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| Wedding Invitation By Jill Reber |
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| Program By Jill Reber |
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| All pages of Program By Jill Reber |
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| Thank You Cards By Jill Reber |
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Make Your Own Invitations
Invitations can be expensive, one you consider envelopes and shipping, it can be one of the most expensive details. However brides have another option, making their own wedding invitations. Invitations can be found to fit any wedding theme and colors can be adjusted to go with any colors. For my friends wedding we made her RSVP cards, invitations, programs, and thank you cards. We looked online for inspiration. Once we picked a invitation we figured out a color scheme and searched for paper at reasonable prices. For her invitations she chose vellum to print on, that turned out to be trickier that we anticipated. Once that was done we had trouble figuring out sizes for paper and envelopes. However even though we had to test everything a few times and needed extra ink, it still saved her money by making her own invitations. If your not a super crafty bride you can pick simpler invitation or if you want to experiment you can pick different designs until you find the one that fits your wedding theme.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Unique Wedding Places
There are a few places in Michigan that a bride can have a unique wedding. These places bring a part of history to a wedding and share with guests special things between a couple. A spring bride might consider having a wedding during the tulip festival in Holland. This offers a wedding a touch of unique of heritage if the couples families are part dutch. During the festival they hold dutch dances, there are history museums and tons of tulips. Closer to summer there is a Lilac Festival on Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is where the movie Somewhere In Time was filmed, like in the movie Mackinac Island shows visitors the past. There are only two ways to get to the island, either by ferry or plane. On the island there are no cars, so people have to travel by walking, horseback, carriages or bicycles. This might make things a little more difficult for brides, but if that is taken into consideration during the planning process, it should all work out. In the summer Traverse City holds its annual Cherry Festival, for a couple that loves cherries this could be the perfect time to hold the ceremony. There are wine events, an air show, lots of food and of course anything to do with cherries. As with all the festivals booking hotels would need to be done far in advance and finding vendors and a venue might be a bit harder but it can be done. For a bride wanting to have a wedding closer to home and a touch of german, Frankenmuth is the place to get married. My friend got married at the Bavarian Inn a little over a year ago. It was a beautiful wedding and a great venue for her and husband. Frankenmuth has a few different festivals and venues for wedding parties to pick from, making each wedding held there a unique experience.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Skip the Wedding Planner, Do-it-Yourself
Wedding planners are great for remembering all the little details for a wedding, however they can be costly. One way a bride can cut costs is by doing the wedding planning herself. My mother gave me a bunch of books that had checklists however I have found it easier to use websites that offer online planning tools. Two of which I use is the knot and Brides.
Brides is a magazine I found at the store, the thing I love most about them is that they offer local magazines and information. When I signed up online they asked where my wedding would be located in Michigan and even email me information about that area, like photographers, vendors, even places to buy wedding bands at. Plus each site offers brides different options, the knot is not as local but I find it helpful when searching for anything wedding related. Both have checklists with dates that they should be done, this will help any bride stay on task. Each has the resources to help find anything, if you are anything like me, you can easily spend hours looking around the site for inspiration.
Really with all the online information at a brides fingertips, it is a lot easier to plan a wedding yourself and skip the extra cost of a planner.
Brides is a magazine I found at the store, the thing I love most about them is that they offer local magazines and information. When I signed up online they asked where my wedding would be located in Michigan and even email me information about that area, like photographers, vendors, even places to buy wedding bands at. Plus each site offers brides different options, the knot is not as local but I find it helpful when searching for anything wedding related. Both have checklists with dates that they should be done, this will help any bride stay on task. Each has the resources to help find anything, if you are anything like me, you can easily spend hours looking around the site for inspiration.
Really with all the online information at a brides fingertips, it is a lot easier to plan a wedding yourself and skip the extra cost of a planner.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Save Money, Buy Artificial, Flowers
Artificial flowers are looking more realistic, so this is a budget saver for those brides who think spending hundreds of dollars on flowers is ridiculous. Sure real flowers look nicer but they also limit what can be done, since they can die quickly. The easiest solution is to buy artificial flowers and use them, they are available in almost any color or can be spray painted with floral paint to be any color. The offer a nice inexpensive way to touch to any centerpiece without worrying about having water near by. They can be glued to stay put and bouquets can be kept forever, left over flowers can be used to create the toss bouquet saving some money there as well.
This was my bridesmaid bouquet for my sisters wedding in 2005, we decided to use artificial flowers for all the bouquets and the flowers at the church.
