Wedding Planning Resources
This is my wedding planning resource page. I recently went through the process of planning my own wedding and if you are on a tight budget like I was it is very tough! I created this page for others who may also be a bride on a budget looking for cheap wedding ideas and ways of getting creative to save money on your big day. Please check out my wedding planning ideas below. I hope my suggestions will help you save some money! A great way to save money on your wedding is do some projects on your own. DIY wedding projects are a great way to cut costs. You will also get to experience the satisfaction of having done some things on your own - some of which you may think you could not have done! You may just impress yourself!
You might also be interested in my blog, where I've written a few more in-depth pieces on how to plan a wedding on a budget. You can check it out by clicking HERE .
I also have a message
board and classified ad service on this page for everyone to use to share
ideas, advertise items for sale, etc. Feel free to post your
wedding/bridal/formal or party-related items or services.
If you're looking for a certain topic
on this page and would prefer to skip directly to it, please use the
following links to jump directly to that
topic.
My
Wedding Planning Excel Spreadsheet
Wedding Dresses
Veils.
Headware and jewelry
Flowers
DIY Bouquets, etc
Cake, cupcakes
Other ideas, favors, etc.
Links
Mirrored Tier display
Below is a link to
my Classified Ads page. If you have something wedding-related to
sell, you can post a free classified ad here!
If you'd like to
post comments, ideas, tips, advice, etc. please go to my Message Board and
leave a message! I'd love to hear your ideas!
I'm offering a free copy of my Wedding Planning
Worksheet. I searched the internet and could not
find what I was looking for in a wedding planner, so I
created one myself. I wanted a place to keep information and
details throughout my planning that I could print and easily update/change
without having to erase things from a book, and I also wanted
a good way to work out the numbers to
see how much I would need to
pay, etc.
The planner has 23 tabs to keep track
of your Timeline, Budget, Attendants, Florists, banquet facilities, photographer/videographer, etc. The
tabs I used most were probably the Budget and
the Timeline, since these were the most
important items!
Here are a few screen shots:
You can download
the worksheet by clicking the link below. This will take you to the
file.
http://wikisend.com/download/623798/weddingworkbook2008.xls
If you use the worksheet,
I'd love to hear your feedback and know that you downloaded it.
Please fill out my poll below to answer a few simple questions about the
worksheet. Thanks!
Bottom line, if you are trying to
keep costs low, you need to be creative! And if you are creative and
crafty by nature, you might be able to save quite a bit of money by doing
DIY projects. Keep in mind it might not always be practical, and
some projects might even cost you more in the long run depending on how
many pieces, etc. you would need to buy in order to make the item.
If you have a Michaels or Joanns craft store in your area, have your
friends and family save their coupons for you. They will come in
handy! I managed to get a very pretty guest book and matching pen
for under $20 total using coupons, and the Unity Candle for about $15 with
a half price coupon. Save those coupons! Shopping for a dress on a budget is
very tricky! I went to the bridal stores and at the minimum I
knew I was going to have to spend at least $300 on a dress, another $200
on alterations, another $100 or so on "preservation." A $300 dress
quickly becomes a $600 dress in no time at all. I think anything
that is labeled "bridal" or "wedding" immediately jacks up the price.
If you are looking online for dresses, try searching for "white formal
dresses" or "ivory evening gowns" and you may find some dresses out
there that are quite a bit less, not exactly "bridal" but are just as
beautiful. This works especially if you are looking for a
destination or informal wedding dress. I found mine at Nordstroms.com. It
was on sale for $118, and with shipping I got it for $126!
What a deal! My grandma referred me to a seamstress who did my alterations,
which cost me $50. I felt good being able to fit into a dress that was
truly my size. At the bridal stores prepare to try on dresses 2
sizes larger than what you wear in order for them to fit decent...then
plan on having them altered to fit your body since they're going to be too
big! What a racket!
One other idea - check
bridesmaids dresses. They come in all colors and styles, and you
should be able to have it made in whatever color you want - which would
mean ivory, off-white, etc. That could save some money as
well.
Here are few of the online
stores I looked at before I found my Nordstroms dress. Keep in mind,
once you buy a wedding gown online you cannot send it back. Make
sure you go to the bridal stores in your areal and try on similar styles
so you know it's what you want and you'll be happy with it. I like
that the fact that cheap-wedding-gowns.com takes all of your measurements
and makes it specifically to fit you.
Well, as if
prices of dresses aren't enough, the veil and any headware also
comes with a hefty price tag! Tiaras can cost just as
much as your dress! Since I bought a dress that was not white
I wasn't sure if I'd be able to wear a veil. I
was so happy when I found the sites below where I could get my veil custom-made. Their prices
are about 1/2 to 1/3 less than what I would have paid at the
bridal store. They have all sorts of lenths and styles to choose from,
different edgings, etc. I got mine from veilshop.com and was very happy with
their service.
