Attitude of Gratitude

Our thank you greeting cards from Uprinting.com

Whenever I think of our wedding day, I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Truly, it would not have been possible without the help of our dear family and friends. So I was very excited to send out our thank you cards...but geez, who knew how time consuming they are!

Thanks to winning a blog giveaway, I won free greeting cards from Uprinting.com. I made a simple Thank You card design on Photoshop, and there you go, our Thank You cards were finished! We needed a few more thank you cards for our vendors, so I ordered several more postcards from Snapfish.com. I think Snapfish has the better deal  if you just want a few (like less than 25). I paid a $1 for each and a minimal shipping fee.

Our postcards from Snapfish.com. When you send out postcards, postage is just 28 cents!

We knew we wanted to hand write out each card with a personal message for our guests, but times that by about 60 cards...that's a long time at the desk...and potential carpal tunnel! So, we didn't get them out as soon as we wanted (yeah, nearly two months later is a wee bit late), but we got them out.

As an added bonus from our photographer at Bliss Imagery, we received little business card-sized photos from the wedding day. We put the photos in each of our cards to our guests as an another momento from the day.

We headed to the post office and sent out our thank you cards and, in a way, I was a little sad.

The last item on our seemingly never-ending wedding list was checked off. Well, there are still wedding photos to get printed, and other random items, but really...that's about it.

While we're happy the planning part is done and we're finally MARIEEED, the whole process was a fun, exciting, sometimes stressful and emotional ride, but truly memorable time for the both us. It was a project we both successfully completed together and it was a true partnership and team effort. We will always be grateful for the memories and every time I think of our special day, I'll always be reminded of how truly blessed we are.

Now it's time for an even greater team project...and this one lasts for a lifetime!

Rehearsal Dinner Deets

People have described to me the moment that it finally hits them, the OMG feeling that tells them that Yep, this is really happening...When did I have that feeling? My fiance and I were sitting at our spots at the altar of our church during our ceremony rehearsal and we looked at the faces of our wedding party sitting in the pews. We both turned and looked at each other.

Yikes! We're getting married!!! And it feels sooo good!

We scheduled our rehearsal dinner the Thursday evening before our wedding, giving us all of Friday for any last minute prepping -- which we definitely needed. We planned a lowkey, casual backyard get-together after the rehearsal.

The rehearsal dinner invites I made using a free template from Download & Print, free 4X6 prints from Snapfish, leftover envelopes from our Save the Dates and leftover cardstock from our invitations. Cost for 22 invites plus postage: $10. 

Our church coordinator did a thorough job going through each step of the ceremony, which was a Catholic ceremony without communion.

It's starting to sink in...

Feeling the excitement!

But the rehearsal went much longer than expected. We ended at 7:30 p.m. and our rehearsal dinner was scheduled at 7:30 p.m. We still needed to drive to our family's house to get the backyard ready for the dinner! We invited other guests who didn't need to be at the ceremony rehearsal so we had to get there as soon as possible.

But of course there was bumper to bumper traffic moving at a glacial speed on the 210 freeway. Oh, LA traffic, must you rear your ugly head now???

Despite being nearly an hour late, our rehearsal dinner was still a fun, casual affair at our house.

We used our own tiki torches and my father-in-law borrowed tables and chairs from his work.

For centerpieces and added lighting, my mother-in-law gathered old candles from around her house. It added a nice ambiance to the evening.

The food was a mixture of home-cooked Filipino food, catered Chinese food and grilled short ribs.

Saying thanks to our wedding party. Yep, that's me wearing a silk Chinese top in traditional red and gold, in honor of my fiance's cultural heritage. My guy's wearing a traditional Filipino barong, in honor of my Filipino family.

It was a lovely evening with both of our families coming together and getting to know each other.  And yes, the rehearsal dinner was part of our wedding budget. Including the food, drinks, utensils and all decorations for a dinner to feed 30 people, we spent $230.

Next up: Getting ready for the big day!

Shower us w/ your love: Our Wedding Shower/Bride's night out

Ah, yes, we have returned home from our honeymoon and as we start getting settled into married life, I've realized...I haven't blogged -- really blogged -- since right before our wedding shower. That was more than 2 weeks ago, yo! So, to make up for lost time, I'm starting where I left off, culminating in wedding and honeymoon recaps galore!

So, to start off, let's talk shower shall we?

