Have a wedding for $1000

Our guest tonight is Maigen Thomas the Editor in Chief at Wedding for $1000. She has been researching and writing about planning weddings on a small budget since 2006. We have conducted an interview with her.

How did you become the Editor in Chief for "Wedding for 1000"?

While I’m technically the Editor in Chief of Wedding for $1000, I feel more like I’m getting to help plan my best friend’s wedding! I get to talk weddings all day, but mostly I get to help genuinely awesome people have a beautiful wedding. I work with so many great writers who enjoy helping others plan weddings on a budget, and I just oversee the day-to-day posting schedule and some of the writing as well.

We are currently working on a print version of the site where we can showcase real weddings, budget wedding-related products and more DIY projects.

What are the current trends for planning a wedding?

Most of the current trends aren’t specific things that many couples are doing, it’s more a trend of making the day really personal. Incorporating elements into the wedding and reception that are meaningful to the couple getting married but aren’t necessarily considered ‘traditional’ wedding elements. Food trucks are big this year, because many cities have them and couples tend to find the ones they love. To include those in the wedding day invites the guests to take part in something that is personal and special – which is exactly what a wedding should be about.

What is your first book about?

Have a Wedding for $1000 was a book I wrote when I literally could only spend $1,000 on a wedding. It’s about the very basics – what do you *need* to get married? It’s really not that much, but we definitely get hung up on wedding traditions and what everyone else has. That’s when the budget gets out of hand.

What inspires you on the second book?

The second book is being written directly as a result of the reviews on the first book! I sincerely appreciate all of those people on Amazon who took the time to leave their thoughts because without that critical feedback, I can’t help anyone plan a wedding on a budget. The biggest problem most people saw was that there were no specific amounts given. It’s difficult to do that because of regional differences, fluctuating prices, etc., but I am determined in this follow-up to describe how to save real money.

Which are the awesome topics as example for your upcoming new book?

I think one of my favorite topics is the wedding dress. The average bride spent almost $1,300 on just her dress in 2015, which is wonderful if you’ve got the money for that. But if you don’t, how do you save on something that is so important to you? My advice is to stop thinking about looking for a wedding dress, and start thinking about what you want your wedding to feel like. Will your wedding take place outdoors or indoors? Will you have it in winter or summer? What’s your wedding theme?

Take the ideas of what your wedding should feel like for you, and then look at dresses that embody those characteristics. I suggest looking in high-end department stores for evening gowns that are white, ivory, blush, cream, champagne, silver…whatever color you’d like your dress to be. Find something that makes you feel beautiful, and don’t worry about whether or not it’s supposed to be a wedding dress. You can save up to $1,000 by not looking for a dress that is labeled ‘wedding dress’.