Extra Ways to Earn Money

Even though both me and my husband work full-time jobs, most of that money goes towards paying the bills.  While we were planning our wedding, we used the internet to help us a earn a little extra money to put towards the smaller items.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to earn some extra money to bring into the household:

Swagbucks.com

Swagbucks is a search engine site that allows you to earn points to put towards prizes.  You don't earn points on every search you do, but if you use it as your standard search engine, you can earn points pretty regularly.  There are also a couple other ways to earn points.  Everyday you can do the daily poll as well as click on the trusted survey link and you can earn 1 point from each.  They also occasionally put our swag codes that will earn you points.  You need 450 points to earn a $5 Amazon gift card.  Since the beginning of 2010, I have earned $75 worth of gift cards to Amazon.

MyPoints.com

You don't earn rewards as quickly on MyPoints as you do with Swagbucks, but if you keep up with it, you can get some good rewards.  I recently traded my points in for a $50 gas card to BP.  It was great to put that towards the gas when we went on vacation.  MyPoints sends out multiple emails a day (you can set how many you want to receive daily in your profile).  When you visit the website in the email, you earn 5 points.  I normally receive about 5 emails a day, so that's a total of 25 points.  They also occasionally send you survey invitations.  These vary in points, but most are 50 points if you complete the survey and 10 points if you're not qualified.

PineCone Research

PineCone is not always accepting new participants, but if you see that they are, I highly recommend you sign up.  They send out occasional product surveys and you earn $3 for every survey that you complete! This is an easy way to earn some extra money for your household.

Selling Books, Movies, and Video Games

Everyone has excess media in their house that they are no longer using.  There are multiple different venues you can use to make some extra money on these useless items.  If you have textbooks hanging around, Amazon might allow you to trade them in for gift cards.  Amazon also accepts trade ins on video games.  If you can not trade in your items on Amazon, you can also sell them on half.com.  It is run by Ebay, but it is not an auction site.  You list your item and people can buy it at any time.  That means your item might be sitting for a while before it is bought.  It's a good way to make some extra money though if you don't mind those items sitting around your house for a little while.

Do you have any additional ideas of how you can earn extra money?

This post contains my affiliate link for Swagbucks.  I earn a percentage of points while you earn points.

Questions to Ask Day of Coordinators

If you didn't hire a full wedding planner, but decided on a day of coordinator instead, here are some questions that you should ask them.

Are you available on our wedding date?

How long have you been a coordinator?

Tell me about an emergency you have had to handle on the wedding day?

How do you charge?

Do you offer packages?  If so, what is included in each?

How many times will we meet before the wedding?  Is there a time length for these meetings?

Do you have a back-up in case you can not make it to our wedding?

Will you be at the rehearsal?  Is there an extra charge?

How will you be dressed?

Have you worked at our venue before?

Have you worked with our vendors before?

Will you help set-up the ceremony and reception sites?

What time will you arrive on the wedding day and what time will you leave?

What is the deposit?

What is your cancellation policy?

Please add any other questions you would like to ask a day of coordinator.

Things Remembered Review and Giveaway

The world is buzzing right now with talk of the royal wedding, so Things Remembered invited me to review one of their gorgeous wedding gifts fit for royalty.  I got to review their Seed Pearl Wedding Set, which includes a serving set, toasting flutes, and a ornament for your Christmas tree.

This set was nicely packaged in a black velvet type storage box.  Great way to keep the set from being damaged when not in use.  

The detailing is absolutely fabulous.  On the handles of the serving set, there are rhinestones and pearls and on the stems of the flute they have the same detailing.

Things Remembered also does engraving on their products.  I had our products engraved with our names and wedding date.

(Sorry, it was really hard to take a picture of the engraving)

I would have loved to include these items at our wedding.  They would have added the royal touch to our wedding for not much money (this set retails for $100).  They look a lot more expensive than they actually are.

*Giveaway*

One lucky reader will have the chance to win their own royal wedding gift.  The winner will have their choice of one of the following gifts, engraved how they wish:

- Things Remembered Seed Pearl Flute and Server Set

- Things Remembered Leaves and Vines Flute and Server Set

- Things Remembered Crystal Compact

- Things Remembered Crystal Perfume Atomizer

- Things Remembered Textured Flask Set

- Things Remembered Wedding Bisque Water Globe

You have until Sunday, May 1st at 5pm EST to enter the giveaway.  You must complete the mandatory entry before you get an extra entries.  If the mandatory entry is not completed, your comments with be deleted.  Leave a separate comment for each individual entry.  Make sure to leave a way to contact you in your comment.

