175 Save The Dates for under $130

Have I told you yet that we are very simple, non-fussy people? We really don't get caught up in traditions and etiquette-pounding Miss Manners-esque rules. Although we are having a generally traditional wedding, we feel that there are a few areas we can skimp on in the name of saving money and expressing our personalities.

This brings me to Save The Dates. Although I wish I could share with you an awesome tutorial and photos on my step-by-step process of designing my Save The Dates, I went the easy route and ordered them online. This is one of the few things that I decided not to take on as a DIY project. I did, however, come thisclose to making a fauxtobooth version -- exactly like this WeddingBee DIY'er.

I've seen the elaborate versions and felt they would be well-suited for a small and intimate wedding but truly don't feel that out of our 300 guests, very many of them would actually save their Save the Date.


Cost Cut #1: Postcard Save The Dates
I didn't want to have to send an envelope. Okay, so a regular mailing stamp is only 0.16 cents more than a postcard stamp but when you add up 300 of them, I'd be saving approximately $50 by sending a postcard rather than an envelope. Everyone just throws away an envelope anyway. (And although I'm not a hardcore tree-hugger, I like my environment and see the uselessness in sending an envelope when I don't have to.)

Cost Cut #2: SaveTheDateMagic.com
I looked in to many different versions of Save The Dates and thought about spending a lot of time on them to make them really unique and interesting. But I knew I'd be working hard on the actual wedding invitations down the road, and I didn't want to spend hours of my energy on the Save The Dates only to turn around and have to spend hours on the invitations. This lady can only handle so much cutting and gluing and folding in one shot. I searched the web and found http://www.savethedatemagic.com/. I began creating. It is one of the cheapest options out there for postcards that you can personalize. Other sites let you personalize with a photo but you can't actually change the text and font size, move those around, or add art. I loved having a low price with the option to personalize the cards further.

Cost Cut #3: Personal Delivery
This just happens to work out perfectly: my baby shower is being held this weekend and I will be able to personally hand over approximately 50 Save The Dates. Another 20 will go to coworkers and friends. This leaves about 100 to send out via mail.

Save The Dates (with shipping) for 250: $98.89
Postage for 100 postcards: $28

Here are the proofs that the company sent me:

I forgot to mention that I LOVE the way they turned out. They are simple, easy to mail, easy to address, and will be light enough for people to put on their fridge with a small magnet. The company was very easy to deal with and I had a great experience!

Thinking Ahead: Infant Tuxedo

Okay, the title of this post is a little redundant. Isn't everything I'm doing right now for the wedding considered "thinking ahead"?

We are having a baby boy in the end of February. He will be approximately 6-7 months old on our wedding day. Jeff's son will be 4 years old and I picked up a tuxedo jacket, pants, and vest for him off of Craigslist a month ago for only $8! It was such a steal. We want to attempt to have his son pulling our little baby down the aisle in a wagon (and hoping for an easy-going infant). Therefore, both of Jeff's sons will be the ring bearers. We need to make sure their outfits go together.

The last time I was in a bridal shop, I checked out the infant tuxedos. Although freakin' adorable, good lordy they're expensive! Prices range from $35 to $75.



Wear Me Out Boys



Besides the price, I'm entirely sure that I DO NOT want to make my poor little boy suffer in a stuffy suit. The last thing we want is to make him uncomfortable...which will make him whiney. No one wants a whiney baby at a wedding, even if it is the bride and groom's child.

So what are my other options? Of course I Googled "infant ring bearer" and found a ton of full-on suits or little mock-suit onesies. The onesie is too informal for the ceremony but would be cute for him to wear for the few hours he's awake at the reception.

Speaking of his outfit for the reception, this is SO CUTE! I might have to get him something like this:

Cafe Press

I guess I'll just keep my eye out for a cute color-coordinating otufit for my little man. Maybe Easter sales will have some nice, in-between formal and comfortable/casual outfits for him.

I saved $600 on my wedding gown by buying pre-owned!

Although this is not DIY, I thought I'd share how I found the wedding dress of my dreams and how I saved over $600 on it.

