cost breakdown: candy buffet

One of the biggest "non-practical" elements of our wedding was our candy buffet. (It's also one of the only things featured in wedding magazines that I fell in love with. What can I say? I'm not completely impervious to pretty pictures.) I'm sure that we could have come up with a less expensive cost-per-guest party favor, but I figured that people had earned their sugar comas after all the dancing at our reception!

We had 9 different containers in our buffet: 3 apothecary jars & 2 decorative plates, all snagged at Ross. (I started looking very early in our planning process, in order to take advantage of post-Christmas sales. I basically grabbed anything white or metallic I could get my hands on.) I got creative when I found 2 big mercury class candle holders at Target (I just covered the pointy thing in the bottom with tissue paper), and I made a cake stand from a tutorial on OnceWed.com. At the last minute, I found a giant clear-glass vase that I already owned -- score!

Total: $69.18



For the candy, I realized pretty quickly that while lots of websites out there offer "discount bulk candy", the overnight shipping required to get it to Southern California in the summer, hopefully without melting, was a potential budget-buster. I got as much of it as I could at a local warehouse in downtown L.A.

10 lbs. each grapefruit sour gummies, butterscotch & Hershey's kisses = $68.88.

I got the rest from 2 online resources, and went for the 2-day shipping in protective packaging (still cheaper than overnighting it) just before temps soared for the summer.

10 lbs. each 7-up jelly bellies & white jordan almonds from bulkfoods.com = $99.56 + approx. $60 shipping.
10 lbs. "milkies" (like M&M's, but without the "M" so cheaper) & 5 lbs. champagne bubbles from Groovy Candies = $115.85 + approx. $40 shipping.

I also got 5 lbs. of white mints from Smart & Final for about $10. And somehow I got it into my head that I'd have a) the time, and b) the skill to make a thing or two. Yeah, I know ... overly ambitious = me. Fortunately, after my test run turned out poorly, I found these at Target:

White Oreos! Who knew?! (I didn't.) About $10 for 3 bags.

I made the signs for each container with leftover cardstock from our invitations -- printed at Kinko's -- and attached it with ribbon I found on sale. Instead of buying pricey labels from some online site, I printed some using Word on my home computer:

They seemed to get what I wanted to say across ... and I already had those labels, so they were free.

We decorated the table with the leftover bubble liquid bottles from our ceremony, and some matchbook notebooks that I made. I used the cardstock samples I'd bought when looking for our invitation paper, plus stamps that were in the set used on our invitations & plain computer paper. The upside to doing things yourself = re-purposing your leftovers!


I found the big scoops at a local party supply store (about $10) & decorated them with the same ribbon as on the container signs, and got the bags through a wholesale company. (I ended up with twice the amount I needed, so after selling the extras on Craigslist, they cost a net $13.)

Altogether, the candy buffet cost us about $545. Admittedly, it was kind of an extravagance, and I might have changed my mind if I'd known about the extra $100 in shipping charges from the beginning ... but it turned out beautifully, our guests loved it, and I was really proud of myself for pulling it off. So if anyone out there is planning something similar, I hope you find this useful!

perhaps I was overly ambitious: part 3

cost breakdown of invitations

I fear that these ended up costing more than I thought they would -- if I could even remember what I thought these things "should" cost, when I first got on this crazy ride. Ah, my long-lost naivete .... Nonetheless, I'm thrilled with how they turned out, and pretty amazed with what I was able to make happen within our budget. These figures are for a guest list of approximately 110 people.

cardstock in 2 colors: $81.00
printing: $58.01
envelopes: $25.00
envelope liners: $ 0.87
labels for addresses: $12.98
postage: $70.40
decorative stamping: $25.88
raffia ribbon: $4.20
glue sticks & dots: $7.29

total: $285.63
cost per piece: $2.10

I decided to go with cost per piece due to the one-page & two-page variations of our invitations. The vast majority of them are one-page, since we're able to include everyone at the informal party in Los Angeles. I suppose I could've figured out what percentage of the total were 1- or 2-pagers, and gotten a precise average cost per invitation ... but frankly, that's more math than I care to do.