Mandatory Entry: Visit Things Remembered and leave a comment explaining which wedding product you like best and why.

Extra Entries - You will receive one extra entry for each

- Comment on which gift you would choose if you won and what you would engrave it with

- Be a follower of Bride on a Budget in Google Friend Connect or in a reader

- Follow Bride on a Budget on Twitter

- Follow @TRemembered on twitter and tweet the following "Following @TRemembered to get wedding gift ideas thanks to @brideonbudget #royalwedding" 

- Fan Things Remembered on facebook

This giveaway is open to US residents only.  You must not have won a Things Remembered prize pack within the past 60 days.

Good luck!

RueLaLa Bridal Boutique

At 11am EST, RueLaLa will be rolling out a bridal boutique that will feature tons of items you need for your wedding.  It will offer bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, wedding jewelry, and accessories.  

If you're not already a member of RueLala, join now!

This post contains my affiliate link to RueLala.  I will earn a $10 credit when you make your first purchase.

Questions to Ask Officiants

If you're planning on using a civil officiant for your wedding, take these questions with you.

Are you available on our wedding date?

Have you ever worked at our wedding venue before?

How many weddings have you performed?

What is your fee?

Do you have sample wording or will we have to come up with our own?

Are we allowed to write our own vows/ceremony?

Are we allowed to customize the ceremony?

Are you available for a rehearsal?

Do you require pre-martial counseling?

Is flash photography allowed during the ceremony?

Are there any restrictions on attire?

Please add any other questions you think are important.

Questions to Ask Cake Bakers

Take these questions with you when interviewing prospective cake bakers.

Do you have my wedding date available?

How many weddings have you done?

How many wedding cakes do you schedule for one day?

How do you price your cakes?

Can you work within my budget?

Can you deliver the cake?  What are your fees for delivery and set-up?

What happens if the cake gets damaged while you are delivering it?

Do you rent cake stands?  What are the fees?

How much is the deposit?

What is your refund policy?

Please add anything else you can think of.

Questions to Ask Florists

Here are some questions to take with you to ask your florist.

Do you have my date available?

Have you worked with my venue before?

How many weddings have you done?

What kind of design style do you normally work with?

Can you work with my budget?

What flowers would you recommend to work with my color scheme and budget?

Do you offer any packages?

Please add anything else you think is important to ask.

Wedding Channel Deals

The Knot and Wedding Channel have caught on to the trend of daily deals sites and it's fantastic!  They offer daily deals for wedding vendors in 40 different areas of the country so save you money on your wedding services.  They have offered deals for everything from bridal bootcamp to discounted wedding flowers.  

Here's an example of one of their daily deals:

Check out their daily deals here!  You'll want to click on see more cities to find the deals near you.

I would love to hear if you score any good deals from them.

$20 RueLaLa Credit for New Members

If you haven't jumped on the RueLaLa bandwagon yet, now is the time!  Through 4/25, all new members receive $20 credit when they join RueLaLa.  With the great deals that RueLaLa offers, there's a great possibility that you could get things for free or cheap!  The credit expires on 5/25, so you have a month to use it.

If you don't know what it is, RueLaLa is a daily deal site that has boutiques of designer items.  They even occasionally have wedding boutiques which have great deals on wedding dresses as well as other items.

Sign up for RueLaLa here!

This post has my affiliate link in it.  I receive $10 credit to RueLaLa whenever someone I referred makes a purchase.

Share the Love Contest

Jcpenney wants to share your love story!  Share your love story with Jcpenney on facebook and you're entered for a chance to win a gorgeous diamond ring.

To enter for a chance to win, upload a photo and share your love story on Facebook.  The couple that gets the most votes will win a diamond ring, their choice of one of three stunning designs valued at more than $2400! 

Enter here: Modern Bride Share the Love

To see the full collection of Modern Bride rings, go to http://modernbride.com

Questions to Ask Photographers

Take these questions with you when interviewing potential photographers.

Do you have our wedding date available?

How far in advance do you recommend booking?

How long have you been in business?

How would you describe your photography style?

Do you have a portfolio I can review?

Can I give you a list of specific shots we would like?

What information do I need to provide you with before the wedding day?

Do you carry back-up equipment with you?

How will you and your assistants be dressed?

Is it okay if other people take photos while you are?

Have you ever worked at my venue before?

What time will you arrive and how long will you shoot?

What kind of packages do you offer?  Can they be tailored to my needs?

