DIY Save the Date as Seen on Martha Stewart.com

These save-the-date cards convey their message in lighthearted ways. Clockwise from top left: A calendar from a stationer starts at the wedding month and is tied with red waxed twine to a precut custom-stamped card; the wedding date is circled in red. Slip into a photo booth and come out with adorable images for your cards; have the photo strip reproduced at a copy shop onto card stock, and then fold and cut into a narrow card containing basic information. To make a save-the-date magnet, design your message on a computer, and print onto 8 1/2-by-11-inch magnetic sheets (available from office- supply stores) using an ink-jet printer; cut out. A schoolgirl may have dreamed of her wedding day as she practiced writing a married name on lined notebook paper; re-create those doodles, then photocopy onto vellum and cut to size; include a white paper background to make the words stand out. Make reminder stickers for guests to affix to calendars: Buy sheets of adhesive paper; print stickers on a computer, cut to size, and attach them to the save-the-date cards using store-bought adhesive dots.

DIY Wedding Invitations

When I started planning my wedding one of the first things I started looking at were wedding invitations and save the date sites. I searched high and low for ideas. I found many wonderful invitations that were so out of my budget. I began thinking, why not make my own. There are many things you can do when you make your own invitations. You can even emboss your own initiations and make them exactly how you want. I searched through the sites for all the embossing equipment and priced this option. Then one day I went to Party America. I found my invitations, reply cards, and both sets of envelops (100 total) for $50.00! I strongly recommend looking there for your invitations. They have a wonderful selection online, but going to the store is better because you can see them in person and sometimes they are having a sale that will help you save even more. The first invitation are close to the ones I bought and the second set I put up here because they aren't too bad and they are what I was going to make on my own, but now they are available at Party America!!! I printed them at my parents house so my invitations cost me $50.00 total. If you wanted to take them to Kinko's, it isn't too expensive to print these if you are only printing black and white. Another site I liked was Gartner Studios. They have a ton of DIY invitations and save the dates also. I will be making another post on DIY save the dates later. I found some I thought were great on another website that I would also like to share to brides on a budget like me.

Luggage

We desperately needed new luggage for our honeymoon so I began the search for nice luggage that wasn't out of our budget. I couldn't wait for anyone to get it off our registry as that would be too late for the honeymoon. So I searched and searched and found this wonderful site. We ended up buying the 5 piece Samsonite set and it arrived in 2 days! It was a wonderful experience and I will would use the vendor again. The luggage is also great. It is a nested set, so all pieces set inside the largest piece for very easy storage. The two largest pieces are expandable to give you room to bring stuff back with you from your honeymoon. I am way to excited about these, but I really do think they are a wonderful set of luggage.

Bridal Shoes

I absolutely love these shoes. I think I will be purchasing them soon. I do not want to be on heels all day and night or have to walk through grass wearing them either. These are all things you should consider when picking out shoes. I know after getting my dress on I will be wobbely enough without the heels.

Frog Glasses

I absolutely love these frog glasses. They would make gorgeous centerpieces. All you do is put flowers in between the mesh over the top of the jar. It is a very easy way to do a flower arrangement. I use these all over my home and putting an arrangement together is a snap. You could even use fake flowers in them and make them ahead of time and save quite a bit of money. There are quite a few sites with these on them, but this one was one of the cheaper ones I could find.

Here is also another site with great frog glasses that will not break the bank.

Chicken Wire Lanterns

These are also another rustic touch that could be used at a reception. If you have trees they can be placed in the trees or used to line the walkway into the hall. I have used these types of lanterns many ways for parties through the years and they are a beautiful touch.

5B & Candle Co.

This is my favorite candle company of all time. They have a few stores now, but my mother-in-law (to be), sister-in-law (to be), and I go to their store in Weston, MO at least 3 to 4 times a year. It is about an hour drive but it is absolutely worth it. They have grown so popular they have moved to a bigger store front recently. They had to up the price a little bit, but they are totally worth it.

