The antidote to a cheap wedding, The Broke-Ass Bride delivers bad-ass wedding inspiration to turn your budget wedding into a kick-ass and totally unique wedding… because its not about how much you spend, its how you spend it!
Oh, I know how it goes. You’re on a budget – a strict budget. And finding vendors, especially the triumvirate – your venue, catering and photographer - can be frustrating. You can spend a lot of weekends searching and meeting and pricing and at some point, you may think to yourself: screw it, I’m just going to go with this place/vendor because I just don’t want to look any more. Even though it’s thousands of dollars over our budget, we’ll make it work. Somehow.
Wow, think how pretty this centerpiece would be at half the size!
NO. Giving up is not an option, you just have to think about it differently. Seriously, even if it doesn’t feel like you have time, you actually do, so let time take the place of money. One more hour-long online research session or $1,000? One more weekend or $5,000? I think we all known the right answers. But don’t set yourself up, either. The wedding site that starts at $100 per person is not going to chop their rates in half for you. Stay away from couture gowns unless you’re willing to go pre-owned. Steak and lobster are expensive if you’re not having your wedding in Mexico. If you have to save money, stay away from these options. It’s the same reason I avoid the shoe section in Macys – the heart covets what the eye sees. Take a deep breath, take a break, scream out loud and stomp your feet if you have to, then ask around and use the resources you have to find the resources you need. It’s not true that what you’re looking for isn’t possible or available, you just haven’t found it, yet. And the last vendor you met with is not the last choice that you have.
Turn away from the light! Specifically, lights like this one, they're expensive.
In a way, it’s a lot like dieting. The Wedding Stuff is gorgeous, you KNOW it’s going to taste great, but it’s not going to help you reach your goal. As a matter fact, it’s going to send you careening in the opposite direction. I’m not the girl telling you that it’s always going to be easy. But as Dumbledore would say, wedding planning can often be a choice between what is easy, and what is right. Or in this case, right for you and your bank account. And you are going to feel like such a rock star at the end of the day, guaranteed.
Letting time take the place of money should extend past your Big Three picks, too. I’m not just talking about DIY, I’m talking about sitting down with your other vendors, actual and potential, and figuring out how to cut costs. You can get invite kits at Target or Michael’s, or you can ask about cheaper options in an email to online vendors or ask at the stationery store. Just because it’s not in front of the store on the home page, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Go for the massive centerpieces, or ask how you can get comparable pretty for a lower price? One hour of your life (plus travel, maybe) vs $500 (plus postage!). Again, you know the answer to that one, too. Less flowers, more candles? Printing instead of calligraphy? Make your own favors or do away with them all together? What can you pick up and deliver yourself? And since it’s your money, or even your family’s money, don’t worry about what other people think.
Take the time and save the money! So, how have you let time take the place of money? Or do you have any questions about how to go about doing that with your wedding?
This Week’s Wedding Deals:
Courtesy of Etsy.com
Oooh, Etsy. I should stay away from that site just like I stay away from that site, but every week they get more and more of my money. This week, they’re rocking the birdcage veils, starting for as little at $20, like this one. You’re welcome!
Wedding Chicks and Green Bride Guide are teaming up to give one lucky reader a $300 shopping spree. Green Bride Guide is one of the most comprehensive and credible resource for eco-friendly wedding ideas, products and services. Just go their online store, pick out a few of your favorite items, and leave a comment about them on this post on Wedding Chicks. The winner will be picked next Thursday, September 9th.
And if that’s not enough, Green Bride Guide also has a coupon code that’s good for $10 off any purchase of $50 or more. Just Type in “10OFF50″ at checkout.
For real, for serious, you need to sign up for the Broke-Ass Brigade newsletter. It’s finally about to launch and it promises to be jam packed with hella awesome deals, squeals, and steals… and its going to be the exclusive way to get them. So sign up, why dontcha?
See you at the end of the aisle, and enjoy the long weekend,
‘Memba those fabulous DIY Louboutin-inspired petal sandals we featured from Love, Maegan a few weeks ago? Well, today we’re feeding to your fix with a matching petal bag that’s as simple as it is sexy. Thanks again to Maegan for sharing! Make sure to check out her fabulous site and love her long time. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did! …..and away we go!
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I’m just a dude who’s gained a taste for the grape. Not much cash in the wallet, but lots of taste buds to tingle. I’ll give you my two cents so you don’t waste yours, all while trying to keep the price as close to two cents as possible.
Todays Review: Rootstock Syrah 2007
Will I be happy I went on this cheap date?
