Bullseye! {Coupon at Target like You Mean It!}

Happy Wednesday, y'all! This is typically my day off (hence a blog post at 12 PM instead of 12 AM, lol) and I usually try to make the most of it and be productive. That can mean wedding planning, couponing, or getting a pedicure...that's being productive, right? ;) However, today, I will probably just be going to Hobby Lobby (Hob Lob as I often call it) and grabbing up some wedding items while they are 50% off this week! 

Quick tip: Hobby Lobby rotates their sales every other week. So, that means that for 2 weeks out of every month, you can get wedding items, floral items, and ribbon/tulle for half price! And if they don't have enough of something that you need, (Ex. they have 2 table runners and you need 15) you can order it while it is 50% and they will honor that price when your items arrive! 

Before I head off to Hob Lob, I would like to share with y'all a little Target secret that just may change the way you shop there forever! And it's really quite simple....and when you add coupons...oh it just gets that much better. 

So, let's get started! Here's a picture of my Target haul from last Sunday:

Please excuse the picture quality and my awful attempt at photo editing. I am no good at it, and I don't really like doing it. If you can't tell from the picture, for $9.63 including tax, I was able to get all of this at Target:

• 6 St. Ives Lotion Sprays (some of which had free body wash attached to them)- retail value $5.99 each
• 3 Simple Brand Exfoliating Face Wash- retail value $5.99 each
• 3 Simple Brand Cleansing Wipes- retail value $4.69 each
• 6 Dove Dry Shampoos- retail value $3.94 each

According to my receipts (I had 4 transactions), I saved $90.04!

All of these deals were made possible by rolling target gift cards. What is "rolling" you ask? Well, if you have ever shopped at Target, you have probably noticed a sign next to things like deodorant, drinks, or sunscreen that may say something along the lines of "Buy 3 and get receive a $5 gift card." And you think to yourself "I don't need 3 of those! And I'm still spending my $5!" This is true, but what if you already had a $5 gift card on hand? You can purchase the 3 bottles of sunscreen, use a $5 gift card from a previous transaction (it can be from a previous transaction that same day, or one from 6 months ago), and then get a $5 gift card back! So, you are able to stretch the $5 wayyyyyy farther than you ever thought possible.

And then, if you have coupons. Oh my goodness! Things can get real cheap, even free!

For example, in my transaction with the St. Ives Sprays, I:

• Bought 6 at 5.99 each and on special promotion, buy 3 and receive a $5 gift card.
•  5.99 x 6 = 35.94
• 35.94 - 10 (I had 2 $5 gift cards from a previous transaction a week ago)= 25.94
• Used 3 buy one St. Ives Spray get one free coupons valued at 7.99 each, and the cashier auto deducted! Meaning, I was able to get the full value of the coupon. So, even though the sprays cost 5.99 at target, I was able to get 7.99 taken off the of my total. Auto deduct is your friend! It's up to the cashier as to whether or not they will manually adjust down the value of the coupon.   7.99 x 3 = 23.97
• 25.94 - 23.97 =  1.97 
• Used $2 off $10 personal care purchase Target Mobile Coupon 1.97-2.00= -0.03
• Used a reusable shopping bag and received a 0.05 credit -0.03-0.05= -0.08
• Add tax 1.67 + (-0.08)= 1.59
• So, I paid $1.59 and received 2 $5 Target gift cards to use on the next deal that comes up!

Did you see how that worked? Next time you see one of those gift card deals, consider taking the plunge. Especially if you can match it with coupons! Then, just keep rolling, rolling, rolling! Now, that is really stretching your money!

If you have any questions, I am always happy to help. Just leave them in a comment below, or my new Facebook page !

*Note, these are all dead deals due to expired coupons, with the exception of the Dove Dry Shampoo. Go get you some!

 

More Cake Less Dough {How to Save Money on a Wedding Cake}

3 posts in a row! Am I on a roll or what?! Though I have to admit, if Tyler weren't out of town right now, I probably wouldn't be blogging tonight. We would have probably gone to dinner and gone to Target or something. Excitement! Haha! 

He has been gone since Wednesday visiting family in Ohio. He will return on Sunday. I really started missing him today! But it was nice to spend a nice night in, watching Say Yes to the Dress and Dateline while eating Chick-Fil-A, followed by a bubble bath and blogging!

So, let's get caught up! 

After a long search, we booked a cake baker in January. But it was NOT easy (nothing really has been LOL!).

This is was my criteria:

• A budget of $400, including tax. So, for 200 people, that would come out to about $2/slice.
• Cake that actually tasted good. I love a pretty cake, but if it's drier than an overcooked Thanksgiving turkey, its not even worth my time.
• NO fondant. I personally hate the way it tastes.
• Round layers with strawberry filling.
• A top layer to keep for our first wedding anniversary.