First, I insisted on couple's shower. I don't feel comfortable being the sole center of attention. Besides, I've always felt like this wedding was our wedding, not some me, me, me lovefest. The shower also fell on the weekend on my fiance's birthday, so it became a shower/birthday party. I let my mom and Maid and Matron of Honor take over the shower planning completely, which they insisted on doing. The only thing I did was give them addresses for the paper invites and email addresses for the evites. Oh, and I did win these cute shower paper invites from a blog giveaway:

Amanda from Dawn Correspondence customized this design for our wedding shower

I told my MOH and Matron of Honor not to spend too much money on the party, either. I think they pulled off a fun, cute event on a limited budget very nicely! The shower was a laidback, intimate affair with a few of our close family and friends. My MOH organized some fun games, including wedding taboo (which the fiance and I totally kicked ass in since --ahem--we're pretty knowledgeable on wedding stuff by now), a couple's trivia quiz and this game:

Those are my nieces trying to grab as many safety pins (closed of course) from a bowl of rice blindfolded. Actually a lot harder than it looks. The adults played, too, but the kids pretty much showed them up! I thought my MOH was pretty generous in prizes, too -- Coffee Bean and In N Out gift cards and 2 movie passes!

Playing Wedding Taboo

My MOH also made this wedding scrapbook for us and had guests write notes of advice and well wishes to put in it:

My Matron of Honor made these cute favors for guests to take home:

 

My niece admiring the pretty bouquet my Matron of Honor (her mom) arranged.

And there was food...lot's of it!

And there was cake -- a wedding shower/30th b-day cake!

Afterwards, we opened gifts...just some advice for folks attending a bridal/wedding shower: if you're going to give a naughty gift to the bride, let her know before she opens it...chances are, her mom or dad might be right there as she opens it (yes, it did happen!)

And later that night, my MOH and Matron of Honor took me out for a mini-bachelorette party at nearby Sevilla's for drinks and salsa dancing:

The day was such a lovely day and my fiance and I were really happy with how it all turned out. We gave our hostesses each thank you gifts: a massage at a nearby spa for my mom, a bracelet from Guy and Eva for my MOH, and a handstamped pearl necklace (with names of her three daughters) from The Vintage Pearl for my Matron of Honor.

Next up: Rehearsal Dinner recaps!

Sponsored Post: Our donation/placecards from Vistaprint

As a most brides know, printing can take up a bulk of your budget. If you're like me, spending $1000 on paper that most will toss by wedding's end did not sit well with me. One place where I've saved quite a bit of money has been printing my stationery items through online printing stores such as Vistaprint. Nothing can beat some of their prices. For instance, $24.99 for 100 postcards! Some folks might be wary about the quality of the prints, but after ordering a few items through Vistaprint, I have to say that I'm very pleased! Sign up for their newsletter and you can even get things for FREE, like your Save the Dates and Thank You Cards!

What's also great about Vistaprint is that you can upload any design to have your own customized prints. To save money and trees we decided use our donation cards as placecards for each seat, instead of two separate items for each person. We grabbed the idea with these placecard/menu cards in one:

We uploaded our donation card design to their 4"X8" cards. The process was pretty easy and you can preview it before you print! Our design left a little room at the top so we can print each name of our guests later.

The cards came within days of ordering and they came out exactly as I had hoped they would! We also ordered escort cards through Vistaprint and they were just as good! So definitely look into Vistaprint as budget-friendly printing option!

*As a the writer of this review, I received 150 4"X8" cards. However, this did not influence the opinions expressed in this post.

Graphic design for beginners

I'm fairly familiar with graphic design programs like Photoshop and InDesign (I can make pretty basic but decent looking files), but I do not own any of the programs nor would I call myself a graphic designer...by no means.

The programs I do own for graphic design purposes are elementary compared to what's out there. Yep, I have trusty old Microsoft Word and Paint. So how do I create decent stationery with the limited software I have?

Luckily for me, I was able to score some free printing for rehearsal dinner invites, donation/favor cards and ceremony programs. The problem is, I didn't have anyone readily available to design them for me. Finding free, high resolution clipart can be difficult. So what to do?

There are a few good sites out there that offer free design templates for your stationery needs, like Download & Print where I nabbed this simple, yet cool bamboo design for my rehearsal dinner invites:

The designs come in Microsoft Word and can be easily resized (I had to resize the design for my 4X6 postcards).

