I need help!! - Wedding Forum

kelsijewel · #1 (**permalink**) 15-01-2006, 04:59 PM

Just wondering if anyone had some creative ideas for favors, centerpieces, or some great catering recipes that I could use? My budget isn't very big and I'd like to do a lot myself.
Thanks!! Kjewel

Angel · #2 (**permalink**) 25-01-2006, 05:15 PM

For our bombonearies (sorry couldnt spell it), I am making cupcakes. There will be one for each person. I am getting a couple of cake mixes to do it. Also by doing this you can have a smaller cake because everyone is already getting one.

Bev · #3 (**permalink**) 26-01-2006, 03:15 AM

We bought boxes of chocolates, then bought sheets of celophane (they were clear with silver stars on) and some ribbon. We cut the sheets into small squares and then put 3 cocolates in each one, and tied it at the top with the ribbon. They looked really nice. Then we bought blue tea light holders from Ikea for 29p each and wrote the name of each guest on them with silver pen. They doubled as favours and place names.

For the centrepieces, i bought vases from Ikea which were about £1.50, they were square, and i filled them with glass stones (again, good old Ikea, God bless them). Each vase had a small arrangement of flowers in it, tied at the bottom with ribbon and and wired with faux pearls. Sounds a bit naff like that but i thought they were gorgeous. The flowers were part of the florist arrangement, but everything else was bought by us. I also had metallic c onfetti to scatter on the tables, but I was so busy I forgot to put it on!

Teresa · #4 (**permalink**) 26-01-2006, 03:28 AM

I made all our stationary and saved a fortune. I got the favour boxes from ebay and then decorated them to match the invites etc and filled them with chocolate hearts that I bought from a local shop.

My hubby's mum did all our flowers for the table and they were silk ones so we got to keep them afterwards. I think the flowers for the tables cost about £60 and then my MIL did all the arrangements.

I went to a wedding last year and the favous were mini chocolate bars. They had just bought a couple of big tins of celebrations and then put five each in some celephane and tied it with ribbon. It looked lovely and didn't cost much apparently.

feesWorld · #5 (**permalink**) 16-02-2006, 11:17 PM

I bought tall shot glasses (50p each in Habitat, later found at 3 for £1 for the same glasses in a pound shop), and I painted the flowers I'd painted on our invites, order of service and menu's on them, then wrote (in outline glass paint) "Fiona & Paul - 13th July 2003" around the glass.

I then filled these glasses with sugared almonds, it looked really nice...a lot of work though.

I had planted flowers as my table centrepieces, chosen only a few days before to match my colours, kept it very simple, and close family members got to take one home with them at the end of the night. They still have them in their garden, and they call them their Fee & Paul flowers, which is kinda cool.

weez · #6 (**permalink**) 17-02-2006, 06:52 PM

I got pot plant flowers for each table, put them each in a terracotta pot, and then tied a bit of ribbon around them. They looked nice, cost about £2 each and we gave them to guests that we knew liked flowers at the end. Depends on the time of year, but garden centres usually have some nice cheap flowering plants.

i second the idea of individual fairy cakes, i did some for my wee girls christening and then had an M&S cake to match. I used a pastry cutter, you know the crinkly type, and cut out flowery circles which i popped on top of each cke, then added ready made daisys from a cake decorating shop. I've also done them with love heart sweets.They looked fab.

We didn't bother with favors, cheapskates that we are, but e-bay usually have some nice net favor bags very cheaply. I did all my own stationary and that saved a bomb. We also had the wedding on a thursday and at a venue that doesn't usually do many wedding. They charged less than places that weren't nearly so nice, and weren't fixed about what they could offer us. I also got my dress from the states, saving 2 thirds of the uk price.

Louise xxx

Hels · #7 (**permalink**) 18-02-2006, 07:04 AM

We bought glass bowls from ikea (£2-3 each), scattered clear glass beads in the bottom, filled with water and floated 5 pink gerberas (to match our colour schemes in each. This doubles as flowers/centre piece. After the meal I got them all taken up to rooms in the hotel for the guests and they took them home with them.

As for favours I bought gold/bronze ribbed pillow boxes and filled with pink foil chocolate hearts and tied with ribbon. I got a really good deal on the chocoloates on the internet and they did not contain traces of nuts which was really important because of a nut allergy in the family.

My friend had boxes but bought the chocolates from lidl. I thought they were from throntons! They were lush. I think a box of champagne style truffles is about £2 from there, so you could do that quite cheaply. If the nut allergy wasn't a concern I probably would have done the same as she did.

Also to save on money, I brought som pew ends and a couple of other displays from the church to put on the cake table and top table.

joules · #8 (**permalink**) 18-02-2006, 04:46 PM

I also made my favours... For the ladies, I got some little organza sachets (found them dead cheap at a local discount shop) and filled them with lavender I got in bulk from a local grower. For the fellas, I made my own wedding crackers and filled them with chocolates (managed to find some wrapped in foil to match my colours). They were a bit time-consuming, but SO cheap to do and a really big hit. I got some good quality wrapping paper on clearance after Christmas, used loo roll or paper towel cardboard (had all the family saving them up for me for a month or so

), and then bought the actual poppers from a place I found online.

sairy mary · #9 (**permalink**) 18-02-2006, 07:21 PM

ohh we are a really crafty bunch arent we!!! it makes me proud! i love ideas like this, just shows how you really can do things much cheaply if you really want to save some cash!
were doing the centrepieces ourselves too, i just bought a load of square glass vases from wilkos, £1.80 each and gonna fill em with those water crystals, and add a few drops of pink clouring, and a few stargazer lillies. coz the blooms are so big, you dont need too many flowers!!!
mega bargain in tescos too, i bought a load of tealight holders, plain glass ones for 24p each!

joules · #10 (**permalink**) 19-02-2006, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sairy mary

ohh we are a really crafty bunch arent we!!! it makes me proud! i love ideas like this, just shows how you really can do things much cheaply if you really want to save some cash!
were doing the centrepieces ourselves too, i just bought a load of square glass vases from wilkos, £1.80 each and gonna fill em with those water crystals, and add a few drops of pink clouring, and a few stargazer lillies. coz the blooms are so big, you dont need too many flowers!!!
mega bargain in tescos too, i bought a load of tealight holders, plain glass ones for 24p each!

ooooh... I LOVE stargazer lilies..... that's going to be SOOOOOOOO pretty Sarah!!

Cas · #11 (**permalink**) 20-02-2006, 03:32 AM

I'm about to start making wine glass charms as favours for our guests (just as soon as all of the various beads etc i've ordered from ebay turn up!). I reckon they'll probably end up costing about 40p each to make which sounds far better to me than over a quid each to buy! (plus this way I can get exactly the colours I want).

tigger2 · #12 (**permalink**) 20-02-2006, 06:06 AM

I went to a wedding recently where they had fortune cookies as favours - apparently they got them from a Chinese Supermarket and they were quite inexpensive.

I thought they were a good idea and different...........