I began my wedding dress hunt knowing that I have never wanted a strapless dress. No offense to all you strapless-loving-ladies out there, but I feel like everyone who has been married in the last 5 years has done so in in a strapless number. Sure, they're gorgeous and can be made of different materials with different beading and details to make them stand out from one another. But when I tried to remember the dresses from weddings I've attended, not one thing stands out about any dress. You line up all the dresses of my friends and cousins and I wouldn't be able to assign who wore what. They all look the same to me in my fuzzy memory, besides the fact that they're all strapless. I knew I needed to be a little more unique -- even if it only mattered to me.

I started looking online to see what I liked, and came across Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses. Being the deal-hound I am, I thought it was a great idea for a website and started saving favorites so that I could go back to them later if I never found a dress I liked in person. I also planned to cross-check the site for a better deal if I found a dress that I loved. None of my friends seemed to think this was a good idea. "Why would you want a dress that someone else wore on their wedding day?" They felt it was bad luck. However, many of the dresses on the site have never been worn. Not even once! Many of them are sold by people who bought 2 dresses because they couldn't decide between them...and I myself have had two friends who've done the same.

I made appointments at bridal shops to try on dresses. Right away I found that rather than the gauzy chiffon-style dresses or lace that I thought I'd love, I was loving silk materials like satin. The shine and richness of the fabric kept drawing me in.  At store #1, I found a dress that I liked a lot -- and it was strapless.

At store #2, I found THE dress...only to flip over the price tag and see that it would cost me $1400. My budget was somewhere around $600.  The other bad news was that it was a private collection dress that is only made by the designer at that ONE particular store...meaning there was no way I would find the dress for a cheaper price online. I disappointedly gave up the idea that I would ever wear that particular dress.

I decided to keep searching for a dress that was similar to the $1400 one, but that had a more budget-friendly price tag. I finally found one. My friends cried as they saw me try it on. It fit me like a glove, molded to every curve of my body. It was this dress by Mori Lee (Style 2505):

I wasn't able to buy the dress right away because I was waiting for my mom to send me the money (she had agreed to purchase my dress). She must have sensed something in my voice that told her it wasn't THE dress. I couldn't get her to commit to purchasing it, regardless of the fact that I emailed her pictures of me in the dress and talked about it constantly. She kept putting it off and I was getting really annoyed with her.

A month went by. Every time I looked at the photo of the dress I fell less and less in love with it. I couldn't determine why...was it the way the model looked in it? Her strange pose? Was it that the model is wearing diamond white and the one I liked was ivory? I just couldn't put my finger on the reason why I was gradually falling out of love with (what I thought was) THE dress.

I started looking online again. I went back to preownedweddingdresses.com and looked at my saved dresses. I kept going back to look at one Essence of Australia dress in particular. It had straps...isn't that what I wanted to begin with? It had the chest portion similar to the last two dresses I loved. And it had the body of the first dress I loved. And it was satin. Could it really be every little part of every dress I'd liked so far, all rolled in to one? AND WITH STRAPS?

I did some research and called 5 different shops that sold the brand, finally finding a store 3 hours away that had the sample. I meekly asked Jeff, "Could we go on a 6 hour road trip on Saturday?" to which he responded, "Sure!" (One of the 2,395,382 reasons I love him!)  When I arrived at the store and saw the dress in person, I knew before even putting it on that it was everything I'd hoped it would be. I tried it on, spent about 3 minutes admiring it, got dressed and left. It was the quickest bridal appointment EVER! I knew the size 10 dress for sale online would be perfect after trying on a slightly snug size 8 (however I was also 4 months pregnant).

Right away I emailed the seller and we got the ball rolling. I purchased the dress for $600 and the seller paid the shipping costs. In the store, the price tag was $1055 and that didn't include shipping or taxes. I estimated that I saved almost $600 on my wedding gown, and I didn't settle for a dress that I wasn't completely in love with!

I can't wait until I lose some baby fat (currently 6 months pregnant -- I've got awhile to go before that happens!) so that I can "officially" try on my dress. I LOVE my dress. And I LOVE so much that I didn't spend an arm and a leg on a wedding dress of my dreams.

Here's my wedding gown -- Essence of Australia D970:

Wedding Card Box

My wedding card box turned out to be a complete DIY success!

1. Box 1: I saw an empty paper box floating around at work and realized that with the lid it would make a perfect box! I measured and cut off the end side/square off the box, then cut the rest of the box down to size so that it would be perfectly square. I used packaging tape to tape the side/square back on to the box. I used the same method with the top, ending up with a perfectly square box with a fitting lid. I made sure the lid didn't fit too tightly as I knew I'd be folding the fabric into the inside, and I wanted to make sure the lid would still fit later. I put Box 2 on the lid of this box and traced the outline. Then I eyeballed about a half an inch inside of that box, then cut away a square with a box cutter knife. There was a lip for Box 2 to sit on.

