Many things go into making a wedding a special event, but I think table linens, cloth napkins, china, and nice flatware can go a long way in creating that “special occasion” vibe at a wedding.

Photo from partytinerentals.com

But, I still cannot not justify spending money–more than $300–on these items, especially if it means cutting back on more important elements. Although our caterer offers place settings for a great price, we decided to forgo these rentals in favor of plasticware, which our caterer includes in their starting price.

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I love the show “Whose Wedding is This Anyway?” and one of the planners on it suggested making a wedding collage to represent your wedding. You could include stationary, magazine clippings, pictures, swatches–anything really to help a planner or anyone else understand the vision of your wedding.

I thought this was a great idea, but it was a little restricting to make a collage because you couldn’t easily bring it with you unless you had a folder (which is a great way to stay organized for a wedding!). I decided to make this idea more portable… so I created a cheat sheet!

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I know there are “Ladies in Waiting” (aka Buds-to-be waiting for their Dude’s to propose) out there in the BridalBuds community, so this one’s for you!!!

So, my fair Ladies in Waiting, I suggest you consider popping the question to your Dude!

Photo from http://www.thesun.co.uk

I asked Calla Lily Dude to marry me during our trip to Italy in March 2007, and I absolutely would do it over again. I felt like it was time to take the next step, but I knew he wasn’t going to propose, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

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I am currently in graduate school while working full-time, among other things, so my life has become a delicate balancing act that requires plenty of juggling to keep up with everything.

And, of course, I am planning a wedding on top of everything else! I do the following things to help with juggling wedding planning with life:

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The one aspect of wedding planning that Calla Lily Dude was excited about was the catering, so he was thrilled that we had a tasting with our caterer this week. Without even considering other caterers, we wanted to go with one of our favorites, the best BBQ restaurant in our area, Ludy’s Main Street BBQ & Catering.

Photo from ludys.com

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I love candles, so it made sense to have candles as our favors as well. But, Calla Lily Dude and I both hated the idea of giving out pointless trinkets… And then we figured out the perfect favor to give our guests!

Early on in the planning process we decided we wanted to do a unity candle lighting during our ceremony, with all of our guests participating. So, the candles guests will use during the ceremony for the unity candle lighting will double as favors!

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One of my favorite things to do is DANCE!!! I love all kinds of music and will dance to just about anything, so dancing and music have always been at the top of my wedding priority list. It seems like it could be a really magical moment.

Photograph by Stephen Seward

But, Calla Lily Dude does not dance .

In fact, we have danced together EXACTLY once–on the night we met. That night, I begged him to dance with me, but he kept saying “I don’t dance.” After much pleading, he agreed, but about 30 seconds in, I conceded defeat and said, “You’re right, you don’t dance” and let him sit down…

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So I have decided that I will definitely be getting a wrist corsage instead of carrying a traditional bouquet. I’ve always had silk flowers in mind because I have pretty bad allergies, but I have never heard of metal flowers…

That’s right, I said metal flowers! I came across beautiful hand-crafted copper flowers from The Welded Garden.

Courtesy of The Welded Garden

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I knew I didn’t want to hire a wedding planner to take care of all the details I would love to plan. However, the idea of having someone be there the day of my wedding so my friends, family, and I don’t have to worry about anything has always been appealing. Why not have a professional run the show and put together a beautiful spread for me?

Courtesy of Quintana Events

After getting a few quotes from event planners and wedding coordinators in my area, I thought their starting prices were out of our budget. But, I was not deterred. I asked potential vendors if their pricing was negotiable if I reduced or got rid of some of the services in the Day Of package that I could do without (like putting together a list of duties for the wedding party that I do not have). I also checked if they had a la cart services available in lieu of set packages.

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I fell in love with gorgeous copper-colored paper from Paper And More, so I got both the text-weight paper and matching cardstock to meet all of my DIY stationary and décor needs.

Since I bought the paper by itself and not with an invitation kit, I had to create my own template, and did so using Microsoft Word. All I did was find out the common dimensions of wedding invitations and envelopes and then created a text box to match the size I wanted to use.

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