Ten Things I Learned This Year While Planning Our Wedding

Hey there everybody, faithful readers, passersby and critics, the year is almost up and I have been doing some reflecting this morning and thought about some things that I learned about myself and weddings this year and decided that I would write a post about it. It may be informative to people planning weddings or just a little sentimental to people who know some of the situations that I will describe in my top tens. Either way I hope you enjoy it as much a I did when I reflected upon it. Here we go...

10. Everyone has an opinion about your wedding, even if you don't ask for it. The trick is, do you know what you want and are you mature enough to stick to your guns while listening to everyone's suggestions. Some suggestions are valid and can help you, but sometimes, if its not what you want, let it slide.

9. Weddings can cost a lot of money. LOL you say duh, but you never think about all of the small little details that add up and send you over budget. For those who are planning weddings and want to know what they are...here are a few. Stamps, wedding dress alterations, flower girl dresses (they are way too pricey for a little girl who will only wear it once), receptions (it is really easy to spend half your budget on feeding people) and limos. If you want ways to save money, plan ahead. I got a lot of deals because I knew ahead of time that I needed these services. Also, see who may want to help you, its worth just seeing what they know how to do.

8. Speaking of people who want to help you, I have learned that I have a lot more people in my corner who want to help out than I thought. I really appreciate those people (you know who you are, but I'll shout you out Brandy, PJ, Crystal, Kim, Yolanda, Uncle Bryant and Aunt Peg just to name a few.)

7. God really is blessing me. This is number seven because I like the number seven LOL. But for real. God has really given us a lot of blessings with this wedding. He really uses people you may know or not know to bless you if you just trust Him. One story...my reception venue. I called them this past week to start getting the menu nailed down and it turns out they changed the menus and raised the price significantly. But, because the man honors his word, he still agreed to give us the menu and price he quoted when we booked it earlier this year. You know people don't have to be honest and honor their word. I am thankful.

6. My brother is the best brother ever. I could not have asked for a better little brother. He moved down south to pursue his dreams, but we are probably closer now than we have ever been. I love him so much. He has helped me get through some of the stress of planning a wedding. Only he understands why things are in our lives and I thank God that we can help each other. *tearing up*

5. When you have a good man, you know you have a good man. It doesn't matter if you get married in a mansion or a park, you just want to be with him forever. No matter the situation, a good man will be there for you in the good and the bad. I have a good man. *tearing up again* I am a big cry baby.

4. I am cheap. LOL my fiance continues to remind me of this. He always says that I remind him of his dad. How does that work? Aren't men supposed to marry someone like their mothers? He always tells me stories about how his dad did something similar to what I am doing now. But on the real, I just don't need to spend a lot of money to be happy. If I feel like I can get it for less money, I will try my hardest to do so.

3. My fiance is not cheap. He wants the biggest and the best and money doesn't matter. Sometimes that's a good thing, and other times it is not so good. We just had a big argument over how much to spend on this wedding recently. He told me he is just trying to make me happy and give me my dream wedding. LOL "I would be happy with a backyard wedding for just family," I responded. But, I am secretly happy I can have this big wedding because I am sure it will bring a lot of memories. It is just really hard to have a wedding on pennies when your fiance has thousand dollar taste lol. Think about that when you go to plan your wedding ladies. Its also about what your fiance wants.

2. I only want to do this once. Enough said.

1. My family really does care about me. I think I have been in an argument with my mother more this year than any other year in my life, but I know its because she loves me and wants the best for me. Marriage is a big deal and nobody want to see you choose the wrong marriage partner. Since I have such a close knit family, that is especially true for me. I know they love me and care about my well being. I hear you all and understand it's coming from a place of love. I thank you all for the advice and the concern and really know that its because you care. If you are planning a wedding, and have a family who cares enough to make sure you are making the right decision, don't ignore them. You are truly blessed.

That's it. I have really enjoyed blogging this year and will definitely love it even more next year because I am sure there will be even more things to blog about. Save those pennies and have a Happy New Year.

Save The Dates...Sent

Hey everyone...so I have been extremely busy for the past couple of weeks and clearly haven't had the time to post any new blogs. Things have gotten really crazy for me. I am nearing the end of my second to last semester for my second bachelor's degree. I have two more finals tomorrow and then I am officially done. This semester really wasn't that bad, and my finals have gone fairly well so far so I can't really complain.