How much is it gonna hurt?: $5.99
Where’s it at, yo?: Trader Joe’s
As I uncorked this Cali. Northern Coaster I thought, “That cork looks like plastic, this maaaaay be a bumpy trip.” But as I poured, my hopes grew. This little lady has a rich dark plum color which hits you with a sniff of smokeyness when you stick your shnoz in the glass.
At this point, things are going to go really strongly one way or the other: either we are at a moment of sophistication or a flashback to bad choices in college. The anticipation built as I was about to sip. Paco the dog was at the edge of his seat (but he may have been trying to reach the block of cheese in my other hand). I sip and… I SCOOOOORE! At $5.99, this lady must be mine! It tastes at least an entire whole three dollars better than it is priced, and has a rich round flavor, a bit oaky and fruity, but not sweet. It’s got a a cotton mouth inducing lip smacking nip at the end and daddy like. Yup, this one’s a keeper.
Rating: Giiiirl, I gots ta get yo’ number cause I want some more of that lovin’!!!
WINNER!
You got a broke-ass wine recommendation for me, yo? Hit me up!
You did not just slave over a year’s worth of crafting for your wedding just to throw it all away in the end. No way. I allowed myself to throw away certain items, namely the ones that I couldn’t stand to look at anymore. Case in point: flag and crane strings had to go.
But for the most part, reusing our wedding decor and supplies for our home has been working out quite nicely. In fact, I would go as far as to say our home has never looked more stylish than it does now. And for a couple whose home decor has consisted of everything Ikea for the last 5 years, it’s nice to see a unique, one-of-a-kind change.
2 bouquets, 6 vases, 2 record sleeves, 4 painted bottles, and a hot pink reindeer. All used at our wedding. All re-used to make our home pretty!
We even used our cake topper and a pair of photo lounge shutter shades as decor!
I call this one: "pimp my bookcase."
Neon drink coasters from the wedding are now water catchers for our plants!
And this one I will of course call: "pimp my windowsill"
My bouquet, a lantern, and a couple tins from the wedding: Now being displayed as decor in our bedroom. Underneath our Bowie "Heroes" poster, naturally.
More bouquets, bottles, and lanterns used as decor!
Make any DIY signs? Use them as wall decor. Sure, "Parking Hitchfest 2010" doesn't quite make sense in the context of your home... BUT it will serve as a fun memory for us until we get sick of looking at it.
More reusable DIY signage! Our "Food Truck" sign brings a smile to my face everytime I sit down to play piano.
Sure, we may not need to keep this "Photo Lounge" sign hanging around the house... BUT I wonder if another engaged couple would get some use out of it at their wedding???
You can also use your decor for functional purposes. I got the idea from Mrs. Broke-Ass herself (she’s so clevah!) about re-using our mason jars as drinking glasses. Just today I cleaned out all the wax from the jars (just use really hot water), washed ‘em up nice, and now we can use them for beverages!
These puppies are just *waiting* for me to pour beer in them!
And there I go! Reuse-ifying feels so good!
We also reused a few hand-painted bottles to act as book-ends.
Functional & beautiful!
AND lastly, we are keeping 2 of the 10 of our handcrafted beer bottle chandeliers to act as lighting for our dining area. We are hoping to use them as outdoor lighting… eventually… when we can finally find an affordable place in Los Angeles with a yard!
Home dining room lighting at it's weirdest... errr... I mean, "finest."
What the chandeliers look like all lit up! Can't wait to get a backyard!
Seeing all the wedding crafts come together as decor for our home has brought so much joy to my heart. I had planned from the start to reuse our DIY decor, and I am over the moon proud of ourselves that we actually followed through with the OG plan. I feel the payback on our investment already!
And for everything that we didn’t reuse — which was surprisingly very little — we will either Brideshare or sell. I will keep you all updated on everything we are selling/sharing. Please contact me if you would like to reuse any of our decor for your own wedding: i.e. bouquets, bottles, mason jars, signs, lanterns, etc. We’re happy to share!
How about you guys? Have any ideas for reusing wedding decor in your home? How about outside the home?
Maegan over at Love, Maegan might not know it yet, but she is my new best friend. Her site is a phenomenal resource for fashion, fun how-to’s and girl-crush worthy style, but what makes Maegan so irresistible is her down-to-earth warmth. We asked her if we could share a couple of our favorite DIY projects of hers with y’all, and this one is perf! For all you Louboutin lovahhhhs out there (and I knows y’alls out there)… grab a pair of old strappy pumps and some spare fabric, get your craft on, and redirect that $6 hundo into something else (or save it altogether). People, with DIY as easy peasy lemon squeezy as this, you can afford to make ‘em in every color your heart desires!
