Weddings are expensive. I’ve barely been engaged a month, but the hunt for locations — and the corresponding food and liquor packages — served as quite the eye-opening experience in regards to price. It was… mind-blowing. Thankfully, there are plenty of freebies available for brides-to-be, even in the early stages of wedding planning. Sure, they don’t make up for the thousands spent on receptions, but they do act as little bridal-themed presents, which may help you forget how much you forked over for that open bar. Here are a few of my favorite freebies.
AN ORGANIZING FILE TOTE
I currently have a bag full of our wedding plans because I haven’t gotten around to making a binder yet*. A free file tote would be pretty handy right about now, especially since I’m practically swimming in vendor pamphlets — and because Yogurt thinks the wedding bag is a toy, and he keeps jumping inside. I’m heading to The Container Store next week to create a registry and receive my free file tote; sure, the freebie is what has me going, but you know I’ll take any excuse to visit that OCD-inducing store.
*Keyword: yet. Oh, how I adore teeny organization projects.
GIFT CARDS
Alright, now one of these hasn’t started, and I haven’t received my gift card for the other, so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this, but… Word on the web, is a few major retailers — Amazon and Target — are giving away gift cards for creating and filling up a registry. Tell me if you have any luck with this deal!
DIGITAL MONOGRAMS
Uhmm, so, everything by The Wedding Chicks is so cute it will make puppies and kittens look rather dull. The site’s free printable section is huge, but if you’re newly engaged (like me!) you don’t need RSVP cards just yet — but you might like a custom romantic phone wallpaper!
‘BE MY BRIDESMAID’ CARDS
Okay, so there is one other free printable you might want early-on from The Wedding Chicks: these adorable ‘be my bridesmaid’ cards. Pair them with a super-cute, DIY ‘be my bridesmaid’ box!
AN ENGRAVED KEEPSAKE HEART
Head to Things Remembered at your local shopping mall (there’s one in every mall, yeah?) and ask about the free engraved keepsake heart. It’s a bonus for signing up for their bridal e-newsletter, and mine was ready a few hours after we stopped by. Adorable.
TICKETS TO A BRIDAL EXPO
Google the following: ‘[CITY YOU LIVE IN] bridal expo’ and see what comes up. Nearly every St. Louis show offers free admission to at least the bride if she registers in advance. Bridal expos are informative and fun for those with some planning complete or zero idea what they want.
Annndd… ALL KINDS OF FREE STUFF AT THE BRIDAL EXPO
Oh, the goodies. I left with an ‘I’M GETTING MARRIED!’ mug, a fantastic tote my cat immediately stole, a teeny bottle of wedding cake vodka, several photo booth pictures, massive coupons, a picture frame, a deck of cards, candy, a wooden rose, and about a billion business cards and pamphlets for local vendors, most with special expo deals noted. That doesn’t include everything I ate while there — we sampled appetizers and entrees, tried Cold Stone Creamery’s take on ice cream wedding cake, and had some cheesecake bites. Mmmm… free food just tastes better.
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