But, there is still a wedding to plan. I just looked at my knot.com profile and we are under 200 for the countdown. 199 days until I am married to the love of my life. Six months out and I am now sending out save the dates. Yep, I decided to send them. Me and a friend designed them and I printed them at Kinkos (well Fedex Office but I will always know it at Kinkos) and I really like them. They didn't turn out exactly the color that I wanted them, they are a little darker than I would like, but I did a woosah and refused to go bridezilla at the printer and left them like they were. They are still very pretty and they do the job. Plus they were well under budget because they were having a sale on Christmas card printing at Kinkos so that was even better. I sent most of them out today and am waiting for few more addresses, but here is a picture of what the card looked like:

It took me a while to figure out the wording for the inside, but I think I came up with something that fit both Christmas and Save the Date. 

Wording:

Christmas is a season of love and we are excited to announce this season, that we will be making a commitment to forever love, honor and cherish. We would be honored to have your presence at this life changing event. Merry Christmas from the future Mr. & Mrs. Gobble. 

Only my out of town family and friends are getting them, so I was able to save a lot of money on Save the Dates. John really wasn't a fan of the idea, but they really are important. Especially since our wedding is a few days before the 4th of July. That is a popular vacation weekend, and you need to get on people's calendar if you want them to be at your wedding.

Well, I am still plugging along at saving my pennies. I had to start all over because I cashed in what I had already collected. If I can keep getting deals and sales, I think this wedding can end up under my budget. Oh yea, I just found out that one of the ladies at my church who I am pretty close with wants to make the flower girl dress. Really happy about that. It will definitely save money. She said at the most it would cost $40.00 to make it depending on the fabric that we choose. The average price for a David's Bridal flower girl dress was like $100.00. Since she will definitely grow out of it as soon as she wears it, there is no need to spend that much on a little girl's dress. I am all for the idea. Just gotta get together with the flower girl and her mother to pick out some stuff that she would like. Yay...everything is coming together quite nicely as far as the plans are concerned. 

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday, if I don't get the chance to write another post before Christmas. Save those pennies. 

Pennies Update

Hey everyone. Super happy right now because the Steelers beat the Bengals AND the Ravens lost today. That makes me happy.



Just want to give an update on my pennies. I made a bank run this weekend to cash in the change I have collected since I started this blog. I am proud to announce that I have collected $126.75 in change. And once again people are laughing at me for saving change to pay for a wedding. Yea, it may not pay for the whole thing, but my goal is to get $1,000.00 in change. You know how that old saying goes "reach for the moon and even if you don't make it you will land among the stars"? Yea, that's my mentality for this whole pennies idea. If I only save $500.00 that is more than I had before and that will pay for something. Thanks to everyone who is helping me out and saving change. I really appreciate it.

Gotta think outside of the box when it comes to stuff like this, because weddings can be very pricey. The more you can save up the better. Use EVERYTHING you can to save money. These days banks and credit card companies are doing this point system thing where you can get stuff for a certain amount of points. This is a GREAT way to help get some extra cash. Commit to use a certain card that accrues points for the big purchases and keep track of what you need to get what you want. If you start using this early enough, you can have enough points to get money back, buy plane tickets for the honeymoon or use the points to pay the credit card bill. You are already spending money on everyday purchases and on top of that, wedding items, so you might as well get something for it. There are so many ways to save up money if you commit to research it and stick to it.

So, wedding stuff that's coming up:

1. Save the dates: I am planning to finish my save the dates soon so that I can send them out to out of town guests only. I also decided to send them as Christmas cards. Since I usually send Christmas cards to my out of town relatives, I am not really wasting any money on stamps. Everybody else is going to hear word of mouth or when they get the official invitation in the mail. So, if you read this blog regularly fam, our wedding is June 30, 2012 so don't schedule anything that weekend LOL.

2. Out of Town Accommodations: Need to start researching hotels in the area that will be fairly inexpensive so that our out of town guests will be able to book their room and not spend an arm and a leg. Also gotta see who will be able to give discounts for the guests since its a part of a wedding. I am also planning on putting together an out of towner's welcome package with information on the wedding stuff and interesting places to go in the area. I don't need to have this done until closer to the wedding, but anybody who knows me, knows that I will start working on it now so it matches the theme of the wedding.

