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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 Stockbyte I get approximately 4 million texts a week—especially now that the warm-weather season is (kinda) upon us—asking me what in the heck the text sender is supposed to wear to whatever upcoming wedding(s) they’ve got on their docket. Whether they are inquiring because the dress-code announcement on the invitation has confused them or because there was no dress-code announcement on the invitation seems to make no matter; both equally seem to boggle the mind of many a wedding guest.
And I get it. When it comes to things of this nature in the world of weddings that don’t exactly have any hard-and-fast etiquette rules—and where people are basically left to do their own interpretations—it can be tricky. That’s why I thought this breakdown of the various wedding dress codes was so great—from white tie to the reminder that, no, you still shouldn’t wear white to a wedding, it covers it all.
My own little addendum for brides: Please don’t do ‘black tie preferred or requested.’ Just do ‘black tie’ or ‘black tie optional.’ Because really, what you’re saying with preferred is that sure, doing the black-tie thing at our wedding is technically optional, ladies and gentlemen, but that we’re not really into you taking us up on that option. Either decree it or truly give your people the option.
My own little addendum for guests: I disagree about the note that says you should steer clear of pink and beige as well as white, since some brides are opting for that. (Well, I mean, unless you know for sure the bride is wearing one of those shades—then it’s just common courtesy and decency to steer clear of them.) Otherwise, let’s not just keep expanding the range of not-allowed shades for wedding guests just because more and more brides are opting away from white. It’s fine. Weddings are tricky enough as is.
Are you and your groom going to declare a dress code for your wedding, or will you just let your guests go by the season, venue and time of day when deciding on their party ensembles?
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 iStockphoto Last week, Sean and I got our invitations in the mail. With a cramped right hand, I was more than happy to pass off our invitations to the postal worker to be sent out into the world.
As soon as the next day, I was already getting texts from friends who had received the invitations and were very kind with their reviews. What a relief! I was so glad to know that USPS was able to decipher my falligraphy (that’s fake calligraphy, if you were wondering) that I didn’t even think about what would happen next.
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 The Alice flower girl dress from BHLDN's new line. Squeal!
If you’ve ever wished, while trying to narrow down which BHLDN wedding dress you’ll walk down the aisle in—or simply while drooling over the new items they recently put on sale—that the Philly-based bridal sister brand of Anthro would just add some darling flower girl dresses to its line of dresses for you and your ‘maids already, then you will be happy to hear that at long last, they heard you!
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iStockphoto Sean and I received our invitations in the mail a few weeks ago. They look beautiful and are everything I could have asked for (including easy to design, order, and assemble). Since that box came in the mail, however, it has been staring at me—daring me to make the next move and address them.
That’s where I’ve run into some trouble. How do I address them? I know some people hire calligraphers, but that’s not the route I want to go down. We could print labels, but there’s something to a handwritten invitation that I really appreciate. So, I don’t want to hire someone to write them but I want them handwritten. Sounds like I should put pen to paper and get going myself.
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 The newest wedding stamp from the USPS. It’s definitely one of those things that seems really silly and trivial, but legitimately bothers a lot of brides—and really, with good reason. You spend a ton of money and time and effort and work on getting together your gorgeous wedding invitations, and then you find that your options for the stamps to slap on them aren’t that great. I mean, the flag is patriotic and all, but not all that pretty and romantic. And honestly, I haven’t even been a fan of a lot of the wedding ones they’ve had out before.
The USPS did just come out with a new wedding stamp, though, and I actually think it’s super cute, especially for a spring or summer wedding! The big guy is pictured here—the 66 center—and you can click here to see the Forever stamp-version of it, too, along with the other options they specifically make for weddings invitations.
Whichever stamp you go with, though, just be sure to take one fully put-together invitation to the post office before you stamp them all up, so you know exactly what kind of postage you need. This is not the time for guessing, as guessing could result in a mailbox full of your beautiful envelopes slapped with “return to sender,” and we’re guessing that isn’t a hiccup you’d like to have in your happy planning process.
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With LOVE, Liberty Bell and soft pretzel motifs.
 Paper on Pine's new line of Philly-themed gifts. We have long loved adorable local stationery shop Paper on Pine (which, yes, kept the same name even when it moved to S. 13th Street in Midtown Village years ago), known for their super cute stationery, gifts, and one-of-a-kind invitations. And now, they’ve got a whole new line of in-house-designed Philly-themed products perfect for your Big Day.
There are wine totes (great for welcome bags, bridesmaids and hostess gifts), little pouches (ditto—plus, they make a great on-the-go makeup bag perfect to keep with you at all your various wedding-related soirees), and note cards (hello, thank-you notes), all adorned with various Philly motifs, from takes on the LOVE statue and Liberty Bell to the city’s signature soft pretzel.
And because everything is designed in-house, owner Cindy McDonnell—who decided to introduce this new line of products as the shop’s Philly-themed save-the-dates, invitations, programs and gift tags became more and more popular—can personalize any item for you with your and your groom’s names or wedding date.
Philly-themed wine totes and pouches, $20, and note cards, $15 for a box of 10, all at Paper on Pine, 115 South 13th Street, Philadelphia.
Are you using any Philly-themed products for your Big Day?
RELATED: The Best Made-in-Philly Welcome Bags For Your Out-of-Town Guests
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 We love a wedding with a sense of humor. I can’t even, I love this so much.
Earlier this week, a Reddit user posted this photo of the RSVP card his sister sent out for her wedding. It’s amazing.
I mean, it’s got a little something for everyone. Whether you’ve ever been a would-be guest to a wedding where what you’d really like to check off is one of the second two options, here—or a fellow bride who knows just how very, very true that fifth one is (what is it with people and sending in their RSVPs?)—it pretty much accurately covers the gamut of truthful responses to a wedding invitation. I know we all love weddings here, but who among us hasn’t resentfully attended one?
Oh, and not to mention: the idea to ask your guests to tell you a song that will get them on the dance floor? Genius. Love it.
And actually, I am personally a fan of anything a little untraditional when it comes to the wording of wedding save-the-dates, invitations, RSVP cards—you name it. It’s a wedding—a joyful thing!—why not have a little fun with it? If you feel the same way, check out the roundups we found below through HuffPo of non-traditional wording for RSVP cards. You’re bound to find one you want to steal—or that’ll give you an idea of your own.
Fun ways to word your RSVPs, round one.
Fun ways to word your RSVPs, round two.
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 How good of a job did Kristy do on her wedding invites? Like a kid on Christmas morning, I sat staring at a highly anticipated present yesterday. After months of development, our invitations had arrived. I decided early on during the planning process that I would like to design our wedding invitations. I thought it would be a nice, personal touch, and since I’m proficient in Photoshop and similar programs, I wasn’t intimidated. I’m extremely happy with the results and for anyone interested in DIYing their invites, here are some guidelines and parameters for the journey ahead.
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iStockphoto Remember a few weeks ago when I said that I was in a wedding planning lull? Well, that lull was short lived, and I have been one busy bride-to-be these last few weeks.
I am happy to announce that we’ve selected, approved proofs for and ordered our wedding invitations. (Special thanks to all of you who shared comments and advice on the matter!)
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