Make It Yourself Monday

OnceWed shows you how to make a cake stand for your rustic wedding.

FamilyChic shows you how to make these adorable garden lights out of cupcake liners!

DIY Weddings shows you how to make rose petal toss cones.

Eco-Proper makes roses out of handkerchiefs.

DIY Weddings makes these gorgeous submerged flower centerpieces.

Where I Have Been

For those that might have noticed, I haven't been around much lately.  I'm really sorry for that.

I have been really busy training for my new job!  I got a promotion at work, so now instead of a receptionist, I'm going to be the accounting associate.  It's a nice jump and I'm very excited!  I start this upcoming Friday, so the posts might be lacking for the next couple of weeks.

I'm going to try my hardest to try to catch up on posts during the weekend, but just a fair warning, that might not always happen.  So, just bear with me for a couple of weeks and hopefully I'll get the hang of things and start regularly blogging again.

Make It Yourself Monday

Sorry this is late.  I had problems getting into my pictures and stuff earlier today, so I couldn't post the blog.  Here it is though!

Buggie and Jellybean shows how to make these adorable ribbon and bead necklaces.  They would be great for a bridesmaid gift!

Annie's Eats give directions on making an easy cupcake tower.

The Yezel makes etched glasses for their attendants.

PaperMash has a template to make these doily drink umbrellas.

My DIY Wedding Day shows how to add something blue to your shoes.

Delay in Your Regularly Scheduled Blogging

I'm having some technical difficulties, so Make It Yourself Monday will not be up this morning.  I will try to get it up this afternoon, but if not, I will definitely have it up for you tomorrow.

Sorry about the delay!

Here's a kitten to make everything better.

Bridal Shower Themes: Wine & Cheese

If the bride likes upscale parties like wine tastings, than this party is for her.

Start out with invitations that have simple pictures on them like a bottle of wine or a bunch of grapes.

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Set up different stations around the room.  Put a different kind of wine on each table with a cheese that pairs with it.  Let guests pour their own wine to taste in their glass and give them little plates to place the cheese on.  You can give each guest a card so they can write down their favorites.

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For favors, you could do wine charms.  That way, guests could use them on their glass at the party to tell them apart and then they can take them home with them at the end of the night.

Thrifty Thursday

Discounts

Lulu -- 25% off photo books, Code: budgbride25 (Expires 9/31)

Picaboo -- Free 8.5 x 11 photo book to new customers, Code: FREEBK (Expires 8/30)

Giveaways

Shooting for a $3000 Wedding is giving away a poster from Uprinting (Ends 8/26)

Bridal Shower Themes: Kitchen Shower

Kitchen showers are becoming more and more common.  The most popular thing to register for is items for your marital kitchen.  So, why not make sure the bride gets all the things she needs by having a shower revolving around those items.

Here are some cute invitations to portray the theme to your guests.

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Make sure to put something on the invitations asking guests to bring an item to stock the bride's kitchen.

You could do practical centerpieces at your shower.  You could get drinking glasses and then fill them with cooking utensils for the centerpieces.  Then, the bride could take them home at the end of the night as your gift to her.  That way instead of wasting money on centerpieces, you're using it on something the bride can use for years down the road.

A great game that you can do at a kitchen shower is "Name That Spice".  Fill 10 baggies with different spices.  Without opening and smelling the spice, the guests guess what the spice is and write it down on their piece of paper.  Whoever gets the most correct wins.

You could get favors for this shower at your local Dollar Tree.  They often have a ton of kitchen items to choose from.  Some great favors would be kitchen towels, pot holders, and trivets.

Bridal Shower Themes: Bridal Tea

A bridal tea is a cheap and easy way to hold a bridal shower for someone.  Because they normally serve finger foods, you don't have to worry about bringing in a ton of food.

Here's some cute ideas for invitations:

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For bridal teas, I like there to be a little less people than a normal bridal shower, so you can sit at one long table and mingle with everyone.  You could use the food as centerpieces and that way people could just grab what they wanted.

For food, you should of course serve tea.  You can also serve other beverages for those that don't like tea.  Some other options are coffee and fancy soda like Jones Soda.

For the actual food, you could do little finger sandwiches and also dessert platters.  For finger sandwiches, you could do tuna salad sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, and smoked salmon sandwiches.  For dessert, you could do small options of some of your favorites.  Mini cupcakes are always loved by all as are scones.  Pie tarts are also common fare at tea time. 

There are a few different options if you want to do favors.

These mini tea pots would be a great prize for the winner of a game.

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If you're looking for something a little cheaper, then you could do personalized tea bags.

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You can even make your own personalized tea bags.  Project Wedding has the directions for you.

Make It Yourself Monday

High Tide or Low Tide made this great moss covered letters.  You could even display these in your house after the wedding is over.

My DIY Wedding Day shows you how to make a DIY Mrs. Sash to wear to your bachelorette.

Judy Cat Crafts made these booklet programs to put out at her wedding ceremony.

My DIY Wedding Day shows you how to set up a photo guest book.

Kootoyoo shows you  how to make lacy LED lights in just 5 minutes.