These candles are so wonderful that I can light one, put it on our kitchen bar, and it makes my entire home smell good all day (I live in a 3 bedroom ranch). The store owner is the nicest person you will ever meet. If you are going to make any retail purchases of candles please do it at this store. She is the most giving store owner you will ever meet. As a matter of fact they finally started making the larger candles (larger than votive sizes) and she donates a portion of the sales to the National Rescue Foundation.

She also specializes in making personalized candles for weddings. My sister-in-law (to be) bought candles from her for her reception and it was the best experience she had. They got to pick a personalized scent and she made them tags to go on top of the candles with their names and wedding date on them. They gave these away as favors. They also used the candles in the centerpieces for their tables. The scent in that room was wonderful.

I am also using her for our candles and for my unity candle.

Rustic Touches

These Mission Tee Jars would be a perfect way to line an entrance to your church or reception. We are using them to line the pathway into our barn reception hall. We are also using them in our outdoor patio area of the reception for centerpieces on our rod iron tables. These are $19.45 a piece, but on their website there are similar jars for much less. The mission style jars are beautiful. They refract light and make very nice lighting.

You can also use them in obscure places throughout the hall as room fresheners. We are going to put some vanilla coffee beans about 3/4 the way and then set a scented candle amongst the beans. When the candle is lit, it heats up the beams and the aroma is wonderful.

Wedding Music

I think one of the most fun part of planning the wedding has been coming up with out soundtrack to it. I searched and searched for ideas, but found many of the lists were not my taste. Here is what we have decided to use:



Entrance: Will be standard songs. I cannot remember the name but it is the da da dada, da da dada one.



Unity Candle: Man and Wife



Exit: Sign, Sealed, Delivered



Entrance to Reception: Fame



First Dance: Crazy Love (I love this version)



Dance with Dad:



Dance with Stepdad & Son & Mother Dance: These are the days



Cake Cutting: I am Yours



Song I will have in my part of the slide show: Daughter


I am unable to post my playlist here so I posted at the top of my page under my heading picture.

Father's Gifts

My "theme" is photos. I have a rustic barn so everything is very rustic, but I also have many personal touches that include photos of us. Our centerpieces are photo frames and are shown below. I am making our guestbook have pictures on one side and then a signature page on the other. I am doing this on blurb.com's website. They have many great options. To add to this "theme" I am also giving all the dad's (my dad, step dad, and fiance's dad) photo cufflinks. I have found a lot of sites with these and they are all really expensive. I am purchasing these do it yourself photo cufflinks. I think they will work out great. I will post later to let you know how easy they are to do and how quickly they come in.

I will be putting pictures in both sides. One of us with our respective parent as a child and one of us the the respective parent and older.

Hankies for Bride, Mom's & Grandma's

I have gotten myself, my mother's (I have a mom and step mom), my fiance's mom, and my grandma all beautiful hankies from Bumblebee Linens. They were about $25.00 for 6! They arrived very promptly and are great. I have looked on many other websites and they wanted much more for 1-3. These are not embroidered with anything on them, but I am going to put their monograms on them and have them on their chairs with a nice card from us.

Fall Bridesmaids Dress

I have received my bridesmaid's dresses. They are absolutely beautiful and the girls love them. They are great cocktail dresses they can wear again. When you are selecting a dress PLEASE make it one the girls feel awesome in and can wear more then once. These dresses were $150.00 including shipping costs. If you are in the Kansas City Metro area, Mia's Bridal and Tailoring was the cheapest place to get these dresses. The color I choose was blue willow and this picture does not do it justice.

My Rustic Wedding Cake

I have been doing all sorts of planning and getting ready these last few months. The last thing I had to do was pick out my cake. My wedding has a rustic theme to it so I wanted a cake to match. I came across this cake. It is a strawberry short cake complete with directions on how to make it yourself. I found a family friend that is willing to do it for cost plus $25.00. This cake will serve all of our guests and more and will not cost me more then about $125.00. You can also substitute the strawberries for other fruit if the strawberries are out of season.