Some of the things that helped me keep costs down:

* I found the envelopes on Craigslist -- someone had leftovers in the exact color, size & amount I needed.
* I quickly realized that it was cheaper to get cardstock from the manufacturer, even with shipping, rather than buy it 1 piece at a time whenever Michael's had it in stock ... not to mention the gas & time I saved.
* I lined our envelopes with a roll of wrapping paper on clearance from Target and leftover wallpaper I already owned.
* Rather than pay for a liner template I doubt I'd use again, I made my own.
* I bought a pack of full-sheet labels from Office Depot and cut them into wrap-around address labels.
* I taught myself how to use Photoshop, which allowed me to design our invitations, address labels & save-the-dates. It took some time, but I got exactly what I wanted, and there was no charge for proofs when I took my ideas to Mr. UB.
* We emailed our save-the-dates, which saved paper, printing & postage for that.
* All the invitations include our website, where people can email RSVPs -- again, no paper, printing or postage.

I don't suggest that my methods here are the best idea for everyone out there. It certainly helped that I had tons of free time this spring, as the acting biz was slow. I may not have been able or motivated to invest as much of my time as this took if I'd been busier. (Then again, if I'd been busier I probably could've afforded to out-source it.) Besides, I really enjoyed "the thrill of the chase" -- being on a mission that had me swinging by the gift wrap aisle of Target when I was just there for paper towels, or hunting down the company that made our cardstock (which was far more difficult than it should've been in 2009.)

Ultimately, it comes down to this: I'm stubborn. I have very particular taste, and I'm loathe to trust my vision to other people when I have the time & ability to do it myself. But I'm also very proud of myself -- so there.

perhaps I was overly ambitious: part 2

So, after all of that craziness from yesterday's post, these are my final results. I know some people wait until their recaps to reveal the look of their invitations, but I'm not sqeamish about that. If you're invited & you don't want the "spoiler", please skip this post!

There are two basic variations on our invitations: ceremony-&-reception, and reception-only. Without question, the absolute hardest part of our planning process has been deciding who we can afford to include at the ceremony. So it is extremely important to me that our invitations reflect an equal amount of care & handcrafting, whether the envelope contains one piece of paper or two. Also, I didn't have enough paper to line all of our envelopes identically, so I'm including pics of both liner colors.

These are the basic pieces I created:
One-piece invitation:


Two-piece invitation:


And here they are, all bundled up & ready to go.

I wish that the little gold swirlies (the same ones from our save-the-dates) printed on the address labels showed up better in my pics, but here's a close-up that's slightly sharper:

Please, Mr. Postman, take them away!

perhaps I was overly ambitious: part 1

Here we go: Invitation Construction-Palooza. As I documented each step of this little undertaking, I did ask myself, frequently, "what the hell was I thinking?!?" ... lest you a) think this crap is normal, or b) know me & fear that I've lost it completely. Then again, maybe I have. You be the judge:
That's what I started with. I designed the invites using Photoshop & paper samples from Michael's. Mr. UB and I picked the same 2 colors -- hooray! -- and he really dug my design. I thought about printing them at home, but a) my printer couldn't handle cardstock (I tried) and b) I'm sure I would've spent at least the same amount in ink as I did for Kinko's to print them.

I thought about having them cut by Kinko's, too, but the margins on my screen weren't matching what appeared on the page, and I was too paranoid to risk it. Solution:
Good thing I already own that paper cutter. (Why do I own it? Because somebody decided that even though paper is 8.5 x 11, actor headshots should be 8 x 10. I suspect the same person who decided to label garbage bags in gallons, and garbage cans in quarts. But I digress ...)

