As a rule, I prefer not to buy things that I know wont have a long life expectancy. Things like goldfish. Clothes that will surely shrink within the first accidental washing. Leggings my dog will tear up from jumping on me. However, one thing important to me, no matter how soon they were to die, was the bouquets, corsages, and buttoners. Each of us made our own bouquets. Since my wedding was on New Years Day, my sisters had a party to go to the night before. I was left to make 6 buttoners, 4 corsages, and another bouquet for throwing. (And multiple other things)
The flowers were bought from Target the day before the wedding. They were extremely low-priced, which was the only thing I had in my budget. I chose the only seasonal flowers that were close to my colors, but I recommend searching around for what colors you really want, even if you can't afford much. If you have a wedding during the winter months and want to save money, you can't get much for $50. I learned, however, that you can make up for a lot of the colors that might not be available by using various white flowers. They help tie the wedding dress white in with the bouquets of the bridesmaids.
Our guest book was no book- it was a drawing that I did of a tree. This is a new trend I spotted a while back and I caught on to it before it could be over done. Instead of signing a book that no one cares about, guests fingerprint a "leaf" onto the tree and sign in or around it depending on the darkness of the ink. Not everyone understood the concept, so I'm not positive if all the guests actually signed. Most did, though. I also drew a guitar at the base of the tree representing what brought us together- music.
Our programs were designed by me, but they were assembled by my AMAZING friends- the Denny sisters, Lauren, and a few other great ladies. The M&A stamp was made by me. Using an exacto knife, I carved the letters into an eraser. I also used it on other things in the wedding.
