Monday, January 30, 2012

Fancy Flower Alternatives

Sticking with the theme of saving money on weddings, lets take a look at some alternatives to the ever-expensive and quickly perishing flower bouquets. As seen in my previous post, I decided to forego the large quantity of flowers as table centerpieces. Similarly, I recently participated in a "trash the dress" session where I created a bouquet out of feathers and a few sparkly, floral Christmas tree picks. I simply arranged the feathers and flower picks to seem somewhat symmetrical yet edgy, then finished off the handle by wrapping it with a ribbon and fastening it with floral pins. For a more elegant look, rhinestone and pearl-head pins are available. I used small pins that were virtually invisible. After months of sitting on display, my bouquet looks just as good as it did the day I created it, and best of all, at 40% off at our local JoAnn Fabrics store, the entire bouquet cost me $7. I'd say that's substantially better than the $100 fee for the brides flower bouquet. A traditional flower bouquet has a much shorter shelf-life. Even when dried, they don't seem to hold the same aesthetic appeal.

Here is the feather bouquet I created for my photo-shoot (Courtesy of Dana Du Jour Photography)
If you don't feel particularly crafty or prefer to have a professional masterpiece in your hands on your big day, there are many artists who would love to make one for you, still less expensive than a florist! Check out some of these edgy flower bouquet alternatives!





Saturday, January 28, 2012

Dual duty: Centerpieces





A wedding will likely be the most expensive party you ever throw. Between outfits and food, flowers and music, your budget dwindles quickly. Why not give your cake double duty on your wedding day? Rather than a massive cake in the front of your venue, consider using individual cakes, or a cake alternative, to dress up your guests tables? They will appreciate not having to rush the crowd to get a piece of the masterpiece up front, and when there are different flavors on each table, your guests will meet new friends while searching for their favorite! At my wedding, we used individual bundt cakes that we baked and froze ahead of time, then my aunt  glazed and garnished them for the tables the morning of the wedding. They were displayed on iron topiary pieces purchased at half price from a local hobby store. The topiaries were spray painted ivory and embellished with a dangling jewel on top to give it a more elegant feel. Along the bottom, we have a ring of eucalyptus to tie in our wedding colors. We used white cake plates, cut to size and inserted them to give 2 layers of space to place the cakes. My husband and I still had our own cake to cut (no smashing was involved) and everyone was able to serve themselves at their convenience. I heard no complaints about the quality either! Total cost for cakes for 150 guests: $50 (including the small cake that was professionally baked and decorated for my husband and I)
Here are some other double duty centerpieces I found via google:
                 Or how about this cute diaper cake for a baby shower centerpiece?