So I cut the ceremony invites to 4.5 squares, and the reception invites to 6.5 x 4.5. Then I cut the gold paper backing to 5 x 5 and 7 x 5, respectively, and started glueing.

That's the one that my printer ate halfway through, but hopefully you can get the idea. The next thing I had to deal with was unexpected: they started curling as the glue dried.

Who says book learnin' doesn't have practical applications? So after I left them to flatten overnight, I moved onto the next step: hand-stamping every piece.

Say it with me now: What was I thinking?!? Not only did I have to re-ink between every piece, and wait (again) for them to dry before the next step, but it took me 3 tries to find a level surface that didn't randomly leave blank holes in the middle of the designs. D'oh! Good thing I over-printed by a lot. Here's to not wanting to have to go back to Kinko's saving the day.

While I was waiting for the ink to dry, I cut the ribbon that was going to hold the pieces together (or just fancy things up a little, for the people we can only invite to the reception.)

Also, I discovered on my test piece that glue dots, rather than a smoosh of glue stick, was the way to go. Hello, trip to Target. And since I was already out & about, I took my test invite to the post office to get postage. The woman who helped me weighed it & pronounced it 1 oz. stamp-worthy ... until she noticed the knot in the ribbon. "Oh no," she told me, "if it isn't just flat paper, it's an extra $0.20. You have to take that off."

Oh, you silly Post Office Lady.

Do you realize who you're talking to? I am a Bride on a Budget. I have been researching every detail online to the brink of carpal tunnel syndrome. I have been arguing with vendors that I don't have to pay that much, or even have that at all. I have been defending my ideas, plans and vision for this shindig with friends, relatives, and even my darling fiance -- and holding my own in a non-'zilla way most of the time. And you think that you are going to talk me out of my pretty, shiny raffia ribbon? Ahem.

"Well then let's just pay the extra 20 cents. Yes, I like the wedding cake stamp very much. No, I don't want the red, white & blue star to make up the extra 3¢. Let's find something else. Thank you!" (Use every acting class you've ever taken to insert sincere smile here.)

So each one of our lovely envelopes will have one wedding cake & three Tiffany lamps.
The colors work. And the "extra" cost for keeping my raffia ribbon will be approximately $22. With everything else that we've saved money on, my regrets = zero. (I normally strive to say "us" rather than "me", but I'm the one with the issue here, so I'm owning it.)

Back to the salt mines. The first batch is drying on my floor.
Time to stick a glue dot on the back, tie a freakin' ribbon around it & stuff it in an envelope.

More to come: the final product, the cost breakdown, and why the f*** I did this by myself, despite multiple offers of assistance.

progress report

I have been getting stuff done, honestly I have. Yes, I've been totally distracted this week with getting ready to open a show tomorrow (more on that later) (tomorrow?! holy crap!!) but I finally re-charged the camera battery last night & snapped a few pics of what I've been up to.

First, I finally completed the card box.
I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I followed a tutorial on Once Wed for the basic overall form, but departed from it when it came to the birds' nest.

The instructions called for something called bark-covered wire, which I didn't have. I did, however, have that bundle of twigs & crap that I got in my after-Christmas Target raid. (That's also where I acquired the berry things, which I painted a champagne-y color. Mr. UB thought I should leave them bright red ... he's so cute when he's wrong.) I also liked Lincoln Logs when I was a kid -- hello, grown-up version with hot glue gun! I found the two birds in the clearance section of the discount craft place downtown for $0.38 each. The fact that they both have slightly wonky hair pleases me, too, since the Mr. & I are no strangers to that phenomenon ourselves.

cost of materials:
3 boxes = $4
paper = already owned
birds = $0.76
berries, twigs, leaves = already owned
ribbon = $1
flowers = $1.98
Total: $7.74 + 2 minor injuries (1 hot-glue, 1 exacto-blade) ... not bad. Especially for me.

