Bridal Registry 101

Author: Regina, Tupperware Lady & Savings Queen
Website: www.mytupperware.com/reginasober 
Blog: http://www.thecrazynutsmom.com/

When I was 12, my mom started saving things for me when I got married. My mom would use points she got from her purchases at the local grocery store, to buy a set of plates for a discount.  And she did the same for silverware.  Then I got a set of Tupperware added in there.  This cedar hope chest was handed down from my aunt and we collected things in it.  Other things were added through the years and it was a good start on what I would need.

When it came time to do my bridal registry, I went a little nuts.  I registered for duplicate things I would need at a couple stores.  I didn’t care about quality, it wasn’t about needing it.  It was more fun to use the scan gun and hear it beep!  We even registered for a toilet plunger and toothbrushes (and yes we got them!).

My point is, you need to think about the quality of items you register for.  Will they last a lifetime, is there a warranty on them if they break, or will you need to buy another one later.  I am a savings queen, and I’d rather pay once for something, than buy it twice.  So look for items that will have a lifetime warranty.

Being the Tupperware lady, I have to tell you, Tupperware has a lifetime warranty against chipping, cracking, peeling and breaking.  I have had several ladies tell me about how they had a Tupperware bridal shower in the 60s and 70s and are still using the same items and they are still fine.

And have you seen our cookware and knives?  They also have a lifetime warranty!  Remember how I said I don’t like to buy things more than once?  The knives we bought didn’t last a year before they fell apart. I have Tupperware knives and pans now. 

You can set up a Tupperware registry for your big day!  Go here and select Shop Our Product Gallery, then Registry from the top. You can fill out the information and begin browsing through the products, selecting what you want to add to your registry. You can share the link www.mytupperware.com/reginasober to go to, with the same instructions to your friends and family to use for your wedding and bridal party.  Guests can then search for your name and order online to have your gifts shipped directly to you or them. How convenient is that? 

Create your registry and contact me with your name and address, and receive a gift from me as a thank you!

For more information about savings ideas, please follow the OCD saver blog at http://ocdsaver.blogspot.com/

Tupperware Giveaway

Enter to win at $25 dollar gift card for Tupperware provided by Regina The Tupperware Lady! If you know a bride and groom that needs Tupperware for their new home, then send them to this fabulous giveaway. All you need to do is Like Us on Facebook at The Budget-Minded Bride and attend this event in my events tabs. Be sure to tell family and friends about this awesome giveaway! We will select a winner using random.org and the drawing will be held on August 31, 2011 at 6 p.m. The winner will have 24 hours to claim their price, otherwise another contestant name will be drawn. Good luck!

For more information about Tupperware, please follow our blog at http://thebudget-mindedbrideblog.blogspot.com/. For event and wedding items, please visit our website at http://www.wicksncandlesticks.com.

Selecting Wedding Flowers in Season!

Selecting in-season wedding flowers can provide you with a cost-savings for any bride on a budget. We have provided this list below to assist you with selecting the best flowers from your florist (Callaway, N. 2009). Photo Credits: Smith's Floral in Lansing Michigan.










Spring Wedding Flowers in Season
Anemone * Blue, red, pink, white * Jan-May and Aug-Dec.
Bells of Ireland * Green * January-October
Boronia * Pink * April-May
Casa Blanca Lily * White * January-October
Daffodil * Yellow * January-Early May
Delphinium * White, Blue * April- October
Hyacinth * Purple, Pink or White
Lilacs * Violet or White
Narcissus * White
Peony * Pink or White * Late Spring – Early Summer
Ranunculus * white, pink, red, orange and yellow * February-May
Star Gazer Lily * Pink and White * January-October
Sweetpea * white, pink, red/coral, and lavender/purple * December-May
Tulip * Many colors, including white, pink, yellow, red, and purple * December-April
Waxflower * pinky purple and white

Summer Wedding Flowers in Season
Alstromeria * orange, pink, yellow and cream, other colors
Bells of Ireland * Green * January-October
Chrysanthemum * White, Yellow, Orange, Pink, other colors
English Lavender * Purple
Forget-me-not * Blue
Freesia * White, Yellow, Pink, Blue, Purple
Gerbera Daisy * Pink, Yellow, Orange, Red, White
Hydrangea * White, Blue, Purple, Pink
Iris * Purple, Blue, White
Larkspur * White, Purple, Blue, Pink
Liatris * Pinkish Purple
Lily, asiatic * White, Pink, Yellow, Orange
Lily, oriental * White, Pink
Lisianthus * Purple, White, Pink
Matsumoto Asters * Pink, Purple
Monte Casino Asters * White, Purple
Queen Anne's Lace * White
Snapdragons * Pink, Yellow, Orange, White, Other Colors
Solidaster * Yellow
Statice * Purple
Stephanotis * White
Stock * White, Other Colors
Sunflower * Yellow
Tuberose * White
Yarrow * White, Pink, Yellow
Zinnia * Red, Orange, Pink

Fall Wedding Flowers
Aster * White, Pink
Chrysanthemum * White, Yellow, Orange, Pink, other colors
Dahlia * Many Colors
Marigold * Yellow, Orange, Red
Statice * Purple
Zinnia * Red, orange, pink *
Dried Leaves

Winter Wedding Flowers
Amaryllis * Red, White
Anemone * Blue, red, pink, white * Jan-May and Aug-Dec.
Bells of Ireland * Green * January-October
Camellias * White, Pink
Casa Blanca Lily * White * January-October
Cosmos * Pink, White, Brown, Other Colors
Daffodil * Yellow * January-Early May
Forget-me-nots * Blue
Holly * Green with Red Berries
Jasmine * White
Narcissus * White, Yellow
Poinsettia * Red, White
Ranunculus * white, pink, red, orange and yellow * February-May
Star Gazer Lily * Pink and White * January-October
Star of Bethlehem * White
Sweetpea * white, pink, red/coral, and lavender/purple * December-May
Tulip * Many colors, including white, pink, yellow, red, and purple * December-April
Waxflower * Pink, White

Wedding Flowers Available Year-Round
Baby's Breath * White
Bachelor's Button * White, Pink, Red or Blue
Calla Lily * White is widely available, other colors, available as well, particularly in mini size
Carnations * Many Colors
Delphinium * Blue, White, Purple
Eucalyptus * Blue, Silver
Gardenia * White
Gladiolus * Many Colors
Heather * Pink
Lily of the Valley * White and Pink
Orchid * Pink, White, Purple, Other Colors
Protea * Pink
Rose * Many Colors ***February at a premium
Scabiosa * Purple, White

For more information about wedding flowers, please follow our blog at http://thebudget-mindedbrideblog.blogspot.com/. For silk wedding flowers, please visit our website at http://www.wicksncandlesticks.com.

A Bachelorette Wine Tasting Party at Home!

A unique and different way to celebrate with your bridal party and girlfriends for your bachelorette party would be to host a wine tasting party! What would you need to create this type of event in your home? You need to determine what type of wine tasting party you would like to have at your home. A few examples of wine tasting parties include old versus new wine, wine and chocolate, wine and cheese, and wine price points.

You also need to determine your guest list. Keeping your bridal budget on track, you might consider uploading information on your personal Facebook page and send out electronic invitations. A good website for free electronic invitations would be www.evite.com.

Design a taste-testing card for your guests. You can design something simple in a Word document and print it out. The information you would include on a card would be the type of wine, the vineyard, the year, color, and description. Use this helpful website for descriptive wine dictionary terms to write on your taste-testing card at http://www.vinology.com/dictionary/.

Create the winery atmosphere with some inexpensive decorations at home by using white linen tablecloths, candles, wine glasses, and ice buckets. Offer some wonderful appetizers like homemade breadsticks! Other options include some of my favorite recipes from the Food Network.

-Salami Crisps with Sour Cream and Basil
-Parmesan Tortilla Crisps
-Swordfish Spiedini
-Rack of Lamb with Mint-Basil Pesto

For more information about bachelorette party ideas, please follow our blog at http://thebudget-mindedbrideblog.blogspot.com/. For candles and candle accessories, please visit our website at http://www.wicksncandlesticks.com.

Photo Credits:
MyRecipes, 2011

I DO... Love Saving

Author: Regina
Website: www.my.tupperware.com/reginasober

Blog: http://www.thecrazynutsmom.com/

Before I got married, I lived on grilled cheese and tomato soup  or spaghetti (no meat) with parmesan cheese.  I didn’t have a big budget for food.  After getting married, I didn’t think I should save money (don’t ask me why) and rarely used coupons.  Fast forward 9 years, and I’m couponing wondering why I didn’t do this before.  I save on average 50% on my grocery bill.  If I had started this when I was first married, think of all the money we could have done things with. 