2. Box 2: For the top box, I was a little more lazy and went to Hobby Lobby to buy it a paper mache pre-made box. Leaving a lip in the bottom of the box, I cut out a square as big as the square I already cut in Box 1. I also cut a rectangular slit for the envelopes into the lid. The paper mache box was easier to cut than I thought it would be!

3. I purchased 2 yards of a black fabric (I honestly don't know what it is called, but I got it at JoAnn Fabrics in the special occassion section) with a velvety black design. It was 6.99/yard but was also on a 30% off sale. I originally thought I wanted to cover the boxes in satin so that it would shine, but I realized that would be a disaster due to the nature of the satin. I didn't want the imperfections in the actual boxes to show through in lumps or bumps, or the hot glued parts to look bumpy under the satin. I opted for this thicker material because it seemed to be somewhat stiff...plus, it is beautiful!

4. I wrapped Box 1 like a present, with the exception that I made sure my folds went vertical along an edge of the box. I didn't want a bunch of seams/folds on two sides of the box. I hot glued around the edges once I determined how the fabric would lay on each side.



5. I placed the lid of Box 1 face down on the material and folded in/hot glued the edges into the inner part of the lid. I then cut an X into the open square and folded each triangle into the lid, gluing in place.

Box 1 Complete!

6. With Box 2 I wrapped the fabric around the outside, glued vertical folds along the back edge, and folded in the edges.

7. Once I had the lid and box complete, I glued the top box onto the bottom box.

8. I cut the ribbon and glued it inside the card slot, then stretched it to the bottom and glued it on the underside of the large box. I repeated this on each side. I made a simple bow tie out of ribbon and hot glued that separately onto the top.

I love my cardbox!!

I'm planning to get a few chipboard letters that say "Cards" and paint them silver or white, and glue them on the front lid of the top box. Then I might play around with a small "Thank You" sign that I could hang somewhere from the box.

Total Time: About 2 Hours

Total Cost: About $15 (top box and fabric, I already had the ribbon and glue gun/sticks)

I will use this for both my bridal shower and the wedding.

The Little Black (Bridesmaid) Dress

This was my thought when I first started thinking about my bridesmaid’s dresses: they would all love to wear a black party dress! And I couldn’t help but think of the all-too-common and completely out of whack bridal idea that each girl would also be able to wear the dress again. A black dress would go along with my classic and simple theme – we could be the chicest black and white wedding party this state has ever seen. AND, if I really wanted to save some money for my girls, they could each find their own little black dress! Score 5 points for being their favorite bride.

Then I saw this picture while browsing wedding photos:

Ohhhh the purple shoes…ohhh the matching purple bouquet! And in an instant, my entire bridal party’s wardrobe changed its colors.

I searched "purple wedding parties" and kept coming up with what I call “Vikings” colors – in reference to the royal purple duds which are worn by my father’s least favorite NFL team. Ugh and eww.

About 2 minutes after my initial excitement (the ohhhh the purple shoes…ohhh the matching bouquet!), I was about ready to return to the simple black party dress idea. I wasn't about to make my bridesmaids wear Vikings Purple.

Then I found these photos from The Knot:

Real Weddings - A Rustic Wedding in Coon Valley, WI

A Traditional Wedding in Chicago, IL

I fell in love with a dark, deep purple, especially when paired with outdoor scenes and greenery. Later I found out this color is either lapis or eggplant. A classy purple.

NEW COLORS: Black, White, and Eggplant

Will You Be My Bridesmaid? (Cards)

Last winter I got into card making, thanks to inspiration from Martha Stewart’s glitter crafting. I bought the complete package of glitters along with glues and handmade all of our Christmas cards and gift tags. After our engagement (more on that later), I immediately knew who most of my bridesmaids would be and wanted to something special for each of them. I decided to make each a personalized card.

I also did a little Google of bridesmaid cards and found this Maid of Honor card, which served as my inspiration.

