Karen's Fabulous Frugal Wedding Tip#4: Chiffon

Chiffon is so cheap and yet can make a chair, table, archway, anything look elegant. You can wrap it in lights, hang it on fake trees, or tie them on chairs. Below is a random party that I spotted in which they used chiffon.

Royal WEDDING Cake of the Day!

One word: breathtaking!! Today's Cake of the Day comes in royal fashion. This magnificent eight-tiered wedding cake was created by cake-maker Fiona Cairns and her team. The confectionery masterpiece covered in cream and white icing and decorated with up to 900 delicate sugar-paste flowers was centre-stage at the Buckingham Palace reception.

Read more about the story behind the creation of the cake here!

Karen's Fabulous Frugal Wedding Tip #3: Do It Yourself Centerpieces

Centerpieces at your engagement party and wedding really do dress up the event. However, centerpieces amongst all the plates, napkins, cups, and cutlery you must have at the table for each guest can get pricey. SO, why not just make them yourself? Below you will find a set of different centerpieces that, with my help, you can make for a fraction of the cost.

Shall we?

Aqua Springs 6 Piece Centerpiece Set

This Aqua Springs 6 Piece Centerpiece Set is valued at $50. It includes an 11" x 13" Heritage bowl, aqua-colored glass crushed ice, three pillar candles (4", 6" and 9" tall), and a dogwood flower stem. To make this centerpiece on your own you will need the following:

A bag of Blue Gems from Dollar Tree (pack of 12-$1 a bag) or a pound of Blue Acrylic Ice Rock Vase Gems from Factory Direct Craft ($6), short cylinder/circular Vase from Dollar Tree ($1), Artificial Flowers from Dollar Tree ($1), White Unscented Candles in three different sizes from Dollar Tree ($1)

To Make: Take your vase and place the three white unscented candles inside it. Proceed to pour the gems or rocks into the vase surrounding the candles. Snap the stems off of the artificial flowers so you just have the petals. Dig them into the gem or rocks. CENTERPIECE COMPLETE!

Total estimated price of Karen's Fabulous Frugal 6-piece centerpiece set = $6.00 ($11.00 if rocks are used instead of gems)!!

Tropical Beach 21 Piece Centerpiece Set

This Tropical Beach 21 Piece Centerpiece Set is valued at $59. This Centerpiece set includes a 10" x 10" clear glass pedestal vase, river stones, decorative sea shells, three shell candle holders, three floating candles, 12 tea light candles and 2 phalaenopsis orchid spray. To make this centerpiece on your own you will need the following:

A pedestal bowl-the one I found was from Table And Home ($20), Bag of shells from Hobby Lobby ($10), Small River Stones from Hobby Lobby ($3) Luminescence Filled Glass Tealight Candles, 5-ct. Packs from Dollar Tree ($1), Artificial Flowers (white) from Dollar Tree ($1) Distilled Water($1)

To make: Take your bag of shells and set aside your large ones. With the remaining bag of shells and small river rocks, pour them into the pedestal vase leaving about half of the bowl empty. Proceed to pour in the distilled water until it reaches past the top surface of the shells. Then, position 2-3 tealight candles onto the surface of the water. For the remaining large shells, disperse them around the table placing your remaining tealights on the inside of them. Snap the stems off of the artificial flowers so you just have the petals; disperse around the table. CENTERPIECE COMPLETE!

Total estimated price of Karen's Fabulous Frugal 21-piece centerpiece set = $36.00!!

Sometimes it's kind of nice to do it yourself...especially at a lower cost!


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WEDDING WEEK: Planning an Engagement Party

An engagement party is the time for couples to revel in excitement with their potential wedding guests in honor of the next chapter they are taking in their lives. Though the word "party" is attached to the event, the host should really set a mild yet celebratory tone for the party. If there is one key word I would accompany with an engagement party to make it successful is PERSONALIZATION. I say this for many reasons, one, depending on the size of the wedding you anticipate having, your engagement party may be the BIG celebration with all friends and family. You might plan on having your actual wedding be small and intimate; not including everyone that was invited to your engagement party. Therefore, you really want to make each guest feel special. To do this, we must use all Five Senses, especially the activation of sight.

Activate Sight

INVITATIONS

Sending out personalized invitations to guests that uniquely showcase the engagement party theme is one of the ways you can activate sight. I like the idea of creating your own handmade ones and at Michaels craft store they have several cutouts that with some fabulous stationery from Fine Stationery would make it so pretty & perfect. Be sure to make a couple things clear on the invite: 1) The mood of the party..fun & flirty, semi-formal, or formal 2) If this is the main event (ie: your wedding will include a small party of close family & friends 3) Whether or not you are accepting gifts. Usually at an engagement party gifts do not need to be brought, but lately this is becoming the norm.

