So I just mailed our invites (all but 5 or so, still waiting on a few addresses) on Monday. Yesterday 3 got sent back due to lack of postage (umm..oops). Our RSVP deadline isn't until June 24th, but I am not far away from harassing people to send them back. Yes, I'm that impatient. I want to knowwww!
And I'll post about our invites soon, I promise! Let's just say they total $1.84 per invite including postage. Love it.
How long did it take for your RSVPs to start rolling in?
Em and Cupcake, you 2 are on my mind this week, I'm wishing you both joyful, loving, blissed out days!
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
So how much?
I thought I'd do a cost break down on the bouquets for you all, so here goes:
Per bouquet (bridesmaids bouquet, 20ish flowers used per bouquet):
1 yard satin fabric, regular price $10/yard, used 40% off coupon, so $6/yard (right?)
20 floral stems, $2 for 75, so $0.54
1 bouquet holder, $2
Half a roll of ivory ribbon, $1
Rhinestone pins (some were gifts, but for most of the bridesmaids I bought rhinestone earrings at thrift stores, had my dad cut off the earring back with a drill thing and then hotglued a pin back on), $1
3 inch ostrich feathers, 5 used, $2.55
Hot glue, thread, pearl-headed pins, maybe $0.50
Total cost for 1 bridesmaid's bouquet: $14.09
HELL YES! Especially since the 6 hydrangea bouquets I originally looked at were going to cost me at least $500 and all of these cost under $100, including my bouquet.
The huge cost of these was elbow grease. Sewing those flowers is more time consuming than I could ever tell you (though trial and error added a good month on to this project), and then you have to sew them to a stem...it took way longer than I thought it would. I can honestly say that at least 5-6 hours was spent per bridesmaid's bouquet, and mine took even longer since mine is bigger and uses more flowers.
Also, the cost of the rhinestone pins could really get crazy, it just depends on how you do it. If you go into an antique store and buy the 100% perfect ones, they can go up to $50 a pin. I got lucky with rhinestone earrings that I then turned in to pins, and I bought them at a thrift store that the antique store crowd tends to stay away from, so that price point might not be realistic if you aren't willing to dig.
I am so, so glad I did these. Out of all the stuff we're doing for the wedding, I am most proud of these. I had almost nothing to go off of but I figured them out (adding to the time involved), and I am beyond thrilled with them.
I'm probably not going to be able to stop myself from shoving my bouquet in people's faces at the wedding while saying "LOOK WHAT I MADE!"
Have you done anything for the wedding that you are crazy proud of or that saved you a ton of money?
I swear I will eventually stop harping about these...at some point that is yet to be determined.
Per bouquet (bridesmaids bouquet, 20ish flowers used per bouquet):
1 yard satin fabric, regular price $10/yard, used 40% off coupon, so $6/yard (right?)
20 floral stems, $2 for 75, so $0.54
1 bouquet holder, $2
Half a roll of ivory ribbon, $1
Rhinestone pins (some were gifts, but for most of the bridesmaids I bought rhinestone earrings at thrift stores, had my dad cut off the earring back with a drill thing and then hotglued a pin back on), $1
3 inch ostrich feathers, 5 used, $2.55
Hot glue, thread, pearl-headed pins, maybe $0.50
Total cost for 1 bridesmaid's bouquet: $14.09
HELL YES! Especially since the 6 hydrangea bouquets I originally looked at were going to cost me at least $500 and all of these cost under $100, including my bouquet.
The huge cost of these was elbow grease. Sewing those flowers is more time consuming than I could ever tell you (though trial and error added a good month on to this project), and then you have to sew them to a stem...it took way longer than I thought it would. I can honestly say that at least 5-6 hours was spent per bridesmaid's bouquet, and mine took even longer since mine is bigger and uses more flowers.
Also, the cost of the rhinestone pins could really get crazy, it just depends on how you do it. If you go into an antique store and buy the 100% perfect ones, they can go up to $50 a pin. I got lucky with rhinestone earrings that I then turned in to pins, and I bought them at a thrift store that the antique store crowd tends to stay away from, so that price point might not be realistic if you aren't willing to dig.
I am so, so glad I did these. Out of all the stuff we're doing for the wedding, I am most proud of these. I had almost nothing to go off of but I figured them out (adding to the time involved), and I am beyond thrilled with them.
I'm probably not going to be able to stop myself from shoving my bouquet in people's faces at the wedding while saying "LOOK WHAT I MADE!"
Have you done anything for the wedding that you are crazy proud of or that saved you a ton of money?
I swear I will eventually stop harping about these...at some point that is yet to be determined.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Addressing the envelopes
So Ryan and I have been discussing envelopes lately. Exciting, no? We found some aqua ones we dig that I need to order, and I mentioned that there were some cute red oval printable labels on Paper Source that we could use. Following is the approximate conversation that ensued:
Me: So Paper Source has these red oval printable labels we could use for the envelopes, they'd be like $20. They have cuter ones but they are stupid expensive.
Ryan: Do we really need labels? You could spend that $20 shopping on our honeymoon (OK I totally added that sentence). I mean, why don't we just hand write the addresses on there?
Me: Long Pause. We can't afford calligraphy, that's like $2 an envelope.
Ryan: No, I'm saying we can write the addresses on there.
This is when I noticed a huge problem. Having been immersed in blogland since day 1 of wedding planning, it had never occurred to me until that exact moment that you could actually hand write addresses on to envelopes yourself without teaching yourself calligraphy.
I know. Ridiculous. I was too embarrassed to say that to Ryan, because really....that had never occurred to me. That's embarrassing.
So, I'm going to sweet talk my sister/maid of honor Alli into handwriting some addresses for me, because her handwriting is lovely, and I'm going to do my best to write addresses as neatly as possible. My handwriting is passable if I slow it down.
There's our game plan...handwriting. And it'll be just fine....and free.
How are you addressing your envelopes? Have you had any crazy moments like I did?
Me: So Paper Source has these red oval printable labels we could use for the envelopes, they'd be like $20. They have cuter ones but they are stupid expensive.