If you are looking at how you can budget your dream wedding, wondering where to cut costs, groceries maybe an area.  There are tons of coupons for food, but there are equally as many for health and beauty as well.I’m talking named brands.  You don’t have to go without, go with a coupon instead to save!

And you don’t have to be an extreme couponer to use coupons.  It’s more about being a smart shopper and good steward of your money. Manufacturers provide coupons, because they want you to use their products.

Here are some suggestions I put together on my blog, that will help you:

1.     Go to the stores you shops websites and sign up for their emails.  They offer special discounts sometimes, restaurants do this too.

2. Go to the manufacturers you purchase websites and look for coupons. Email them and ask them to send you coupons.
3. You can print coupons online for food and other items at these sites coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com Stores may have their own coupons you can add to their loyalty cards too.
4. Get a newspaper or two for your coupons.  Your local Dollar Tree will have the Sunday paper for $1.  Make sure there are coupons in it before you buy it.
5. Check out these sites to help you match up your coupons with the local sales in your area: Savings Angel, Krazy Coupon Lady or Coupon Divas
1. Savings Angel is a site you pay to join, $20 a month, but it paid for itself within the first trip to the store.  You can read more about it here on my blog.  They have a very extensive log of deals, compared to the Krazy Coupon Lady or Coupon Divas. They track the % you can save with a coupon/sale match up and they tell you the coupons you need to maximize your savings. They have an extensive coupon database to search on.  They provide training for free on how to use their site with a live person. 
2. Krazy Coupon Lady – great place to find deals, specials going on.  I recommend their book if you really want to know the ins and outs of couponing.
3. Coupon Divas – this site provides a list of sales (check it out on Sundays) for the next week, so you can check what you want, and then print the list and go shopping (good list, but I always find they are missing a few things compared to Savings Angel) They match up the coupons you need for maximum savings.

6.     Track your savings. If you really want to see where you are spending your money, or how much, check out The Coupon Project She has a spreadsheet on there where you can track your savings, and see if you are on budget for the month The one for Excel 97-03 worked for me. You can set a budget up for the month and enter your receipts in to see how you are doing.  You could probably use this in general for your wedding if you wanted to as well.

7. If you can’t or don’t want to go to shopping at several stores, take the ads to Walmart, they will price match! They will not offer your reward $, but check out their coupon policy to see what they will do!

Maybe you want to go to a tropical paradise for your honeymoon.  Couponing may be the way to get your dream wedding AND honeymoon. 

Travel to Maui is now WeddingWire Rated for 2011

Maui, Hawaii July 5, 2011 -WeddingWire, the nation's leading wedding technology company, is pleased to announce that Travel to Maui is WeddingWire Rated 2011 for honeymoons and destination wedding travel packages to Hawaii and Tahiti!


WeddingWire Rated is an annual award program that distinguishes wedding vendors across the country for their excellence. Based on hundreds of thousands of recent wedding reviews, WeddingWire Rated is the most recognized and trusted brand among engaged couples looking to find the best local businesses for their wedding.

Travel to Maui has 3 reviews on WeddingWire. Reviews by our newlywed clients include detailed ratings and insightful descriptions about their experiences working with our business and staff. Our reviews provide transparency for potential clients, assisting them in making the most informed decisions for their big day.

"We are delighted to unveil the 5th annual WeddingWire Rated program," said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire, Inc. “Travel to Maui has made a commitment to capturing their client’s experiences on the nation's leading wedding review site."

As the largest site for wedding reviews, WeddingWire empowers engaged couples with the most comprehensive and trusted review system available. The WeddingWire Rated program provides Travel to Maui with a simple platform to capture customer feedback from their wedding planning experience. Newly engaged couples can easily access all of the reviews for Travel to Maui on WeddingWire.com. We would like to thank our newlyweds for our WeddingWire Rated 2011 recognition.

For more information including our wonderful reviews, a price quote or to schedule a consulting appointment with our destination specialist please visit Travel to Maui on WeddingWire at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/travel-to-maui-pukalani/2498777662012392.html or www.traveltomaui.net

For more information on WeddingWire Rated 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com

Photo credit to Grand Hyatt Kauai, Tahiti visitors bureau, Ritz Carlton Kapalua.
Travel to Maui is a Hawaiian Destination Specialist with the Hawaii Visitor Bureau and a Maui Master with the Maui Visitor Bureau


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WeddingWire, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge.