Wedding Tips to Enjoy With Your Cup of Coffee

My favorite thing about Sunday morning is what my family calls, "Big Breakfast" which we enjoy while sharing the Sunday paper. While drinking my coffee and enjoying one of my husband's fantastic homemade scones, I happily discovered that today's Chicago Tribune featured a Wedding Survival Guide.

I paged through it and found some great tips for brides and grooms. An article definitely worth checking out is Wedding Clothes That Fit Your Bottom Line, offering several good tips such as:

• Shop the bridesmaids dresses for your gown. They often have the same styles available in the wedding gown and bridesmaid dress categories.
• Look into non-bridal shops for dresses. Places like J.Crew and Ann Taylor have dresses that make beautiful wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses - at lower prices.
• For groomsmen, let them wear their own suits, in coordinating colors.
• For bridesmaids, pick a color and let them pick out their own dresses. They'll save money - and have a dress they can wear again.

Another helpful article I came across was Ahh...the Smell of Freshly Saved Cash, which offered suggestions on saving money on wedding flowers. One of my favorite tips was to create simple centerpieces by using mason jars with bouquets of seasonal flowers. I can just picture a bunch of peonies for a summer wedding - it would be a lovely, fresh display. (That could also be because I just spent Friday afternoon digging up weeds and planting peonies!)

Be sure to check today's Trib for these helpful hints, as well as ideas on writing the perfect toast. That means you, Best Man!