Also, I found quite a few
resources for how to make your own bouquets, boutinniers, etc. Here
are the links with all sorts of ideas and how-tos:
http://www.pashweddings.com/weddingforums/showthread.php?t=9656
Here are some photos to
use as ideas for your bouquet:
Here are my boutinnieres. I whipped up
most of these in just a few hours. I found some matching filler
flowers and wrapped the stems in floral tape. Then wrapped the
rosebud, and wrapped these 2
first components together. I used the leaves from the full roses
as the background leaves for the 4 on the left since they were
a little bigger. I again wrapped the leaf stem, wrapped this to
the other component and voila, a very quick and elegant boutinniere. I wasn't
sure how I liked the bare stem, so I used my taupe
ribbon and wrapped the stem to give it a finished
look. The trick to getting that on there
was 2 sided tape on both the starting end (top of the stem) and
on the bottom. The 4 on the right are for the ushers/readers. The 4
on the left are for my groom, best man, dad and godfather. In hindsight these
were a little big, and I should have made all of them
like the ones on the right, but I wanted my bridal party to stand
out and be special!
How to Make Corsages and Boutinnieres
Once you get used to
working with the floral tape (you need to make sure you stretch it as
you wind it on the stem) making these on your own is VERY easy,
probably easier than you think. I have never done this before in my
life, and I found it pretty easy, and also it was fun putting them
together. Below are the steps and some photos of how I made the
corsages.
Step 1:
Choose your flowers.
Here is a picture of the ones I used, before I cut them,
etc.
Step 2: Cut the flowers about 1
1/2 to 2" from the base of the flower.
A fellow co-worker recently got engaged and he was
telling me how they were shopping for cakes. One
bakery gave them a quote of $1000 for a cake! Of course he
was like - NO WAY! I managed to come up with an idea (that
seems to be quite trendy right now) that saved me a huge amount of
money. Cupcakes! I got them from my local Sam's Club. In the end I spent about $50 on the "cake"
for my wedding. I also enlisted the help of a skilled
woodworker at my office, and he made me some wooden tiers that
were set on all of the tables at the reception hall. I used the cupcakes
as both decoration and centerpieces. Not only was it a design look,
but it was also functional. Plus, I left the tiers with my
friends at the hall so they could use them for future
functions.
Here
are my cupcakes (I did a trial run) and the mirrored tier I
made on my own. This functioned as my "wedding cake" and was put on the
traditional cake table. Since I went the cheap route I didn't have a whole lot of options at Sams
Club as far as wedding paper/wrappers, etc. These were pretty plain, so I
found a way to make my own cupcake wrappers out of paper doilies.
Here is the link to that.
http://cakedec.forumotion.com/tutorials-f15/how-to-make-a-cupcake-wrapper-from-a-doily-t1797.htm
If you aren't so inclined you can actually buy pre-made ones, but they are rather expensive, about $1 per cupcake. That
was a little too pricey for my budget, so I made my own! My friend
and I figured we could get 4 wrappers out of 1 14" paper doily. We
used white ones for the cupcakes that went on the mirrored tier, and gold
ones for the mini centerpiece tiers.
Here are samples of the
wrappers that we made. My friend is a crafting genius and she
figured out how to do this! We used 12" gold doilies. First we
cut the center out by carefully cutting along the edge of the
design. We then were left with one giant circle of just the edge of
the doily. You can get three of them out of a 12" doily. Look
at the pattern, and find the largest "bump" in the design. Cut
straight through the middle of the "bump". Skip the next "bump",
then cut through the middle of the next "bump". You'll have a very
well-centered cupcake wrapper. The white ones are from 14" doilies
and aren't as centered as the gold ones, but no one will notice!
How to make a mirrored
cucapke tier Supplies: 1 12" round
mirror 2 10" round
mirrors 2 7" or 8" round
mirrors 2 boxes (4 per box) of 3"
columns used for wedding cakes double-sided
tape The 12" round mirror will be the bottom
tier. Set this on the table. Take double-sided tape and put a
couple of pieces on the reversie side of a 10" mirror. Match up the
2 10" mirrors so you have one piece. This will help to make the tier
sturdy, plus it will create a nice reflection on the other tiers vs
reflecting the gray/green background of the mirror. Do the same
thing for the 7" or 8" mirrors.
