The Walmart Challenge-The Cake

So, I've been quoted $4/slice for my cake. As other bloggers have mentioned, I asked for a cake that serves 100 guests (since most don't even eat the wedding cake). It still came to $400 for a 3-tier cake...I can't pay that much for batter and sugar! I understand all the work that goes into making a cake, but I just can't bring myself (or my tight budget) to do it!

I discovered that Walmart makes wedding cakes, and to my surprise, they look quite nice. At my Atlanta location, they have 1 flat rate for 3-tier cakes of $125.00. I wanted a plain, smooth cake with a ribbon and brooch (To go along with my brooch theme). Walmart is flexible enough that I can deliver my ribbon and brooch to them, and they will add it at no extra charge.

So, let's test your eye.
I'm going to post pics of Walmart cakes along with cakes that cost $4-$7/slice. Can you guess which is from a bakery vs Walmart?

        A                                                   B 

           C                                                    D

      E                                                             F

     G                                                  H

    I                                                        J

 

   K                                                 L

Ok, so what was your guess?

Walmart cakes were: A, B, C, E, (F-was not a direct Walmart link, but the person says they got their cake from Walmart), J, K, and L. With the exception of the "F" cake, I took those photos myself from their order catalog.

All the other cakes were $400-$1000

So, my idea is to order cake J (In Ivory Butter-cream  not tan) & leave off the Walmart bows. I will instead take my brooch and ribbon and ask them to put it on my cake).

Here are a few pros and cons to ordering a Walmart cake:

Pros:
-Cost about 1/3 less than traditional caterers.
-Still looks nice as long as you don't mind a simpler cake.
-It can be customized with different colors and designs, & as long as it's not too elaborate, the price will stay the same flat fee.

Cons:
-They don't deliver. You will have to trust someone to get it safely to you.
-They don't do fondant (wasn't a problem for me because I hate the way fondant tastes anyway).
-It will not taste as great as a cake from your neighborhood bakery.

So, use your own discretion on this one, and figure out how much a catered cake means to you.
Mine will cost $125

So, last time I blogged my budget was down to $921
Subtract cost of cake:$125

Balance $796

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about the cakes BTW!

Cake credits:
Cakd "D" Sweet personalities: http://www.sweetpersonalitiescakes.com/id16.html
Cake "G" Google images
Cake "H": Coutour Cakes: http://www.wpbeventhall.com/local-wedding-cake-bakeries-pg-2-0804
Cake "I" http://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/lets-talk-cakes/01ccc5b9ca0e4c51.html

Cheap Gift Finds (Bridesmaids & others)

If you're anything like me, you ❤ giving gifts that appear to cost a lot, but actually cost very little.

I mentioned in a previous post, I found all my Bridesmaid jewelry on ebay. I got 6 sets of Bridesmaid jewels (Earring and necklace sets) for $17 total (With shipping!).
Here's a photo:

Here are the tricks to having a successful ebay experience: 

1) If you order from overseas (Example: You live in the USA & are ordering from China) be sure to order at least a month ahead of time. The delivery tends to take up to 25 days.

2) Shop "Buy it now" items first. These items are often offered in multiple quantities. This is where you will find your Bridesmaid sets. No point in bidding on a single item, unless you only have one bridesmaid.

3) When setting your search options, select the max amount you want to spend, than change the criteria to display "lowest to highest). This will ensure you don't spend all night searching. **Note, I always check on items slightly more expensive before I decide on a product. 

4) PAY ATTENTION TO SHIPPING!!! Sometimes, sellers offer an item for .99 with a $15.00 shipping fee! It's just a little trickery to get your money. Also note that if your product isn't what you expected, paypal usually only refunds the cost of the product, not the shipping fee. Many sellers offer free shipping. This is how I usually shop.

