Thursday, August 28, 2014

Review: Photo Prints From MailPix

A Bride On A Budget received an identical code for photos and shipping to aid in this review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB. 

I love printing photos. I know I'm in the minority because most people just upload photos to Facebook or Instagram and they exist digitally only. But I love physical photos. I love to hold them and enjoy them tangibly.

And I know photo books are all the rage, and they're cool and I really love them, but you can't put a photo book in your wallet. My dad always had a wedding photo, plus photos of us kids, in his wallet. I haven't seen his wallet in a long time, but I'm pretty sure they're still there. And that's amazing and sweet -- and something you can't have if all your photos exist on the Cloud.

I recently printed 100 photos from MailPix.

photo-prints

The process to order photos is simple. Upload your photos (from your computer, phone, or social media pages), choose the quality of the upload (express is for 4x6 prints, fast is for 8x12 quality, and large is for posters and gifts). The photos will then be available for you to choose to print. The default is one, but just click on the plus sign and you can increase the quantity. I didn't see a way to increase the number of prints without pushing the plus sign. That would be helpful if you were printing 100 of the same photo.

I placed my order on a Wednesday and they were in my mailbox on Monday. That was standard shipping. You can choose two-day or overnight shipping if you want to pay more and need them quicker, but I was fine with five days (which included the weekend).

photo-prints

The photos arrived in two envelopes inside an envelope. My photos arrived in really good shape too. Nothing bent, torn, or tattered.

And the color on them!

They're so bright and vibrant. The quality of our photos was really high (you definitely get what you pay for; that's one of the tips in my five tips to hiring a wedding photographer post) so it's great that the quality of printing parallels that.

They're printed on Fujifilm, in case you're wondering, and they're glossy. To me, that means that when I'm flipping through the 100 photos I printed, they slide easily. I can just glide through them quickly. Although, if you know me, you know I'm the slowest person when it comes to looking at photos because I start in the background. I'm always looking to see what is happening behind the photo and where it's taken before looking at the photo itself. I started doing this way before the days of photobombs, so it's not that I'm looking for someone popping out where they shouldn't be. I just like to look to get a feel of the photo first. That's part of why I like looking at actual photos, not ones on someone's phone. You can't stare at someone's phone long enough to get the same feeling (if you do, you'll probably get interrupted by a text, have to hand the phone to its owner, and you may never get it back to finish looking at the pictures).

photo-prints

Now, for those of you who were at #BridalBabble last Wednesday, you know I was late because I was trying to resize photos. I wanted 3x5 photos and MailPix's smallest print size is 4x6. I was trying to figure out how to add a one inch border around the photo without Photoshop. I got the suggestion of using Google's photo editing service to resize the photo to 3x5, then put it back on a 4x6 photo and the border would exist.

It seemed like it worked online and I spent about three hours adjusting 50 photos this way. Thank goodness that they came out correctly. I just used a paper trimmer to cut the photos and they fit in our thank you cards.

MailPix does more than just print photos. You can also make a ton of photo gifts, from blankets to calendars to mugs to growth charts. Sounds like another way to have tangible wedding photos.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What other MailPix products do you like?

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wedding DIY: Preserving Your Flowers At Home

I wasn't bridezilla until after the wedding. The night after, I sobbed inconsolably because my wedding flowers were gone. I had plans to turn them into decorations, into a Christmas ornament, and to display them. I wanted to save them forever, but they were stolen out of our hotel room after the wedding.

I was heartbroken. I was so upset that Pete actually "found" them and had them delivered to the apartment two weeks later (if that story sounds familiar, it's because I posted it here). It made me so happy knowing how much he cared -- and to know that I was able to do what I wanted with them.

Everyone I know who has saved flowers has either put them in the freezer (and then forgot about them, like my prom corsage) or dried them. But I decided to try silica gel. I had never used it before and wasn't sure my wedding bouquet was the place to try it on but I decided if it didn't work, I could always get a second replacement bouquet. Thank goodness I didn't have to. This worked amazingly.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Preserving Your Flowers At Home


What You'll Need:



Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

What You'll Do:

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Cut the stems off the flowers.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Pour a layer of silica gel in the bottom of the box.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Fill your flower with silica gel (filling it will help it hold its shape, overfilling it will help it fall apart).

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Place the flower in the box.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

You can fill any type of flower.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Just rest it in the box with the other.