Ryan: Do we really need labels? You could spend that $20 shopping on our honeymoon (OK I totally added that sentence). I mean, why don't we just hand write the addresses on there?
Me: Long Pause. We can't afford calligraphy, that's like $2 an envelope.
Ryan: No, I'm saying we can write the addresses on there.
This is when I noticed a huge problem. Having been immersed in blogland since day 1 of wedding planning, it had never occurred to me until that exact moment that you could actually hand write addresses on to envelopes yourself without teaching yourself calligraphy.
I know. Ridiculous. I was too embarrassed to say that to Ryan, because really....that had never occurred to me. That's embarrassing.
So, I'm going to sweet talk my sister/maid of honor Alli into handwriting some addresses for me, because her handwriting is lovely, and I'm going to do my best to write addresses as neatly as possible. My handwriting is passable if I slow it down.
There's our game plan...handwriting. And it'll be just fine....and free.
How are you addressing your envelopes? Have you had any crazy moments like I did?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Oooo la la!
I sewed my garter...months ago and I'm just now getting around to blogging it. Oops!
Future Hubs: Please vacate the premises immediately.
So Ryan and a bunch of his runner friends are on this running team they call "Omega Falcon" and their colors are royal blue and orange. Since almost all of the Omega Falcon runners will be in attendance at the wedding, I had to the garter in those colors, right? Right. But I have love in my heart for dotted swiss, and the challenge was to mix that girly fabric with the sporty colors. I found some dotted swiss tulle at Hobby Lobby for the low low price of $4 a yard and picked up 1/4 of a yard for almost nothing. The ribbon I also got at Hob Lob when it was half off for like $1.
Ta da! Please ignore how pasty my legs are.
Making this was super unscientific and very much a trial-and-error process. I basically cut material in rectangles and sewed it to a piece of elastic until I got what I wanted. The piece of tulle is much longer that the elastic, and when I sewed the 2 pieces together I stretched the elastic out with 1 hand while sewing, so when I was done sewing the elastic contracted and gave the tulle that nice gather.
It's nothing fancy by any means, but it'll do. I keep seeing other garters on the blogosphere that I want to attempt (like this one), but I think I just need to let this project be. My friend Melissa did mention that she might have me sew her garter, which opens that realm of exploration back up!
Did you ever finish a project and were then tempted to do it all over thanks to too-much-inspiration?
Future Hubs: Please vacate the premises immediately.
So Ryan and a bunch of his runner friends are on this running team they call "Omega Falcon" and their colors are royal blue and orange. Since almost all of the Omega Falcon runners will be in attendance at the wedding, I had to the garter in those colors, right? Right. But I have love in my heart for dotted swiss, and the challenge was to mix that girly fabric with the sporty colors. I found some dotted swiss tulle at Hobby Lobby for the low low price of $4 a yard and picked up 1/4 of a yard for almost nothing. The ribbon I also got at Hob Lob when it was half off for like $1.
Ta da! Please ignore how pasty my legs are.
Making this was super unscientific and very much a trial-and-error process. I basically cut material in rectangles and sewed it to a piece of elastic until I got what I wanted. The piece of tulle is much longer that the elastic, and when I sewed the 2 pieces together I stretched the elastic out with 1 hand while sewing, so when I was done sewing the elastic contracted and gave the tulle that nice gather.
It's nothing fancy by any means, but it'll do. I keep seeing other garters on the blogosphere that I want to attempt (like this one), but I think I just need to let this project be. My friend Melissa did mention that she might have me sew her garter, which opens that realm of exploration back up!
Did you ever finish a project and were then tempted to do it all over thanks to too-much-inspiration?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Bags
Ladies who are standing up with me on July 24th, 2010: If you are not Alli or Mary, please go grab some coffee or water, pet your dog(s), or maybe take a nap. This is somewhat of a surprise.
So I'm making tote bags for all of my bridesmaid's, courtesy of the sewing book I got for Christmas, One Yard Wonders. I have all of the fabric together too! The fabric on the far left is for one of Ryan's sisters, its a chocolate brown with lilac detailing. The coral is for Ryan's other sister, the yellow is for one of my sisters, the brown and green is for my friend Melissa, and the 2-D zoo print is for my sister Mary.
Whew.
The chocolate brown, coral and yellow I got at a discount home decor fabric warehouse for $5/yard, which is a great deal for thicker fabric. The brown and green I got at Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon, and Mary's animal print I ordered offline for maybe $10?
Anyway, I need to buy fabric to line the bags in, but it won't be expensive. I will buy a thicker fabric to line the animal print with since that fabric is on the thin side. The tote bags do much better with a thicker fabric to give them some shape.
I started with the coral, and wow does my machine hate that fabric. It pulled and tugged and was awful to work with. I showed the results to my sister Alli and she said I was being anal retentive, so I'm going to finish it (hopefully tonight) and see how it is. If it's awful, I have another 40% Hobby Lobby coupon I can use to buy more fabric. *Edited to add: I had to buy more fabric last night. Lesson learned!*
It's amazing how fast these go together now that I've made a practice one! I need to get better at cutting accurately.
I'm also hoping to make envelope shaped pouches with the scraps left over from the bags. We'll see!
I feel like I need to add something else to their gifts...we'll see! I want to give them stuff they'll use, and tote bags like this can be used to library books, groceries, work out clothes, anything really.
What are you gifting your bridesmaid's?
So I'm making tote bags for all of my bridesmaid's, courtesy of the sewing book I got for Christmas, One Yard Wonders. I have all of the fabric together too! The fabric on the far left is for one of Ryan's sisters, its a chocolate brown with lilac detailing. The coral is for Ryan's other sister, the yellow is for one of my sisters, the brown and green is for my friend Melissa, and the 2-D zoo print is for my sister Mary.
Whew.
The chocolate brown, coral and yellow I got at a discount home decor fabric warehouse for $5/yard, which is a great deal for thicker fabric. The brown and green I got at Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon, and Mary's animal print I ordered offline for maybe $10?
