A bride in her wedding dress with bouquet

For some people, their wedding is the most expensive event of their lives. If you don’t want to spend a fortune on just one day, no matter how important, here are a few budget tips to help you keep costs down.

The Wedding Dress

Start looking for the dress as soon as you have set a date. That way you won’t be under pressure and can look for the one that suits you at a price that doesn’t blow your budget. Don’t forget that shops selling wedding dresses have sales too so keep a look out for a bargain. Also look in dress agencies (shops selling good quality second hand clothes) and charity shops which sometimes get wedding dresses.

Generally, simple dresses cost less than those with lots of frills, beads, lace, and you can add these yourself if you want them.

You can save money by renting a dress or borrowing one. Perhaps your mother still has hers and, if you like it and it suits you, she would probably be touched that you want to use it. Alternatively, a sister or friend might have a dress you could borrow.

Wedding Reception

Don’t plan your wedding for the most popular months, April to September, and you might find that rates for reception venues are lower during the autumn and winter.

Instead of using a hotel or restaurant for the reception, consider hiring something like a church hall. If you do, check on the facilities.

1. Is there a kitchen?
2. Is there a stove for heating food?
3. Are seats included in the price and are there enough for all the guests?
4. Are tables also included and are there enough?
5. Are there any special conditions of use attached to the hall?

If you choose to use a hall like this, you will then have to decide whether to use caterers to supply the food or whether to do it yourself, hopefully with the help of family and friends.

If you decide on caterers, get several quotes before you decide on one and also see if you can check with past customers to see if they were happy with the food and service.

When it comes to choosing the food, whether you use caterers or do it yourself, go for the less expensive options. Don’t consider fillet steak, think of serving chicken instead. A buffet is also less expensive than a sit down meal because you won’t need to pay waiters or waitresses to serve it.

If you are preparing the food yourself, a buffet is ideal because all of it, except perhaps for hot sausages or similar items, can be prepared well ahead of time and frozen.

A Traditional Wedding Cake

The more tiers and decorations your cake has the more expensive it will be, also consider making it yourself. If you make a traditional British wedding cake, you can buy the enormous quantity of fruit required over a number of weeks so making it less of a burden. You can then get it professionally decorated if you can’t do it yourself and don’t know anybody who can.

Buy your own drink as it will work out a lot cheaper then paying the caterers or venues prices.

Finally, there is a great temptation to invite many people to your wedding that would not be at all offended if they weren’t invited. Casual friends, very distant relatives don’t always want to come. Keep your guest list to family and friends that are close to you and your parents. Every extra guest is another mouth to feed and you will overspend your budget!

Photographs

Here are some suggestions to save money on the budget for the wedding photography.

• Compare hourly fees and package deals to see which is more cost-effective for you.
• Give disposable cameras as wedding favours. Then you can get copies of the days events from family and friends.
• Have a professional photographer take the formal pictures and shoot the ceremony; have guests take all reception photos.
• Visit your local college’s photography department and check out some of the students’ portfolios. They will do your photography a lot cheaper and can be just as good as a professional.
• Ask friends and family to video the big day for you.

Flowers

Some tips for staying within your budget for the wedding flowers:

• Use flowers that are in season and/or locally grown as they are less expensive than out-of-season flowers that must be shipped to your area.
• Have a bouquet with just a few large flowers, like orchids, tulips, lilies, or sunflowers, tied with a ribbon.
• If you are marrying at Christmas or Easter, your church may already be decked out beautifully.
• Arrange to share the cost of ceremony decorations with the couple marrying directly before or after you that day.
• Use silk or dried flowers instead of fresh ones in table centerpieces.

Music

DJs are less expensive than live bands.

Ask a family member or friend’s child to sing at the reception.

Hire music for the evening reception only. People are usually to busy chatting to notice any way.

Ask at the local college/university for young musicians.

Invitations

Make your own invitation cards. They are cheaper and more personal.

Transportation

Limousines are cheap enough to hire for an hour. Find out in advance how long the ceremony will take.

Only hire a limo for the bride and groom; have attendants driven in relatives’ cars, or have them drive themselves in groups.

