Bomboniere - Budget favours: M&Ms

An easy, yet interesting, way to save money on your wedding favours or bomboniere is to get M&Ms in your wedding colours (or any other lollies that come in your wedding colours).




Put it in a lovely organza bag and VOILA! You have a classy bomboniere that everyone will love.

Plain, peanut or crispy. You choose!

Bomboniere - New from i-Weddings: Celebrate your unique-ness!

Cookie-cutter uniform-ness has permeated our everyday lives. We eat the same Macdonalds, KFC, Kebab Co food everyday. We buy and wear mass-produced clothes and footwear from overseas. Everywhere we turn, we recognize someone wearing, eating or carrying something we have. Or horror of horrors, we turn up at a formal dinner wearing the exact same outfit as another person.

For that special day in your life, i-Weddings offers you a wide range of unique bomboniere and wedding favours. Not the cookie-cutter mass-produced overhyped bomboniere and wedding favours you often see at weddings. But personalized, unique and beautifully hand-made wedding gifts to thank your guests by saying, “Hey, you’re so special for making the effort to celebrate our wedding with us”.

Personalise your weddings with these bomboniere and wedding favours from i-Weddings:

Message in a bottle **See update below**

Send your message in a bottle! A truly unique gift for your guests! Each bottle has a message inside (you may specify the message or opt to have it blank and write in your own message).

**Update** i-Weddings has decided to discontinue our "Message in a bottle" product. Check out other suppliers of this unique "Message in a bottle" in Australia from Message Bottle or All Bottled Up. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for from these two companies.

Rounded shot glass
Comes wrapped in clear plastic with a matching ribbon (if preferred). Choose from existing artwork or submit your own.

$3.60* each

Personalised Napkins

Napkins can be personalised with two lines, bearing the couple's names and wedding date or with a message of the couple's choice.

* Price quoted for minimum order of 200 pieces. For quantities less than 200 pieces, please email me and I'll be happy to quote you the price for the quantity you require.

As posted on i-Weddings

Reception - Guest seating arrangements

Seating arrangement is a pain in the butt. When I was planning my wedding, I had to arrange guests into tables of 10. Gosh, I was tearing my hair out everytime I look at the seating arrangements. I had more tables of 8 or 9 guests than I had tables of 10 guests!

I guess seating arrangements is the un-glamorous and un-romantic part of a wedding. So many arguments have been had with my then fiance and parents.

I don't think there's any way out of doing the seating arrangements. Otherwise you'll end up with guests milling around like lost sheep. Or worse, fighting with each other over which table to go to.



I did some research online and came across this website - Seating Arrangement: Weddings and Events. If the name did not already given it away, the website has a tool to help you with your seating arrangments. The best this is it's FREE. For a limited time, at least. They only require you to register and you can download that tool for free.

What are you waiting for?

Nobody puts Baby in a corner

I just saw this Youtube video featured on tv today. A British couple, Julia and James, recreated the final dance scene from Dirty Dancing as their first wedding dance. Now that's entertainment!

Planning - Statistics and facts about weddings

Unsure if you're going overboard with your wedding plans? Here are some statistics for comparison to see if you are overdoing your big day.

Demographics

• The average age of a groom is 31 in 2003
• The average age of a bride is 29 in 2003
• 57% of wedding ceremonies in Australia in 2003 are civil ceremonies

When?

• The most popular months for weddings in Australia are March and November
• The most unpopular months for weddings in Australia are June and July

How much?

• The average cost of a wedding in Australia is $39,114
• On average, a couple pays for 75% of the wedding cost while their parents supplement the other 25%
• The average price of an engagement ring bought by Australian couples is $4,461
• 22% of couples spend more than $6000 on their engagement ring
• The average price spent by an Australian bride on her gown is $1,940
• On the wedding day, the Australian bride spends on average $466 on hair and makeup
• On average, Australian couples spend $6,106 on their honeymoons

Cut your budget with these tips:

Top 10 tips wedding budget tips
More tips to cut your wedding reception budget

Reception details.

