Registries can be confusing, and you might not even know where to start. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you create your perfect wedding registry!

Incentives

Many popular registry locations offer incentives for registering with them or for certain items or brands. As you register, search their registry site and do Google searches to see what they are currently offering. Also keep in mind registries that offer completion mark downs, such as receiving 10% off all remaining items on your registry after your wedding. My husband and I had a reception in my home town and many of our guests elected to give us gift cards instead of purchasing items, as that would make it easier for us to travel back home with. Then, after the wedding, I used those gift cards and completion offers to buy the rest of the items on our registries.

Check out these examples of registry benefits you can find:

• Amazon Wedding Registry Benefits
• Target Wedding Registry Benefits 
• Bed Bath and Beyond Registry Benefits
• Crate and Barrel Wedding Registry Benefits
• Williams Sonoma Wedding Registry Benefits
• Macy's Wedding Registry Benefits

Create two registries: one online, one in person

Online registries are overall easier, both to read product reviews and ratings while setting it up and also for guests to purchase gifts online and have them sent directly to your doorstep. However, not everyone is so tech-savvy, e.g. those older family friends from your parents’ lists! There are definitely people on any guest list that would appreciate a physical store registry.

​Also, some items are better to register for in person–for example, I registered for a full set of beige bathroom towels on my Amazon registry, and although they had good reviews, they turned out to be rather yellow-tinted. If I had found the towels I liked in person, I would have been able to make sure I registered for the color that I really wanted.

Be careful not to double register for items

Although having two registries is definitely best, make sure that you do not end up registering for the same items on both registries (I’m sure you can imagine why). Create your registries early and take your time to read through reviews and ratings to make sure that you register for the best item available at each of your registry sites.

Register for items keeping a wide price range in mind

Having several items at lower price levels will allow those who cannot afford to buy something extravagant to still feel like they are contributing to your future home. I suggest having a few smaller items under $30, but then also having a few more expensive items for guests that have larger budgets or for a few guests to go in on together.


Check out my Wedding Registry Checklist for specific ideas on what to include on your registry! Happy shopping!

​The day before my wedding, my aunt (with good intentions) decided to help get my veil ready for me by ironing out the wrinkles. Unfortunately, as we soon learned, ironing a veil can cause it to melt and become distorted.

Nixing that option, the next obvious choice is to steam your veil. Honestly, in some instances this might work just fine, depending on the fabric of your veil. Normally though, when I tried this with veils in my shop, I ended up steaming the wall behind the veil and the steamer had little to no effect on the veil itself.

By far the easiest method I have found sounds a little crazy—maybe a bit too easy? Here’s the deal.

I’m a big fan of finding the best beauty products at the best prices. It’s like a quest—I know that the perfect products are out there, waiting to be found! And there’s no way that only the most expensive products are the best. I love finding treasures amongst the budget-friendly products on the market.
 
It’s important to note that everyone’s skin and hair needs should be tailored individually; not every product is the best for everyone. However, there are some products I have found that are 100% worth trying and may actually change your life!! Also, I am not endorsed by any of the products that I post about on this blog, so you can know that I am completely unbiased.

​The first product I want to spotlight is Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. This one was recommended to me by the girl that was doing my nails for my wedding. She said it was a must-have, so I gave it a try and now I can’t go without it! It’s good for anyone with gel or acrylic nails, which can dry out your cuticles, but honestly I think anyone who lives in a dry climate should have this as a staple in their beauty regimen. I keep one in my purse so whenever I have to wait in line or do something similarly boring, I can be giving my nails a spa treatment! Even my husband is resigned to letting my do his nails, because even he can’t deny that it makes a huge difference.
 
