Paper (Star) Lanterns!

I'm pretty psyched because they arrived today. Apparently AsianIdeas.com is not only legit but super fast to boot.

The best thing about these guys are that the color is super light and they're a pretty solid cardboard, so I'm sure that if I wanted I could easily spray paint them a metallic gold and it would be fine. Hmm.. Maybe I'll order a few more to try that with.

I'm pretty impressed, and for $2 each-- I can't complain.

The Paper Lantern Saga... Part 2

Apparently my stars are in transit!

USPS doesn't say when they'll arrive, just that they're coming Priority and are in Pittsburgh right now.

It seems like AsianIdeas.com may not be a hacker site, after all.

Wedding Tent- Booked (and for half the initial quote)

When Moose and I set out on our wedding journey, we initially set a budget for $10,000 that WE would personally spend.  We figured that number would be good enough to cover the basics and still have a damn good time to show for it in the event that we did not receive any family help.  Before you get all "oh, being in your thirties you shouldn't expect family help"-- we didn't.  We told our families that while we would love it if they could pitch in if they wanted to help us out, the expectation wasn't that they had to. Our families have been beyond happy with that approach and helping in ways that I didn't expect-- but more on that in another post.

Back in December, my initial tent quote for a 30' x 45' x 8' tent, lighting, dance floor, and canopy to the Carriage House (land of dancing and, more importantly, the bar) was $2374.00.  Yep.  A good (almost) quarter of our budget.  So I did what any good bride on a budget does: freak out.

I started thinking of things that we could cut back in order to hit that number.  Maybe I consign a dress, rent a dress, or even better: don't get a traditional wedding dress.  Maybe I could cut back on things like having a cake-- sweets bars are all the rage, right?  Hmm... WAIT, I KNOW... I'll see what we can cut out of our catering budget.

So I sheepishly called our caterer (Tastings Caterers-- so far, working with them has been absolutely freaking WONDERFUL) and asked what could be done to cut the menu a few thousand dollars.  I may or may not have bust into tears at that point, but was given the best gem I have been given so far in the grand world of wedding planning: "Can you see if you can share a tent rental with the person the day before you?"

MIND. BLOWN.

I immediately shot off an email to my contact at the Codman Estate to see if there was anyone there who might want to split a tent for the weekend.  At that point, the Codman was still not rented for the day before our wedding, but they would keep me posted if things changed.

When a little over a month went by and I didn't hear from anyone, I reached back out to our tent vendor and requested some things be changed to our proposal since we needed to have it booked, stat-- we could keep the tent and canopy, but getting rid of the lighting and dance floor would cut down around $900, making it slightly more affordable.  I kid you not, an hour after hitting send, I was emailed by my contact at the Codman to see if it was OK to make an introduction between myself and the people who are holding a wedding there the day before.

At that point I had written off a dance floor and lighting, but when the mother of the bride mentioned they were things she wanted, I reconsidered.  I mean, spending $200 on a dance floor instead of $400 was in my best interest now that the tent itself was only $800.  We still wouldn't need the lights, but I am able to remove them from my quote.

Final quote cost?  $1140.  So I get the tent, the canopy, and the dance floor for HALF the price.   Plus now we will be able to go in and decorate on Friday night once the tent goes up, rather than running around on Sunday morning.

I never knew that you could do this, but it's apparently a little more common than people realize.

Lesson learned: always look for creative ways to cut the budget without compromising what you get.  ALWAYS.

The Paper Lantern Saga....

Our wedding is in June at the Codman Estate in Lincoln, MA. I'm pretty excited about the lovely gardens and grounds, as it will require very minimal added decorations and such. Being outdoors, the only down side is a required tent rental just in case the weather is less than ideal. No big deal, but man can tents be boring.

So, thanks to Pinterest, the ideas of Christmas lights and paper lanterns to spruce up the bland tent is coming to be a reality. I'd say hooray, but the effort that (so far) this is requiring is a bit on the ridiculous side.

First problem: our colors. Navy blue and gold were my fiancé's idea. I didn't feel strongly enough about any specific colors and a decision needed to be made. I'm happy with the colors, but they make decorating a bit of a challenge. Navy blue is easy enough to find (usually), but to find an actual gold color and not yellow has proven to be tough. But I have actually found paper lanterns in blue and gold. But do I want navy or some lighter color blue that will throw the light better? And do I need gold for the same reason?

Second problem: shipping. On Amazon I found a 10 pack of 10" gold lanterns at a decent price. But to add on $7 worth of shipping, I'm less than thrilled. And of course, the ones available through Prime are sold out. Also on Amazon were 10 10" blue lanterns at $0.98 apiece-- not a bad price at all. But oh, wait... $75 for shipping? Are you kidding me? Scratch that idea. So now I'm looking on alternate websites.

Third problem: when on earth will these things be hung?? The morning of? Eek.

Fourth problem: how to light them up. We are considering glow sticks and LED battery tea lights. When some finally arrive I'll give it the old college try. But it doesn't solve the problem of their being lit when we need them lit rather than all day long.

I also found some tacky orange 24" stars that will be hung as well. I'm ok with them adding a new color to the mix, but not knowing how the tent will be set up adds another question to the mix.

The key for me will be doing this all as inexpensively as possible. The five stars were $20 including shipping, and I don't want to turn this into a $100 deal. Ideally, if I could do it for another $20-$25, I'd be happy. I'll keep you posted.