I am getting really excited. Our wedding is in a little over 7 months. AAAHHHH!!! Oh yea, I started a new feature on my blog. I will be trying to post a money saving tip everyday. If anybody has any suggestions, let me know and I will use it on the blog. I am just trying to be as helpful as I can. Well, save those pennies.

Decoration and Flower Time

So, I have actually been balancing wedding planning, medical school applications and classes pretty well. I haven't had a breakdown yet this semester which is good for me. Usually I have a breakdown around now because everything converges into a big mess that needs to be completed all in one week. Of course that would be the next two weeks, so if i can get through them I will be proud of myself. Anyway, its the last day of October which means exactly 8 months from now I will be walking down the aisle and getting married.

I've been googling a lot of decoration options and how I want flowers to look at the church and stuff and I think I have a pretty good handle on what kind of flowers I want at the wedding now. That is progress for me because i am not a fan of flowers. I saw a really pretty picture while exploring google of a bouquet made of white roses and blue hydrangeas. Love the look. Very soft and elegant but the hydrangeas make it kinda fun and full. I may want to add some silver in there somewhere, but this is good. The bridesmaids may have something similar, but all white and silver. Still thinking.

Next thing I have been looking at are the decorations for the church. I had a meeting with the decorator at our church and we came up with some good ideas. Got a solid idea for tributes, and the aisle decorations are pretty set now too. The only thing I need is something for the pulpit area. I really like the draped fabric look. This would be my dream. Draping of white fabric and light blue fabric. I like the lightness and freshness of the look and because I have draping in the aisles it would flow really well. I guess I need to see what I can do to create this look at our ceremony venue. Maybe some pillars on the pulpit or one of those arches that I hate but drape it with organza or something. Any artsy people have any ideas?

Here is a scaled down version of what it could look like, just picture it in a church. The colors actually are perfect too. 

The next thing that is going well are my save the dates. I love them so far. I have about a month to complete them and send them out. This is the first big step. People actually knowing about your wedding. One of my buddies is helping me make it look pretty and professional. Haha PJ if you read these you have a shout out on my blog. John was getting involved too and that makes me even happier. Just have to figure out some clever words for them which I think John may have figured out for me. Go figure, I am the writer in this relationship and he figures out the wording for the save the dates LOL.

But anyway, I have been doing a lot over the past couple weeks even through I haven't been diligent at blogging. I promise to get back at it once I get through these next couple weeks of classes. Enjoy your day everyone and save those pennies. 

Punctuality is Important

So I am 8 months away from my wedding and I am really getting excited and all that good stuff. I went to a wedding on Sunday and decided that I am determined to start on time and not draw out the ceremony. I mean really, both me and John value timeliness and he even teases me sometimes when I purposefully try to arrive late to gatherings because I know that if I get them on time (5-10 minutes early) I will be sitting there staring at the host for an hour if not sitting in my car waiting for somebody to get there LOL.

I know, you are sitting there reading this like, yea right, you are having an African American wedding, CP time will win out. Well, if you are thinking that, then you will miss out on my wedding.

I am so serious. I want my wedding to start on time and I want it to last at the most 45 minutes. Is that too much to ask for? Here are some tips for any of you brides who want to have a wedding that starts on time and ends in a timely manner:

1. Tell people it starts a half an hour to an hour before it actually starts. You know the people in your family who can't arrive to anything on time. What's the harm in telling them it starts at 3:30 and it actually starts at 4:30? At the most they will surprise you and be there early and can then help you get things prepared. Sounds good to me.

2. Make sure the bride, groom, bridal party, and minister are there on time because then you can start even if people aren't there. Hey if you show up a half an hour late, that's on you. Bridal party includes parents, grandparents and family members. Hey the important people were there so that's all that matters right?

3. Have all the bridal party sleep at the same place and make sure to provide transportation to the venue so they have no excuse.

4. Limit the amount of solos, poetry readings, dance performances etc that your wedding will have so that your ceremony won't end up being 2 hours long. I mean really, I love a good wedding, but the important stuff is the vows and the "I do's". LOL

5. Finally, go a little bridezilla and hand out a schedule to people (bridal party) so they know when everything will happen and make sure everyone know's where and what time they need to be at each place.

