Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Brides Magazines Wedding Programs Found At Dollar Tree (Spend $1 instead of $40!)

We needed napkins the other day and I went to the dollar store for them. It's one of the few things that I buy exclusively at the dollar store.

When I'm at Dollar Tree, though, I always do a lap around the store to see if there's anything I need. And then I take a stroll down the wedding aisle. There are usually the same cast of characters: bubbles, fake flowers, gift card holders.

But this weekend, I found this gem.

dollar-store-wedding

A 40-count print-at-home wedding program kit from Brides magazine. You can find these at Gartner Studios' website. Similar packs sell for $39.99 on Gartner Studios or $20 on Amazon.

dollar-store-wedding

The kit comes with all the components you need for 40 programs.

I held these in my hand for a while, trying to figure out what else I could use these for. They don't match our beach wedding theme, and they don't fit with our colors (eggplant, lilac, and silver) but I was trying to figure out if there was anywhere I could use them. I mean, they're only a dollar.

dollar-store-wedding

If you do find and purchase these, you will just go to Gartner Studios' website and enter the last five digits of the SKU to get a template. You can then use this to design the program's components. Even though this kit is no longer sold on the website, the template is still available, so you don't have to worry about trying to make your own template. It's still there.

Totally an amazing way to save a ton of money. I mean, say you need 150 programs. That's four kits. On the website, that's $40 a pop, so $160 total. If you can pick up four packs for $4, that's $154 in savings. Awesome.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Have you checked your dollar store for wedding items?



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dollar-store-wedding



Monday, January 27, 2014

Review Reed & Barton Soho Trumpet Vase

A Bride On A Budget received this vase for review. All thoughts and opinions belong to A Bride On A Budget.

They say that relationships get stale after a while. Who that "they" is remains to be seen, but there is probably truth in that.

I mean, be honest: When was the last time your fiance gave you flowers? Now, think about it: When was the last time your dad gave your mom flowers?

Who has had a longer gap?

If you're lucky and still get flowers on the regular, you're going to want somewhere pretty to display them, like the Reed & Barton Soho Trumpet Vase.

reed-and-barton-vase

This vase is part of the Soho crystal collection. I was talking about it with my friend who asked what the difference between crystal and glass was.

I honestly had no idea so I turned to Google. I started reading about percentages of lead, got confused, and then got that Miranda Lambert song stuck in my head. So, moving right along ...

reed-and-barton-vase

The Soho vase is part of the 25th anniversary collection by Reed & Barton. The brand, if you don't know, makes more than just crystal vases. You can buy flatware, stemware, picture frames, and more.

The vase is beautiful. It is flared and made for large arrangements. I really like the shape because it does make flowers easier to display. When vases are completely straight, you lose the shape of the arrangement and you need to know a little more about cutting and placement. With a vase like this, you get a little help in that department.

reed-and-barton-vase


The bottom is solid so I don't worry about the vase getting knocked over (not even by our new kitten who has a tendency to knock over everything). What I really like about the vase is when you look down on it, you get a beautiful star burst. The details on the vase really do stick out.

We've actually used this every time we've had flowers since we got it. It's so pretty and every arrangement matches in it, since it's crystal. And it looks as good as it did on Day 1. Part of that is because we treated it before its first use, as stated in the directions. Keep that in mind if you add any crystal to your registry. It has to be treated first, which isn't really a hassle, just a little bit of work.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Who would you give this Reed & Barton vase to?

Friday, January 24, 2014

Review: Box For A Bottle

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I'm a firm believer that you should stick to a registry when you're buying a gift for a wedding. The couple didn't go to the store for a handful of hours, plus countless time editing and adding online, for you to just pick some random item at the store that you think they would like.

Chances are if they would have liked it, they would have registered for it.

So instead of giving some amazing gift that the couple missed, you're giving them a trip to the store to return it. The exception, of course, is very sentimental or personalized gifts that the couple was unable to register for.

Enter BoxforaBottle.

BoxforaBottle

The company engraves boxes that you can use to store bottles (I'm talking more wine and alcohol rather than soda bottles). You can choose ones that are engraved specifically for the wedding party (with words like The Maid of Honor or The Parents of the Groom etched in) or ones for a couple.

BoxforaBottle

These are gorgeous. You can choose from designs like "my love" to couples boxes with two attached bearing words like, "you & me".

And the love ones are absolutely perfect for a couple, especially since there are ones that you can etch with a couple's name and wedding year.

