yapta love

Have you hear of Yapta? It's a service that tracks flights you're interested in purchasing and alerts when the price has dropped below a threshold you set. You can also use on flights you've purchased so you'll know if you're entitled to a refund.

I setup flight "watches" for my MoH, my brother and us. I was able to email my MoH and let her know that the flight she was going take (but hadn't booked yet) had dropped by HALF. She was able to book her flight... and the next day the price had gone up by $300.

When a flight changes significantly you're sent an email, but you also get monthly reports for flights you have booked and continue to track. For example, this email I got yesterday:

I LOVE to see that kind of savings! That's money that can be spent on several dinners or dozens of tacky souvenirs!

Do you have any cost-saving websites you recommend?

flower budget - confirmed!

After back and forth emails with the florist we finally talked and settled on the flowers and a budget. I was slightly concerned that nothing was confirmed - besides being nearly a month away from the wedding, she had 4 weddings to prepare for this weekend at our location, plus she is on vacation next week so I wanted to at least touch base. I'm relieved we were able to talk on the phone yesterday and settle things. Email is great, but it's a difficult medium for talking about abstract ideas and brainstorm floral design.

So here's what my bouquet will hopefully look like:

roses, calla lillies and hypericum berries (from the knot)

The boutonnieres:
from here with callas and hypericum berries

Despite being more than I intended to spend, I know I'm getting a good deal (for getting married at a resort on an island) and will be saving myself the stress of DIYing the morning of the wedding. Instead, my MoH is booking manis and pedis for us, which sounds much more relaxing! :)

Planning a recession wedding

"Love in the time of recession" from CNNMoney.com
"The average price of a wedding has dropped nearly $6,000 as brides scale back..."

This week's goal - finalize budget and stick to it!