First off I would like to thank all of the lovely women here for the wonderful information you have all provided. When me and my FH finally decided the date (after being formally engaged for almost 5 months) I really had no idea where to begin Ive only been to maybe 3 weddings in my life and those were all over 10 years ago and Im only 23 lol. But the wonderful amount of info and sites you have all provided have been a god send. With that I'll share my ideas on cutting costs some where givin already I just elaborated on or maybe someone else has come up with them to the fullest and I just missed the posts, with so much to read its very possible
Invitations: While most say to make your own not all of us are very creative lol so I found that wilton.com offers blank invitations the kits usually include: 25 Invitations and Mailing Envelopes, 25 Reply Cards and Envelopes, 25 Pretied Bows with Adhesives, 25 Circle Tags, 3 Test Sheets. and for the less elegant ones (still pretty) 50 instead of 25. and are priced at $24.99 they also have a print wizard that allows you to customize your invitations the fonts they have our beautiful and they offer ways to word it, again for people like me who just are not creative. After looking at MANY places that offer only wedding stationary and seeing the prices usually around 100 for 25 of just the invitations, then you have to order the reply cards ect all adds up to be ALOT of money even for the smaller weddings.I loved that they offered test pages to make sure you liked the way that they turned out.
For the less traditional wedding couple, I have had my MOH set up a paypal account for us instead of registering as we already have bought our house and the things we needed in it. So by having her handle it, its a more polite way of asking for just money. I myself feel that asking for money is always an awkward situation and by doing it this way I will never know the amount of money each guest put in. To me the gesture of giving 5 or 500 is always just as meaningful to me and I know that not all guests can afford to give alot this way they can give what they can and not feel bad. This will help elevate some of the debt that we have incurred. I also am asking if they dont have access to the internet to send a check made payable to my MOH. I just asked my MOH to write down all the names of the people who sent money so that I will be able to send out thank you cards. And in the unlikely event that we should not get married paypal keeps track of all transactions. So giving all the money back would be an easy task. Also a plus to paypal is that its almost like a savings account where the current earning percent is 4.62
I got this idea after reading a bridal magazine where they were calling it honeymoney and registered with the hotel they were using, but with that there were set up fees and all kinds of other fees that were involved.
Craft stores: they are wonderful places, even more so for the creative impaired. Most of these places will display already done crafts and have info or classes on how to do them. And if the prices seem to expensive you can buy the products elsewhere, and you'll have the knowledge to be able to do them
There forums are all so a wonderful place to find ideas or get advice from some very crafty ppl. As I have learned with the bridal forums these women also go above and beyond to help.
Another interesting thing that I have come across although havent ordered anything yet was oriental trading post.
As of yet I dont really have any other helpful tips to add, my planning is just beginning. But you all have made me feel more confident that even on a tight budget I can still have my dream wedding without sacrificing to much.
Gratz to all the brides to be and thank you again to all those who have already been through such a wonderful yet hectic experience and have been very willing to share even when it came to the much more personal issues as offering your finances that went into the wedding.
Nikki
"We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly "
Helpful hints from a new bride to be, also new to the site.
Linear Mode