I had never attempted to make a bouquet, but with some online help I quickly got the idea of how to make one. Since she lives 4 hours away and could not help make the bouquets and we would not be able to do it the night before artificial flowers was a convenient and moderately priced solution. We bought the flowers in bulk at Gibraltar Trade Center, getting enough white for the brides and pink for the bridesmaids. We also added strands of pearls to each bouquet.
For these we used vases we bought on sale, then picked the artificial flowers we wanted in there. Then we filled it with craft rocks and tied it with a bow for a easy but lovely church flowers.
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| Brides Bouquet By Jill Reber |
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| Bridesmaid Bouquet By Jill Reber |
This was my bridesmaid bouquet for my sisters wedding in 2005, we decided to use artificial flowers for all the bouquets and the flowers at the church.
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| Bridesmaid Bouquet 2 By Jill Reber |
I had never attempted to make a bouquet, but with some online help I quickly got the idea of how to make one. Since she lives 4 hours away and could not help make the bouquets and we would not be able to do it the night before artificial flowers was a convenient and moderately priced solution. We bought the flowers in bulk at Gibraltar Trade Center, getting enough white for the brides and pink for the bridesmaids. We also added strands of pearls to each bouquet.
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| Church Flowers By Jill Reber |
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| Church Flowers 2 By Jill Reber |
A Wedding for Every Season
One thing a Michigan bride has to deal with is the seasons, every season brings different weather and different obstacles along with it. However there are different possibilities with having a seasonal wedding, it can even be a theme and each season provides brides with different options as wedding favors.
Fall
My fiance' is from Virginia, most of his family has never been to Michigan. Since we are planning on having our wedding on Mackinac Island in the fall of 2015 we tried to think of cute favors that also represent Michigan. We thought of what Michigan looks like in the fall, with all the red, orange and yellow leaves. However one thing I love about Mackinaw and Mackinac Island is the fudge, so the last time we were up there I bought a book on how to make it myself. I also bought Michigan shaped cookie cutters in case I want to do the shape of Michigan in the fudge or make cookies.
Another idea someone had suggested was a Halloween themed wedding for the fall, something more dark and gothic. Which works for some couples, there are lots of Halloween decocrations that go on sale after the holiday so buying in advance can save some money. Cookies can be made to look like ghosts, goblins or witches.
Winter
Winter is one of the most stressful time to have a wedding in Michigan, with the unpredictable snow fall causing numerous unforeseen events, it also can be one of the most beautiful weddings to attend. For brides doing a winter wonderland wedding there are many options as to colors and themes. Such as a Christmas wedding with everything green and red or a snowflake wedding with whites and blues. Buying Christmas ornaments from Bronner's in Frankenmuth could be a great way to include Michigan in your wedding, especially if your wedding happens to be in Frankenmuth during the holiday season. The cutest idea I have run across for winter weddings is giving hot chocolate or coffee mix as wedding favors. Which I made a few examples, for the complete how to, go here.
Spring
There are lots of options for spring weddings, since everything is blooming in Michigan I picked a chocolate candy as a how to, it is included here. The candy I made was shaped like a rose but could be made in any shape, like a tulip for a wedding at the Tulip festival;in Holland, the candies can be made into chocolate suckers as well. Another idea is to give jars of Michigan made honey to celebrate the season, or have a table at the reception that has little jars of different honey letting the guest choose their own kind.
Summer
One issue that we all run across in the summer is construction, which can detour guests way out of the way. Keep that in mind and make sure to give good directions from different locations just in case. One possible theme for the summer is a beach wedding, there are lots of locations to have a beach wedding in Michigan. Jars of sand can be given as a cute reminder or little jars of jam made from Michigan cherries from the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.
Fall
My fiance' is from Virginia, most of his family has never been to Michigan. Since we are planning on having our wedding on Mackinac Island in the fall of 2015 we tried to think of cute favors that also represent Michigan. We thought of what Michigan looks like in the fall, with all the red, orange and yellow leaves. However one thing I love about Mackinaw and Mackinac Island is the fudge, so the last time we were up there I bought a book on how to make it myself. I also bought Michigan shaped cookie cutters in case I want to do the shape of Michigan in the fudge or make cookies.
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| By Jill Reber |
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| By Jill Reber |
Another idea someone had suggested was a Halloween themed wedding for the fall, something more dark and gothic. Which works for some couples, there are lots of Halloween decocrations that go on sale after the holiday so buying in advance can save some money. Cookies can be made to look like ghosts, goblins or witches.
