Adding Style To Your Wedding Without Breaking Your Budget
Every bride wants her wedding to be perfect, but brides today also want their special day to reflect their style. There are endless personal touches you can add to make your wedding uniquely yours, but the cost of beautiful extras can add up. Don’t sacrifice style – with our tips and the nearest craft store, you can design an extraordinary day that maximizes your budget and looks like a million dollars.
Below we have handpicked some of the best tips to have a superb wedding reception at an affordable cost, similar to the ones found here.
Wedding Budget – Bridal Accessories
It seems like wedding-related accessories are already pretty; even the plainest ring pillows, flower baskets, veils, and gloves have that elegant, satiny air that weddings are famous for. However, basic accessories can be instantly transformed into breathtaking pieces that are distinctly yours. Use a glue gun to attach rows of glistening pearls to your flower-girl basket, and trim the sides with flowing ribbons or bows for a romantic look. Stitching beaded appliqués or silk flowers to a ring bearer’s pillow adds extra glamour, and the same sprinkling of pearls that adorn many bridal veils can be added by you for practically nothing.
Bridal Budget – Wedding Centerpieces
The lush look of flowers is a traditional wedding standard, so what can you do to make yours different than everyone else’s? If you’re brave and live near a wholesale flower market, you can triple the number of blooms at your reception without raising the cost by doing them yourself. Plain glass vases bought at a craft store cost far less than the rentals a florist will charge you for and can be dressed up however you want. Silk flowers are also a great option – not only do they last forever, but today’s versions look incredibly close to fresh flowers.
A clear vase of fresh or fabric roses, peonies, or ranunculus goes from simple to stunning with the addition of wide, coordinating satin ribbons wrapped around the bottom and held in place with double-stick tape. A glass bowl with gardenia blossoms floating in it becomes a brilliant display when set atop a mirrored platform and surrounded by tiny candles. Sparkling votives come in dozens of styles and look amazingly dramatic reflected off of the glass.
Tall, thin vases holding two or three stems of your favorite flower can be grouped to form one large centerpiece that can then be broken away individually as favors for your guests. If you prefer to put more of your budget towards other aspects of your wedding but still want great centerpieces, tall columns of flickering candles standing in a sprinkling of fresh or silk rose petals are always in style, and vibrantly colored fresh fruit looks elegant when piled on a cloud of white tulle set on a glass cake stand.
Bridal Budget – Wedding Table Settings
White linens and china may seem like a plain choice, but they’re the perfect backdrops for dazzling do-it-yourself touches. A standard napkin can be folded, twisted, and tied in a variety of ways. Roll the silverware up in the cloth and tie with a silk, satin, or organza ribbon, or leave utensils where they are and lay a fresh flower tied with a bow on a folded square.
Miniature frames do double duty as place card holders and favors, come in an array of styles, and can be dressed up with tiny silk flowers, beads, and bows. Guest favors are one of the best places to show off your style; turn even the most traditional favors such as bags of Jordan almonds, mini-boxes of candy, and sweet sachets into original creations by adding your favorite silk flowers, beads, pearls, and bows.
Wedding Budget – The Wedding Cake
Spending a fortune is not a requirement of having a lovely wedding cake. Today’s minimalist style means less is more when it comes to wedding cakes. Three simple, stacked tiers iced in smooth rolled fondant can cost under a hundred dollars, then be dressed up by you (and backed-up by inexpensive sheet cakes kept out of sight if you need more servings).
Wrap ribbon around the bottom of each tier and hold in place with double-stick tape – fondant doesn’t smudge, so you don’t have to worry about making a mess.
Silk blooms (or fresh, untreated flowers) can be placed along with the layers for a striking shot of color and gathered in a light vase or delicate basket for a bright cake topper. If a traditional bride-and-groom topper is more your style, a surprising selection can be found (along with other favorites such as bells, doves, and hearts) at craft and specialty stores.
Don’t forget to dress up your cake table too – a plain tablecloth is instantly transformed when swathed in tulle, dotted with rose petals, or decorated with small baskets of flowers. Adding ribbon or silk flowers to your cake knife and server (as well as your toasting goblets) makes a charming final touch.
Wedding Keepsakes
Another important part of the wedding budget are the wedding keepsakes. Traditional wedding albums will always be in style, but a hands-on personal approach is scrapbook. You can design your own pages using acid-free paper, cutouts, and ribbons and accessories to make an individual statement. Mini scrapbooks make fantastic post-wedding thank-you gifts for parents, family members, and attendants. Going the traditional route? Add pretty bows, pressed or silk flowers, and vellum separators to dress up plain albums.