I was recently contacted by Ann’s Bridal Bargains, who asked if I would like to receive a $100 gift certificate to review their online boutique, as well as a gift certificate to give away on each one of my blogs. I’m all over anything that can help save money on bridal items, so I took them up on their offer! Using this gift certificate, I was able to get $100 worth of wedding supplies for just the cost of shipping; pretty nice savings. I’m going to share what I got and what frugal strategies I used to make the most of my gift card – and one of you will have the chance to win a $100 gift card of you own! Yay!
Ann’s Bridal Bargains carry a nice selection of bridal supplies, from wedding invitations and save-the-date cards to wedding napkins, decorations and favors. My strategy for using this $100 credit was to buy pricier items that would be difficult to save money on otherwise. Something I’ve noticed during my wedding planning is that a lot of things marketed as bridal products could be sourced at non-wedding shops or made for less money. With that in mind, I looked for items that you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else, and chose a Silver Hearts Handle Knife and Server set and Dove and Bell Design Flutes as my two main items. I think the serving set is really elegant, and I love the “Bride and Groom” champagne flutes. Both of them are personalized with our names, and will be really nice touches at the reception, as well as keepsakes from the big day.
I still had some credit left to spend, so I chose this Elegant Damask Guest Book in Black and White as my third item. I really love the design and the fact that it holds 700 signatures. The inside of the book provides a space for guests to write their names and a short message, and thanks them for joining us on our special day, so I was pleased that the inside of the guestbook looked as nice as the outside.
At this point, my order was not quite $100, so I needed to add one more small item. I chose a Silver Plated Bell for $3.99 as my filler item, bringing my total to $100.05. Shipping was $8.95, so after my gift code I paid just $9.00 total. I got some really cute stuff for my wedding, so I’m happy with this “Bridal Bargain”!
My items from Ann’s Bridal Bargains – click on the thumnails to see the photos full size
BONUS GIVEAWAY: I’m running a second giveaway for a $100 gift certificate over at Contest Corner, so click here to enter and double your chances! You can also read more details about the ordering process and see additional photos of what I bought.
Giveaway time!
One lucky Super Coupon Girl reader will win a $100 gift code to Ann’s Bridal Bargains! This code DOES NOT cover shipping, and you must add at least $100 in product to your shopping cart in order to redeem the code. Click here to view their shipping rates. Code will be emailed directly to winner. Here’s how to enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post sharing a frugal wedding tip!
Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:
2. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
3. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person. You can use the button at the bottom of this post to tweet with one click!
4. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:
Rules, regulations, and other important stuff: Giveaway ends on July 20th at 11:59 PM, PST. Winners will be chosen the following day via Random.org. Giveaway is open to US residents. Ann’s Bridal Bargains provided me with gift certificates for review and giveaway in exchange for this coverage on my site.
We saved money using artificial flower arrangements.
Make a list of your important wedding necessities and cut out everything you don’t want. (Example: videography isn’t important to us and that saves a lot of money to put toward the reception site which is.)
We made our own centerpieces by using fishbowls & goldfish (our wedding was a summer wedding with the ceremony outdoors on the beach and the reception indoors.
Thanks so much.
rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com
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My youngest daughter gave me 9 days to get her wedding together. We kept it small, about 40 people. We bought used and reused things from other parties. Family and friends did the reception. It was an outdoor affair which we held at a local park that rents out shelters. It had a wooded area with a small stream running through it. During the ceremony a family of deer came by. Every thing turned out great and in total we spent about $300.00 dollars.
But as I have one more daughter to marry off,,,…this gift certificate would be great to have on hand.
Use your resources! Have a friend be your DJ, have your aunt bake the cake, etc. Saved us a ton and made for even better memories!
I don’t have many tips but I agre to keeping it simple
My frugal wedding tip is to make your favors if you are going to have some…wrap up a cookie for every guest or something simple and cute.
I have two frugal wedding tips:
1) Haggle- When my caterers quote came back waaaaay too high, I asked what minimal changes could be made that would save us big. They were great and came back with a pretty similar menu, minus some fancy cheese, for $5 less a head….at least a $500 savings!
2) Utilize your family and friendors-you never know who amongst your family and friends has a talent that may be useful to wedding prep and they may be more than happy to help you out! We are getting married at our family friends’ property. They normally charge $3500 to rent the site, but have given it to us as a wedding gift to use!
We did as much as we could ourselves and then relied on dependable family and friends to do what they could
Decorate, flowers, even a seamstress to make flower girl dresses
http://twitter.com/#!/mkjmc/status/89128136960253952
I’m saving money by doing a lot of the paper stuff as DIY projects – favor boxes, pockets for invites and more. Its unbelievable how expensive the paper is!
Keep an eye out for family and friends who can either share recommendations or who would be able to (and like to!) arrange flowers or make the cake.
Save money by sending out evites for side events like the bridal tea ect. . .
lexigurl_17 (at) hotmail (dot) com
I added your giveaway to my wedding giveaway linky!
http://onethriftygurl.blogspot.com/2011/07/wedding-event-giveaway-linky_09.html
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Going to garage sales has been a lifesavor for finding items for my outside wedding in August!!