Do you include engagement photos in your packages?

How long will it take for me to receive my proofs after the wedding?

How much of a deposit do you require?  Is it refundable?

What is your cancellation policy?

Please add any other questions you can think of.

Gilt City: The Wedding Lens

I wanted to share this deal with you real quick because it expires at 2pm tomorrow. 

Gilt City has a deal on The Wedding Lens, which specializes in online wedding albums.

For $48, you'll get:

- One premium online wedding album

- Unlimited guest invitations

- Unlimited guest photo storage

- Full resolution downloading

- Video support

The Wedding Lens is a great way to organize all the pictures taken by your guests. I know I had a hard time compiling them all and downloading them from Facebook.  It took hours!  With The Wedding Lens, you don't have to deal with that.

If you're not a member of Gilt City, you can sign up here.  If you sign up through my link, you'll get 20% off your first purchase and I'll get 20% of my next purchase.

I hope you can take advantage of the deal.  And if you don't, look out for a giveaway coming soon from The Wedding Lens!

Questions to Ask Wedding Planners

Take these questions with you when interviewing potential wedding planners.

What made you decide to be a wedding planner?

Are you a certified wedding planner?

How many full weddings have you planned?

How many budget weddings have you planned?

Do you have our wedding date available?

Have you ever planned a wedding at our venue?

Would you be present at all the vendor meetings?

Will you be the person on site on the day of our wedding?

What time will you arrive and depart on our wedding day?

What are the different packages you offer?  Prices?

How meetings/phone calls are included in our package?

Is the rehearsal included?

What is your cancellation policy?

Please add any other questions you can think of.

Questions to Ask Caterers

Here are some questions to take with when talking to prospective caterers:

Do you have my date available?

Have you done any events at my location?

What food choices can you recommend for my budget and guest list?

Can you accomodate dietary restrictions?

What is the price difference between a buffet and a sit-down meal?

Do you have a different menu and price for children?

How much do you charge for vendor meals?  Do they get served the same thing as our guests or is it a separate menu?

Do you do food tastings?  Is there an extra charge for this?

What types of linens, glassware, plates, silverware, etc do you provide?

What is your policy on clean-up?

Do you provide alcohol?

What is the ratio of servers to guests?

How will the servers be dressed?

What is your cancellation policy?

Please add anything else you think is important.

Questions to Ask Venues

Here are some questions you should ask prospective venues to help make your decision:

What dates are available during the time period I'm considering?

How many people can your location accomodate?

What is your fee and what does it include?  Do you offer discounts on certains of the week or times of the year?

How long do I get to use the space for?

How much is the deposit and is it refundable?

What's the cancellation policy?

If it's an outdoor space: What is your contingency plan in case of bad weather?

Am I able to get in the day before to decorate?

Do you have an in-house caterer or a list of preferred caterers?  Are we required to use them or can we bring in someone else?

If I hire my own caterer, is there kitchen space for them?

Can I bring in my own alcohol?

Are there any restrictions on music?  Is there a cut off time for music?

How many restrooms are there?

Please leave a comment if there are any others than you can think of.

Heartsy: An Etsy Daily Deal Site

I'm sure by now most of you are familiar with Groupon and Living Social and have fallen in love.  I know I have!

Well, now there's a new daily deal site out called Heartsy.  Heartsy offers deep discounts on certain etsy stores.  Currently, most of the offers are for around 60% off the actual price of the item.

Here are a couple of the items from the stores that are currently being featured on Heartsy:

True to You Designs

Sinful Scents

Arm Candy For You

One of the coolest features of Heartsy is that you can vote for the next deals that they offer.  They have a list of items/shops and you can go through and tell them whether you would buy that deal or not.

If you're as addicted to Etsy as me, this site could definitely be dangerous!

This post contains invitation links for my accounts on Groupon, Living Social, and Heartsy.  If you sign up through my link and purchase a deal, I receive credit on those sites.  If you sign up through my Living Social link, we both get $5 credit on the site!

Need vs. Want: Day of Coordinator

Day of Coordinator

If you're a DIY bride, you've probably thought about how you're going to get all your beautiful decorations and everything set up on the wedding day.  If you are like me and couldn't get into your wedding venue until the morning of, you're going to have to find someone to do it for you because you're not going to have time to do it yourself.

One of the best things I did for our wedding was have a day of coordinator (actually, I had a team of two sisters).  I was able to go to the salon and get ready, while they (with the help of my husband and groomsmen) took care of everything at the wedding venue.  By the time I got there, everything was already set up and ready for the wedding to begin.