Then I came across One Heart Weddings. You do have to pay for a year subscription for unlimited access to all designs, but sign up for a free trial and you can download two free clipart designs (just be sure to cancel before the 7-day trial ends or you'll get charged). I designed our donation cards which will also double up as our name cards using this background:

With just a little tweaking on Word and Paint, I came up with a design that matched our wedding colors.

I also created our ceremony programs using a free background on One Heart Weddings:

Not bad for a graphic design novice!

You can also find free downloadable photos/graphics at http://www.sxc.hu/ and free downloadable fonts at http://www.dafont.com/

Vendor Spotlight and GIVEAWAY: Custom Printables

At some point in your wedding planning you're going to come across these...and yes, I admit, they're irresistable. They're the wedding monogram, the lovely designs that make you and your future hubby's names look so darn cute together! Put them on your wedding invitations, address labels, wedding programs, favors...just anything you can think of! But having your own custom monogram can be a pretty penny if you don't have the graphic design skillz to pull it off. But don't fret, Valerie from Custom Printables offers an array of monograms to choose from all for an affordable price! Choose from contemporary and classic, traditional and unique designs to fit your budget-savvy, yet stylish tastes. Instead of paying for the design and the print, Custom Printables sends a custom design directly to you so you can print on your paper. Imagine my delight when Valerie made us our own monogram:

Adorable ain't it? And yes, some of you might recall, we used the design to make our own monogram rubber stamp for our invitations. The result? These embossed cuties on our envelope!

Not only does Custom Printables also offers custom wedding programs and water bottle labels! Go to their site, and you can even download free, yes free, invitation and place card templates!

So here she is, Valerie from Custom Printables!

Why did you start making wedding designs

I picked up an interest in graphic design at a young age, but actualized it mainly through school art projects and posters. A few years ago when I started a new job, my office computer came with the entire Adobe Creative Suite and so I just started playing around. I took a few classes in Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator through the local community college, and got great feedback from my classmates. When I discovered Etsy and some wedding blogs that I read regularly (including I Do Budget Weddings!), I decided there might be a niche market for folks who want great wedding stationery and artwork, lots of choices, and the option to be able to use the designs however they choose. In particular, I found that couples want someone else to create an elegant, unique wedding program but be able to print it themselves to save money.

Your custom work are great for the couple looking for a personalized touch at an affordable price. Which of your designs are the most popular?

The monograms and wedding programs for Jewish couples are quite popular. I offer a variety of designs with Hebrew phrases that come from Jewish texts and traditions, such as "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" and "I have found the one in whom my soul delights." Additionally, I can include the Hebrew text of the seven blessings said at a Jewish wedding, and for all weddings, depending on the length of the program, I can include descriptions of the traditions and rituals. Of course, any design offered with Hebrew can be made with English text and vice versa! My most popular monograms are Erin, Renee, Amelia, and Ellisha, and the most popular invitation is based off the New Orleans Save-the-Date found on Zazzle.

Besides invitations and programs, what are some of the unique ways you've seen couples use your designs?

One couple asked for the word "Love" in a swirly frame that matched their monogram and wedding stationery. This was given to their baker, who printed out the image onto a sheet of edible paper and placed it on one of the cake tiers! The cake was then decorated to match the swirls.

What was the most unique detail you've seen at a wedding?
When my best friend got married, on the morning of her wedding she found that her soon-to-be husband had written love notes all over the bottom of her shoes. I thought it was such a cute and unexpected surprise! At another wedding I attended, the entire event was vintage-themed with mint green, black, and white. The bridesmaids wore these lovely vintage dresses that evoked the 20s and 30s, and their hair was coiffed to match the era. The bride, instead of a full-length gown, wore a sailor-inspired white dress that was not at all costume-y. It was an elegant theme wedding that strayed far from kitsch!

Anything else you'd like to share about your shop?
I don't just do weddings! I have created designs for baby showers and birthday parties, military homecomings and retirement celebrations. Additionally, I offer candy wrappers and water bottle labels. Finally, I'm beginning to delve into the world of printing myself - I have found a remarkably reliable and inexpensive vendor - so I am able to offer the complete package for my clients.

Links where we can find more info. on your shop:

Store: http://www.customprintablesonline.com
Blog: http://customprintables.blogspot.com
Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/valie520*
Etsy: http://valie520.etsy.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carrboro-NC/Custom-Printables/60997847258?ref=ts

Now onto our GIVEAWAY!

WIN IT:
Valerie is giving one lucky winner five catalog monograms and a custom two-page wedding program (or, if the couple wants more than two pages, the price of a multiple page program minus the cost of a two-page program, or $20).

