Budget Savvy Bride Contest - The Winners!

Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Margaret. Filed under Announcements, Do It Yourself.


I am so impressed with all the fantastic money-saving tips from our 75 entries to the Budget Savvy Bride Contest! Every entry was uniquely creative in finding ways to cut costs on a wedding while maintaining their vision. It was extremely difficult to choose our favorites, so a very big thank you to our five fantastic expert judges who hand-picked the very best entries.

AND THE WINNERS ARE: Cut Costs not Corners takes first place! The runner up is It’s All About Priorities. The third place winner is the Bride from Tennessee! Congrats to all of the talented brides!

 

Anya Sarre, celebrity stylist for ET and The Insider, loves Planning a Backyard Wedding because of the beautiful personal touches that went into this intimate $5,000 wedding.

Bee Kim, Publisher of Weddingbee.com, selected Cut Costs not Corners because the bride showed many different ways to save money - DIY projects, resource figures, and precise figures that are so helpful for other brides-to-be planning a wedding on a budget!

Jennifer Sbranti, Founder of Hostess with the Mostess, chose Joy’s Plan for our Wedding for the creative DIY ideas, unique fashion elements, and attention to detail.

Chelsea Fuss, Founder of Frolic!, picked the Bride from Tennessee, for an elegant southern wedding that looks like it cost five times its $10,000 price tag.

Margaret Wong, Founder of ProjectWedding.com, loves It’s All About Priorities because the bride gave beautiful tips and examples of how she achieved a gorgeous California wedding for half the average cost!

Congratulations to our five Budget Savvy finalists, who are eligible for the $750 first place, $500 runner up, and $250 third place prizes!

Bookmark and Share



50 Responses to “Budget Savvy Bride Contest - The Winners!”

  1. Mel Says:

    This decision was so hard! I had to choose Joy’s Plan for our Wedding because, HELLLLOOO less than $3k? Seriously? That dress looks like it should cost that much. I am in awe, I really wish (at this point, 2 weeks out) that I would have been more innovative to cut costs, it’s going to be gorgeous!

  2. nadia Says:

    I am voting for the BRIDE FROM TENNESSEE, because she is a friend and i learn a whole from reading her daily blogs. she is a motivation to all the soon to be brides out there. I really love all the other ideas, I am just so glad that i have the option of looking at everyone’s projects. well done ladies!

  3. Yvonne Says:

    I am voting for CUT COSTS, NOT CORNERS, because she created such innovative, beautiful wedding favors– Martha Stewart quality, yet practical, affordable, and actually doable [translation: DIY ideas that will not take a month, nor a monthly paycheck, to complete :)]

  4. Rose Says:

    I voted for “It’s All About Priorities,” because it’s well written, and the pictures are stunning. Plus, the bride and groom are hot!

  5. Belinda Says:

    I voted for it’s all about priorities. I am a friend and did attend the wedding. However, she mentions skipping the wedding favors to save money. This is MAJOR. Please, please, please future brides. Save your money by not having favors. Really. Guests don’t want them. We feel bad throwing away your chotchkies. But we do. So it really is MONEY WASTED.

  6. Karen Says:

    I vote for Christina Gates “Cut Costs, Not Corners.”

  7. Ann Appenzeller Says:

    My vote is for Christina Gates!

  8. Rolando Says:

    Voting!!! Luck Joy’s

  9. Vinnie Says:

    I vote for Christina Gates all the way….”Cut Costs, Not Corners”

  10. Mai Loan Bel Says:

    “Cut Costs, Not Corners” gets my vote.

  11. Thien Says:

    Christina is so innovated. This wedding is a must “I DO”!!

  12. Frank Says:

    difinitely Great ideas

  13. Travis Says:

    Cut Cost !!!

  14. Blake Says:

    Thumbs up Christina!!!

  15. Frankie Says:

    This is what I’m talking about, yeah!!!

  16. Mason Says:

    Cut Cost!! got vote

  17. Natalie Says:

    I vote for “Cut Costs, Not Corners” because of all the helpful tips and links!

  18. Shea Says:

    I have to say they all have great ideas and tips but I had to go with the Bride from Tn b/c she actually gave a cost and you see all her ideas come to fruition. Absolutely beautiful! And the wine labels are adorable!

  19. Nicole Says:

    I loved everyone’s ideas but i had to go with JOY’S PLAN FOR OUR WEDDING, I think the ideas are so adorable and creative, I just cant wait to see how everything will turn out!

  20. Karla Says:

    Done!!
    Luck for u adn your boy!!

  21. Sally Says:

    Bride from Tennessee did such a fabulous job on her wedding- I can’t believe it only cost 10k!!! It’s one thing to speculate what your wedding might cost, but she actually pulled off a stunning affair for a reasonable price! Kudos to her!

  22. krissy Says:

    I stumbled across the BRIDE FROM TENNESSEE a few months ago…i’m not even engaged, but i just love seeing all of her diy updates everyday! she definitely has my vote!

  23. Nikki Says:

    My vote is for Joy’s Plan for our wedding!! Having had a DIY wedding myself I’m more than impressed with what they’ve accomplished!