To use it, all you need to do is massage a bit of the cream into each cuticle and nail bed. Your cuticles will be soft and moist. My manly husband who works outside has never had to deal with cracking cuticles since using it. It is much easier to push back cuticles and your nails will look fantastic for it! Check out how good it made my nails look on my big day:

​Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream comes in little 0.6 oz tins, which run for about $5.82 at Walmart, or you can get a 3 pack on Amazon for $15.97, which is $5.32 each with free shipping on orders over $25 for Amazon Prime members. It seems like a really small tin, but I have had the same tin for the last 12 months and used it at least once a week on both my nails and my husband’s. So it will last a long time! Also, for those of you as crazy about Christmas as I am, can you say stocking stuffer??

    Short engagements vs long engagements. Some people might think that an engagement is an engagement. But just like everything else in life, the shorter you have to plan for something the harder it is to get right. Something that can really help you keep on track is having a checklist. A checklist includes all the things you need to have done before your wedding day and tells you how far in advance they need to be done.
There are many engagement checklists out there that will help you prepare for your wedding, but not all checklists are created equal. If you are planning a wedding with a short engagement, make sure you look one that is made for a short wedding. Using one for a longer engagement can be confusing. If you can’t find one that has everything you need, you can always make a hybrid of multiple. Either way, having the checklist and using it will help you keep on track.

      I won’t go too in depth about what is on a wedding checklist but I will highlight a few key things you should do as soon as you get engaged, especially if it’s a short engagement. The very first thing you should do is set a budget. This is very important because if you don’t you may find yourself saying, “it’s the only wedding you’ll ever have” a lot and end up spending way more than you planned. Anything with the word “wedding” in front of or behind it will be twice as much as normal. Decide first how much you have to spend on each of the major wedding purchases (dress, photographer, venue, caterer, etc), then go find people who can work within your budget

     One of the first things in every checklist, short engagements or long engagements, is to find your wedding dress. This is super important. My wife and I own a wedding dress store and buying your dress last minute can add a lot of unnecessary stress to your wedding. Some wedding dress stores sell off-the-rack, meaning that you buy the dress you are trying on. However, other wedding dress stores have try-on dresses and then they order in the dress you choose. Lots of times this can take up to 12 weeks. That means if you have a three-month engagement, you need to be out looking for your dress the weekend you get engaged. If you don’t, you could end up not being able to wear the dress you love because it can’t be ordered in fast enough. On top of getting the dress, you are more than likely going to have to get it altered to fit, this can take a couple tries to get right. This is one thing you don’t want to wait till last minute to take care of. Go out and start looking for your dress right away.

     Another couple of things that need to be taken care of right away are booking your venue and, if you are LDS, reserving a time at the temple. Both of these can fill up fast especially at popular venues. Don’t let the venue you like get booked before you get a chance.

Good Luck planning your wedding!

​Comment below anything you think we missed or ideas that have helped you!

Click to download pdf version below!

For the typical college student or thrifty woman, spending $15 on a meal at a nice restaurant or $100 for a really good hair cut & color is considered splurging. Then all of a sudden, when you start planning a wedding, instead spending $15 or $100 here or there, you're spending hundreds and thousands of dollars all over the place. Rings, catering, decorations, accessories, honeymoon--it all adds up before you know it. But the good news is, Affordable Bridal Boutique already solved one of your major expenses! At our shop, instead of spending $1500 on a dress, you'll only spend about one third of that price.

Today, I also wanted to let you in on the secret for saving money on your wedding photography. If you Google "wedding photography Provo Utah" and click on the first 8 links that take you to local photography websites, you can see that in order to get a decent wedding package you'll have to spend two or three thousand dollars. 

The good news is, Utah Valley overflowing with talented individuals. So here's the trick: if it is not in your budget to spend thousands of dollars on a top-of-the-line photographer, you can find someone with natural talent who is starting out and needs to build their portfolio. Often they are willing to do your photos for a fraction of the cost of more well established photographers, and you will still end up with exceptional wedding photos to hang on your wall and post on Instagram. 

