For ENA brides and brides to be!!

[tinkerbellkj]

We were just looking at save the date magnets online, or more like I was, he basically just says, "yeah, that's cool babe, whatever you want!" haha, he wants to be involved in bigger things (like the open bar!) and he leaves the rest pretty much up to me... we are definitely doing the magnets for save the dates, but invitations are so expensive! Anyone have any tips/websites I can check out? I've tried vistaprint and link removed so far

[hers]

We were just looking at save the date magnets online, or more like I was, he basically just says, "yeah, that's cool babe, whatever you want!" haha, he wants to be involved in bigger things (like the open bar!) and he leaves the rest pretty much up to me... we are definitely doing the magnets for save the dates, but invitations are so expensive! Anyone have any tips/websites I can check out? I've tried vistaprint and link removed so far

 

check out this girl

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I went to school with her...her work is gorgeous. she really loves what she does and will probably work with you. i have no idea if her prices are good or not...i haven't really compared and shopped around. i know what i want my save the dates to be (postcards!) and thank you cards (also post cards!) but invitations i'm clueless about.

 

 

this is what our save teh dates will look like:

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thank you cards in same style:

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[alli]

We were just looking at save the date magnets online, or more like I was, he basically just says, "yeah, that's cool babe, whatever you want!" haha, he wants to be involved in bigger things (like the open bar!) and he leaves the rest pretty much up to me... we are definitely doing the magnets for save the dates, but invitations are so expensive! Anyone have any tips/websites I can check out? I've tried vistaprint and link removed so far

 

I go to places like Michaels. They have sales ALL the time. I bought a TON of wedding stuff on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when everything in the store was half-off. THey also give you coupons all the time when you shop there for "50% off purchase of any item from xxxdate to xxxdate".

 

I just bought blank programs there. They are designed that you can print them off yourself on your own printer, but I think you would still end up spending a lot of money on ink cartriges (not to mention the time that would take) so I take them to a place in town that will print them for probably $100-ish & they will look professional. So total cost of buying them & printing them would be around $150 for 200 programs. They are in the midst of doing my programs now so I don't know exactly how much that will cost.

 

Oh, and I just realized I was talking about programs when you asked about invitations. Same thing, I bought them from Michael's on a sale day, then took them to the copy shop. They printed the invitations, return address on the invitation envelope, the rsvp card, and my address onto the rsvp envelope for like $100 I think.

 

One thing though, if you do end up doing an rsvp card, code the back of each one somehow so you will know who the cards are coming from when you get them. Very few of my rsvps did people actually write their return address on the envelope, so I would have had no idea who each card was coming from which would have totally nulled the purpose of the whole thing. I numbered the back of each one & kept a numbering list so I could tell who it was from, and call people who hadn't returned theirs to find out if they are coming or not.

[tinkerbellkj]

very cute hers! They are very personal and unique! I really like that idea, especially the thank you card, because we were thinking (or I was, at least haha!) of doing a photo thank you card, with our pictures on it, so I still may do that...

 

Ali- thanks a lot, I will def check out Michael's, I go there a lot anyway, and maybe they'll have a sale coming up, with Memorial day and all.

[hers]

I'm trying to pick bridesmaids right now. I have 7! I have so many best friends (I'm so grateful for that)...I dont know who not to pick!

 

There's my sister, who's walking me down the aisle, so I dont really "have" to count her as a bridesmaid. There's my best friend since 5 years old, best friend since 14 years old, best friend since 19 years old, Jenn (ENA bestie...one of my best friends for sure), Jared's sister, and best friend since 11 years old...oh god...that's a lot. Jared is not too happy with having that many, especially b/c we're having a "small" wedding. But there's no one I'd cut at all, even if it came down to it. I'm still leaving out a really great friend of mine from college whom I've always wanted in my wedding. What to do!

[tinkerbellkj]

It's def hard, because I know my FI has a lot of guy friends and he has been in A LOT of weddings, but we had to draw the line somewhere, so we've settled on 5 each, my sister is my MOH, my cousin, his two sisters, and my best friend from HS. I have more people I would have liked in the wedding, but truth is I've move around most of my adult life from Boston to Philly and now to FL. I think in my mind I envisioned all my college girls in my wedding, but it's just not possible!

