The Bouquet Toss - A Wedding Planning Podcast

This week we are discussing the wedding day look, and how to be best prepared for shopping within your budget. As far as wedding priorities are concerned, attire is one area that really affects only the person wearing it. When it comes to allocating your budget, you’d probably be better off funneling your finances toward items that will affect your guests’ experience. The good news is there are pl...

This week we are discussing your wedding invitations and how to make communication about the big day as easy and stress-free as possible. Traditionally, couples have sent out costly professionally printed wedding invitations with numerous envelopes, inserts, and a variety of enclosure cards with information for guests. But, fancy invitations with lots of inserts and add-ons can run anywhere betwee...

This week we are discussing the venue! There’s no sugarcoating it - finding a location with the perfect mixture of attributes is going to take some time and research. Before you get started, you should have a tentative date or at least a month in mind to help you narrow your options. To give yourself the best chance of securing the perfect venue, try to be flexible. You’ll likely want to tour and...

This week we are discussing your wedding guest list! It's no lie that slashing the guest list CAN yield savings, BUT don’t pull out your red pen just yet. Your headcount may affect your budget, but the number of guests you invite does not always dictate how much you’ll spend. Learn why tiny budgets and large guest lists are not mutually exclusive! The Wedding Watch clip this week is from Twilight....

As a follow up to last week's episode, this week we are discussing how to allocate your total budget once you figure out how much is feasible for you and your partner to spend. We've covered all thats involved in coming up with that number, with frameworks like the 50/30/20 rule and other tips for calculating your potential spend, but once you have a total, how do you divide it across categories?...

This week's topic is the dreaded B word... your budget! Setting and managing a wedding budget can be one of the trickiest parts of planning, but we're here to guide you through important things to consider when calculating a number that works for you. Learn the 50/30/20 rule, and other frameworks for figuring out what an appropriate wedding budget looks like for you and your partner. This week's W...

We're kicking things off for Season 4 by tackling a crucial first step: defining the vision for your wedding day. In order to plan a wedding that feels authentic to you, you'll want to get clear on what matters, set your priorities, and do a little bit of dreaming about what you envision for your special day. Getting a clear picture of what you want your wedding day to not only look like, but FEEL...

Newly engaged? Just found The Bouquet Toss? Craving more fun with Sari and Jess? Well, don't worry, we've got you. While we are on a break from recording episodes during the Holiday season, we are sending our warmest wishes, AND giving you a sneak peek at Season 4 of the show! Next season, we are diving deep into the wedding planning process, breaking it down into manageable steps, and having each...

Welcome to a special bonus episode of The Bouquet Toss! If you're planning a wedding for 2022 and beyond, you're likely pretty exhausted by this topic, but Covid is still very much a factor you need to consider. After all, you want to make sure that you are prioritizing the safety of all your favorite people as you gather them together to celebrate your love! We know this can be a tense topic and...

Marriage requires skills. It is a partnership that is ever-changing and growing and requires certain strengths in both partners to be the most successful. Having a third party provide outside feedback and resources, is a really powerful way to strengthen your relationship at any stage, but especially in a marriage. Pop culture and movies often put a negative spin on couples therapy, because it is...

Disabled people make up 20 to 30% of the US population and 50% of people suffer from chronic pain, which makes wedding planning a particularly painstaking process for such a large number of couples! We are so excited to have Meara Bartlett, with us to raise awareness for how we can help make the wedding experience for disabled couples as comfortable as possible. Meara is a disabled author and blog...

Let's toss out the pressure that comes with the idea that your wedding has to be the best day of your life! Couples have been getting very creative, especially during these last two years, with spreading out their wedding events over multiple locations, months, and even years. While much of this came about out of necessity and dealing with travel restrictions and other limitations, it is actually...

If you're feeling weird about having to open all of your shower gifts in front of an audience, or wondering why you feel pressure to plan an epic bachelorette weekend celebration, this episode is for you. We're breaking down all of the options for these extra wedding events, and brainstorming savvy ways to pull them off that will feel the best for you! With to dive into all things bridal shower an...

