Chewing Paper - Confessions of a Paper Addict

Tips for a Cheaper Wedding!

Someone I've noticed more than once in the media (Grazia magazine, Daily Mail) lately is Nicola Ray - author and owner of www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk.  Nicola and I exchanged emails a little while ago and now are exchanging articles.  Mine on DIY Stationery Kits is on her website, and here is hers now on our www.weddingdiy.co.uk website on essential tips for a cheap wedding.  At a time when a recession has begun, but the price of weddings in the UK has risen to £19,000 on average, not to mention Wayne and Coleen are spending £5million, you know these kind of tips just make sense!

 

Essential Tips For A Cheap Wedding

By Nicola Ray

 

With weddings costing an arm and leg these days, there’s no surprise that brides are looking for cheap wedding solutions.  From favours to flowers, there are ways to save and with a little creative thinking you can easily knock thousands off your budget.  Here are my best tips for a cheap wedding:

1.  Create a budget and stick to it
The only way to keep track of what you’re spending is to use a budget.  Ideally use a spreadsheet, so you can see where your money is going and how much you’ve got left.  Update it regularly and no cheating – you’ve got be honest with yourself!

2.  Always shop around for better prices
Whether you’re buying pretty little table decorations or considering full-on caterers, search around and get three quotes.  You'll be surprised at the difference in the prices you find for the same, or very similar, products or services. 

3.  Get creative and do it yourself

Consider doing as much yourself as possible.  You can easily make your own favours, invitations, decorations, centrepieces and wedding cake.  Put together, you could easily shave thousands off your costs.  It’ll also be rewarding and make your wedding more personal and unique. 

 

4.  Ask for help from friends and family

If you can’t manage it all yourself, then look around for the hidden talents of friends.  We’ve all got friends who love to DJ, those that are a dab hand in the kitchen, an aunt who likes flower arranging and a friend with a fancy car.  They could donate their services as a wedding gift or they may just do it out of love!  

5.  Think differently about your venue

For cost effective venues, try village halls, local authority buildings, National Trust spaces and even pretty country pubs.   If you’re still dead set on a country house or hotel, then go for a mid-week wedding or choose a date out of season.

 

6.  Avoid 'wedding' products

We all know the word ‘wedding’ invites a premium price, so choose non-‘wedding’ items when shopping for shoes, accessories or cakes.  With suppliers for larger items such as venues, caterers, florists and photographers, get them to cater to your needs and not your occasion.

7.  Go online for all the little things
You’ll usually find the cheapest prices online, so shop around.  Ebay is great for cheap decorations, accessories, invites, favours etc.  It's especially good for cheap wedding veils and made-to-measure wedding dresses (for under £100).

8.  Do your own catering

If you can, try to cater yourselves, you’ll knock thousands off your catering budget.  If DIY catering is too much to consider, then think about serving something different such as afternoon tea, a sit down buffet, BBQ or simply serving up canapés.  

9.  Buy your wedding cake from the supermarkets

You can pick up ‘celebration’ cakes from Asda and Tesco for little more than £30 for three tiers.  If you fancy something a little more posh, then Marks and Spencer and Waitrose also do fully decorated ‘celebration’ cakes too for under £200 – it’s still cheaper than a special ‘wedding cake’ from a cake shop and they look amazing too!

 

10.  Keep your perspective

It's easy to get carried away with your wedding and go over the top with all those ‘little things that make the difference’.  Don’t forget your wedding day is about you, your partner and your union together – nothing is more important that that.

 

Biography:  Nicola Ray is the editor of  Cheap Wedding Success, a website dedicated to planning and creating the perfect cheap wedding.  With lots of advice, tips and ideas to lower the cost of your wedding, Cheap Wedding Success is the perfect place to start.

Cherry Arte Newbies

It's hard not to love Cherry Arte!!  And the latest collection is as ever, divine.  Strong, bold, striking and beautiful use of colours.   You look at the papers and you can immediately visualise the layouts!  Check them all out on Cara Craft Supplies store HERE!! 

WeddingDIY in the News

Just a quickie, but I'm thrilled to say that our UK DIY Wedding Invitation site has gotten its first mention in the press!!!  The Daily Telegraph must have found us on the web and talked about us in an article on how to save money for your wedding. Here's what they said:

"and www.weddingdiy.co.uk The latter, for example, specialises in DIY wedding stationery kits with prices from 70p to £1.40 for invitations. You can also download templates from the site for use with the invitations you order."

Yae!

Irish Business Women at large

Hi guys.  I meant to post this last week but life..just got in the way :)  A couple of weeks ago I was priviledged to be asked to speak at the annual Irish Business Women conference in Tullamore.  The conference is run by Frank Fullard and the Mayo CEB, and is attached to the www.irishbusinesswomen.com message board which I regularly frequent. I gave my story of my business, and a little about my life, and I was just so impressed with the conference overall.  There were several professional speakers - of whom Jenny Bristow was my favourite, but they also included an Antartic Explorer, a Senator and Lir chocolates business owner, a PR expert and much more.  The stars of the day for me and a lot of others though were the IBW members who told their own stories.  Some were heartbreaking, some so entertaining, and all inspiring (hopefully mine too :)).   I can't wait for next year's, I will definitely be attending.  Frank Fullard has blogged about many of the talks on his blog - so do check it out!! 

Wooden Alphabet Fun

Hi guys,

This is my third attempt writing this post today - Typepad does not make things easy sometimes!!  I just had to tell you though - we got our own stash of fantastic Wooden Alphabets in - just perfect for you to alter!!  They're perfect for decorating a child's room, your craft room - anything at all.  Each one is 17.5cm high and made from MDF and great value too.  I've already done my first project!!  See above.  My lovely friend in the USA just had a new baby - a little girl called Rory (the name is used that way over there :).  I kept them simple as I was a little short for time, but I'm really happy with how they turned out. Here's how they look before altering:

Altering them couldn't be easier.  Here's what the manufacturer's recommend, and also check out my earlier blog post all about it.  With these ones, it's even easier than that though. Simple paint the front with PVA or another craft glue (don't use too much or the papers will bubble).  Then press down any patterned papers you fancy, and leave to dry.  When dry, cut around the outline using a cutting mat and paper knife or blade.  Voila!

Next comes the really fun bit.  Raid your craft bag and find whatever blossoms, brads, buckles, buttons, gems or ribbons you can find and get decorating!!

I did mine in just over 2 hours, but I kept them simple - how long it takes is entirely up to you.  If you make some, please do send us in a photo - and we'll post it up here!!

They're great as a gift for a baby or child, in a craft room, in your child's room, anything at all.  We also got in some great wooden tag books for altering and a super ribbon holder and organiser.  Put your stamp on them all and have great fun doing it!

Valentine's Cards

This is a little late being posted up as I it turns out when your mum says "Be careful out there!!  You'll catch pneumonia!!".  Well...it turns out you can.  Add a chesty cold, a winter vomiting bug and a good dose of overworking in the last few  years, and I guess your body eventually says STOP!!  So, I'm home from hospital and recovering slowly.  The girls - Agnes, Di and Sabina have been holding the fort at work for which I am eternally grateful, and my mum has been helping me out endlessly at home.  In the meantime, here's some of the great Valentine's Cards sent in over the last couple of weeks.  I trust you all had nice days?  Which card is your favourite?  The creators are: Petrashae, Brenzer, Elisa, KiKid25, Sandidune, Lara, CraftyKate, Firefly, Dianne, Cecilia, Orla, Littlebit, MayoMom.  If I've missed anyone's name or card - let me know and   I'll add it in (entirely possible I will miss someone at the mo).  

Scrapbook Heaven - CHA 2008 Previews!!

CHA - the American Craft and Hobby Association, have just announced a list of product previews that will be debuting at the show this year.  And they are TO DIE FOR.  Check them all out HERE.

Please - tell us - add a comment and let us know WHICH ARE YOUR FAVOURITES!!!  We'll do our best to get the most popular ranges in!!  We have Cherry Arte already on order, what else would you like for your collection??

Send us Your Valentine's!

Well, ignore it at your peril, for Valentine's Day is upon us and we'd LOVE to see any Valentine's Cards you have made!!  To us, Valentine's Day is about showing those you love that you love them.  Not just partners...friends, parents, relatives - who wouldn't be happy to receive a card showing that they are loved?  So - email us a photo of your creation and we'll post it up on the BLOG for everyone to see!!  We'll be posting up all cards sent to us.  Beginners welcome - don't be scared!  I bet your cards are way better than you think they are :)  By the way - if you need more supplies for your cards, stop by the Valentine's section of the shop - lots of stuff there!

My Hero Stamps

After a bit of a hiatus over Christmas, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things when it comes to the blog.  Hope you like the posts!!  Do leave a comment and let us know.  While rooting through craft stores Stateside on that trip I've mentioned a few times :), I have to say I bought no rubber stamps at all.  I wasn't inspired - until I came home to the shop and saw the new delivery in from Hero Arts.  We're going to have to re-order again soon because I, and Di, and all of us - want to take them home for ourselves.  Just some of the fantastic designs from their NEW catalogue are below - well...my favourites anyway :)

Clear Stamps - we love these so much - great value, easy to use, easy to place ..just fab.  The first one titled "Friends Always" is SO good for your stash.  Look at it - it covers birthday, congratulations, thank you, thinking of you, best wishes and then some more generic ones like a warm hello.  It throws in an "&" for good measure too so you can say "Thinking of you & a Warm Hello".  Fantastic.  The next one we loved because so many Scrapbooking Layouts look great if you can mark them with a date - and this makes that so easy.

Next come the wooden stamps - still a quick and great staple for every stamper.  I'm sure we're biased as two of us in the office have little boys, but this dinosaur stamp was just too good.  Cheeky - could also be used for someone who's getting a bit older :) Lots of scope for colouring in with gel pens, paints or watercolour pencils.  Speaking of which, a new departure for us - we just got in a brilliant Watercolour Wheel with 24 colours from Hero Arts.  Perfect for colouring in all those stamped images.

I loved this strong flower image - in single or multiple inks at the corner of a card with a simple "Happy Birthday" at the top right - and you're done. 

Last of my favourites - this set of 5 borders were so beautiful in their intricacy (plus two have no words at all so can be used in lots of ways) and were just *begging* for some Stickles Glitter Glue or dabs of fun Sakuras to finish them. 

What do you think?  Do you like them?  What's your favourite Rubber Stamp brand?  Tell us and we might get it in!!!

Project for a child's room

While in the States recently, I mentioned I paid a visit to my favourite paper shop over there - Paper Source.  While there, I picked up some blank paper letters about 10" high for my little boy's room.  You can see them on their website here (and yes they do ship outside the USA), and here's what they look like blank:

They were fantastic value at just $3.00 each and I bought some scrapbook papers that weren't too thick at the time to cover them with.  Well, I got papering tonight, and here's the result (sorry for a not-great-quality image).  Lots of PVA and sticky hands and cutting later, and VOILA!!

My little boy picked out the papers, and they were fairly easy to do.  I figure I can re-paper them again in a few years when they'll need to be blue/red/white to support whichever football team will be the favourite :)  A great project and I can't wait to hang them on the wall of his bedroom.  What do you think?  Do you like them?  There's a great video on the Paper-source site too which shows how to paper them with handmade papers, or paint them and add embellishments like flowers, blossoms or gems.