  24. vale Says:

    waaaaaaau my vote is for joy’s plan! waaau …you have work sooo muuch !! how you do it !I can not wait to see how everything will turn out!
    congratulation!

  25. Alison Bryant Says:

    I vote for Bride from Tennesse! She was a pleasure to work with and I enjoyed reading about her journey to a wonderful wedding day.

  26. tara Says:

    I vote for bride from tennessee!

  27. Margaret Says:

    I vote Joy’s plan for our wedding, It’s so cute the way both of them are working on the planning, plus I love all of their DIY ideas!

  28. Carl Says:

    I vote for Joy’s wedding plan. All of her creative ideas are awesome. The groom is a lucky man. Great job Joy.

  29. Porter Says:

    I vote for BRIDE FROM TENNESSEE because not only does her blog rock but the pictures from the wedding are so striking. I hope that her marriage is as at least as beautiful as her special day. :)

  30. J. Eup Says:

    Bride from TN gets my vote!

  31. Kevin J. Says:

    “Joy’s plan for our wedding” gets my VOTE! go guys!! :)

  32. Sole Says:

    Vamos Joy!!

  33. NateDog Says:

    I voted for It’s All About Priorities, because the pictures rock, and weddings in la are hella expensive, yo!

  34. Peggy Stolosky Says:

    Marla, thanks for directing me here. These were all great stories, but of course you get my vote. I directed all my industry friends here as well. Good luck and great job everyone, I definitely got some tips I can use with my clients.

  35. Scotty J Says:

    Sounds like a great wedding full of meaningful and affordable ideas. The outside church idea, rings, and the pin signs are all great. Best of luck with the eco friendly wedding. VOTE for “Joy’s plan for our wedding.”

  36. Cara Says:

    I’m voting for JOY, because not only is she marrying my favorite cousin and going to be family, I love all of their ideas on how to cut costs. I know it’s going to be amazing, because we have a HUGE family that is super close, and we all live in nearby communities, so we’re all going to help! Congrats Joy and Kenny! You guys are going to have the BEST wedding ever!

  37. soledad Says:

    mi votito es por joyyyyyy

  38. kristine Says:

    I like what the Bride From Tenessee did, but Christina Gates, ”Cut Costs, Not Corners” gets my vote. She added links for everything. Being a bride-to-be, I appreciate the extra help. I see a lot of ideas on these pages, but no one attaches links.

  39. Shannon Says:

    It’s hard to believe some of these numbers happening in a matter of hours and I suspect cheating. I hope that Project Wedding is monitoring this voting process. Just look at the records from the past couple of days at how some of the ones that were at the last of the pack are now ahead.

  40. Betty Says:

    Go Joy! Amazing contest ~ I love all the creative ideas. All should be congratulated! My vote is for Joy. Woohoo!

  41. Ed Says:

    I must vote for the Bride from Tennessee. As a pastor I’ve been to a lot of weddings. This one was as elegant as any I have been a part of, and cost less than most. The Bride from Tennessee’s wedding was truly amazing.

  42. pve Says:

    I love “planning a backyard wedding” - every detail was so wonderful. That Rachel is so full of good ideas and easy to accomplish tips. Her blog is one of my fave!
    pve

  43. Allan Says:

    I vote for Christina Gates “Cut Cost, not Corner’s”

  44. sally Says:

    I vote for Joy! I love the colors! It screams celebration. It has a modern, country and elegant flair.

  45. Patti Says:

    I vote for Joy! I really love all of their ideas. Congrats Kenny & Joy

  46. Bob Freumeyer Says:

    Weird how the national media hasn’t picked up on what is clearly the most popular poll on the internet. Nearly 50,000 votes. That’s a small town. I’m sure all of the votes are legit, right? By my math nearly 300 people per hour, since the poll’s beginning, have been voting. Well, who would have thought a poll nearly no one on the internet could find without being directly led to it could cause such a stir?

  47. Srini Says:

    Bob: according to Google Analytics, we’ve had 45,000+ pageviews up until yesterday to this very page, so the results are likely legit. That doesn’t include the numbers for today.

    The reason it’s gotten so much traffic is that it was heavily promoted and linked to by the judges and by other blogs.

  48. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Says:

    This poll is as legit as our elections in Iran!

  49. Bob Freumeyer Says:

    I’m sorry, but pageviews can be easily manipulated. Blog links and internal promotion won’t net the kind of numbers that this poll has received. This would be the Digg of wedding sites if that were true. But, this isn’t my poll and this isn’t my site. Judge how you will the results, but know this, there are people out there that will find ways to skew results in their favor especially when it involves these two things: the internet and money.

  50. Jennifer Bledsoe Says:

    I’d have to agree with Bob.

    I think the judges should have just done what the official rules stated… picked the top three winners, instead of opening up this poll where anyone is likely to cheat by deleting their cookies, refreshing their page and voting multiple times. These results are definitely not accurate. Yes, I’m sure there were legitimately 45K page views, because these polls do not keep track once people have cleared their cookies- so there is no way to tell how many ‘cheat’ votes were placed in the course of this contest. You should have signed up for a Pro Polldaddy account, Project Wedding, because I think things might have turned out differently if you had. It was your responsibility to make sure this contest was fair, as the sponsor, and I’m afraid you’ve failed.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply