Price Breakdown - Invitations! 124 days...

First of all, I can't believe tomorrow is the 4 month marker! Even though it seems like 4 months is forever, I know it'll be gone in a flash!

Yesterday, Dustin and I spent some time looking for invitation supplies. We walked through Staples, Walmart and Michael's on our hunt for a bargain.
In Walmart we found this paper...

80 sheets for $8.87! For a price breakdown of $.11 per sheet of paper = $.11 per invitation. Pretty good deal.
In Staples we found these...

$33 for 50 invitations, which breaks down to about $.66 per invitation. While that may be a deal to 99% of brides, I knew I could do better. Plus, I'm not a fan of that style invitation. It looks so boxed!
In Micheal's we found these...

I'm a huge fan of the Bride's collection at Micheal's. But when the price per invite is bordering a whole dollar...I'm passing. It is a fantastic deal for most brides, and if I were working on even double my budget, I probably would have got them.

An example of what my invitations may or may not like...this is not card stock, btw.
Plus the seal and wax!

So now, you may ask, What did we buy?
Card stock! Plain ivory card stock was the purchase (at staples!). The price is pretty fantastic too. At $14.95 for a ream (250 sheets), each sheet of 110 lb. paper costs only $.06. We also debated on cutting down the invitations to make two per sheet, but the cost of envelopes ($.18 per!) definitely sent us back into the land of tri-folds. Dustin had the brilliant idea of looking for a sealing stamp and wax at Michael's. We went through the check out line separately and used 40% off coupons, and got the stamp and sealing for $3.15 each! We will need to go back and buy 2 more sealing waxes, but buying them with the coupon only adds an additional $.06 to each invitation! I haven't factored the cost of ink into the invitation cost (my dad has a very high quality printer), but I'm estimating that each invitation, with postage included, will cost $.60! Now, that's what I call a deal :)

Invitations! 125 days...

So, yesterday I went on and on about the high cost of sending out everything that is somewhat standard to today's weddings.

I started looking into purchasing Invitations to our wedding this week. I was sure that I could find something that was appealing to the frugal side of me. But after hours of searching and looking for something that would cost me under $1, I was sorely disappointed. I had already been playing with the idea of designing and making my own invitations. But the idea of spending close to $200 alone on paper was definitely a push in that direction.

I fell in love with this invitation. It has become my inspiration for my own!

In the last few days I have put a lot of time and effort into researching costs of supplies, and dreaming of exactly what I want the invitations to look like. Friday I ran into an amazing website called WeddingChicks.com and all of their amazing Freebies!

Today, Dustin and I purchased all of the supplies we needed to start making our invitations. Come back tomorrow to see the total price break down!

Budget Review - 127 days.

So, it's time to introduce my blog's first page!

My Budget

Here, I'll be updating the current total of my budget. I will try and keep it up to date on a weekly basis, since I'm planning on having a Friday budget review day!

Week 1:

Feathers	$18.00
Flower Supplies	$8.29
Organza for Flowers	$31.92
Shoes	$14.00
Crinoline	$25.00
Earrings (2 sets)	$3.95
Total	$101.26

Obviously, my two expense categories this week have been clothing/accessories and floral. I'm hoping that this is expanded next week!

The last week I have been contemplating sending out the ever popular "Save-The-Date" cards. I think they are the coolest and cutest things ever, but are they practical for a DIY bride on a budget?
The short answer is, maybe. I personally think it depends on the time frame of your wedding, as well as your budget. If you think down the road of postage...if you include save-the-date cards, wedding invitations and rsvp cards as well as thank you notes...you're talking about buying 4 sets of postage per family/couple you invite. With postage rates the way they are...we are talking at least $1.67, before you purchase your paper products!

Anyways. I decided that on my $1,500 budget and the possibility of sending out over 100 invitations, I can't afford over $200 in postage. What is my plan around this?

1. Dustin and I are creating a wedding website. We can cut down on $.32 per invite by asking people to rsvp online. 
2. All of the people who we really want to attend our wedding already know the wedding date. Save-the-dates aren't going to help the people who already have plans to be out of town. Let's cross off another $.45. (I'm probably going to send out email save the dates to guests who's email addresses I have too. I know there are people who don't like this idea, but I think I'm gonna do it anyway.)

So, what is $1.67 with $.77 taken away? $.90! Now we are talking closer to $110. I can definitely do that!

I'm starting to investigate wedding invitations right now. Stay tuned for my plan on saving money!

128 is a great number!

Yesterday we had success!