Anyway, I need to buy fabric to line the bags in, but it won't be expensive. I will buy a thicker fabric to line the animal print with since that fabric is on the thin side. The tote bags do much better with a thicker fabric to give them some shape.
I started with the coral, and wow does my machine hate that fabric. It pulled and tugged and was awful to work with. I showed the results to my sister Alli and she said I was being anal retentive, so I'm going to finish it (hopefully tonight) and see how it is. If it's awful, I have another 40% Hobby Lobby coupon I can use to buy more fabric. *Edited to add: I had to buy more fabric last night. Lesson learned!*
It's amazing how fast these go together now that I've made a practice one! I need to get better at cutting accurately.
I'm also hoping to make envelope shaped pouches with the scraps left over from the bags. We'll see!
I feel like I need to add something else to their gifts...we'll see! I want to give them stuff they'll use, and tote bags like this can be used to library books, groceries, work out clothes, anything really.
What are you gifting your bridesmaid's?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Cake Stands
Ryan is taking care of the wedding cake. He and my little sister did the tasting and everything. My only request was that something be strawberry flavored...the cake, the icing, filling, fresh strawberries on the cake, I don't care, just something strawberry. Other than that, Ryan and my little sister Mary have been handling it.
I do know that we're doing wedding cake from a local bakery for the "fancy" cake, and then sheet cake from Costco for the rest of the guests. It's a big money saver, and from what I hear the Costco cake is delicious.
I also know that I need to be on the look out for 3 cake stands, at least 9 inches in diameter to exhibit said cakes. Milk glass matches the rest of our reception decor, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled for milk glass cake stands.
The milk glass vases we got for pretty much nothing, usually around a quarter a piece. I knew cake stands would be different, because they're pretty in right now and harder to find.
I found this cake stand at a really skeezy thrift store for $13.50!
Ryan and I had an extra 30 minutes Sunday afternoon and found this beauty at a local antique store. It's cracked, so the price of $22.50 was knocked down to $12. Hell yes we'll take it-the cake will cover up the crack anyway!
I store all of our wedding stuff in my basement....and I was tired last night and just photographed the cake stands in the poorly lit basement. I never said this was a photography blog!
I love the base of that one.
So 2 cake stands down, 1 more to go, and we've successfully stayed under our $15/cake stand budget so far!
Ebay has some killer cake stands, but the shipping blows them way out of our price range. Oh well, the fun is in the chase.
Have you thrifted for anything to use at your wedding?
I do know that we're doing wedding cake from a local bakery for the "fancy" cake, and then sheet cake from Costco for the rest of the guests. It's a big money saver, and from what I hear the Costco cake is delicious.
I also know that I need to be on the look out for 3 cake stands, at least 9 inches in diameter to exhibit said cakes. Milk glass matches the rest of our reception decor, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled for milk glass cake stands.
The milk glass vases we got for pretty much nothing, usually around a quarter a piece. I knew cake stands would be different, because they're pretty in right now and harder to find.
I found this cake stand at a really skeezy thrift store for $13.50!
Ryan and I had an extra 30 minutes Sunday afternoon and found this beauty at a local antique store. It's cracked, so the price of $22.50 was knocked down to $12. Hell yes we'll take it-the cake will cover up the crack anyway!
I store all of our wedding stuff in my basement....and I was tired last night and just photographed the cake stands in the poorly lit basement. I never said this was a photography blog!
I love the base of that one.
So 2 cake stands down, 1 more to go, and we've successfully stayed under our $15/cake stand budget so far!
Ebay has some killer cake stands, but the shipping blows them way out of our price range. Oh well, the fun is in the chase.
Have you thrifted for anything to use at your wedding?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thrift Store Finds: Wedding Edition
I want to thank everyone for your wonderfully kind comments about my dress. The fit threw me off big time, and I'm going to go ahead and get alterations done now, just for peace of mind. Thank you a million times for making me feel so much better about it!
Friday I had to get my oil change and my tires rotated. Woohoo, super exciting! Not really, but there is a great thrift store right behind the oil change place. So I dropped my car off and headed over to see what they had.
There was an entire box of aisle decorations.
A pile of wedding dress sewing patterns.
Ryan and I got a lot of our milk glass here. We're done shopping for it, but how amazing would these look for a grass green wedding (maybe with some white flowers in them)? Miss Pugs and Em, I'm looking at you! I will go and buy these for you and ship them to you. They cost under a dollar a piece!
And the best find of the day, a record of organ wedding music. Hell yes!
I ended up buying some material for my mom (she makes blankets out of vintage double knit material), a record for a friend and 2 sewing patterns for myself (one of a ruffled wrap dress and another with a cute skirt). Grand total was $3.75. I love thrift stores. And with me working reduced hours at work, it's the only shopping I am doing right now!
Have you been to a thrift store lately? Did you find anything good?
Friday I had to get my oil change and my tires rotated. Woohoo, super exciting! Not really, but there is a great thrift store right behind the oil change place. So I dropped my car off and headed over to see what they had.
There was an entire box of aisle decorations.
A pile of wedding dress sewing patterns.
Ryan and I got a lot of our milk glass here. We're done shopping for it, but how amazing would these look for a grass green wedding (maybe with some white flowers in them)? Miss Pugs and Em, I'm looking at you! I will go and buy these for you and ship them to you. They cost under a dollar a piece!
And the best find of the day, a record of organ wedding music. Hell yes!
I ended up buying some material for my mom (she makes blankets out of vintage double knit material), a record for a friend and 2 sewing patterns for myself (one of a ruffled wrap dress and another with a cute skirt). Grand total was $3.75. I love thrift stores. And with me working reduced hours at work, it's the only shopping I am doing right now!
Have you been to a thrift store lately? Did you find anything good?
Friday, January 22, 2010
Gifts
I don't think I mentioned that I just asked my friend Melissa a few days ago to be a bridesmaid, but I did and I am super excited!