Winter
Winter is one of the most stressful time to have a wedding in Michigan, with the unpredictable snow fall causing numerous unforeseen events, it also can be one of the most beautiful weddings to attend. For brides doing a winter wonderland wedding there are many options as to colors and themes. Such as a Christmas wedding with everything green and red or a snowflake wedding with whites and blues. Buying Christmas ornaments from Bronner's in Frankenmuth could be a great way to include Michigan in your wedding, especially if your wedding happens to be in Frankenmuth during the holiday season. The cutest idea I have run across for winter weddings is giving hot chocolate or coffee mix as wedding favors. Which I made a few examples, for the complete how to, go here.
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| By Jill Reber |
Spring
There are lots of options for spring weddings, since everything is blooming in Michigan I picked a chocolate candy as a how to, it is included here. The candy I made was shaped like a rose but could be made in any shape, like a tulip for a wedding at the Tulip festival;in Holland, the candies can be made into chocolate suckers as well. Another idea is to give jars of Michigan made honey to celebrate the season, or have a table at the reception that has little jars of different honey letting the guest choose their own kind.
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| By Jill Reber |
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| By Jill Reber |
One issue that we all run across in the summer is construction, which can detour guests way out of the way. Keep that in mind and make sure to give good directions from different locations just in case. One possible theme for the summer is a beach wedding, there are lots of locations to have a beach wedding in Michigan. Jars of sand can be given as a cute reminder or little jars of jam made from Michigan cherries from the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.
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| By Jill Reber |
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Inexpensive Ways to Decorate
The Dollar store. Most Brides never consider looking at the dollar store for decorations for their weddings, however there are a few options to ease your bridal budget. Creating your own decorations is a great way to assure that they are what you want and are at relatively inexpensive price. As shown on their website,Dollar Tree has a section dedicated to wedding ideas. There are even how-to-guides on how to create your own look, personalized drinks and other inexpensive wedding ideas.
Another great place to find quality decorations but at lower prices, are craft stores. Places like Joann's, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby offer great wedding ideas and can be found at reasonable prices with coupons. The also have wedding sets that include the cake cutting and serving, kits to make your own invitations and almost anything else needed to have a beautiful do-it-yourself wedding.
The last inexpensive way to shop for your wedding, is the clearance isle of almost any store. Any place that has a wedding section will clearance out, out-of date things, but at this bargain price you can buy some really nice things. Other places to check for sale items is eBay or Amazon, which can offer great prices on wedding supplies.
My use of inexpensive shopping. I am planning a Cinderella themed wedding, I had little ideas of what I wanted for centerpieces but when I saw plastic Halloween pumpkins on sale. I had an idea. I decided I wanted to carve the pumpkins, one side with Cinderella and the other with Prince Charming. Then I would put some sort of candle on the inside, since the pumpkins are plastic I wanted to use flame-less candles.
I got the Pumpkins at WalMart for 3 dollars a piece and I got the flame-less candles at Dollar Tree for 2 for a dollar. Making the cost of my centerpieces 3 dollars and fifty cents.
Another great place to find quality decorations but at lower prices, are craft stores. Places like Joann's, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby offer great wedding ideas and can be found at reasonable prices with coupons. The also have wedding sets that include the cake cutting and serving, kits to make your own invitations and almost anything else needed to have a beautiful do-it-yourself wedding.
The last inexpensive way to shop for your wedding, is the clearance isle of almost any store. Any place that has a wedding section will clearance out, out-of date things, but at this bargain price you can buy some really nice things. Other places to check for sale items is eBay or Amazon, which can offer great prices on wedding supplies.
My use of inexpensive shopping. I am planning a Cinderella themed wedding, I had little ideas of what I wanted for centerpieces but when I saw plastic Halloween pumpkins on sale. I had an idea. I decided I wanted to carve the pumpkins, one side with Cinderella and the other with Prince Charming. Then I would put some sort of candle on the inside, since the pumpkins are plastic I wanted to use flame-less candles.
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| Flame-less Candles By Jill Reber |
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| Cinderella Carving By Jill Reber |
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| Prince Charming Carving By Jill Reber |
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| Finished Centerpiece By Jill Reber |
I got the Pumpkins at WalMart for 3 dollars a piece and I got the flame-less candles at Dollar Tree for 2 for a dollar. Making the cost of my centerpieces 3 dollars and fifty cents.
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