Where can you find a person like this? One good idea is to join local online yard sale groups on Facebook. I've seen several new photographers post amazing deals on photo shoots for couples, and the example photos they post are beautiful! And if you don't want to wait, you could even try posting on the group page that you are looking for an affordable photographer, and I'm sure that several will respond to your post.
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Another good idea is to go through your social media feeds to see who of your friends have started photography. You may be surprised to realize that you have some talented friends that could give you a good deal on your photos! My husband and I were lucky enough to find a guy my husband knew growing up who started a photography business on the side.* He did all of our engagements, bridals, temple, and reception photos for half the price of the most affordable photographers I was finding online. And I was amazed at how our good our photos turned out!

*Please note that my intention is to promote local small-business photographers as well as up and coming talent. Although we found someone we knew, we did not ask for or expect any sort of discount.

Several years ago, I was called to serve a mission in St. George, Utah. For about six months, my companion and I were assigned to the two wards in the tiny town of Leeds, a few miles north of St. George.

There was one particular member who often came out with us to teach. We even spent Christmas and Thanksgiving with her family. We became friends, and she often voiced her idea that I should date her brother, who was a missionary in Mexico, once we both returned from our missions. I always shrugged off the idea because I was focused on serving my mission, not dating.

Fast forward two years. Now an RM, I was finishing my Bachelors Degree and trying to figure out what would come next in my life. I was applying for jobs all over the Salt Lake Valley and Provo area. One day I felt an impression that I should move to Provo. Within 10 minutes of this impression, my mission friend from Leeds texted me saying that her brother was moving out and she needed a new roommate to live with her in Provo. Without missing a beat, I said yes and began to line up job interviews in Provo. I finally felt like I was heading in the direction I was supposed to go.

The day I moved to Provo was the first time I met her brother. He was on the phone when I arrived at the apartment, but quickly came to help me unload my things from my car. My first impression of him was that he was helpful, easy to talk to, and looked young. After we brought my things in, we sat there on my bedroom floor as I unpacked, and we talked for a long time (hours) before his sister came home.

For one reason or another we ended up seeing each other a lot. He became a regular part of my new life in Provo.

For me, it seemed so natural when things started developing between us. We had become good friends, and half of our ward thought we were already dating since we were always together. At first we were around each other a lot because of his sister, and then it started to not be so much because of her. He brought me ice cream after I was in a car accident, and started texting me about coming over for things instead of texting his sister. Then one weekend she went down to St. George, and we spent time together as if nothing was different. We rode my ripstik and played at an arcade, and it felt so much like a date...except it wasn't.

One Thursday afternoon Zak, his sister, and I were sitting in our living room. She and I were each on one of the couches, and Zak was sitting on the piano bench facing me across the room. In the middle of the conversation, Zak turned to me and asked "Janelle, would you go on a date with me on Saturday?" To say I was caught off guard would be an understatement. I said yes, while convincing myself that one date didn't mean anything. He was probably just being nice because I had just gotten out of a relationship.

It wasn't until we were on the date that I finally clued in that this wasn't just a casual date for Zak. He had planned out every detail, down to having his car waiting at the park with a blanket for us to sit on after our bike ride down the canyon. Afterwards we went to play the piano and guitar for the residents at a retirement home, and I thought it was so sweet that he knew all of their names and they obviously adored him. I loved that music was something we could share together. Also, Zak playing his violin is one of my favorite things in this world!

As we pulled back up to my apartment, I started gathering my things to get out of the car. As Zak pulled the keys out of the ignition, he said, "Janelle, we need to talk." My honest first thought was, "Wait, is he breaking up with me? I didn't even know we were dating." But then he continued, "I really like you, Janelle." I'm pretty sure my brain went completely blank before I finally realized that he was waiting for me to say something. The only thing I could come up with was "Uh, thanks." I'm glad he laughed at that.

Since that day, we have rarely spent a day apart. Except that one time, when he told me he was "going camping" with his friend, but he actually drove overnight to California to ask for my dad's permission to marry me. I think I'll forgive him for that one!