So I've told you already that I'm trying to help those of you who are struggling to pull together a fabulous wedding on a tight budget.
I gave you, what I thought, were some pretty good general tips, but I feel as though I used a four-letter word in the previous post when I said "homemade." You may have been thinking to yourself, "HOMEMADE? I thought you said you were going to help me have a fabulous wedding?!?" And it's true...the word "homemade" comes with sort of a negative connotation - especially when you're striving for an elegant, classy wedding. Often, when thinking of homemade things, we think cheap or childish looking - may be okay for a birthday party or cook out, but definitely NOT for MY wedding day!
So here I am - ready to rescue you from those gross misconceptions about the quality of homemade products. When I was planning my own wedding, I really got dragged down by all the little costs that piled up. We were planning on having the bigger expenses - the reception dinner, the dress, etc. But what about the centerpieces? the programs? the table numbers? the flowers? the favors? They just kept adding up and adding up! So unless I wanted to spend roughly $150-$300+ on each of these, I needed to find a better way.
Again, with a lot of help from my sister, I discovered that we could not only make these things ourselves, but - if we took the time - we could make them look ... wait for it ... fabulous!
I'm not going to go into detail right now about how we made all of these - I'll do later posts on each one, giving step-by-step instructions, but for now - just take a look at how awesome homemade can look!
Bouquets - flowers bought in bulk (Sam's Club - $75 for 100 red/white roses) - enough to make the bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. Bound with floral tape and wrapped with ribbon.
Table numbers - booklets for guests to leave advice for the newlyweds in - made with scrapbook paper (in wedding colors), ribbon, cardstock, and Elmer's glue!
Centerpieces - each were different - 2-3 mason jars each, filled halfway with sand, bound with tulle and ribbon, one tealight candle in each jar.
Head table - tulle and christmas lights go a long way!
The MC's - pulled two friends whom we knew to have great MC-ing personalities to do the favors (a professional would have cost hundreds! and we received many compliments on the job our friends did!) - Okay, I know they're not homemade, but I think you get the point!
So ... if after all this you're thinking "way too much work, I'd rather just spend the money!"
or that
"I can't do all that! I don't have a creative bone in my body!"
Well, to the first statement, I say - it's great that you can afford to spend all that money on those things that will be used for one day, then tossed aside. But wouldn't you much rather save the money for your honeymoon? Or save up for your first home?
And to the second statement I say - well, let me help you some more! Stay tuned in, and I'll be giving you step-by-step, fail proof instructions, plus resources and more ideas - just like there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's also more than one way to make a table number, centerpiece, or bouquet!
Just remember, homemade now equals fabulous :O)
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