It's all the rage right now. You can drown yourself in Pinterest images of it, you can rent it from party rental places or random brides on the Knot who made the same mistake I did and bought a bunch for their wedding, or you can use this hack: Paper plates that look like mismatched China.
$7.64 and $8.59 for 12 packs. As opposed to $5-10 a piece for real China. I know what you're thinking: "But I can use the real China after the wedding!" Will you though? Will you really? "I can rent it like the random bride on the Knot!" Yeah, that's what I thought too. But will you? Do you want to deal with Bridezilla? Where are you going to store it?
2. Shop Inside and Outside the Box (And Big Box Stores)
Amazon is great. Not only does it boast it's free shipping, but you can find items that the stores are out of. For example, I found this fairy-themed cupcake kit through Meri Meri's Amazon store for $9.37.
If you went to their regular website however, they cost $13.00 plus shipping. I'm not sure what causes the price difference when it is the same company's store in both places, but I've seen it time and time again. As I mentioned, sometimes Amazon even has items the regular store or website it sold out of, such as this beautiful vintage rose cupcake set.
You hear a lot of people talk about shopping Goodwill and thrift stores, but how many of you knew there was a Habitat for Humanity Store? It's called the Restore and it is my absolute favorite place to shop for so many reasons I could write an entire post about just it. Suffice to say, I bought fifty glass salad plates there for a grand total of $2.50. Not per plate, $2.50 for all of them. That almost makes up for my antique store China debacle.
3. Don't Underestimate the Power of Spray Paint
Lots of things in this world are almost perfect. For those things there is spray paint. Or markers. Or paint pens. Or foil transfers. Or...you get the point. I had no idea how easy it was to customize basically anything before I started the wedding planning adventure. I am now addicted to Michaels and have customized so many things I was even confident in dismantling my PlayStation 4 DualShock controller and spray painting it. I'll post a picture of it to make up for the fact that I'm not posting pictures of wedding DIYs (gotta save surprises for the people coming to the wedding!)
You get the point.
I hope these tips help you out, if you have any for me, leave me a note: I'm more than happy to learn from someone else's mistakes for a change!
2. Shop Inside and Outside the Box (And Big Box Stores)
Amazon is great. Not only does it boast it's free shipping, but you can find items that the stores are out of. For example, I found this fairy-themed cupcake kit through Meri Meri's Amazon store for $9.37.
Meri Meri Flower Fairies Cupcake Kit from Amazon
from AmazonIf you went to their regular website however, they cost $13.00 plus shipping. I'm not sure what causes the price difference when it is the same company's store in both places, but I've seen it time and time again. As I mentioned, sometimes Amazon even has items the regular store or website it sold out of, such as this beautiful vintage rose cupcake set.
Vintage Rose Cupcake Kit from Amazon
from AmazonYou hear a lot of people talk about shopping Goodwill and thrift stores, but how many of you knew there was a Habitat for Humanity Store? It's called the Restore and it is my absolute favorite place to shop for so many reasons I could write an entire post about just it. Suffice to say, I bought fifty glass salad plates there for a grand total of $2.50. Not per plate, $2.50 for all of them. That almost makes up for my antique store China debacle.
3. Don't Underestimate the Power of Spray Paint
Lots of things in this world are almost perfect. For those things there is spray paint. Or markers. Or paint pens. Or foil transfers. Or...you get the point. I had no idea how easy it was to customize basically anything before I started the wedding planning adventure. I am now addicted to Michaels and have customized so many things I was even confident in dismantling my PlayStation 4 DualShock controller and spray painting it. I'll post a picture of it to make up for the fact that I'm not posting pictures of wedding DIYs (gotta save surprises for the people coming to the wedding!)
4. Use the Holidays to Your Advantage
Want lots of twinkle lights to give your reception a fairy-tale feel? Shop right after Christmas. Want to do it up love-y style with lots of hearts and pink and sparkle? Valentine's Day is your friend, my friend. Looking to be sent off in style with a gauntlet of sparklers? Independence day, all the way.
Yes you can find all these things online any time of the year but there's nothing quite like being able to see things in person and sort through numerous options. Plus, the "dollar" bins at places like Target and Michaels are full of STEALS during these times. Some of mine include....
Heart-shaped hole punch: $0.99 at Target in January. Previously $3-10.
Cupcake wrappers: $1.50 for 12 at Michaels in the Easter bins (Easter, already??!!). Typically $3.99 for 16 at Michaels.
Assorted sparkly remote controlled pillar candles: $7.00 day-after-Christmas sale at Michaels, normally $25.00
4' lighted twig trees: $12.00 each day after Thanksgiving at Michaels, normally $30 at the time, now they are around $100, if you can even find them.You get the point.
I hope these tips help you out, if you have any for me, leave me a note: I'm more than happy to learn from someone else's mistakes for a change!
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