Supplies I used:

6 different pieces of pretty cardstock designs that I felt complimented each girl’s personality
Black card stock
A-6 Envelopes
Glue Stick
White vellum paper with a pretty design that I could print on
Various colors of glitter to compliment the colors in the cardstock
Paper Cutter
Scissors
Fine-tip Glue Pen
Scrapbooking flowers in matching colors
1 piece of glittery black paper
Standard hole punch

What I did (which might be totally self-explanatory by looking at the photos, but I’ll go for overkill here):
1. I folded and cut the black cardstock into a card that would fit my envelopes for the 4 bridesmaids I would need to mail the cards for. The other two bridesmaids I made bigger cards (since they didn't need to fit in an envelope) and simply folded an 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock in half.

2. I measured and cut a rectangle to fit the front of the card out of the designed card stock, then glued it in place with a glue stick. I made sure I left a space about an inch from the top, so I’d have room to write the bridesmaid’s name in the black section later.

3. I did a few practice runs on a simple dress shape that I cut out of the black card stock. At the time I was thinking that a black, tea-length, strapless dress would be the final choice for the real bridesmaid dresses, so I went with that.

4. I glued the “dress” onto the card at an angle with the glue stick.

5. I placed two layers of flowers in the upper corner of the designed card stock, gluing them in place with a hot glue gun. There was a small hole in the middle that seemed to need filling, so I punched out a hole in the glittery black paper and used that for the center of the flower (was able to adhere right to the hot glue that was seeping out the center hole).

6. My next step was to use my glittering expertise and write the bridesmaid’s name on the top black portion in my glue pen, then sprinkling a colored glitter over that. I also used the glue pen to draw a “ribbon” around the dress’ waist, then glittered it with black (to match the glittery black paper punch in the middle of my flower).

After all of this was dry, I typed and printed a special message on the vellum paper asking each bridesmaid to be just that. I told her why she was so special to me, what qualities I love about our relationship, and how I couldn’t imagine not sharing my wedding day with her. I simply cut it square and signed the bottom before using the glue stick to adhere it to the inside of the card. Voila!

(The quality of the photos are terrible because I took them with someone else's phone then sent them to mine! Woops -- promise I will do better next time. I also only took photos of two of them...another newbie blogger mistake.)

My DIY Wedding Projects (I Love Lists!)

I have 10 months until my wedding, and under 4 months until my first baby is born (yes! I'm pregnant!). I'm going to attempt to have as much of this list done as possible before my baby boy comes into the world. I want to be able to live those first months with my child as stress-free as possible while still planning a wedding.

Here's my tentative list of DIY wedding projects, which will also give you a hint of what's to come:
1. Will you be my bridesmaid? Cards: simple cardmaking, glittering
2. Blinging my bridal shoes: rhinestones and glue
3. Pocketfold Invitations: vellum over a photo, insert cards, belly band
4. Branch and Crystal Centerpieces:  plaster of paris, spray painting, hot glue, tulle and ribbon
5. Cardbox: fabric, ribbon, chip board, hot glue
6. Bridal Earrings: sterling silver findings and pearl
7. Bridesmaid Earrings: sterling silver findings and pearl
8. Silk Bouquets: roses and cala lilies
9. Silk Boutonnieres: cala lilies
10. Unity Candle: rhinestones and ribbon
11. Flower Girl Basket: ribbon and paint?
12. Ring Bearer Pillow: sewing, satin
13. Tissue Paper Pomanders: cutting, folding, and fluffing
14. Cake Topper: rhinestones on a chipboard letter monogram?
15. Head Table Backdrop Garland/Banner: Cardstock, silk flowers, ribbon
16. Slideshow: Scanning Photos, Powerpoint
17. Ceremony Programs: Cardstock, Ribbon
18. Monogram Signs: Large letters, wrapped in ribbon?

A List of To-Be-Determined-If-Needed DIY items:
19. Veil: Buy a simple veil and bead the ends?
20. Decorating a Wagon: White satin/padding for wagon, ring bearer will pull 6 month old baby down the aisle?
21. Entree Selection Place Cards

For any other do-it-yourself brides out there, you can check out the WeddingBee blogger Miss Cinnamon Bun's tips for DIY weddings. She stresses the importance of starting early, which I'm attempting to emulate.

Finding a Reception Venue = Determining Wedding Style

I'm one of those people whose personal style is generally safe, although I prefer the term "classic" (I truly live in black sweaters, shirts, and blouses). However, I envy those who are able to put together colors and patterns that are seemingly un-matching to create an ensemble that is beautiful. In addition, the styles that I envy are extremely wide in range -- from kitschy homemade items to modern and simplistic clean lines. Therefore, when I began my wedding venue search, I knew that the style of the venue would determine the style of my wedding, which would also determine the types of DIY projects I would take on.