Somewhere along the line, the term bridezilla came along to describe the stressed-out bride who is frantically and emotionally agonizing over her wedding plans. Wedding planning can be really tough, but it CAN and perhaps SHOULD actually be fun and dare we say, stress-free! From exercise to meditation, CBD products, and more, with us to discuss how to be the best you during wedding planning is Ama...

Wedding dress rental is a trend that might shock your mother or grandmother, but that we are so on board for. Renting most often allows you to get what would have been an entirely more expensive dress for a fraction of the price. Why pay that extra money just to have your stunning dress sit in an attic and collect dust? Learn why renting your wedding dress is an amazing way to cut down on waste an...

DIY doesn't have to mean cheap or insinuate that sacrifices were made. There are so many amazing resources out there to help you make the Do It Yourself option look incredible, and particularly when it comes to your wedding flowers. Join us for a conversation with Kati Clyde from Sola Wood Flowers to learn tips and tricks for DIYing better, and to learn about the brand new Budget Savvy Bride Colle...

On this very special episode of The Bouquet Toss, Sari and Jess sit down with Clay Dunn, CEO at VOW For Girls, to talk about the current campaign that is helping to end child marriage and explain all the ways YOU can get involved to help change the lives of girls all around the world. VOW for Girls is a growing global movement that partners with brands, individuals, and the wedding industry to end...

One of the most popular wedding traditions we see today's couples tossing out is the printed wedding invitation. In an effort to save both their wallets and the earth, forgoing those expensive, lavish designs on thick card stock that while gorgeous, ultimately end up in the trash, is a very savvy choice, one that we are big fans of. The world is digital these days, so why not have your wedding inv...

From their choice of venue to wedding day attire and even cake, celebrities are making iconic non-traditional choices to have their wedding their way! We love to see it. Many of these choices may not have been made with the intention of saving money, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still super smart and savvy ways to cut costs on your wedding! With us, today to discuss steal-worthy ideas from ce...

Gone are the days of registering for crystal vases. Today's couples are much more likely to put a grill, large appliances, or even honeymoon expenses on their registry than they are to put fine china or serving ware. This type of option is often called a cash registry, and it gives the couples a lot more flexibility in how they can use their wedding gifts! Why has this shift happened? And how do m...

Today we are disrupting the expensive bridesmaid dress tradition. Somewhere along the line, it became a universally accepted truth that being asked to be a bridesmaid for a friend's wedding meant dropping a ton of money on a dress you'd never wear again, AND on all of the pre-wedding activities too. Why did we all become obsessed with our friends being clones to get some pretty pictures? And more...

We’re so excited to be kicking off season 3 to continue helping you decide what to keep and what to toss from your wedding day plans. Season 1 focused on traditions like brides wearing white and giving the bride away, while Season 2 explored popular wedding trends like renting wedding items or having a dessert bar. In Season 3 we'll be focusing on disrupting all different aspects of the wedding in...

Having just finished season 2 we wanted to take this time to do a special bonus episode about how a shift in values has guided the direction of the The Budget Savvy Bride over the last few years. At first, "Budget" was the operative word, but if you've been following along with the podcast, you know that "SAVVY" is where it's at now! Hear from Jess about what inspired this shift, how she is shapin...

As a wrap-up to season 2, today's episode is all about ditching the pressure of following established traditions and trends, and starting your own. We've discussed all sorts of awesome trends this season, one's we certainly are in favor of keeping if they align with you and your partner, but we are also really interested in what it looks like to reimagine the wedding industry. Caroline Creidenberg...

Writing wedding vows can be tricky, stressful, and time consuming, so we want to demystify the process to help you write vows you love. One of the most important aspects of making savvy wedding decisions is that they reflect who YOU are, what you believe, and what you stand for. A beautiful way to incorporate these things into your day is by writing your own vows. This is a trend that is incredibl...