Those Nickles and Dimes Add Up...

 

I hate to put it like this, but weddings can be such a blood sucking, budget busting event.  And while I can appreciate the time put into some of the accoutrements of a well-put-together affair, my jaw has hit the floor a few times with the cost of some of the smallest items.

**Okay, all you Etsy artisans, no darning egg throwing, just hear me out.  I think it is wonderful you provide these items for those that are needle and thread challenged.  You are worth every penny! **

With that said, all the small items you don't necessarily think about can add more $$$ to the wedding spreadsheet (if you're even keeping track).

Item 1  - Purses for the bridal attendants, bride and moms:   I have seen these going for around $70 as the median price.  But let's just use $65.00 each as the cost (shipping 12.50);
Item 2 - Bridal hanger : $38 (shipping $6.50)  A nice thing to have for wedding pictures of the dress hanging before the bride gets dressed; and
Item 3 - Ring pillow: another cute item from Etsy $35 (shipping $5). The one on Etsy was only 6" square.

These three items add $484 to the budget (considering six purses are purchased).  Whew.

Thank goodness I have a daughter who allows me to fiddle around in the sewing room to come up with some economical solutions.

Let's start with the wedding ring pillow.  I believe this was less than 50 cents to make.  The big cost was for the coconut button that was on a card of two buttons on the discount rack at the store.  The fabric was muslin from an old sugar sack.  It measures 6" square like the pillow offered on Etsy.  I embroidered the bride and groom's name the way they have it on their stationery; a touch I thought was important to make it special.

A coconut button seems appropriate since the bride and groom are going to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

 This is the prototype for the attendant's clutch.  The grey is a Dear Stella cotton.  The purse frames were the biggest expense and they were ordered online at a fraction at what some of the craft stores are charging.  Purchase the frames well in advance of the event because these took almost 8 weeks to arrive.

The red polka dot lining fabric really packs a punch when you open up the clutch!

I found a padded hanger I had in my closet and covered it with an off-white cotton.  I made a ruffled tube and slipped it over the hanger.

I added some vintage mother of pearl pearl shank buttons to help hold the dress. 

The bow was made from scraps of tulle from the birdcage veil and I just incorporated some silk flowers.  I removed the plastic stamens and added vintage florist seeded centers.  I found some crystal bling and stuck that in the center with the seeded stamens.  Why not?  Just puts a little bit of sparkle.  The cost?  Well, I had these things already, so $0.

So the total cost?  I'm thinking less than $50 for everything.  The major expense was purchasing the purse frames.  That's approximately 1/10th of the cost of retail.  Not bad  for nickle and diming it!