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!
‘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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…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!}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I set out to DIY our wedding, I had no idea what I was in for. I knew there would be a lot of trial and error, mixed with hair pulling frustration, but I also knew that I was capable of pulling it off. My heart was certainly in it, my attitude was positive, and therefore I was able approach the difficulty of it all with an open mind and a smile. The one project that I have been working on since April (4 months, people) is our DIY bouquets. I declared these bouquets finished at least 3 different times. The first time I declared them “finished” was at the end of April after my “Hey, Bridesmaids! Let’s Make Some Bouquets!” Party. Here are a few shots of the bouquet in PHASE 1:
DIY Bouquets: PHASE 1
More of PHASE 1
This first night of bouquet crafting left us all feeling successful. I was truly impressed with what we did. But just days after that night, I started to futz with the bouquets again. I saw little gaps that needed fixing and pieces that needed gluing. This was to be expected, though. We were DIYing bouquets blind, pretty much. You see, at first, we did the “glue-as-you-go” method where we basically took some pretty crap and glued it to the bouquet handle base, trying our hardest to keep it looking spherical. I’d say for our first attempts, we did a pretty damn good job.
But then I decided I wanted different colors than the materials I had on the bouquet. So instead of starting from scratch (which would have ended up costing us nearly as much as a set of real floral bouquets), I decided to paint over what I had. And this is what I came up with (you may recognize this picture from my previous DIY Bouquet post):
DIY Bouquets: PHASE 2
I truly loved this phase of the bouquets. In fact, after I completed said “phase,” I believed it to be the last and final. But no. I decided I wanted lighter colors. So I started painting again. And the I decided some of the bouquets didn’t have the right shape, so I began to reshape. And then I looked at a picture of a real bouquet, and I decided that the handles on my bouquets looked skinnier than everyone else’s. And I didn’t like that. So I found some soft cardboard used to pack fragile things with, rolled them into cylinders, then glued them to the current handle. Then I noticed that “real” bouquets have some sort of ribbon or lace wrap around the handle. So I went and bought some lace ribbon, wrapped it around the handles, and pinned it.
Annnnd 80 glue gun burns later, this is the final look of the bouquets:
DIY Bouquets: PHASE 3 - The (Actual) Final Phase
My bouquet: PHASE 3
PHASE 3: Complete.
I am very VERY happy with the end result. Don’t get me wrong, I would have been happy with the phase 1 result, but since I had time to tweak and perfect, I was able to let the bouquets evolve into my original vision.
Lessons learned:
There is no right or wrong way to make a DIY bouquet.
Do not feel pressured to make your DIY bouquet perfect on the first go-around. Give yourself time to let the bouquets evolve.
It’s ok to be a perfectionist — just make sure you give yourself enough time to be said perfectionist. I finished my bouquets 5 days before the wedding, people. This perfectionist likes to cut it close… So starting four months prior to W-Day was a must for me. Assess your perfectionist tendencies and plan your DIY bouquet plan of attack accordingly.
If you do not plan on painting your bouquet, make sure you pick colors you like and want to commit to. My bouquet colors changed completely from start to finish. Just look at Phase 1 compared to Phase 3. Same bouquet, totally different look.
Do a glue test to make sure everything holds. For example, hold your bouquet by the handle, upside down and shake it a tad. If it feels loose, it’s not glued down enough. Don’t wait until the last minute. You’ll find yourself in a hot glue gun mess.
Build from the center of the bouquet out. This way you can decide layer by layer how big you want your sphere to be, and you will have an easier time keeping the sphere even and symmetrical.
Make the handle of the bouquet LAST. I made 3 different handles before I landed on a style that worked. Trial and error: get used to it.
What are your DIY lessons learned? Anyone have similar experiences with crafting their bouquets? Have they evolved as much as mine have?
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! **
I wasn’t going to say anything, I really wasn’t. But then I saw another blog post about a couple that had a $10,000 wedding. I had one myself, so I’m drawn to these stories like a moth to a flame. How did they do it? How did they get more bang for their buck with a budget wedding? Was it the same way I did? Well, no.
You, too, have seen this story before. They got married in her grandpa’s barn in Nebraska, with centerpieces made of flowers from his mother’s garden, and had a luncheon buffet for 250 catered by the local barbecue joint that her uncle owns. His grandmother made the cake. The bride wore her mother’s altered wedding dress (altered by her mother) and the groom pulled out the suit he wore for his high school graduation. And since they saved so much money on their wedding, they were able to hire the best wedding photographer in Lincoln, for the princely sum of $800. Nebraska, you know.
See what I mean? Not everyone has these options. In fact, most people don’t.
