Photo Credit: The Other Sister Photography/via Oh Lovely Day

Are you looking to have a beautiful wedding on a cheap budget? So he proposed to you. Now what? Oh my goodness, I realized a few days later, after the initial excitement came down, that I was getting married. I grew up in a humble home financially. My parents did a great job at making my brothers and I feel like we had money, yet we knew the truth as we got older. Just like other girls there were a few things I just had to have in my wedding, that I always dreamed of, since I was little. I wanted fireworks and lots of sparkles in my dress.

So what have you always dreamed of having in your own wedding since a little girl?

Have you ever seen the tv show Extreme Cheapskates? I am not that bad, however I have always been a frugal kind of girl. Don’t get me wrong here, I like expensive things (that is my Grandmother in me), but I just will not pay for it. I will make it myself, or wait till it goes on sale. Every now and then (like one per 3 years) I may see something that I know I cannot make and will not be in my size or something like that, if I do not buy it “now,” so I go ahead and buy it “now.”

So as the wedding preparations begin, I started to collect many different free bridal and wedding books to get ideas from for my wedding. Let the imagination begin.

1. Go to stores like Goodwill, or borrow wedding planning books from friends, or go on the internet and download Free wedding checklists.

2. Start looking for family and friends to help pitch in financially by making crafts, decorations, dresses for you, etc. If that is not available, then there is power in social media and you just might find someone who has connections to others who can make things cheaper for you rather than buying in directly from a store new. I was able to combine several ideas I liked from different wedding dress pictures, and then have my husband’s birth mother make my wedding dress. Not everyone is that fortunate to have someone in the family like her, but you can find stores that are re-sell or wedding dress discount stores around the world. Again, just use Google to find some or ask a friend.

3. I know it is not for everyone, but my husband and I just wanted to make sure we had a cake topper and main cake to save for ourselves, so we found a nice decoration that looked like a gazebo and we put a photo of us in it, then put that on top of a small nice cake from Walmart, as opposed to buying a very expensive cake. We then bought several other sheets of a similar cake to ours, for our guests. The cake tasted great. The only difference is it was not in stacked layers like an official wedding cake. That does not mean that you could not purchase a tiered cake stand and layer it yourself. Be creative.

4. Find someone you know or call a local photography school and ask if anyone there need to put together a portfolio and would be willing to take your wedding pictures on a budget.

5. As far as the flowers, I know not everyone would go for this but I always wanted my wedding day to last forever. I did not want it to end, especially since I have been planning it for so long. I chose to use fake or silk flowers, so that I can keep them years into the future. I currently have some saved in our own decorative Wedding Time Capsule, along with other memorabilia and mementos from the first year of our marriage. I plan to open the time capsule on a special anniversary, years into the future, to reminisce about what life was like the year we were married. I cannot wait. You can get your own Wedding Time Capsule here.

6. The decorations – In addition to having family and friends help you make them, you can also plan your wedding after a holiday or season, or just watch throughout the year at craft stores and purchase decorations half off. If you are like me, I took a chance and kept waiting and purchased fall color decorations for 75% off. That thrilled my parents, which made me happy because we all were happy.

7. The venue – Some like tradition, some people are open to new things. I am a mixture of both. Because my husband and I have gone to church almost all our lives, and were regulars, we chose to have our wedding at his church (due to the set up compared to the church I came from). Having the wedding at his church made things very inexpensive, practically free, since he has gone there for so many years and they knew him. If you just take the time to plan your wedding, shop around and compare prices, and even strategically plan to have the wedding during a dead time, you may get better discounts off of the venue. Again, always ask your friends who have been married already, for their suggestions too. You could also have your ceremony at home or outside somewhere.

8. The reception – Create your own mix of music and use your own or borrow a nice stereo system to play the music. Luckily we had a friend who would DJ for us. Who says it has to be a full catered meal for everyone? Rent table cloths, napkins, dishes, and other needs for the wedding and reception. Again, my family could not afford that. So, we made it look nice with our discounted decorations, and had snacks we made ourselves. You can also have a pitch in reception. I have heard from other friends that these can be very fun, yet different. Have each guest bring the meal with a recipe card so the couple can have their first cookbook made that day at the reception, with all the recipe cards put together in one nice book. What a great idea?

9. Thank You cards – Send out nice photo post cards to everyone, instead of a letter to each of them. You can make these like very nice, yet they are less expensive. We even made our own invitations and ended up liking them better than the store bought ones, because we could make them personal with our own photo on them. This was great, for family or friends who could not come to the wedding, yet now had an updated picture of us to keep.

