Invitations

So, my friend Kari is getting married in November and she's become my inspiration for all things frugal. She did her own STD cards in Microsoft Publisher and they were absolutely lovely! When she came to visit last weekend, she showed me her invitation kit from Michaels and gave me a great tip. Michaels runs a 50% off one item coupon almost every week in the Sunday paper. She and her mom had been clipping these coupons and buying the wedding invitation sets one at a time. What a great way to save some money! I can't wait to see how they turn out.

I really loved Kari's invitations (which were not the ones pictured below. I purchased a pack of the ones you see below and was extremely disappointed in the thickness/quality of the paper. At best, the invitation was 65lb. paper, which IMO is not thick enough. I think hers turned out better because she had one of the layered varieties. Beware of this if you plan to buy these invites.

Button Bouquets

I am in LOVE with the idea of a button bouquet. It's something that will last forever, won't wilt or fall apart and is very unique.

These are made by Letters4Lilly and you can find them here at her Etsy store. She does really beautiful work. I especially enjoy the steampunk aspects of the bottom bouquet.

I think I need one of these. That, or I need to become crafty and make myself one. I doubt very seriously they'd be that beautiful.

Sunset Ranch

The Budget Savvy Bride featured this beautiful wedding on her blog today.

I was super excited when I saw it! This was not only a Georgia bride, but one who planned her wedding for $5000! Inspiration city, here I come!

The wedding was held at a place called Sunset Ranch in Villa Rica, GA. You can visit them here. They have a dance hall that can be rented for the whopping price of $550 a day. Now, keep in mind that most rental fees are upwards of $1000 and most places require that you use their vendors. Not Sunset Ranch. According to the bride in the BSB post, she was able to use her own vendors and bring in her own alcohol. What a steal!

I'm totally keeping this one on the list.

Featured Weddings

I've seen this on just about every other wedding blog I've visited and I would like to incorporate this myself. I know many of my friends have implemented budget-friendly or eco-friendly (or both!) practices into their own ceremonies. So, I would love to hear about it. If you want your wedding published here, just add a comment and we'll talk!

My First Inspiration Board

So...I was bored Friday and decided to create an inspiration board. For this one, I used royal blue as the main color with accents of silver, apple green and ivory.

When I was thinking of colors, I wanted something that would look good on everybody (unlike yellow, which makes me look like a corpse unless it's the shade of Big Bird). Since we're thinking about an outdoors October wedding, I wanted a color that would stand out in nature. So...it became royal blue. It was difficult finding royal blue weddings, particularly ones that did not incorporate yellow. I promise I don't hate yellow, I just want something that hasn't been done a lot, you know?

I also want to incorporate an owl theme into the wedding, hence the cake toppers. Why owls, you ask? Well, the FH and I really like them. They are beautiful creatures with an allure of mystery. Plus, I'm not all flowers and silver hearts with rhinestones...it's just not me. I'm more eclectic and offbeat and weird like that.

Here's the board. Let me know what you think!

Intro to me

First, I will say that I solemnly promise not to talk in LOLCats voice ever but in instances where it is absolutely necessary.

Now, to the "about me" boring stuff.
I'm a southern girl...born and raised in South Carolina, moved to Georgia when I was 21 and never left. I work in Atlanta and live in the suburbs. Yes, the commute is hell. I work in state government, but I won't tell you which department (I do have to maintain some privacy).

I have a wonderful BF. We've been together for almost four years now and we're planning to do the engagement/wedding thing within the next year. Couple that with the boring months I had at work from about May to mid-June, and you get one girl who has done a lot of research on weddings. Through all of this research I have found the following things to be true about my wants/needs/desires.

• A desire to circumvent some of the wasteful practices of the wedding industry. I think women tend to get so caught up in matching or outdoing their friends that they forget what they really want out of the day.
  
• To be eco-friendly (as much as possible, anyway)
• To support local markets
• To reuse items instead of purchasing everything brand new
• To plan this wedding at less than $10,000
• To NEVER wear a sweetheart neckline. (Once again, nothing wrong with them, they're just not me).
  

the reasonz

this blog will be used for the purpose of publishing all the great wedding ideas i've found throughout the interwebz.