Play that Funky Music .... white girl

Be your own DJ, but not your own MC

Whats the going rate for DJ's these days? $700-1500... which is sadly way out of budget.

so, we decided to become our own DJ, so to speak. Now, this is a dangerous and delicate endeavour. The formula for the perfect soundtrack (which must balance out somewhere in between your tastes, the popular consensus, and your great great aunts classics) is, at best, difficult to reach. Our recipe?

Preheat oven to: hot.

mix:

3 hour brainstorming session with your sister (and MOH)

mint chocolate chip ice cream && mini marshmallows

a hand holding arm waving bout of "The River" by Garth Brooks

.let cool for 10-15 minutes:

and there you have it. You have officially made your own Wedding playlist: Just Kidding: This is what i actually did

1) Organized songs are a must: The cupid shuffle, Cha Cha slide, cotten eyed joe, macarina, YMCA-- They're perfect for getting people out there and ready to boogie. note: dont let "The Knot" fool you, some say the YMCA/ macarina are over played and old news but here is the reality: your mom wont know how to do the cupid shuffle, and unless shes feeling super bullet proof-- she probably wont try. But shes been practicing her YMCA skills for months in preparation to your big day. So make sure to include both!

2) Alright, Bridezilla, just because its not your taste doesnt mean it isnt what other people want to hear: I love indie/ folk music. She & Him, Jaymay, Joshua Radin, Joe Purdy, Matt & Kim, etc. What can i say, Thats my jam! But reality check: those artists may own my ipod... but honestly, (sorry J Rad) They dont exactly own the dance floor. Compromise your music tastes a little for what the popular dance tunes are. I googled "top club songs" and picked through until i found some i liked. Also, Zumba dance lists are great resources!

3) Keep it PG! Im not a fan of inappropriate. But more importantly: my pastor, my mom, my grandparents, and my great uncle Joe Schmoe arent a fan of inappropriate. I hate this new attitude which says weddings are for the younger crowd, and let the "old people" leave if they dont like the music. I carefully picked through my tunes [and make sure the pick all the Radio Versions] to remove anything that would offend. Also, My entire playlist isnt just hip hop/pop:: at least 25% are "classics". Sometimes, you can have just as much fun dancing to some CCR and anything from the Temptations as you would dancing to Lady Gaga or Usher. These Retro Rad songs are guaranteed to get EVERYONE out on the dance floor at some point and time.

4) Make It YOU: okay so i know i said that you shouldnt make your itunes playlist your wedding playlist. but that is only half true... DONT BE AFRAID TO SLIP SOME OF YOUR ALL TIME FAVS IN THERE. Big fan of joshua radin? He's perfect for a slow song here and there. Need a little relient k fix? make it your cake cutting song! This is your wedding after all. people should be able to see your relationship even in the Tune-age. I even put some inside jokes in the playlist for some close friends!

5) There is more than one form of Dancing: try and grab something from every genre: example include some Big Band Jazz (Swing Dancing) --- somebody might just surprise you with there skills

6) Catch a live one: dont be afraid of a little live music. Do you have talented pals? ask them to go ahead and step into the lime light.

7) Dig out those stocking stuffers: Okay, so the Fiance may or may not have gotten a WHOLE LOT of itunes gift cards for Christmas this year. and so far it looks like that is paying for our entire play list! woot wooh.

8) Crank that: You don't want to music to be over powering-- but you definitely want it LOUD ENOUGH! we've found a couple different options to borrow [on a donation only basis] large speakers/sound system for our music. ask around. you never know what people are hoarding in their basements!

9) Untouchable: Make the playlists ahead of time and STICK TO THEM! the last thing you need is people switching through songs and ruining the whole thing. assign certain people to music duty and keep it off limits to EVERYONE else.

10) Overflow: Planning on the party lasting for four hours? plan enough music for five... just in case!

11) Dance: This one is self explainatory.

It's Official.

How to save money on an official:

Join a church. (or call Mindy Fisk)
but I'd perfer you join a church anyway, just sayin'. (still love Mindy though...)