Silica

Fill an entire layer with flowers and greenery.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Top it with a layer of silica gel.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Add another layer of flowers and greenery.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Repeat with silica gel and flowers.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

And then again until the box is filled. Don't put the flowers right on top of each other or too close to each other, but layers of flowers and gel is okay.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Fill to the top with silica gel.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

Close the lid and wait at least two weeks.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

After I had the flowers in the box, I strung a few together and hung them from the guest closet. I figured if silica gel didn't actually work, at least I would have these. I then left the rest of the bouquet whole on my desk and that dried pretty nicely, actually. I figured that would work for a memory if silica gel flopped.

But it didn't.

It was amazing.

Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

I opened the box, gently removed the flowers, and was shocked. They are as bright, beautiful, and clean as the day I put them in the silica gel. The whites were white, the greenery was green, and my flowers held up their shapes too.

My only regret was not buying a bigger box so I could preserve more of my flowers this way.

You can tell the rose I overstuffed fell apart, but I actually wanted petals for another craft. I'm going to purchase glass ornament balls and fill them with petals, then use the ribbon we used for our wedding favors to embellish and tie them.

But of course, I had to run in the other room to compare them to the dried flowers, just to make sure this process and the money invested was worth it.
Silica gel isn't something you should just toss. It can do AMAZING things, like preserving your wedding flowers at home. Seriously, it is SO MUCH BETTER than drying. Find out how to do it on www.abrideonabudget.com.

The top photo is dried flowers from the ones hanging on the closet. The bottom photo is the same flowers (Picasso calla lily, white rose, orchid, respectively). The picture speaks for itself.

From now on, any time I'm thinking about preserving flowers at home, this is the method I'm using.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Have you ever used silica gel for preserving your flowers at home? 


Deciding on your wedding flowers?


Check out our Ultimate Wedding Flowers Guide post.


Ultimate-Wedding-Flowers-Guide



Monday, August 25, 2014

Changes At A Bride On A Budget

Weddings are about looking your best ... and we definitely believe that. We also believe that we don't want to be the girl at the ball with the same dress as someone else.

And that's what happened.

We were on Twitter and received a tweet from someone with nearly the same logo. The only difference was a flower in the logo girl's hair. When I realized we had similar stock logos (which I didn't know we had, honestly, because someone had designed it for me), I reached out to Nicole at Glossie (who designed our wedding invitations) to see if she could design a logo.

She could. And she did.

a bride on a budget
That's how we got the adorable girl in our new logos on the blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

With such a cute new logo, I needed to revamp a few other things at A Bride On A Budget. So I used the diamond in the new logo to create a few banners on the right side. They'll help you easily find specific posts, like favorite posts (which are actually based on the posts that YOU view most) and wedding tips (like Five Tips About Getting Your Wedding Hair Done).

Those changes make everything look more uniform. I also changed the font of each post headline to sorta match everything else.

For now, that's all the changes I'm planning on doing ... unless you see something else I need to do.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What changes at A Bride On A Budget are your favorite?

If you need any design work -- invitations, logos, or whatever you can think of -- check out Nicole at Glossie: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Five Tips About Getting Your Wedding Hair Done

I wouldn't ever suggest doing your wedding hair yourself. For a wedding you're attending, sure. Go right ahead. Do your own curls, straighten your own locks, run a brush through it and call it a day.

But with your own wedding, you have to remember all eyes are on you. And, during your ceremony, all eyes are on the back of your head. You want to make sure what they're looking at is perfection and you can get that from a professional. When you're stressing out wedding morning -- hoping that your groom makes it to the church on time, wondering if there will be enough food at the cocktail hour -- the last thing you want to do is stand in your bathroom with a curling iron. You won't have the patience to hold each curl long enough and your hair will be a mess. And you'll regret it.

I put together a list of five tips about getting your wedding hair done so that you don't end up looking at your photos and regretting anything.

Before you get your wedding hair done, be sure to check out these five tips about getting your wedding hair done from www.abrideonabudget.com.

Five Tips About Getting Your Wedding Hair Done


1. Don't wash your hair the morning of your wedding.

Showering when I wake up just makes me feel energized. And for wedding day, that's what I needed. Also, I just wanted to be clean, especially since I got caught in the rain the night before our wedding. Plus, you don't ever want to walk down the aisle to hear your groom say, "You look beautiful, but honey, you smell."

So I showered.

And when the gal from the salon sat me down to do my hair, she asked me the last time I washed my hair. "Eight this morning," I said.