I was also busy last night with those envelope labels I made. They went from a neat stack of these:
to looking like this:
which then got turned into these:
which made another pile of this:
that finally became a nice, neat stack of these:

Now I just need to make about 30 more lined envelopes. Thank goodness for Law & Order marathons.

Oh, and the piles of sugar in my refrigerator have grown.

I had nothing to do with it ... must be osmosis. Or something.

another purloined idea

I saw this today on a wedding featured here on Offbeat Bride, and I love it.
They made buttons for all of their guests at the reception. The wedding party & family members had buttons with their "title", and the rest of the guests got to choose what they wanted. Things like "Bouquet Dodger" (that would've been me) "Starving Actor" (we'll need a few of those) and "I'm a little drunk" (ditto) ... so hilarious. I know that button makers aren't too terribly expensive. If we have leftover funds for the reception, I totally want to do this.

Above image from the bride's Flickr stream.

paper pomander post-mortem

Mr. UB has weighed in, and in his (inimitable) words, "The second one looks like a box of Kleenex exploded."

So, as a general service to a) E. , who asked; b) anyone out there who's thinking of making these; and c) any of the parental units who're contributing to our budget who happen to see this ... the cost break-down per unit is:

styrofoam ball: $1.54 each (as pack of 12, from this eBay seller)
seam binding: $2.10 ($0.30/yd, bought here on Etsy)
craft paper: about $1.79 (at Michael's)
pearl head pins: about $1.25 (at Michael's & Moskatel's)
craft punch: $4 (at Michael's, with coupon)

Total = approx. $6.68 plus pro-rated cost of the craft punch (tbd at the end of all this nonsense; currently $0.66/ea.) = approx. $7.35 per pomander.

Which I maintain is still quite a bit more economical than the average "real" flower pomander. If you have evidence to the contrary, please comment & let me know!

fortunately i've found a whole new conundrum

I made it to the jewelry trade show on Friday, and had great success -- I got a super deal on enough gold chain to make b-maid bracelets ($3.85/foot!) and finally figured out what to put on top of those cufflink bases. Green-hued mother of pearl beads, $3 for a strand of twice as much as I needed. So now I'll have these to give as gifts to the groomsmen: (In retrospect, that's a terrible backdrop for the photo -- my apologies.) I really tried to go with something they could use again. Believe me, I spent waaay too much time dithering about going for something a bit "bling-ier", to match the b-maid earrings, plus a few other even sillier ideas. But in the end, I think I did good. Mr. UB agrees.

Are brides "supposed to" give gifts to the groomsmen? I don't care -- I adore all of the guys who'll be standing up with My Guy, and it seems unfair to only give thank-yous to the people standing behind me at the ceremony. Best of all, it came to a total of less than $14 for all 5 pairs.

So, with the attendant thank-you gifts under control, I decided it was time to move onto a whole new problem: Project Honeymoon.

Mind you, I only consider it a problem in the budgetary sense. I have a permanent case of wanderlust, and I still feel the pull of my ex-patriate past at regular intervals. Neither Mr. UB nor I are afraid to fly, and we both love adventure. So it's definitely not the travelling itself that's the "problem." Rather, it's trying to find something that feels appropriately special that we can afford.

Starting with our original ideas, Mr. UB first thought of Italy. Rome, specifically. Which is a place I absolutely want to go with him ... just not for our honeymoon. Why? Because I lived in Italy for 4 years, and Rome was my 2nd home while I was there. So perhaps it's weird (he kinda thinks it is), but I want our honeymoon to be a place that's brand new to both of us, so that we can discover it together. Or alternately, a place where I won't mind failing to show him everything that I love, just in case we never make it out of the hotel room.

My original idea looked like this: Right? Right?! There's just one problem: the part of the world where most of the places that look like this is located, specifically Bora Bora/Mo'orea, is "pricey," to put it mildly. As in most of them start at $900/night. Ouch. (Have I mentioned that I have exquisite taste?)

