Fab Finds 5/27

Posted by Khris in Fab Finds Friday

Happy Friday, DIYers!

Get Rid of The Ghost of Bridesmaids Gowns Past: Newlymaid.com is a clever new program from The Dessy Group that allows you to trade in old bridesmaids gowns and get a 30% – 50% discount towards a fab little black dress from the Newlymaid line. The old dresses? They embark on a journey for Good; they are recycled into new fabric or donated to Clothes4Souls. Beautiful!

Attention Baseball Fanatics: Major League Baseball is inviting you to win a chance to get married at the first-ever All-Star FanFest Wedding to be the held on Tuesday July 12 at 11:00 a.m. in Phoenix, Arizona. “The winning couple will receive a wedding package which includes a ceremony on the Diamond at All-Star FanFest, a catered reception for 50 guests by Aventura Catering, a wedding ring package from Molina Fine Jewelers worth no more than $15,000 that will include either an engagement ring or two wedding bands, a wedding dress by Uptown Bridal, roundtrip airfare and two tickets to the 82nd MLB All-Star Game. They’ll also receive items from Major League Baseball partners including a $500 MasterCard® prepaid gift card, beverages for the reception provided by Budweiser, hotel stay provided by InterContinental Hotels Group, and a $500 Newlywed Lawn & Garden Kit donated by Scotts featuring a wide array of Scotts Miracle-Gro products.”

Get your hustle on! The deadline is June 01. (Pssst! That’s next week!) All the deets: http://www.allstargame.com/fanfestwedding

An Intimate Destination Wedding By The Sea more your thing? Sandals Resorts is offering couples celebrating their wedding at any one of the 14 Luxury Included Sandals Resorts a Beautiful Beginnings wedding theme FREE of charge with a booked stay of six nights or longer in a Premium room category or higher. What’s included: a sweet magenta dendrobium bouquet and boutonniere, a table for four with crisp white linens, a lovely dendrobium orchid centerpiece and a charming white cake. The Beautiful Beginnings wedding theme is available now for guests getting married August 15, 2011 through December 15, 2012.

NEW YORK COUPLES: Gail Watson, extraordinary cake designer, has launched A Simple Cake, her line of minimalist-but-beautiful cakes. A Simple Cake designs are “created so that you can present (them) as they are, select from on of our hand-created sugar decorations, or have your florist decorate with fresh flowers”. This is a fantastic option for those of you wanting to go semi-DIY with your wedding cake project. ASC delivers within a 100 mile radius of Columbus Circle.

Fashionistas! BarneysNY & ShopStyle are hosting 4 weeks of fabulous giveaways in their Walk the Aisle in Style contests. (I am dying for these Olivia Collings earrings!) Check out http://www.shopstyle.com/giveaway for all of the details.

Looking for some sweet treats on a budget? Check out the Cute Cakes from Donsuemor! These just-a-bit-more-than-a-bite sized cupcakes make great favors. They’re moist, tasty, and priced right at $19 for a 28 piece tray.

Fabulous Friday 5/20

Posted by Khris in Fab Finds Friday

Fab Finds Friday is a weekly showcase of some of the fabulous resources available to the wedding community. Products and resources mentioned in FFF are chosen based on their merit and are never paid endorsements. xoxo.

Happy Friday, DIYers!

Are you as crazy about dahlia’s as I am? Hurry on over to FiftyFlowers.Com. They’ve got ‘em on sale for 10% off for a limited time.

Have you heard of BridesmaidTrade.com yet? They’re an an online consignment and rental service for bridesmaids dresses. They’re hosting a contest to win free bridesmaid gown rentals. Contest entry deadline is 5/27 so hop on over right away!

Tart Workshop, one of our favorite font foundaries, has just released two new fonts and a freebie download treat! Grab your copies Bookeyed Jack, Bookeyed Suzanne, and the free Fancy Pinkalicious download (below) at the Tart Workshop site.

Save For Your Big Day With An Online Piggy Bank

Posted by Khris in Fab Finds Friday

According to TheKnot.com, the average wedding cost was over $26,000 in 2010. Now that you’ve recovered from the sticker shock, it’s time to get serious about your wedding finances. Most of you will be taking out loans and/or using credit cards to help pay for your big day and I wish I could take you each by the hand, pull you close, and scream in your ear: DON’T DO IT! From my own very painful experience with wedding debt, I know first-hand how quickly the best intentions and well-thought-out plans for wedding debt can fall apart. Read my story here.

Some sobering facts

• The average wedding costs $26,000. The median household income is around $50,000.
• If you put only $10,000 of your wedding expenses on a card with 18% interest and paid only the minimum balance ($250.00) each month, it would take you 342 months (or over 28 YEARS) to be rid of your debt. In that time, you will also pay $14,423.30 in interest. (Check out the credit calculator at BankRate.Com) That’s a heck of a price tag for A SINGLE DAY.
  
• As of April 2011, the average interest rate on a credit card is 14.65% nationally.
• Planning on using a pay raise to help pay for your wedding? The Society For Human Resource Management is reporting US companies are projecting a very modest salary increase of only 3 percent.
• Sorry, but you’re not going to win the lottery.

Now that I’ve scared the beejeebus out of you, I want to guide you to a fab new service to help you save up for your wedding day. You are going to use cash and not get into debt, right? Right?

SmartyPig is essentially an online piggy bank. You create an account, set your financial goals, and then start funding your event. You can set auto deposits from your bank account or add one-time payments (such as a gift from family or a profit-sharing check from work). You earn interest and have access to your cash at all times. Though it’s not a bank, your savings account is FDIC insured securely held at BBVA Compass. Saving for your big day couldn’t be easier.

Fab Finds: 3/26

Posted by Khris in Fab Finds Friday

The ever-fabulous Minted is offering 15% off their entire wedding collection during their spring event. Use code …

Fab Finds Friday

Posted by Khris in Fab Finds Friday

{ Fab Finds Friday is a weekly column that highlights fabulous idea, happenings, and people in the wedding and craft industries. FFF mentions are never paid; each person or company is chosen based on the merit of their own awesomeness. }

Hi DIYers!

Glue Arts, the makers of my favorite double-sided tape applicator, the Glue Glider Pro (my review), is having a BOGO sale. If you’re assembling invitations, programs, table numbers or any other bulk paper project that needs a lot of double-sided adhesive the Glue Glider Pro is an absolute must. The details:

Buy a GlueGlider PRO or any of the six refill cartridges and receive the same of equal or lesser value FREE! Also stock up now and receive Free Shipping on orders over $150.00. Sale valid through Satureday November 6th 2010. Minimum orders are case lots of 12 per product. To place your order call 1-866-889-GLUE. Mention promo code VOTE6 when ordering.

In exciting around-the-weddingsphere news, wedding website provider Nearlyweds, has acquired wedding planning resource OneWed, to create a wedding-related social network.

Maddy from the beautiful Inspired Bride blog has launched Somewhere Splendid, a new blog that covers “nesting topics from general entertaining and parties to home decor and cooking”. Congrats!