BoxforaBottle

The box comes with scrunched paper inside, which you can use as a bed for your bottle (and it helps it from potentially breaking).

To use it, you slide the cover off, place a bottle inside, and close it. Simple. To make it even easier, there's an indent in the top of the box that aids in opening it. Even on the first open, it slid very easily.

When I got the box in the mail, I was so surprised at how beautiful it was. The craftsmanship is really amazing. I was expecting there to be shavings all over. Honestly, I thought there might be shortcuts taken because the boxes aren't incredibly expensive. The Love Reserve box that's pictured in this post is an affordable $49 and that includes engraving.

BoxforaBottle

Speaking of engraving, you can actually engrave a personalized message on the inside of the box. What a sweet way to make this keepsake one that the recipient won't throw out.

The boxes start at $35 and range to $99 for a holiday three-pack. The one I have my eye on right now are the ones that say, "It's a boy" or "It's a baby" followed by "you're probably gonna need this." We have a few friends who are pregnant at the moment and that would be perfect for them.

Truth is, these are perfect for everyone. Even if you have a friend who doesn't drink alcohol, this is a great gift. You can just put a bottle of sparkling cider in it.

I've never seen something like this before, so this is definitely unique and a gift that will be very well received.

BRIDAL BABBLE: If someone gave you this as a gift, what would you want to be inside?




Have a friend who loves wine?


Check out our For The Wine Lovers gift idea.


wine-gift-idea



Sunday, January 19, 2014

Free Subscription To Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine

Update: This is no longer available. When it comes back, I will let you know.

I love reading through wedding magazines. Some of them are just huge magazines filled with ads for wedding dresses. On one hand, that's great. Wedding ads are different because they're actually useful. I don't care about the diet pills by celebrity gossip magazines are advertising, but I do care about bridesmaids dresses.

But I do appreciate when a magazine actually gives me ideas for my wedding: things I can DIY, cakes I should have, and real life wedding stories.

One of my favorite magazines ever is Martha Stewart Living, so I can only imagine how amazing Martha Stewart Weddings would be.

Imagine no longer.



That's right. Right now you can get a free subscription to Martha Stewart Weddings. You will have to take a quick survey and refer one friend to Rewards Gold in order to get it, but for a free year of Martha, it's totally worth it.

Your first issue should come in six to eight weeks. You can also get the digital subscription for free too, so hopefully that will come sooner.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Do you read wedding magazines?

Friday, January 10, 2014

Registry Rewards (And our free Lenox decanter)

When we were registering at Bed Bath and Beyond, Pete found these plates that he really liked. They were Lenox Simply Fine Chirp, which we didn't know until we received the print out of our registry. All we knew was that they looked Japanese-y and were pretty.

We picked these Noritake Colorwave plates to go with them, originally asking for less than we probably should have. We started withfour of the Lenox and two of the Noritake and thought six place settings was sufficient. We thought we would just mix and match. It wasn't until my mom called later in the day to explain that the Lenox was meant to be our China and we should probably request a few more.

So we asked for eight sets of each, not expecting to get them all but hoping we'd be able to get enough so we didn't have to wash plates after every meal.

To my surprise, we actually received seven of our eight Lenox settings and nine of our eight Noritake settings (yes, somewhere along the line, there was a mixup at the store). So because of said mix up, there was a bigger mix up, which caused me to spend more time on Bed Bath & Beyond's registry pages than I ever had before.

And that's when I saw that there was a registry reward for Lenox.

registry rewards

If more than $500 worth of Lenox was purchased from your registry, you qualified for a free decanter. We picked the Lenox plates because that's what we liked; people bought them for us because they us like; and now we were eligible for a decanter.

I had to call Bed Bath & Beyond about our registry mix up, so I asked about the decanter. The woman on the phone told me she would personally handle fulfillment and since I trusted her, I removed the original decanter I scanned from our registry because we don't drink enough wine to justify two decanters.

registry rewards

A few days later, we had a new Lenox Tuscany Classics crystal decanter in the mail.

There are a bunch of registry rewards at Bed Bath & Beyond that you can check out via that link. I wouldn't suggest just registering for items based on if you can get other items for free. Register for items that you absolutely love and if you happen to get a bonus, that's great. But you don't want to get stuck with dinnerware you only sorta like but registered for because you could get a matching bowl for free.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Have you completed any registry rewards?