"I knew for sure that I wanted to create a wedding website but the free ones from magazines are nothing compared to the quality of Bwedd's ..." - Tracie, Wilmington, IL
Have
you noticed how many hidden costs there are to a wedding? Like did you remember
to budget for champagne glasses, a cake knife, cake toppers, a guestbook, or
a wedding album? When I planned our wedding, I certainly did not remember these
costs! They may not be much individually, but they sure do add up fast. Plus,
many wedding specialty shops can really get you with these small items.
So,
how can you reduce your costs when it comes to some of these items? Well, for
starters, don't buy them at a wedding specialty store. You can get nice champagne
glasses for an okay price at most department stores. Or, how about using your
parent's or grandparent's (if they have some). Or, try shopping at a thrift
store - you never know what fancy glasses you may be able to find!
For
our wedding, we actually used a cake knife that my grandmother bought in a rummage
sale! Check them out, especially in the fall. Many times, these have only been
used ONCE (at someone else's wedding) and have not been touched since. You never
know how much you can save by checking out a few rummage sales!
And
for a guestbook, why not make your own? It's not too hard. Here's how! You will
need:
Thick Paper (25 lb.)
Cardboard (can cut a sweater box to get this)
Hot Glue Gun or paper hole-puncher
Iron
Scissors or Paper-cutter
Ribbon
Wedding-colored Fabric (optional)
To
start, take about 10 pieces of the paper and cut them in half (where before
you had 8-1/2 x 11 in. paper you will now have 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 in. paper). Now
you have 20 pieces of paper - put these in one stack. Measure a piece of cardboard
to be 5-1/2 inches high and the width to be 11 inches plus the height of your
stack of paper (probably a little under an inch) - this is going to be the binding
- the cover, spine, and back of your book.
Fold
the binding at the 5-1/2 in. mark from one side and do the same from the other
side. Hot glue the spine - the part of the cardboard that is in the middle of
these two folds (should be the same width as the height of your stack of paper).
Let the hot glue dry.
Once
the glue has dried, place your stack of papers inside the binding. Glue the
stack of paper into your "book" by ironing the spine - place a piece of paper
between the iron and the spine to protect your cardboard. Once the glue has
re-melted from the iron, let your "book" dry for a few minutes again.
If
you do not want to use hot glue, you can also punch two holes in the same location
in each piece of paper in the stack. Then you will need to cut a piece of cardboard
for the cover and punch two holes in this, as well. Use a piece of ribbon to
tie all of the pieces of paper and the cover together into a book.
To
make your cover more decorative, you can glue or sew on a piece of fabric or
some ribbon. If you want, cut an oval from another piece of paper and write
"Guestbook" and your names and wedding date in the middle of the oval. Then
glue this onto your cover. (Or if you are good at sewing, you can sew this onto
your fabric before attaching it to your "book".)
You
can even ask your guests to write wedding advice to you in this book - you might
want to make your book thicker though, to make sure that you have enough pages
for each guest to write on.
As
always, be creative and experimental! You never know what joy you may discover
in the creative process and trying something new. Have fun! And, good luck to
you in all that you do!
