Guest Post - Planning Your Wedding on a Shoe String
Planning Your Wedding on a Shoe String
It’s one of the most exciting times of your life, but can also be one of the most expensive. What are we talking about? Planning your wedding. However, if you are prepared to be creative, put in some hard work and have a few willing helpers, you can still have all the trimmings for your wedding, but save yourself a good chunk of money that you can put towards your honeymoon, house deposit or starting a family.
Create your own invitations
With so many areas in which you can save money, it can be hard to know where to start, but what better place than with your wedding invitations? While you can pay for these to be made for you, making your own invitations, in whatever design you choose, is a good way to add your own personal touch. You don’t need to be a whizz at card-making - though if you do have previous experience it will always come in handy – as they are surprisingly easy to produce. The materials you need – card, stencils, metallic pens, sequins, glitter or whatever else you need to make the invitation your own – are also readily available. For our wedding we chose a simple design – a white card with a glitter finish, on which we mounted a pair of hand-drawn wedding bells and used transfers for the writing – but we were very pleased with the end result. If you’re struggling for ideas, have a look online for some suggestions and tips for making your own wedding invites.
Design your own tableware
Table decorations are another area where you can step in. You can let your imagination run away, but like with many things, sometimes simple ideas work best. We liked the idea of giving our guests something to take home to keep as a reminder of our day. So for each table setting we took a wine glass and with brightly coloured marker pens for glass wrote their name and added decoration. The rest of the table was decorated with red cut-out hearts in varying sizes and strewn gold and silver sequins. At other weddings I’ve seen some other interesting ideas for table decorations. One friend used the popular heart theme, but instead of using card, had found sets of heart-shaped cookie cutters in increasing sizes – it was certainly a nice gift for the children to take away with them. At another they had used spherical florist’s foam and mounted heart-shaped sweets on cocktail sticks; unsurprisingly these disappeared as the reception went on.
Something old
Although the majority of what you will use for your wedding will tend to be purchased or made for the day, it is tradition after all to have something old with you at your wedding. We dug out some old fairy lights to decorate the top table and after replacing some bulbs, they worked a treat and fixing up some lights is easier than repairing a phone. It’s surprising what can come in useful; perhaps have a look around your home and that of your family to see what you can find.
Make your own favors
It’s a nice gesture to give your guests a favor as a little thank you for sharing your wedding day. It’s all too easy to buy these readymade, but obviously a more expensive choice. If you’re a dab hand at sewing, you can make little fabric pouches to fill with candies. Alternatively purchase small gift boxes to do the same. Perhaps bake a cookie for each guest. If you fancy having a go at origami, this might solve the problem of what to give for a favor and can also be used for additional decoration at the tables.
It’s one of the most exciting times of your life, but can also be one of the most expensive. What are we talking about? Planning your wedding. However, if you are prepared to be creative, put in some hard work and have a few willing helpers, you can still have all the trimmings for your wedding, but save yourself a good chunk of money that you can put towards your honeymoon, house deposit or starting a family.
Create your own invitations
With so many areas in which you can save money, it can be hard to know where to start, but what better place than with your wedding invitations? While you can pay for these to be made for you, making your own invitations, in whatever design you choose, is a good way to add your own personal touch. You don’t need to be a whizz at card-making - though if you do have previous experience it will always come in handy – as they are surprisingly easy to produce. The materials you need – card, stencils, metallic pens, sequins, glitter or whatever else you need to make the invitation your own – are also readily available. For our wedding we chose a simple design – a white card with a glitter finish, on which we mounted a pair of hand-drawn wedding bells and used transfers for the writing – but we were very pleased with the end result. If you’re struggling for ideas, have a look online for some suggestions and tips for making your own wedding invites.
Design your own tableware
Table decorations are another area where you can step in. You can let your imagination run away, but like with many things, sometimes simple ideas work best. We liked the idea of giving our guests something to take home to keep as a reminder of our day. So for each table setting we took a wine glass and with brightly coloured marker pens for glass wrote their name and added decoration. The rest of the table was decorated with red cut-out hearts in varying sizes and strewn gold and silver sequins. At other weddings I’ve seen some other interesting ideas for table decorations. One friend used the popular heart theme, but instead of using card, had found sets of heart-shaped cookie cutters in increasing sizes – it was certainly a nice gift for the children to take away with them. At another they had used spherical florist’s foam and mounted heart-shaped sweets on cocktail sticks; unsurprisingly these disappeared as the reception went on.
Something old
Although the majority of what you will use for your wedding will tend to be purchased or made for the day, it is tradition after all to have something old with you at your wedding. We dug out some old fairy lights to decorate the top table and after replacing some bulbs, they worked a treat and fixing up some lights is easier than repairing a phone. It’s surprising what can come in useful; perhaps have a look around your home and that of your family to see what you can find.
Make your own favors
It’s a nice gesture to give your guests a favor as a little thank you for sharing your wedding day. It’s all too easy to buy these readymade, but obviously a more expensive choice. If you’re a dab hand at sewing, you can make little fabric pouches to fill with candies. Alternatively purchase small gift boxes to do the same. Perhaps bake a cookie for each guest. If you fancy having a go at origami, this might solve the problem of what to give for a favor and can also be used for additional decoration at the tables.
As a Frugal Couple supporter, please enjoy
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