wedding anything is possible as long as
you stay within your budget
yeah and knowing where to cut costs
where to splurge can help hit your dream
wedding without breaking that bank the
expert is here today to walk us through
this Joanne Schwartz of Schwarz in
Woodward here to plan the big day so
good to see you you too I'm excited I'm
ready with my purple of course fantastic
and before we begin just for fun I want
to show our viewers some of the
over-the-top weddings that you have
planned Joann because if anyone knows
how to plan a wedding it's this woman
right here so let's put up those photos
and start rolling them through and you
can tell us maybe about some of your
your memorable moments so this is a
Schwartz and Woodward signature photo at
the end of the evening or you're
surrounded by your family and friends to
say goodbye I love it now that's a
classic shot right there
gorgeous gorgeous before everyone comes
in the room we take them around to see
all the elements that they've spent
their time and money on before everyone
comes in and is this the head table yes
okay that's beautiful doubt by the way
that Schwartz and Woodward you and your
husband you have this business you've
created countless unforgettable weddings
here in Houston since 2001 your husband
has a background in restaurants and
catering and you say you're gonna
continue doing this in planning weddings
Joanne until you don't cry when someone
walks down the aisle cry at every
wedding and when I stop crying I know
it's time to do something else but until
then I love it I know and you have such
a special touch and I will say before we
start talking about budget what to cut
when to lean on a wedding planner you
did this platinum wedding that was
featured on Platinum weddings this was
950 guests yes here in Houston right yes
Hilton Americas I think we have some
photos from that as well I mean that
must have been probably one of the most
elaborate weddings you've done it
certainly started out that way and
they've gotten more elaborate as the
years go on
but this was amazing because we did this
literally in two months oh my goodness -
way to fall a lot of fusion weddings
right where you're bringing together two
cultures that have very different
wedding traditions and we really have
become known for that and what's
important in any wedding that we do is
that we bring the families together and
we bring the important elements from
each the bride and the groom and we work
with couples and that's the thing we
should work together on this right it's
kind of the first event that you're
doing together as a couple and let's
talk about the table here because this
set up of course we're kind of you're
doing the Royal Wedding inspiration so
what I'm sure we're gonna see lots of
trends carry on from this weekend we
definitely will see those trends Megan
and Harry are doing peonies garden white
roses foxgloves which don't grow that
well here in Houston and these gorgeous
orchids and here we have beautiful
Chargers with glass beads done by EB ink
and the invitations and Katie & Co with
that royal touch and they are engraved
which of course the royal wedding will
have engraved invitation of course it
will written calligraphy names on their
invitation now a lot of people when it
comes to planning a wedding of course
it's exciting it can be stressful and
people worry too that they're not going
to be able to pay for the dream wedding
that maybe they've been imagining so
part of the reason why you're here today
Joanne is to help us prioritize you know
if we have a set budget what are the
things that we should really spend money
on and what are the things that maybe we
could skip well when you're planning the
wedding I think it's extremely important
to determine what that budget is and
everyone get on the same page because
you know not everything can be a ten I
have a love/hate inter relationship with
Pinterest and instant
because they put amazing things but how
do we take that and take those elements
and make them reasonable make them for
the average person not everyone can
spend right Megan and Harry exactly
million dollars oh yeah is that the
price tag yes oh oh it's a little
pricing yeah do was a lot price they
have to agree upon is it flowers is it
the dress or we suggest they spend the
most money on their photographer because
that's the memories that they're going
to have and that is the you know it's
gonna spend the rest of their time being
able to look at that a hundred years ago
when I got married that's what I was
told
sits but spend the money on the
photographer where else do you think we
should cut costs you say also take an
in-depth look at that guest list oh this
is a tricky very tricky and what I
explained is that this is not a party
for your parents of the bride and groom
thank you for saying that and it is not
a business association party because
