Here's how much to spend, and on what, according to an expert.
 iStockphoto We asked planner Susan Norcross of South Jersey’s Two Rings One Circus to show us how you can have a fabulous wedding on any budget.
BUDGET: $20,000
- Venue/Catering >> $10,000: Get creative and pick a place where you can control the catering, like a park or Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Make it a cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres, mini desserts and a limited open bar.
- Photography >> $2,000: Limit the number of hours your photog is there, or look into using an assistant or photography student. (Just be sure you get to see work examples first.)
- Flowers & Decor >> $2,000: Carry a bouquet of simple baby’s breath or one single stem, like a lily. Order flowers from an online wholesaler and DIY your centerpieces—or forgo flowers altogether and use candles instead.
- Invites >> $400 to $1,000: Compare and contrast online vendors; great deals are easily had.
- Favors & Extras >> $400 to $1,000: Make a donation to a foundation that means something to you both in honor of your guests, or go for something simple and inexpensive, like custom-labeled matchbooks or CDs of your favorite music.
BUDGET: $50,000
- Venue/Catering >> $25,000: Look at hotel ballrooms and manors and estates; try a dual entrée offering everyone both salmon and chicken.
- Photography >> $5,000: Opt for a second shooter, to make sure every perspective of your Big Day is captured.
- Flowers & Decor >> $5,000: Work with your florist to use in-season flowers to get the most bang for your buck, and for help steering clear of budget-eating blooms like peonies.
- Invites >> $1,000 to $2,500: Look for customizable ready-made templates, and stick to digital printing or thermography, which will save you money over more expensive methods like letterpress or engraving.
- Favors & Extras >> $1,000 to $2,500: Go for an edible favor or one that doubles as an escort card. Or do something fun for your guests, like a photo booth; they can keep their pictures as favors.
BUDGET: $80,000
- Venue/Catering >> $40,000: Choose a raws pace,then have an event designer and lighting expert totally customize it for you. With food, add in extras where you can—a dessert and cordial lounge, a candy bar, a visit from a late-night cupcake or food truck.
- Photography >> $8,000: Go for a full package that includes an engagement shoot and even a post-wedding session, which many couples do in full wedding-day regalia without the stress and time constraints of the actual day.
- Flowers & Decor >> $8,000: Add pearls or crystals to your arrangements, use a real-flower aisle runner, and go all-out with something like floral centerpieces suspended from the ceilings.
- Invites >> $1,600 to $4,000: Work with a custom stationer to design invitations from scratch, and ask about options like printing on Lucite, wood or laser-cut metal, or about presenting the invites in something like a silk box instead of an envelope.
- Favors & Extras >> $1,600 to $4,000: Send each guest home with a miniature replica of your wedding cake.
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 Below, find ideas for a gorgeous garden party wedding in the Philadelphia area. Not that we think you should put your wedding in a box, of course. But chances are you at least have a feeling when it comes to your Big Day: Will it be a swanky formal affair in a candlelit room with a marble rotunda? An airy soiree where your guests sip cool drinks from mason jars with fields of wildflower-dotted wheat in the background and cotton-candy clouds overhead? Whatever your vision for your wedding day, we’re here to help you plan it. In the following pages, you’ll find ideas for five different types of weddings—not just for gorgeous venues in the Philadelphia area, but for your flowers, gown, cake and bridesmaids’ dresses, all from local vendors and shops. Just find the one that feels like you, and you’re on your way.
{This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Philadelphia Wedding.}
Click here for PART ONE: City Ballroom.
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 Altrendo Images I think of myself as a creative person, but it’s very hard for me to envision the execution of an idea without something tangible.
My mom, my wedding planner Kathy and I had researched and debated all kinds of décor possibilities for the Four Seasons ballroom, yet I was left feeling utterly confused about what might work best within the room. It wasn’t until we got into the ballroom a few weeks ago that the ideas came to life, and I was able to come to some decisions.
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 One of the many inspiration boards Kristy brought to her meeting with her florist. There’s something about flowers that I’ve always loved. They remind me of the change of seasons, they bring life into your home, and they smell amazing. You’d think with all my admiration I’d know a thing or two about them, but I don’t. So when it came time to meet with our florist, I was a bit intimidated.
In preparation, I became a Pintrest addict, pinning anything floral and yellow. Besides boutonnieres and bouquets, we decided to incorporate flowers in our centerpieces, add a little formality to our ceremony with them, and jazz up our cocktail tables with their beauty. Because these three parts of our wedding change in both scenery and atmosphere, we wanted the flowers to keep consistency throughout the day.
Choosing our florist was an easy decision thanks to my cousin and bridesmaid, Colleen. She works for an amazing event-planning company with in-house florists, called Eventricity. It was a no-brainer because they do superb work, and I completely trust them (and my cousin!) in doing a fabulous job.
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 iStockphoto Kind of like how our astrological signs supposedly say something about us, traditionally, all of the major flower blooms out there have carried a certain symbolic meaning with them, too.
Some brides like to pay attention to this when working with their florist on what blooms will go into their bridal bouquet. (Kate Middleton chose traditional nuptial blooms of stephanotis, lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth and ivy, for instance, because of their meanings—even if we still think this is what her bouquet should have looked like.) And if you’re looking to make sure there’s some sort of meaning behind most of your wedding-day choices, this is a really sweet way to do that.
Just how each sign’s personality traits tend to differ slightly depending on who you ask or what you read, so it goes with this. But it’s still fun! Take a look at this slideshow of some of the most popular wedding-day blooms and their meanings, and then chat with your florist about your faves for your Big Day. It’ll be just a little something extra tied to the memory of what you carried down the aisle on that day.
Have you looked into what certain flowers mean in trying to choose which ones will go into your bridal bouquet?
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Feminine frills: Chic, elegant and ladylike, lace is a gorgeous finishing touch for your Big Day look.
Natalie by MoniqueLhuillier, a white silk re-embroidered lace sheath gown with a bateau neckline, ruched tulle accent at bust and tulle streamers.
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Below, find ideas for a gorgeous ballroom wedding in the city. Not that we think you should put your wedding in a box, of course. But chances are you at least have a feeling when it comes to your Big Day: Will it be a swanky formal affair in a candlelit room with a marble rotunda? An airy soiree where your guests sip cool drinks from mason jars with fields of wildflower-dotted wheat in the background and cotton-candy clouds overhead? Whatever your vision for your wedding day, we’re here to help you plan it. In the following pages, you’ll find ideas for five different types of weddings—not just for gorgeous venues in the Philadelphia area, but for your flowers, gown, cake and bridesmaids’ dresses, all from local vendors and shops. Just find the one that feels like you, and you’re on your way.
{This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Philadelphia Wedding.}
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We just love Philly florist Papertini’s unique designs.
 One of our favorite before-and-after shots of Papertini's bouquet-preserving services. So, yeah, we love this.
We’ve seen many a dried bridal bouquet displayed in a glass vase or a glass case or a glass dome and various other vessels, and they’re always pretty—they’re dried flowers, after all, and obviously, they’re more than that. They’re a pretty significant tangible memento of a pretty spectacular day.
But when we caught wind of what Philly florist Tanti Lina, owner of Papertini Floral & Event Design (you may have noticed her work in the gorg wedding of Tim & Ying-Lee in the current spring/summer 2013 issue of Philadelphia Wedding!), was up to when it came to preserving bride’s wedding-day bouquets, we knew we had to share it with our brides.
Lina is preserving wedding bouquets by turning them into custom works of art. It goes like this:
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Philly florist Sullivan Owen's customized floral headpieces are a refreshing alternative to the traditional veil.
We can’t get enough of the grown-up takes on flower-girl crowns that graced the runways last spring. And we can’t think of a florist who could better turn our favorite high-fashion trend into wearable reality than Philly’s Sullivan Owen.
To Owen—who draws inspiration from the season’s color stories and silhouettes—a floral headpiece is the perfect (and unique) topper to any wedding-day ensemble. She’ll want to get a sense of your whole look (dress, shoes, jewelry) in order to create a one-of-a-kind design that suits your style—be it a trailing comb of all-white blooms, a colorful avant-garde headdress, or an effortlessly bohemian fresh-flower wreath. — Bridget Salmons
Custom crowns starting at $65; pictured, around $125. Cascading Goddess gown, $1,600 at BHLDN.com. Photo by Brett Thomas. Model: Alexandra P., Reinhard. Hair and makeup: Marnee Simon.
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iStockphoto So I met with my florist Rhoads Garden for the first time on Saturday. Three hours later, I walked out of our meeting totally spent. I completely underestimated what picking out wedding flowers would entail.
We began by discussing color palette through the photos I had cut out from magazines and Pinterest, which we proceeded to spread in a wild arrangement across the table—fully canvassing the surface. Also thrown into the mix was the swatch of fabric from my bridesmaid dresses.
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