--Attention lovely ladies who are standing up with me July 24th: This post discusses what I am thinking about giving you as a gift. If you like surprises then I would suggest stopping now. Melissa and Alli, this is not news to you, so disregard.--
I now have 5 bridesmaids gifts to get together, but I think I have some ideas that will do nicely. Remember for Christmas my mom gave me that One Yard Wonders sewing book? In the book there are directions to make cloth tote bags that are nicely lined and have a pocket. There are also directions to make these really cute envelope pouches (literally like a cloth padded envelope with a button or a ribbon to close it). I thought that making each girl a bag and a pouch would be great for bridesmaid's gifts. I want to make each girl a bag and a pouch and have the bag and pouch coordinate, but get everyone a different pattern/color scheme. I'm also thinking (depending on the fabric) about embroidering their initial on the bag.
Have you seen how cute fabric is nowadays?
It's an Alexander Henry print from his Lorenza collection, and it's $8.95 a yard. A bit high, but I don't need much yardage for these projects, 1.75 yards max (I am way, way overestimating) per set of pouch and bag.
I should probably save that fabric for baby gifts, but I love it.
My sister Alli is loving that coral color right now, this would be great for her.
Melissa is getting married in November, and her colors are sage green, chocolate brown and champagne. I thought it'd be cute to make her stuff in her wedding colors and then she could use the bag to carry essentials on her wedding day (by her carry I mean me, I am there to help!). She has more traditional tastes than I do, and this is awfully mod, so I need to keep looking.
I LOVE this print, I just don't know who for....
So many options, ahhh!
For Melissa, I know what colors I'm looking for. For my sister Alli, I'd like to find a really modern print with apples on it (she loves apples and they're kind of Orla Kiely-esque). If not, something in a coral color. She likes the really modern graphic stuff like I do. For my sister Mary....something with donuts on it would be funny (that girl really, really loves her donuts) but I don't want it to look kitchsy. I'll need Alli's help on that one. But for Ryan's sisters, Erin and Kate, I am drawing a blank. I don't know them well enough yet to know what colors or prints they'd like.
So what do you all think? Would tote bags with a matching/coordinating make-up bag/camera case/pouch for whatever be too Holly Hobby/Susie Homemade/Cheap? Be honest! I know that I would LOVE something like this (I hoard canvas bags, because I use them for everything, groceries, trips to the library, lunch bags, etc.) and I love to have little pouches to organize things in my purse. But while I appreciate a homemade gift, not everyone does, and I get that. Any ideas on fabric for his sisters? What are you doing for you attendants gifts?
--Attention lovely ladies who are standing up with me July 24th: This post discusses what I am thinking about giving you as a gift. If you like surprises then I would suggest stopping now. Melissa and Alli, this is not news to you, so disregard.--
I now have 5 bridesmaids gifts to get together, but I think I have some ideas that will do nicely. Remember for Christmas my mom gave me that One Yard Wonders sewing book? In the book there are directions to make cloth tote bags that are nicely lined and have a pocket. There are also directions to make these really cute envelope pouches (literally like a cloth padded envelope with a button or a ribbon to close it). I thought that making each girl a bag and a pouch would be great for bridesmaid's gifts. I want to make each girl a bag and a pouch and have the bag and pouch coordinate, but get everyone a different pattern/color scheme. I'm also thinking (depending on the fabric) about embroidering their initial on the bag.
Have you seen how cute fabric is nowadays?
It's an Alexander Henry print from his Lorenza collection, and it's $8.95 a yard. A bit high, but I don't need much yardage for these projects, 1.75 yards max (I am way, way overestimating) per set of pouch and bag.
I should probably save that fabric for baby gifts, but I love it.
My sister Alli is loving that coral color right now, this would be great for her.
Melissa is getting married in November, and her colors are sage green, chocolate brown and champagne. I thought it'd be cute to make her stuff in her wedding colors and then she could use the bag to carry essentials on her wedding day (by her carry I mean me, I am there to help!). She has more traditional tastes than I do, and this is awfully mod, so I need to keep looking.
I LOVE this print, I just don't know who for....
So many options, ahhh!
For Melissa, I know what colors I'm looking for. For my sister Alli, I'd like to find a really modern print with apples on it (she loves apples and they're kind of Orla Kiely-esque). If not, something in a coral color. She likes the really modern graphic stuff like I do. For my sister Mary....something with donuts on it would be funny (that girl really, really loves her donuts) but I don't want it to look kitchsy. I'll need Alli's help on that one. But for Ryan's sisters, Erin and Kate, I am drawing a blank. I don't know them well enough yet to know what colors or prints they'd like.
So what do you all think? Would tote bags with a matching/coordinating make-up bag/camera case/pouch for whatever be too Holly Hobby/Susie Homemade/Cheap? Be honest! I know that I would LOVE something like this (I hoard canvas bags, because I use them for everything, groceries, trips to the library, lunch bags, etc.) and I love to have little pouches to organize things in my purse. But while I appreciate a homemade gift, not everyone does, and I get that. Any ideas on fabric for his sisters? What are you doing for you attendants gifts?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
D*mmit ModCloth! And Tulle4Us....
All my working life, I have lived paycheck to paycheck and blew my money on clothes. I am reforming myself quite successfully--I put money (a big chunk of money...at least I think it's a big chunk) into our wedding account every single month, I pay quite a bit extra on my car note, and I am buying lots of Christmas presents. The money I have to spend on myself and shopping is on the non-existent side right now.
Well my dumb*ss subscribes to Fashion Under $100. And a few days ago they posted the most lovely dress, so I clicked over onto their website to see what else they had...I told you I was dumb.
Look at this stuff!
How cute would this look with jeans and moccasins for a casual Saturday out and about?
Source
I love dress shopping so much.
Tailored dresses like that tend to work well on me.
I really need more practical things and less dresses, but we all know what's more fun to shop for, right?
And then, Jenna on That Wife posted about a photo contest for Tulle4Us, so like a total idiot, I clicked over there where I found this...
It comes in green...sigh....
As soon as this wedding business is completed, I am going on a shopping spree for sure.
