Microsoft Word - Wedding Budget Savers

Wedding Budget Savers By Clotilde Menendez For http://www.craftybegonia.blogspot.com/

In no time at all it would be June, the favorite month for weddings. Are you planning a wedding on a budget? It is suggested by some planners that to save money you stay away from expensive flowers such as roses, lilacs and orchids and choose the simpler flowers such as daisies, carnations, mums, baby's breath and gladiolus. Avoid a wedding date that is near a big flower-buying holiday. You can also ask your flower arranger to use less flowers and insert a lot of bows in between the foliage as "fillers" in "pocket" spaces, making the bouquets less expensive. If you want to save some more in the church decor, why not make this inexpensive heart CroMander and use it to decorate the pews? You can use satin ribbon or 2 strands of white and gold or white and silver number10 cotton crochet thread, add pearls and glass beads, gold or silver beads, and sew a pretty white satin or metallic ribbon to hang it from and you have saved money right there, use white ribbons to tie in between one pew and the other and decorate the center aisle where the bride will walk through and you're done!

This is a picture of a regular pomander or “kissing ball” these can be used as bridesmaid bouquets, as a bridal bouquet and also as centerpieces for your table. If you know a great crocheter, or if are one yourself, you can make yourself something similar to this but all crocheted up with seed pearls and even Swarovski crystals, using a florist pomander ball as the core of your CroMander. You cover all of the florist ball with crochet as if you were going to make the head or a doll, fasten it off. Then you make your roses or Irish Crochet flowers and sew them onto the crochet-covered ball, add seed pearls, bugle beads, anything you like. At the top, you place a beautiful ribbon with a bow and you are done. If you want the ball to lie on the table as a decoration or if you would like to make several to lie in a row on your reception table, then make smaller bows, not leaving any part that will hang. If you want to add leaves, you can make them all beaded

up with glass beads or with green pearls. At the end of this ebook, you’ll find a link to how to make a simple CroMander which will give you the basic steps on how to make yours. All you need to do is to use a larger ball for the inner core of the CroMander, and use thread to make it as dainty as you would like, such as number 10 white and gold cotton thread, for example, or number 10 white and pearl cotton thread, it you would like a translucent sheen. Use silk or dried flowers instead of fresh ones in table centerpieces and add ribbon bows and some heart CroManders also. If you are using little girls as your bridesmaids, you can use the original pattern for the round CroManders, using large, florist balls as the core of the CroManders, and then fill them with Irish Crochet Roses with seed pearls or glass beads at their centers. These crocheted pomanders with a ribbon sewn to the top will be delightful and delicate and at the same time, way less expensive than a regular florist pomander! You can also give them away as keepsakes as reminders of your special day. If you are planning your wedding on a budget, you must cut cost somewhere, especially if you are thinking about having site flowers for the ceremony, a gorgeous bridal bouquet, wedding party flowers, flowers for your parents and his parents, and reception centerpieces and floral displays. If you run that up, it can take a big chunk out of a limited budget. If you are afraid that Irish Crochet hearts might look rather home-made, don't be! It all depends of how good a crocheter the person who makes them for you is. My mom and I made all the blue roses for my sister's wedding favors and they were gorgeous! Talk to the person, tell her what you want and you'd be surprised at what lovely things could be made for you. If you consider that there are people spending anywhere from $1275 to $2751 on flowers alone according to a site on the internet, these kinds of arrangements look better and better. Besides, as I said, you can make them as exquisite as you want to, going from simple little seed pearls all the way to Swarovski crystals at the center of the Irish Crochet roses, you could even do the leaves all beaded up! According to an online wedding budget calculator, flower expenses could run like this in the USA on 2009, (these are the highs and the lows for a fabulous wedding): New Mexico Flowers: $1275 to $2108 Gifts and Favors: $640 to $1059 Washington State Flowers: $1576 to $2602 Gifts and Favors: $791 to $1306 Montana Flowers: $1316 to $2192 Gifts and Favors: $660 to $1102 North Dakota Flowers: $1352 to $2253 Gifts and Favors: $678 to $1132

