From the time that they are little, young girls grow up dreaming of the perfect wedding. This trend begins by dressing up in a long flowing white dress and chasing the neighborhood boy around begging him to kiss you and telling him that he has to because you are married. Or at least that is what I did.
Eventually you grow up and decide to stop tormenting your poor friend and move on to bigger and better things: Pinterest Boards.
If you do not already know, Pinterest is the perfect app for dreamers and doers alike. While using the app, users can sort and manage images known as pins by saving their collections onto pinboards.
According to a survey performed by the Knot.com, over 70 percent of Pinterest users have created a wedding board before they are even engaged.
Today, the average wedding costs about $31,213. Yikes. Unfortunately, big dreams cost big money. Luckily, apps such as Pinterest are providing new and innovative ways for brides to create the wedding of their dreams while maintaining a budget.
The first strategy to save money includes couples printing their own invitations and save-the-date notices. Websites such as etsy.com allow the elimination of the middleman in order to get better prices and direct interaction with the designer.
The average couple spends about $1,800 on decorations for their reception. However, in order to save money, brides have been crafting their decorations by hand. These decorations can include homemade place cards, centerpieces and even lanterns.
While mainstream weddings typically serve chicken or fish for dinner at the reception, modern couples are now switching up the menu to save dough. Pinterest offers several alternatives including a grilled cheese bar, a pancake bar and even a Chipotle-catered event.
Since I am one of those girls that dreams of having a large and beautiful wedding, I think that it is important to have a dress that you feel beautiful in, a venue you love and to surround yourself with as many of your friends as possible. I only plan on getting married once, and for that reason I plan on making my wedding one to remember.
However, no matter what the budget, I think that every wedding is beautiful because of the couple that it represents. Weddings symbolize the beginning of the greatest chapter you will ever write-one that contains happiness, love and every up and down in between.
For that reason, at the end of the wedding, when all of the guests depart, the music is turned off and the decorations are taken down, all that truly matters is the amount of love you have for the person standing next to you. That is what a wedding is all about.