Bridal Shower Themes: Tiffany Blue

This week I'm going to be featuring different bridal shower themes.  Attending the bridal shower is one of the highlights of a bride's wedding planning, so why not try to make it as perfect as possible?  If you're a bridesmaid in someone's wedding, take some of these ideas and incorporate them into the perfect shower for your bride.

The first theme I'm going to highlight is a Tiffany's themed wedding.  

My maid-of-honor actually used the color Tiffany Blue a lot in my bridal shower.  Here's a couple pictures from my event.  It was held at a local cupcakery in town.  Their walls set the perfect tone for the shower because they were actually Tiffany Blue!

Make sure to send out an invitation that sets the tone for the shower.  Tiffany's automatically says luxury and class.  These would all be perfect for your theme:

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Now that you have the invitations out, it's time to actually set up the party.

For centerpieces, you could find large martini glasses at a craft store and fill them with Tiffany colored gemstones.  Then, tie a ribbon around the stem.  Cheap and a perfect way to fit the theme.

If you're going to get a cake, you could get it shaped like a Tiffany box.  Most bakers can match icing to a swatch, so if you take a sample of the ribbon from you centerpieces in, they should be able to match the icing on your cake.

If you're going to have bridal shower games, then you need favors.  You could buy cheap wine or martini glasses at the Dollar Tree and fill them with blue or white candies.  Wrap them in some tulle and tie them off with some ribbon.  Cute and cheap!

Thrifty Thursday

Discounts

Bridal Guide Magazine -- 2 years subscription for free (I have used this site before and it is legit)

Wedding Paper Divas -- Follow them on twitter and get a coupon code for $15 off a $50+ order.

Linen Table Cloth -- 30% off their most popular colors (black, white, etc.) and 20% off fall colors.  Discounts automatically apply.  Also, take an extra 20% off, Code: fbaug10 (Expires 8/31)

Oh My Crafts -- Free shipping on orders of $50+

Giveaways

Hostess with the Mostess is giving away 100 pocket style invitations and RSVP cards from Magnet Street Weddings.  (Ends 8/18)

WeddObsessed is giving away a pair of Jammie Girl jammies.  (Ends 8/17)

MissNowMrs is giving away 100 custom thank you cards.  (Ends 8/31)

Real Wedding: Kristen & Grant

Kristen and Grant got married on April 17, 2010 in New Edinburg, Arkansas.  Kristen planned her entire wedding for 250 people for only $3000!  

Describe your wedding in one word:

Heavenly

What aspects of your wedding were most important to you?:

I wanted our wedding to be simple yet elegant and very memorable. We added a lot of personal touches. For example, I did not walk down the aisle ito the Wedding March, and the placement of our attendants was untraditional. The most important thing was to invite our guests into our love story.   

Did you splurge on those areas?:

I did very little splurging. Everything from the dress, to the invitations, to the attendants' gifts was budgeted and kept to low cost.

 What did you do to help save money on your wedding?:

We watched for sales and clearances. We shopped online, buying some things from Oriental Trading and ebay. 

Did you do any DIY for your wedding?:

We made the bridesmaids and flower girl dresses aong with the wedding programs.  

What was the most memorable part of your day?: 

Our kiss at the alter

Do you have any tips to share with other brides?:

Allow yourself plenty of time to plan, but no matter how much time you have, do not limit yourself to buying name brand items from name brand stores. You will be surprised at what all you can do with very little money.

Vendors

Photography - Word Photography www.wordvs.com
Flowers - Hobby Lobby www.hobbylobby.com
Cake - Cakes by Marsha (a local baker)
Wedding Dress - Ashley's Bridal
Invitations: www.123print.com
Napkins: www.foryourparty.com

Make It Yourself Monday

How was everyone's weekend?  I spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing our house.  I'm getting a new computer, so we had to get my desk all prepared for that.  Very exciting!

Judy Cat Crafts linked up her gorgeous thank you cards.

High Tide or Low Tide shows up the awesome signs she made for her wedding.

The Cropping Canuck linked up to some wonderful DIY bridal shower ideas.

Glue Gun Crafts shows how to make a bachelorette party sash.

Little Miss Wedding Planner made the cutest tip envelopes to hand out to her vendors.

Do You Dollar Tree?

When people think the Dollar Tree, they don't automatically think weddings.  But there are so many different items you can get at the Dollar Tree that would be great for you wedding.  And cheap to boot!

If you want to do a bubble send-off, you can easily pick up tons of bubbles at the Dollar Tree for not much money.  You can embellish them with ribbon to match your wedding colors.

They have 3 different colors of rose petals.  And if none of those petals fit your color scheme, you can dye the white ones!  I used the pink ones in the centerpieces at my wedding and they looked fantastic!  You will not find a better deal on rose petals.

The Dollar Tree is a great resource for vases.  They have short ones, tall ones, circular ones.  Really most anything you could need.  Perfect for centerpieces or to put candles in to line the aisles.

They have these trays in a couple different shapes.  They're not the highest quality, but they're perfect to put appetizers on and then throw away after the night is over.  We used a couple for our wedding and I'm actually about to paint it and use it in our house.

They have a nice assortment of little frames that you can use for table numbers or even escort cards.

You can also find a nice selection of glasses and dishware if you're planning on doing your own catering.  So, if you haven't been to the Dollar Tree to find stuff for your wedding, head on out there this weekend.