Use your friends!! It saves money! yard sales and thrift stores for decor.
Buying glass vases for table decorations at garage sales can save a lot of money and add an eclectic charm to each table. Also asking family and friends that have previously gotten married if they have any leftovers you could use for your wedding.
Check out garage sales and thrift stores for gently or never used items for your wedding – you’d be so surprised at what you’ll find!
Don’t go nuts thinking every little detail has to be super-special and unique. Pick one or two areas of focus that is the most important to you. i.e., if you are a real foodie, splurge on the dinner but then make your own decorations.
My frugal wedding tip is to print or somehow hand make your own invitations. I plan on doing a folding envelope style with the invitation glued on the inside of the envelope. I might even use stamps if I can find some at a good price & I found a wild flower paper punch for the borders from Martha Stewart for around $15.
Dana Beeman: danabeeman(at)gmail(dot)com
Tweeted Giveaway; http://twitter.com/#!/hazelfinn/status/90635235804454912
Dana Beeman: danabeeman(at)gmail(dot)com
(1) Have a friend bake your cake! Some friends of ours used to own a bakery…they made our cake and only charged us for supplies. The cake was phenomenal! It looked like something out of a magazine and you’d have never known I didn’t pay full price.
(2) Buy a dress that’s clearanced – even if it doesn’t fit perfectly. I did this and then had it altered at a very reasonable price. The dress was a smash.
(3) Have someone make your veil. My mom is a seamstress and made mine. Tulle is cheap and it looked great! I bought a tiara from David’s Bridal to accompany it.
(4) My “something borrowed” was a petticoat, which saved me about $80.
(5) We had petals thrown at the end of the ceremony. We made “tussie mussies” out of parchment looking paper ourselves. We printed the initial of our last name in a pretty calligraphy on one corner, and then rolled it into a cone (tussie mussie) shape. It was glued shut and filled with colorful, fresh petals. We had purchased a large bag of petals from a local florist at a discounted price. They were placed in a large basket in the foyer. Beautiful!
(6) My bridesmaids carried “real” tussie mussies. I purchased the silver cones at a local craft store (don’t forget you can find 40% coupons to Hobby Lobby in the paper). We attached tassels to the end and then put a small silk flower arrangement on top. The result was amazing and my girls got to keep them.
(7) If using silk flowers, one way to save money is to find a “main” high quality flower that you love. You can spend a little more on it, and then use filler flowers and greenery that are a little cheaper.
With wonderful digital cameras, have a friend or family member take photos. These can turn out just as nice or better then a professional and cost way less in ordering duplicates.
I would say a good frugal tip is to make your own bouquet and vale. You can make a bouquet using cheap but pretty flowers from Hobby Lobby for about $15 and head to Jo-Ann for fabric for your vale and spend around $12 instead of $125 at David’s Bridal!
I tweeted!
http://twitter.com/mom2anutball/status/90763982536843264
Your wedding is your time to be Cinderella. You should have exactly what you want 🙂
My frugal wedding tip is to make your own wedding programs!! I’m getting married next June and could definitely use this!!!
Posted this on twitter SouthTX Wedding: https://twitter.com/#!/SouthTXWedding/status/90779938407448576
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Skip the dinner. Actually, at ours we had a luncheon following a quick service in the church at 11am and then we were all done and at our hotel by 4pm. (And we cleaned up after our own wedding.) Best, smartest and cheapest thing we ever did. Only 21 guests, that really cut down too.
my tip is to do as much as u can.. im very diy so i plan to make my own centerpices!
wuera_mermaid22 at hotmail.com
wuera_mermaid22 at hotmail.com
http://twitter.com/#!/luvmy_babygio/status/91024690671386624
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I am doing a giveaway and wanted to know if you wanted to join. let me know by SaturdAY ON MY BLOG OR BY E-MAIL.
We had family members do most of the expensive stuff like pictures and food 🙂
I tweeted your giveaway (@tkups575)
Stay simple and try to make as much at home as possible. Everything from appetizers, invitations, and center pieces. My friend is making all of her bouquets out of paper flowers.
check out garage sales and thrift stores to look for anything that you need! I ended up finding a total of 4 boxes of wedding bells at the thrift store for a total of $2.00!
my tip is to shop around and compare prices before you settle
Thank you for hosting this giveaway
Louis
pumuckler {at} gmail {dot} com
I tweeted your giveaway
pumuckler {at} gmail {dot} com
Its all about who you know .
Gather your friends and all work together to make everything you need.
Keep the wedding itself smaller. etc
tweeted it http://twitter.com/#!/bwanna12/status/92369840819548161
Heart Charm Bracelet – Personalized
Item Number AW182320P
A frugal wedding tip is to have a smaller cake and serve a sheet cake from the back to the guests.
get married in someones back yard if you can! Im getting married in bakersfield, and I live in Lake tahoe. But my grandparents have a beautiful back yard so worth saving the thousands of dollars for a cerimony and reception space!!
I tweeted!! http://twitter.com/#!/autumnnoelg/status/93059497408475136
We saved money by having a wedding 3 days after christmas and was able to use the church christmas flowers and decor that were already up!