Bathroom & Pashmina Basket Finished

 

I've finished off a few more of our DIY projects today

First was our Pashmina Basket, 1/2 pink & 1/2 white and tied with a silver ribbon. The basket hasn't arrived yet, but if it doesn't arrive in time, this is a good back up

 

 

 Also finished our Bathroom Baskets

 

 

and the wedding schedule pack for the bridal party. It has a map, driving instructions from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, weekend event list, wedding day timeline and contact numbers 

 

 

 

 

Our last Disney DIY project completed!

 

Just in time our final Disney DIY project completed!  A personalised travel journal and passport cover

 

 

 

 

The travel journal is split up into 2 sections, section one is each family’s trip plan with their itinerary, travel confirmations, day trips and tours, important information and contact numbers.

 

 

  

 

Section 2  is a travel journal, with journal pages for each place & port we visit, a place to keep tickets, receipts and mementos of our trip.

 

 

 

Slipper Basket Finished !

Now that I have finalised the design of our reception stationery, I can finish off lots of projects that have stalled while they waited for the last stationery piece of the project.

First one was our slipper basket

The slippers have all been bagged for a while and all that was missing was the swing tags. The design is inspired by our logo and has the size on one side and a poem on the other "bought new shoes to match your dress and now they're feeling tight? Have not a care just take a pair and you can dance all night".

One last minute change was I found some cute sparkly silver & glitter bags which I will use for the bridal party & my immediate family. As I don’t want them to miss out, I have taken a pair of slippers in their size and will have them placed on their seat at the reception.

I have also finished the welcome party & reception signage

Welcome Sign

Menu's, Bathroom Basket, Pashmina Basket & Candy Bar signs

And for a bit of fun Bride & Groom wedding day timelines!

Candy Bar Goodies

The popcorn bar has now almost fully become a candy bar as it will be a lot easier for me to set up and I can organise the contents well ahead of time. If we had stuck to popcorn only I would have had to make/collect it a day before the wedding and that’s cutting it a bit fine.

I’ve had to promise our jnr. groomsman that we will still have candy popcorn as it’s his favourite and DF wants his fizz wizzes!

Sticking with our colour theme these some of the treats that have already arrived.....pink M&M’s, pink & silver Hershey kisses, marshmallows, chocolate truffles, white & pink rock candy, lolly pops, pink foil choc balls and pink kit kats minis.

 

Welcome Bags – Hunter Reception

I have been planning our welcome bags for months, it’s one of my favourite wedding projects and today with the help of a great mate, we worked all day & finished them finally !!!

I wanted to make a goodie bag filled with treats & all the little things you might have forgotten or would like when arriving at a hotel. Now the tricky part …. quantity & cost ….. we have to make 70 and have a budget of $8.50 per bag MAX ! I had some great ideas of what I could include but things could get expensive quickly, so I had to think of fun & creative ways to fill up the bags on a budget.

I have dropped the canvas bag idea and gable boxes are out too as they are both expensive, instead I have opted for a natural brown bag with a big welcome sticker on the front.

For the contents we called in a favors, changed & swapped out items & bought in bulk to save on the cost but not quality.

1 x Mini bottle of Pink blush champagne $ 4.50

1 x Mini bottle of coke $0.95

2 x plastic wine glasses $free

1 x pkt kettle chips $0.95

1 x Block of Cadbury chocolate $1.40

1 x pkt of Wine charms (DIY)

2 x jars of local hunter valley jam $1.00

1 x pkt of Disney Princess tissues $ 0.10

1 x pkt of Disney Princess tissues $ 0.10

2 x pkts of chewing gum $free

1 x tube of cocoa butter hand crème $free

1 x mini bottle of hand sanitiser $free

1 x local information pack, map, brochures & weekend schedule

The final contents & cost $9.00 per bag

Unfortunately the pictures aren’t that great but I will take more and replace them when I have a chance.

Our Finished Invitations (Home Reception)

Although they have end up quite different to what I had planned in the beginning, instead of rustic wine corks & copper wire they are lace & ribbon, I really like them.

The biggest difference is the outer wrapper as some have chocolate or natural wood grain paper & some have a soft chocolate tissue paper.

A huge thank you goes out to my Dad, who patiently threaded all the peals onto the ribbon wrap around ties for me. A long and boring job and I’m so grateful for all the help xx







Inside







Main Invitation & enclosures







Envelopes



ETA ~ Tuesday 18th January 2011 ~ A pro picture of our invitations

We have our Invitations supplies !!!!!