PLACE CARDS

It is very gratifying to see your name written out. It makes you feel relevant and important and this is the exact feeling a host wants the future bride and grooms' guests to feel. Two places that have ready made place cards is The Wedding Outlet and Paper Style. Another great option is shopping at Etsy, an online crafter's boutique store. It has great place cards that you can purchase or find ideas to make your own creations.

SPACE

Renting out a hall at a venue can be pretty pricey because usually you are not just renting the space, often times they require you to have a food & beverage minimum and as the host you do not want to be burning a hole in your wallet, after all this is just the first step in the wedding process, there is still a bridal shower and bachelorette/bachelor party to plan!

Thus, the most affordable yet still intimate outlet is to have the engagement party at a restaurant. Preferably a restaurant that has a separate area that can be enclosed. That way people are free to roam & mingle apart from the main dinner table/s. Not to mention, a restaurant usually has a bar, and for those who would like to drink or even drink more than your budget can accommodate, they can serve their needs at the restaurant bar.

DRESS UP TABLES

Just because you're at a restaurant you can still dress up their tables. Unless the restaurant already has nice, clean table cloth, purchase table cloth that matches the theme & colors you are going for.

*Picture from: The Party Dress

Bride and Groom Table

It makes sense to have a table that showcases the couple, after all, this party IS about them. Ask the bride and groom to give you various engagement photos that you can include in beautiful frames to be placed on a dedicated table for them (you can even use the photos as decorative paraphernalia such as table centerpieces or streamers). Also, place a sign in book on the table for people to give their congrats! Gifts can also be placed on this table.

Food & Beverage Table

If you are having a small, intimate engagement party, being served food at a restaurant from a menu is an appropriate option to take. But, if you're having a large party, cut out the headache of individual orders and set up a buffet with food that caters to all dietary needs. Below is a beautiful example of a Food & Beverage Table at an Engagement Party courtesy of Cake Ink.

With this example I love how they expedited sending out Thank You cards by placing "Thank You" grab bags on the table for their guests.

~Centerpieces should be included on all the tables used at the engagement party. Click here where I will showcase some DIY centerpieces that are quick, easy to make, and affordable.

Easy enough right?

Karen's Fabulous Frugal Wedding Tip #2: Custom Bachelorette Shirts

Let's face it, when you're having your Bachelorette Party, EVERYONE around needs to know that you and your bridal party are the showstoppers for the weekend. Besides being the loud ones stumbling in at 4 in the morning after a crazy fun-filled night, there is one more obvious way to stand out: Custom Bachelorette shirts.

Buying custom shirts for your bridal party can get pricey, especially since they will only be worn for one or two nights so it's important to make the shirts cute and noticeable, but in the most cost effective way. That is where Bachelorette Girl from Zazzle.com comes in.

Above is an image of a tank I custom designed on the Bachelorette Girl site (click on image for a larger view). You can change the font, font size, font color, shirt color, position, you name it, on whatever type of shirt you would prefer. You can add an image to the shirt and even include writing on the back.

The clincher is that it is so affordable. For the example images above it came out to less than $19.00 a shirt since it would be bought in bulk! In essence, you could afford to have two different shirts for the weekend! How can you beat that?

This makes me want to go plan a Bachelorette Party just so I can have a cute shirt :-)

WEDDING Cake of the Day

Cinderella's Wedding Cake in Sedona! The bride loved Cinderella so Sedona Cake Couture captured the elements of her favorite fairy tale princess in this over the top cake. It's your special day, choose a cake that fulfills your fairytale wedding :-)

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WEDDING WEEK: Save the Date and Your Money

Weddings are obviously expensive and according to Cost of Wedding, the average cost of a wedding is $24,066. However, the majority of couples spend between $18,050 and $30, 083 on their wedding, NOT including the honeymoon or engagement ring!

For those of you on a tight budget, let me suggest a couple of things: 1) Create a budget & STICK TO IT. There are frugal ways to make your wedding look fabulous and this week I will share some tips on decorations and other things that will still make your wedding stand out.

2) Take out a piece of paper right now. In your head set a number for the amount of people you would like at your wedding -the least amount and the most. Now, on a separate piece of paper write down all the people you are really close to. Then, go back to the numbered piece of paper and fill in the spots starting with the people closest to you--------You now have your wedding guest list ;-). It is this major step that will help lead you toward planning the perfect wedding. We will discuss this more later in the week.

I will leave you with one of my cost saving ways that can make your wedding fabulous!

Karen's Fabulous Frugal Wedding Tip: Save the Dates

So you've set a date and you want to make sure the ones you love can make it to your special day. The details are not completely set for the wedding other than the date, but it is crucial to get the word out soon so that your potential guests don't forget it. It needs to STICK in their minds... what other way to ensure they remember than by sending MAGNET 'Save the Dates' through Vistaprint.com?!

Above is an example of one of the MANY templates they have to offer that is completely customizable. You can even insert a photo to make it more personable. The best part is that for a set of 25 'Save the Date' magnets you can get them for less than $13!!

Keep checking back for more of my wedding tips :-)