Minnesota Flowers: $1643 to $2713 Gifts and Favors: $825 to $1363 Oregon Flowers: $1424 to $2373 Gifts and Favors: $715 to $1190 Idaho Flowers: $1317 to $2196 Gifts and Favors: $661 to $1102

Wyoming Flowers: $1444 to $2405 Gifts and Favors: $724 to $1208 South Dakota Flowers: $1383 to $2306 Gifts and Favors: $694 to $1158 Iowa Flowers: $1470 to $2449 Gifts and Favors: $739 to $1230 Michigan Flowers: $1626 to $2673 Gifts and Favors: $816 to $1342 New York Flowers: $1730 to $2796 Gifts and Favors: $869 to $1404 Maine Flowers: $1474 to $2456 Gifts and Favors: $739 to $1233 Ohio Flowers: $1543 to $2556 Gifts and Favors: $775 to $1284 Pennsylvania Flowers: $1565 to $2574 Gifts and Favors: $786 to $1292 Virginia Flowers: $1726 to $2785 Gifts and Favors: $866 to $1398 West Virginia Flowers: $1285 to $2142 Gifts and Favors: $646 to $1076 Indiana Flowers: $1528 to $2543 Gifts and Favors: $767 to $1277 Illinois Flowers: $1677 to $2751 Gifts and Favors: $842 to $1383 Missouri Flowers: $1430 to $2359 Gifts and Favors: $719 to $1184 Kansas Flowers: $1525 to $2511 Gifts and Favors: $766 to $1262

Colorado Flowers: $1708 to $2785 Gifts and Favors: $858 to $1397 Utah Flowers: $1463 to $2431 Gifts and Favors: $735 to $1221 Nevada Flowers: $1569 to $2615 Gifts and Favors: $788 to $1313 California Flowers: $1726 to $2771 Gifts and Favors: $866 to $1391 Arizona Flowers: $1485 to $2449 Gifts and Favors: $745 to $1230 Texas Flowers: $1421 to $2333 Gifts and Favors: $713 to $1171 Louisiana Flowers: $1235 to $2057 Gifts and Favors: $620 to $1034 Mississippi Flowers: $1213 to $2022 Gifts and Favors: $609 to $1016 Alabama Flowers: $1342 to $2235 Gifts and Favors: $675 to $1123 Georgia Flowers: $1398 to $2307 Gifts and Favors: $702 to $1158 South Carolina Flowers: $1351 to $2251 Gifts and Favors: $678 to $1130 North Carolina Flowers: $1459 to $2420 Gifts and Favors: $732 to $1217 As you can see, crocheting your pew decorations, your wedding favors and the decorations for your table settings will be a big help. That will free up money for the fresh flowers that you would like to add to the whole decor and for your bouquet, your parents' and your future parents-in-law corsages, etc. Variations: You can buy silk flowers and take them apart and hot glue some of the silk flower petals all over the CroManders and then sew the Irish Crochet roses on top. You can use silk flower leaves as foliage also to make the foliage "fuller."

If you would like the free pattern for the pomander-style CroManders, which you could make a lot larger simply by using a florist circle as the core of the ball, here it is: http://craftybegonia.blogspot.com/2009/03/cromanders-part-2.html If you would like to use the heart CroManders to decorate the church pews and to scatter around as part of the decor, here is the free pattern: http://craftybegonia.blogspot.com/2009/04/heart-cromander.html Free instructions on how to make pew bows: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/makeabow.html Think about putting a spray of Irish crochet roses in the middle of the bow. Lovely! Whether you are making your own flowers or taking the pattern to someone else to make them for you, can find a selection of books on Irish Crochet complete with many flowers and leaves, including roses, free to download as PDF files for you to print at this site: http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/completelist.htm For great FREE tutorials, become a follower of Craftybegonia’s Blog: http://www.craftybegonia.blogspot.com/