Made with Love

This past month has been a swirl of wedding festivities..I've attended two in the last two months and after simply being a guest at one and helping with some wedding accessories with the other, I'm impressed with the outcome of both. Both weddings were complete opposites of each other when it came to budget, but let me say that if you were an average guest you would not be able to tell the difference when it came to the standard accessories weddings normally require i.e.flowers, center pieces, placement cards, favors, etc..
This last and very recent wedding I attended and gladly to be a part of the wedding party, was one of the most speediest weddings I've seen put together. Needless to say I, along with the entire wedding party and guests, were impressed with the outcome. The wedding was done in just two months from the time of engagement and everything was set in place after just one month. This wedding proves that you don't have to have bukos to have that dream wedding. Now of course it depends on the couples expectations but still, there are ways to stick to your budget by staying dedicated and being open to DIY projects.

If you've been married, or are about to get married, you know budget is the first topic of discussion. There are few who have an endless budget to invest towards their wedding but for most of us, especially those effected by the economy, budget means BUDGET; tight, small, careful planning. This recent wedding was a prime example of how you can stretch your budget. Now there are things you just don't want to skimp on like venue, music, catering, cake, and of course the Brides dress! The things you can get away with on an extremely tight budget are the wedding accessories. It helps to have the creative gene but with the help of you friends and family, you can achieve your desired look.
Take a look at these bouquets from various florists:

These are all beautiful; however, they can range anywhere from $50-$100 per bouquet! This can be costly especially if you have a large bridal party..We found it was super easy to create our own bouquet for a fraction of the cost and you can create it anyway you like! With the help of her bridesmaids (myself included) mother and aunt, we were able to create the same set of bouquets along with center pieces, boutonnieres, and floral arrangements for the ceremony by spending about $350! The best part is there were plenty left over and it was super easy!

We watched a tutorial online on how to create your own bouquet. Of course, the person demonstrating it made it look a lot easier. Even though it was, it took some getting used to when it came to bunching the flowers and forming the bouquet to an even circular bunch. But we all got it down and each of us discovered our own specialties between the bouquets and boutonnieres.

$350 dollars worth of flowers and this was the end result! Not bad at all for our first time..The joke of the day was to quit our jobs to open our own floral shop. It actually sounded tempting with all the fun we had..

Now I was going to post the video of the actual tutorial we used, but typing in a search for DIY Wedding Bouquet, I came across this tutorial from a very comical website for brides on a budget sharing inexpensive ideas..The title is well put and simply stated! My kind of style!

thebrokeassbride.com

Now flowers are not the only money saver of a wedding..Paying to print placement cards can also add to the budget paying a per card price...Our creative bride did it again by creating her own placements cards and placement card holder..

She searched various decorative images for the design. The half pearls identify the meal the guest chose at the time of RSVP. Genius!
The cards were neatly placed on extra large individual cutouts of their initials, M&V. Ribbon was layered across the M & V so the cards slipped in easily. Picture to come..

The bride also saved on party favors, center pieces, table numbers, flower girl basket, ring bearer pillow, and other small accessories that can easily add up by playing with her creative ideas and keeping an open mind. The most significant feature of all is the fact she created it herself giving it sentimental value you can't get from store bought accessories. They were simply made with love~MG