Practice Centerpiece

I think the cost of wedding flowers are outrageous!  Now don't get me wrong... I absolutely LOVE flowers (I even have a tattoo of a flower)... I think they are beautiful... but I think centerpieces and bouquets from florists are way over priced.... so we are thinking of another route... making them ourself!
My dad works at Trader Joe's and they always have some beautiful full blooms for a cheap price.  Hydrangeas are a great summer flower and TJ's has huge steams of these!  My dad picked up a bunch the other day (each bunch comes with three stems) and he and my mom put together this simple centerpiece:

I didn't take the best picture of this mock centerpiece... but at least it gives you and idea!  They lined the vases with white ribbon along the top too to give it a little extra touch.  The hydrangeas are white with a tint of green.  The pictures above really don't give it enough justice though... it's pretty, simple, and a little elegant... and the great thing is each centerpiece costs less than $7 to make! The great thing is that my mom was able to find a boatload of matching vases for the centerpieces after a couple visits to a thrift store... and is currently on the hunt for voltive candle holders at thrift stores too.
We would put these centerpieces together  the day before the wedding.... maybe even two days before.  This mock centerpiece was in perfect condition for quite a while, so making them ahead of time will be no issue to the appearance!

I'm also thinking of incorporating hydrangea into my bouquet as well!

first craigslist find

Craigslist is one of my favorite sites.  I'm on there at least once a day just to see what is being sold, what people have used for their wedding, and the price they sell it for.  People seem to sell everything on there!
After the wedding I plan on selling a lot of my purchased stuff as well... no point on storing some things that I will likely never use again. We'll be able to save storage space, get some money back, and help out a future bride at the same time.
A few days ago I was able to find a simple card box for just a couple bucks! I really haven't been on a hunt for one... but do know that I haven't been a fan of any that I've seen so far in the stores (which sell for like 20 bucks).  When I came across a particular post, the girl was selling it just for a couple dollars.  It is simple, collapsible, and easy to put together.   It's about 12" tall and 12" wide and in a octagon shape.  It's heavy duty cardboard with a pretty embroidered design on it (which you can really see in the picture). Later this year I plan on sprucing it up a bit to give it more with ribbon to give it some character.

If you are not familiar with what a card box is used for.... it's placed on the gift table at the reception and guests would drop their cards into it.  I've read about instances at past weddings where service staff or univited folks go to weddings and steal the cards (which are usually have checks or money enclosed).  The card box is a way to deter sticky fingers from grabbing cards that may just be laying in plain view on the table.
Hooray for craigslist for the cheap find and getting one of the menial tasks off my year long to-do list!