[hers]

It's def hard, because I know my FI has a lot of guy friends and he has been in A LOT of weddings, but we had to draw the line somewhere, so we've settled on 5 each, my sister is my MOH, my cousin, his two sisters, and my best friend from HS. I have more people I would have liked in the wedding, but truth is I've move around most of my adult life from Boston to Philly and now to FL. I think in my mind I envisioned all my college girls in my wedding, but it's just not possible!

 

where in FL are you? I'm in FL too.

 

I think I'll stick to 7. He'll just have to pick 6 I guess, if I don't count my sister as a BM. I have no idea if I shoudl though.

[tinkerbellkj]

I'm in Central FL outside of Orlando/Daytona... you could do that, not count your sister, because in reality she will kind of be one, but will have a slightly different role, maybe her dress could be slightly different as well? Will you guys try to have an even number of BM/GM?

[hers]

I'm in Central FL outside of Orlando/Daytona... you could do that, not count your sister, because in reality she will kind of be one, but will have a slightly different role, maybe her dress could be slightly different as well? Will you guys try to have an even number of BM/GM?

 

we're trying to have an even number, yes. but we could also double up bridesmaids on a groomsman (every man's dream!). i dont want a MOH or best man, but my fiance does...I guess I'd make my sister my MOH but I don't want to do that...I don't want a hierarchy like that.

 

I do think I'm going to let them all collaborate on their bridesmaids dresses though...figure out waht woudl look best on all of them. like maybe throw out a color and a length to them but let them pick out their own style. what do you guys think?

[tinkerbellkj]

That is exactly what I am doing. I know my sister who is younger is going to want something strapless where as I know that is not for everyone. I am however going to use the same designer or at least store to have some coordination, but for the most part, other than length (tea) they can pretty much do what they want, so everyone is comfortable.

[jengh]

we're trying to have an even number, yes. but we could also double up bridesmaids on a groomsman (every man's dream!). i dont want a MOH or best man, but my fiance does...I guess I'd make my sister my MOH but I don't want to do that...I don't want a hierarchy like that.

 

I do think I'm going to let them all collaborate on their bridesmaids dresses though...figure out waht woudl look best on all of them. like maybe throw out a color and a length to them but let them pick out their own style. what do you guys think?

 

Yes yes yes yes yes yes (but I'm biased ).

[alli]

7 bridesmaids is too many. It should be proportional to the size of your wedding, and if you are having a small wedding, well, 7 is too many. You don't want more people in the wedding party than in the "audience". lol! Might be a slight exaggeration. You could ask a couple of them to be your personal attendants instead, so that way they are still involved in your wedding. 5 bridesmaids & 2 personal attendants seems more reasonable for the size of your wedding, that is my opinion.

 

Also, I would not give them a color & length & have them pick out their own dress unless their dresses will be black or white or you have them buy it from a bridal designer, like Alfred Angelo. Different brands means different shades of color. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to get them to match & it will look cheesy, IMO. If you get it from a bridal designer the dresses will definitely match in color, but the drawback to that is they will be more expensive (probably $150-$200) and they will most certainly never wear it again. OR if you CAN find a store that has the same fabric & exact same color in different styles of dresses, but I would not believe it unless you could see them all together for comparison.

 

I considered doing that as well but I ended up choosing a dress from Victoria's Secret. I chose a dress that I thought would suit most body shapes & sizes (not strapless, not backless & is knee length) that comes in generic small, medium, large sizes to eliminate the need for alterations. And it is definitely a dress they can wear again since it wasn't designed to be bridesmaid dress.

[hers]

i think it woudl be too many one girl offered to not be in it if it came down to it...she just wants to be there. i know she means that...she woudln't be hurt at all if i did say i couldn't have her in it. but i love her! i want her in it that'd leave 5 plus my sister.

 

i would have them use the same designer, no way aroudn that. i do want the same shade for sure! i'm gonna leave all that up to my sister though.

[tinkerbellkj]

Speaking of wedding sizes... our wedding size is getting out of control, I wanted something mid sized, however, just a VERY rough guest list is almost 190 people, and I know we've forgotten several people, so we're looking at probably a 220 invite, and of that probably at least 170 will show. We both have big families, though, not much you can do, but it does make me anxious because we plan on funding most of the wedding ourselves.