The Rules
1) MANDATORY ENTRY! Go to Custom Printables Online Shop and comment on your favorite monogram or design for one entry. This is mandatory! Contestants who do not do this will be disqualified. Remember to leave your email address or some way to contact you with each entry!


Additional entries (remember to leave separate comments for each additional entry)

2) Become a new follower of this blog. You must follow publicly (1 entry)
3) Are currently a follower of my blog (2 entries)
4) Like “I Do” Budget Weddings on Facebook (2 entries)
5) Like Custom Printables on Facebook (2 entries)
6) Blog about the contest and include a link to the giveaway. Each entrant must also include a link to Custom Printables in their post (3 entries) Please include a direct link to your blog post in your comment.
7) Buy anything from Custom Printables (5 entries)
8) Follow “I Do” Budget Weddings on Twitter (1 entry)
9) Follow Custom Printables on Twitter (2 entries)
10) Tweet on this giveaway and include a link to this giveaway in your tweet (1 entry)
11) Grab my button and place it on your blog (1 entry)
12) Subscribe to "I Do" Budget Weddings emails (1 entry)
13) Become a follower on Networked Blogs (1 entry)
The deadline to enter this contest is 11:59 p.m., Saturday, June 26, 2010 (PST). A winner will be randomly chosen. Good luck!

Free Invitation Downloads!

Found this on Etsy It Up! and I just had to share: Head over to Download & Print and you have yourself a great selection of invitation templates to choose from!

All you need is Microsoft Word, or you can pdf the doc to have it professionally printed! I scored 100 free postcard prints in a blog giveaway and I'd loved to use them for rehearsal dinner invites. Having access to free design templates is a great timesaver for us, as we're pretty limited in graphic design skills and we don't really have the money to hire anyone for the design.

So if you haven't already done so, browse all the cute templates! You might find one perfect for your Bridal Shower, Wedding or Rehearsal Dinner!

Our Semi-Homemade Invitations

Well, our invitations are finally done! We put 60 cent postage on each of them (not excited about the ugly 10 cent stamps the post office gave us) and sent them on their way. I think it's safe to say that I'm happy to see them go!

Not to say that I don't love our invites. I'm actually really pleased about the way they turned out...overall. From the very beginning, I knew that stationery was low on my list. Not that I don't appreciate a nice piece of pretty paper, I just don't think spendng $700 on an invite that most people will discard after the wedding is worth it. But I did know I that I wanted something decent to send to our guests.

At first I had visions of making our invites from scratch...like purchasing our cardstock wholesale and assembling our own trifold invites. That would have been truly homemade! But considering my limited crafting skills, I knew that was never going to happen. So we purchased 3 DIY invitation kits at Michaels for $26 each (thanks to 40% off coupons!). There were 30 ivory and gold invitations in each box, and I only needed 60, but it turned out I really needed those extras for the "oopsies"...and there were many! Being a complete crafty novice, I should have kept it as simple as possible. The kits and the instructions are pretty simple. Grab the templates online and just print. Easy peasy, huh?

But no, I just had to take it a step further and emboss images onto the envelope! The invites are nice as they are, but our colors are purple and gold...where was the purple? We chose a cute floral stamp from Michaels to dress the front of the envelope. Using a monogram design from Custom Printables, I created a stamp and ordered it via Rubberstampchamp.com. I loved the customized design Valerie from Custom Printables made for us (more from her in a later post), but transferred onto a stamp was a different story. The stamp from Rubberstampchamp.com was made slightly lopsided, thus my many discarded "error" envelopes!

The embossing process took much longer than I had anticipated -- stamping each envelope with purple embossing ink, shaking purple embossing powder over the stamped image and heating the image. Long, tedious and pretty messy when going through 60 envelopes! But in the end, we came out with some pretty neat purple images to go along with our color scheme. We also purchased purple ribbon to replace the ivory ones.

My sister and her husband helped us with the printing since they had a better, faster printer. This part took us a lot longer (insert all-nighter here) because the main, front card didn't have enough room for reception information. So we created another card to glue onto the right flap, as well as another card for our menu items. We also made even more edits to our invitation wording and format (thanks to the extra eyes that helped us!) FYI. if you're planning to do any of your own printing, make sure you have a good, fast printer! Nothing sucks more than watching your printer slowly print. It's like watching grass grow!

My FH was insistent that we should write out each of our guests' addresses to make our invites more personal. At first, I wanted to kill him...seriously? Who has the time and talent to do that for all 60 of our invites? Since we have no money for a calligrapher, and our penmanship is craptastic, I printed out our addresses in a nice cursive font in very light ink on our address labels and traced them over with a purple pen. Haha! Calligraphy issue solved! They actually came out pretty nice, and we received some nice comments about the labels. No one seemed to notice we cheated ;)

So in the end, I got the trifold envelope invitations I wanted, my FH got the handwritten addresses he wanted, and we have the cute invites we're really pleased with for a reasonable price.

However, we did go over our budget with the invites. We budgeted only $150, but with the toner we had to purchase for the printer and the extra materials for the embossing, we came out to nearly $200 (including postage). Had I not made so many newbie mistakes, that number would have been more like $150 or even less! Oh well, live and learn.

I love that our invites were made by us, and yes, I do feel more of a connection to them. The more I look at them, the more I think, wow, we made those! It was a true DIT project (Do-it-Together). But considering the time, money and labor that went into them...I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon!

So...did you make your own invitations? How did the process go? Did you enjoy it?

(FYI: If you want to save money on postage, make sure your invitations are flat and lightweight. We were warned that the knots from each ribbon in our invites created a bump and might cause some invites to be rejected when cancelled through the machine. I wanted to be sure our invitations went through, hence the more expensive postage.)

Cartoon Maps

I love cartoon maps as they add a lot of fun character to your wedding location. Our wedding will be the Pasadena area so my sister (defintely the one with better artistic skills) drew one for us!

Adorable! I love how she added icons of area landmarks!

We Google Mapped the area to figure out key locations, but trying to convert it to a drawing was actually a little harder than it looks. Well, at least that's what my sister says, and her being an animation major in college, I believe her! Good thing I didn't attempt this myself as I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler without messing up!

We'll place this map on our Web site with directions and we may print some out to hand out to our OOT guests. Thank you, sister!

Vendor Spotlight and GIVEAWAY: Lovli Day (CLOSED)

After working in the media and print industry for awhile now, I find that I've had moments where I've totally geeked out on fonts. Like, I've actually had debates with co-workers about which font is the best. No way! Helvetica is so much better than Impact! Really. So I was really intrigued when I came across our next Vendor Spotlight: Lovli Day on Etsy. Jessie from Lovli Day shows us how the fonts, rather than images or design embellishments, can really make your stationery stand out. The mix and matching of typography with cool color schemes take on a fresh approach to the traditional invite or Save the Date. Not only does Jessie design stationery, but you can buy the very popular, but very awesome family tree guestbook from her store.

I received a poster from Jessie and I'm really thrilled about the enduring keepsake the future hubs and I can have. Display it at your reception, and your guests can leave their imprints on the branches, along with their signatures.The poster comes with a small instruction card you can frame and green ink pads.I liked the quality of the print and the paper, and Jessie can customize the tree design with you and your FH's names and your wedding date! The 18" x 24" poster is large enough for 200 thumbprints. Hang it in your future home and it'll be something you can cherish everyday, instead of wondering..."Honey, whatever happened to our guestbook?"


Take it away, Jessie!

The fonts and typography of your Save the Dates and invites usually take center stage. What draws you to more text/font-driven designs?

As a graphic designer, I’ve always had a love for typography, but I feel like good typography is often missed in traditional invitation designs. I'm hoping to help change that.

What sparked your interest in making wedding items?
I had so much fun planning my own wedding, even after it was over I wanted to keep looking through bridal magazines and websites. Eventually, I do hope to expand my business to include something for every aspects of a wedding. Honestly, I’d love to do everything from the invitations to the cake!

What else can we expect to see from you in the future?
Definitely more guestbook alternatives, my wedding tree poster is my most popular item by far. I’ve always felt like the traditional guestbook is a little outdated, and personally I never really understood the concept. To me, its just a book you’ll put away in storage and maybe never look at again. I do still think it is very important to capture a list of everyone who has participated in your very special day, but much like your favorite wedding photo, it should be a piece of art, something you can frame and enjoy on a daily basis.

What was the best detail of your wedding?
That's a tough one, I don't think I can pick just one detail. I was really blessed to marry a wonderful man on a very beautiful day. Everything was just perfect in my eyes.

