Helpful Sites

Since I have gotten engaged I have been all over wedding and bridal forums, facebook groups, websites for venues and, planning and vendors. I am a huge planner I generally think its fun and I think you get the most out of your time and money when you've done your research. I think I already mentioned this in my Disney blogs that I managed to do and see so many things in my first visit that many people don't manage even after multiple visits.
So of course I am over researching my all my wedding choices, most vendors probably hate I contact them way to early in advance to get a rough idea of pricing knowing I wont be deciding or booking until closer to next year.
In my defense if more places had prices ranges on their sites they wouldn't have to deal with brides like me.
I know prices can go up and generally, annually will, however I feel more prepared and productive having even rough idea.
So of the sites I have visited the #1 most helpful site has been weddingwire which offers both a .ca and .com versions.
Weddingwire has a large data base of vendors for every aspect of wedding planner, I still recommend using other sources as well because smaller or newer venues and/or vendors may not be registered. Where weddingwire is most helpful is with budget, guest list and seating plans. They have a budget calculator and tracker for saving estimates and payments etc.
The tools more than anything are what I love about weddingwire and why it is my #1 recommendation.
For forums I highly recommend weddingbee.com for community, venting and tips from other brides
and for other disnerd brides I recommend the facebook group Disbrides which supports both Disney brides getting married at Disney as well as regular at home brides who love Disney. Disney weddings are way out of my budget but I enjoy it for a fun and magical community.
I hope these site help you find tips and community which is definitely a need during the hair pulling moments of wedding planning.

Creative ways to save DIY

 DIY weddings are big right now, so are outdoor weddings I think this started as a way to save money but now that its trendy an outdoor and/or DIY wedding can easily end up the same as an all inclusive venue.
I've started comparing some outdoor and DIY options as a back up to the inclusive options.
One creative and promising lead I've found is renting an entire property off airbnb.
In the search settings of airbnb you can set it to 'event friendly' I still recommend messaging the host in regards to your 'family event' as sometimes homes show up under event friendly that aren't meant to be there.
Cost to keep in mind when doing DIY are:
Chair rentals which can ranged from 1$ per chair to 8$ per chair and if you want covers thats another .25-1$ each
Table rentals (both guests and food) anywhere from 6-10$ each
Tent rentals (incase of rain) depending on size anywhere from 500-2000$
Decor & Center pieces anywhere from 5$-30$ a table

Other things cost/ labor to consider:
Who will run your music if you rent sound equipmnet? or cost too book a dj?
Time for set/take down
Time and space for cooking assuming you DIY the meal, if you plan to hire a caterer what will that be per person compared to an all inclusive venue?

As I am sure you can see in addition to being more work, the costs can quickly and easily add up to the same if not more than an all inclusive venue. The extra work can feel rewarding, every single detail is a reflection of you and your work and nothing is cookie cutter which for many couples adds weight to the pros of a DIY.
It's also not to say it will work out the same or more than an all inclusive. If the venue is free (at home) or below 1000 via airbnb and you are making the food yourselves those two sections alone may save you enough to make up any other differences.

I personally am still unsure of which route I will take but am currently building drafts of plans for the 2 options between 4 different venues to compare which comes in lowest without cutting out everything I had wanted.

Wedding planning

 So my goodness, I did not appreciate the planning and money that goes into a wedding until I started really looking into planning mine.
I have changed my mind on where I want my wedding approximately 1000 times, I have changed my mind on the details for the ceremony 2000 times and the reception a few hundred.
I still have no idea what I want.
Originally I wanted a huge over the top fairytale ball! We set a modest budget of 10,000CAD.
Then after a trip to Cuba one day while day dreaming I started building other dream trips, I've caught the travel bug. As it turns out for 10K I could fly from Toronto to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Tokyo, THEN back to Hong Kong and from there back to Toronto for about 6000CAD for both myself and my fiancé and that still left 4000CAD for park tickets and hotels.
So that changed my dream. I cannot justify spending a tour of Asia on 1 day.
This has lead me to some creative money saving ideas and I am still unsure of which I will end up doing but I will pass along my wisdom as it comes.
One of the first and best tips I got was from a co-worker she recommended I look into banquet halls owned and marketed towards South Asians. I googled  'Indian banquet halls' and a large list of halls that hadn't shown up on any of the numerous bridal sites or forums I had already exhausted, came up.
Most of these halls have similar pricing and wow. The average venue in the low range around me ranges from 70-100$ per person including bar, the newly discovered South Asian venues ranged 45-60$ per person including bar!
I was blown away. My fiancé and I love Indian food another bonus for us if that many Hindus are vegetarian and as a result these halls have a large vegetarian selection and most dishes can be made vegan.
 For those who prefer traditional north American or European dishes these halls are still very accommodating and can also do menus fitting those needs.
If you have never been to or seen a South Asian wedding they are decadent affairs, the décor in my opinion is too die for. I love the regal and over the top décor and these centers being used to accommodating such extravagant events generally include quite a lot of lavish décor at little to no extra cost.
For anyone looking for an all inclusive venue that is affordable this is my number 1 recommendation.