OK GIRLS…you may be much more computer saavy than me, but I just found out how to make an inspiration board on powerpoint! This one below was only my first try,  but inspiration boards are great for when you are trying to come up with a color scheme or if you just want to make a collage of great inspirational pictures when you are planning your wedding. If you are just browsing on the internet and see a great idea, save the picture to your computer and then you can make a board of your own whenever you want! I just changed the file to a jpeg file and tah dah! I will have to make a better one for you all soon! Happy Planning!!!

Does anyone else remember making these in middle school??? What a GREAT idea to have these on each table to entertain your guests…they are only $1.00 each or if you remember how to make them…your memory is better than mine! I found these on etsy.com. CUTE!

I found my invitations at Paper Paper in Del Mar. If I remember correctly, they were $15.00 for 10 ( I bought 20). They were also going to charge me $30.00 to print them so I just bought some card stock and cut it into the same tag shape and did a trial on my personal printer. It worked perfectly so since I splurged a bit on the invitations, I saved by printing them myself. I could not find a website for Paper Paper but these are the invitations I got here.

Of course I just found these instructions online after the fact, but hopefully it saves you time!

I saw these tickets and just think they are such a cute idea for a wish bowl…for a bridal shower or wedding! These are available at Room Service for only $10.00 per roll.

This is such a cute idea…especially for beach themed or near the beach weddings! As a favor, you fill a bucket with flip flops near the entrance or maybe by the dance floor. I know my feet were killing me at my wedding! I found this super cute bucket at Room Service Home. It is a little pricey at $58.00, but you could just use a few aluminum ones and make signs to match your color theme. Also, Michaels is having a sale on foam flip flops this week for only $1.00 each! I am loving this idea..

Polaroid is discontinuing their instant film products which means no more polaroid wedding guest books! I just cant believe it!!! And just when it seemed to be the hottest trend making a comeback! It was so fun looking at all of the pics that our friends took the day after the wedding and I just LOVE how our guestbook turned out. I just had to break mine out again and look at it! You can read more at www.polaroid.com.

I wish I would have known about these while planning my wedding! Check out www.zazzle.com/theknot!!! You can make custom made stamps with your photos and add your own custom text too! Prices vary, but a sheet of 20 medium sized 42 cent stamps are $16.95. A bit pricey but such a cute idea!!!

We made chocolate carmel candied apples for our wedding favors! These were a DIY project which the night before the wedding, I was a little sorry I did, BUT I loved the way they looked day of and we got a ton of compliments on them. My mom and I love scrapbooking so we just bought some paper from Pineapple Scrapbooking in Vista and bought the scalloped punch machine at Michaels with one of their 40%-50% off coupons they have each week. I never went to Michaels more than when planning my wedding! I also got the ribbon, home-made stamps, bags and sticks for the apples and the birdcage you can see on the table at Michaels! I ordered the “Love is Sweet” custom stamp from Staples.com. Pictures below. Enjoy!

I LOVED my OOT boxes! I used www.swellsweets.com to order just the packaging kits which they custom make for you!!! They will also fill them if you like, but I wanted to personalize mine and fill them myself. Each set was $4.95 and included a gable box with matching tissue paper, ribbon, water bottle labels and custom letterhead stationary to match. They custom make any label you want to match your wedding colors and/or theme (mine were chocolate brown and granny apple green). I put individual coffee packs, biscotti, aspirin, chocolate, peanuts, mints and 2 water bottles in each. I am posting my welcome letter below for anyone who wants ideas of what to say! We kept it short and sweet! The pic does not do them justice! Happy DIY-ing!

Dear Family and Friends,

The wait is finally over! Welcome to sun, sand and relaxation…Del Mar, California! We are so happy and honored that you made the trip to celebrate our special day with us. We can’t imagine a better way to begin our new life together than with our closest friends and family.

If you have time while you are in town, listed below are a few of San Diego’s most famous attractions. You can also find brochures and maps downstairs in the hotel lobby which offer discounts to many of them as well. We hope that the next few days will be as memorable for you as they will be for us!

Please enjoy your welcome boxes and your stay in beautiful Del Mar!

With love,

Jennifer & Christopher

Legoland California (760) 918-LEGO

San Diego Zoo (619) 234-3153

Sea World (800) Seaworld

San Diego Wild Animal Park (760) 747-8702

Gaslamp Quarter  (619) 233-5227

Seaport Village (619) 235-4014

Old Town Historic District (619) 291-4903

Petco Park – Padres (619) 795-5000

In case of emergency:

Bride: (760) XXX-XXXX Groom: (760) XXX-XXXX Mother of the Bride: (760)XXX-XXXX

Hotel: XXX-XXXX

Hello! SO for anyone who decided to make your own wedding books instead of paying the outrageous fee that most photogs charge to basically do the same thing for you…I want to recommend My Publisher! I made two of them…well actually four because they had a GREAT deal that allowed you to make one and get one free (of the same book) and on top of that they were offering 40% off if your order was over $100 so I ended up getting 4 books for $200 total! They made GREAT gifts for our parents and we got to keep a copy of each one for ourselves! The quality is really good and they were really easy to make. I am more than happy to share mine online if anyone is interested in seeing how they turned out! I think they are MUCH better quality than the Shutterfly books I have made in the past. Here is the website www.mypublisher.com… Happy Wedding Book Making!!!