So: back to the drawing board (aka Google.) I actually got a manageable amount of hits for "Over Water Hotel" once I took out the duplicates. And a few were easily eliminated right away: a lake in Switzerland (not tropical), the coast of northern California (not exotic) and a place in Bermuda (just not "it") are out. There's a beautiful place in Western Samoa that's run by an American couple who dropped out of the game a few years back, and it looks amazing.

source

It's called Coconuts Beach Club, and it's not outrageously priced. The trouble spot is getting to Samoa. It's admittedly less trouble from L.A. than from just about anywhere else besides Australia, but that doesn't make it easy. Even if you don't have a layover in Fiji, the positioning of the Int'l Date Line means that getting there technically takes three days!! Even if you "get them back" on the return trip, it seems like the kind of travel that needs a longer time frame than we're likely to have. Oh, and those flights are about $1000/person. Again: ouch.

And then I stumbled onto this place. It's in Panama. Now, just to prove that I still have a shred of sanity, my first reaction was Panama?!? But upon closer inspection, I have to admit that I'm falling for the place. It's a very small resort, and it's actually affordable. During the time period when we'd be going, those bungalows are under $350/night. And non-stop flights from L.A. to Panama City can be had for under $500/person. You can even get there for less, if you're willing to take a flight with stops. Normally, I'd totally go for that, but I hope we can splurge $100 since it's our honeymoon. Also, we'd probably have to spend a night in Panama City before the island-hopper plane to the resort, and that could be really cool. I don't think I'd want to spend a lot of time there, but one night would definitely be fun.

So now it's time to see what we can actually afford, and try to make it happen. Maybe we can do one of those travel registry things? I much prefer a swell vacation to kitchen stuff. I'll buy my own damn blender.

ribbon palooza, etc.

I found an incredible deal on scoops & tongs for our candy buffet. $0.60 each. I went with big spoons instead of fancy candy scoops because I figure we'll actually have use for these in our kitchen. You know, in the several years of being married, after the big fancy party that lasts one day.

$1.70 each. All at Vine American Party Store.

With slightly more than $1 worth of cream ribbon (total, that is), they now look like this: Total cost: $10.30, and no shipping costs. The website for Vine American is pretty rudimentary, and you can't shop online. But if you're in L.A. and can stop by (and have time to dig) they've got some deals that beat craft stores. By a lot. (Also, no hot glue gun injury this time. I'm improving!)

Next up: supplies for our invitations arrived yesterday. (Side note: our UPS guy is really nice. I should really tell him why he's suddenly seeing me so often, and why there's slightly less room for me in my living room each time he stops by.)
They came with a very nice, unintentionally hilarious note from the person who tool our order. Hand-writted "Thank you!" and signature ... and just below it "*no returns ... no refunds" in the tiniest print. With an actual asterisk. Good thing I intend to keep it, I guess.

Here's what the paper stuff will look like when it's all put together: (The text will be printed on the cream-colored paper ... but in a burst of forethought I decided to run off my samples on plain stuff, until I got it right. And I now have the proper tool for getting the stamp aligned properly, too.) I have 2 options for tying the varying pieces together:


I think I prefer the second one, with just the raffia. Which is fine -- I've decided that I want to keep things as neutral as possible, overall (a reaction to the neckties, possibly?), and I'm sure I'll find another use for the green ribbon. Besides, it only cost $1/spool.

I did a little scrounging for something to put on the cufflink bases I bought on eBay, but came up empty. Then I remembered that Gem Faire is coming back to Santa Monica -- next week, even! Hooray for my flyer that showed up in the mail, complete with Free Entry Coupon. If you want to go, they have 2-for-1 entry coupons that you can print on their website. Or just see when it's travelling trade show goodness is coming closer to your area.

