DIY card box

I couldn't use any old store bought white flower card box. So I made this one out of paper mache boxes, fabric, and gold ribbon. There's a slot in the top for the cards to go in and it's completely hollow inside.

The top is a fake pink hydrangea I cut up and hot glued.

pink cake

Here is our wedding cake as it was in the reception hall. It tasted great and looked exactly like I wanted. The branches are faux cherry blossoms from the White Aisle.

Our baker was the Bake Shop in Ghent in Bath, Ohio. She did a great job.

DIY Invitations

I spent a lot of time thinking about what invitations I wanted to make and here's what I came up with.
This is the outside. The band across had each invitee's name.


Take off the flap and it looked like this:


Here is a picture of the supplies ready to be assembled:


And another picture of the stacks with some of the tools I used:


The invitations were inspired by this picture but I made all the templates, designed the invitation, inserts, maps, etc.

I made about 68 invitations and they were a hit with guests.

We've got a cake

This weekend Mike and I met our cake baker in person. My brother recommended The Bake Shop in Ghent and I am so tickled with them. Look at their shop!


It's set in a small village and when we got there Sunday morning, a couple was sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs. And we got free coffee and donuts. Unfortunately she didn't have any cupcakes to sample. But it's a good excuse to go back.

Nancy is the owner and she was so easy to work with. I think we're gonna have a great cake.

How we’re cutting costs and saving money

There are lots of articles about how to cut costs for weddings. Number one on most lists is cut the guest list. For me, one of the reasons I’m having a wedding instead of eloping was to get my family together. That means I wasn’t about to cut the guest list.

Here are a few ways that we are keeping our wedding costs low.

Small bridal party We’re having one matron of honor and one best man. That’s all. This saves money on flowers, gifts, and on attire because we are not forced to buy matching outfits.

Décor The church we’re marrying in is beautiful, we don’t need to buy extra flowers or decorations. Our reception venue is also a unique building – an automobile museum. So we only need some simple centerpieces on the tables. That’s it.

Taking advantage of friends I don’t mean force your mom to cater the wedding, or ask your friend to take pictures. Chances are you know some people with talent or connections. For us, it started with my brother. He was able to get the museum with his employee discount for $250. And he carries some weight with the caterer.

I also sing in the church choir. So my friend is a great soloist and the organist offered to play for free.

We also have a friend of a friend who does wedding photography. Of course we’d never want him to work for free, but we are getting the Friends discount.

The important point here is we are not forcing people outside their comfort zones, they do these jobs and activities regardless of us and our wedding.

Invitations I work for a publishing company and can get a discount on their selection. Of course, I didn’t like their selection so I’m using a combination of printing it myself and using VistaPrint. If you join their members club, you get discounts all the time. As in 100 postcards with your design (for RSVPs) for free.


Looking around my blog you might realize I’m a DIY kind of person. For some this might be a matter of saving money. For me, it’s really a matter of not being able to find things I like. I can’t stand all that white lace the Wedding Industry pushes. So I customize everything myself.

Oh, and for the record, we're looking at 150 people and we're gonna spend less than $10,000.

End of March status

Done:
Ceremony site booked
Reception site booked and paid
Dress ordered and paid deposit
Caterer reserved with a deposit
Matron of Honor asked and accepted!

To do in April:
Cake baker: set up appointments
Florist: set up appointment
DJ:call, get quotes
Men's attire: yeah right
MOH's attire: we'll start looking
Invitations: mock ups
Music: Finalize with Mimi and reserve musicians
Ceremony readings: meet with Fr. Jim and choose readers
Catering: call and see what next step is
Photographer: meet and sign contract

MORE PICTURES COMING SOON

several cakes on table

This picture came from Mrshs's Knot profile. I really like the idea of having several cakes at different levels instead of one tall cake that might fall over!!!