... seriously, you may even like it.

Shake Your Money Saver

A Dance floor for under $60

Our origonal thought was old rotted painted plywood from my dads construction site-- but here is the ugly truth. No matter how many coats of paint you throw down, You will still see those obvious plywood lines. Not exactly the classic checkered look we were going for.

so Plan B went immediately into action! And by "immediately" i mean... I had no plan. Actually, i just pouted about it and decided to go get some Easter Peeps from Family Dollar. Let's just say, i never did get those peeps!


During my solemn sulk down the aisles of Family Dollar something quite miraculous caught my eye..... Self Adhesive Vinyl Flooring! a 30 pc pack of 12''X12'' tiles for $5.99. I couldnt have possibly been more excited [except maybe... if i had remembered those peeps]. So i reached in my stingy wallet-- grabbed 50 bucks and bought 8 of them!

Now, before you freak on me-- hear me out. I know that isnt a huge dance floor, but you have to understand... A large portion of our guest list is from Word of Life ministries and wont be dancing. Also, I personally like a cramped/dim lit dance floor-- It helps out those terrible dancers like myself by hiding us in the crowd. I went to a wedding once with a HUGE BRIGHT dance floor. and guess what? no one danced-- it was way to embarassing! Plus i spread them all out to see just how big it would be exactly and found it was plenty large enough.

A typical dance floor costs at least $500 on the low end! and $2000 for one closer to the size we wanted.

Things to consider:

1)careful not to make it a trip hazard. When building your own dance floor, try to keep it as low to the ground as possible [remember: how low can you go!].

2)To save money on a smaller dance floor-- provide OTHER things for people to do [this is also nice for the non-dancers//elderly people who dont want to rock out to the Peas all night] We decided on decorated boxes of our favorite games, which i found in our attic, [dutch blitz, apples to apples, settlers of catan, poker] and a bonfire/ smore's table. This will cut down on the number of dancers, and jack up the number of people who actually enjoy themselves.

PS I LOVE THE LOOK OF A CHECKERED DANCE FLOOR: example below.

DAILY DENT:
$60

CURRENT BALANCE:
$370.24

Save the Dates

Picasa, Gimp, Photoshop, Picnik -- whatever it is: dont waste your money on premade save the dates that dont even fit your styles, colors, or personalities.


I used Adobe Illustrator and photoshop to make some really simple save the dates!! it took about 2 hours and will save me loads of money [i have to send out 150 of these things!!]

something important to remember. The difference between those big wide save the dates and the regular 4X6's is 24 cents. Im talking about stamps.

Make sure your save the dates are under 4''X6'' so that you can use postcard stamps. This is saving hank and I about $35 in stamps!

and trust me. $35 adds up.


Im getting my save the dates printed at staples:
i made them 4.25''X5.5'' so that it evenly fits 4 save the dates on 1 sheet of standard paper.
im cutting them myself to save a couple bucks
I glued $3.00 black cardstock on the back and
used a gold pen to decorate/address them
My bridesmaid Rosemary glued computer paper [on which i had printed my return address] to them with a glue stick for a quicker process.

DAILY DENT:
$25 at staples
$20 in stamps (most can be hand delivered)
$3.00 in cardstock
$6.00 in gold pens
= $54

CURRENT BALANCE:
$271.74

*also, i recently got striped barber straws from a vendor my dads restaraunt uses (200 straws for $3.50) and 25 large mint green chinese lanterns for $35 at a wholesale online shop...

$310.24

The Ins and the Out of Business

Kmart is going out of business in our area.

how sad. personally, im a big fan.

HOWEVER, it has been absolutely amazing for wedding shopping.

