Family Picture Board

This is definitely a very memorable item at a wedding. It can be easily done by displaying wedding photos from each of your grandparents and parents, and then a picture of the two of you, but by displaying it all on a poster board you can include fabric and ribbon in the right colors and have a keepsake to hang on your wall afterward.

I definitely suggest that you obtain copies of these pictures rather than the originals in case anything were to happen to the board. This can easily be assembled with a foam poster board, some fabric scraps, some ribbon, and copies of family wedding pictures. Really nice!

Personalized Table Numbers

I've used these numerous times at weddings across the United States. Simply be creative over your wedding planning period and take pictures of yourselves, pets, favorite locations or shops, etc. with table numbers appropriate for the right number of tables. If you guesstimate for 8 people a table, you'll have an approximate number of tables needed at your wedding.

These can be printed at home for real cheap and backed on your favorite color of printer paper or cardstock. Voila! Gorgeous table numbers!

Escort Card Board

We've talked out creating an escort card board really easily before on our blog. All it takes is a science fair board, some fabric, your favorite ribbon, and some sewing or push pins. You can either print and cut the cards yourself from home or buy some already decorated for cheap from any craft store that you can print on. Be creative!

Escort cards really give your wedding a feeling of elegance and expense even though they are so easy! It provides a fun activity for guests to find their card and then go find their table. Combine this project with several others in this and several of our other blogs and guests may have a scavenger hunt for their seat or a special treat waiting for them when they get there.

Place Card Holders

Here is another item that will really add a great deal to your wedding without adding so much to your pocketbook! Place cards definitely are not necessary and you can simply use these ideas for table decor, but anything you can find in nature will always be less expensive than something you can only find at the store.

Consider pinecones, leaves, small branches and even rocks as natural place card holders on your tables. If you're really creative and want to make the pinecones as ornaments, or the rocks as paper weights with a cute design or inscription, go for it!! This is your chance to make this wedding really tell people about the two of you!

Wedding Invitations

This project make take a little bit more investment on your part, but more an investment of time rather than cash. I just found some gorgeous scrapbooking paper from the craft store that I was going to cut into quarters, print on and then wra with a piece of beautiful ribbon, and Score! There are my invites!

More about following my wedding planning in a future blog! :) Consider using dried flowers or leaves, twine, tissue paper, markers, and other scrapbooking materials. You and a few girlfriends can even get together and make the invitations as a fun activity one afternoon! I love scrapbooking! Make it fun and be creative when it comes to spending money! Wedding planning doesn't have to cost a great deal!

Chalkboard Menu

Very cute addition to your wedding! This chalkboard menu gives your wedding a touch of personality and tons of options for being creative in the writing or decoration of the chalkboard! Have fun!

Rather than making menu cards for every seat, consider simply obtaining a chalkboard from a thift store, garage sale, friend of the family or even craft store to later use in your kitchen or office to keep notes. This is an extremely inexpensive way to add a touch of flair to any event and be able to express yourself in a creative way at the same time!

Napkin Accents

So you obviously need plates, silverware, and napkins for your wedding if your guests are going to eat, right? In order to provide a gorgeous tablescape for your guests, you don't need a professional designer to come in and decorate, or fancy items to decorate your table with.

Just start with simply wrapping your napkins in some twine and herbs. You can use ribbon, rope, or nothing at all to simply wrap the leafves that fall off of your flowers as they are being put together, or a small carnation for each setting. Make this easy on yourself and you'll get a spectacular look for very little money or effort.

Bark Vases

This is a real easy project that can be accomplish by simply purchasing these log pieces online, purchasing logs from merchants during the holidsys, or even collecting them when people trim their trees in early spring. Most of the wooden materials I use for weddings, I gather from a friend, neighbor, family member or our own backyard. Use a drill or chisel to carve some of the insides out, and then place a small vase, or even a candle into the inside for a quick centerpiece idea.

Log Cake Stand

This simple craft is actually a lot easier than it looks. A slice of tree trunk for your wedding cake can be obtained by purchasing it over the internet if you so choose, but its way too easy to simply cut one yourself.

I understand that you may not have a huge tree to cut from in the backyard, but a friend of yours may have a tree trunk in their backyard or know someone that does, you may ask around to find someone with logs, etc. When there's a will, there's a way! With a little effort, time and research you can find just about anything you're looking for!