If you're having a really low key wedding and not many decorations, you could probably get away without a DOC.  But, if you have a lot of decorations and a lot of things going on, I would highly recommend getting one.

Final thoughts: In the end, even though I had a DOC, they're still a want!

Need vs. Want: Cake Baker

Cake Baker

Have you ever made a tiered cake?  They're not easy to make at all!  Baking, putting together, and decorating a wedding cake is not a task I would want to take on for my wedding.  Plus, you would need to do all the work just a couple days before your wedding.

If you're a professional baker, than you might be able to take on your wedding cake.  But I still wouldn't recommend it because it's going to be a lot of stress just a couple days before your wedding day.  Also, you will have to worry about transporting the cake to your venue the morning of your wedding when you should be getting pretty.

Some venues will not allow you to bring in food items that were not made by a professional caterer.  They have this regulation so that people don't sue them in the case of someone coming down with food poisoning.  So, unless you're a professional caterer, your venue might not even accept your cake.

Final thoughts: Leave the wedding cake to the professionals!  A cake baker is a need!

Need vs. Want: Florist

Florist

Most brides use florals in their centerpieces as well as the bouquets for the girls and bouts for the guys.  Hiring a florist can be a huge chunk of your budget!  Flowers are expensive.

We hired a florist, but that was because I wanted flowers that I wouldn't be able to buy myself.  Plus, I didn't want to deal with the stress of putting together flowers the morning of our wedding.

Flowers are something that are cheaper to DIY than it is to hire a florist.  The downside though is that you need to put them together the morning of your wedding or the night before.  That can be a very time consuming task.  You would definitely need to do a trial beforehand to make sure you can do them nice enough.

You could also use fake florals at your wedding and you could make everything whenever you want before the wedding.  Fake florals can be just as expensive as real flowers though, so I don't recommend doing this if you're thinking about doing it for a budget standpoint.

Final thoughts: A florist is a want!

Need vs. Want: Photographer

Photographer

A lot of brides think they can save money by getting a friend or family member who are good with a camera to take their wedding pictures.  I have also heard a lot of horror stories where a bride had horrible pictures at the end of their wedding, so all their tangible memories were lost.

Yes, I have heard horror stories from brides that hired professional photographers, but it's a lot less likely.  Professional wedding photographers have worked a ton of weddings and know what important events need to be captured on camera.  They also know how to deal with big groups of people.

When looking for a professional photographer, make sure to look at their portfolio.  Also, make sure to ask them a lot of questions to make sure you're compatible and that they will give you fantastic pictures.

Even if you hire a professional photographer, you can get your wanna be photographer friends and family to take pictures as well.  That way you have the gorgeous pictures from your photographer, you'll also have great candids from friends and family.  Those pictures will catch things that your photographer didn't see.

Final thoughts: A photographer is a need!

Need vs. Want: Wedding Planner

I always hear brides saying that they need this and they need that.  But what do you really need when planning a wedding?  Really, the only things you need are the officiant, you and your fiance, a marriage license, as well as a couple witnesses.  If you're planning a fancy wedding with guests though, you're going to need some more things to have a great time and make your guests happy.

I decided to do a Need vs. Want feature over the next week.  I'm going to highlight different vendors and talk about whether I feel they are a need vs. a want when you're planning a wedding.  I would love to hear your opinion about the different vendors, so please leave some comments and tell me what you think.  I promise I won't be offended if you don't agree with me.  :-)

Wedding Planner

A lot of brides have a lot of other things on their mind before their wedding.  Some work 40 hours a week, some go to school, and some even have children.  They don't have a gazillion hours a week to devote to planning a wedding.  These kind of commitments make a lot of brides want a wedding planner so that they will have the perfect wedding without putting much work into it.

I personally do not feel that it's necessary to have a wedding planner for your wedding.  Yes, weddings take time to plan, but you should be able to fit some time into your busy schedule to plan it.  Do some planning during your lunch hour, at night, and on the weekends.  

One of the hardest things you're going to come across is trying to schedule meetings with vendors because most of them will have to meet during the week because they're working weddings on the weekend.  Save up some vacation time at work so that you can go to these meetings.  Most won't take more than 2 hours.

Make sure you are organized!  Not being organized is going to make wedding planning a lot harder and stressful than need be.  Make your own wedding planning book and some spreadsheets to keep all your information together.  Also, utilize your fiance.  It's his wedding too, so he should be able to help you with wedding related tasks.

Final thought: A wedding planner is a want!