"Ooooh," was her reply.

Turns out, you're not supposed to wash your hair the day of your wedding. The style will hold better if it's dirty. I don't know the science behind it, I just know that my wedding curls were perfect through the ceremony, pretty good through post-ceremony photos, and beachy waves when we took pre-reception photos on the beach. Beachy waves fit, I guess. I was the most low-maintenance bride so I didn't stress about my curls coming undone. But it's my personal quest to warn every bride from now on, just in case.

2. Know what you want. And make sure you get it.

Pinterest is an amazing tool to help you find wedding hair ideas. In fact, we have a full wedding hair ideas Pinterest board. Feel free to pin any and all of those ideas. Because when you're getting married, you need an idea of what you want. The technicians at the salon will not look at you and say, "Oh, you have medium-length hair. This is the style for you." Instead, they will say, "What style did you have in mind?" And it's so much easier to show them a photo as a guide instead of saying, "I was thinking something half up and down with curls. I think. Maybe. Or all down. Or no curls. What do you think?"

When you decide what you want, make sure you get it.

I showed the stylist the hair that I wanted and she did, um, her version of it. Instead of the top bump being one cohesive piece, it was two uneven bumps separated by a huge part down the center. You can actually see in my getting ready photos that I'm making disgusted faces. I didn't like it. At all. But, you know me, low-maintenance bride, so I didn't say anything and walked to my bedroom to get dressed.

"Do you like it?" my bridesmaid Gionna asked.

"No, actually, I hate it. A lot. It's not what I want." I told her.

"Have her redo it," Gionna said.

"No," I said. "She spent so much time on it and I don't want to tell her I hate it."

"It's your wedding," Gionna reminded me. "Do you want me to tell her?"

"Yes," I said.

And less than a minute later, Gionna came back into my bedroom. "She's gonna redo it," she said.

And the stylist fixed the mess of a bump on my head and made it exactly the way I wanted. And my wedding photos are beautiful and I'm so happy with the way my hair turned out. But without Gionna stepping in, I wouldn't have stood up for myself and I wouldn't have gotten what I wanted. I didn't want to come off as bridezilla but sometimes, you need bridesmaidzilla to stand up for you. And really, I'm sure she wasn't even a 'zilla of any sort. I'm sure she just politely asked. Which I could have done myself. And you can too.

Before you get your wedding hair done, be sure to check out these five tips about getting your wedding hair done from www.abrideonabudget.com.

3. Don't waste your money on a trial.

This is the most controversial tip, but I am really sticking firm to stating you don't need a trial. Want? Sure. But need? No.

Many stylists will have a portfolio where you can check out their work and styles they've done before (and these are often available in part on Facebook) so you can get an idea of what they are capable of. Salons who attend wedding expos will have these at the booths usually (I've never seen a salon at an expo that didn't have one, but you never know). Portfolios should help you feel comfortable at a salon you've never used before. And if this is your normal salon, you can just your stylist if she feels like she can do what you want. If not, she might be able to recommend another stylist in the same salon who can.

And you have to remember, too, you're hiring a professional. You have to trust that she knows what she's doing because this is what she gets paid to do. If you were having surgery, would you go to the doctor for a trial? No. You would just go and get it done. Extreme example, but same concept.

I didn't go for a trial. And maybe during the trial I would have found out that the stylist would have done my style the "wrong" way first and then would have redone it the way I wanted. And then on wedding day it would have been a one shot deal. But you know what? She redid it the way I wanted, it was perfect, and I didn't have a trial. And none of my bridesmaids had a trial. And my mom didn't have a trial. And not one of them said, "Gosh I wish I would have tried this first."

4. Find out if your salon will travel.

The morning of our wedding, I had to run to the bank. I tried to go the night before to withdraw cash to pay our photographers, but apparently, there's a limit you can take out from the ATM. I always knew there was a limit but never knew exactly what that limit was because I don't generally take out large sums of cash.

Instead of spending the last night of my single life with a wad of cash in my purse, I spent it at Walmart grabbing last minute items (Ban Total Refresh Cooling wipes, if you're curious, which were supposed to go in our sunscreen basket but never made it out of my bag because it just wasn't that hot).

So the morning of the wedding, when the car full of my bridesmaids pulled up, I grabbed my cousin Erica and we went to the bank. And that was enough running around for me. I couldn't imagine adding in a trip to the salon too.