people feel like they have to invite all
their co-workers and all their parents
friends who they might not even really
have so I'm gonna get my secret out okay
and they basically should be able to put
that list together and tell people they
are having a small wedding
now I don't care whether that means it's
200 from a thousand or it's 300 from
1200 but invite those people that you
can't imagine not being in your wedding
album you know what my boss is in my ear
saying you and Brandon better invite me
to your wedding
don't worry Don you'll get you better
okay what about the dress you say max
you're wearing this Brides eight hours
never gonna wear it again
that's correct what do we do with that I
promise your daughter's not going to
wear it yeah well you don't have one
what do I do with it but I mean what do
we do okay so I think there are so many
amazing gorgeous gowns that you can get
whether it's $300 up to thousands and
thousands make sure that it's nice
material but not everyone has to have
those designer dress Joanne let me ask
you two because I had a cousin who
bought her wedding dress it was a second
marriage she bought it off eBay and she
looked fabulous
no one knew is that a route did you
suggest yes and go to the resale stores
or talk to your friends who have I mean
I have a bride who wants to sell her
dress and it is not gonna sell for
anything close to what you pay for it
all of these people work very hard on
their figures to look too fast they can
look don't get crazy on the wedding
dress I know the wedding stores won't be
happy with me but it's okay yeah I've
got to prioritize great advice what
about flowers because then we look at
the the actual wedding venue and we have
to decorate it so what do we do about
flowers okay so so many of the venues
now have unbelievable floor-to-ceiling
windows bringing the outside in take
those elements and do it do garden of
greenery with flowers tucked and do lots
of candles these are gorgeous blooming
gallery I have to say but not everything
has to be exploding flowers and I'm
sorry but when you're sitting down you
want to be able to see your guests you
don't need exploding flowers to the sky
right and you want your guests to be
able to Tosh so they can speak to each
other and donate them as making an area
are doing donate them to a cause where a
bride who can't afford them can get
for a lesser cost bring them to assisted
living what a great great idea of
reusing and is their role of something
like let's say a wedding costs I don't
know 20,000 or 30,000 is there a
percentage of the budget that should go
to flowers or there's no rule of thumb
isn't basically you have to look at your
food and beverage is half of your budget
and once you take that number then start
to define where you wanna the
photography the music the elements where
your guests are going to have an
experience that's all about the
experience that's a good rule of thumb
about half your budget is food and drink
speaking of food and drinks can we move
on over to this wedding cake over here
beautiful cake it's gorgeous this cake
is from Nadine Nadine moon who made the
cake oh my we love mazing she's been
she's actually gonna be on the show
tomorrow I'm excited because I can
guarantee this is not lemon and
elderberry okay because Houston Brides
would much rather have who made the cake
flavored cake absolutely an elderberry
really what kind of cake is this Joanne
you're gonna have okay she surprised me
we took our engagement photos
earlier this week Joanne okay so this
need to have the upper hand no yours
isn't oh I'm actually holding okay yes
okay and this is like the meaning behind
this is our first job as husband and
wife will be the last time you have the
upper hand so go ahead oh that was a
good joke
first getting cake together easy oh what
a moment this is such a moment and a
reminder as we're cutting this beautiful
cake sorry I'm not being very much
healthier okay there are click to vote
poll is online now whether you are on a
smartphone or a computer visit click to
vote comm tell us what you think how
much does the average wedding cost you
know what 35,000 folks that's what you
think the average wedding costs and I
believe our viewers are quite smart
because the actual cost in America of an
average wedding is around $33,000 so
it's about 37 and to keep you on budget
it is smart to hire somebody because
even though even though people may want
to do it themselves oftentimes hiring a
planner can save you money and the
fascinator is from you right yes oh my
goodness this was so fantastic happy
wedding season jo-ann happy wedding
season
jo-ann thank you so much hi to your
beautiful Corky's at home and by the way
if you guys would like to connect with
Joann and her team at Schwarz and
Woodward their website is on your screen
swartz Woodward dot-com thanks so much
jo-ann do you appreciate it Cheers my
husband