Has your spending money diminished with wedding planning?
Well my dumb*ss subscribes to Fashion Under $100. And a few days ago they posted the most lovely dress, so I clicked over onto their website to see what else they had...I told you I was dumb.
Look at this stuff!
How cute would this look with jeans and moccasins for a casual Saturday out and about?
SourceHoly goodness the dresses....
I could wear this so many places! Like work, and shopping, and going out (because I go out so.much.!)
The last thing I need is another black dress, but this one has a bow that ties in the back, it's so different.
I could wear this so many places! Like work, and shopping, and going out (because I go out so.much.!)
The last thing I need is another black dress, but this one has a bow that ties in the back, it's so different.
I love dress shopping so much.
Tailored dresses like that tend to work well on me.
I really need more practical things and less dresses, but we all know what's more fun to shop for, right?
And then, Jenna on That Wife posted about a photo contest for Tulle4Us, so like a total idiot, I clicked over there where I found this...
It comes in green...sigh....
As soon as this wedding business is completed, I am going on a shopping spree for sure.
Has your spending money diminished with wedding planning?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Milk Glass Update
We are less than 10 vases away to having all of the milk glass we need for the wedding! And we still have months and months to gradually pick them up.
Ryan's mom and his best friend and his best friend's wife were kind enough to think of us when they were out thrifting last weekend, and they each picked us up a piece. Ryan and I swung by a Salvation Army Saturday afternoon and picked up 5 pieces....for $1.25. That is $0.25 a piece. I am positively delighted with the fact that we are doing this, because this enables us to spend next to nothing on our centerpieces (I'm thinking it's going to be way under $10 per centerpiece).
We have found though, after the centerpiece mock-up we did a few weekends ago, that some of the vases have really narrow necks and might not work. But, for the price we're paying for them, we can easily pick up a couple extra. The vases that are too narrow for centerpieces can be used in other places, and we're thinking of filling them with carnations or with red fabric flowers.
Did you start a project only to find out later that changes needed to be made? Have any of your wedding projects made your thrifty heart sing with joy?
Also, I need to figure out what we're going to do with all of this milk glass after the wedding! I know we'll keep a couple of our favorite pieces, but there's no way we need 40 vases. Any suggestions?
Ryan's mom and his best friend and his best friend's wife were kind enough to think of us when they were out thrifting last weekend, and they each picked us up a piece. Ryan and I swung by a Salvation Army Saturday afternoon and picked up 5 pieces....for $1.25. That is $0.25 a piece. I am positively delighted with the fact that we are doing this, because this enables us to spend next to nothing on our centerpieces (I'm thinking it's going to be way under $10 per centerpiece).
We have found though, after the centerpiece mock-up we did a few weekends ago, that some of the vases have really narrow necks and might not work. But, for the price we're paying for them, we can easily pick up a couple extra. The vases that are too narrow for centerpieces can be used in other places, and we're thinking of filling them with carnations or with red fabric flowers.
Did you start a project only to find out later that changes needed to be made? Have any of your wedding projects made your thrifty heart sing with joy?
Also, I need to figure out what we're going to do with all of this milk glass after the wedding! I know we'll keep a couple of our favorite pieces, but there's no way we need 40 vases. Any suggestions?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Another One
My engagement band is really delicate..it's between 1.5 and 1 millimeters, and I don't want the wedding band to be wider than my engagement band. That's slightly picky, I know, but I don't want the wedding band to overshadow my engagement ring in any way.
I was thinking something like this.....
I really like how the diamonds aren't the channel setting, they're each set up on their own prongs. But it's $300, and I can think of 1,000 other places to spend that money. My engagement ring is so gorgeous and I love it so much, I feel outrageously selfish in spending that much money on another ring for me. I mean, Ryan's happy with a bamboo ring that cost well under $100. Who am I to demand more money spent on my left hand?
I also saw a ring kind of like this at a jewelry store in town that I liked. This will give you a rough idea, but the ring I saw was much more delicate, had different shapes (I think a rectangle and then a circle) and had lots of smaller diamonds.
Source
I was thinking something like this.....
I really like how the diamonds aren't the channel setting, they're each set up on their own prongs. But it's $300, and I can think of 1,000 other places to spend that money. My engagement ring is so gorgeous and I love it so much, I feel outrageously selfish in spending that much money on another ring for me. I mean, Ryan's happy with a bamboo ring that cost well under $100. Who am I to demand more money spent on my left hand?
I also saw a ring kind of like this at a jewelry store in town that I liked. This will give you a rough idea, but the ring I saw was much more delicate, had different shapes (I think a rectangle and then a circle) and had lots of smaller diamonds.
SourceThe ring in the store was 40% off and it brought it to $200 ish, but I wonder if I'd get tired of it in a few years.
I'm also looking at plain white gold bands, but I can't find any smaller than 2 mm, which is wider than what I want.
I'm going to keep looking, but I don't know if I'm OK with spending more money on my rings.
What does your wedding band look like?
I'm also looking at plain white gold bands, but I can't find any smaller than 2 mm, which is wider than what I want.
I'm going to keep looking, but I don't know if I'm OK with spending more money on my rings.
What does your wedding band look like?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Wedding Magazines
I have stopped buying wedding magazines.
Why? But they are so much fun, you say! I agree completely. They were fun at first, but I have lost interest.
The weddings in those magazines? Those aren't anything close to the kind of wedding Ryan and I will be having. And their budget articles are normally....out of our budget. Which is silly, because while Ryan and I are having what I would term a "budget" wedding, we are by no means spending no money....so it drives me nuts when the "budget" options they feature are still too expensive!
Anyway, those magazines are expensive, and they give me expensive ideas! They really make me lose perspective of the fact that the amount of money we spend or the decorations we have are totally irrelevant-what's important is Ryan and I's marriage, our joining our lives together forever. So I've stopped buying them, with the exception of Martha Stewart Weddings, because that magazine is packed with practical, easy-to-do, budget friendly projects.
So I'm going to stop wasting $6-10 a pop on these magazines....
And continue spending my money on this quarterly tome...
Do you find wedding magazines useful, and if so, which ones are your favorites? Is it just me or are magazines obscenely expensive?
Why? But they are so much fun, you say! I agree completely. They were fun at first, but I have lost interest.
The weddings in those magazines? Those aren't anything close to the kind of wedding Ryan and I will be having. And their budget articles are normally....out of our budget. Which is silly, because while Ryan and I are having what I would term a "budget" wedding, we are by no means spending no money....so it drives me nuts when the "budget" options they feature are still too expensive!
Anyway, those magazines are expensive, and they give me expensive ideas! They really make me lose perspective of the fact that the amount of money we spend or the decorations we have are totally irrelevant-what's important is Ryan and I's marriage, our joining our lives together forever. So I've stopped buying them, with the exception of Martha Stewart Weddings, because that magazine is packed with practical, easy-to-do, budget friendly projects.
So I'm going to stop wasting $6-10 a pop on these magazines....
And continue spending my money on this quarterly tome...
Do you find wedding magazines useful, and if so, which ones are your favorites? Is it just me or are magazines obscenely expensive?
Friday, September 4, 2009
Honeymooning
I am ridiculous about the wedding budget! I will ruthlessly slash our budget until we can have a honeymoon. Ryan and I have never taken a big trip where its just us, and neither one of us has had a vacation in years. So if I have to be a stickler about our budget to get a honeymoon, then so be it.
Originally, Ryan and I wanted to do a self-driving tour of Ireland, a la Mrs. Lovebug. Unfortunately, a 7-night tour would cost $1400 just for the car rental and hotels, and we'd still have to pay for airfare, meals, and general spending money. You can check out the site where I got those prices here.
So unless I get a big-*ss raise (haha) or Ryan wins the lottery, then no Ireland for us.
Source
Originally, Ryan and I wanted to do a self-driving tour of Ireland, a la Mrs. Lovebug. Unfortunately, a 7-night tour would cost $1400 just for the car rental and hotels, and we'd still have to pay for airfare, meals, and general spending money. You can check out the site where I got those prices here.
So unless I get a big-*ss raise (haha) or Ryan wins the lottery, then no Ireland for us.
SourceLet's be honest, airfare to anywhere but North and South America is going to be cost-prohibitive, so just cross out pretty much the whole world.
Ryan has always wanted to go to Belize, so I've looked into that a little bit. By a little bit, I mean that I spent maybe 5 minutes researching. I need to do lots more research, but from what I've read, it looks like there are lots of eco-resorts in Belize, and we'd be arriving right in the middle of hurricane season. Yay!
Ryan has expressed an interest in a cruise, but I've been on one and really don't think he would like it. He hates being cooped up and he hates crowds, and cruises involve both of those. I'm more of a city girl, so I think it'd be fun to go to San Francisco or New York or something. I also looked into Montreal, because neither he nor I have ever been to Canada, we could do city stuff for me and wilderness stuff for him, and it feels very European to me but would be pretty budget friendly. I mean, how pretty does it look?
Sigh. So many options! What are you doing for your honeymoon? Got any budget-friendly ideas for me?
Ryan has always wanted to go to Belize, so I've looked into that a little bit. By a little bit, I mean that I spent maybe 5 minutes researching. I need to do lots more research, but from what I've read, it looks like there are lots of eco-resorts in Belize, and we'd be arriving right in the middle of hurricane season. Yay!
Ryan has expressed an interest in a cruise, but I've been on one and really don't think he would like it. He hates being cooped up and he hates crowds, and cruises involve both of those. I'm more of a city girl, so I think it'd be fun to go to San Francisco or New York or something. I also looked into Montreal, because neither he nor I have ever been to Canada, we could do city stuff for me and wilderness stuff for him, and it feels very European to me but would be pretty budget friendly. I mean, how pretty does it look?
Sigh. So many options! What are you doing for your honeymoon? Got any budget-friendly ideas for me?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Late Night Snack, Anyone?
I love the late night snack trend I've seen in some weddings lately.
Source
SourceThis is exactly what I had in mind-milk and cookies! The only thing holding me back from doing this was my total inability to make cookies come out right. I just don't have the right touch with them, I guess. A weekend or so ago, I made a batch of peanut butter cookies and a batch of chocolate chip cookies that actually turned out, even in my iffy-at-best oven. I'm thinking, start baking every weekend in April and freeze the cookies, and by July 24th, I'll have plenty for the late night snack! I'm not sure how difficult the milk would be to procure. I found the recipes for the cookies over at Allrecipes. You'll find the chocolate chip recipe here and the peanut butter recipe here.
This is a DIY project I am confident about! I'll have plenty of time, so if something goes wrong all is well, and I can work ahead, which is huge. I had kind of ix-nayed the late night snack idea because I figured it would be too expensive, but this wouldn't be a big investment at all.
Are you doing a late night snack, or are you baking anything for you wedding?
This is a DIY project I am confident about! I'll have plenty of time, so if something goes wrong all is well, and I can work ahead, which is huge. I had kind of ix-nayed the late night snack idea because I figured it would be too expensive, but this wouldn't be a big investment at all.
Are you doing a late night snack, or are you baking anything for you wedding?
Saturday, August 15, 2009
I just can't stop....
...spending money.
Money goes through my fingers like water.
I don't balance my checkbook (online banking does it for you! Right?), I have no clue what my credit score is, and I have no idea where the h*ll all my money goes every month.
I have been sooo stressed about money lately, what with saving for the wedding and finally being a self-sufficient adult, that I knew I needed to do something, but I didn't know what.
Money goes through my fingers like water.
I don't balance my checkbook (online banking does it for you! Right?), I have no clue what my credit score is, and I have no idea where the h*ll all my money goes every month.
I have been sooo stressed about money lately, what with saving for the wedding and finally being a self-sufficient adult, that I knew I needed to do something, but I didn't know what.
Source
I signed up for Mint today. You input all of your accounts (don't worry, it's 100% secure) and they put together these incredible charts and graphs for you. After I input my checking account, Mint informed me just how much money I spend dining out in July. Ouch. It takes a bit to set up, and I'm still tweaking my account to make sure that the graphs are as accurate as can be (for example, making sure I mark which "Food and Dining" purchases are groceries and which ones are eating out), but I feel much more in control of my finances already.
Oddly enough, gas station purchases are automatically dubbed "Food and Dining." Isn't that strange? All I did to change them was to double click on the particular transaction, select "Auto" and then select "Gas/Fuel." It's so easy and user friendly!
You can manage every account you have from Mint. You can even set budgets up, and when you exceed your "Clothes" budget for the month, it tells you.
Mint just informed me that I spent and absolutely obscene amount of money at Wal Mart in the past six months!
I forsee great things happening with Mint. I am very goal oriented, so keeping the bars in the graph down under "Clothes" will keep me focused.
What do you do to not blow all of your paycheck in one day like I have been known to do in the past?
Oddly enough, gas station purchases are automatically dubbed "Food and Dining." Isn't that strange? All I did to change them was to double click on the particular transaction, select "Auto" and then select "Gas/Fuel." It's so easy and user friendly!
You can manage every account you have from Mint. You can even set budgets up, and when you exceed your "Clothes" budget for the month, it tells you.
Mint just informed me that I spent and absolutely obscene amount of money at Wal Mart in the past six months!
I forsee great things happening with Mint. I am very goal oriented, so keeping the bars in the graph down under "Clothes" will keep me focused.
What do you do to not blow all of your paycheck in one day like I have been known to do in the past?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Budget
Ryan and I worked over our wedding budget recently.
Le sigh.
I'm being over-dramatic. After very generous parental contributions, Ryan and I will need to come up with about $2000 out of pocket. This doesn't include a honeymoon or wedding bands, though, so that's what concerns me.
Ryan says I worrying about this wayyy too much, but I really want a bad-a** honeymoon! I am hoping for a self-driving tour of Ireland, just like Mrs. Lovebug did over on Weddingbee (I'm not even going to link to it, I'm sure you are all voracious readers like myself!).
I think it intimidates me so much because I am quite the spender, while Ryan is the saver of the two of us. It's scary to me, knowing I have to save up a chunk of change in the next year.
Did the idea of saving all that money freak you out?
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Morning of the Milk Glass
A few Saturday mornings ago, Ryan and I made it big.
We went garage sale shopping on Saturday morning for milk glass vases to use in our centerpieces. We weren't finding anything at the garage sales after about 2 frustrating hours, so Ryan suggested going to a flea market across the river. Southeast Missouri/Illinois brides, e-mail me and I'll fill you in on where it is. Anyway, we did so much better than I could have dreamed! I expected to find maybe 3-4 vases, at that, and I was not planning on spending over $2 per vase. This seems ridiculously low, but we need about 40 of these, and they just aren't something I wanted to spend a lot on.
Did we cash in or did we cash in!
A sampling of the vases, washed and drying on my counter.Here are a few of my favorites. I am especially partial to the one on the right.
I already had 2, and we found 19 vases at the flea market. Seriously! And for the 21 vases we've found, we have spent a grand total of $21.50. Can you believe it? I am so thrilled that our vision is working out at such a fabulous price. I am super pumped about these, now I just need to do a mock-up with a branch in one of these guys.
What do you think?
Friday, July 24, 2009
Follow up to the Great Bouquet Mock-Up of 2009
So, due to the lovely remarks from Miss Em and D. Marie (thanks ladies, you really helped make up my mind!), I am set on doing my own flowers. My mom is not. She thinks I am going to be losing my sh*t in the days before the nuptials and that flowers have to be done way to close to the wedding for me to worry about it. Anyway, I want to do it because of the amazing amount of money I will save...and I just want to do it. I feel like I can do a good job, and I don't think it will take me much time.
Ryan wants mini Calla lillies for the boutonnieres. Nothing but Calla lillies will suffice (apparently it's a masculine flower, which I kinda see). I found mini white calla lillies at Blooms by the Box for $3.41 a stem. We need about 10 stems, so this would run us around $35.
I want white hydrangeas, as you lovely ladies know, and they are $2.85 a stem, so for the 30 stems that I will need, that will run me about $85.50.
Throw in $20 or so for ribbons and pins, and that is under $150 for the flowers. We aren't doing flowers anywhere else, so this would be it. Under $150!? There's no WAY I'm paying out the wazoo when I can do it for under $150. I might want to do something floral for the church....but that is very undecided.
Anyway! I am too good at digressing. I really think I could handle this. The calla lillies are just getting trimmed and having pins stuck in them (Ryan doesn't want any ribbon to touch these. At all.), and the bouquet I did took maybe 5 minutes, and it wouldn't take me more than 10 or 15 to do a really nice one. When I did the mock-up bouquet it held up very nicely (and I abused it on purpose), and calla lillies are supposed to be very sturdy and they have a vase life of 7-10 days.
I have heard excellent things about Blooms by the Box also. P.S., the photos are from their website.
So ladies, am I kidding myself? Will I be able to do this the day before the wedding or do I need to let it go and accept defeat?
Ryan wants mini Calla lillies for the boutonnieres. Nothing but Calla lillies will suffice (apparently it's a masculine flower, which I kinda see). I found mini white calla lillies at Blooms by the Box for $3.41 a stem. We need about 10 stems, so this would run us around $35.
I want white hydrangeas, as you lovely ladies know, and they are $2.85 a stem, so for the 30 stems that I will need, that will run me about $85.50.
Throw in $20 or so for ribbons and pins, and that is under $150 for the flowers. We aren't doing flowers anywhere else, so this would be it. Under $150!? There's no WAY I'm paying out the wazoo when I can do it for under $150. I might want to do something floral for the church....but that is very undecided.
