The Budget

I am taking the approach to budgeting that Miss Boa Constrictor is taking. Zero budget and then finding the cheapest option for each thing I want and making that the budget. Honestly this has been working great for me. I basically stole my dress (for the record, I didn't, but I did only pay 11% the original price), I'm making a ton of stuff (i.e. table runners).

Another way I have found to save money:  buying the table linens from smartyhadaparty.com instead of renting them. The tableclothes will cost $12.50 whether I rent them or  purchase them. BUT, I can sell them afterward, even if I get only 100 for all 12 after it's all over ($8 a piece), I still only spend $4 per tablecloth.

I have expensive floral tastes, but I'm hoping my obsessive internet research will pay off  in the long run. I love the look of peonies. I am so in love with peonies but they are expensive and unfortunatly, they don't bloom during my chosen date (August 4th). I am going instead to uses garden roses which have a similar look to peonies. I am also going to use carnations, no not red white and blue stupid fake walmart carnations, but ruffly, blush carnations. They can look good when mixed in. At farmers market last summer, my Future Mother in Law, bought me a bouquet from one of the stands (she is just a nice lady like that). The stand was called Bee Haven Farms. They had so many gorgeous flowers, and they also do weddings. They do have the option to do your whole wedding but they also have a cool a la carte option. They will do the hard stuff, making the bouquets and boutonnieres, but then they will sell me flowers in my colors by the bucket for my centerpieces. Which will be perfect, since I am doing long tables (one table is 4 8' tables stuck end to end) I am doing long centerpieces of different vintage bottles and bud vases strewn down burlap table runners.

Other DIY things will be the seating chart and menus done on old window panes. This will be fairly easy and since I have been doing calligraphy for years, it should turn out fairly well.

On the subject of centerpieces, my biggest obstacle has been the jars in which to hold my flowers and candles. I love the look of real vintage ball jars, but at $8.50-10 a piece at antique stores, they are way out of my price range (remember I need 12-17 jars each table, and I have 10 tables). I did find a whole basket of 20 little medicine jars for $30, which I will be buying. For the past few months, I've been saving any glass jars we use. Olives, olive oil, mustard, capers, vermouth, etc., you name it, I peel the label off and save it (as you can see, I am a dirty martini fan). I have amassed quite a collection.

My biggest bottle collection, however comes from doing something I do all the time anyway: Drinking Starbucks. Instead of stopping by on my way to work every morning, I buy a pack of the 4 frappachinos from the grocery store, drink one down every morning, wash them, peel the label off and store them away. I have about 40 of the short ones and 20 of the tall ones. They are actually going to be perfect for the look I am going for.

The moral of this story is, you don't nesscarily need to have a budget set in stone, as long as you  have a ballpark. I'm shooting for $2,000 and may actually beat my budget, but doing extensive price comparing.

Anyone else have any super secret saving tips?

photos credit theknot.com, starbucks.com