There are a number of advantages of organic gardening:

• You can make your own compost from garden and kitchen waste
  All home grown fruit and vegetables are free of chemicals and safe to eat
• Chemical pesticides can kill benefits insects like ladybugs that prey on aphids and bees that pollinate garden plants, fruit and vegetables
• Using natural bulk compost and manure keeps the physical structure of the soil in good condition so ensuring on-going fertility
• Improvement in soil structure encourages beneficial creatures like worms which again lead to increased fertility
• Chemicals lead to a loss of bio-diversity in the garden because they kill creatures never intended to be affected by them, for example, slug pellets can kill birds and toads if they eat a poisoned slug or snail
  There is an additional danger from slug pellets to children and pets

If you have decided you want to garden organically, the articles below will help.

1. Ten Tips for Organic Gardening
2. Make Your Own Compost
3. Crop Rotation for the Vegetable Garden
4. Know Your Garden Soil
5. Garden for Wildlife
6.

The bridal bouquet originally symbolised a maid in bloom.

Now the flowers in the bouquet are chosen to enhance the bride’s dress and other flowers in the wedding venue are usually chosen to complement them.

Many couples find that the flowers and the fragrance  used in the bouquet bring back memories of their happy day.

Throwing the Bouquet

This is thought to have originated in America and the custom has spread to the UK. The bride throws the bouquet over her shoulder, to be caught by a single female friend and it would mean that she would be the next one to marry. Equally, the groom could throw his buttonhole over his shoulder towards his single male friends, and the same could apply.

This is a way of spreading the good fortune and joy of the happy couple to their friends.

Ornamental grasses are a wonderful way to add both texture and color to your fall landscape. These grasses highlighted below will provide airy foliage in the summer and wonderful color in the fall.

Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
A slow spreading perennial this will get 3-6 feet high. Color on switchgrass is red tinged and textured blades adorn. Adaptable to its location, it does prefer full sun. It will flower from August to September. The seed heads to switchgrass have a cloud effect and has airy flowers good for wildflower meadows.

Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Upright and fountain-like, this grass is very showy. Good for borders or ornamental uses. It will seed from July to August. This will start off green and turn tan in the winter. Plant this in full sun for optimal bloom and show

Spartina pectinata (Prairie grass)
A good drought tolerant grass that is wonderful for dried arrangements. It will grow up to 6ft and flowers June to October. It has hairy scales that some will suffer hay fever from. Prairie grass has a nice color scheme, from bright clear yellow in the fall to buff in the winter.

Sporobolus heterolepsis (Prairie dropseed)
Slow growing grass that reaches 18-30inches tall. It has fine upright leaves, green in the summer and gold in the fall. It prefers full sun to partial shade and likes dry rocky locations. This grass produces pinkish fragrant flowers and its seeds are high in nutrients. Birds love prairie dropseed.

Schizachyrium scorparium (Bluestem)
This is a lovely clump-forming dark green drought tolerant grass that in fertile soil will reach 20-40 inches high. It prefers full sun or partial shade and has a lavender/blue tinge on the base of its stems. This has wonderful bronze fall color that is a lovely late season prize.

Fizzy Bath Bomb

I love fizzy bath bombs which I usually buy but I’ve found out how to make them now. It’s really easy and much less expensive.

You can also choose your favourite fragrances and colours. Best of all, they only take about 15 minutes to make although you have to leave them to dry and harden which takes between 24 and 48 hours.

Butterball Bath Bomb by LUSH Buy from Amazon.com

You will need:

• mixing bowl
• small bowl or cup
• measuring cups/spoons
• spoon
• waxed paper

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. citric acid
• 2 Tbsp. corn starch
• 1/4 cup baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (eg canola or olive oil)
• Up to 1/4 tsp. fragrance oil
• 3 to 6 drops of food color (optional)

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. In the small bowl or cup, mix the vegetable oil, fragrance and coloring.
3. Slowly stir the liquid ingredients into the dry mixture.
4. Mix thoroughly.
5. Form 1″ balls of the mixture and place on a sheet of waxed paper. They will be semi-solid within 2 to 3 hours, but allow 24-48 hours for them to dry completely before storing them. If you make them bigger, they will take longer to dry out.
6. You can try different shapes for the bombs by using food or small soap molds.
7. Store dry fizzy bath bombs in a sealed moisture-proof container.

Mobile phone for texting

Not only can they text (txt) as fast as I can speak, they also use that pesky predictive text like they invented it. Last time I tried to use it I couldn’t get past calling myself Nun instead of Mum – a weird connection between two words if ever there was one.

Even when I tried to write my son’s name ‘Gaz’, it came out as Gay which didn’t please him as you can imagine! Try as I would, I couldn’t change it. The phone nearly ended up through the window and that’s when I gave up on texting, other than the occasional longhand version with predictive text firmly switched off.

Texting like this is tediously slow though, so I’m very glad of the shortcuts and abbreviations for words that are commonly used now. Writing cu l8r made me feel very cool I can tell you, although my kids weren’t impressed in the slightest. Remembering how encouraging I was to them when they took their first steps as toddlers, I find it a little hurtful that they couldn’t reciprocate.

As I’m one of those people who can’t help but chat for ages once I phone someone, texting actually saves me money. This means that texting is a necessity not a luxury (according to my bank manager), so I’ve now invested in a mobile phone with a keyboard and it’s FANTASTIC. My particular model is the T-mobile Vario lll with pull out keyboard but I know lots of people swear by Blackberries and other similar models of phone.

That’s solved the thorny ssue of predictive text, but being a busy ard working woman of the third millenium, time is an issue as well. At the best of times I’m a not very fast two-fingered typist and a tiny keyboard, no matter how useful, is still really only suitable for thumb typing – unfortunately the digits I use to type with everyday are not normally thumbs. That fact, combined with the other fact that since text messages are limited to 160 characters, using text-speak (or lingo) is the way to go if I want to get everything into just one message.

So, at great personal expense (because I had to beg my kids for help, and now I apprently owe them) I have compiled this fairly comprehensive list of shortcuts, which are also used in messaging programs such as MSN messenger. A word of warning though – only use them if you’re sure you know what they mean – I don’t want to be responsible for you being an object of ridicule amongst the young (and your trendy forever youthful peers).

