Wedding

Hello,
Sorry for my absences (to the one person other than myself who seems to be reading this), but these past few weeks have been craziness.  I have still been recovering from pneumonia and studying for midterms- yikes!  AND I was in a wedding- which is going to be our topic of discussion today.  The wedding was beautiful, it was for my friend Megan and her new husband Ryan who recently returned home safely from Afghanistan.   He is also my boyfriend's brother, so we are exceptionally grateful for his safe return.  So let us discuss her beautiful wedding that she put together!  She definitely was smart with her money and when my sister had her wedding, she too was smart.  So lets discuss some fabulous ideas for saving money when hosting large groups of people.

Megan's husband's return was delayed by about a week and because of this, she lost her venue- but lucky for her, she had just moved into a beautiful home (at no additional cost) with lots of land and a long driveway.  So this became the new venue for her wedding and it was beautiful!  She bought white lights and strung them around the driveway, under tents and over the dance floor.  It looked gorgeous!

TIP #1:  White lights are something you probably have on hand for the holidays- and if you don't someone you know does!  always try to borrow- and always always always send a thank you note for what you use.

TIP # 2:  Find out who you can rent tents from- where Megan lives, she was able to find a fire station that rented her all her tables, chairs and tents at the cost of a donation!!! Schools and churches also have these sometimes and sometimes you may have family who has some you can borrow!

She decorated her tables with purple table clothes and beautiful lanterns with flowers twisting all around them,  not only did this serve as a nice center piece but also as a table weight for the occasional breeze and as additional lighting as the darkness set in.  She made these her self and though probably time consuming, she did an excellent job and I thought they were gorgeous.

TIP #3:  She was able to find purple table clothes at the dollar store for $1.00 a piece!  It served as a nice decoration and also for an easy clean up at the end of the night.

All of her loving family supplied to the food that  was amazing!  They did however have the shredded pork and chicken catered, which in my personal opinion was very smart-  it could have taken a lot of time to do that, and it allowed people a little extra time to enjoy themselves.  Having a loving family is crucial to a wedding.  My sister was really lucky to have an aunt who not only hosted a reception site- but did not make my sister lift a finger!  It also was a beautiful wedding done on a budget.  Family made food and family members DJ'ed at both parties.

Tip #4:  If a family offers to help with a service you need during this stressful time- accept.  You will be happy you did.

Tip #5:  DO NOT SKIP on nice plates- by this I mean- do not buy the paper plates that food will leak through- buy the very thick paper or inexpensive plastic plates- people spent a lot of time getting ready and possibly buying a new outfit for your wedding- care enough to not let something leak on them.  These can be found at a party store or at a superstore.

Tip #6:  Find websites that former brides are selling items they don't need any longer- one of these items I would first recommend- Chair covers.  My cousin recently got married and I told Megan she was looking to sell these and Megan was able to purchase them gently used from my cousin- who also bought them gently used.  Chair covers are used for one night and then they take up a ton of room to store them.  You might as well make some money back on the investment if you purchase these.

Hope this helps.
Kales