[alli]

I guess a lot of the decisions I made were based off of seeing my bf's cousins wedding and doing the exact opposite, as aweful as that sounds. It was a shotgun wedding, they were only married a few weeks/months. But the groomsmen wore suits with tennis shoes like Justin Timberlake which I did not find attractive. The bridesmaids were all wearing red dresses but very obviously not coordinated. They had the wedding on one side of the VFW & the reception on the other side. Their music was played off of an ipod, and apparently no one tested that system beforehand because it sounded aweful, before it quit working entirely.

 

You can cut corners, but you just have to figure out where you can do that & where you can't. I bought this book called "Bridal Bargains" when I first started out. Ended up ignoring most of the advice anyway, lol.

[hers]

my sister had an ipod wedding...the system in the place worked well and she had hired a friend of hers to man it...he did it off the laptop. it worked really well. i'd totally listen to every song first, b/c i'd be downloading them, and then test it all out on the system we use...no chances!

[alli]

Speaking of wedding sizes... our wedding size is getting out of control, I wanted something mid sized, however, just a VERY rough guest list is almost 190 people, and I know we've forgotten several people, so we're looking at probably a 220 invite, and of that probably at least 170 will show. We both have big families, though, not much you can do, but it does make me anxious because we plan on funding most of the wedding ourselves.

 

You would be suprised how many people might decline. I invited over 250 people & had over 100 decline. I doubt we will exceed 140. Suprisingly, a lot of the declines live nearby anyway. But a lot of the don't. A big reason is that our wedding is in June, which is one of the most popular wedding months. So a lot of people had cousins or other relatives getting married that weekend.

[alli]

my sister had an ipod wedding...the system in the place worked well and she had hired a friend of hers to man it...he did it off the laptop. it worked really well. i'd totally listen to every song first, b/c i'd be downloading them, and then test it all out on the system we use...no chances!

 

Yeah, I'm having the ceremony music played off of a laptop & an amp. The DJ is my fiance's little brother's friend who just graduated from high school. They also have a band so we invited them to play the prelude. Then we will play the "real" wedding music on the laptop & I'm having the DJ kid run it. I told him he has to come in with me when I set up a few days early to test it then. Than I'll have him come in a few hours before the wedding, set up & test again.

 

I'm sure it can be done if you test it first. I want to tell him he needs to PMCS his equipment but non-military people don't know what that means!

[babii doll]

now he wants to change everything... not a happy camper right now.

[hers]

Uh oh, what does he want to change?

[savagegirl]

Girls check out link removed for cool wedding stuff, invitations, dresses, hair, and it's all cool handmade things. I think I'm going to end up getting my invites off there. I have found some amazing ones. Tinkerbell or whoever asked about invites, Vistaprint has REALLY good prices considering they do everything for you. Also some other cool wedding invitation sites are link removed and link removed but they are expensive! I am not going to bother with Michaels invites because I am bad with that printing yourself stuff, but they do have really good deals with those coupons and the invites look gorgeous when done properly. You can also buy the Michael's ones and take them to a print place to get done.

You can get bridesmaid dresses for cheaper at places like Sears or RW. I've been looking around and have seen some really nice stuff for like half the price of bridal stores. A-line laceup back dresses look good on everyone if you want a particular style that will look nice. I still have to get mine but I'll probably go with something like that.

[savagegirl]

And omg wedding dresses are expensive.. my Mom is buying mine and it's $1400 NOT including alterations I bet if I looked online I could find it at half the price too.

[tinkerbellkj]

Thanks for the tips, Savage! I just ordered the catalog from American weddings, they have some nice invitations as well, and reasonably priced, but I still have vistaprint in the back of my mind (my FI has ordered flyers for work there, so he is allll about vistaprint hahah). I LOVE link removed, thank you for reminding me!

 

Wedding dresses are insanely expensive, I have not even shopped, but I already know, and am bracing myself. My budget is about 2000, with alterations AND the veil, so we'll see... I've already fallen in love with 3 Maggies online and can't wait to try them on!

 

I emailed about a reception place yesterday and I am trying to set up a tour for Saturday, it's an old mansion, and unbelievably well priced! It's all so exciting... and expensive!

[tinkerbellkj]

Also, anyone know a good place to get custom garter belts?? I really want to do something to surprise my FI, and have it be something that he likes (like a TV show, or a sports team or something) and have it be totally unexpected!

[savagegirl]

link removed My friend bought one from this place, a Vancouver Canucks garter.