Text messaging shortcuts
Abbreviation Meaning
<3 heart
404 I haven’t a clue
ADN Any day now
AFAIK As far as I know
AFK Away from keyboard
ARE Acronym-rich environment
ASAP As soon as possible
A/S/L? Age/sex/location?
B4N Bye for now
BAK Back at the keyboard
BAS Big a** smile
BBIAB Be back in a bit
BBL Be back later
BBN Bye bye now
BBS Be back soon
BEG Big evil grin
BF Boy friend
BFD Big f***ing deal
BFN Bye for now
BG Big grin
BIBO Beer in, beer out
BIOYIOP Blow it out your I/O port
BL Belly laughing
BMGWL Busting my gut with laughter
BOTEC Back-of-the-envelope calculation
BRB Be right back
BTA But then again…
BTDT Been there, done that
BTW By the way
BWL Bursting with laughter
BWTHDIK But what the heck do I know…?
CICO Coffee in, coffee out
C&G Chuckle and grin
CNP Continued in next post
CRB Come right back
CRBT Crying real big tears
CU See you
CUL See you later
CUL8ER See you later
CYA See ya
CYA Cover your ass
CYO See you online
DBA Doing business as
DFLA Disenhanced four-letter acronym (that is, a TLA)
DL Dead link
DLTBBB Don’t let the bed bugs bite
DIKU Do I know you?
DITYID Did I tell you I’m distressed?
DOM Dirty old man
DOS Dozing off soon
DQMOT Don’t quote me on this
DTRT Do the right thing
DWB Don’t write back
EG Evil grin
EMFBI Excuse me for butting in
EMSG E-mail message
EOM End of message
EOT End of thread (meaning: end of discussion)
ETLA Extended three-letter acronym (that is, an FLA)
F2F Face to face
FAQ Frequently-ask question(s)
FC Fingers crossed
FISH First in, still here
FLA Four-letter acronym
FMTYEWTK Far more than you ever wanted to know
FOMCL Falling off my chair laughing
FTBOMH From the bottom of my heart
FUBAR F***ed up beyond all repair or recognition
FUD Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
FWIW For what it’s worth
FYI For your information
G Grin
GA Go ahead
GAL Get a life
GIGO Garbage in, garbage out
GD&R Grinning, ducking, and running
GF Girlfriend
GFN Gone for now
GGP Gotta go pee
GIWIST Gee, I wish I’d said that
GL Good luck
GMAB Give me a break
GMTA Great minds think alike
GOL Giggling out loud
GTRM Going to read mail
GTSY Glad to see you
H&K Hug and kiss
HAGN Have a good night
HAND Have a nice day
HHIS Hanging head in shame
HIG How’s it going
HT Hi there
HTH Hope this helps
HUB Head up butt
IAC In any case
IAE In any event
IANAL I am not a lawyer (but)
IC I see
IGP I gotta pee
IHA I hate acronyms
IHU I hear you
IIRC If I recall/remember/recollect correctly
ILU or ILY I love you
IM Immediate message
IMCO In my considered opinion
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMing Chatting with someone online usually while doing other things such as playing trivia or other interactive game
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IMS I am sorry
IOW In other words
IPN I’m posting naked
IRL In real life (that is, when not chatting)
ITIGBS I think I’m going to be sick
IWALU I will always love you
IYSWIM If you see what I mean
J4G Just for grins
JBOD Just a bunch of disks (like redundant array of independent disks, etc.)
JIC Just in case
JK Just kidding
JMO Just my opinion
JTLYK Just to let you know
k ok
KISS Keep it simple stupid
KIT Keep in touch
KOTC Kiss on the cheek
KOTL Kiss on the lips
KWIM? Know what I mean?
L8R Later
L8R G8R Later gator
LD Later, dude
LDR Long-distance relationship
LHO Laughing head off
LLTA Lots and lots of thunderous applause
LMAO Laughing my a** off
LMSO Laughing my socks off
LOL Laughing out loud
LRF Little Rubber Feet (the little pads on the bottom of displays and other equipment)
LSHMBH Laughing so hard my belly hurts
LTM Laugh to myself
LTNS Long time no see
LTR Long-term relationship
LULAB Love you like a brother
LULAS Love you like a sister
LUWAMH Love you with all my heart
LY Love ya
LY4E Love ya forever
MorF Male or female
MOSS Member of the same sex
MOTOS Member of the opposite sex
MTF More to follow
MUSM Miss you so much
NADT Not a darn thing
NFG No f*****g good
NFW No feasible way or no f*****g way
NIFOC Naked in front of computer
NP or N/P No problem
NRN No response necessary
OIC Oh, I see
OLL Online love
OMG Oh my God
OTF Off the floor
OTOH On the other hand
OTTOMH Off the top of my head
PANS Pretty awesome new stuff (as opposed to “POTS”)
PAW Parents are watching
PCMCIA People can’t master computer industry acronyms
PDA Public display of affection
PEBCAK Problem exists between chair and keyboard
PIBKAC Problem is between keyboard and chair
PITA Pain in the ass
PM Private message
PMFJIB Pardon me for jumping in but…
POAHF Put on a happy face
::POOF:: Goodbye (leaving the room)
POTS Plain old telephone service
PU That stinks!
QT Cutie
RL Real life (that is, when not chatting)
ROR Raffing out roud (Engrish for “laughing out loud”)
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLMAO Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off
ROTFLMAOWPIMP Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off while peeing in my pants
ROTFLMBO Rolling on the floor laughing my butt off
RPG Role-playing games
RSN Real soon now
RT Real time
RTFM Read the f***ing manual
RYO Roll your own (write your own program; derived from cigarettes rolled yourself with tobacco and paper)
S^ S’up – what’s up
S4L Spam for life (what you may get when you become someone’s customer or client)
SHCOON Shoot hot coffee out of nose
SEG S***-eating grin
SETE Smiling ear to ear
SF Surfer-friendly (low-graphics Web site)
SHID Slaps head in disgust
SNAFU Situation normal, all f***ed up
SO Significant other
SOL Smilling out loud or sh*t out of luck
SOMY Sick of me yet?
SOT Short on time
SOTMG Short on time must go
STFW Search the f*****g Web
STW Search the Web
SU Shut up
SUAKM Shut up and kiss me
SUP What’s up
SWAG Stupid wild-a** guess
SWAK Sealed with a kiss
SWL Screaming with laughter
SYS See you soon
TA Thanks again
TAFN That’s all for now
TANSTAAFL There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
TCOY Take care of yourself
TFH Thread from hell (a discussion that just won’t die and is often irrelevant to the purpose of the forum or group)
TGIF Thank God it’s Friday
THX Thanks
TIA Thanks in advance (used if you post a question and are expecting a helpful reply)
TILII Tell it like it is
TLA Three-letter acronym
TLK2UL8R Talk to you later
TMI Too much information
TNT Till next time
TOPCA Til our paths cross again (early Celtic chat term)
TOY Thinking of you
TPTB The powers that be
TTFN Ta-Ta for now
TTT Thought that, too (when someone types in what you were about to type)
TTYL Talk to you later
TU Thank you
TY Thank you
UAPITA You’re a pain in the ass
UW You’re welcome
VBG Very big grin
VBSEG Very big s***-eating grin
WAG Wild a** guess
WAYD What are you doing
WB Welcome back
WBS Write back soon
WDALYIC Who died and left you in charge?
WEG Wicked evil grin
WFM Works for me
WIBNI Wouldn’t it be nice if
WT? What/who the ?
WTFO What the F***! Over!
WTG Way to go!
WTGP? Want to go private?
WU? What’s up?
WYSITWIRL What you see is TOTALLY WORTHLESS IN REAL LIFE!
WUF? Where are you from?
WYSIWYG What you see is what you get
YBS You’ll be sorry
YGBSM You gotta be s***tin’ me!
YMMV Your mileage may vary.
YW You’re welcome

