I Hate Glitter Glue! - Wedding Planning on a Budget

Being a mum, I’m supposed to enjoy arts and crafts right? I was part of the Brownies and Guides as a child (well known for their love of making things) and I even studied Art at high school, yet none of these experiences succeeded in nurturing the creative side of my brain. Perhaps scientists are better suited with numbers and theories? That being said, why on Earth did I agree to make my own wedding stationary?!
 

When you are on a tight budget, any saving can make a difference. Whether you are getting married, or planning some other big event, a little DIY can sometimes produce excellent quality results, at a fraction of the cost - that was the theory for our wedding. I’d been putting it off for far too long, but my partner and I finally agreed that we should attempt to make our ‘save the date’ cards this weekend.

 

We designed an image for the front of our ‘save the dates,’ and ordered multiple copies through PhotoBox. We bought card, glue and other craft supplies from Hobbycraft, and made a bulk order of coloured envelopes from Amazon. Our total came to £35 - bargain! Normally I would have attempted to recruit the help of my bridesmaids (one of which is a Brown Owl for her local Brownies), but I was assured that the two of us could succeed in no time at all as we had the weekend completely free…

 

For those of you who don’t know me, I have been compared to Monica Geller (Friends) many times - I hate mess, cringe at the thought of using our best glasses, cutlery or plates and even have a substantial ribbon collection (none of which were useful for this particular occasion). I allowed my partner to carry out the simplest job, gluing photo to card, but could only put up with his gluing attempts for a few minutes before I went ‘full Monica’ on him! He subsequently left in a huff, leaving me to do it myself. To top it all off, my 3-year-old decided to empty a full jigsaw right in the midst of the supplies and proceeded to sit down right on top of the (still wet) finished examples! Needless to say, only 10 people were getting invited at this rate!

 

After finally finishing the last card and lovingly writing the name of the guest, I decided to check price lists of suppliers I’d picked up, I was curious to know how much money we’d saved...

 

NOTHING!!

 

The cost for the same number of invitations from the supplier was exactly £35! You can imagine how my mood was after learning this fact!

 

Despite this, it’s important to remember that weddings are exciting and happy occasions, and that I shouldn’t get too stressed. In any case, at least I’ve learned some lessons:

 

- Don’t ask for help if I want it done MY way

 

- Never attempt to use anything shiny when small children are about

 

- Don’t worry about being lazy unless money is actually going to be saved

 

After this experience, I’m definitely not going to waste any time making the full invitations, those will be handled by a professional!
 

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