Anyway! I am too good at digressing. I really think I could handle this. The calla lillies are just getting trimmed and having pins stuck in them (Ryan doesn't want any ribbon to touch these. At all.), and the bouquet I did took maybe 5 minutes, and it wouldn't take me more than 10 or 15 to do a really nice one. When I did the mock-up bouquet it held up very nicely (and I abused it on purpose), and calla lillies are supposed to be very sturdy and they have a vase life of 7-10 days.
I have heard excellent things about Blooms by the Box also. P.S., the photos are from their website.
So ladies, am I kidding myself? Will I be able to do this the day before the wedding or do I need to let it go and accept defeat?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Picking My Battles
The bowtie issue was resolved. I agreed to drop it, and Ryan has turned the invitations over to me, as we couldn't agree on anything in the world of paper. Ryan didn't feel particularly strongly about the invitations, so they are now in my hands.
Potential Invite #3. Pro: Nothing but script, lots of white space, unique horizontal design. Con: Ryan wasn't super crazy about it when shown. Then again, he wasn't super crazy about any of these!
A quick word about Ryan's invitation preferences: He likes absolutely nothing on them except for writing. He wants them to look like wedding invitations. Fair enough. Even though I have free reign with this aspect of the wedding plans, I don't think it would be very nice to totally disregard his preferences.
Potential Invite #1. Pro: Relatively simple, leaf motif in initial. Con: One initial looks kind of weird to me, I feel like it should be the full mongram. Also not crazy about the flower on the bottom.
I am definitely leaning towards Potential Invite #3. Even though Ryan wasn't crazy about it, it does fit his all text preferences while still making me happy inside.
The only thing I am confused about with the printable invites is how much the online printing service is going to cost. We'll need to print about 200 invitations and response postcards, 300ish programs, and 200ish thank you cards, and probalby 200 direction cards. The online printing services use lots of lingo I am not familiar with, so I am having a hard time getting a clear idea of the price. I am afraid that after printing, these might be cost prohibitive. By cost prohibitive, I mean over a dollar per invite. I know that's not much, but invites are just not high on my spending-money list, what can I say. I would be perfectly happy with these printed on some nice 80 lb paper instead of letterpress and custom maps.
I never thought programs were really necessary, but since Ryan and I are having a Unitarian ceremony that many family and friends might now be familiar with, I think we need it. Also, I have more readings than I can fit into the ceremony, so I want to print some on the programs! I know people can Mapquest, but I have really made use of the direction cards for the last couple of weddings I've gone to, so I think it would be helpful for our guests.
On the other hand, I could just whip up an invite in Microsoft Word or Publisher and be done with it. Why not simplify matters on something that isn't high on my priority list?
Any tips on online printing services? What did you do for you invitations?
Monday, June 1, 2009
A Breath of Fresh Air
I have an announcement to make.
Ryan and I have agreed on something concerning the wedding.
I'm exaggerating. We agree on some things, but we still cannot agree on a color, a city in which to have the wedding (not so much that we can't agree, we just can't decide), bowties for the groomsmen (please Ryan, pretty please?), etc. I do love having an involved groom, because it's his day just as it is mine. I'm super indecisive, so having Ryan actually care it very helpful.
So how did Ryan and I come to agree on something for the wedding? It came about as I was researching photographers last week. Remember in my post when I talked about how expensive photography was? Well, Gail Fleming has come to the rescue. I found her on the WPJA's website. I love her style, there are some incredible candid shots that I can't get enough of, but she also has some great posed pictures too, so you truly get the best of both worlds. She is a top pick from The Knot and she is in St. Louis. Even if we got married in my hometown about 2 hours south, her traveling fee is only $100. She is reasonable, too. Her packages all come with a CD of high-resolution images complete with printing rights, and her prices are extremely doable for Ryan and I as the ones we would choose are under $2000. Besides all of this practical stuff......I really, really love her pictures. This is the first thing on the yellow brick road of wedding planning that I have gotten kind of emotional about....I am attached to this photography, what can I say.
Anyway (I am long winded, aren't I?), I showed her stuff to Ryan last week and he was all about it! He likes that the pictures aren't all posed, and he particularly likes her prices. He told me to go ahead and call her and set up a meeting. It was so easy, and we were both totally on the same page! He has no weird emotional attachment to her stuff like I do, though! It was just a wonderful breath of fresh air. Enough talking, onto the good stuff (all images courtesy of Gail Fleming Photography):
How cute is that last one!
Ryan and I have agreed on something concerning the wedding.
I'm exaggerating. We agree on some things, but we still cannot agree on a color, a city in which to have the wedding (not so much that we can't agree, we just can't decide), bowties for the groomsmen (please Ryan, pretty please?), etc. I do love having an involved groom, because it's his day just as it is mine. I'm super indecisive, so having Ryan actually care it very helpful.
So how did Ryan and I come to agree on something for the wedding? It came about as I was researching photographers last week. Remember in my post when I talked about how expensive photography was? Well, Gail Fleming has come to the rescue. I found her on the WPJA's website. I love her style, there are some incredible candid shots that I can't get enough of, but she also has some great posed pictures too, so you truly get the best of both worlds. She is a top pick from The Knot and she is in St. Louis. Even if we got married in my hometown about 2 hours south, her traveling fee is only $100. She is reasonable, too. Her packages all come with a CD of high-resolution images complete with printing rights, and her prices are extremely doable for Ryan and I as the ones we would choose are under $2000. Besides all of this practical stuff......I really, really love her pictures. This is the first thing on the yellow brick road of wedding planning that I have gotten kind of emotional about....I am attached to this photography, what can I say.
Anyway (I am long winded, aren't I?), I showed her stuff to Ryan last week and he was all about it! He likes that the pictures aren't all posed, and he particularly likes her prices. He told me to go ahead and call her and set up a meeting. It was so easy, and we were both totally on the same page! He has no weird emotional attachment to her stuff like I do, though! It was just a wonderful breath of fresh air. Enough talking, onto the good stuff (all images courtesy of Gail Fleming Photography):
How cute is that last one!
Do you and your future hubs disagree/agree on wedding planning, for the most part? Did you find yourself inexplicably attached to any facets of your wedding planning?
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