Michael's is a thrifty girl's best friend!

Today, I went with the MOH to look at the wedding site, take measurements (so we could determine how many tables would fit), and think of decorating ideas.  Afterwards we went to Michael's, and we discovered that they are the best place ever for a thrifty girl.  We went in not planning on buying anything at all, just to get a few ideas to compare cost.

We ended up walking out with a completely full cart.

First off, they were having a sale on wedding invitation kits, and I found one which I liked.  We got 80 invitations and response cards (plus envelopes) for $39.99.

Then, we wandered over to the fake flower aisle.  I've more or less decided fake flowers are going to be the way to go, since a) Gerber daisies are expensive and b) incredibly fragile.  And frankly, everyone knows that we are broke students, so they shouldn't be surprised by the fake flowers (we fully intend everyone be far too drunk to notice the flowers anyways).

Anyways, Michael's is pretty cheap for flower "bundles"- $7.99 for the orange, pink, and yellow bundle.  I didn't buy any though, because I have time to look for even better prices online.  Then we found the discount aisle and made an awesome discovery- these cute little tin cans for $0.80 a piece!  With a little bundle of Gerber daisies, they make perfect centerpieces on the blue and white printed table clothes the MOH's mother is making for me.   We bought out the entire stock of cans, and it cost us $24.  Hopefully we'll be able to find some cheaper fake flowers online and keep the entire centerpiece budget under $200.

We also found cute little rustic tags for favors ($1.00 for 12) and two rustic metal and wood signs that we can write "Guest Book" and "Name Cards" on.  Basically, I think our style is going to be a "rustic" chic, which definitely works with both our budget and the location.

Total for today: $97

Ordering vs. Home-Printing

We realize that by doing this somewhat last minute, we need to get invitations out to at least out-of-town family ASAP.  I looked into the common discount sellers- VistaPrint, 123 Print, etc. and really couldn't find anything below $130 for 80 invites (and that was just the invites!).  Jason and I took a walk over to Office Depot today though, and noticed that even the small store in Hyde Park had a few wedding invitation kits which were fairly cheap- $35 for 50, and that included invitations, envelopes, note cards, etc.  That led us to investigating the whole "kit" option more seriously. I have an inkjet printer that works fairly well (other than it jamming roughly 25% of the time, but I can deal with that to save money!), so we should be able to print them at home.  I looked at Staples and Office Depot online, and most of their stuff was pretty standard- silver/gold borders, hearts, etc.- which didn't appeal to us.  But then I thought, I wonder if Target has anything.  And it turns out they actually have some really pretty designs for good prices.

These are the ones I am currently leaning towards, because for $34 for 30, it includes invitations and response cards, and envelopes for both.  And I feel like the plant theme goes well with our forest BBQ idea.

http://www.target.com/p/Cathy-Botanical-Invitations-Kit-Green-White/-/A-12234732

This one I really like as well, and goes a bit more with the colors I'm thinking (blue being the main one).  It's cheaper- $29.99 for 40, but it doesn't include response cards. 

http://www.target.com/p/Mara-Mi-Floral-Invitation-Kit-Blue-Green/-/A-13957961

Picnic permit approved!

It's official- Jason and I are getting married on August 18.  This summer.  Or I just spent $110 on a permit for the Pulaski Woods for nothing.

Well, we're going for it!

Jason and I have been engaged for a long time- a year and a half already.  I'm a graduate student, and he's still working on finding a teaching job, so paying for a wedding wasn't really in the cards.  But a few weeks ago, I had an idea- what if we made the whole affair into a super-cheap BBQ wedding?  We could do that for under $2500, right?  If we make it into a casual, fun affair, where our friends and family can just hang out, eat, drink, and have a good time, that would be just as good- in our minds at least- as a fancy $15,000 Chicago wedding. So we decided to go for it.

Yesterday we went and looked at some places in the Cook County Forest Preserve.  The nice part about the forest preserve is that most (though not all) picnic groves allow alcohol, and a picnic permit for under 100 people is only $55.  Below is the picnic grove we really like, Pulaski Woods.  It's quiet, overlooks a small lake, and has a nice shelter.  There are enough picnic tables there and in the vicinity that we shouldn't have to rent chairs or tables.  If it rains, there's the shelter which is relatively enclosed, and if not, we have lots of extra space.  The little kids in Jason's family will have plenty of space to run around, and we'll have a great places to take photos.   The only hitch is that we're a bit late in applying for a picnic permit, so we're at the mercy of availability for dates.  And a few of our friends are getting married this summer around the same time frame we're looking at, AND I have comprehensive exams in mid-September, which pretty much blacks out September as a possibility.  We'll see what happens.