The Save the Date and/or invitation usually sets the tone for the wedding. What advice can you give to brides as they select their wedding stationery?
Have fun with it! Your wedding invitations should not only set the tone for your upcoming wedding, but they should reflect you as a couple. Traditional invitations are great, but if that’s not who you are then don’t be afraid to do something a little different.

Links where we can find out more of your work:
Someday soon I hope to have my own website, but until then I am selling exclusively on etsy ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/lovliday ) I do have a facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lovli-Day/362603177086?ref=ts

THE GIVEAWAY:
Jessie is giving one lucky winner a $20 gift certificate to her store!

THE RULES:
1) Go to Lovli Day on Etsy and comment on your favorite item for one entry! This is mandatory! Contestants who do not do this will be disqualified. Remember to leave your email address or some way to contact you with each entry!

You can add more comments to increase your chance to win if you do the following (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):

2) Become a new follower of this blog (1 entry)
3) Are currently a follower of my blog (2 entries or 2 separate comments!)
4) Become a facebook fan of “I Do” Budget Weddings (2 entries or 2 separate comments)
5) Become a facebook fan of Lovli Day (2 entries or 2 separate comments)
6) Blog about the contest and include a link to the giveaway. You must also include a link to Lovli Day's Etsy shop in your post (3 entries or 3 separate comments)
7) Buy anything from Lovli Day(5 entries or 5 separate comments)
8) Heart Lovli Day shop on Etsy. (1 entry)
9) Follow “I Do” Budget Weddings on Twitter (1 entry)
10) Tweet on this giveaway and include a link to this giveaway in your tweet. (1 entry)
11) Subscribe to my blog emails (1 entry)
12) Grab my blog button located on the right sidebar and put it on your blog (2 entries)

The deadline to enter this contest is 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (PST). A winner will be randomly chosen and announced the following day. Good luck! This Giveaway is closed.

Vistaprint Giveaway: 100 free STD's or Thank You cards! (CLOSED)

I've teamed up with the online printing company Vistaprint to host another great giveaway! The company offers a vast array of printing materials at affordable prices, including a wedding selection of invitations, postcards, programs, menus and more! You can choose from their many template designs or upload your own.

The Prize:
Vistaprint is offering one of my lucky readers 100 free Save the Dates or Thank You cards including free shipping!

The Rules:

1) Comment and tell me what you would use the postcards for. Please also include your wedding date. This is mandatory! Contestants who do not do this will be disqualified. Remember to leave your email address or some way to contact you with each entry!

You can add more comments to increase your chance to win if you do the following (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):

2) Become a new follower of this blog (1 entry)
3) Are currently a follower of my blog (2 entries or 2 separate comments!)
4) Become a facebook fan of “I Do” Budget Weddings (2 entries or 2 separate comments)
5) Blog about the contest and include a link to the giveaway. You must also include a link to Vistaprint in your post (3 entries or 3 separate comments)
6) Order anything from Vistaprint (5 entries or 5 separate comments)
7) Follow “I Do” Budget Weddings on Twitter (1 entry)
8) Tweet on this giveaway and include a link to this giveaway in your tweet. Please include a link to your tweet. (1 entry)
9) Include “I Do” Budget Weddings on your Blog List, or on your homepage. Include a link to your blog so I may verify it (2 entries or 2 comments).
10) Subscribe to "I Do" Budget Weddings email list (1 entry)
11) Enter any of my other current giveaways and be sure to tell me which giveaways you've entered (1 entry per giveaway entered)

The deadline to enter this contest is 11:59 p.m., Thursday March 18, 2010 (PST). A winner will be randomly chosen and announced the following day. Good luck! (THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED)
* Don’t forget, you can still enter to win a pair of genuine freshwater pearl earrings from House of Peltier and a set of tile coasters from Coaster Creations!

Mmmm...more origami

Saw this over at Wedding Bee (who got it from Eat Drink Chic) and, well, I had to join the bandwagon.

But check out these origami invitations! Aren't they adorable?

From Eat Drink Chic

From Eat Drink Chic

From Eat Drink Chic

Eat Drink Chic offers a downloadable template and you can view a video tutorial here. I had been thinking of inexpensive invites to send for our rehearsal dinner, and I orginally thought an evite would suffice...we are just having a casual backyard BBQ/potluck. But, call me old fashion, I always like the real things. Hmmm, cute, unique and very cheap. I think it's a win! We're already folding 1000 paper cranes...what's 20 more rehearsal dinner invites? (I can hear my fiance groaning :)