We’ve been away at a lovely wedding all weekend, and are heading to another on Friday, so “Buy Our Groceries” will have to wait until next week! In the meantime, I thought I’d share some brilliant ideas I saw at the wedding on Sunday.
The bride and groom made a lot of the stuff themselves and I always recommend that people do this to save money. They had some friends over for a craft day and stamped, cut, sorted and labeled. If you host a few days like that and start planning early in your engagement, it won’t be stressful and most importantly it will be cheap!
Monopoly bar money was tucked sweetly into envelopes with each guests name and table assignment.
Another way they saved money was on the bar tab. They couldn’t bring in their own alcohol, so they decided on their budget and created personalized monopoly style money in that amount. They divided it into small envelopes and used those as the escort cards. That way, they couldn’t go over their budget, but they wouldn’t have to stop the open bar at a specified hour. It was fun to buy drinks and get change with the fake money, and you could always butter up the pregnant ladies in the room if you ran out!
Tall mason jars held casual arrangements and short jars were scattered about with floating tea lights.
Brown kraft paper was used throughout the wedding from the save the dates to the table numbers.
Casual flowers arranged by a bunch of pals is another great way to save. If these arrangements seem even too casual for you, you could always start with something like this and spend a little more on some big, lush roses to add in yourself. And remember, if used frequently and consistently, casual things, like the brown craft paper used at this wedding, seem elegant and formal.
Here are some of my favorite online resources for DIY parties, invitations and decor:
- www.papermart.com
- www.retailpackaging.com
- www.papermojo.com
- www.vanessahand.com
- www.paperpresentation.com
- www.save-on-crafts.com
- www.onlinefabricstore.net
- Dancusa
- Kristina Marie
- Hey Yo Yo
- Mary Not Martha
- Layer Cake Shop
- Bake It Pretty
- Chocolate Letters
- Ay Muyer!
delia-hauser.com 
The Monopoly-style bar money is totally the cutest solution to the “alcohol problem” that I’ve seen in a very long time.
I agree! It was brilliant and I don’t think they even came close to the amount they divided up. People drink a lot less if they aren’t trying to jam it in before the open bar stops! There was a lot of that fake money left at the end 🙂
LOVE a DIY wedding. Total genius idea with that Monopoly money! Looks like something you’d see on offbeatbride.com…. if you haven’t been to that site, it’s awesome for party ideas, not just marital events.
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