We found the perfect apartment on our first viewing of the day. We are moving to the northeast side of Janesville, WI! Some great (or are they?) perks to our location are: 3 minutes from Dustin's job, 1 minute from Starbucks, and 5 minutes from the local yarn shop (which I haven't visited yet...shocker, I know!). It is also very close to the interstate, which makes it convenient to get to and from school in Madison. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures...but I do have a floor plan! Dustin will hopefully be moving in May 1st (next week!), and I'll be joining him after our marriage. We are both very excited to have so much space! We are also very fortunate to have the end unit, so there are many more windows allowing for natural light. There are enough rooms in the house for us both to have our own office/creative space, too!

Yesterday I also acquired a few wedding things online! I purchased a "flower girl" crinoline from Angel's Bridal on eBay. It has an adjustable waist, and is the perfect length to go under my dress! I can't wait to get it next week and try it on with the dress. Exciting stuff! Anyone who knows me should know the following: I chose to buy a crinoline because I could get one very cheaply on eBay. If I were to make the same thing, it would probably have cost me as much money, plus the time and labor of sewing it together. I felt that paying $25 was well worth it.

Yesterday I also won 2 auctions for vintage clip on earrings to use in my flowers:

I think they're pretty cool, and (before extremely cheap shipping) only cost a dollar per pair.

We also booked our wedding venue yesterday. I'm not sure what the total cost of it will be, but we are very excited! More details on this later :) Also, stay tuned tomorrow for a weekly budget update! I'll give you a breakdown of my week's expenses.

Til tomorrow,
Chelsea

129 Days and Counting...

Guess what!

I spent more money yesterday!

I found my wedding shoes at Plato's Closet on the east side of Madison. I'd spent a lot of hours online looking for just the right shoe with no luck. Everything was either ultra expensive, not the right style, or off in color. But these were perfect, especially on my budget!

Aren't they pretty? Here is the kicker...they were only $14! They look brand new and will work perfectly with my ankle length dress.

Dustin and I are spending our day off looking for a place to live. Wish us luck!

130 days...

Did ya hear that? Only (HA!) 130 days left til the wedding!

Yesterday I got something exciting in the mail...

Parried Goose Feathers

Feathers! I purchased parried goose feathers from Fabulous Feathers last week and have been anxiously awaiting their arrival. I will be turning them into flowers for the bouquets. I'm estimating getting 4 flowers out of each color...which would make these the most expensive flowers in my bouquet! Oh well...they will be pretty incredible when they're done! :)

Wedding Bouquet from Jewel Box Ballerina

This is the inspiration for my finished bouquets. I did purchase the tutorial...I have it written down as a business expense since I've been considering going into the flower making business after this wedding is all said and done! I really like everything on the Jewel Box Ballerina website. I can highly recommend what I've used so far (I bought the Wedding Bouquet Fabric Flower Tutorial).

I can't wait to see all of that organza turned into flowers!

Today I'm meeting with my future mother-in-law, Rita, to work on the guest list! Between Dustin and I (and my rather large family), we know a LOT of people. It will definitely be fun! I am also picking up my engagement ring from the jewelers. Getting it back on my hand will be pretty fantastic :) After that, I'm getting a much needed manicure from a childhood friend...so it will be a great day!

131 Days Til There is a New Mrs. Wales...

Hey Everyone!

I'm hot underway in my pursuit of creating all of my wedding flowers for under $100!

Yesterday, Dustin and I stopped by Joann fabrics after church. My plan of attack before stepping foot into the store was that I wasn't buying anything unless it was on sale.

Fortunately, the fabric behind that sign was nowhere near as expensive $20 a yard!

I never knew how many different kinds of fabric there were that look like organza! Fortunately, I hit a sale on all of the "Casa Special Occasion" fabrics...hip hip hurrah for 50% off!

There was such a rainbow of fabrics. I definitely love the colors I selected!

I purchased 2-1/2 yard lengths of light pink, lavender and sage green. Each length (except for sage green, they didn't have enough yardage left on the bolt) cost me $9.98 per length. I came out with a grand total at $36 and some odd cents. But wait! There is more! If you spent more than $35 dollars before tax, you got $5 off your purchase...so I saved myself $5 and ended up spending $31.92. The total savings of my trip (after getting 50% off on all of my fabric) added up to $43! I could definitely get a lot more specific and re-figure my cost per yard, but I'll spare you those little nitty gritty details ;)

Dustin is a great "capture the right moment" kind of photographer :) He also insisted that I caption this picture and make sure everyone is aware that the ring currently on my finger is not my engagement ring...it comes back to my hand tomorrow!

The only expenses left in my realm of flower making is the centers of my flowers. But, I have a lot of materials here in my home that I can use, and many family members who have offered up their stashes of un-wanted jewels. I do have a few bids on jewelry on ebay...but I'm planning on making the greatest accumulations at garage sales and flea markets this summer! But...with only $21 left in my flower budget, will I be able to do it? Stay tuned til next time...