I didn't have to. The stylists from the salon we used traveled to my apartment and made a makeshift salon in our guest bedroom. It was awesome and so much easier that way. You are already having all the bridesmaids and your parents and vendors travel to a central location. Ask the salon to travel there as well. It just simplifies everything.

There's a chance you'll have to pay a travel fee in order to get them to travel, but trust me, the cost is worth it.

Before you get your wedding hair done, be sure to check out these five tips about getting your wedding hair done from www.abrideonabudget.com.

5. Don't cut or color your hair style two weeks before your wedding.

I cut 18 inches off my hair a few weeks before we got engaged. I wanted to donate 12 inches to Pantene Beautiful Locks so it could be used to make real-hair wigs for women fighting cancer, but my salon-owner uncle decided 18 inches had to go. It was dramatic and made it difficult for me to style my hair any way but straight and down for our engagement party eight weeks later. I vowed then that I would grow my hair until our wedding so I could have enough hair to work with and have my choice of styles.

It was such a smart decision. I had really long locks and was able to wear really long curls. And if I actually wanted to pull off an updo, I would have had enough hair to do that.

It got boring after a while. Almost two years of growing my hair out and not doing anything at all to it. Blah. But it was worth it. The week before our wedding, Pete went to the salon and cut his hair. He had been growing it out the same amount of time as me and cut his to donate it to Pantene as well. I was a little jealous sitting in the salon, waiting for him. I thought maybe I could just have them cut 10 or so inches off for me too.

But no. Just no.

You can't dramatically change your hair within wedding month. Imagine getting bored and dying it and now your roots are showing. Or, even worse, dying it a color that just isn't you and having to look at these photos years from now, wondering who that bottle blonde is. It's tempting to change your hair but don't do it close to your wedding. Just don't. You've been warned.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What other tips about getting your wedding hair done would you add for brides?

Monday, August 18, 2014

Our Time With A Jaguar XJL

A Bride On A Budget was allowed use of this car for this review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB.

Part of the fun of weddings is having an excuse to get dolled up. You get to buy a new dress, get your hair and makeup done, and party.

But you definitely need to show up in style.

And this month, that's exactly what we did for my brother's wedding. Prestige Jaguar lent us a Jaguar XJL for wedding weekend. If you follow us on Twitter, you saw us tweeting a stream of photos during our time with a Jaguar XJL.

Jaguar XJL

Pete and I showed up to Prestige Jaguar on a Friday afternoon. We took a look around at the cars that were for sale while our paperwork was filled out.

We then got a chance to enjoy some Starbucks coffee (which yes, is complementary to customers -- and bloggers) and watch Family Guy on the huge screen. There's another huge screen in the dealership as well. It wasn't working, but it's actually a virtual test drive. When working, the series of screens is basically like an XBOX Kinect, it seemed. You can design your car, then drive it. It sounds really awesome and I'll have to get back to try it out when it's up and running.

Jaguar XJL

When the Jaguar XJL was ready for us, I got a crash course about the features: how to set the Bluetooth, how to turn the car on (because it's push button start, not a key), and, my personal favorite, how to use the massaging seats.

Jaguar XJL

Yes, massaging seats.

As soon as I was about to drive, the sky opened and it started to rain. Oh, not just rain. It was thunder and lightning and it was as if the sky opened to yell, "Lisa, be careful and drive the Jag like a grandma. You don't own it so you better be careful."

And so I listened.

The whole ride home, it was as if a grandma was driving.

Jaguar XJL

Yes, that's my grandma, but no, she's not driving. She's just sitting in the car. In the all-leather interior.

Jaguar XJL

The first ride I took with a passenger -- in the very reflective Jaguar XJL -- was to the rehearsal at the church. We were stopped at a light, waiting to make a right turn, but I waited because two girls were very slowly crossing the street in front of us.

"A Jaguar," one girl said to the other as her head spun to stare at the car.

For a minute, we were ballers.

Jaguar XJL

We finally got the church, where the rehearsal was. There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot, which was great because of my sub-par parking job. The car is a lot longer than the one I drive in real life, so I definitely parked the first third of the car outside of the space. I wish I could say I did this for the photo, but that would be a lie.

We went from the rehearsal to the rehearsal dinner, then home. That's when we started exploring the features of the Jaguar XJL, like the moonroof. It actually took us a while to figure out how to close it, if you want to be honest. But no worries about getting cold because I was sitting in the heated driver's seat. Yes, heated and I was getting a massage. I really got used to that.