• The average number of bridesmaids at a wedding is 4
• The average number of guests at a wedding reception is 189
• Majority of brides plan their weddings 7 to 12 months before the date

Reception - More tips to cut your wedding reception budget

Limit the number of guests at your reception

Be very strict with your guest list. If an acquaintance invited you to his/her wedding 5 years ago and you haven't seen him/her since then, feel free to strike them off the list. Guilt-free.

If your venue allows it, bring your own drinks and food

Buy in bulk in advance. Look out for specials in your local supermarket or bottle shop up to even 6 months before the wedding. You may feel like you're being paranoid but you'll be thankful closer to your wedding date that you were prepared early on.

Limit your drink selections at the bar

Limit the selections to soft drinks, beer, wine and one signature drink.

Have a destination wedding

If you are really strapped for cash, have your wedding in a location where your guests will have to travel. It may be surprising but destination weddings are on average cheaper than a normal wedding. This is partly attributed to a shorter guest list and the fact that most of the wedding cost is shifted to the guest. It may be your chance to have your dream wedding in an exotic destination.


Have the reception dinner the night before your wedding

Re-use most of the flowers from your reception dinner. Just add more flowers on your wedding day. That way, you pay for less flowers.


Consider getting married in an off-season or on a less popular day of the week

Most venues and vendors offer discounts during these periods / days. Having a cocktail reception or a champagne brunch instead of a traditional dinner reception can cut approximately 25% off your costs.


Be selective about your bridal party

Of course it would be ideal if you could include all your best friends, sisters and close cousins in your bridal party. But you have to be practical. Choose people who are relliable and can help you in planning and executing your wedding. The average number of bridesmaids in a wedding is four.


Use your contacts

If you know a graphic designer, ask him/her for a favour to design your wedding invitations. If you know a DJ in a club, ask them if they'll be willing to DJ at your wedding. More often than not they'll offer you mates rates, or not charge you at all!

Related posts:

Reception - Top 10 wedding budget tips

Themes – Garden-themed wedding

Outdoor garden weddings are increasingly popular with modern brides. More and more couples are willing to take the calculated risk (through careful planning) of adverse weather to get the wedding day they’ve always dreamed about.

Choosing the date is probably the biggest task. Weather is one of the most important factor on a garden wedding. Plan carefully with The Weather Channel’s Wedding Weather planner.

Use lots of white. White will bring out the luscious freshness of the greenery in the garden. White will also inspire a soft elegance which contrasts with nature and the outdoors. If you’d like some colour, choose soft pastel colours to allow the natural greens and other colours of the garden shine.

Flower soap bomboniere $3.80 each* from i-Weddings

Depending on your preference, you could point your garden theme in two ways – an elegant Victorian type garden wedding or a more natural feel.

For the elegant Victorian type garden wedding, use white linens, white plates and white napkins.

Classy rose candle holder $3.65 each* from i-Weddings. Perfect for your guests at your elegant garden-themed wedding.

For the natural-feel garden wedding, use lots and lots of flowers. Incorporate butterflies, dragonflies, lady bugs etc into your decoration. Have a birdbath and let your guests make a wish for you both by throwing coins. Donate the proceeds to a charity of your choice.

Incorporate butterflies at your garden-themed wedding with these cute butterfly placecard holders that double up as bomboniere $3.60 each* from i-Weddings

If you’re having your garden wedding at dusk, don’t forget lots and lots of candles in votive holders. You can use the candles to light the pathway for your departure. Use candles in lamps for romantic lighting options. Drape fairylights around the trees and other plants.

Light up your garden-themed wedding with these Rose Candles $3.25 each* from i-Weddings

Remember to work with the nature around you. Gardens provide the perfect setting for any type of feel you want. Just touch it up a little and you’ll have your perfect wedding setting.

Scatter some long-lasting silk roses around your table $1.00 for a pack of 10 silk roses exclusively from i-Weddings. Pick your colour to match your theme.

* Price quoted for minimum order of 200 pieces. For quantities less than 200 pieces, please email me and I'll be happy to quote you the price for the quantity you require.

Bouquet - Top 3 wedding bouquet trends for the 2007 bride

1. Bold colours

2. Tea roses

3. Garden-inspired