Everything You Need To Know about Planning Your Wedding, You Learned at Costco

Entrance of a typical Costco warehouse club.
Wedding Planning Lessons - In Bulk!

Wedding planning tips can be found everywhere – including our favorite Bulk Shopping paradise.

  • Going to Costco at the right time of day can make all the difference in the world.  We all prefer fully stocked shelves and manageable aisles free of screaming tots. Wedding planning lesson – schedule carefully.  Whether you’re deciding when to visit a bridal salon, or what month to get married, timing is everything.
  • Costco is a minefield of budget busting items.  You go in for soup chickens, and come out with a SodaStream machine, 3 new sweaters and a Burt’s Bees gift pak.  The solution (and wedding planning tip) is to have a plan.  Shop with a list, and a clear idea of what you’re looking for. Oh – and don’t go anywhere hungry.  Bad decisions come on empty stomachs.
  • Just because it’s at Costco, doesn’t mean it’s a good deal.  Oh yes – there are plenty of bargains, but you have to watch the numbers.  The same goes for wedding “bargains.”  Is that discounted dress worth it if the alterations cost more? Is the open bar package cheaper because it’s bottom shelf liquor?  Make sure you’re getting what you pay for, even at a discount.

Keep your eyes open for a deal, but don’t just pile everything in your cart.  And it never hurts to bring your own bags.

 

My Little Advice Shop: Men and Holiday Shopping

Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String
Image by Chiot’s Run via Flickr

We know. You hate holiday shopping. Women expect the world, so you roll Santa Style and try to find it for her on Christmas Eve. These days, there’s a better way, and it makes you look like a rock star under the tree. The key? Keeping an eye on the magazines and websites your honey likes.

  • All sorts of publications do “gift guides” in the December issue of their magazine/paper. Real Simple is a magazine with terrific taste, and detailed gift ideas for the different people in your life. The newspapers do them too, so keep an eye out.
  • Another option is a website like Red Envelope. They offer a curated selection of gifts to choose from as opposed to wandering the Internet, overwhelmed by choices. Their sale section has some great stuff right now.
  • Shop early, as featured items can sell out. Then relax, and wave at Santa as he goes by, instead of trying to keep up.   Shop nice, y’all!
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My Little Marital Advice Shop: Setting Yourself Up To Fail (cough – Kim Kardashian)

Kim Kardashian at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festiv...
Mrs. Humphries

Yahoo’s OMG! big scoop today – Kim Kardashian Says Married Life So Far Has ‘Not Been Ideal’

I have three reactions.  From three perspectives.

1)  Perspective: Jewish Grandmother

Ideal? Who ever said anything about ideal? This is marriage sweetheart!  It takes work. And patience.  And matzoh ball soup.

2)  Perspective: Mine ( a year into a very happy marriage to a wonderful husband)

During wedding planning, don’t fall too deep into Ponies & Rainbows fairy-tale land.  They sweep up the rose petals, and suddenly there’s this thing called day-to-day life  If you’ve been obsessed with being the Princess Bride, the turning back into a pumpkin part is rough.

3) Perspective: your average fourth grader

Um, how does she expect things to be good? She’s making her new husband live with her sister, her baby, and the guy who’s the baby’s dad.  And they’re on TV.

Bottom line?  Know that life is never “ideal” to begin with, and you’re a hundred miles ahead of Kim Kardashian.

Hasta la blogsta-

Dinah