I had this conversation with another wedding pro a few months ago. A $10,000 wedding for 100 guests is a very popular goal these days. $100 per guest seems extravagant, even. If you don’t include renting the venue. Or feeding them what usually comes to a three-course meal. With a bar. Oh, and tax and tip (known in the Wedding World as the “service charge”). I want to be clear so I don’t get yelled at: A $10,000 wedding is totally possible, but there’s work and patience involved in order to make it happen. Everyone’s two favorite words, right?
So, how did I do it?
When you’ve got a limited amount of money to spend, the first thing you need to do is decide what’s really important to you. There were just a few things that I wanted at my wedding: Having our families and best friends on the face of the planet there. I wanted to wear a strapless fluffy princess dress. Bouquets of Black Magic roses. Black bridesmaid dresses. And Zane and I both wanted to eat steak. And that was pretty much it. I figured it would be at a hotel, because most of the weddings I’d attended had been in hotels , and I wasn’t really particular as to which one. The only other weddings I’d been to were in historic buildings in D.C. and as we all know, L.A. doesn’t have any of those (I was so young).
We had a lot of “Options You May Not Have”, the first being that this was almost seven years ago, when stuff was a little bit cheaper. The second is that I’d been an event planner since Clinton’s first term in office, so I knew what questions to ask to get the answers I needed. In the interest of full disclosure, there were only 50 guests at our wedding, which meant less money spent on invites, and way less money spent on dinner. We got married the weekend after Valentine’s Day, in the middle of winter, and our venue (ironically, an historic art-deco hotel ) was eager to give us a great deal in order to book it. I found a bakery at a bridal show that only charged $2.25 per slice. My father in-law owned a candy-distribution company, and we asked him if we could have a big batch to put in little Chinese take-out boxes and give away as favors. He was delighted, and one of my favorite memories is watching everyone open up their boxes and start trading candy with each other.
Options that you do have? I rented my wedding dress and my veil. I got my shoes on sale at Macys. I found the bridesmaid dresses at Windsor Fashions for $50 each (no, they didn’t wear them again). I walked down the street from our apartment to the closest flower shop and asked for very simple, one-flower type arrangements and bouquets. My wedding rings are a vintage set from the ’40s that Zane bought in D.C., and I went to the local jewelry district in L.A. to have a solid gold band hand-made for him for $300, which would be somewhere between $400-500 today.
But it took time to find all of these things, and I lucked out on a lot of them. Sunset Tower was on my way to work, and I must have passed it about 50 times before I looked up one day, wondered how much it would cost, and called. Same thing with the florist, and same thing with the dress rental place. So, note to you: If there’s a possible option, don’t assume it won’t work. Ask.
So, what “other options” do you have to meet your wedding budget goals? Where have you lucked out so far?
This Week’s Wedding Deals
Ann Taylor Brings the Pretty
Another clothing store is jumping into Wedding World, so say Thank You. Ann Taylor is bringing the pretty with a new line of gowns, starting at only $300.
DIY Wedding Stationery Engines, Activate!
Feterie, bringer of all stationery both modern and lovely (like this one below), is participating in the two week-long Paper Carnival. Each day of the carnival features a new and fabulous etsy.com stationary store, and you know etsy always has the deals. Go to the Paper Carnival’s Facebook page to get started. I’ve already “liked” it, how about you?
Project Wedding is holding a Budget Savvy contest and dishing up big-ass Amazon gift cards for the most creative broke-ass entries – up to $500! So what are you waiting for? PS: you’re welcome!
Lulu.com is offering an exclusive discount to Broke-Ass Bride readers, for 25% off a Photo Book purchase. Enter the code brokebrideat checkout to receive the discount. The offer is valid until July 31st, and has a maximum savings of $100.
Happy Fourth of July and I’ll See You At the End of the Aisle,
I have a wedding mantra. One that I believe has kept me sane and grounded during this crazy journey that is planning a wedding. Any time I feel the WIC pressure, I say this to myself: “Stop trying to be anti-traditional and just be you.” This mantra has encouraged us to make wedding-related decisions based on what we truly want our day to be like. It has propelled us to follow our hearts – even when our brains have told us different. But through all of this focus on making decisions based on what we want, and not what the rest of the world/wedding industry/guests expect to see, I have sincerely neglected the visual inspiration that goes along with it.
The Internet is flooded with perfect-looking wedding inspiration boards… with perfectly matching colors… and perfectly styled tables… and beautiful white dresses… and pristine bridal parties. These boards are beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But I want to see an inspiration board where there isn’t exactly one set color scheme. Or one where the bride isn’t wearing white. Or one that doesn’t showcase perfectly designed tables with professional-looking centerpieces. These boards were what made me think I needed to have a perfectly styled wedding with all the traditional trimmings. Which in the end, was NOT what my partner and I wanted. And again, don’t get me wrong; those inspiration boards are awesome — but ultimately, for us, those perfect boards steered our wedding into a direction that 1. we didn’t want and 2. couldn’t afford. So I wanted to mix it up a bit. And that’s when I decided to come up with “The ‘Just Be You’ Inspiration Board Series.”
