I have mentioned in my writing about how saving money has been my personal mission as far as my wedding goes. I know that the “average” wedding in this area is $22,000…I have $10,000. So I know to save money, and still have the wedding of my dreams, I need to be creative.

So I thought I would try to make my own unity candle–I thought, “How hard could it possibly be to glue some pearls onto a candle?” Until I realized that just gluing the pearls on did not make them secure enough. So I put litte indentations in the candle to glue the pearls into–and the 1st candle I bought looked terrible after I did it, so I bought a different type of candle to try again–and it cracked. So here I am with 2 beat up candles (good thing we burn a ton of candles at home–they will be used) and still no unity candle. So as not to waste any more money, time, or expose myself to more aggravation and frustration, I went online and bought one for $35.00.

Now, I am good at graphic design and sewing, so I have made my bridal purse (one of those cute draw string satin bags) and I designed our Thank you Notes, our Save the Date Cards, as well as my shower invites and the inserts that went with them. Making these things has saved me quite a bit of money, and they were actually fairly low-stress–and that is a good thing.

Bottom line: if you are a very crafty person, or know people who are, by all means, make everything for your wedding–you can save yourself a ton. But if your not, trying to save money by trying to be crafty, in the long run–won’t. And it will add to the stress you are already dealing with.

So play to your strengths when planning your wedding. Remember how much YOUR time and sanity costs. Saving a couple extra dollars is not worth losing either…

Good Luck!