Of course, before beginning a wedding venue hunt, we had to put together a tentative guest list. Let me start by saying that neither my fiance nor I live close to our families. Out of our probable attendees, only about 20 live where we do. We are a solid 8 hours driving time from most of my large family and anwhere between 2 and 8 hours away from Jeff's (also very large) family. However, we are pretty sure that we will still have well over 250 guests in attendance. This venue needed to be large enough to house that many people.

Venue Choice #1 and Why We Loved It: A rustic renovated barn and farmhouse. Jeff and I both fell in love with the charming dance floor of the renovated barn, the fact that the farmhouse could sleep 10 of our close friends or family, and that we envisioned the decorating to be incredibly inexpensive. I was inspired by this mason jar centerpiece I found on The Knot and felt that everything would be so casual that we wouldn't need to spend much money at all.

Venue Choice #1 and Why We Decided Against It: After meeting with the coordinator, the $6000 price tag didn't offer us anything BUT the use of the facilities. We had to hire our own caterer and bartender service, plus we needed to do all of our own setting up and tearing down, including cleaning the farmhouse and the barns by 12 noon the morning after the wedding. NOT my idea of a stress-free wedding. Our music had to be contained within the building (doors and windows closed) after 10pm. We also weren't sold on the fact that the barn would house 250 people comfortably. And last but not least, the venue was 20 miles from the nearest hotel. This creates a problem because we know our reception will be a PARTY for our families and we were having a hard time deciding how to handle this (hire a bus to shuttle people? hire a group of people to be DD's for the night?) and it became a stressful thought.

Venue Choice #2 and Why We Loved It: After touring many different hotel locations, I found a Hilton that I originally thought was out of my price range. But I loved its style. Their lobby and pre-function area is made up of plush white couches with black and white accents. I loved that it was so neutral, which was a breath of fresh air from the other hotels that I had toured with ridiculous orange and red carpeting or bright green chairs.  

Venue Choice #2 and How It Became OURS: We did a lot of calculations and comparisons of the things included in packages, and we discovered that the Hilton was actually our best choice. In comparison with our rustic barn option, it was a $6000 price tag that included a TON of stuff. They had a wide variety of dinner choices and offered a free projector set-up and dance floor, along with servers and cake cutting. It amazed me that so many hotels offered those things for additional fees. The most important thing was that our guests would be able to stay at the hotel and drift up to their rooms with tired feet from dancing.

So I went from having a home-made and rustic feeling wedding to a classic wedding reception with one swift decision.

There you have it.

Theme: Classy/Classic
Colors: Black and white with accents of silver

If I can do it myself AND save money, why not give it a try?

I'd wish to begin this blog by stating that I am not a creative person. My friends and family may disagree with that statement, but alas, they are not involved in the inner workings of my mind. Most of my creativity is not self-derived, but rather, it is inspired by the creativity of those around me. Without search engines, stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby, and my ability to follow directions, my creative endeavors would be greatly limited.

That being said, I try my best. I am one of those crafty types who has dabbled in almost everything: painting, drawing, architectural/interior design, jewelry-making, scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, and generally anything that involves gluing, glitter, and decorating. The word dabble truly defines my crafting experience; I have never fully given myself toward one single hobby, and have never truly excelled at anything. I simply get by. I seem to purchase all the necessary items to complete an inspired idea, go all-out creating things for months, then move on to a new enterprise. I am the customer of Hobby Lobby's dreams.

But what brought me to creating this blog was my primary life-and-crafting motto: "If I can do it myself and save money, why not give it a try?" I am perpetually inspecting items that I find in stores to see if there is a way that I can re-create it on my own.

I have been engaged to Jeff since July 2010, but admit that I started brainstorming (ahem, Googling) DIY wedding projects for a few months prior. The one thing I know is that we are trying to pull off a $10,000 or less wedding, which means that every project I do will need to be as cost-effective as possible. Our wedding date is set for September 17, 2011 (10 months away!) and I already feel like I have everything complete...atleast in my own mind. Now it's down to the creating phase.

Follow along for my DIY wedding projects, but keep in mind, I'm really just a wannabe!