Planning a Fairytale Princess Cinderella Wedding

My daughter is getting married on April 9^th, 2011 and she has always wanted a fairytale princess wedding. Considering my limited budget this is a tall order! There were several key things to consider when styling her wedding after Cinderella's. I have listed them in the order we addressed them.

The Dress
Not just any dress will do when trying to imitate Cinderella! Cinderella's wedding gown was simple yet elegant with a wrap around bodice. We chose a taupe satin that had a wrapped bodice as well. It also had a heavily embroidered train which gave it an understated elegance that said "princess" without being too pricey. We waited for it to go on sale and used a discount coupon we had gotten from a recent bridal fair to knock the price down to $900!

The Accessories
You can not be a princess with a tiara and rich looking accessories. Cinderella wore a tiara with a long veil. The matching accessories my daughter chose at the bridal store were very expensive yet we were able to find a tiara, necklace, and earring set on eBay for about one fifth of what the bridal store was asking. They were just as royal looking as well!

The Cake
Being a trained cake decorator I knew I could easily design a Cinderella cake that would make my daughter very happy. What else would do but a castle surrounded by flowers? If you don't have the talent to make one there are plenty of castle toppers to be found on the internet. Place one on top of a flower covered wedding cake and the effect is magical. Placing a blown glass pumpkin shaped carriage at the base is a nice touch. I decided that a cake like this one was the basic shape I wanted. It would be easy to cover the base with flowers like this one.

The Flowers
Cinderella chose roses, but since I am deathly allergic, we chose Calla Lilies. Silk flowers were my first choice but they can be fairly expensive. We decided to use large Calla Lilies and fill in with smaller summer flowers in lavender and other pastel colors. Carefully woven with large swags of tulle the simple Calla Lilies will be wonderful!

The Reception
While there will be no mice and forest creatures running around we wanted to carry the Cinderella movie theme through in the reception. We will put glass slipper candles on the table along with tiny crystal coaches being pulled by little crystal horses. Large vases will have Calla Lilies submerged in water with lit candles floating above them. Silk flower petals will surround the vases. A very romantic theme!