Dollar tree decor

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Dollar tree is probably one of my favorite places to shop. It's like the Disneyland of dollar stores! They have so much glassware that's totally awesome and it got me thinking. After getting a proposal from our venue on floral centerpieces, I was way less than impressed.

For example:

Photo via Zama Beach Club

This picture she sent me I actually really liked. It was the price I wasn't thrilled about. $75 for this centerpiece. Really? I mean, there's like, $12 worth of flowers here...


Then there's this one...

Photo via Zama Beach Club
This centerpiece doesn't even have any flowers! $65 for this puppy.

So, on my last trip to the Dollar Tree I told myself I was going to spend less than $20 and make a centerpiece way better than the ones she sent me. (Ok, maybe not wayyy better, but close)

Here is what I came up with. (Please excuse my terrible picture taking...anyone wanna give me lessons?)

Simple centerpiece

(This picture was an attempt to show the little rocks in the glasses)

In this one I added some little extra stuff around the flowers.

I bought all this stuff for less than $10

3 vases- $3.00
1 bag of rocks- $1.00
5 pack tea light candles- $1.00
1 bag of potpourri- $1.00

The flowers were the most expensive part of this trial- $9.00 for 12 roses

I wish I could pack up all the glass stuff they have at Dollar Tree and ship it to Mexico so I could do my centerpieces myself. That's probably not going to work, so I will just use Dollar Tree to cheaply decorate my house.

Where are your favorite places to shop for great deals??

Hill Country Bee Meet-up Tomorrow!

Yay! It's finally here! The first ever Texas Hill County WeddingBee Meet-up is tomorrow!

Where: We will be meeting at Gruene River Grill in Gruene, TX (half way between Austin and San Antonio)

When: 11A.M.- This is a time change from the original post.

Who: All Texas Hill Country WeddingBee community!

Can't wait to see y'all there!

Here is a link to the board post so you can RSVP if you haven't yet :D

Save The Last Dance For Me

I know a lot of us put thought into our first dance, but silly, type-a me has been thinking about the last dance also.

Image via Seattle Wedding DJ

I really want something that is going to tie the whole wedding together and leave everyone thinking... "That was the best wedding EVER". I know for sure I want it to be upbeat and something we can all dance to, so I am turning to the Hive to help me decide!

I have narrowed down my choices to these three songs. So what do y'all think?

POLL

1.Don't Stop Believin'- Journey

2.How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)- James Taylor

3. Forever- Chris Brown

4. Something else like...

What is your last dance going to be? Was it upbeat and happy, or romantically slow?

Gifting My Groom (on the cheap)

Mr. PF's wedding gift is something that I have put a lot of time and effort, but no so much money into.

If you are looking for something really sweet for your groom, but are on a tight budget, maybe I can help you out. I bought this cute, little book about 6 weeks ago and I have been working on it whenever I have some free time without Mr. PF.

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The cool thing about this book is that it is kinda like writing in a journal, but it is filled with fun prompts. I have been having so much fun going through this book and reflecting on our relationship and writing about it. I am leaving some of it blank so we can go back and do some of it together. As much as I would love to give Mr.PF an iPad or a PS3, this is more up my alley while staying on budget! :D

What special gifts are you considering? Are you breaking the bank for your groom or staying on budget?

The Love Tank

My friend and I were talking the other day about a book she has been reading about relationships called the Five Languages of Love. In the book, the concept of a "Love Tank" is brought up and how to keep that tank full.

Image via Car Chat

Quality time is hard when you both work full time jobs. To top it off Mr. PF coaches football and is gone a lot. The only time we really get to see each other is in the mornings, and I'll be honest, Im not the most exciting person at 6AM. So, I have been looking for ways to keep our love tank full when I feel like it's starting to get low.

We have been trying to implement date nights on Sundays (his only day off) but a lot of times we are both so tired from the week that we end up not going. Also, Mr. PF likes to watch football on Sundays and planning a date around that can get tricky as well.

I have also tried leaving little love notes around the house for him to discover at random times, but I guess my hiding spots were too good cause he hasn't found any yet.

How do you keep your love tank full on a busy schedule? Have you ever read The Five Languages of Love?

Something old and borrowed?

Does anyone know if its against the rules to combine these two?

My veil is something that was always pretty important to me. I knew exactly what I wanted- lacy and super-long! I longed for that beautiful lace edge of a classic mantilla veil and I wasn't going to stop till I found one that was perfect for my dress.

