We have a date! (oh and a place)

So, Evan and I finally decided (although the decision was basically already made ages ago) and we booked Peaceable Kingdom for the last weekend in April. We are getting married April 27, 2014. Eeee!

I'm so excited I can barely contain it. I swear I'm single-handedly keeping Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and the couponing industry in business.

In related news - here's a quick list of some of the details we've decided to DIY for the wedding (and that I'm currently working on simultaneously).

Save the Dates

These were only 40¢ a piece once you factor in the cost of tools and materials, AND they're magnets.

Drink/Food station signs

These were 29¢ a piece!

Pearl necklaces for the bridesmaids

After adding up all the materials, these were $4 a piece!

I still can't get over how stinking cute the magnetic bow clasp is!

Low-ball glasses for the groomsmen

These were $1.20 a piece and I used etching creme and stencils I already had.

We are also making our own invitations, cigar boxes for the groomsmen, and dreamcatchers
for the whole wedding party. I'll make sure to update as those get finished up!

Bridesmaid and flower girl gift bags

So, I started putting together the beginnings of my bridesmaids' gift bags. I figure since I have a whole year to plan this thing, I'll use it to my advantage. I have vowed that I will not buy anything (and I mean anything) for the wedding that isn't on sale, or just super cheap to begin with.

*Sidenote: feel free to skip to the bottom if you don't want to go through my whole decision-making process*

These totes were originally $24 on The Knot's wedding shop. And that was just for the bag, it was another $7.75 to put an initial on it. I bought them for $5.99 each with free personalization. 

The matching cosmetic bags were originally $9.95. I got those for $5.99 as well. I chose to get the bag sets in mismatched colors though. "Hot Pink" for half the totes and "Mocha" for the other half. I then reversed those for the cosmetic bags. Basically each girl will get a set of one pink bag and one brown bag, and all the monograms are pink with a brown outline. 

Additionally, I bought the last set of totes for the two flower girls we will have. I got them both in pink with each girl's name on it. Again, these were originally $14.99 each. I bought them for $7.99 each.

These combined with some white eyelet paper lanterns brought my total high enough to get free shipping. Plus, I pulled a 15% off coupon from Retailmenot.com. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with myself.

I'm also planning on putting the following items into the bridesmaid bags:

A mini tissue pack, tic tacs, Asprin, a mini bottle of lotion, a nail file, chapstick, a compact mirror a heart key chain, and a travel coffee mug.

Silver Rose Mirror Compacts: 89¢ each

Travel mugs: $1 each

My goal is to be able to do all that for $10 a piece, putting the total for each bag at under $22! I know it sounds like it's not a lot of money, but it is a lot of quality, personalized items - and the total worth of each bag, had I paid full price is actually closer to $75. ( $24 for the tote, $7.75 personalization, $10 for the cosmetic bag, $15 for the compact based on theknot.com, $5 for the coffee mug based on BB&B, and $10 for the other items) Yay savings!

I'm just going to put some lipgloss, a compact, and fingernail polish into the flowergirl bags. 

Bridesmaid Bag Breakdown

$6.00 Totes (Theknot.com)

$8.00 Cosmetic bags (Theknot.com)

$1.00 Coffee mugs (Dollar Tree)

$0.89 Compacts (wrapwithus.com)

$0.89 Key Chains (wrapwithus.com)

$0.49 Asprin (Base Exchange)

$0.49 Hand lotion (Base Exchange)

$0.57 Glitter nail file (Base Exchange)

$0.80 Tic-tacs (Base Exchange)

$0.83 Chapstick (Base Exchange)

$0.33 Hand sanitizer (Dollar Tree)

____________________________

$20.29

I'm also making them all pearl necklaces with the cutest magnetic bow clasps, the pictures for those will be in my next post. All the materials for that came out to $4.14 a piece for each completed necklace (bought at Hobby Lobby). AND I'm making dreamcatchers for the whole wedding party. They will have their own post at a later date as well. 

I'm still stumped about what something extra I want to get my sister AKA my maid of honor. Any ideas?