 Here are a few other great finds on ebay that I'm considering purchasing:

Cuff-links for the groom-to-be, groomsmen & Dads.  $2.99 & .99 Shipping TOTAL $4

Compare to these for $34.00 at cufflinks123.com

Bridesmaid gifts Corkscrew $2.45 w/ free shipping

Bridesmaid bracelets. $3.74 w/shipping

Decorative hair combs $3.79 w/free shipping

Bracelet $1.77 w/Shipping!

So, these are just some small ideas. When you shop on ebay, you can get some pretty great gifts, don't you think!?

The Bouquets

I've gone back and forth with myself on whether or not to go with silk flowers or fresh. Of course the budget-conscious side of me has decided to go with silk for the Bridesmaids and a Brooch Bouquet for myself.  I made the brooch bouquet & toss bouquet myself and purchased the Bridesmaids Bouquets from Afloral.com for $14/each.
Here's a breakdown of the spending:

My Brooch Bouquet: ~$35
We all have seen the bouquets online on Etsy starting around $275 and going up to nearly $1000. I couldn't see myself paying that kind of moolah. So I gathered up all my unused costume jewelry, along with some I had for a while that I purchased from a wholesaler a while ago (At one point, I was selling jewelry online).
My mom and aunts went through their jewelry boxes and donated all their un-used brooches and rings to me. Here's the supply list and cost breakdown:

$4: 1 Silk Hydrangea from Hobby lobby. (I got the nice one for $7.99. It was 1/2 off for $4.00)
$5: 22 Gauge jewelry wire. (I used 2 packs in silver since most of my jewelry was silver)
$1: Painters tape. (I already had this laying around the house.)
$2: Brown ribbon (On sale @ Hobby Lobby orig. $3.99)
$2: Floral Pins
$10: 3-D Flower stickers and Decorative buttons from Hobby Lobby (All 1/2 off . Packs came to about $2 each)

These are an example of the 3-d sticker flowers. Click HERE for link.

And these were both on sale. I used them in addition to a few others:

$2 1/2 off LINK$1Sale LINK

$0: Brooches/Jewelry/Rings I already had at my house & the ones I collected from family.
$10: Additional 99 cent brooches I found on Ebay
$1: Thread
$0: Christmas tree pearl garland (Left over from this past Christmas.

I viewed a tutorial on Youtube on how to put it all together.
Watch Youtube video: CLICK HERE

And here's what I came up with:

Then I made a toss bouquet with a pre-made bouquet from Hobby Lobby. On sale for $7.50

And I added some things left over from 

 Gerbera Bouquet (Caught 1/2 off sale) LINK

This is how it looks after I added rhinestones, 3-D Stickers and Ribbon. I used the same technique as I did with the Brooch bouquet.

Here are the Bridesmaids Bouquets (I'll add some jewels from the things I had left, later).

Bouquet LINK

So, my grand total for bouquets:

1 Brooch Bouquet $35

1 Toss Bouquet about $10

6 Bridesmaids Bouquets $84

TOTAL: $129

Amount left from last post $1050

- Brooches $129

Total left: $921

My Venue...The Splurge

So many things can be afforded at a low cost, but unfortunately, my venue wasn't one of them. Because I have an anticipated 180 guests, the venue had to be large enough to hold them. Besides that,  it was very hard to find a venue that would allow us to cater our own event (another DIY soon to be blogged about).
This was my splurge at $1500, but it's everything I dreamed of. Hardwood floors, exposed brick, up-lighting, linens provided, a patio, and a stocked cash bar @ $20/hour.
Here are some pics of the venue when other people held their reactions there.

So, my new budget:
Amount left from previous post: $2550
Venue: $1500
Amount left: $1050

Stress Reducer: Save Bridesmaids $$$ too!

With all the things to think about, whether your Bridesmaids will be able to afford their dresses doesn't have to be one of them. The goal is to make sure they look nice and coordinate with your wedding colors, so why make them pay $200 for a dress that they will probably never wear again!?
I looked to regular designers for great looking dresses at an affordable price & decided on Ann Taylor. She has great BM dresses and if you catch a sale, you can get them for a steal!
I had hoped to find a strapless, knee-length mocha dress, such as these:

The first one is $90 (Not too bad of a price) from Nordstrom and the 2nd one is from David's bridal for $149.

