The details--what were they and were they worth it?

Hey ladies,

I love reading the reviews of everyone's wedding and finding out what the brides themselves did to really make her wedding HER OWN. Sooo....

A) what were some of the 'optional' details you decided to do for your wedding?
and
B) do you think it was effort/time/money well spent? (interpret however you want)

I had a few because I was on a budget and I like what I like...so I had to make a lot (or most of) of my stuff since I couldn't afford to buy 'details'. Some of them were:

1) My invitations: they were designed by me to open vertically, have a blue ribbon and have the wording in Spanish and English. I found the saying and customized it and translated it as well.
-Worth it? Sure...but they're invites, so you know they go in the trash. But I liked them and people needed to have dual language since my relatives in PR and DH's older relatives don't speak English. I did get compliments and my relatives kept all the cards (even the RSVP's! ) because they found it 'bella'. But they were for me!
-Because I designed them and had them printed through an online invitation company I saved a lot of money. It was really time consuming to cut the slits, but how else was I supposed to get the ribbon through?

2) Tables: they were named after diamond cuts/shapes instead of numbered. I made the table name cards myself.
-Yes, it was worth it. People liked that it was different, I liked that it was 'me' and it certainly looked nicer than a #.
-It was relatively easy to make and not expensive at all.

3) My place cards were placed attached to vellum bags filled with truffles. I printed the cards on my computer, cut the ribbon, assembled, etc.
-Definitely worth it...they were a huge hit! People liked getting chocolate with their placecards...it sure beats getting nothing.
-Money and time well spent. I bought the bags on eBay and the cards at Staples...used the same ribbon from my invites...spent under $50 on everything.

4) My cake topper was a monogram of my first name initial, my DH's first name initial and our new last name. I bought the topper on eBay plain and primed and painted silver to match my colors (they were silver and blue).
-Certainly worth it. Not only did I love the way it looked, it looked amazing on my cake...if I may say so myself. I was really proud of myself once they were finished.
-Very cheap and only took a day to paint (I was anal and did 5 coats...acrylic paint and spray paint). Time well spent.

And I guess that's it.

I'll come back to add all the details but Im a very detail orientated person so they were definitely worth it for me....and I take that attitude with all the parties I throw. Its a lot of time and effort expended but I know I definitely notice when people put in that effort..so I had to do the same for my wedding.

My engagement was only nine months, so I really didn't have time for too many intricate details.

-- Thinking through the specific reception music DH and I wanted and providing our DJ with CDs with not only the songs we wanted, but the specific versions of the songs. This was completely worth it. For example, it was so much fun for us when a handful of our guests identified that the piano songs played during dinner were actually Radiohead songs.

-- DH and I put together a CD of songs for us to listen to in the limo between the Mass and reception. We both still love listening to the limo CD and remembering that special ride.

-- Importing chocolate favors from Ireland. DH, my family and I loved them, but the guests didn't seem to notice. FSIL scooped up 20 boxes for herself at the end of the reception.

'we do'letters= worth it b/c it made the cake table look cuter.

frames for table cards= looked good, but not neccesary.

pictures of us w/ bridal party throughout the years and pics of parents and grandparents at their weddings at cocktail our= worth it , everyone loved them.

memory table pics, poem, and candles= very worth it!

2 plasma screen t.v.'s with a photo montage of us growing up and then together and pics of guests at our wedding= So awesome and worth it!

std and seal with our pics on it= worth it.

favors (pink & silver m&m's in heart tin and ribbon w/ our names) = not a big deal.

cake topper of us and our cat and dog= so cute and worth it.

ice sculpture vase w/ roses in it= not a big deal, could take it or leave it.

list of special songs for dj to play= priceless!

---

Posted by Sonicstef

I'll come back to add all the details but Im a very detail orientated person so they were definitely worth it for me....and I take that attitude with all the parties I throw. Its a lot of time and effort expended but I know I definitely notice when people put in that effort..so I had to do the same for my wedding.

---

same here. I might even say for me, I'm *too* detail orientated, if that's possible There was definitely a lot of time spent on all the details, but they were so worth it!! I wouldn't have changed anything about that part of my wedding. Except maybe, if I had the time, added a few more things!

---

Posted by Backinneyork

Yes, Yes and Yes - people are still talking about them!!!!!

---

Same here! All through the day to hear the word 'details' coming out of our guests mouths made me smile even more than I already was! They're still raving and I have LIW Brides to thank for some of them!

---

Posted by o17range

B) do you think it was effort/time/money well spent? (interpret however you want)

---

everything about our wedding was very special. you can not add a sum of money or any amount of engery that it took to see happeniness, feel oved and be loved for your special day. Expensive, cheap, it really doesn't matter. Love and the little things are what will be remembered forever...

---

Posted by o17range

A) what were some of the 'optional' details you decided to do for your wedding?
and

---

Having being on TV for our wedding as an option was something I never imgined and glad to be apart of it. Seeing video of acutal planning stuff is sometimes forgotten after the big day. TV show brings that all back. Yeah, the TV show caused some drama with our vendors, but now that we think back, we are glad this happened because so many beautiful things spawned from this.

Custom DVD/CD.... the cd was normal, most ppl do it. DW took our songs and kinda told a story with all the songs about falling down, being picked up, being loved...etc...
DVD...i took countless hour perfecting our montages to music, picking prictures and combining them into a moive/epic. Something small as a 5 minute viedo turned into an hour and 20 mins of memories on a DVD. And the soundtracked i picked couldn't of been any better. Meet Joe Black suite, Forest Gump and others just moved you though our life. It was exciteing to share that and to add, most if not all of our guest were in it.