TOTAL COST FOR BRIDESMAID GIFTS- About $62
For Groomsmen gifts, we got these personalized mugs. We were really suprised how nice they were for the price
Total Cost- $91, Including Expedited Shipping
$153 for all the gifts (5 Bridesmaids, 4 groosmen)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Bridesmaid and Groomsmen Gifts...
These were super fun! :) I got my girls these super cute totes ($11 on Etsy, personalized and everything! :)) and put a little notebook inside of them (the notebooks were .99 at Party City, also another random find! :)) The notebooks were green (cus my wedding colors were green!) and polka dotted as well. In the cover of each one, I put a personalized note thanking them for all of their help. I wrote and printed their notes on some SUPER cute, thick, decorative paper that I found at Ross ($4 for an entire book fo it).I hope it will serve as a momento of our special day every time they use that little book for something. The last addition to their bags was an ADORABLE cookie shaped like a 3-tiered wedding cake, complete with little flowers and their names on them. (Find The Cupcake Gal on FB if you want to see some more of her products!) I was also going to stuff them with some awesome handmade soap from my good friend, Holly... But she had a baby less than a week before the wedding and I didn't want to bother her. :( (You can find her products under The Skin Cafe on Etsy-They're awesome!!! ).
TOTAL COST FOR BRIDESMAID GIFTS- About $62
For Groomsmen gifts, we got these personalized mugs. We were really suprised how nice they were for the price
Total Cost- $91, Including Expedited Shipping
$153 for all the gifts (5 Bridesmaids, 4 groosmen)
TOTAL COST FOR BRIDESMAID GIFTS- About $62
For Groomsmen gifts, we got these personalized mugs. We were really suprised how nice they were for the price
Total Cost- $91, Including Expedited Shipping
$153 for all the gifts (5 Bridesmaids, 4 groosmen)
The Food....
Our menu was simple from the get-go. Finger foods and limited alcohol was my plan, complete with plasticwear. Not fancy, but neither was anything else. I had tons of fun randomly coming across green plates, cups, napkins, and other items that I could use. Between the beginning of spring and St. Patricks Day, there was a surplus of clover and light green items in the stores.
I had already decided we would have fruit trays, veggie trays, pizza rolls (Cus I love them! ;)), and pigs in a blanket. My amazing bridesmaids rolled most of the pigs the night before and I had a few ladies serve as my "food committee" that left straight from the ceremony to prepare the rest and start cooking. We hand cut cheese and paired it with various crackers (many of which we already had in the house! :)) I bought 20 or so 2 liters at Wal Mart the night before (at .75-$1 a piece!!!), as well as a 12 pack of beer, 2 bottles of wine, and probably 6 bottles of champagne.
After picking up some last minute items we needed (flower girl flowers, extra rocks for the centerpieces, some extra fresh roses, among other things), I spent $315. Actually a LOT more than I'd bargained for, but defintely cheaper than a caterer.
Our menu ended up consisting of:
Plenty of chips
Crackers and cheese
Homemade rotel dip (courtesy of my parents and their crock pot that morning)
Pigs in a blanket
Pizza rolls
Fruit trays- Fresh cut pineapple, sliced apples, fresh grapes, fresh cut strawberries. My awesome bridesmaids (and their husbands) helped cut the fruit that needed it (like the pineapple, which is MUCH cheaper to buy whole :))
Cherry tomatoes- Random, yes, but I ended up not completing my veggie trays due to the fact that I went to Walmart at 9 pm by myself the night before my wedding and ran out of room in my cart... thus, not being able to fit any more veggies in there :)
One of my bridesmaids walked around serving wine to those who wanted it. Everyone was provided with a plastic champagne flute, courtesy of another bridesmaid who had them left over from my bridal shower. There were more than enough! :)
Champagne was served with the toasts; there was a keg in the garage (thank you, groomsmen :-P), shots were poured to those who wanted them (again, courtesy of the groomsmen), and soft drinks were in abundance. I also made a pitcher of lemonade and had juices available.
Total bill for food, alcohol, and silver ware, plates, napkins, etc.- Less than $300
I had already decided we would have fruit trays, veggie trays, pizza rolls (Cus I love them! ;)), and pigs in a blanket. My amazing bridesmaids rolled most of the pigs the night before and I had a few ladies serve as my "food committee" that left straight from the ceremony to prepare the rest and start cooking. We hand cut cheese and paired it with various crackers (many of which we already had in the house! :)) I bought 20 or so 2 liters at Wal Mart the night before (at .75-$1 a piece!!!), as well as a 12 pack of beer, 2 bottles of wine, and probably 6 bottles of champagne.