10. Make your own aisle runner. You can be creative and add your own personal touch. Check out this creative time capsule aisle runner with the couples photos on it in a sequential order from when they met until the day they get married. What a great way to capture their milestone moments together as a couple, and have an aisle runner to keep the rest of their lives in their own Wedding Time Capsule. I love it.

With so many helpful websites, blogs, and people willing to share their ideas on the internet, it is easier to plan a beautiful and luxurious looking wedding on a frugal budget. For other great helpful websites on this topic, check out 101 Ways to Save Thousands on Your Wedding and The Knot’s 30 Ways to Save Money on your Wedding.

Oh and one more thing, just so you know the janitor at our church who has helped set up thousands of weddings there said “that was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen here.” It touched my mother’s heart and helped her feel at ease. She and I did not want it to look cheap, but had to make it frugal due to our budget. He made our day. Mission accomplished in our minds.

Have fun being creative with your wedding. Most importantly, don’t forget to have fun.

So what is the best idea you can offer someone getting married, to help make their wedding day cheaper? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post 10 Ways to Have a Beautiful Wedding on a Cheap Budget appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

The summer flies by so fast. I know you can all relate to the phrase, “They grow up too fast.” How many times have you heard yourself ask that question? It may be too hard to comprehend that your baby is no longer a baby, but beginning preschool, kindergarten, or first grade now. So how do you slow down this time?

How to Remember their First School Year

Do you need ideas of how to capture memories of their first school year? There are so many pre-done first day of school interview questions online out there. Check out this one at http://gigglesgalore.net/back-to-school-interview-printable-free-download/. It is a fun and beautiful experience to see how your child has changed throughout the school year, physically, emotionally, and socially. Don’t forget to take their first day and last day of school year picture to have a before and after comparison of their growth. For this fun idea, check out this blog at http://gbragency.blogspot.com/2012/08/back-to-school.html



For those of you who want to preserve their baby years before they start school, check out the Baby hand print kit and Baby Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com/product/baby-time-capsule-hand-print-kit-combo/

Put together a cute school year gift basket for your child as a gift, with a time capsule in it, plus all their other school supplies they need in the time capsule. Let them fill out the interview worksheet included in the time capsule. Don’t forget to save their lock of hair, from their first school year hair-cut, and trace their hand to save in the time capsule.



First Day of School Survival Kit

This is not your average list you are thinking of. This is not the list the school gives you as the parent to go shopping for, so your child is ready for their first day. This is a list for you, the parent, for you to survive when your child leaves for their first day of school. What do you do, when your first born goes off to school? The house is quiet for a few hours. Do you go to work, to help pass the hours? Make sure you have this survival kit handy, to help decrease those tears running down your face, as you drop off your little one at school, in their cute new outfit.

The Parent Separation-Anxiety Checklist: (for the parent)

• Chewing gum to help you take out your anxiety and have something to concentrate on as you try to stay strong and “let it go” or let your child go, as the song sings.

• Mini journal in the car, to help you write out your immediate feelings and thoughts. Keep this journal in your Baby Time Capsule, so your child can read what you went through, years later when he or she opens it at Graduation. What a momentous day that will be.

• Your coffee, to now wake you up earlier in the morning than you are used to, due to bus pick-up times.

• Make up your own interview worksheet of questions to fill out and save in a time capsule for your child. Answer questions like, Four things I currently enjoy doing, what my daily schedule looked like before you started school, where I turn to for inspiration, or favorite tv shows or music you currently listen to.



• Create a pre-done dinner menu, so you can relax the first week of school.

• Set out bubble bath supplies to pamper yourself after work or before your child comes home their first day of school.

• Tissues, for those emotional moments as your child leaves you for their first day of school.

• Your child’s favorite toy to hold on to, as your child leaves, to feel like he or she is still with you. You may even still have their childlike smell on the toy to sniff every now and then when you want your precious child there with you, to help you make it through your day.

• Chocolate kisses, to eat and feel the soft warmth of your child’s kisses while you are away from each other. Chocolate helps anyone through their day, I hear.

• Extra make up in your purse, to touch up your smeared mascara now running down your face from crying.

It is not easy watching your child grow, so make sure to be creative and use keepsakes like the Baby Time Capsule to save your mementos and memories for years to come. Don’t forget to take care of you as the parent too, as you child goes off to school for the first time. You cannot keep giving to them, unless you are given to also. What else do you think you would like to help you get through the separation-anxiety time? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

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