We have our Invitations supplies !!!!!

I found two great bargains today at the Stitches & Craft Show, first almost an exact replica of the designer lace I love, only this one was on sale at $1.28 per meter vs. the expensive one at $22.95 per meter. As each invite needed ½ meter the designer lace is out & the new lace is IN.

Then I found a mixed bag with two types of textured A4 paper, one was soft like tissue paper, the other very thick & rough, and only a $1 per sheet. This will be perfect for wrapping the invites, before the go in the envelope.

I decided to cheat and I purchased the chocolate envelopes from cards & pockets for $1.05 each. It saved heaps of time and was cheaper than if I had made the pockets myself.

I found textured thick card stock paper in crème & purchased it in bulk $42 The A7 & C6 envelopes I purchased from an invitation store, 200 in total for $66 I couldn’t find a green that worked with the new design and chose a brushed metallic paper instead. 2 Invitations per A4 sheet = 50 were $38.50

Ribbon – I have heaps of left over pink ribbon from our pink ribbon fundraiser

Pearls – I picked up a bag of pearl beads to thread onto the ribbon (to jazz it up a little) $2.49.

Seals – I used a variety of seals I had left over from other projects, I needed 200 in total and only needed to buy one box for $15.95

Here are all the supplies

The Invitation Quandary

Getting my gorgeous, absolutely perfect invitations (that I had been dreaming about for the last 3 years) vs our budget, was a tricky one. Stationery is my obsession, I love it! and you can never have too much of it in my opinion. The thought of sacrificing my perfect invitations, for the big bad budget man was not something that was happening without a fight, the cake would go first!

So to recap what invitations did I want… chocolate brown textured pockets with 4 inserts & the main invitation panel (all on crème card stock with a sage backing page).

Around the outside of the pocket envelope I was going to wrap a band of textured paper (in a natural shade) and have a split wine cork with twisted copper around it as the centre piece.

To keep them safe I was going to put them in boxes with paper wood shavings. They were going to be gorgeous only problem ….. COST.

A while back I realised that if I was going to pull off two jobs, two weddings & planning an international holiday for our guests, certain things were going to have to go, especially as I don’t have an army of BM’s or helpers in the wings, DIY absolutely every project was out.

So we bit the bullet and got several quotes………….. the best of which came back at $38.45 per invitation !! before postage, so added to this was $5.60 per invite to post, plus 0.55 for the RSVP ……… ahhhhh $44.60 per invite x 100 is definitely NOT in our budget.

So with no choice but to find a cheaper option, I cut the cost per invite in half with 3 things:

1) Doing this project myself was essential

 

2) Invitations had to be mailed in envelopes & not boxes (which reduced the postage cost from a total of $615 to $165.

 

3) The cork & copper wire idea was out and I was planning on just sticking our monogram sticker over the front fold, to keep them closed. Although disappointed I had already had saved over ½ the cost from the best quote.

 

So now I need to collect the supplies:

* Chocolate pocket fold envelopes

* Crème card Stock

* Sage backing card stock

* A7 Envelopes

* C6 envelopes (for the RSVP)

* Ribbon

 

Depending on how much the materials cost, hopefully I will be able to add some sparkle & extra bling.

Dressing the Ladies

I’m feeling very relieved this week as the bridesmaids have decided on their dresses!

As I find it difficult enough selecting my own clothes (let alone a wedding dress!) I thought it would be good to let the girls select their own dress. I still think this is  great decision as although I'm buying them, they have to wear, but the mistake I made was not asking one of them to take charge of the process.

I did have one request & that was to try & work in with our soft, earthy, casual feel. My preference would be to avoid harsh bold colours in thick shiny fabrics like taffetas & opt for something softer that was more fun & comfortable vs severe & formal.   

 

The problem was the process was too drawn out. No one wanted to step on anyone’s toes, everyone was so polite, yet could not agree, all this meant that no decisions were made for a long time & decisions that were made were second guessed & changed, which frustrated everyone. What I believed to be a thoughtful & generous approach (as I hadn’t wanted to be “that Bride” that picked the dress they hated!) had somehow been misconstrued as lazy & shirking my wedding planning responsibility.

So some quick & final decisions were in order, we picked a dress that I think everyone seems to like and we have compromised on the colour and gone with a pastel pink. I did love the yellow but pink is fine. We have ordered matching wraps, just in case it’s gets colder in the evening.