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…I am so in love. I think the only thing they’re missing is the red heel. I cannot wait to wear them! {…ps: because they are removable, I can also wear them as bracelets/cuffs, hooked onto my vintage chain necklace or even in my hair …I know!}
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The other day I realized that, whoa, we have less than 2 weeks til W-Day and we don’t have a guest book. I realize in the grand scheme of wedding to do’s, a guest book falls very low on the list of priorities. However, there was no way I was going to throw a kickin party and not remember every single person who was there to share it with. And a guest book that only requires them to write their name and maybe a word of advice wasn’t going to cut it. I wanted to get our guest’s creative juices flowing straight out the gate.
I first dreamed up a guest book in which our guests would give us “Sex Mix Playlist” suggestions in lieu of marriage advice. But then I realized I didn’t want any such suggestion coming from my Grandfather. Ewww. So then I came up with the Mad Lib idea… an idea that is creative but still cheap and easy. If you’ve spent the last 11.5 months hardcore DIY-ing like I have, you will know that it’s best to save the easiest projects for the very end. And this particular project, my friends, is one of those easy ones. ACES.
There are many different ways you can format your Mad Lib. At first I went for the 2 page model — but upon further review of the design, I decided that it would be easier to have the story AND the word prompts on the same piece of paper. This method works great because your guests won’t have to work in partners, and they won’t be bothered to write in their answers for the prompts more than one time.
Step one is to write a short Mad Lib story about you and your partner. We did ours in the form of a letter from the guest to the Bride and Groom.
Each of your guests will get a card like this.
The trick with this Mad Lib design is that the story part is hidden. I’ll show you what I mean in one sec. Sit tight.
Then they fill it out!
Ok. Here comes the magical part… Flip the card over… and…
The story is folded over on the back! With neon guitar stickers!
Then you take the stickers off the folded card, open it up and hello, Mad Lib!
The whole story is there! Without even having to copy your answers down twice!
No pain in the ass copying required. You write your answer down, and it’s already in the story. And because Mad Libs aren’t any fun without getting to read back the silly story you came up with… I will share the one I came up with:
“I am so devastated to be at your garish wedding! It’s the biggest fart since The Spanish/American War. I think Mike and Britt are one feverish couple. Truth be told, I’m a bit elated that Britt is off the market. I saw us as lovers, but I couldn’t get over her loudmouth. I’m glad Mike is willing to put up with it. Good luck in all your volleyball endeavors! In Christ , Bowie Bride.”
Hilarious, right? Then after you have collected all the completed Mad Lib cards, stick them in a scrapbook and throw it in your suitcase for the honeymoon. You and your sweet love can get a kick out of reading the “letters” your guests wrote to you while lounging by the pool!
MAD LIB GUEST BOOK SUPPLIES:
Sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 Cardstock paper
Home printer.
Scissors, exacto knife, or a paper cutter
Markers. Any kind. But I went with some funky shimmery opaque ones. A tad more pricey, but also a tad more sassy.
Stickers, or some kind of adhesive that isn’t permanent.
A scrapbook, a photo box, or anything to store the cards in.
The adorable Raechel and Joel are the perfect example of a couple who used their wit, creativity, and awesome friends to rock their budget savvy sensibilities to the max, and have themselves a “cheap wedding” that was in no way cheap looking.
To start with, just look at their insanely creative save the date video. (Caution: be prepared to fall in love)
Ok, so while you’re wiping the drool off your keyboard, let me hit you with this mindboggler: these two cuties threw a wedding fully funded by themselves for only eight thousand dollars. $8,000, people!
Raechel works in visual sales at Anthropologie and worked her store discount for her hair piece and earrings, and she picked up her dress from J. Crew, which she ordered online at Christmas time to capitalize on the seasonal discounts… What a smarty pants! Her bridesmaids were asked to find dresses inspired by champagne colors, and they ended up ranging in budget from $30 to just under $150…. while the groomsmen and the groom all wore mixy-matchy vintage inspired suits.
Raechel and Joel knew that they wanted to splurge on their venue so they reserved a good chunk of their budget for the art gallery where the reception was held. Their evening reception featured drinks and desserts only, the couple saved a pretty penny on catering that way.
Now get this: They actually bought all of the desserts at Costco, which was a big money saver and thanks to Raechel’s creative arranging skills, you can hardly tell they’re store bought! Another one of crafty secrets? All of the wedding decor was from Raechel’s favorite hunting spot, “Wanda’s,” an old grocery store which converted to a thrift store in the ’80s. She scored loads of old crates, silver platters, wooden hat boxes, and milkglass vases for around $50 buckaroos. Talk about getting bang for your buck!
They went the friendor route by buying all of their flowers wholesale and enlisting the help of a buddy who loves doing floral arrangements. The bouquets were tied together and finished off with some vintage champagne lace that Raechel scored at a thrift store for super cheap, and they looked like the bomb diggity. Getting your florals wholesale is a very simple fix if you’re a broke-ass DIY bride.