LOL You may be sitting there laughing hysterically at this post, but I am strongly considering having a 30 minute ceremony so that I can spend time with everyone and not have to rush. Because I am trying to limit the reception to just close friends and family and both me and John (mainly John) have a lot of people who will want to participate in some way, we are thinking about having small hors d'ouvres after the ceremony at the church. That means things need to be timely so that we can thank everyone, take pictures and be on time for the reception. 

If you agree with my post let me know that I am not being bridezilla and have a point please leave a comment. Anyway, just for the record, I am loving blogging and am always finding new ways to save my pennies. Love you all and thanks for reading. 

Wedding Music

So, I am 8 months away from my wedding. My life has gotten really busy and a little bit more stressful than from when I last posted, which is why I haven't posted in a while. I am getting more and more excited as the days go by. 

Anyone who knows me, knows that my family is a very musical one. I had someone ask me if I needed a wedding sing for my upcoming nuptials. I didn't want to shoot them down, but that is one thing that I don't need. My wonderful brother is the best singer that I know and have asked him to sing a song for our wedding. The problem that people usually run into when songs need to be sung is you can't find the sound track for the particular song. Well, I don't have that problem. The church's pianist is going to be there to play the songs for the wedding yippy. The only thing I needed to do was find the sheet music for the songs that I wanted to be played at the wedding. Another hurdle. Well I just cleared that hurdle a week ago. I promise you, anything you need can be found on the web. Yup anything.

I went web searching for the sheet music and of course I didn't want to spend a lot of money, preferably no money. So I came across this youtube video of the instrumental version of the song that I wanted. And guess what, the person who posted the song put a note under his video and said that if anyone wants the sheet music for the song, to just email him and he would get it to you. Yup you guessed it, I promptly emailed the guy and about 2 weeks later, the sheet music for my song was in my inbox. YIPPY. Here is a little sneak peak of the music. I know my brother will make it sound beautiful. My brother is going to a big time singer one day you mark my words. 

If you are looking for sheet music, my advice would be to be patient and scour the web for any up an coming artist who has posted on music or youtube. Also, if your venue is tech savvy, you could always use your iPod, iPhone, or iPad etc and find the song on youtube and hook it up to the sound system and voila you have a sound track without paying for it or if it doesn't exist, you don't have to worry anymore. The internet is the greatest place to find those little details that can stress you out because you can't find exactly what you want at stores. Be patient and find what you want so that your wedding day will be all that you dreamed of it to be. 

This song brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it because it sends me right to my wedding day and I think about my future life with the man that I love. Enjoy your day everyone and save those pennies. 

I Love My Grandma

All last week I was thinking about my grandma. I really miss having her here. She would always hound me about wearing make up and fixing my hair because she was a beauty queen. She never went anywhere without having her make up done to perfection and her hair done. She changed purses almost everyday and her jewelry drawer could have filled a small boutique. If you had the pleasure of knowing my her you probably have a similar memory of her. Since my wedding is coming up I wanted to find a way to honor my grandma. I was looking up some ways that deceased relatives are honored at a wedding ceremony, but none of them really fit the bill.

These are the two most popular suggestions I found on websites:

1. Put flowers in the seats that they would have normally sat.
2. Write a poem in the program that honors them.

The thing is I don't want it to be a sad tribute, but I want to honor her in a way that fits my grandma's personality. I am already planning to wear some of her jewelry as my something old, but that just doesn't seem like enough. I need some help coming up with creative ways to honor her. Anyone who knows her or knew about her, it would be really helpful to have your input. I am definitely going to put something in the program along with a tribute to John's parents.

Speaking of John's parents, I want to do something special for them too but I didn't know them. I hope John will help me find the perfect way to honor them on such a special day. Its always hard to experience such a big milestone in your life without the ones who helped get you to that milestone. Since I consider myself to be a pretty creative person, I don't want these tributes to be just average. I want them to be extra special. They were extra special people in our lives and they deserve to be a part of the ceremony in some way even if it is a small way.

I think that's all for today. My grandma has just been on my mind the past couple weeks. I would appreciate any suggestions. If you did something that was received really well, let me know about it. I hope everyone has a great night. Save those pennies.