The next morning, we stuffed the trunk. See, we were taking the Jaguar XJL to the ceremony, then upstate for the reception, and the four of us in the car were all staying overnight. We had to fill it with our luggage -- plus gifts for the bride and groom. The trunk had enough room for everything. But speaking of the trunk, you don't use a key to open it. Nope. You just push a button and it pops open. It was great because our hands were full, so you didn't have to worry about fumbling with a key, getting it in the hole, and turning it. You just had to wiggle a finger free and push.

The glove compartment has similar technology in that you just push a button to open it. But there, you don't even push. You just get your finger close enough and pop, it's open.

Jaguar XJL

We went to the ceremony then after, I had everyone cheese for some photos. While we were outside, we talked to my cousin's boyfriend who had done valet once upon a time. He pointed out features that I hadn't even noticed.

When you turn the car off, the shifter (which is on a rotater) becomes flush with the rest of the car. I had driven a few times and didn't notice that. I also didn't notice until then that when you're driving and there's someone in your blind spot, a light will illuminate on your side mirror. That's great so you don't crash your nice car into traffic.

After the ceremony, Pete set the Bluetooth to his phone and we listened to his songs as we started the drive to the reception. But I got tired of his songs, so my brother Mike hooked up his phone -- which has the Spotify app on it. It was really simple to disconnect and reconnect.

I let the passengers worry about that, and I was more concerned with the GPS. It shows up in the middle of the console ... until people are playing with other items on that screen. In that case, the GPS actually jumps into the dashboard (so the first circle is the GPS, the middle is the speedometer, and the last is the odometer). It was so easy to be able to just look down and see where I was going next rather than looking down and to the right.

And when I would look, I would check the speedometer. I was trying really hard to not speed, but it's so easy in a car that drives as smooth as the Jaguar XJL. At one point, I looked down and asked how fast they thought I was going. The average guess was 60; the actual speed was 75. It had nothing to do with me having a lead foot. It was just so incredibly smooth, you don't even realize you're going that fast.

Jaguar XJL

The reception hall and hotel shared a parking lot so most of the guest walked over, including my grandma. Well, she got into her wheelchair and was rolled over. After the reception's open bar, though, I was worried about her getting rolled back through the dark parking lot. I was so scared that someone might be a little tipsy, hit a bump, and knock her out of her chair. So I decided to let them roll the empty wheelchair and I took her for a ride in the Jaguar XJL.

She was cold (she's a grandma; she's always cold) so I used the dual thermostats to turn hers up to 80 or so and left mine at sub-70. I also turned on her heated seat and gave her a massage. It was a very comfortable 90 second drive.

The next night, I asked my mom if she wanted to take a ride to Dunkin' Donuts. Inside, a customer was trying to figure out what Coolatta choices there were. I pointed out the list on the counter. "Do you work here?" she asked. "No," I said, "I was just looking at them myself." She was about to take the list outside to show her friends who were still in the car, when she said, "I know you." I thought she might have been a teacher's aide at my high school, so I told her where I went. "That's not it," she said, "But I'll tell you when I figure it out."

I got my Coolatta (frozen mocha coffee, if you're wondering) and walked outside. She was standing outside her car. "Good luck with your order," I said as I walked by.

"I know who you are," she said. "You're a movie star. I've seen you on a TV show or movie recently." I smiled, but I wanted to say, "It must be the Jag."

The next day, it was back to the dealership for my car ... which actually got great gar mileage. I drove it constantly for the entire wedding weekend on just about half a tank of gas (and that includes an hour-ish there and back to get from the church to the reception venue). The stats boast 27 miles, highway, and I definitely agree with that.

I gave the Jag back ... and traded it for a cup of coffee.

Jaguar XJL

Sad.

But it was a good cup of coffee. And a great experience for wedding weekend.

BRIDAL BABBLE: How do you think a car like the Jaguar XJL could add to your wedding?

Monday, August 11, 2014

One Of The Most Thoughtful Gifts We Received At Our Wedding

A bit over two years ago, I wrote on Facebook, complaining about the lack of pizza and bread in North Carolina. See, Pete and I are from New York, a magical land of great dough.

It's not like that everywhere. You can't get good bread down here. Oftentimes, we can't even get fresh bread down here. And pizza isn't pizza outside of New York. It's sad, honestly. But we found Chinese food. So I posted from our new home that at least we found Chinese food.