In addition to the cupcake centerpieces, I used
votive candles and decorated the glass with a ribbon. You can find
these votive candles at your local Michaels store. They are about $8
for a box of 12. Of course I managed to use either a 40% or 50% off
coupon, so I got them
for a bargain price. Since I decided to go with
gold accents, I was able to get the ribbon on clearance right after
the holidays. We had our reception at a banquet hall owned by some friends of
ours (I know, very lucky!). They have small bud vases so I waited
for when Michaels had the spring floral bushes on sale and bought a few of
them and cut them up so I could make individual centerpieces out of
them.
Here's the
votive:
This was
a clever idea my genius friend came up with. I went to the dollar
store and picked up MANY packs of "tic tac" like mints. She had done
this before for another party, so she had a template to follow. They
are cut so you can open the container without having to peel off the
special label. All we needed to do was cut them out and tape them on
with double-sided tape. Have fun planning your wedding! It can be stressful, but it
can also be fun and the feeling after it's all said and done was very
rewarding. I received a lot of compliments on how I added my
own personal touch, how it looked very classy and put together,
etc. Of course this made me feel SO good - all of my efforts
paid off!
If you are interested in my Wedding
Planning Worksheet please feel free to download a copy of it,
and let me know what you think. And if any of my ideas helped you
plan your own wedding, I would love to hear from you and how it
went!
And
PS - don't forget to check out my bridal jewelry!!! You can check
out my online store to see
what is currently available, or check hereto see design
samples of what I could create for you.
View my Classified Ads
Free Classifieds by Bravenet.com
www.cheap-wedding-gowns.com
www.nexteve.com
www.dress-queen.com
http://www.veilshop.com/
www.whitedovebridal.com
It is up to personal preference whether or not you
want to go with real or silk flowers. I do love the look of real
flowers, but I decided that I was crafty enough to use silk and make my
own bouquets, boutinnieres, etc. I had originally thought I could go
to my local wholesale club (Sams Club) and get a bunch of roses from
there, which could be a great idea if you're having a small wedding.
They have beautiful flowers and always carry a nice selection.
If you ARE interested in silk however, I found a few
places online that had great deals on ready-made bouquets. I was all
set to get bouquets from them until I picked my dress and then
couldn't find anything that was really going to match it. Keep in mind
that stores like Michaels and Joann Fabrics stock seasonal flowers months before that season
starts, so you'll want to pay attention to your local craft stores if
you are going to purchase flowers and make your own bouquet.
Here are 2 websites that you could check out:
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/specials.html
www.afloral.com
http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/06/13/diy-flowers-real-fake-or-both/
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/cormakbas.html
http://www.budget-bride.com/DIY%20Corsage%20Main.htm
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=C_jwmvYrQ_k
http://www.perfect-wedding-day.com/orchid-corsage-instructions.html
http://galleries.weddingchannel.com/odb/themes/weddingchannel/Results.aspx?type=19&WC%20Galleries=Flowers%20And%20Decor&MsdVisit=1
http://www.wedding-flowers-guide.com/seasonal-wedding-flowers.html
http://www.wedding-flowers-and-reception-ideas.com/wedding-flowers-pictures-examples.html
My DIY Bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres
Here are photos of the bouquets I made myself. The one
on the left is my bouquet (the flowers are creamy and taupe, and went really
well with my dress) and the other one is my maid of honor's (and she
wore a simple black dress.) Her bouquet was VERY easy to make, easier
then you may think it would be. I based it on this video from
Afloral.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MVVd23YlUo
The cost of this bouquet - the flowers were actually
"bushes" from Michaels, on sale 2 for $3 and I bought 3 of them and used all of the flowers on each bush. So
that's $4.50 in flowers. The holder that I made it in was about $3, and I
used a 40% off coupon on that - so this whole bouquet
cost me about $7 to make! My bouquet cost a little more but I did get some of
the flowers on sale. I basically wandered through the floral department at Michaels during
winter and managed to find colors I wanted and shapes I liked. I literally put
them together until I found a shape that I liked,
held it tight and used floral tape to wrap the stems together. I then wrapped
the finished stem with a taupe ribbon to cover the floral tape and
finish the look.
For my
toss bouquet, I used a little spring bush from Michaels (of course).
The heads of the flowers were a little too spread out (didn't
look like a bouquet) so I used floral tape to wrap them together
tighter and then tied a ribbon around it.
Please see my how-to
section below these photos for tips on how to make these
yourself.
Here are
the corsages for the mom's, grandmas, etc. These are pretty
easy to make, just a little more stems than the bouttinnieres below. The base of
these were the roses I used for my bouquet. The one on the left
is not a wristlet but the rest are. I struggled for a while trying
to figure out how to do the wristlets because I didn't care for the
beaded bands they sell, nor did I like the elastic ones with
the frilly lace attached to them. So instead I used some elastic and stitched
it together to form a "bracelet", wired the ribbon to the stem and then
wired the elastic to the stem as well, wrapping the
wire around and through the bracelet once again to give it a more secure hold.
