In my research, I've found that buying tablecloths is actually cheaper than renting them either directly with the rental company or through your caterer. Tablecloths cost $10-$12/each to rent and on ebay they are $7-$8. I purchased 20 tablecloths (any color) for $155. And after you use them you can wash them and then sell them on craigslist and get your $$ back!
Hey - $200 really helps these days!
So don't rent your tablecloths, BUY THEM!
EBAY! EBAY! EBAY!
How About a Red Wedding
Dress?
In the United States, many
brides feel like they need to have a white wedding dress, even if they don’t
really want to. I say wear what you’d like to wear – whatever color you want!
Wedding dresses don’t have to be white!
In China and India, for example, the traditional wedding dress is red. Yes, red. A red dress is considered to bring good luck in both the Indian and Chinese traditions. Check out this awesome site, Red Hot Brides. They have a ton of red wedding dress options that will blow your mind!
Be
bold, Rebel Brides. Have fun! Try on dresses that aren’t white – see how you feel in
them. You may be pleasantly surprised!
More to come on this topic
with awesome examples soon!
Calling all DIY Brides! Check
out these awesome stamp return addresses from Paperwink! You can customize them
and use them for your wedding invitations. They will definitely bring a sweet, personalized touch to your invites!
For all of you Rebel Brides who don’t want traditional engagement rings and wedding bands, check out this awesome blog...
It will change your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!
The first time that little
birdie in my head told me to write a blog was after about 6 hours of
researching what to do about dinnerware and silverware for my wedding. It was
the ultimate battle between renting china and disposable plates. What would be
the most cost-effective, which option is more green, will disposable plates
look super cheesy and cheap? All these dumb questions running through my mind…
We wanted a DIY,
affordable wedding, but we don’t want anything to look like it is a bargain
basement, trashy alternative. Disposable plates were not looking too good and
then,
Voila! Found it! The
perfect plate! Disposable easily won the epic battle with Bambu Veneerware.
Get this?! They are
completely organic, free of bleaches or dyes, biodegrade completely in 4-6
months, perfect for single use, cost MUCH less than renting china, and look
beautiful. Also, since we are bringing our own dinnerware, our catering
company took $0.20/per person off of our final bill, which saves us another $40
(DEFINITELY ask your caterer this). Also, don’t forget! With Disposable plates,
you don’t need to pay for a service to bus plates, which ended up saving us an
additional $500! We are going to have information about the plates and their
environmental-friendliness out on the tables as conversations starters. AND we
get extra points for going green. WOOT!
If you want to learn more
about Bambu Veneerware, go to http://bambuhome.com/products/.
If you want to BUY them,
go to Joanne Hudson. They
are BY FAR the most affordable (especially for bulk purchases) and they are
always on sale and they usually have a deal on shipping which effin’ ROCKS!
Here is a cost breakdown
so you can see for yourself!
General Cost Breakdown for 200-Person Wedding:
Renting China &
Silverware:
Bambu Veneerware:
Total: $459 - $40
saved for bringing our own stuff = $419
Ahh, I’m so excited! I
found my wedding shoes on Etsy and they are awesome! They are so fun – I had to
share! Check out the Etsy Shop I got them from!
Ps. I could very well be
addicted to Etsy
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
I was given some great
advice from my dear friend, Ryane, who is also engaged and working with a very
strict budget! I told her my budget woes and she said pick 3 things that are
most important to you for that day: Food, Photos, Dress, Venue, Booze, Etc… and
make those 3 things a priority. Spend the most money in your budget on the 3
and do the minimal for the rest. Your guests will remember the 3.
I have to say, it has been
great advice! Here’s our list:
1.
Kick Ass Photographer
2.
Great Venue/Location
3.
Good Food/Beer
Done and Done!
When I started planning my
wedding back in July, I did what I expect most engaged women do… make a list of
everything that I needed to do in the coming months. I used the wedding
checklists of the knot and checked out pictures from general wedding sites and
then I got to thinking…
Why?