A Little of Everything

Not much to talk about as far as wedding stuff. The most I have done was order my personalized stamp that I am going to use for EVERYTHING. I love it. The Etsy designer did such a great job at making it fit in with my design. Once it comes in I am going to start personalizing my gift bags so that will be out of the way. Anybody want to volunteer to stamp 240 bags with me? It will be super fun. Hint Hint bridesmaids hehe.

I also officially ordered my bridesmaids gifts. The money came out of my account and everything. Super geeked about how much I saved. Let's just say I bought 5 sets for the price of one. Yes that's how serious of a sale it was.

Flower time. I called the church to set up an appointment to look at the decorations for the ceremony. Like I said before, this is not my favorite thing to organize, but it has to be done. I am not really a flower person so I probably am just gonna give them a picture of what I want the aisle to look like and the colors and say have at it. As long as it doesn't look fussy. I like clean looks. Simple but quirky. That't my personal style. Still super happy that my aunt is gifting the bridal party flowers. So I need to get swatches and choose some flowers that I like so she can do her thing. Any suggestions on flowers other than roses that would look nice in blue and silver? Suggestions are welcome.

So, I started asking for the guest list and I am going to tell you, I am jealous of my coworker's easy peasy guest list. Me and John's family includes step families, people so close they are like family, family members that literally do not talk to each other, and just plain annoying people and that's putting things lightly. The invitations are going to be the easiest part of this whole guest list situation. Keep in mind we are only having 200 close friends and family at the reception so who is going to get a reception invitation is going to be interesting.

I am still working on my save the dates. They are really cute so far. I have to look for some paper for my invitations and keep tweaking my design. Definitely going to emboss some stuff like the envelopes and my reply cards.

This is all getting real. Nine months left to go and we start counseling soon. If I can last through the next 9 months with school, work, med school apps and wedding planning I just may amaze myself. Well everyone, enjoy your day. Take some time to enjoy the little things in life. Save those pennies.

Sales Are A Thrifty Brides Best Friend

So, I just had the best news any bride could hear and especially a thrifty bride. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I found the gift for my bridesmaids a couple of weeks ago. The sales person told me that they would be $3.00 cheaper if I came back for the Labor Day sale. Of course, I was going to come back later to save $3.00 who wouldn't? Well, probably my lovely groom hehe. Well, I waited until Labor Day to go back and I was chilling out with John because I really wanted him to go with me and see them. He was cleaning his house after a weekend of partying it up with the best man Dave for his birthday, so he told me to go without him. He suggested I go to South Hills mall because it was closer to his house. Yea, I considered it, but something told me to just go back to Monroeville where I initially saw the set. So, I went back across town to buy my gifts. This is when the best thing happened. The lady who I was talking to the first time about the set was there and she remembered me. I told her I was back to order the 5 sets of jewelry.

Well, I think what really happened was she saw dollar signs in commission and for some reason started throwing out sales and coupons. After everything was said and done I got like 75% off of the original price of the set. Since I don't want any of my bridesmaids to see their gift, I'm not gonna post any pictures and don't want to give away the price. But, let me tell you, my gift originally costed more the the Bulova watches John is getting his groomsmen, but ended up being within my budget and less than John's gifts. Yes, I was concerned that my bridesmaids were going to get jipped. I was afraid they were going to wish they were groomsmen instead of bridesmaids. All I will say is that they are sterling silver with Swarovski crystals. They are so pretty, I love them. And now I love them even more because of the great deal I got on them. I now will be able to afford to give them a couple of little fun things that match their personality.

Bottom line, shopping during holiday sales are probably the best way to go when buying wedding stuff. I know that was one of my tips, but it is so true. Love it. Save those pennies everyone.

Money Sucks

Hey everyone. I know I haven't posted to my blog in a while. This is my first week of classes for my last year of my second undergrad degree. It has started out pretty weird. But anyway, on to wedding stuff.

Yea, so money sucks. I'm doing pretty good with my penny collecting, but I need more help so spread the to all of your family and friends that I am collecting change to help me with my wedding. Unfortunately, I had to dip into my wedding fund a little bit to buy books for class. Hopefully I can pay myself back soon.