And my friend from high school, who at that point I had not talked to since graduation but was my Facebook friend because that's how Facebook works, wondered if it was the same Chinese food place that her parents liked. Because, as fate would have it, her parents also moved to the same North Carolina town as us. Just to make this circle a bit more complete, her mom was my Girl Scout leader back in elementary and middle school.

And about a year after that, my friend and her family moved here. And a year later, Pete and I got married.

I wanted to send my friend's parents an invitation, but we physically couldn't. We, quite literally, ran out of invitations. I verbally invited them, but her mom had already scheduled a sleepover with the grandkids. And, although my wedding was fantastic, it couldn't trump a sleepover.

My friend and her mom came to our ceremony and my friend and her husband came to the reception. Even though her mom wasn't at the reception, she sent along with one of the sweetest gifts we ever received.

It was a wicker basket (which I'm actually using to hold our wedding cards) with a picnic-y, patchwork fabric lining. Inside was two coffee mugs (that very perfectly match the fabric) and a picture frame with a note.

wedding-gift-idea

Dear Lisa and Pete,

This September Gary and I will be married 38 years and one of our bridal shower gifts back then came from an older couple married over 50 years. Their names were Ted and Kate who gave us two coffee mugs, not matching, not special, no brand name, just one blue mug and one grey mug.

They both have passed on, but 38 years later we still have those mugs and we still use them, so Ted and Kate will always be remembered by Gary and I.

So if they lasted over 50 years and we are working on 50 years at 38 years, we both want to start a tradition and give you both two mugs to keep your love growing and always keep us in your hearts.

Love,
Janet and Gary

(And below the note was a photo of the two mugs)

So sweet. My heart melted.

The next time I saw Janet, I thanked her profusely. She said she had done it for a few other couples and, as my friend had said, "It's kinda their thing." I told her I knew exactly that Pete's mug was the World's Best Chef one and mine was Time To Eat (since, over a handful of dinners over the past year since we've all been in town, they've learned that Pete can cook and I can, well, enjoy it). Janet then told me that both her and her husband thought the blue mug was theirs, and I laughed. Pete and I figured ours out easily.

I'm a sucker for traditions (we started one with our engagement gift that gets passed around) so getting to be a part of this tradition is awesome. I told Janet that I'm going to start doing this at bridal showers I'm invited to from now on. I love it.

You can purchase a gift off a registry and know the couple is getting something they want. You can make it real easy and write a check to the couple. But something thoughtful like this, these are the gifts you remember and treasure years into your marriage.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What's the most thoughtful gift you've gotten since being engaged?

Saturday, August 9, 2014

DIY Wedding Bouquets: Should you or shouldn't you do them yourself?

A Bride On A Budget received this flower kit for review. All thoughts and opinions belong to ABOAB.

I remember the first time someone told me about going to the wholesaler to purchase wedding flowers. She was going to put together her wedding bouquets and centerpieces.

"I could never," I said. And I meant it. Regardless of the fact that I wanted a cascade bouquet, there was no way I was going to DIY my wedding flowers. I wasn't a professional. I never assembled bouquets in my life. Even when Pete surprises me and brings me flowers home from the store, I don't really have confidence in my arrangement skills. Usually, I just cut the stems and put them in a vase. I don't concern myself too much with symmetry or aesthetics.

So DIY wedding bouquets were out of the question.

Yes, flowers are expensive. Post-tax, our flowers were our third highest expense (behind only the venue and our photographers), and we went with the most reasonably priced florist in town too (a second florist quoted us nearly double the price for less). So yes, you can save by arranging your own bouquets.

But, can you really? If you purchase the flowers from a wholesaler, then realize it's a disaster, then order from a florist, you've spent extra money. And, if you spend an entire day putting together DIY wedding bouquets (a day during wedding week, mind you), you could cost yourself a lot in time.

When Bloominous emailed me, I wasn't sure. Basically, you order the flowers from one of four pre-arranged packages. The flowers are overnighted to you with directions and a picture, and then you make your stunning wedding bouquet.

Sounds easy, but I wasn't sure.

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

Bloominous actually has trial kits of each arrangement so you can practice and see if it's possible for you to actually do before spending money. I asked for the trial kit of the Vintage Cottage collection (because it's very baby's breath heavy and gypsophila is so popular in wedding bouquets right now).

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

The kit arrives in a box. Yes, a box.

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The kit contains everything you need, bundled together so you don't confuse anything. There's also an instructions page that tells you exactly what you need to do, which is really helpful because there's a good chance you don't know exactly what you need to do.

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The flowers are wrapped in paper bunches. When you open the paper, the flowers are bundled with a water soaked piece of foam at the bottom of the bunches.

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

The flowers that arrive may not be perfect, but that's actually addressed in your instructions. It says the outer petals on roses are guard petals since they were left on to protect the flowers. Some of our flowers were browning at the edges, even the center petals.

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After you open the flowers, run the stems under water and cut off one inch from the bottom. Then, leave the flowers in water for at least four hours. It says wait until the day or two before your big day to start assembling them, so I would keep them in water until then. The flowers will continue to bloom after you assemble, so that's where the time frame comes from. They're cut-to-order from the farm, so they're mailed to you as fresh as possible. Because of that, they're not fully bloomed.

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Once I decided to put the bouquet together, I separated the flowers and leaves by type, since it seemed a little easier for me to grab and assembled when they were already assorted.

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

The paper says start with four mums, two stems of gypsophila, one stem of greenery, and a blush rose.

So far, so good.

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From there, continue filling the bouquet with roses, leaves, and baby's breath, trying to keep everything pretty symmetrical.

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

I filled it all and then saw that there was another stem of mums left at the end, so I actually ended up taking the entire thing apart and starting over. The second time was a lot easier. I made sure to keep everything symmetric, matching the roses on either side.

I put the greenery around the edges because that's how I like it. When it was finished, I took a few leftover leaves and stuck them in the middle of the bouquet to try and give the bouquet a bit of texture. When I met with my florist, I kept saying that I wanted a lot of texture. I didn't want anything stiff and rigid in any of the bouquets. So, when I was DIY'ing this one, I wanted to make sure to have that come across.

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

When your bouquet is set, cut the bottoms to the length you want. Have someone else do this or you will lose all your work. Pete cut the stems for me with poultry shears. They're a lot tougher than traditional scissors, and you'll need them to get through the stems of the greenery.

So, keeping that in mind, this is not a one person project. You will definitely want someone else on hand, even if it's just to cut the stems.

DIY-Wedding-Bouquets

Wrap the stems with a rubber band so you can finally free up your hands.

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Wrap the enclosed ribbon around the rubber band, and fold it under (to a point) at the end.

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Pin it upward (with the enclosed pins)

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Use the second ribbon to create a bow. It took a little bit of trial and error, but I made a double bow. Honestly, that was the longest step of this whole process.

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Pin the bow to the ribbon.

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Walk down the aisle in style.

I was really impressed with my first DIY wedding bouquet. It looked super professional and didn't really take too long. Maybe twenty minutes from start to finish.

I wanted a cascade bouquet, so I wouldn't be confident in making that on my own right now, but if you want a handheld bouquet, you can definitely make it. I even had a rose and a little greenery left over, so I thought about making a boutineer too but I didn't have any pins or instructions for that.

Time is money, but money is money too. So, cost wise, how does Bloominous stack up? For the Vintage Cottage collection, a bridal bouquet (which is what I made) is $60. The bridesmaids bouquets (which are baby's breath only) are $25. Boutineers are $5 (the groom's is a rose and groomsmen are mums or carnations). We had roses for our groomsmen's boutineers, so that's the only item I can really compare apples to apples. Ours were $16 each, so triple the cost of Bloominous.

Our bridesmaids bouquets were more expensive than $25, but they were white hydrangea, lavender roses, purple stock, and seeded eucalyptus. So it's hard to compare that price to one that is gypsophila and greens only. The Country Charm kit on Bloominous has bridesmaids bouquets that have multiple flower types and those are $40. Less than what we paid, but remember, you do have to assemble them yourself.

We were very lucky and got exactly what I wanted for flowers at half the price I budgeted. There was a second florist in town that was charging double what we paid so Bloominous would be a huge savings from that florist. If you're getting astronomical quotes from florists (which, unfortunately, is realistic), Bloominous will definitely save you.

You will have to sit down and assemble them but it's really easy. Honest. Not to put down what florists do because, honestly, there are things that florists can create that I would never try to DIY. But, this homemade wedding bouquet looked really great and really professional (to my untrained eye. A professional florist may argue that, but they looked great to me).

What I really liked about Bloominous is that the company sends you exactly what you need to create the flowers. You don't have to worry about figuring out how many roses to purchase, how many mums you might need. It's easier than guessing what you might need, then finding out the night before your wedding that you are short a half a dozen roses and your homemade bouquets are incomplete.

