Thursday, July 12, 2012

5 Inexpensive Edible Wedding Favor Ideas

Favors, one of my favorite parts about the wedding! lol. I thought that it would be so fun deciding what gift I would have for my guests at the wedding. And since we are inviting about 130 people, it had to be something inexpensive but nice. All of the ideas that I have listed below are DIY and edible but I think that they can all be accomplished pretty easily. For starters, I'm coming to realize that edible favors are very inexpensive and will be of the most use to guests, hopefully your guests will eat them...lol. I must admit that I'm a little bias because I am a baker, so you'll see a lot of baked goodies on this list. And I just think that homemade favors are really special. The first favor listed is the favor that I will be making for my own wedding! Can't wait!!!


1. Hot Chocolate Wedding Favors - This is an idea that can be used for a fall or winter wedding. You can also use this favor for a spring or summer wedding by using a tea instead of hot chocolate. They are very easy to assemble and can be decorated in tons of different ways to match your wedding theme. You can add marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, nuts, different color and shaped jimmies, you can get pretty creative with these. And don't forget to add a pretty ribbon and nice message to go with them! You can also make you own blend of hot chocolate or tea but I am going to stick to the store brought concoctions. I will probably be adding peppermint to mine, to match the red and white theme and adding some very pretty red and white ribbon and a nice tag or sticker, not sure which one yet. Check out this website for instructions on how to make these awesome favors and the materials you will need. http://fattiedelights.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/fall-is-here-diy-hot-cocoa-kits-party-favors/












2. S'Mores Kits - Again, this would really go well with a winter or especially fall wedding. I am personally not a big fan of S'Mores but I think this is a really cute idea! These little baggies contain a mini Hershey's bar, a marshmallow, some graham crackers and a nice tag to go along with it. Pretty simple right? They look delicious and I am pretty sure that your guests will be excited to get home and make some S'Mores! Visit this website for materials needed and instructions on how to make these yummy favors. http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Smores-Wedding-Favors-Yum/


3. Chocolate Covered Pretzels - I really like this idea for favors! It seems very easy and fun to make. It may be a bit time consuming to make due to the fact that you have to wait for the chocolate to dry but the end result is great! You just purchase some pretzel sticks or regular pretzels and some molding chocolate. Molding chocolate is pretty cool because it comes in sooooo many different colors so you shouldn't have an issue with finding something that matches your wedding theme. You melt the chocolate and then let your creative juices flow! You can cover the pretzels in multiple colors and even do special designs! And then you can bag them up with a nice ribbon and add a tag or sticker. Just make sure that you are not using these for an outdoor summer wedding because they probably will melt and make sure that you have room in your freezer to store them before the wedding.


4. Cupcakes! - These are my specialty but I will not be using them as a favor. They will be at my wedding of course. This is a very easy and inexpensive wedding favor idea. You don't even have to make them from scratch, yes you can use boxed cake! You can make several different flavors or stick to your favorite flavor cupcake. All you need to purchase is some cupcake liners to match you theme, icing bag and icing tip, and some toppings for your cupcakes (if you want any). If you have no idea how to ice a cupcake nicely there are tons of videos on you tube that show you how within a matter of seconds. Cupcakes are awesome because you can really express your creativity on them. You can make them into anything that you want them to be. Once you're finished you can purchase individual boxes or bags and box/bag them up with a nice tag or sticker for your guests. You can make these at least a week in advance because cupcakes freeze well and thaw out within a matter of minutes. Just make sure that you don't eat them all before the wedding.



5. Candy Buffet - This idea really isn't homemade but it can be pretty inexpensive. You have to be really careful with these because if you are not planning correctly the cost can run up. The key to candy buffets is to purchase items when they are on SALE!!!! So that means knowing that you want to do a candy buffet well in advance and shopping around for sales. You can purchase candy after major holidays like Halloween, Easter and Valentine's Day. You are bound to tons of candy on sale after those holidays. Also look for sales on containers to put your candy in. They can be all different sizes and shapes. They can be glass or plastic containers, whatever you choose. You can find some candy buffet kits on the internet and in stores but remember to look of SALES!!! You can color coordinate your buffet using an array of colors and decorations to make it look nice. This is another one of those favors that shows creativity. You also need to make sure that you have candy scooper and something for you guests to put their candy inside of; a bag, container, box, etc. You just need to make sure that you have enough candy to fit your guest ratio, I would recommend this idea for smaller weddings.