Lastly: some love for all things Google. I thought I'd have to buy some special kind of goo in order to clean the candle holders that I found on Craigslist, until I searched "candle wax removal." Turns out you can pop them in the freezer for a few hours, then basically pop the stuck, melted candle end right out. Yay, free solutions.

**Post-lastly: I just got off the phone with Mr. UB. He went out last night to meet some friends, and learned that someone who used to work at a restaurant with his roommate just started her own catering company. Without him even asking, she offered to cater our reception for cost. Excuse me -- I have to go dance around my living room now.

luuuurrrrve!!

Once again, I am in love. Or rather, more specifically, I am in luuuurrrve. With the delectable Ania. She's a wedding co-ordinator, who fell into my lap via the beyond-lovely Mel (Camera-Op Extra-ordinaire) where I am once again working. But ... what-evers. I luuuuurrrve me some Ania. She has resources for everything from cakes & flowers to rings & decor stuff. AND she's committed to fitting into my micro-budget. I would cart her around on my shoulders if I could. She also thinks I've done a good job, on my totally uneducated, out-of-my-depth own, thus far. Woot = us!

almost "done"

And by "done" I mean "planned." I've been raiding the after-Christmas sales, looking for all things creamy & shiny. I think I've got all the containers for our candy buffet.Three apothecary jars, all from Ross, $9.99 each. Two mercury glass hurricanes from Target, $12.50 each. Two gold & cream plates, also from Ross, $3.99 each. One stand made via instructions on Once Wed: $3.98 terracotta dish (Home Depot) + $0.25 plant pot (Ikea) + $1.29 craft paint (Michael's) = $5.52. Everything else I already had, including the paper liner:which is leftover from here:Less delicate than all that pretty craft paper, and I have quite a bit of it. Which means I can f*¢k up a few times & not freak out/have to go back to the craft store. Which is a good thing, because I made a special trip out there for a round edge cutter-thingy, only to discover that those start at $20. And frankly, I don't plan on cutting enough round things to justify that expense. So I just used my little exacto-thingy and went slowly. Only took me two tries.

Also, this little (cup)cake stand is officially my first hot glue gun project. Which means it's also the source of my first hot glue gun injury:This is going to be a long few months. I'm gonna go make sure my health insurance premium is payed up.

So: all the above prettiness for just under $70, with nothing left to buy but a few scoopers. And to fill the jars:7-up flavor Jelly Bellies,jordan almonds,white chocolate drops, all from BulkFoods.com,white pillow mints,cream and white "chocolate milkies" -- m&m's without the monogram, for less money, both from GroovyCandies.com.

Also, because I've probably completely lost my mind, I'm going to make a couple of things. (I heard you gasp, oh ye of little faith.) Now anything I make will have to meet two important criteria: 1) it's not crazy complicated, and 2) it will stay fresh for up to a week, so I don't have to manage to arrange a 50-hour day, the night before the wedding. Fortunately, my mom gave Mr. UB a lovely cook book for Christmas -- probably because she knows that all I make for dinner is reservations, but moving on -- and it contained one or 2 things that seem to fit the bill: white fudge and flavored gum drops, both from BetterHomes&Gardens.com. They're both made with 6-7 ingredients, which you mix, pour into a pan & cut into squares when it's set. I can do that. Similarly, these marshmallows are one-cake-pan-at-a-time yummies:The white ones, I mean.

There's just one thing that's making me crazy: no one that I've found will tell you how much you need. They don't even give you a ballpark figure. They just say annoying things like "Have lots!" and "Celebrate with abundance!" Gee, thanks guys. I will. But my abundant celebration will be happening on a budget, and I don't want to a) run out & screw half my guests out of their hard-earned sugar coma, or b) over-order & thereby sentence Mr. UB & I to a year of jelly beans & fudge, 3 meals a day. (My 6 year-old self would've been ecstatic at the idea of this. Today, my skin & my thighs say thanks but no.) So ... anybody out there have a formula for candies/person?