The Dress (in pastel pink)

 

I had already purchased the shoes and clutches and I found the earring & hair clips last weekend. The Disney bracelet is a little surprise I got for everyone last year when we were planning to have a larger Disneyland wedding.

the final outfit for the ladies ....

Bridal Party Newsletters

With so much happening and our bridal party spread far & wide, I am writing up a newsletter to keep everyone included & in the loop on plans & deadlines.

 

 We wanted to include the kids as well so we have made them up their own special newsletter, with information only on things that involve them & what will happen on our wedding day, plus games & puzzles.

 

Popcorn Bar … now with a little candy & cookies too ♥

Our popcorn (and now candy & cookie) bar is beginning to take shape!

Luckily I love vases and have quite a few we can use, and thus far (apart from the two I bought for our engagement party - the big ones at the far back) I haven’t had to purchase any :)

So this is what I have at the moment and I probably would have stayed with configuration, if not for a few candy & cookie items I have found and now have to include.

First up, while on Mindy Weiss’s blog last week I saw …… new Disney Fairies, Princess & Princess wedding M&M’s. I love the personalised ones with your photo on them and was thinking of getting some of these for our home reception. But now I think I have to get the Princess & Princess wedding ones instead

#2 our cake maker offered to make blue bird cookies to match our cake – I don’t have a picture but this is similar, hopefully ours will look more like Disney Bluebirds

 

#3 Lollipops - can't go past some princess swirl and Mickey face lollipops

#4 Mickey ears pretzels – we love these, they are amazing!!!!! They remind me of our trips to Anaheim so we can’t go past these.

But now I am stuck how many jars/vases is too many? How many more (if any) I should get, and what size or shape to make them? Should I separate the popcorn/candy or just mix the vases in together?

Our Budgeting Plan

Last week I did promise to share how we were making our budget stretch to accommodate both our Disney Cruise wedding & wedding reception in the Hunter Valley.

Anyone who has been involved in our planning knows that’s it has been anything but simple, straightforward and without incident. However during all the planning & changes, we have always kept to our two top priority.

Firstly, ensuring that our family and friends feel special & well looked after. As both our wedding celebrations involve travel & substantial costs to our guests, it is very important to us that they feel special, comfortable, well looked after and have a great time.

Secondly we really wanted a relaxed & memorable day, which felt like us and reflected our personalities.

Planning & Organising Planning has been a big part of keeping control of our costs. The first thing we did was create a specific, detailed budget. This has made it easy when we have needed to reorganise or make changes (big and small) to the plan.

I am, by nature an organised person, but being organised has been invaluable. For example, one of the first things we decided on was our colour theme (pink, green, silver, chocolate) which has worked well as it meant we could take advantage of seasonal (Christmas, mother’s day etc) sales, expo specials and really given us the upper hand when dealing with vendors.

We have also had a long engagement, initially we planned on 12 months but now it has stretched out to almost 24 months. Not only has this given us more time to save, but more importantly it has given us time to research what we wanted, compare prices, and wait for specials before “needing” to book anything. The “need to book” mentality is only starting to appear now we have only 6months to go.

Less is More Both our Disney wedding & home receptions could have had twice or three times as many guests. And while it would have been lovely to have all our extended family, friends, work colleges at our receptions it is just not feasible.

We were also considering a cocktail reception instead of a sit down meal, in the hopes of being able to squeeze more guests in, but decided against this when it didn’t change the maximum guest limit.

Do It Yourself Ahhh DIY, I love DIY and both celebrations will have many DIY aspects to varying degrees. I will create a full list of all our DIY projects shortly, these are just the main ones.

Invitations & stationery (RSVP, enclosure, order of service, menu’s, place cards, escort cards etc) Here is where I have been saving big $$$$$. While craft stores are great you have to be careful not to end up paying a premium for DIY supplies and purchasing items that are basically the completed products. A lot of the DIY invitations kits (for example) don’t really end up that much cheaper than having invitations made for you. An example of a big saving was on pocket envelopes (the folders that our invitations will go into) one supplier I found was selling the pockets or folders for around $2.10 each. To purchase 120 at $2.10 quickly adds up – it was much more economical to buy the sheets of firm card stock paper at 0.60c each and make the pocket envelops myself. Although it took several hours longer it saved me around $180 and that was just the envelopes!

Favors - Don’t want to say too much but these will be ½ DIY

Decorations – We are sourcing our reception decorations ourselves, instead of having a themeing company do it and so far it has saved a fortune.

