DIY Wedding Shadow Box

I have been married for over a year now, and I was getting sick of all the leftovers... the scraps of ribbon, extra invitations, and all the odds and ends that weren't given away after our special day.  Our condo doesn't have much storage space, so I knew I either had to come up with something to do with everything, or throw it out.  Not wanting to get rid of all these items that had sentimental value, I came up with the idea of compiling them all into a shadow box so we could display a little piece of our wedding forever.

Shadow Box: Hobby Lobby: $10 with 50% off coupon

#1:  The schedule from our reception

#2:  A string of pearls from one of our centerpieces

#3:  The handmade flower I wore in my hair

#4:  Zebra print and sheer purple ribbon from my bouquet

#5:  Our wedding announcement & temple invitation card

#6: The scoop from our candy bar & a napkin from our dessert bar

#7: The "Thank You" bags from the candy bar

#8:  The black background for the shadow box is made of one of our table runners

Some other options to include in your wedding day box: your garter, the groom's tie, dried flowers from your bouquet, favors from your reception, or even a copy of your vows.  The possibilities are endless!

To make this shadow box, I simply laid everything out & organized it how I liked, then hot glued it all in there!  Not only has it been one of my most meaningful, favorite projects, but it's one of the cheapest and easiest DIY's I have ever done.  

If you try out this DIY, I would love to see it and so would my readers!  Shoot me an email with a picture of your project & a description and you could be featured here on Borrowed & Blue!

Wedding of the Week: Nikole from Stubborn Delight

Hi, I'm Nikole, and we spent less than $1,500 on my wedding :) INCLUDING the dress and photography!

Taylor and I got married in a beautiful public park, we rented a pavilion (for free) and just put up signs to keep unwanted visitors away. Our reception was held in a dear friend's backyard. Her family and friends set it up very nicely and got tables and chairs for free from their local church.

Venue: $0

I had the bridesmaids and groomsmen assemble their own attire. I thought it was fitting, considering that most of what I wanted they already had (for the groomsmen especially). I didn't want anything to0 casual or fancy, and mismatching went well with my vintage carnival theme! For Taylor, we just bought him a nice vest to go with the shirt and trousers that he already owned. I found my dress long before I was engaged. I wanted a mermaid fit with lace overlay in ivory. Bam. Perfect dress found! I found several that fit my criteria, and truthfully, I liked an expensive one more than the one I wore. I figure that I looked good in the cheaper dress, I loved it, it fit my theme, and no one would see the nicer one to compare. So why not save the money?? I am so glad that I did!

Attire: $400 

We served a lunch before the ceremony and carnival food at the reception. My sister works at a party store and was able to score us a cotton candy machine! My aunt lives next door to a man with a hotdog cart that he rented out to us. We had a candy bar, and a lemonade stand to top it all off! Instead of cake, we served Pan Dulce (which is ridiculously inexpensive). We had a cake for looks that we got at a grocery store for about thirty dollars.

Food: $200

Photography was hard. We had to change our date last minute, and our photographer could no longer do our wedding. We looked and looked and were lucky enough to find Carrie with Carrie Lee Photography. She did our photography (ceremony, reception, bridal/groomals) for $600 and let us make payments! No one else could offer  us that!

Photography: $600

My grandma and Aunt made tulle balls in our colors for the luncheon and we borrowed a lot of lights for the reception, and odd this and that's from a very generous friend. My Uncle's mom had a ton of silk flowers in our colors, which we used too! Lucky ducky us! My Aunt gave us all the decorations (including picture frames and a canvas) for free as our wedding gift :) It was incredibly nice of her and really helpful. I made a few signs and a card box (out of my great grandmother's hat box), to add a little somethin somethin.

Decorations: $20 

I made my own bouquet out of my great-grandmother's pins and silk flowers. I also made a silk flower boutonniere for Taylor. The bridesmaids had vintage pinwheels that I made using scrapbook paper and sticks. The groomsmen's boutonnieres were little  pinwheels that I glued to hair pins. I thought it was rather clever.

"Flowers": $15

When it came to my ring, wellllll... I was picky. I just wanted something completely unique. NOT the unique that everyone gets (if you know what I mean). Taylor designed my ring all by himself! And because of some free money we came across from a very stupid business (haha!) my ring was basically free. Taylor's ring has a very touching story. His dad passed away the winter before our wedding, and Taylor spent a lot of time at a lot of jewelers trying to find a ring that was just like his dad's. At one point, we took his brother to see what we were thinking of getting, and he told us that he had his dad's ring, AND he very generously offered to let Taylor have it. It was so sweet of him, and now Taylor's ring really means a lot to him.

Rings: $0

A beautiful wedding doesn't have to be expensive! I had my dream wedding for cheap! Take advantage of connections, even ones that seem super distant. I got help from my old friend's neighbor, my grandma's best friend, and even my sister's high school friend's mom. Look for connections and take all the help you can get! Also, your bridesmaids are there to help you, take advantage of that. And remember, a cheap dress can look just as amazing as an expensive one, and you don't have to have an expensive caterer or a pricey reception center. With a little creativity, you can have the wedding you've always dreamed of, without breaking the bank! ~Nikole

You can find more of Nikole here: Blog//Facebook//Twitter

or email her at timelesslove50@gmail.com

Saving Money with The Knot

When I was newly engaged, I remember feeling so overwhelmed with all the planning that needed to be done that I didn't even know where to start.  Luckily, with a little research, I learned about the coolest website called The Knot.

It has everything you need to plan your big day, from real wedding pictures for inspiration, to a weekly checklist, to a guest book organizer.  They even have tools to help you register, create inspiration boards, and create a wedding website for your big day!  It saved me a lot of stress to be able to get emails from The Knot that not only reminded me what I needed to get done and when to do it, but gave me ideas on how to do it as well.

One of my favorite tools that The Knot offers is their budget calculator:

You simply input your budget, number of guests, and number of male & female attendants and it gives you a total of what you should be spending on each area of your wedding planning.  If there is an aspect on their budget plan that doesn't apply to your wedding, you can simply un-check the box and it will be left out of the calculation.  It will keep a running total for you and let you know how much you have left to spend every step of the way.  

I felt ridiculously overwhelmed with planning a $3,000 wedding but this budgeting tool really put it into perspective and helped me realize that my budget was achievable because it gave me a realistic view of where I could spend and where I needed to cut back.  (If I went over budget on my dress, I just knew I needed to save money on the reception center, etc.)  It's safe to say that if I never discovered this budgeting tool, I never could have stayed within my budget for our big day.

If you are a bride feeling overwhelmed with the cost and planning of the wedding, no matter what the budget, I strongly recommend starting a profile on The Knot.  Just head over there & explore your options!  There is something for everyone and it will make your wedding planning go a lot smoother.  Not only will it help you get your dream wedding for less money, but there are tons of other amazing tools on there that just might give you inspiration to help you have the perfect big day that you deserve. 

*I was not compensated for this post, I just really like their website!*