After picking up some last minute items we needed (flower girl flowers, extra rocks for the centerpieces, some extra fresh roses, among other things), I spent $315. Actually a LOT more than I'd bargained for, but defintely cheaper than a caterer.
Our menu ended up consisting of:
Plenty of chips
Crackers and cheese
Homemade rotel dip (courtesy of my parents and their crock pot that morning)
Pigs in a blanket
Pizza rolls
Fruit trays- Fresh cut pineapple, sliced apples, fresh grapes, fresh cut strawberries. My awesome bridesmaids (and their husbands) helped cut the fruit that needed it (like the pineapple, which is MUCH cheaper to buy whole :))
Cherry tomatoes- Random, yes, but I ended up not completing my veggie trays due to the fact that I went to Walmart at 9 pm by myself the night before my wedding and ran out of room in my cart... thus, not being able to fit any more veggies in there :)
One of my bridesmaids walked around serving wine to those who wanted it. Everyone was provided with a plastic champagne flute, courtesy of another bridesmaid who had them left over from my bridal shower. There were more than enough! :)
Champagne was served with the toasts; there was a keg in the garage (thank you, groomsmen :-P), shots were poured to those who wanted them (again, courtesy of the groomsmen), and soft drinks were in abundance. I also made a pitcher of lemonade and had juices available.
Total bill for food, alcohol, and silver ware, plates, napkins, etc.- Less than $300
The Location....
Well the wedding is over and I can finally catch up on posting! :) Here is our location- The Botanical Gardens of Fort Worth. You'll see a few pictures of the walkway we came down, the gazebo we stood in front of, and some of the archways throughout the garden.
Grand total: $300 for 2 hours in the garden and $50 for 2 hours in the brial room.
Grand total: $300 for 2 hours in the garden and $50 for 2 hours in the brial room.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Location
This is an area we really struggled with price-wise. I found lots of great locations, but also found that I would need a good $2500-$3000 if I wanted a decent location for our wedding and/or reception. And the gorgeous ones were upwards of $5000. Just wasn't in the budget.
We chose a local venue that is naturally gorgeous- our local Botanical Gardens. http://www.fwbg.org/fuller.htm
I'll walk down a stone "aisle" and we'll stand under a gorgeous gazebo, complete with a trickling waterfall behind us. Our guests will stand on the lush, green lawn. Up sides:
It's gorgeous and I don't have to decorate.
We paid $300 for it. :D
I only paid another $50 for the bridal room, and it's just what we need :)
Down sides:
We can only have 10 chairs on the lawn at the gardens. But then again, the ceremony will be short and we haven't even found 10 elderly people to fill those chairs yet. So defintely NOT a big deal. :)
It COULD rain. And although the gardens have a back up plan, I'd much rather get married in the garden. :)
Ceremony Venue total: $350
and then we will do the reception at our house, which is about 20 minutes away. Believe it or not, this is the part where it gets interesting and somewhat expensive. Updates to come on that :)
We chose a local venue that is naturally gorgeous- our local Botanical Gardens. http://www.fwbg.org/fuller.htm
I'll walk down a stone "aisle" and we'll stand under a gorgeous gazebo, complete with a trickling waterfall behind us. Our guests will stand on the lush, green lawn. Up sides:
It's gorgeous and I don't have to decorate.
We paid $300 for it. :D
I only paid another $50 for the bridal room, and it's just what we need :)
Down sides:
We can only have 10 chairs on the lawn at the gardens. But then again, the ceremony will be short and we haven't even found 10 elderly people to fill those chairs yet. So defintely NOT a big deal. :)
It COULD rain. And although the gardens have a back up plan, I'd much rather get married in the garden. :)
Ceremony Venue total: $350
and then we will do the reception at our house, which is about 20 minutes away. Believe it or not, this is the part where it gets interesting and somewhat expensive. Updates to come on that :)
The Dresses
The dresses are one area we have not really skimped on, although we haven't gone overboard by any means. We bought my dress 2 years ago before a budget was even dreamed of. This is it:
http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498¤tIdx=80&subCategory=-49999486%7c-49995498&catentryId=6097275&sort=
And this ME in it (just casual photos taken-obviously- a week or 2 ago)
The bridesmaids paid for their own dresses and ended up picking out their own as well. We did dresses from David's Bridal (which offers discounts if you got your dress there as well)
And my daughter's dress and sash also ended up coming from there (she is our flower girl). For what it's worth, I found several online for half the cost (91.00 after my 15% discount and tax), but ended up going with DB for convenience and time factors. Her dress is a beautiful and simple thick strapped dress that has decorative "buttons" in the back and a beautiful sash that bows in the back. Her sash/ bow will be clover, just like my bridesmaid dresses. I love that I don't have to tie the bow and that it velcros on! :D The bottom is tulle and looks so cute, but elegant. I'm really happy with it. I wish the David's Bridal website would let me show pictures, but it's having none of that today.