The police tell us that many burglaries are opportunistic crimes, usually commited by young men looking for items that are easily sold for cash like DVD players, laptop computers, and other home electronics. Increasingly, burglars are also stealing bank and credit cards, passports, even bank statements and other documents which can be sold on to people intent on stealing your identity and running up huge debts in your name.

Twelve Measures to Make Your Home More Secure

Burglars like easy targets. They want to break in to property that requires the least effort and gives them the maximum protection while they are doing so. Make your house secure and they will look for somewhere easier.

1. To avoid becoming a victim of the opportunistic thief, always lock doors and windows, even if you are only going out for a few minutes. Don’t leave your front door open because it’s hot and you want a through draft. Somebody can come in and steal your purse, laptop computer or other easy to carry items in just 30 seconds, while you are upstairs or in the back of your house.

2. Don’t rely on neighbours to notice you are being burgled. I arranged with a friend to pick up her computer while she was at work. Her neighbours saw me carrying computer equipment out of the house and putting it into the car and, although they didn’t know me, nobody challenged me or called the police.

3. Never leave a key outside in case you lose yours. Burglars know almost all the hiding places people hide keys. If you want to take precautions against losing your keys, leave one with a trusted friend or neighbour.

4. Fit deadbolt locks on doors and also fit window locks—and always use them. Remember that the strongest lock in the world won’t help if the door surround is weak. The burglar will just kick the door until the door jamb gives.

5. Burglars like to be screened from nosey neighbours and passers-by so protect the side and back of your home as well as you do the front. Back and side doors and windows should all have high quality locks and they should always be used when you go out. Don’t forget to use the same level of security on your garage and any connecting door into the house.

6. Don’t leave keys in the locks of doors with glass windows in them – the thief will simply break the glass and get the key. Similarly, don’t rely on bolts on doors with windows.

7. Cut back trees and shrubs in your front garden if they screen the front of the house. They provide cover for burglars.

8. If your back garden is accessible, put up good fences and place trellis along the top because it won’t bear the weight of an adult. Plant thorny shrubs like berberis to make a burglar’s entry onto your property more difficult and dangerous.

9. Install security lights on the outside of your property, motion detecting ones are ideal because they will alert you to an intruder’s presence. Crunchy gravel is good for paths and the area immediately around the house because it’s impossible to walk quietly on it.

10. If you store tools in your garden shed, make sure it has good quality locks and, again, that the door can’t simply be kicked in. Your tools might not be stolen but they could be used to break into your house.

11. Never leave ladders freely available for burglars to use. Always chain and padlock them to a secure object, if you can’t lock them away out of sight. Even if they aren’t used to burgle your house, they could be used to break into your next door neighbour’s home.

12. If you install a burglar alarm, remember to set it whenever you go out. Change the code from time to time and don’t write the code anywhere near the alarm panel. It should be visible from the road and it should have an audible alarm. Make friends with neighbours who are at home a lot of the time and make sure they are willing to call the police if the alarm sounds. Also, have it professionally installed and regularly serviced.

Hopefully, if you take precautions, burglars will look for an easier target than your home and all the work involved in taking these measures will be worthwhile.