Flowers – We are very lucky and have a friend who is a florist and together we are going to purchase the flowers and make the bouquets & boutonnieres ourselves.

Transport – Originally we had booked vintage white limos for our Hunter reception and I adored them, however they are by no means a necessity or a must have, more of a "it would be nice". So when the opportunity came up, that another couple wanted the booking for our day, we decided to give them the cars, save the cost, and find something cheaper.

So far, these are just a few ways we have decided to work the budget in our favour, and spend money in the areas and on the details we want, rather than being at the mercy of vendors and paying a premium for services we can do ourselves and with the help of friends and family.

Disney Wedding Planning Kit

The DIY Plan

DIY projects are mounting up as I need two sets of a lot of the projects, especially the stationery ones. I am creating a list and once I finish each project I will link the list item to the post, so hopefully that will make finding each project easier amongst all the other posts.

Our first project and one of the most important is my Ultimate 2 Wedding Checklist – The mega checklist with all the planning items for both wedding on it.

So far this is the list after the checklist is done

Hunter Valley Projects

 Planning

Hunter Valley running schedule – full run schedule for the weekend

Vendor running schedule – condensed run sheet for specific vendors
Weekend schedule packs for Bridal Party & immediate family  

Stationery

Hunter Valley Save The Dates

Hunter Valley Family & Bridal Party Save the Date

Hunter Valley Wedding Invitation

Bridesmaid Lunchon Invitiation

Rehearsal Dinner inviation
Reception Signage

 Gifts

Bridesmaid Shopping Bags

Bridesmaid Checklist Bag

Attendant Gifts

  

Reception Details

Welcome Bags

Slipper Basket

 Bathroom baskets
Pashmina basket

Disney Wedding Projects

Planning

Planning Folders for Bride & Groom

Planning Folder for Guests

USA Trip Planning & Bookings for Guests

Stationery

Disney Save the Date

 Disney Cruise Invitation

Cruise Newletter 1

Cruise Newsletter 2

  

Gifts

Welcome Bags
Fish Extenders

FE Gifts from Bride & Groom

FE Gifts from Bride Parents

FE Gifts from Groom Parents

FE Gifts from Brides Brothers

FE Gifts from Bride Family

Our updated plans in pictures

I have updated our inspiration boards for both our Disney World & Hunter Wedding Receptions, with pictures of what we have decided on, or have already purchased / hired.

As it helps to see it all come together visually and gives me the chance to remove or change things that aren’t working in properly.

Our Disney Wedding board – we are going with a blue color pallet (mostly turquoise) and fuchsia as an accent color

Our Hunter Reception – I have slightly changed our colors idea here and instead of a “pink & green” color theme with silver accents we are going with a selection of colors from a soft earthy pallet and will incorporate green, pink, crème, mocha and silver will still be our accent

The secrets of your dream wedding on a budget

Lately I have had more and more comments about how “lucky” we are and how “wonderful” it must be to have such an enormous budget for our wedding!!!

The conversation usually goes like this …

Friend: “Wow you are so lucky to have such a big budget for your wedding, it must be fun not having to worry about what things cost and just getting what you want”

Me: “huh?...us…. ??? …MONEY!!! ahhhh no, not really”

Friend: “but look at your plans, you are doing so many things, it must be costing a fortune”

Me: “ True enough we will have been engaged almost 2 years when we get married and we have been saving this whole time, but we still have a very reasonable & tight budget. We just make sure we use every cent and try to stick with what we wanted. But we aren’t prepared to spend the equivalent of a home loan deposit on the wedding”

Friend: “I don’t get it, did you forget about ordering food or something?”

Me: “Nope definitely getting everyone food, I promise! We are finding savings everywhere, and all without really compromising the feel we want for the day. It all depends on what you want, just because something looks expensive, doesn’t mean It is”

Friend: "So how are we getting a Disney Wedding and a weekend reception back home?"

Me: "It comes down to three things ……. Planning, Budgeting and Organising"

But seriously, we are very lucky to be having a destination Disney Wedding and a big home reception with all our friends & family who can’t make the trip overseas. For us it really has been, thorough careful Planning, Budgeting and Organising that will hopefully pull it all off and not leave us in debt.

Planning & Budgeting is a big part of getting the balance right between what you want & how much it will cost, so you don’t end up with any nasty surprises or disappointments along the way.