1+ THE BAND: hank and i did not want a titanium ring for him.
If you get in an accident and your hands swell or are mangled or w.e. [you think this sounds ridiculous but, it has already happened to me once in my life] they immediately cut off your jewelry [yep. they did that when i got in an accident] however, they cant cut off titanium. so if they think it can hurt your fingers. they will actually have to cut off your finger and sew it back on. true story.

so. instead, we decided on a simple white gold ring [to match mine] with two lines down the side. size nine. But that is a bit out of our budget... i mean, $223 out of our budget. BUT, we decided we didnt care if the ring came from Kmart or Tiffany, or Belden -- 14k is 14k

so, Kmart has "going out of business" rings for $30 right now !! And we got a size 9, white gold ring for hank... for 30 buckaroos!

2+ UNITY CANDLES... Think of the last wedding you went to. Think of her dress... Think of the tuxes.... think of the reception... the DJ... The cake..... now try to think of the unity candles??? yeah right. truth is. nobody looks at the unity candles. so we got 75% off candles at kmart for $.98 a piece... and we are just going to put ribbon around them. PERFECT. [the one in the center is our aqua color and fat... the two on the sides are just long and white and in little glass dishes]

Daily bonus! they smell like cucumber melon! can your unity candles do that?

3+ OUR "GUEST BOOK" -- Kinda. If you know our personalities, then you know me and hank are savers in every aspect. Including house hold decorations. So we decided we want our guest book to double as a household decoration. i mean, be honest. when is the last time you looked at your guest book!!

So heres the story: Once upon a time.... I was in photo classes and i learned how to mat photos the old fashion way... and i still have LOADS of old matt board.

What we did:
A>We bought a 50% off $3 plain black 18X24 inch picture frame (fricken HUGE... I MEAN 250 GUESTS HUGE)

B>i cut out my own mat board to be mostly white around a small 4x6 engagement picture of us

C>i put the little picture inside the huge matt board and put the frame around that

D> We bought three $0.30 art pens and put them with the art board...

this isnt ours: but its the same idea. except ours is about triple the size.

Vuala!! a guest book we can hang on our wall... for $3.90!!!

DAILY DENT:
$40

CURRENT BALANCE:
$217.74

the Tripod Engagement Pictures

Let's see... $200 engagement session from this photographer, $150 from that one, ouch- $300 from there, $75, $125, etc..... Yep, none of which are in our budget! (side note: if your ever going to pay more than $100 dollars for an engagement session: it better be with Jessica Bowen: Bird on a Wire-- Shes the only one in the area worth that price)

So, Heres how it went down. Using my camera, a couple rad outfits (*red suspenders!), an old tripod, a laughable brainstorming session and, finally, some innocent passerbys ("Excuse me! Do you mind taking our picture?")-- We came up with some perfectly fab engagement photos.... for freeeeeee.

Ill post some tips and some pictures later!! :]

Now these certainly arent the best engagement pictures ive ever taken. but they were easy, a free (amazingly fun) date, and they're perfect for some simple save the dates!

BTW, im excited. im making my own save the dates! but, jeeze: Thats a whole other post altogether.

Be Indecisive:

Be Indecisive:

So This is what i did:
I picked three colors i liked [besides red. red was necessary because thats the color of the linens at the restraunt.] Mustard Yellow, Aqua/Greenish, and a deep purple.

Then i picked the most expensive necessity to find with whatever my main color is: fabric.

so i went to Joann's, Walmart, and KMart in search for a good deal in one of these colors.

i like all three evenly and therefore wasnt picky enough to pay big bucks for one particular one....



and guess what-- IT PAID OFF! I lucked out!

I walked into walmart and what did my eyes see?
IN THE DOLLAR BIN: 35 YARDS OF AQUA/GREENISH FABRIC FOR $6 [not six dollars a yard... i mean six dollars all together! ]

if my heart had been set on mustard yellow i would have paid [$4 a yard = $140]


I saved $134 by NOT being decisive.





so this is now my official color pallete























you like?




DAILY DENT:
$6
CURRENT BALANCE:
$177.74

A Big Tip

So heres an awesome tip. And i'd know an awesome tip when i see one-- I'm a waitress.