Happy news. I have 9 more months until my wedding. It is now September and my knot.com site is actually sending reminders about things that need to be done. The most pressing thing that I want to get done sooner than later is to finalize my guest list and collect all addresses so that I don't have to worry about it when I send out invitations next year. I have most of the people on my side of the guest list done. I still have a couple of tweaks to do, but for the most part my side is done YAY.

Guess what bridesmaids, I think I may have found your gift. I am super excited about it because it is really cute. Its a little over budget, but my mom said she would help out with it. See family does want to help you brides so remember to let them help. But, my mom said that I am supposed to get the MOH a different gift then the other bridesmaids. Once again, I find a really nice thing for the bridesmaids and now I have to keep looking for the perfect MOH gift. Grrrr. Oh well, I guess she does deserve something extra special even though she is a lame. Love you Brandy.

Well I gotta get ready for class. I hope everyone has a great day and save those pennies.

A couple of fun projects for DIY Brides

Hey everyone. I hope your weekend is going well. I thought I would help all the DIY brides out there and show you some cool projects that I found on YouTube. If you want some quick and easy projects that can really personalize your wedding here are a few videos to get you started. Enjoy.

Decorating Unity Candles:

Love this idea because I can use the personalized stamp I am looking at purchasing.

How to Emboss:

This looks really pretty when it is all finished. I am planning on using my handy dandy personalized stamp on my invitations and possibly on the envelopes. 

Making Your Own Veil:

Since I only want my veil for the tradition of it and actually as more of an accessory, I am going to try my hand at this project. 

Hope you enjoyed the videos and found some inspiration in one of them. I really just wanted to be able to save these videos in a place where I can quickly find them again when I need to watch. Yes, I plan on trying a couple of these. Save those pennies.

First Successful Project

So I finished my MCAT yesterday. It didn't go too badly, but I have to wait about a month to get my scores back. I am so happy that I am done with that. Well on to wedding stuff.

I am so excited that my stamp idea is going to happen. If you haven't been reading, I bought some little organza gift bags for candy. I saw on a blog one night that someone used Staz-on ink to stamp their organza bags with a design. I was looking for a way to personalize the bags without adding tags to them. I was really excited about this because it looked really cool. Well of course I was going to get super color coordinated and buy blue and gray ink to stamp gray on the blue bags and blue on the silver bags. I bought the grey ink and it didn't work. Sad face. The gray was way too light to be seen on the bags. So, I went back to Joann Fabrics armed with my trusty coupons. Just to let you all know, the ink was originally $10.00, but it was on sale for 30% off and I had a coupon for another 20% off so I got the ink for $5.00.

Well I tested the stamping idea with the black ink and it work! YAY happy face. Here are some tester pictures. These are not the stamps that I will be using for the wedding. I am getting a stamp made from an Etsy.com designer. Well, here is a picture of how the stamping test went. I am super happy if you can't tell LOL.

The stamp that I am getting made is going to compliment the design on my invitations and other stationary for the day. It will do double duty because I am going to use it for my reply cards and try my hand at embossing. Gotta test that before I commit to it though. Loving the DIY stuff. So much fun. Yup first successful project. The ink was on sale too so that makes it even better. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday night. Enjoy and save those pennies. 

Praying for Rain

I haven't written a blog in a while. I am really focused on reaching my dreams and the next step is taking the MCATs. I am really determined to get what I need to get into the school that I want to go to for medical school. In order to make all of my dreams come true I am praying for rain.

My first blog likened the pennies on the ground to rain that fell from heaven. I need God to shower down lots of blessings, not only monetarily, but with peace and intetelligence on my test. Yes, I need money for school, med school applications and wedding expenses, but I know God will provide. He always does. I will look up a year from now and read this blog and testify that God sent rain just for me.

I know He will rain down lots of peace on Thursday when I sit in front of that computer and take my test. I have been taking practice MCATs twice a week for the past month so that Thursday will feel like a regular practice test. I know that I have the mind of Christ, and can use that to think my way through the tricky questions and answers. Most of all, I know that God has given me a purpose that I need to fulfill. A destiny that I will touch many lives in some way.

