Blue White Red // Independence Day Inspiration

We over here at Borrowed & Blue would like to wish you a Happy 4th of July and extend our gratitude for the many soldiers past, present, and future who are risking their lives to protect our freedoms, and we'd also like to remember the families who have to be without their husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, partners, children--sometimes indefinitely.


In honor of Independence Day, we'd love to share the beauty of Jessica White Photography and share how this beautiful wedding couple were savvy in their wedding planning.

This stunning couple wanted a destination wedding away from the hectic New York City they live in. Instead of hiring a photographer from their home city, they hired a local (and fabulous) photographer in their destination city, which meant they didn't have to pay travel expenses, freeing up their wedding budget! If you're considering a destination wedding, do some research on local vendors and you may find that hiring local is much cheaper than dealing with travel expenses. (Although not always, so make sure you always do your research!)

Share the love and like her Facebook page here! {{Seriously, all of her work is swoon-worthy! You won't regret it.}}

Stay tuned for more tips on how to save on wedding photography expenses!

Cheers!

Wedding Planning Checklists

Hello fellow readers of this fabulous blog. My name is Amanda & I blog over at We&Serendipity. I was a bride one year ago and truly felt like I learned a ton from my wedding. I’m so happy to be here sharing my experiences and knowledge from the wedding. One thing I thought would be best while planning was a checklist. I could never find the perfect checklist for me. Why? Well, because I got engaged, and 4 months later, I was married. To the world, that is crazy. I read that most engagements are 9-12 months. That being said, I made my own. I thought it would be awesome to make different time frames. Because everyone is in a different situation and different time frame!  

Keep in mind that each of these checklists are equivalent to an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of computer paper. So if you want to print these checklists, right click, save-as, and print away. 

i hope these checklists help some of you.

it sure seems like a lot to do. 

but if you break it down into months, and be super organized during it all,

i truly think it'll help you out in the long run.

happy wedding planning! 

Saving Money with The Knot

When I was newly engaged, I remember feeling so overwhelmed with all the planning that needed to be done that I didn't even know where to start.  Luckily, with a little research, I learned about the coolest website called The Knot.

It has everything you need to plan your big day, from real wedding pictures for inspiration, to a weekly checklist, to a guest book organizer.  They even have tools to help you register, create inspiration boards, and create a wedding website for your big day!  It saved me a lot of stress to be able to get emails from The Knot that not only reminded me what I needed to get done and when to do it, but gave me ideas on how to do it as well.

One of my favorite tools that The Knot offers is their budget calculator:

You simply input your budget, number of guests, and number of male & female attendants and it gives you a total of what you should be spending on each area of your wedding planning.  If there is an aspect on their budget plan that doesn't apply to your wedding, you can simply un-check the box and it will be left out of the calculation.  It will keep a running total for you and let you know how much you have left to spend every step of the way.  

I felt ridiculously overwhelmed with planning a $3,000 wedding but this budgeting tool really put it into perspective and helped me realize that my budget was achievable because it gave me a realistic view of where I could spend and where I needed to cut back.  (If I went over budget on my dress, I just knew I needed to save money on the reception center, etc.)  It's safe to say that if I never discovered this budgeting tool, I never could have stayed within my budget for our big day.

If you are a bride feeling overwhelmed with the cost and planning of the wedding, no matter what the budget, I strongly recommend starting a profile on The Knot.  Just head over there & explore your options!  There is something for everyone and it will make your wedding planning go a lot smoother.  Not only will it help you get your dream wedding for less money, but there are tons of other amazing tools on there that just might give you inspiration to help you have the perfect big day that you deserve. 

*I was not compensated for this post, I just really like their website!*