Rich Bride, Poor Bride

When Sara and I were at a friend's house over winter break, we caught two episodes of a new television show called "Rich Bride, Poor Bride" on the WE (Women's Entertainment) Network. The show traces the life of a couple as they work with a wedding planner to design their dream wedding on a budget. "Budget" is relative, because even the poor bride and groom spent $25,000.

The show takes you through every step of the wedding and when it came to invitations, the couples-to-be decided to splurge. Their invitations included a series of bows, three different envelopes, and three different cards announcing who the couple was, the dates and times of the wedding, and another for the recipient to RSVP. These invitations cost $8 a piece and the customization was limited to wording and font choice.

Our DIY, (truly) budget wedding has entailed us designing an invitation from scratch, with Sara and I spending a busy Saturday afternoon trading invitation drafts back-and-forth across the couch. We then created a stencil to allow us to manufacture the same design, assembly line-style. We are now in the midst of water coloring each card, and we will then follow-up by adhering a small piece of paper to the hand painted card detailing date, time, and how they can RSVP electronically. A brief message will be written on the back from both Sara and me. We then affix a 26 cent postcard stamp to the back and send it on its way.

Not only are we saving money by producing the card ourselves, using paper that we have found around the house, and asking our guests to reply electronically, but we are sending a personal, thoughtful and endearingly cheerful card to our beloved family and friends.

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