132...

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday and today have been fun days! 

Yesterday, Dustin and I went to Milwaukee to run some errands that needed running. We also started our wedding registry with Target Club Wedd! Dustin was very skeptical about starting our registry and joked about staying in the car, but I enjoyed his company as we looked through housewares that we may soon call our own!

This thing was kind of awesome.

There were so many rows upon rows of things to look at and consider...I'm going to be revising what I put on the list and be adding more things. Dustin and I spent today looking for a place to live. I may change the color of things I requested depending on where we will be living!

Dustin and I really loved the red dinnerware set on the very most left hand side!

I started feeling guilty about everything I scanned at Target. I kept realizing that there were things I am accustomed to cooking with in my parents house that actually cost a very pretty penny to purchase. It amazes me to think how much money places like Target must make from wedding registries alone. Does anyone have any advise on how I can get over this?

So many choices!! I think I was looking and debating over the right size soup pot. After all...who doesn't like homemade soup?!

Stay tuned! Tomorrow I'm writing more on the money I spent today! Will I be able to keep my budget? Here is to hoping!

~Chelsea

133 Days...

Ok, I know some people might call me insane, but I'll call them crazy and myself crafty! Does that work!? No? Alright...I can be insane, that's cool!

I am an avid pinner on Pinterest (haven't seen pinterest yet? You're the insane one now!)...every girl should have a wedding board, whether she is married or not! I saw this incredible bouquet in my early pinning days:

This woman's stuff is amazing. Check her out! If you hadn't noticed the price though on these exquisite bouquets though, they aren't very nice for the budget savvy bride. I did some research online to see how labor intensive it would be to make my own silk flowers. While seemingly simple, I knew it would take me a long time to hand craft every last bloom for my big day. So, what did I do? I tripped my way out the door to the craft store! Hobby Lobby and Michael's unarguably carry the best kinds of silk flowers...but I saw nothing that inspired me. Not to mention the $4.99 price PER STEM!! Even if I bought all my stems at 50% off, a single bouquet was going to run me $15-$20 each!

I went home thoroughly enlightened in my floral search. Did I sacrifice my dream flowers AND my budget for craft store silk flowers, or decide to invest countless hours into the making of my own florals?

I chose the latter.

So far I have invested approximately $27 into the making of flowers. While I don't have many made yet (5 large blooms and 8 filler flowers), my mom had a ton of supplies sitting in the basement just waiting for my use. All of the centers in my flowers will be vintage jewelry that has been thrifted or gifted from family. And, nothing will be bought not on sale or without a coupon!

My goal flower budget is $100. But...I am going to see how big of a bang my buck can make! Am I still insane? Expect more posts on flower making. It seems to be a major driving force in wedding planning right now!

134 Days...

Hello Everyone!

Let me introduce myself. I am Chelsea Norquay. I'm 19 years old, and engaged to be married to my best friend and love of my life, Dustin Wales. We met each other last May after being "introduced" through our parents and stalking each other through facebook. After we started talking we instantly clicked, and were overnight best buddies. We didn't start dating until the beginning of December, but since then things have been like a dream. Dustin and I have known since day one that we were going to get married, and are very excited to be in this stage of our life.


Dustin proposed to me on April 9th, 2012 at Wrigley Field. We were attending our first cubs game together with our parents. After a group pose in front of the historic Wrigley Field sign, Dustin suggested we have our picture taken together. After posing, something the opposite direction caught my eye, I swung back around to look at Dustin, and he was on one knee ♥ Our parents caught the moments on video...but I'll leave that for another post!

Isn't it incredible?!

We have set our wedding date for September 1st, 2012. I have 134 crazy days left to be the crazy do-it-yourselfer I am and pull together our wedding. Oh yeah...did I mention my challenge budget?

My mom raised me to be extremely frugal. Haggling is my second language, and bargaining doesn't phase me. I'm challenging myself to keeping my expenses under $1,500, and using this blog to keep myself accountable! You may ask, with the average cost of weddings in the US at $28,000, how do I expect to stay under $1,500?

1. While the idea of having a sit down dinner at your reception is a nice thought, it is not for me. Wedding food is a huge expense of traditional weddings. I'm planning on having an afternoon dessert reception. My family has many fantastic bakers!

2. I thrifted my wedding dress many, many, many years ago at a garage sale for a dime. It is a dress from the 1950's. It fits me as though it was custom made for me! I may have dreamed of a cathedral length train and veil as a little girl, but the tea-length hem suits me very well as an adult.

I have many more ideas how I plan to save so much money on my wedding. Come back to check them out!