Snack Buffet

This is a spin off of the candy bar! I haven't heard of anyone else doing this, but around here we love mixing all of our snacks to make a handy mix to eat in front of the TV, on trips, or even for just a hadful when we get hungry. I thought, what a great idea for a cute favor! Not only do guests get a cute set-up and the ability to choose what they want from a mix of Cheerios, nuts, raisins, Chex Mix, and anything else your heart desires, but it makes a cute favor for them to take home after the wedding!

Candles

Candles are definitely not a frer wedding itrem, but I promise you that you can get them for relatively cheap. Find the right website, granted this does take a little bit of research on your part, and you can easily find at least 72 votive candles with their glass holders for arounf $5.00. What a great deal!

These same website will offer you deals when you buy big numbers of pillar candles, taper candles, and any other shape candles that will last you 10 and even 20 hours each. I personally advise against tea lights because they will putter out you within an hour, easy. They are not worth it!

Filler Flowers

If you're really trying to save some money, nix the roses, gerbera daisies, calla lilies and other expensive varieties. Consider filling your bouquet with nothing but baby's breath, wax flowers and greenery, along with other filler flowers. Your bouquet will look just as beautiful, but be unique and inexpensive as well! What more can you ask for?!

Tissue Pomanders

Typical pomanders take dozen of flowers to fill whether they be carnations or roses. Due to the sheer number of flowers used, especially if you make them with silk flowers from the craft store, these suckers can get really expensive really fast.

Get the same look, but use tissue paper around a styrofoam ball instead. There's no reason you can't have what you want on your wedding day. However, sometimes getting the look and the items that you want just take a little or a lot of creativity on your part.

Branch Centerpieces

Height in centerpieces is one of the newest trends in weddings for 2012. If purchasing centerpieces from a professional florist, having branches in your centerpieces can be super expensive. However, for this last wedding that we coordinated, I spent the few months before the wedding gathering all of the tall branches falling off of our huge tree in the backyard and bundling them in preparation for the wedding. By the time the wedding arrived, we had more than enough branches for all of our centerpieces and ended up with some really cool table decorations as well!

All of this for free, well, all it took was time. Want leaves for your wedding ceremony aisle? Gather them on your own and preserve them so they will retain the color for your wedding. You can do the same with brnaches of leaves for you centerpieces, additions to your wedding bouquet, etc. Once again, be creative! The sky's the limit when it comes to decorating for your wedding!

Silk Flower Petals

This beautiful decor item is actually really inexpensive! Vist the internet and do some research for silk flower petals and you'll find that they can be purchsed for like $20 for 6,000 petals, which is plenty to decorate your wedding! These ceremony aisle petal decorations are all the charm this season. They are one great way to make your wedding look like the next "Royal Ball" for next to nothing of an investment. Even better, hand these off to a trusted friend or your professional florist to create a fantastic design for your ceremony aisle for you and you'll have a welcome surprise when it's your turn to walk down the aisle. Side note: Tell your bridal party to pick up their feet when walking down the aisle to preserve the decor until you get there.

Buying Your Dress Online

You know, it's a blast going to bridal shops and having people dote on you as you try on tons of fabulous dresses. There's nothing like standing in front of the mirror wearing incredibly expensive wedding gowns and having your picture taken. Everyone's excited for you, your mom is cooing over you. Definitely don't miss out on the experience!

Once you choose your gown though, take the time to get a picture or two in it, and write down the color, the designer, the make, the model . . . well, you understand. Then go home and check it out online! I guarantee that you can find your exact dream wedding dress for much cheaper online. You may even find someone who will custom make it for you for only a couple hundred dollars! It's worth it! You should never spend a great deal on a wedding dress.

The Right Venue

Traditional wedding venues are gorgeous and they provide a service and atmosphere like no other. However, you will also pay an arm and a leg to get married there. In our next blog, we are discussing some really great, but unique venues that you can use for your wedding that you'd probably never considered before. I surely hope you find something that sparks your imagination when reading it.

For a little preview, consider getting married at an Inn or Bed and Breakfast, a Ski Lodge or Resort, a Restaurant, a Winery, a Brewery, a Museum, a Farm or in a Barn, on a Boat, a Train or Airplane . . . I feel like Dr. Suess. lol The options are really limitless. I hope this gets you excited about our blog next week!