Wedding’s are super expensive. People will tell you you can do it inexpensively, but whatever way you look at it, everything has a price tag and truthfully there are just a lot of those everything’s you feel like you need for the big day. With wedding budgets, it really comes down to choosing what is of value to you and your fiancé. Maybe you guys aren’t really into cake, but you would be upset if you didn’t have your dream photographer. Maybe you don’t mind a little less flowers to have a very personalized wedding invitation. 

If you're over there thinking I WANT IT ALL, I was right there with you. Take a sec to think about your wedding budget from a different lens. What do you value the most? If you’re saying you can’t (or don’t want to) choose, think about what you can get multiple uses out of. By this, I mean splurging on florals, invitations, signage, dresses, photography, even cake toppers can be worth it if you think about them differently. Can these things have a second life?

 A few ideas for you:

Day of Details

Weddings can require so much signage. You have the option to go inexpensive with templated work or go big with custom pieces such as signature cocktail signs or cupcake flavor signs that will make your guests stop in their tracks! 

After the wedding: Hang your cupcake signs in your kitchen in a cute mural. Decorate your bar cart with your signature cocktail sign and fun bar cart related items such as alcohol (obvi!), fun straws, wine openers, books, and your wedding day champagne glasses!

photos by @Laurengarrettbrown

Cake Topper

I splurged on a cake topper for my wedding for sure! The custom designed cake topper from Better Off Wed caught my eyes from the get go, but it was pretty pricey (around $80) for just a cake topper. 

After the wedding: I glued the topper to a white backboard and framed it. It is now hanging in my office and I AM OBSESSED. 

Invitations

Invitations can be pricey too, but it’s totally worth it when the end result is a beautiful custom branded wedding invite that showcases every bit of you and your fiancé's personality. It is, after all, the first thing your guests see, setting the mood and tone for everything they should expect to see in the following months.

After the wedding: There are a lot of ways to cherish your invitations after the wedding. My favorite idea is to buy a shadow box and pin each piece to the back of the box. Think about other items you could pin with it such as a wedding corsages/boutonnieres, wedding jewelry, and any day of details.

Florals

If you want to splurge on flowers for the wedding day, I say GO FOT IT! I think some people get hung up on the fact that florals literally last one day and are not something you can get any use out of again, but I say that’s totally not true! 

After the wedding: One easy way of keeping your wedding bouquet around, other than preserving it by air drying or hanging it upside down, is to have your bouquet drawn! This is such a unique way of keeping your beautiful bouquet forever (without actually keeping it physically). The great thing about a bouquet drawing is it looks great in just about any room's decor due to the subject matter.

For those of you just married, what are some ways you have given second life to items from your wedding day? Bride to be's- what are some of the items you HAVE TO HAVE!? Tell me in the comments :)