Why do I have to have a
receiving line, why do I have to pick $200 bridesmaid dresses, why do I have to
get married in a church, why do I have to register for stuff when I already
have enough stuff, why do we need to have programs, awkward first dances,
expensive white china, a huge white poofy dress, chicken or fish, a traditional
ceremony if neither of us are religious, and the list goes on and on… Why?
The reason is because our
society has created an insane wedding industry that pushes tradition and $25K+
weddings.
So my wonderful fiancé and
I decided to break the mold and have a wedding that reflected US. We are having
a 60s & 70s theme DIY wedding with classic rock & fake mustaches. It’s
going to be a big party and a ton of fun. It’s going to be affordable and
memorable. It’s going to have fake mustaches and tattoos as table gifts and
Diana Ross wigs for after the ceremony. It might even have karaoke.
My tip: Don’t be afraid to
have the wedding YOU want. If you’re doing traditional stuff just because it is
what is deemed ‘normal.’ STOP. Do yourself a favor, ask yourself ‘WHY’, cut out
the weird stuff, and plan a wedding about YOU.
YAY! Go for it!
If you’re like the
majority of couples today, you are already living in wonderful sin with your
partner/fiancé like I am. OOPS – teehee! Over the months and years of living
together, it’s safe to assume you’ve accumulated, well, a ton of stuff. You
probably don’t need or even want another set of dishes, pots, sheet sets and
all of that materialistic crap you think you should register for because that’s
what normal people do. If you agree, why not think about registering for a down
payment on a house or even for your honeymoon? Don’t worry ladies and gents,
I’ve checked with all the legit sources (the knots and such) and registering
for your honeymoon is completely accepted and welcomed.
Several honeymoon registry
websites already exist and allow you to register for specific activities, which
is a great alternative to those his and hers towels that you will hang in your
bathroom, but never use. Flights, a rental car, massages, wine, breakfast in
bed, cooking classes – anything is game on a honeymoon registry. Instead of
that extra chip and dip plate, why not let your guests give you a memory. Many
of the websites connect directly with your Paypal account or offer to send a
check directly to you and you use the money from the registry to do the fun
things your guests chose for you.
I’ve looked, compared and
I recommend Honeyfund.com. We are using them for our
wedding. There are no fees, they don’t take a percentage of your monetary gift,
you can choose activities from a list or make your own, and put information on
there for your wedding and honeymoon. SCORE!
Think! Your honeymoon
could actually be affordable!!!
Check it out for yourself
and start planning the Honeymoon of your Dreams! http://www.honeyfund.com/
Welcome to RebelBrides.Com:
A blog about brides, weddings and all things untraditional, DIY, affordable and
just basically badass!!! If you’re engaged, planning your wedding, recently
married, or you just enjoy checking out fun and crazy weddings, you’ll love it
here. Here you'll learn secret tips and tricks you need to know to have the
most awesomely fantastic wedding for pennies on the dollar and how
to boycott all that traditional crap and get married how YOU want to.
YES!
How did I come to write
this blog, you ask? Recently engaged, I found myself in the throes of uncharted
territory: trying to plan a fun, unorthodox wedding with a budget that could
rival most grocery budgets for the month. I found myself rebelling against
everything that was deemed ‘normal’ after finding out how much a traditional
wedding disgustingly costs. YUCK! I was ready to jump into DIY wedding
mode and, thankfully, my amazing fiancée agreed. We easily made the decision to
have the wedding WE wanted: one that screamed Dustin & Mimi.
I gladly put on my nerd
glasses and started researching and then kept on researching (i <3
researching, *sigh*) and I found some really cool sites, interesting ideas,
great deals, and surprising results. I kept on thinking, man, I wish I could
share what I've learned with all brides and grooms. In my days and days of
probing the Internet, I've discovered everything from where to find unique,
green wedding rings to how to plan an all-out theme wedding to the answer to
what is cheaper? to rent or buy tablecloths (answer coming shortly) and so
on... Basically, I just want to share my knowledge so here I am.
OK – well I have just
about a thousand thoughts running through my head about what to write next so make
sure to subscribe to read more!
Keep it real. There's no future in frontin'.
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