(drum roll)

Abuse the season:


For example- our wedding colors are teal/aqua/green... and red- as in valentine's day red- Christmas red. Red. So today, me and William took a long stroll through walmart's discount sections and found old Christmas and Valentine's day (Red) things that were marked 75% off. we found candy striped favor bags [marked down to $.02 each. origonally $.50 each... the price difference when you rack up 15o of those -- we saved $72 dollars!], Red vases for center pieces [marked down to $1.25 each. origonally $4.00 each. price difference when you add up 15 of those -- we saved $41.25]

seriously though: if your colors involve
black or orange shop two weeks after Halloween
Green St. Patricks Day
white blue or red fourth of july
pastels Easter

Think the season!


oh btw, great news! i just got a rebate from pronovia on my dress because it was "prepaid" [no clue what that means, but whatever] for $100 dollars!!

DAILY DENT:
$21.75
CURRENT BALANCE:
$171.75

A Flower Hair clip: My very first DIY

...

















Yay! my very first Do it yourself!

I feel like a six year old walking out of art class with a clay fish.
and just what have a made? A fabric flower for my hair!


My dress is so detailed that i dont want anything overpowering in the front but rather a low bun with a large flower. However, i really didnt want to spend $40 or even $20. So i rolled up my sleeves and made one myself. i love it. it suprisingly looks really cute in my hair.

okay so here's what i used:

1]a yard of lace fabric that i found in the basement (my mom once went through a sewing phase)
2]One of my dad's old white work T-shirts
3]some old earings that i lost the match to
4]an imitation "Pearl" bracelet i have never worn
5]a glitter glew tube i found in the craft drawer of our house
6]My sister's sewing kit
7]A hairclip from the back of my hair accessories box


and sorry folks. i cant really explain how i did it. i just cut out circles of the fabric [slowly getting smaller] and then started sewing [more like tastefully wadding up the thread until the ends folded in] and then i sewed on some of the pearls and added some glitter/bling and VUALA!

okay: confession

Im not QUITE finished.

-i need to find my old glue gun in the morning and resupport the back with hot glue and use Tea to dye it closer to the color of my dress.


Click on the Picture, please!









A new developement!
my momma is brilliant. so i boiled the flower in water and a little bit of corn starch [plus the tea]. and hung it upside down [everyone once in a while i would rearrange the petals exactly how i wanted].... its hard now! so its even more perfect. plus, we cut open and old down pillow, stole some feathers and sewed it back up. we're going to add them to it somehow.



DAILY BALANCE:
$0

Things i already know:

Confession: I'm lucky-
okay, so i do have one confession to make. This under 3,000 thing isnt completely fair. I have been blessed to have a talented family that is willing to help.

My mom is a hair dresser/salon owner (and its not one of those chinsy mall salons either-- check out the link) http://www.the-plaza-salon.com/: so i already know who is doing my hair.

However! My best friend and sister in law are also hair dressers and i know one thing. Either your talented at up-do's or you're not. So, call your local beautician school [Adirondack beauty school] and ask the teacher which student shows the most promise in doing updo's. Then call her and see how cheap she will do your hair for. Dont settle for your sister or mom doing your hair. I promise you won't regret it. but remember to always have a couple test runs before the big day.

The teachers will be ecstatic to give their students real practice, the student will be honored, and you will get a "semi-professional for LESS!"

I am planning on having a loose bun up-do with a lacey, pearly, silky flower thing in my hair (a DIY project i will announce later)

I have a "Makeup-Artist" in the "Family (kinda)": My sister-in-laws little sister [complicated much?] is really great at doing makeup. In fact, she has done makeup for a couple other weddings, and loads of friends. The bonus: shes eighteen, practically family, and not professionally trained. However, ive seen her work and its great. (If you do live in this area- call the plaza salon to get her information.) I will probably pay her around $30-40: we havent exactly discussed that yet

My Parents own a Restaraunt: http://www.lizziekeays.com/
which will give me access to free linens, tables, chairs, plates, silver, etc. All i had to do was comprimise my wedding colors to include the color of the linens at the restaraunt.

