The horror - the aftermath!

Just a quick update:

Mr Mel & I returned from our fantastic honeymoon 2 weeks ago and were confronted with a house that had been overrun during our absence, by wedding decorations!

Our 2nd and 3rd bedrooms were chock-full, I mean so full the only clear bit was the door opening space!  Over the past 2 weekends we've slowly started working through it all.

We're working out what we'll keep (the bloody bunting :)!), and what we'll sell/ebay (chair ties, bowls, etc) etc.

So far our keep/sell lists are about even, but I think we might have to get a bit more ruthless!

I'll be back shortly to update the lists :)

2nd Ebay & other stuff Haul - bargains, woohoo

3 weeks tomorrow to the big day, gees Louise that's flown up!

Things are coming along, the to-do list is getting to-done, just need to pull it all together.

While researching how to try and keep costs down, I realised I could buy alot of the things you would usually hire for decorations, at a cheaper, or around the same cost, and then with reselling them after the wedding I could bring costs down even further.  So I've been on the hunt, mostly through Ebay, and some local garage sales.

I posted back on April 20, the haul at that stage:

100 x Rice Paper Lanterns (white) - $126 ($150 to hire)
150m x Fairy Lights (warm white) - $283 ($300 to hire)
2 x Candelabras - $40 ($50 to hire)
1 x Bird Cage Wishing Well/Card Holder - $66 ($40 to hire)
100 x Willow Green Organza Chair Sashes - $139.99 ($2.00 each to hire)
1 x Bridal Cake Knife & Server set - $2550 x personalised wine charms for gifts - $75 - can't resell

1 x Guestbook - $25

4 x 4m White Bali flags - $25

The Guestbook above will be sold unused as I found a different one I just loved, after I bought the Ebay one. Also the bird cage is in the midst of being painted white.

Since then I have secured some more lovelies for the day:

Gorgeous cake stand with mirror etched plate, we will use it for our 2 tier wedding cake 

$39.99, haven't seen similar in shops for under $50

6 x ceramic cake stands, we will use on the cake table, with 6 cakes made by our mums, sisters, aunts

a steal at $12.50 each, have seen exact same in several shops for $25-30 each!

6 x cake servers for the cake table

$18 for 6, bargain!

This weekend I'm hitting the op-shops to hopefully pick up a heap of bowls & plates for the soup & desserts, wish me luck, c'mon treasures come to mamma  :)

Decorations - Ebay haul so far!

To try and cut some corners in our budget, I am scouring Ebay for decorations, which we can use in the Hall. I had sourced quotes from all of the local decorators, 6 in total, and the quotes, bar 1, were scary.

My theory is instead of paying thousands of dollars to hire items, I can buy them cheaper, use them on the day/night, then sell them afterwards.

So far my haul is:

100 x Rice Paper Lanterns (white) - $126 ($150 to hire)
150m x Fairy Lights (warm white) - $283 ($300 to hire)
2 x Candelabras - $40 ($50 to hire)
1 x Bird Cage Wishing Well/Card Holder - $66 ($40 to hire)
100 x Willow Green Organza Chair Sashes - $139.99 ($2.00 each to hire)

So on these 5 items alone the costs compare as:

Ebay - $654.99
Decorator (average quote over 6 quotes) - $740

Plus I can resell mine after the day, say if I sell them for 1/2 price of what I paid for them, that makes the cost $327.49!  Savings yay

Birdcage Wishing Well/Card Holder

Fairy Lights

Willow Green Organza Chair Sash

I've also bought:

1 x Bridal Cake Knife & Server set - $25
50 x personalised wine charms for gifts - $75

1 x Guestbook - $25

4 x White Bali flags - $25

All were much lower prices that I found through other online stores or 'real stores'.

Cake Knife & Server

Guestbook

Bali Flags - to use on either side of the gate to the Hall

I'll be back with more savings :)