I am THE bargain bride. I guess some might call me a cheapskate, lol! I am just trying to pull this thing off as affordably as possible. I definitely don’t mind sharing tips!
My dress came from a consignment shop, it was $233.
My invites were from Vistaprint and I paid $30 and some change for them (including shipping and envelopes).
Save-The-Date Cards were free, only paid shipping which was around $5 (also Vistaprint, which I can’t recommend highly enough!)
Someone is letting me borrow all of her chair sashes, table runners, vases, and silk accent flowers for centerpieces for FREE. All I’ve got to buy for the centerpieces are aqua brites, water beads, and a couple of silk flowers for each one. I’ve found a set of aqua brites and water beads on eBay for $25, total. It comes with more than enough beads and lights to do all of my tables. So, I’ll be spending around $40 on ALL of my centerpieces (not each, all of them total).
I’m DIY-ing my favors. I’ve been saving our old salsa jars for months. I went and bought fabric for $10 and spent around $4 on ribbon to decorate the lids of the jars. Someone is making me free sticker labels with each guest’s name on them. The guests will fill the jars with candy at the candy buffet and take home. Future Mother-In-Law bought all of my vases for the candy buffet. All I have to do is get candy, and I think she might buy that for us, too.
I did splurge on a cupcake tower and cake stand. I found Opulent Treasures stands at TJ Maxx. The cake stand was $19.99 and the cupcake tower was $39.99. So, about $60 for that stuff. Then, I spent around $3 on string and glass beads to accent them with.
We’re going to buy a two-tiered cake from an amateur baker we know (who makes beautiful, delicious cakes). We’re not telling her it’s for a wedding, though. So, I’m not sure the cost, but I’m assuming around $75-100 for that.
We’re also making cupcakes and other desserts for the candy buffet. They’ve got cake mix for $1 a box at the store, and each box makes around 25 cupcakes. We plan to make 100, so that’s $4 on mix… not too sure how much the frosting will cost because we’re making homemade. I did spent $12 on sunflower cupcake pans, too.
Flower Girl dresses are on eBay for around $20.
I still have a lot more stuff to buy, so I don’t know what other deals I might come across. The next thing on my agenda is flowers. I need to find a good deal on silk flowers, so I’m hoping to stumble upon a good Hobby Lobby coupon in the next few weeks!