Board #1 plays with lots of colors, inspiring you to not feel the need to tie yourself down to a palette with 2 or 3 distinct colors (this will also save you money and frustration). This board also focuses on alternatives to traditional catering, transportation, attire, and dessert. Check it out:
Ring a ding ding. When I came across Tina H. Dee, who handcrafts bad-ass alternative, affordable unique wedding rings and custom gifts that your wedding party will be thrilled to rock. I took one peek at her etsy site and started writing this post. Its, like, broke-ass to the max.
Perfect for your unfussy fiance(e), or your own unfussy finger, these rings and things start at around $30, don’t go much higher than $150, and many are customizable. Personalizing rings and gift jewelry with people’s names, special dates or quotes is a bonus that even broke-asses can get behind!
This ring set below is $68. Yup, that’s right. And its gawgeous.
People. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Etsy is where its AT!
The term “bridal shoes” CREEPS.ME.OUT. Why, you ask? Well, let’s start with, “words that come to mind when I hear the term ‘bridal shoes’”: uncomfortable, dated, blocky, stiff, bright white, in-yo-face, blind-me satin. So yes, CREEPY. Fear not though, brides! I’m hear to tell you how to find cheap wedding shoes that don’t look cheap!
The quintessential "creep me out bridal shoes."
I know things have changed lately in bridal footwearland, thanks to brands like Badgley Mischka and Pour la Victoire. But letsgetserious. Many of us cannot afford the $200+ pricetag on those puppies — wedding day or not. Many of us cannot even afford the $100 to $199 range… or the $50 to $99 range. I mean, come on, this is the Broke-Ass Bride you’re reading… and if you remember, Mrs. Broke-Ass herself was tasked with having to find hot, affordable unbridal-y wedding shoes too. So you’re not alone, ladies. I’m here to tell you that brightwhitesatin “bridal shoes” are NOT your only affordable options out there. Because get this: After scouring the world wide web, I found a slew of wedding appropriate shoes that are A) Stylish B) Something we’d wear post-wedding, and C) AFFORDABLE. Check it:
$39.99
$16.91
$32.78
$15.60
$22.50
$22.50
$22.50
$35.99
$34.99
$39.99
$25.36
$35.00
$35.00
$31.98
$39.95
$39.98
$33.79
$35.98 (I own these and they are FAB. They have heart-shaped heels!)
$37.00
$31.95
$20.34
$20.40
$24.19
$24.21
$25.49
$27.60
$27.60
$29.50
$30.63
$35.60
$35.60
And for the record, with the right dress, I would wear every single one of these pairs of shoes on my wedding day (especially those blue polka dot Nine West ones — I had a “hello, lover” moment for sure after I feasted my eyes on those babies). And you know what my bank account would be doing if I did wear one of these “under 40 dollar” pairs? It would be on it’s hands and knees thanking my fine, frugalicious broke-ass, that’s what!
So if you would be so kind, in the comment section below, please leave an “Under $40 Wedding Shoe” link to share with each other. We need to start spreading the hot, affordable, re-wearable wedding shoe love now. Broke-ass brides UNITE!
P.S. Just click on each shoe picture above to find out what brand they are and where to buy!
Erin Tavin is a bad-ass vintage shop owner with an eye for incredible fashion and funky-fresh creative spirit. I’ve adored her indie psedo-euro boho-gypsy cool-as-hell boutique since it opened in my very own ‘hood last July…. but now she’s online at etsy too, and debuting a special collection of Vintage wedding dresses that are so freaking hawt I could die. And they’re all under $1,000. I mean, come ON! Talk about a unique wedding dress!
With styles from Victorian to 1930’s through the 1970’s…. These literally make my knees weak. Please, someone, buy them, wear them, love them, and then send me the pictures! (or, um, can’t I just get married again?) Drink in this deliciousness, yo! (but careful not to drool on your keyboard).
How sick are those babies? Aoooooga!
While you’re browsing around, check out the rest of the cute vintage fashions, accessories, gifts and ephemera she’s curated at Tavin. I especially love the random little poems she includes in the etsy store for the item descriptions. So quirky and cute!
I’ve got a major girl crush on Erin for her exquisite taste, her entrepreneurial vision and her broke-ass friendly duds… and completely thrilled her collection of vintage wedding dresses is spreading its wings outside of her Echo Park store and is now available to the online masses! Which is your favorite of her gowns?