The first thing we did was talk about what we wanted our wedding to be & what was important to us and always keep that in mind. We spend time researching and looking at everything to work out what we liked, and what gave us what we wanted plus what costs were involved.

Set your budget together (after you have spoken with your family if you are asking or expecting them to contribute) and stick to it !!

Always, always ask questions, don’t be afraid to ask for a better deal and be honest about your budget when discussing options with your suppliers/vendors

Being Organised is what will make sure your planning & budget stay on track and make sure you make smart choices with your money.

To be continued...... how we pulled off our dream Disney wedding on a budget

*Tip of the Day*

Taking advantage of sale items only work out cost effective if they were part of your original plan / budget or you can work them in, without additional costs occurring. Make sure you think before making any spontaneous purchases as 50% of 25 large square vases is a great saving but not if flowers weren’t going to be your centerpieces. That being said, don’t always discount something that wasn’t part of your plan, just think about it first.

Hunter Welcome Party Booked!

 

We have secured a venue for our welcome party, the Grapevine Bar at the Crown Plaza.

It’s the perfect location as most guests are staying at Crown, so those who arrived earlier in the week can just walk down to the restaurant and for anyone arriving on Friday evening, they can come down and join us whenever they arrive.

 

 

 

The Supporting Cast .....

Wedding planning is as exciting as it is overwhelming and choosing which of your family & friends will play a special role in your day can be one of the easiest or one of the hardest & most daunting decisions you’ll make.

While there are no hard & fast rules around whom & how many should be in your bridal party, it should be made up of your closest family & friends. It is a special honor and an important responsibility to be part of a bridal party, and each member has a role to play that extends beyond fun & bachelor/ bachelorette party planning.

This is why it’s important to choose people you know & trust as they will be your support network when times are stressful and you need to know you can count on them. And for me especially, this has been a more difficult decision that I expected, partly because of me and partly because of circumstances.

Many years ago my best friend and I started to plan every intricate detail of my wedding, complete with a folder full of clipping & ideas, run sheets & photos. We added to it over the years & changed details but the two constants had always been the groom & my best friend. Several years ago my best friend passed away and while many things since have been difficult, I knew this would be one of the hardest. This is why it was so important to us to make sure our wingmen & women who would plan, prepare & stand with us, were our nearest & dearest, whom we trusted completely.

When all have had a chance to think & decide if they are able to participate we will update our website with all the details, but until then a few things to consider when choosing your bridal party:

First, don't rush into choosing your attendants; think about what each of their responsibilities will be (practical, time & financial).

Second, try & choose people who you can trust & rely on, and that you know will be honest with you.

Third, factor in the lifestyle and current situation of those you intend to ask, and how it will work with their responsibilities and your needs.

Lastly decide what's most important to you both and go for it, don't get caught up in other people’s expectations or history.

The Perfect Wedding Gift

Is buying the perfect wedding gift really that difficult?

Buying the perfect gift has turned into somewhat of an art form nowadays. Some put enormous amounts of time into choosing the perfect gift, thinking about the bride & grooms likes & dislikes, hobbies & homes, then the best & most creative way to wrap & deliver it.

Others mistakenly believe that the more it costs the better & more memorable it will be, and let’s not forget those who stumble on the only box of chocolates within the ‘expiry date’ at the service station – 15 minutes before the ceremony starts.

I love buying gifts for people; so far it is my favorite part of wedding planning. As now I get to purchases all kinds of gifts and favors for everyone! But I know a lot of my friends dread buying things for me. As I love gifts that are unique, one off’s, handmade and have character. I especially love things that have a personal significance between the gift giver & receiver.

So how do you find the perfect gift that the couple will love without breaking the bank?

The easiest way to start is by taking a look at the gift registry, although don’t feel you must stick to it exactly if you don’t want to. If you do decide to purchase from the gift registry:

*Decide before you go shopping what your budget is and stick to it!

*There is no rule that says you have to spend your entire budget on one item

*Get in early as often the lists are created months in advance and items can sell out or may only have seasonal availability.

*Add your own personal touch to items from the registry, for example have towels monogrammed with their initials or purchase the vase they wanted and fill it with kitchen gadgets.

If you decide not to purchase from their list can you expand on it? Does a particular brand or designer appear several times on their list? You can always choose an item from the same collection (but not off the list), that way you know it their taste, but it’s still a surprise.

Most importantly don't re-gift items that you dont want! dollars to donuts if you didn't like it, neither will ! 

Whatever you decide to purchase (or make) just remember the thought you put into it is far more important than the price tag.