My wedding plans are on hold a little bit. The only thing I really have done is bought the ink to stamp my bags, but I haven't tested the ink out yet. I will have some pictures of that when I test it out. Hopefully it turns out nicely. I am also in contact with an Etsy designer on making a personalized stamp to use on my bags and possibly on my reply cards. I think I am going to put a border on the reply cards and use the stamp and emboss it to make it look a little more fancy. I have also decided not to do the candy buffet. Ehhh it was a fun idea, but I don't think it will fit in with everything. Cookie table (for John) and candy table, yea that's a bit much LOL.  All in all I will come in under budget for my wedding favors and invitations. I have been updating my budget as I get real numbers from vendors and I am shaving cost off left and right. I love it when family members decide they want to help and when you find sales and stuff. I am pretty happy with my progress.

I have ten more months to go. I am getting really exited. Every time I see something that has to do with wedding stuff on tv I get a little teary eyed thinking about how I will feel on my big day. I am still waiting on my final guest list. (Ms. Pam if you read this I need your list hehe). A couple more months and I will be sending out save the dates. Its all coming up so fast. I will be starting my stress management with my coworker Kim after my MCATs. Tennis. It should be fun. Hopefully I don't lose any weight LOL.

Well, now I am rambling. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Remember to save those pennies.

Flowers? For Me? I do declare family, You are my heroes

The item that I have been most worried about for this wedding, is the very item that most people want to help with. My family is the greatest. Two of my aunts said that she would help out with flowers. One of John's aunts does flowers too. So, the most I need to do is figure out how to have them both help so that everyone can feel a part of the day.

I was thinking that I could have one of my aunts do the accessories for the wedding, like the bridal bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, boutonnieres, flower girl flowers and basket and ring pillow. Then have John's aunt do the decorations for the church. Sounds like a plan to me. I love it when God blesses you when you least expect it and even when you are worried about it.

This post corresponds with the money saving tip about letting your family help you. They really do want to help, you just have to reach out and ask them. If you aren't prepared, then you won't be able to let others know in what ways they can help you. This is one of my biggest lessons that will come out of all this. I can't do everything on my own. People are here to help and are willing to help. Right now there are no projects, because I still have 10 months to go, but trust me there will be plenty of things to do in the next few months.

Well as I say on every post, save those pennies. If you know me, spread the word that I am saving change to help with my wedding costs. Have a great day.

Possible Solution To My Organza Bags

I did some googling after I posted my blog and I think I may have found a solution to my problem of personalizing my organza gift bags. Found this blog:

http://coveredincrafts.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-customize-organza-bags-for.html

This is what the bags look like after they are stamped with the Stazon ink.


Has anyone ever tried this? Advise anyone. I found these letter stamps on Joann Fabrics website

I could find a cursive G and make a monogram with our wedding date and maybe a cute little flowery stamp design that would go with the design on my invitations. I am getting really excited about this craft. I actually can't wait until my bags come in so that I can experiment. Good thing I got more than I need so that I can test this idea out. Like I said if anybody has any other ideas let me know or if you have ever used the Stazon ink on organza bags that would be great too. Save those pennies.

I Need DIY Help

Hey everyone. I hope your summer is going really well. I know I have had a very fun and busy summer. An even mix of studying and fun. My pennies are adding up pretty well.

I made my first official wedding purchase. I saw these bags online that I wanted to use for my candy buffet. So, I  had to weigh my options. I could go with the cheaper bags that would be easy to personalize with a sticker, but they are bigger and I would have to buy more candy since the bags are bigger.

They are paper so not as classy and not really what I was looking for. Plus some of the reviews said when they go them in the mail the colors were different. So I looked at some cloth bags that were really pretty, but a little more expensive.

So this penny pinching bride went onto Amazon.com and found these same organza bags for the same price that the paper bags would have been with shipping fees. I am so happy. I got the prettier ones, I just hope that I like them. That's the downfall of buying stuff online. 

The real reason I am writing this blog is to get some ideas from all the crafty people out there on how to personalize these gift bags. Someone suggested putting a hanging tag on them like on gift bags. I just don't know what kind of materials I could use. What do you guys think would look nice with these bags? Thanks in advance for you suggestions.

My goal is to come under budget and spend about $100.00 on the candy to stock the bar. I know I want Swedish fish and Jolly Ranchers because that's what me and John like, but I will get some filler candy that everybody likes. Gotta go coupon searching so that I can get enough candy. Welp, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Save those pennies.