 So, my original plan was to order our cake from Publix. I had heard and read from a few pins that Publix made delicious and affordable wedding cakes. I actually thought I had the cake thing in the bag. I knew from experience that Publix does indeed make delicious cakes, and I thought that they must be affordable, since they are a grocery store chain. So, one day in December, I decided to call Publix just to make sure my assumption was correct. (And you know what they say about assuming).

Well, I was wrong. To the tune of around $700 wrong. That's when I knew I was in trouble. If I couldn't afford Publix of all places, who could I afford? So, I started emailing local cake bakers. I explained my budget, and what I was looking for. Just a simple, vanilla cake with strawberry filling, butter-cream frosting, round layers, with enough cake to feed 200 people and a top later to keep for our first wedding anniversary... all for around $400.

I knew this was going to be a challenge, as most places want upwards of $3.50 a slice. I won't go through the list of everywhere I contacted, but I can tell you that some of them were downright rude. Some of them never replied. And a select few were willing to work with me, offering some different options that would work, but I'm glad I didn't settle.

Finally, a girl Tyler worked with told him about a little place in Chapin called Bailey's Sweet Shoppe where she had gotten her wedding cake from. So, I looked them up on Facebook, flipped through their album and reviews (which were fantastic!), and sent Jamie at message on Facebook, thinking I'd just be getting another rejection letter.

To my surprise, she said that her wedding cakes generally ran around $2 a slice, and as long as there was no fondant involved, she would decorate it any way we wanted for the same flat price. Thinking it was too good to be true, I set up a cake tasting for the follwing weekend and drug Tyler out to Chapin with me.

One bite of that sour cream pound cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese icing and we were HOOKED.

And Jamie, our baker, was SO nice. And that was all it took. I had finally found my delicious $400 cake (plus $75 delivery fee) serving 200 people with a top layer to save.

So, here is what I learned: 

• As I have said before, SMALL TOWNS are where it's at. Affordable, reliable, friendly, experienced, AND you are supporting local businesses. Win, Win!
• If you don't have somewhere like Bailey's Sweet Shop in your area, consider ordering a small wedding cake and then several sheet cakes of the same flavor. Keep the sheet cakes (often called "kitchen cakes") in the kitchen and have cut up back there as well. No one will know the difference.
• Consider ordering a small wedding cake and surrounding it with other, cheaper yummy things like pies, cupcakes, cookies, etc.
• Consider ordering a smallish wedding cake and having a grooms cake as well. Grooms cakes are fun and much cheaper than wedding cake. 
• Fondant is typically (but not always) more expensive than butter cream. 
• Avoid trying to make your own cake at all costs. With everything else going on, you are not going to be able to handle it. 

Also, here is a small list of bakeries in our area that were final contenders for me. These bakeries have the most affordable wedding cakes in the midlands. Seriously, trust me. I scoured Columbia and beyond:

• Chocolate Wonderland located in Lexington, SC.  http://chocolatewonderlandsc.weebly.com/

•  Chocolate Nirvana located in Columbia SC (Their wedding cakes were out of my budget, but they also make delicious "Nirvana cakes" which are very beautiful. I considered getting one of those, and then ordering a variety of the other desserts they offer like miniature pecan pies, cheesecakes, and petit fours.) http://chocolatenirvanabakery.com/ 

•  Bailey's Sweet Shoppe located in Chapin, SC                                                                              https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baileys-Sweet-Shoppe/119089544842602

Our sweet wedding director also ordered a BLEEDING ARMADILLO grooms cake for us! We had been talking about how we wanted one just like the one in Steel Magnolias, so she actually order it from Bailey's Sweet Shoppe as well, per the recommendation of her husband's co-worker, without even knowing that they were making our wedding cake as well!
                            "I can't even begin to think how to make grey icing!"
I hope this will help someone! I'm sure there are even more money saving ideas out there when it comes to wedding cake. If you think of one I missed, leave it in a comment below! Have a great weekend!

Go Ahead And Ask Me {Why the Long Guest List?}

When I began my journey as a bride to be nearly 2 years ago (wow!), I scoured the internet, looking for every possible way to have a wedding on a shoe string budget. I would spend hours googling, "Weddings under $5,000," "Weddings under $10,000," "How save money on a wedding venue," "Cheap wedding decor," .... the list goes on and on.

However, they all had one thing in common. Suggestion number one: "Cut back on your guest list." And every time my heart would sink because that was the one thing that we absolutely did not want to do. 