Other things I know:

amount of guests: roughly 125 people
amount in wedding party: 5 bridesmaids/ 5 groomsmen (1-2 flower girls) (1 ringbearer)
date: sometime this summer or early fall, maybe a sunday wedding. TBA
wedding colors: burnt red and either aqua marine teal or mustard yellow depending on whether its a summer or fall wedding

CURRENT BALANCE:
dress- $250
hair-$0
makeup-$30 ? TBA
linens, tables, chairs, plates, silver, etc- $0

Introduction: The Classical Cheapskate!

Hello,
My name is Quinn and, I am not a fan of tacky.
I am not a fan of second best.
I am not a fan of sloppy, trashy, tasteless, shoddy weddings.

I hate them.
To me it screams: we can't afford to get married, and yet we think we can afford marriage!

And considering I am a professional wedding photographer, Ive been to my fair share of weddings. So, I am proud to say ive seen it all. Ive seen the extravagant, million dollar affairs; and the background barBQs with uncle Clifford's moonshine.


With that said: I want a million dollar wedding. But, reality check- most photographers i know arent exactly rich, and my hubby-to-be is still in college. So the rain on my parade is the big-bad-old dollar bill. So, that is when we devised a plan, and unheard of, out of this world, daring, crazy idea that is made of the kind of stuff you find at circus olay. It goes like this: We will have a big beautiful, awesomely, terrifically, fun wedding for under $3,000 washingtons.


i know what you're thinking. No way can you pull it off. No way can you have your cake and eat it too. You have to pick between Cheap and Elegant. But we are quite determined.




How we plan to do this:

1- Amateurs: Professionals in training often have more excitement, more creativity, and more time than those who have been in the business for- like- ever. The key things they are lacking= experience and a big price tag.

2- Friends: One huge piece of advice. Dont be that couple that blows off their friends for each other. It will come back to bite you. Me and Hank both considered it extremely important to keep our friends involved in our lives and relationship. and guess what!? we have some talented pals in our gang!

3- DIY: I may not be the most creative crayola in the box, but I'm pretty good at following instructions and i believe coffee is a fabulous solution to all nighters. Putting time and personal touches into your wedding will make it all the more detailed, unique, and inexpensive!

The Dress

Let me see-- My dress is a $3,000 genuine pronovias gown with gorgeous lace, silk, and beautiful details. It fits me like a glove. It has individual buttons up the back, a bow, and train. It looks brand-spankin-new. Oh, and it only cost me $250. Jealous, yet?

How did i get this deal?

The Story:

My sister had a job interview at UVA hospital [University of VA] for a nursing position and she needed a copilot for the trip. The hospital was paying for a hotel room (complete with a pool and warm cookies waiting in your room) for us, so, really, how could i possibly pass this up? But, admittedly, i did have some alterior motives. A friend of mind (Kirsten) bought her dress at this small boutique in Lynchburg, VA. Its a part of the YWCA (as in the YMCA-- but for women http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=mkI1L6MPJvE&b=919555) and what they do is get sample dresses, or slightly damaged dresses, or slightly used dresses from designers and sell them for much less. and bonus the money goes to abused women and children. Now, sorry folks- you're going to have to wait to see my dress until the big day. But i can show you a picture of Kirsten's exquisite gown and tell you that she paid under $200 for it.

Now, Kirsten's dress had a broken zipper (which was easily fixed). But i cant find a single issue with my dress.

so, moral of the story is- if your in VA: check out this place!!! but, if you cant make it there, research was other used dress shops are in your area. second hand stores, thrift shops, and ebay are all amazing resources!! You never know what you will find.

Things to consider:

alterations are EXPENSIVE! I am a size 1-3 in most clothing and most of the dresses i found myself trying on at the YWCA were sizes 6-8. The alterations on those dresses would have been so expensive-- I mind as well've bought a brand new dress. Make sure it fits! (confession: my dress will have to be hemmed. im only 5'2'')

DAILY BALANCE:

$250

CURRENT TOTAL BALANCE:

$250

(amount left= $2750)