Our favorite part? Raechel’s words hit deep in our hearts when explaining the day: their wedding was much more of a community event than a random mix of vendors. Every one of her friends were an essential part of something special by helping the wedding come together. Raechel and Joel sure know how to pick ‘em!
So what have we learned from Raechel and Joel? Work at a cool clothing store simply for discounts, have friends who are photographers, culinary experts, and floral lovers, and live off of desserts and sweet treats only! Just kidding, but trusting in your own creativity and leaning on your loving and crafty friends is a lesson from which we can all benefit!
How are you using your friends and family to make your big day special? Are you decorating the space yourself? Are wholesale flowers calling your name? Let us know and send us some wedding porn of your own for us to drool over!
Raechel and Joel left the party in style!
** On an administrative note, we know you love our real wedding features (yay!)… but we want to give our couples more of a chance to share their mindset and process with you, personally! So we’re working up a brief questionnaire to have future featured couples fill out, and we want to know what you want to know. To that end, please share a question or two in the comments below, and maybe you’ll see it answered in future real weddings on The Broke-Ass Bride. Thanks! **
Dudes! Earlier in June we returned to my beloved hometown New York City, baby! The moment we touchdown, I am always filled with waves of nostalgia and excitement. My first mission, without fail, is to get a bit of that primary food of my youth, New York Pizza. Whenever or wherever we go, I can sniff it out like a blood hound with a lust for lactose (OK, so that doesn’t sound very appealing). But this time pizza was going to have to wait… because the moment we landed, we were in for a much more high-end adventure.
We arrived in NYC a few days earlier than we had planned because of an invitation from The Plaza Hotel for a special bloggers’ luncheon. Yup, pizza was gonna have to take a rain check ’cause baby’s gotta enjoy the finer things in life for a moment (you know I love you NYC Pizza, I’ll be back in 24 hours, don’t you worry).
Broke-Asses in the City
To walk into The Plaza, at any time, is an exciting moment. It has been a staple of grandeur for my entire life and for a long part of the history of New York…. and this was Dana’s first experience. Walking past the the iconic horse-drawn carriages, up the steps, through the revolving door that opens to a grand hall where tea is being served…. It’s grandeur. It’s history. It’s New York romance, and has been for a long long time. So to come home with an invitation to the The Plaza was something very special indeed.
A wedding bloggers’ luncheon, hosted and catered by Great Performances, and featuring chef de cuisine Marc Spooner’s picks for the latest trends in wedding menus, under the vaulted ceiling of the Grand ballroom, was just the way to describe this return home… GRAND.
David Beahm Design presented a table scape of bad-assery
Floral kick-assery, compliments of Floralia Decorators
A Broke-Ass tip courtesy of (the great) David Beahm Design: mirrors make everything bigger and better. A similar display to these can be broke-ass-ified with sparing, simple blooms or by letting bountiful candles speak for themselves. Reflective surfaces and sparkling light turn a simple display into one that is magical and bigger than life.
We also learned that alternating high and low centerpieces is an easy way to add drama and variety to your tables… (just make sure the tall ones go above people’s heads so they don’t block their view), and that a fun new trend is to mix round and rectangular tables to spice things up!
After learning about tablescapes, we were onto the grub, er… culinary trends (and boy did we eat this part up!)
The tray-passed hors d’oevres gave me a bit of a food boner (is that ok to say when writing about this place?). The Plaza gets all its produce from an organic farm that they own, which is better for your belly and the earth. We especially loved these crispy potato skins filled with sauteed mushrooms and fava beans. We were psyched to hear that more and more couples are requesting organic and sustainable produce from their caterers… go team green!
Chef Marc Spooner shared that other recent trends include tray-passed small bites and dessert options, which encourage guests to mingle and meander (with the added bonus of saving money over plated dinners). People love miniature bites of popular comfort foods like burgers. Once you pop, you can’t stop! Oh, and these wee frozen popsicles? Eff YES.
To finish off the event, we were lead down to the Rose Club where we all shared a glass of champagne. This is perfect spot for an afternoon drink or a late night after-party. There is an elevator right there in the bar, so you can bid adieu to your guests and stumble straight to your room. The only time I get to do that… is when I’m drunk in my kitchen. Can I get a what what?
The whole wedding blogger crew at the Rose Bar (aka: It's hard out there for a Hubby)
It was an incredible return home. I thought a slice of NY pizza was surely my next meal. Ah… but there was more adventure in store for the first day home. Stay tuned…
PS – Big ups to our girl Anne at Aisle Dash for helping organize such a great event!
