Budget-Saver: Use Locally-Grown Foods in Your Menu....But What Are They?

You see the advice everywhere in articles and books on how to save money on your wedding: use locally-grown, in-season foods in your wedding menu. Importing costs extra money, after all. But how do you find out what these foods are?

As I'm researching my newest book, I came across these fabulous resources for you! Check out the following to find lists of the local foods in your region, searchable by season:

LocalHarvest.org
and
NRDC.org, which is organized so beautifully! You just enter your state and the season, broken down by 'early October' and 'late October' and such, to really zero in on what's in-season...as well as what's in-season in states near you. A great resource that's going to help you work so much better with your caterers!

Set aside an emergency fund!

With the wedding plans in full swing, you might be looking at your bank account and credit cards, maybe your tax refund check, as your All-Wedding-Access-Cash. But be careful...

Take a bunch of your money and put it away, safely in an emergency fund. There's no protective bubble that forms around brides and grooms the minute you get engaged. Since we live in a world where anything can happen, you have to make sure that you have a nice chunk of change available to use if any emergencies come up.

Right now, I'm sitting in a tarped-off room while plumbers jackhammer my foyer floor away, looking for a pipe problem under the house. If this had hapened last year, while my husband and I were planning our wedding, we would have lost our minds.

An emergency doesn't have to involve plumbers. It could be a new tire that you have to get for your car to replace a flat. A co-pay at the doctor's office for an antibiotic. Your dog's vet bill. Small or large, you need that money set aside so that you have peace of mind as well, and are not fighting with your groom-to-be about money.

So stash some cash away, and if you have it leftover when the wedding arrives, that's Play Money for the Honeymoon (or a smart start on your married life emergency fund.)

Get your copy of The Bride's Survival Guide to find out how else you can save your wedding, your sanity and your relationship!

$9.99 bridesmaids' gifts!!

Since the average amount spent on a bridesmaid gift is in the range of $40 to $70 nationwide, I *had* to let you know about the limited-time-offer at ThingsRemembered.com. Check out these very cute bridesmaid and junior bridesmaid gifts for just $9.99! Engraving is extra, of course, but this is a great start!