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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Lansing Photowalk part 2


More photos from the Crazy Geeks With Cameras Photowalk, downtown Lansing. August 24, 2010.




Lansing Photowalk


My photos from the Crazy Geeks With Cameras Photowalk in downtown Lansing. August 24, 2010. Jerod from Red Groove Photography greets the group of photographers before we set out on our photowalk.









Monday, August 16, 2010

R.E. Olds Car Show


Photos from the R.E. Olds Car Show in downtown Lansing, Mi. Saturday, August 14, 2010.








The Lansing Center

Friday, August 13, 2010

Mustache Wedding Photos


We had some mustache fun at our wedding!

My son, the Sheriff!


So cute!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Our DIY Budget Wedding

Here is a break down of what we spent on our recent wedding. We didn't set a budget. We just approached each item in a practical/budget friendly way. The first decision to having an affordable wedding was limiting the number of people we invited. We were able to have a beautiful wedding & reception by only inviting our immediate family & close friends.

Invitations: DIY $7 for printing, $2 for purple card stock. We had a small family-only wedding, so I only had to make 14 invitations.



Bride’s attire:
The Dress: My wedding dress was from David’s and cost $349. That was a splurge for me! At first I was looking at dresses that were under $100 online, but ended up with the dress from David’s because I wanted to try it on before I bought it! It fit perfect, and no alterations were needed.

The Shoes: My shoes were Dyeables that I ordered online, and had dyed locally. Total cost $90. I added a DIY rhinestone accent on the sole for $1. This one one of the things I was obsessed with.... having purple shoes! I had a hard time finding anything locally in purple, so I thought dyeables would solve that issue. I don’t recommend these shoes! First off the dye rubbed off on everything! I knew they wouldn’t be “water proof” but even just picking them up to put them on left dye all over my hands. I brought them back to have them sprayed with a sealer, and it helped a little. After wearing these shoes for 2 hours during my reception, the soles were all tore up, like shredded leather! I will never wear these again! My advice on shoes: Get a pair of shoes you’ll want to wear again so you can splurge on them, and don’t do dyeables!




Accessories: DIY Hair flower and flower pin for my dress $10. I made my hair flower and pin for my dress using silk flowers & feathers from a craft store. I made a bracelet with pearls & purple beads that I already had and bought a love charm for $2. I wore a pearl necklace that I already owned. I did get my hair done at a local salon the day of the wedding for $60.




Groom’s attire:
The Suit: We purchased a Calvin Klein suit from Macy’s. $350 for the suit, shirt & tie. This would be considered a splurge, but my groom wears suits for business meetings and needed a new one anyway. Purple argyle socks from Target $2.




Kid’s attire:
We rented suit pieces for my son from Men’s Wearhouse. $25 for the pants, shirt & tie. We bought him a pair of “converse” looking Airwalks from Payless for $12, and purple socks from Target for $2.
The girls found sundresses at Younkers, $50 for two dresses, worn with Converse shoes that they already had.




Flowers:
I pre-ordered 3 dozen purple carnations from Horrock’s, a local flower & fruit market. The day before the wedding I picked up the carnations, and also found purple roses, blue veronica flower, and white poms. I also picked up 2 white roses for the boutonnières. Total flower cost $50 for my bouquet, 2 girls bouquets, and 2 boutonnières. I added an antique brooch to my bouquet that I found at an antique store for $2.



Ceremony:
The ceremony took place at Cooley Gardens in Lansing, Mi. The garden is managed by Lansing Parks & Rec. For a $25 fee, you can reserve the park for a 2 hour block of time. We had our ceremony under the pavilion, which provided shade and seating for our guests.




The Officiant:
Free! We contacted a local judge who was able to come perform the ceremony for us! We did send a “thank you” plant to his office since they are not allowed to accept any monetary gifts.

The Photography:
We found a student photographer on Craigslist who is starting out and was offering free portrait sessions to build her portfolio. We asked if she would like to shoot a wedding, and she was thrilled! Cost: technically free, but we sent her $100 as a thank you because we loved the photos!

The Reception:
We had our reception at Clara’s Restaurant in Lansing, Mi. It’s an old train station, turned restaurant with an actual train/dining car. We reserved the dining car for our 25 guests. No site fees or cake cutting fee. Our guests had eight different entrees to choose from. $14.95 per person. With drinks and tip, the total cost was $500, or $20 per person.



The Cake:
We were able to bring in our own cake to the reception site. We ordered 3 cakes for variety: carrot, coconut, and double chocolate from Sam’s Club. $40 total. These were the best cakes I’ve ever had at a wedding! Everyone loved the variety and flavor of each. We had so much left over, we could have saved money and only ordered two cakes. Cake serving set: $5 from Hobby Lobby. We borrowed cake plates from family to display the cakes.




The Favors:
Mini wine bottles: 16 mini wine bottles with DIY label $20.
Chocolates: 16 chocolate favor bags- $3 for the purple paper bags with DIY labels. $10 for the chocolates with purple & pink wrappers (bought on sale after easter!).




Centerpieces:
Potted flowers for 12 centerpieces: $8, patterned flower pots from Target dollar spot $1 each, cellophane wrap $3. DIY “plant poke” signs.



Sand Ceremony:
Sand Ceremony Jar $2 on clearance at Hobby Lobby. Individual sand jars, $1 each from the dollar store. Sand in 5 different colors $10 from Michaels Arts & Crafts.

Total cost for our wedding: $1,757
We had a beautiful wedding on a budget without sacrificing any details!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Custom Designed Wedding Announcement


I designed this wedding announcement for our wedding that took place in June. It's a 6x9 postcard with glossy front. Visit my website for more info on custom designed wedding invitations, announcements and save the dates. Over sized postcards like these cost about 70 cents each depending on quantity ordered.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Las Vegas Invitations


The final printed version of the Las Vegas theme wedding invitation set I designed.
Complete with custom designed "playing card" logo printed with a glossy finish.

Back of reception card.



Front of RSVP postcard.

For more information about custom designed wedding invitation sets, visit TSAphoto.com or email tammy@tsaphoto.com