Friday, July 6, 2012

So, Where Do You Begin?

Well, there are lots of things that you can do before you begin actually spending money for the wedding (of course there are, only a fool would not know that). I have come up with a little list of 5 things that will get you off to a great start with planning your wedding! And here they are....

1. Organize Yourself - You need to find a place where you will keep all necessary information pertaining to your wedding such as a budget sheet, guest list, contracts for venues/vendors, etc. This can be a notebook, file folder, binder, whatever you find! I created one using a binder, some dividers and some decorative stickers (to make it look nice). I have 6 tabs inside so far; Venue Info, Budget Info, Guest list, Wedding Party Info, Menu Info, and a section for samples of my invitations, etc. You can design it however you want but this binder has really helped me keep track of important information so far.

2. Envision Your Wedding - How big do you want your wedding to be? Are you going to have a theme? Are there any important aspects that must be apart of your wedding? Figure them out together with your partner. It is so very important to make sure that the two of you are on the same page and share the same vision for your wedding, if not then one of you will be very disappointed in the end and that would not be a very good start to the marriage.

3. Create A Budget - This is the part that most of us dread (I know that I did)! Your budget must be realistic. If you know that you can only afford a $5,000 wedding then that is what you must stick to and move on. There is no use in troubling yourself if you cannot afford something and trying to make it work. You don't want to begin your marriage in debt, that's a pretty stupid idea. Mark off what you are willing to spend for each area of your wedding budget. It's much easier to make your purchases suitable to your budget rather than picking sites and items and trying to shape your budget around them. Be content with your budget and don't let anyone make you budge if you don't want to.

4. Start Your Guest List - This is another thing that I did not enjoy doing but it had to be done! You most likely will be creating a few different drafts of your guest list so do not let the first draft drive you crazy. It's pretty simple if your only inviting a handful of people (50 max) but we have a pretty good amount on our list. You need an estimate so you know how big your venue needs to be and the amount of food and drinks needed. I have a pretty big family including both of my parent's sides but only a few friends so majority of my list is family. Everyone's list will be different but I want my wedding to be intimate so I am only inviting those that I really know and really want there.

5. Pick A Date - Don't worry, I'm not talking about a definite date at this point (we changed our date about 3 times before booking the date...lol). You do need to figure out a time frame for planning the wedding. If it's 2 months then you better get going quickly but if you want around a year or so then you can pace yourself.

Why I'm Blogging

So I am getting married on February 23, 2013 which is a little more than 7 months away and you can of course tell that we are on a budget, hence the title of this blog! We've decided that we want to keep things pretty simple with a budget of about $7,000 max. We're having 150 guests at our wedding and that number includes ourselves and our wedding party too. We've been at this for months, trying to figure out how to cut costs while still having a wedding that is nice and elegant and I can say that I do believe it is possible. I just graduated college so I DO NOT have a ton of money to spend and honestly I was never one of those girls who envisioned every aspect of her wedding so putting ideas together now doesn't hurt me or make me feel like I am falling short of my "dream wedding". My 'dream wedding" consists of me marrying this young man that I've known for almost 8 years and to have our family members and friends share in the joyous occasion. And I think that this mission is going to make things all the more easier.

So my intentions with this blog is to share my ideas (and end results) of my wedding on a budget which I know will be awesome! Hopefully I can share with other brides some dos and don'ts when it comes to weddings on a budget and ways that you can make your dreams come true. But I must say that my #1 tip is not to lose sight of why this occasion is occurring. Your wedding is happening because you (hopefully) have found the right partner to walk through life with. In the end, it should be about uniting with that individual and beginning a new life together. This is something that I will try my hardest to abide by through out this process.