While David's Bridal is not unreasonable, there are many other options online. But then again, you don't know what you're paying for until you get it. :)
http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498¤tIdx=80&subCategory=-49999486%7c-49995498&catentryId=6097275&sort=
And this ME in it (just casual photos taken-obviously- a week or 2 ago)
The bridesmaids paid for their own dresses and ended up picking out their own as well. We did dresses from David's Bridal (which offers discounts if you got your dress there as well)
And my daughter's dress and sash also ended up coming from there (she is our flower girl). For what it's worth, I found several online for half the cost (91.00 after my 15% discount and tax), but ended up going with DB for convenience and time factors. Her dress is a beautiful and simple thick strapped dress that has decorative "buttons" in the back and a beautiful sash that bows in the back. Her sash/ bow will be clover, just like my bridesmaid dresses. I love that I don't have to tie the bow and that it velcros on! :D The bottom is tulle and looks so cute, but elegant. I'm really happy with it. I wish the David's Bridal website would let me show pictures, but it's having none of that today.
While David's Bridal is not unreasonable, there are many other options online. But then again, you don't know what you're paying for until you get it. :)
The Invitations
After spending weeks being dissatisfied with invitations I found online, I stumbled across some adorable invitations in Target of all places. Wasn't even looking for them- just happened to be walking down the aisle. Of course, I can't find a picture online of them. They're green (the color I'm doing the wedding in) with a tissue-type page that lays over the green floral design (which I thought would go great with the outdoor theme we're going for). We're having them printed at a local print shop (only because our printer decided it no longer wanted to cooperate with the tissue-like paper). They come with ribbons that we easily tie in ourselves. I paid $100 for the invitations, but would have only paid $80 if I hadn't used the first box as a test drive. Each box of 25 was 19.99 at Target, so technically we're paying:
$80 for all invitations and response cards
and just short of $50 to have the invitations printed
Grand total for cute invitations and matching response cards (plus envelopes) and professional printing: $130
The invites are similar to some of these:
http://www.target.com/Laura-Ashley-Invitation-Kit-Hydrangea/dp/B0012US6L2/ref=huc_ic_1_pn
Pretty good deal in my opinion :)
$80 for all invitations and response cards
and just short of $50 to have the invitations printed
Grand total for cute invitations and matching response cards (plus envelopes) and professional printing: $130
The invites are similar to some of these:
http://www.target.com/Laura-Ashley-Invitation-Kit-Hydrangea/dp/B0012US6L2/ref=huc_ic_1_pn
Pretty good deal in my opinion :)
What This is all About...
I have no idea what possessed me to create a new blog about frugal wedding planning just six weeks before my wedding. Especially when I have 2 other blogs that I hardly maintain. But it seemed like a good theme that might help other women- So here I am. Here's my story: I'm married. I'm a mother. And yet I have not gotten to have my formal wedding. I have had my dress since before my husband and I got married at the courthouse in August of 2008. So it may be a big factor as to why I am at today- chest deep in wedding planning, while balancing an at home business (as well as another part time job tutoring kids), being a stay-at-home mom to our 2.5 year old, and going to school full time (and taking the hardest semester of my educational career). Fun times.
Because this is not "the beginning of our lives" together, my husband Jeremy and I have no desire to go into debt or even stretch ourselves thin over this wedding. However, we do want to enjoy the formal celebration we never got originally with our family and friends. That's what *our* wedding is all about, so we're doing it on a budget. So no matter what your wedding is all about, or even if you're just reading for fun.. I hope you'll get some fun and thrifty tips from how we've done so far.
I see these advertisements saying "You really CAN have a wedding for under $10,000!!" and I'm going "HUH? How about the woman who wants one for under $5000? $3000? $1000?? What about THAT girl?" I know they're out there in this economy... and I'd love to help some of them if I am in such a position. So here goes. :D
Because this is not "the beginning of our lives" together, my husband Jeremy and I have no desire to go into debt or even stretch ourselves thin over this wedding. However, we do want to enjoy the formal celebration we never got originally with our family and friends. That's what *our* wedding is all about, so we're doing it on a budget. So no matter what your wedding is all about, or even if you're just reading for fun.. I hope you'll get some fun and thrifty tips from how we've done so far.
I see these advertisements saying "You really CAN have a wedding for under $10,000!!" and I'm going "HUH? How about the woman who wants one for under $5000? $3000? $1000?? What about THAT girl?" I know they're out there in this economy... and I'd love to help some of them if I am in such a position. So here goes. :D
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