you have visited a couple of venues you can see how much they charge so that you can budget accordingly… but it’s a good time to get a little savvy. A dramatic venue (such as the beautiful Kensington Roof Gardens in London) needs very little in the way of embellishment. Sure the initial outlay may be a little more than a blank canvas of a venue, but the saving on decor may actually weigh things out. When looking at a venue don’t just look around starry eyed — think carefully about how much it would take to make the place look how you would like it and if it has all the basics. A marquee or tipi can be wonderful, but not all that cheap when you add on the cost of things like toilet hire. (Ps you need toilets, no negotiation here!)

How-to-budget-for-your-wedding
Table setting from Missy & Yoni’s Jew-ish wedding  (image: Babb Photo)

3. Enlist talented friends and family

For many, help from others is a way to stretch the budget. You may have family and friends desperate to help with any aspect of the day — from baking your cake to creating your invitations to help save the pennies…. and keen not to hurt feelings as well as watch the cash flow you find yourself agreeing to something that is decidedly more amateur than you would have liked. This is a sticky situation. Certainly accept their kind offer if they can bake like Mary Berry, or have the craft skills of Kirstie Allsopp; however don’t be shy about saying no. If the cake is inedible you will be disappointed — better to buy a decent wedding cake and decorate it inexpensively — and helping to decorate is something that your nearest and dearest can definitely get involved with. I had some cake at a wedding once that looked incredible… but tasted as though it was baked a month ago. Lovely!

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Amanda & Charley | Super fun and intimate laidback Jew-ish wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and The Lark, Santa Barbara, California

20/01/2015 by Karen

santa-barbara-courthouse-wedding I love it when my readers email me with their wedding planning queries and stories. I first heard from Amanda, a Smashing The Glass reader (and today’s beautiful bride!)  back in July 2014 with the following email:

Hi Karen! I am reaching out in regards to Kathleen and Liz’s beautiful wedding in Palm Springs that you featured on Smashing the Glass earlier this year. I am getting married this September and I have been looking for a chuppah far and wide. I haven’t had much luck, but I absolutely love Kathleen and Liz’s chuppah and was hoping you would be able to either provide their contact information or pass this email along with my details. I would love to ask if I could potentially rent their chuppah and incorporate their beautiful handmade piece in another celebration of love. If not, I completely understand but I figured it never hurt to ask!

I was so delighted that Amanda had reached out to me about this idea, and immediately put her in touch with Kathleen and Liz. For logistical reasons, the ‘passing of the chuppah’ didn’t work out, but there is a happy ending to the story! Amanda and Charley found a local craftsman who constructed their ideal chuppah out of reclaimed wood, and what’s really lovely, is that after their wedding, Amanda and Charley wanted to spread the love of their chuppah and pass it on, and they did just that (full story below!)

Amanda contacted me after her big day with her wedding story, and I am so delighted to share it with you today. It’s a true ‘Smashing The Glass’ W Day, bursting with creativity, authenticity and bucket loads of L.O.V.E.

These two pulled off their big day on a modest budget, and what an incredible job they did. So although the top image looks truly opulent, this is in fact an incredibly casual, laid back wedding with some amazing budget ideas. In fact Amanda says “keeping our wedding small and manageable left enough money for a honeymoon to Cambodia which was the best way to kick off spending the rest of our lives together!”

The biggest budget tip these two adhered to was keeping it small. They shared their celebration with a select group of close family and friends (just 40 people) and were confident enough not to invite the people who weren’t closely involved in their lives.

Can you believe that Amanda’s TWO divine wedding dresses, her shoes and her accessories were all purchased for under $1000 ( £650)?! All the florals were bought by Amanda from a local flower shop the day before the wedding, and instead of spending their budget on live music or a DJ, these two had their nearest and dearest contribute to a wonderfully personal Spotify playlist.

Amanda and Charley… I take my hat off to you. You definitely achieved your aim of creating the greatest party on the smallest budget.

Enjoy Amanda’s story below, and all the wonderful images taken by the rather talented Casey from CLB Creative

laidback Jewish wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and The Lark, Santa Barbara, California
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Natalie & Eli | Informal DIY Boho Jewish Wedding at House Plantation, Texas

17/07/2014 by Karen

RUSTIC-DIY-WEDDING
I think it took me exactly 3.6 seconds from the moment I first read Shaun Taylor‘s email, detailing Natalie and Eli’s wedding, to thinking oh yes, this has crashed through my submission barriers — I’ve got a killer Smashing The Glass wedding on my hands here!

I love that Natalie made her own dress and wore cowboy boots. I love that Natalie’s mum made her jewellery. I love that the couple flew out their photographer, Shaun Taylor all the way from Derby  to Texas because they loved his work so much. I love what Natalie says about working together with your fiancà© as a team in the planning stages. And I love that it rained and then rained some more, but far from letting the weather dampen their spirits, they embraced it and the results are even better than they imagined, as Natalie describes below.

You’ll also see the most exquisite henna tattoos covering Natalie’s arms. A traditional Yemenite henna party is a popular pre-wedding ritual for Sephardi Jews and you can see theirs in full swing over on Shaun’s blog. It just goes to show you can stamp your personality onto your wedding weekend and dig deep into your culture’s traditions too. The two are not mutually exclusive  and that’s exactly what this blog is all about.
Outdoor Boho Jewish Wedding at House Plantation, Texas
Outdoor Boho Jewish Wedding at House Plantation, Texas Outdoor Boho Jewish Wedding at House Plantation, Texas Outdoor Boho Jewish Wedding at House Plantation, Texas

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Jewish Weddings by Country

Vendors We Love

Weddings by Colour


Jewish Wedding Gift List


Awesome Jewish Gifts

Vendors We Love

Get posts directly into your inbox

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Kate Spade UK Limited
Liberty London
Biscuiteers Baking Company
Mr And Mrs Smith Honeymoons
Monica Vinader
Bobbi Brown UK

Today’s Top Posts

  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
    A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • Dates in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
    Dates in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7
    Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7
  • The Tisch – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #3
    The Tisch – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #3
  • Vendors We Love
    Vendors We Love

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Popular Posts

  • original-guestbook-ideas 18 Unusual and Creative Guest Book Ideas
  • Jewish-Wedding-Tribeca-Rooftop-NYC-New-York-USA_0060 Dates in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • birch-rose-chuppah Chuppah ideas
  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • SONGS-WALK-DOWN-THE-AISLE Top 50 Songs To Walk Down The Aisle To at a Jewish Wedding

Connect

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Advertise
Mailing List
Email Karen

Receive Smashing The Glass posts via Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

closeClick Here To Get The Ultimate Jewish Wedding Checklist

All content © Smashing The Glass 2022