The dresses were actually priced well, but I knew I could do better. So my BMs ended up with these from Ann Taylor. We got the mocha dresses (Shown last) & they ended up paying $67! These dresses were originally $215! They are 100% Silk Taffeta. I think we got a great deal. 

Then the shoes. I wanted a mid-height peep-toe heel that was comfortable. So I shopped at Dillard's and found these suuuper comfortable shoes by Nurture. They were originally $90! We got them on sale for $31.99.

So, my Bm's total cost for clothing for my wedding was $99! 

I bought their jewelry (6 sets of pearls and earings) from Ebay for a TOTAL cost of (Drumroll...) $17 with shipping!! This for 6 sets!

I didn't include the cost of my BM's dresses & shoes with my bottom line since they bought their own. So my costs so far?

I had $2567 left from my last post. 

Deduct the $17 for the necklace and earring sets & I'm left with:

$2550 So far, so good!

The Laundry List (Literally)

The first subject of much bridal stress: Oh, what to wear?

Well, I gave myself a $400 budget for the wedding dress. I know this sounds preposterous to some of you brides-to-be. But believe me, it can be done. And here's another wrench to throw in the mix: I'm a plus-sized bride (Regular size 14, formal size 16)...and not to mention busty (36-E bra size). For the smaller brides out there, finding a dress at $400 might be a bit easier.

So, I had visions of a couture ball gown & I started researching online. I started at Ebay and even came across a cool site called Recycledbride.com where you can purchase previously worn wedding gowns. (They've recently changed their name to Tradesy.com BTW). I'm always hesitant though to purchase site-unseen. But at least the site offers a buyer guarantee.

Here are examples of what I had envisioned, a strapless tiered ruffle ball gown:

All of these dresses range between $1000 - $4000

So, I visited a couple local discount bridal shops and tried about 15 dresses before I decided to visit David's Bridal. I went with the hope to buy one of their $99 dresses, but I found that none of them fit the desired "Couture" effect. So, I shopped the sale rack and stumbled upon this very pretty gown, previously priced at $1150, and guess what? It was a final sale at the cost of $349.99!! On top of that, all the sale items had an additional $50 off. So my final price, with tax was around $325! And here it is, a Galina Signature Dress, (In which I found had been created by Viola Chan and is still sold in Europe for $1400.)

I don't think I'll have any problem feeling like a couture bride in this dress! & I came pretty close to my inspiration gowns, don't you think!?

All that was needed to complete my look was a mermaid petticoat (Also at David's Bridal for $49-regular priced), and shoes (I scored a pair of Vera Wang flats while at David's, originally $68. I got them for $49)

My mother told me it wouldn't feel real until I bought the dress, and I have to agree. It's all coming together now!

Dress link: Click Here

Shoe Link: Click Here

So my current tally (with tax) so far:

Dress: $325

Petticoat: $54

Shoes: $54

Total: $433 for dress, undergarments and shoes.

Budget left: $2567

Welcome!

Hello Everyone!

I'm not sure how you stumbled across my site, but I'm glad you did & when you leave, I hope you will be glad you did too!

I have designed this blog for those interested in saving money on events and ventures in a struggling economy.

My first blog is about having a (BEAUTIFUL) wedding for under $3000 for up to 180 guests.
I will blog about my spending and all the DIY projects I do.
I think it's ridiculous to spend the "American average $22,000" on a ONE DAY EVENT!
You can have a new car, paid-in-full for that amount, or a down-payment on a new house.

Caution: This should work for those that are not afraid of a lot of DIY. If you can't put a little elbow grease into your project, then it probably won't work. But if you don't mind getting your hands dirty to avoid paying someone to do things you are capable of doing, then you should be successful!