But on the whole I'm very proud of how these turned out.
Step 3:
Wrap all of the stems with
floral tape.
Step 4:
And also cut and wrap your
accent stems.
Step 5:
Choose an accent stem as
the starting point. Add one of your flowers to it, situating it in
front of the accent stem.
Wrap both of these stems
together with floral tape. If you are making boutinnieres, you would
probably want to use the bud vs. an open flower, but basically all the
boutinnieres are is a bud, an accent stem behind it, and a leaf behind
that.
Step 6:
Add the next main flower,
situating it around the other 2 you have combined. You may need to
bend the head of the flower a little bit to get it to sit nicely next to
the other flower. Wrap this stem to the base stem.
Step 7:
Add another accent stem
and wrap it to the base.
Step 8:
Center a leaf behind the
base stem and wrap it.
Step 9:
Since I didn't exactly
care for the look of the floral taped stem, I used some ribbon and wrapped
the stems. Also I figured this may make it easier to pin the corsages
on. Use double-sided tape, and put it on the back of the
ribbon. Start at the top of the stem and wrap it around the stem
until you reach the bottom. Cut the ribbon where the edge will be at
the back of the stem. Add another piece of double-sided tape to the
end of the ribbon and secure it.
Step 10:
Add a bow to the
stem. Cut a section of ribbon (probably about 18" or more).
Tie it to the back of the stem, then flip the stem over, tie it again in
the front and then make the bow.
There you have it, a
lovely corsage!
If you are leary of the
cupcake idea, just go on flickr.com and do a search on "cupcakes", or
"wedding cupcakes", and you will find a ton of pictures out
there showing how adorable and clever this idea is. It's very
Martha Stewart.
http://www.wedding-ideas-and-details.com/cupcake-wedding-cakes.html
http://www.do-it-yourself-weddings.com/wedding-cupcake-tower.html
http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-make-a-cake-stand-for-cupcakes-or-mini-cakes
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Cupcake-Wedding-Cake
http://www.weddingcupcakes.org/cupcake_wedding_cake.html
The night before the
wedding we used double-sided tape and taped these around the
cupcakes.
Put small pieces of
double-sided tape on the bottom and top corners of all of the
columns. Situate 4 of the columns evenly on the 12" mirror,
and center the 10" mirrors on top. Do the same again for the next
level. And there you have it, a very elegant and inexpensive
cupcake tier! Plus, it's shaped like a wedding cake to still give
you the look and feel of a layered cake.
My mom happened to see this giant Wilton cupcake pan
which I decided would be PERFECT for my top cake! The only thing
was, I discovered that I'm not very good at cake decorating!
The flowers came much easier to me than doing this. Here's a picture
of my 2nd attempt. I definitely needed more practice.....this one is
actually an improvement on the first one I made! I spent about $18
on the pan, and I'm embarrassed to say another $30+ on a vat of frosting
from Sam's so I could practice. So, yeah, I overspent
on this one. I could have gotten a store-bought cake for a lot
cheaper, but I decided I was cutting corners every where I could on
this, so a little splurge on the cake was worth it. I was going for
"the look" and this giant cupcake was going to be
the perfect top cake if it killed me.
Here's my next attempt - getting better, but
still not cake-table worthy.
This was the Sam's frosting trial too.
This time I didn't put the top of the cupcake on it and
tried to just use a giant swirl of frosting on top, just like if you were
to make a small one and decorate it. My friend and I have a new idea
we're going to play with soon....stay tuned...
OK! Here is how the final "wedding cake" turned
out, along with the cupcakes. I was so happy with the way everything
looked. It all came together beautifully! Below is a picture
of my "wedding cake" on the cake table, and below this is
a picture of the mini tier that went on the dinner
tables.
I wanted to acknowledge those who have passed on that could not be
present at our wedding. I know people put a vase of flowers at
the ceremony and mention it in the program, which I liked that
idea. But I also wanted to add my own personal touch to
this, so I made the arrangement myself. I found this cute votive
holder which reminded me of a little wine glass. I bought a piece of
round styrofoam and more spring flowers and decorated
it.
Here are some helpful link for other do it yourself
ideas:
http://www.do-it-yourself-weddings.com/wedding-guest-book-alternative.html
http://weddings.pirate-king.com/Unique_Wedding_Ideas.htm
http://wedcraft.com/
http://www.pashweddings.com/
http://offbeatbride.com/
Last update:
9/12/09