I find it absolutely crazy and downright disturbing that the best advice someone can give on how to have an affordable wedding is to eliminate the most important part-- your guests. If you have 100 people in your life that you want to "share in the joy as you exchange marriage vows and begin your new life together" (that line is totally in my wedding invitation, yes I have memorized it, LOL ;), then by all means invite them! If you have 200 people, invite them! As long as they are people that you LOVE and when you picture that day, you picture them there as well.

Obviously, one should remain within reason. Inviting people you haven't seen in years, or inviting people because you feel like you have to, or inviting people just to receive their gift is not appropriate.

For Tyler and I, a large part of our guest list is comprised of our church family. We knew from the beginning that we were going to have to find a way to accommodate them. And with the Good Lord's help, we did!

I was recently asked how I could know that many people. How could I possibly want that many people present at such an intimate event? How in the world would each invited guest feel special when they are one of so many others on a guest list several pages long?

 In the words of our wedding program:

"Dear Cherished Friends and Family,

The big day is finally here! We know it's been a long time coming. Each of you were invited to be here today because you have molded us into the couple that we are today. It may have been something you said, it may have been a piece of advice given, it may have been something you did when you thought no one was watching...big or small you have all made an impact on our lives. We want to personally thank each of you for your love and support over the last 7 years. Thanks for watching us grow up together. We couldn't have done it without YOU!

Love,

Lauren and Tyler"

Make a little more sense to you now?

I just could not imagine a wedding without all of those people who have loved on us, prayed for us, and prayed with us over the years. If it weren't for them, where would we be?

So, if you're out there and you're stressing out like I was, take a deep breath. It can be done, and has been done before. It won't be easy. You'll have to shop around, and beg, and barter, and get more creative than you ever thought you could...but you can totally do it. 

Remember, priorities. People you love or a 7 tiered cake? People you love or a 5 course dinner? People you love or a reception covered in roses?

Love. Always choose love! 

Real Talk {Things No One Tells You About Wedding Planning}

Friends, I want to begin by apologizing. I started this blog seven months ago with the intention of writing at least weekly posts. 

Yeah, that didn't happen. 

I literally thought that everything would be such sunshine and rainbows that I would want to write about it all and actually have the time to do that.

Yeah, no.

Don't get me wrong, it has been fun! And I have learned that I have a wonderful support system of friends who are willing to do anything to make sure this wedding is amazing. But, wow! The stress. The list. It keeps growing. Sometimes I lay awake a night rearranging center pieces and recalculating my budget over and over again. Tyler and I have argued over everything from when to work on wedding projects to what color our end tables should be (thanks for painting them again love, since I couldn't make up my mind ;). It just seems like everything is a runaway train and I'm running after it screaming "Wait! Please! Please slow down!" to absolutely no avail. I think it is safe to say that I have never been so stressed out in my life.

Y'all know my love for lists, so I'll make it brief.

Things I've learned over the last 7 months:

• All those DIY projects that you SAID you were going to do months ago, have now turned into "Ohhh Hobby Lobby has that for $30? Perfect. I'll take it. Saving myself that heartache right now!"
• Nagging will become your second nature. "Love, don't forget to put down the deposit on those chairs for the ceremony," turns into "You need to put down that deposit today," which turns into "If you don't put down that deposit TODAY, I will ABSOLUTELY hang you up by your toenails TOMORROW."
• That budget you had will accumulate $100 here, $200 there. Until you just start considering selling a kidney on Ebay.
• You'll start getting the comments. Especially if you're young.  One sad soul even said, "You know, you're 22," (you don't say??) "and if you get married this year and live to be 82, that's 60 years with the SAME man." Thank you, captain obvious. That's why I'm marrying that man.
• If you're preparing to leave home for the first time (which we both are), you will wonder how anyone makes it. Dig through my purse and you'll find old receipts, business cards, church bulletins, you name it...all with my new name/monogram...and a wedding and living budget doodled on them.

Of course, I'm sure this isn't the same for everyone. But I'm sure other young couples can relate to a few. 

So, I'm going to try to pick up the pieces and make a few more posts before the big day arrives. And let me just make it clear, I am very much excited about it!! It is just stressful, and a little nerve-wracking, as one can imagine.

Things that have happened since my last post:

• I purchased a wedding dress. (YAY!)
• We found a cake baker.
• We found a DJ (That was an experience!)
• We have sent out Save the Dates. 
• Bridesmaid dresses have been ordered.
• Invitations have been ordered.
• A florist has been found.
• Favors have been purchased.
• Lanterns for our send-off have been purchased.

I am hoping to make some posts about these things ASAP. I have learned ALOT and definitely want to share with other local brides so that they won't have to go through the same frustrations as I did! 

Until then, I will leave you with a Bible verse that is pulling me through this crazy, but beautiful time!