I also really liked that there are very detailed instructions with nine photos total. It makes it so much easier to DIY. Even if you're not very crafty or creative, you can follow the instructions and make something really pretty.

If you have the time and manpower (and don't have any outrageous wedding bouquet ideas or expectations), I would definitely suggest DIY'ing your flowers. You might want to order a trial kit from Bloominous first, though, just to get your confidence for your wedding day flowers.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Could you put together DIY wedding bouquets?


Deciding on your wedding flowers?


Check out our Ultimate Wedding Flowers Guide post.


Ultimate-Wedding-Flowers-Guide



Thursday, August 7, 2014

Wedding Welcome Bags (Complete with hangover kit)

My brother's wedding was this weekend and although it was only an hour away from home, most of the guests stayed at a hotel overnight. The hotel actually shared a parking lot with the reception hall, which was awesome for the guests. Everyone was able to just walk from the venue to the hotel after the wedding -- which is great because there was an open bar so no one had to worry about finding a designated driver.

Since so many guests were staying the night, my brother and his (now) wife made wedding welcome bags for everyone.

hangover kit

Their wedding welcome bags had something that I heard about through the grapevine and loved: hangover kits.

Personally, I don't drink alcohol. Ever. At all. So needing a hangover kit isn't something that I actually need, but it is pretty brilliant to include in a wedding welcome bag.

They included:
  • 2 bags of chips
  • 1 chocolate bar
  • 1 bottle of water
  • 1 Gatorade (which I hear is basically hangover repellent)
  • 2 packets of two-count Advil
And everything was packed in this bag that says, "Welcome to our wedding". I actually had my eye on those bags before I decided that we would use reusable tote bags, so I was super stoked about their choices.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What do you think about their wedding welcome bags and hangover kits?

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Wedding Gift For The Wine Lovers

If you remember, my brother's wedding was this weekend. I wrote him a check, of course, but I wanted to give him something extra. I had a personalized engraved wooden box that could hold a bottle, plus glasses made from wine bottles from Refresh Glass. I had asked my brother if he wanted a bottle of something special for his wedding, but he said no.

Well that really put a damper on my gift, didn't it?

So I went with my other brother's girlfriend to the liquor store and we asked if there was some sort of wine called "Celebration" or one with a bride and groom on it. We were going more for the name and label than how it actually tasted.

There was no such thing (that's my million dollar idea now ... just gotta get a vineyard going).

We were walking around the store, me with one worker, her with the owner. My brother's girlfriend Chrissy found me with a handful of bottles in each hand.

Hear me out, she said.

She showed me a bottle of Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee. Perfect.

But she had some other bottles in her hand for a secondary gift idea.

gift-for-the-wine-lovers

She grabbed a bottle of Clean Slate and had a brainstorm.

What a play on words to drink Clean Slate after a fight. The owner of the store suggested one called X-Rated but that wouldn't exactly work for this couple. Instead, Chrissy found Geyser Peak's Uncensored (so clever that it's a red wine).

We walked around the store, trying to find a third bottle and a third occasion. I found Brotherhood's Holiday. In case you didn't know, Brotherhood Winery is the oldest winery in America and it's actually really local to my New York house. It's under an hour from me, which is cool.

Wedding Gift For The Wine Lovers


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What You'll Need:
What You'll Do:

We wrapped each of the bottles in a silver bag, then attached tags to them. We had:
  • For your first fight (Clean Slate)
  • For your crazy night (Uncensored)
  • For your Christmas delight (Holiday)
  • For your first anniversary night (Wedding Cuvee, but it was packaged in the box so you won't see it in the following photos)

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I put them all in a bag that said,, "Enjoy your day" since these wines were all for special days.

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I tied it all together with a tag that said, "For your special days," (since all the tags all said, "For your ... " and the bag said, "day." Really, I took it all into consideration.

This was such a cute and "punny" gift. Plus, it doesn't have to cost all that very much if you don't want it to. You're shopping by label, not by taste (so you're not necessarily buying top shelf wine). You can pick up wine for things like: first house, first baby's birth, ten year anniversary, retirement, anything worth celebrating. If you want to step it up a little, you can grab wine glasses (truth be told: the dollar store carries great ones) and add a pair to the gift. 

This would also make a great bridal shower gift too, but I really liked it for a wedding because there are less gifts there so it won't really get lost.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What would you buy a bottle of wine for?