So, the search began. I scoured etsy, ebay, bridal salons here in town and even craigslist. FYI, all the bridal shops we went to were ridiculously over priced. $1500 for a veil? Uh, no thanks. I was starting to think that my mantilla dreams would be dashed. Then, my super-awesome aunt swoops in to save the day.

She offered to let me use her cathedral length mantilla veil for my big day! Let me tell yall, its gorgeous. Check it out.

Doesn't she look pretty?! Love the sleeves :)

The only problem is that the veil has that 70's hat style that we all know and love so well. I'm hoping I will be able to find someone who will be able to remove it. Does anyone know if this can be done? Or should I just rock the mini hat. Just kidding. I'm totally not doing that. hehe.

PS: No, I'm not naked! :D

A strategically placed wedding

Our wedding will be on a Tuesday. Weird I know, but I promise we have a good reason.

Image via liberalartsduq

Mr. PF and I are both teachers and we will be having the wedding during spring break. We visited the island during the summer time and it was way too hot with way too many chances of rain. We have a lot of family and friends that are also teachers and work for the district, so they will have that time off also.

We know it wont be convenient for everyone but no wedding, destination or not, will ever accommodate every single person. We did what was right for us and as long as my groom is there waiting for me at the end of the aisle, I'll be perfectly happy.

How did you pick your wedding date? Did you choose another day besides Saturday?

Fauxligraphy.

Yeah, apparently that's not really a word.

But it is awesome. Fauxligraphy is one of the ways I have managed to save money on this wedding! My mom was very proud :) Instead of hiring someone to address my envelopes for $3 a pop, I found a more resourceful way of doing things. One evening while obsessively looking at fonts on DaFont, I stumbled upon the calligraphy font section. Score! I immediately went to look at my printer to see if it had the capability of printing envelopes. It does. Turns out most printers can do this, who knew. Heh.

They have a huge selection of awesome fonts (for free!!!!!) but its not my fault if you get addicted. I warned you. The font I chose was Freebooter Script and I think it turned out awesome!

Dafont Freebooter Script

Here is an addressed envelope. The envelope I used was an old envelope I had, the printer didn't make it wrinkly like that. I wanted to show you what it actually looked like on an envelope, but I didn't want to spare one of my real ones :D Those things are way too expensive, y'all.

What inexpensive ways have you found to cut back on the wedding budget? I would love to hear them :D

An Untraditonal Traditional Beach Wedding.

Does that even make sense? Well, it sorta does to me :)

Just because Mr. PF and I are having a destination wedding doesn't mean that we are bucking all tradition completely. We are actually going to incorporate some of my family traditions, his family traditions and some island traditions in our ceremony. It should be very interesting to say the least.

Image via Jabez Photography

The first ceremony we are doing is a tradition from my family which incorporates a Lasso. The lasso we are using has been in our family for many generations and has been used by almost all of my family members during their weddings. The Lasso is a beaded rosary that is shaped like an infinity symbol or and 8. It symbolizes our eternal love for each other and the bond we will be sharing from then on. We are going to have my parents and his parents put the lasso around our shoulders together to symbolize the two families joining together. While they are doing this, the officiant will say:

As you are bound together now, so too your lives and spirits

are joined in a union of everlasting love and trust.

Above you are the stars and below you is the earth.

Like the stars, your love should be a constant source of light,

and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

So we ask God to bless and protect this couple and their future together.

The next ceremony we are doing is the sand ceremony which I'm sure many of you are familiar with. Since it would be really hard to light candles during the ceremony on the windy beach, we are going to go the sand route. We will have four different colors of sand to symbolize different aspects of our marriage. Red sand to symbolize love and passion, blue sand to symbolize tears (good and bad), green to symbolize abundance and prosperity and finally white to symbolize compassion and understanding.

Image via St. Simon Elopements

The last tradition being incorporated into our ceremony is an island ceremony called a flower offering. Neither of us had ever heard of something like this and we loved the meaning and symbolism behind it. We will provide the guests with flower petals and we will head out to the dock at our venue and offer the flower petals to the ocean. We do this to honor the past, give thanks to the present and invoke love, happiness and abundance for the future. Plus, we will get awesome pictures like these...

Images via Susan Pacek Photography

What kind of family traditions are you incorporating into your wedding? Are you starting any new traditions?