Budget Savvy Wedding Planning

Unless you’re a professional wedding planner, it’s not until you actually sit down to plan a wedding of your own that you realize how much detailing is required. After you get your wedding dress, you then have to get it altered. When you’re shopping for flowers, you have to make sure that you order them when they’re at their blooming peak. And when it comes to all of the stuff that you’ll need for your reception, while you know that favors are a tradition, after all of the money that you’ve already spent, it can be really tempting to nix that altogether.

Help is here, along with some good news because the truth of the matter is that when it comes to having inexpensive and stylish personalized wedding favors, you can actually have your cake and eat it too (yes, the pun there was totally intended)!

Candy tins. A traditional party favor that really doesn’t take a lot of money to make is candy tins. You can find a variety of tins in all sizes and colors at craft stores like Pottery Barn or Joanne’s and fill them up with some of you and your beloved’s favorite kinds of gum and candy. When it comes to the personalizing part, simply attach a thank-you tag on it featuring your John Hancock (either your two first names or introducing you both as “Mr. and Mrs.”).

Make a mix CD. You would think this idea would be outdated by now, but no one really gets tired of hearing a collection of good love songs. It can either be music from your wedding and reception or even songs that you dedicated to one another during the dating process. All you need is a box of CDs and some CD covers (you should be able to get $100 for about $25). You can even print your names and the wedding date from your own printer at home.

Goodie box. The cool thing about wedding favors these days is that there are a lot of companies that sell them online, in bulk, for a really low price. Websites like FavorIdeas.com, WeddingFavorsUnlimited.com and WeddingFavorSource.com are all places where you can purchase a variety of items for pennies on the dollar. To make a goodie box, simply purchase some favor boxes (Beau-coup.com has some elegant looking ones for a fair price) and fill them with some of your favorite things. Maybe include a couple of favors that are symbolic of your courtship, a favorite cookie and a tiny picture frame or keychain with a picture of the two of you inside of it.

Personalized calendars. One of the most user-friendly kinds of wedding favor is a personalized calendar. Either you can include different pictures for each month (including baby pics, dating pics and pics from your engagement) or it can be something more generalized like some of your favorite love quotes and poetry. Stores including Walgreens and Kinkos will print them for you or you can go onto websites like FreePrintableCalendar.net and print them off yourself for free.

Create a romance list. What better way to end a day of love than to inspire others to create their own night of romance. Another cute and inexpensive idea is to create a “25 Ways to Love Your Mate” list filled with different ways to (re)ignite the flame of the couples who came to be a part of your special day. It can be in the form of a parchment scroll, note card or even a cute little coupon book. On the cover, include a little message of inspiration from you and your spouse along with your wedding date so that people can remember who gave them their motivation to fall in love with their own beloved all over again.