(Part 2) Best products from r/weddingplanning

I lost weight and now my ring is too big, but I don't want to resize it until I'm sure that my finger is staying the same size it is. I bought this temporary ring resizer on Amazon and it's awesome. It's just a tiny PVC tube cut into a spiral that you twist onto the ring. Can't fall off, rotates easily so you can put the ring on easily, and it's not visible from the outside of my hand. It comes with a few sizes too so you can get the fit exactly right. If the "wait for the wedding band to hold it in place" solution is your favorite option, this might be a good temporary solution.

I can take a picture of my hand if you want to see how it looks, just let me know!

Ok, let's hope the reddit gods let me format this properly on the first try.

It took me a total of 2 weekends to do this. One with my MOH making the pocket folds and gluing on the gold mats. A second to glue the invitations, insert the cards, and do the belly bands and wax seals.

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Pocket Folds

• Recollections Signature Shimmer Paper in 12x12 -- $0.69/sheet but we bought them during a 40% off sale. I forget what color I got but it's the black shimmery one usually at the end of the aisle
  
  
• Sample Pocketfold from CardsandPockets.com
  
  
• Edge Punch Stamp
  
  
• Tombow permanent and temporary glue This glue actually worked VERY well and apparently can be dried and then removable or you can glue wet an it is permanent. WARNING: it is very permanent. I used exactly 2 tubes for 75 invitations.
  
  I ordered a pocketfold sample from cardsandpockets.com and my MOH unfolded it along the glue lines to make a template. Then we traced it (backwards) onto the back of the shimmer paper. You're supposed to use a paper scorer but she used a butter knife and a ruler to score the folds on the pocket folds. Once they were folded I stamped the edge of the smaller side of the pocket fold. About 10 pockets in we realized they would look better if we stamped the inside pocket too, so we started tracing straight across the inside pocket instead of in a V shape.
  
  The most difficult part of this process (unless you're me and don't want to be trusted with drawing and folding straight lines) was that the 12x12 paper was JUST too small to have enough paper for the outside of the pocket to have a fold in it. I'm not sure I explained that well but basically you need to glue in 2 small pieces of paper so that your pocket can be an envelope and not just a flap of paper. So my MOH had cut out a ton of skinny chevron-shaped pieces of paper from the pocketfold scraps. Finally we glued the chevron pieces onto the flap and onto the card.
  
  If you've done everything right, the middle panel measures 5x7, the right panel is 4x7, and the left panel is 3x7. The 4x7 side is where the pocket is, and your cards should be 3.5" wide. Your border punch will go on the 3" side
  
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  For the gold matting I used 12x12 open stock glitter paper from Michael's located in the same aisle as the shimmer paper. They have tons of different glitter colors and I think the one I used was champagne. These are $1.99 each but you get 4 mats (4 7/8" x 6 7/8") out of each 12x12 sheet. When you do them right you wind up with these 5" gold squares that seem like a waste to throw out but we never found any use for them. You could probably make these 4 7/8" x 7" but they need to be slightly skinnier than the 5x7 mat otherwise they won't fold properly.
  
  I placed glue in the corner and glue them into the middle of the mat.
  
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  After we did that we sat them under text books overnight so they would flatten out nicely.
  
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  INVITATION DESIGN!
  
  My childhood friend and awesome artist, Alyssa Bermudez, designed the invitations. I'd seen a few samples I liked and she has recently gotten into making invitation sets, so I asked her to do ours. She was so incredibly accommodating to my pickiness but was also really on target with what we wanted.
  
  If this violates the sub's rules I AM SO SORRY let me know and I will take out this plug for her but she did our set for free and I would like to thank her with some publicity.
  
  Invitation was printed on 4x6 paper so you could see more of the gold matting
  
  Travel/Registry card on 3.5 x 7 paper
  
  Weekend Events card on 3.5x6.25 paper
  
  RSVP front and back. I went double-sided post card on 3.5x5.5 paper which cut down on costs in 2 places. 1) a postcard stamp is less than a letter stamp. 2) we didn't need envelopes.
  
  I did all of our printing through CardsandPockets.com on Crystal paper. You could save money printing yourself but I didn't trust myself to cut down paper or print properly so it was worth paying for those to be done. Their proofs were $5 a piece and I could have gone without a proof for all but the invites but still worth it. ALSO they sent me like 20 more of each print than I ordered so order the exact number you need, there will be plenty of extras.
  
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  Envelopes I also did through cards and pockets. I ordered their sand envelopes in A7 and paid for return address printing. They send you a proof of that via email. My MOH did all of the calligraphy in a sharpie which turned out better than any of the ink we tried and went faster than ink and pen calligraphy.
  
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  Belly Bands and Gold Seals
  
  
• Recollections Signature Shimmer Paper in 12x12 I think we bought white
  
  
• Outop Vintage Retro Wooden Alphabet Letter Initial Wax Classic Sealing Wax Seal Stamp (T)
  
  
• Shappy 10 Pieces Sealing Wax Sticks Flexible Glue Gun Wax for Retro Vintage Wax Seal Stamp and Letter (Gold)
  
  
• Glue gun that will only ever be used for wax glue sticks
  
  For the belly bands I used some more of the Michael's open stock shimmer paper. I used a big paper cutter at work and made 1"x12" strips. The only problem is that the wax seal is wider than 1" so it would have sealed the belly band to the envelope and I didn't want the pocketfold being ripped after all of that work. So here's how I did the seals:
  
  I got a flat piece of aluminum foil to place the hot wax on. The stamp sat in a cup filled with ice, I dried it off on a rag, and then stamped the hot wax. The ice on the stamp made the wax cool faster and kept each subsequent stamp from being tacky. I saw this on YouTube and it made the biggest difference because the metal stamp did get really warm. Then I placed the aluminum foil in the freezer and was able to peel of the seals no problem.
  
  Each belly band got folded and glued down, and then a seal was glued onto the belly band with the same Tombow glue.

Thank you so much! Of course I can share products! :) I'll list in the order I generally apply them in:


First Aid Beauty Hello FAB Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer

tarte Rainforest of the Sea in "Porcelain", applied and blended with a damp beautyblender.

CoverGirl Ready Set Gorgeous Concealer in "Fair."

tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

Lucy Minerals Brow Powder in "Neutral."

Too Faced Soleil Matte Bronzer in "Milk Chocolate." (Bonus, this one smells like chocolate and I wish I could eat it, haha.)

bareMinerals All-Over Face Color in "Satin Finish - Warmth." ( I only use this lightly to help contour under my cheekbones.)

Too Faced Love Flush Blush in "I Will Always Love You."

Urban Decay Naked3 Palette

bareMinerals Glimpse Eyeshadow in "Cultured Pearl."

Maybelline Define-A-Line Eyeliner in "Brownish Black."

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara

L'Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipliner in "Plum."

Rimmel Provocalips Kiss Proof Lip Colour in "Wish Upon a Berry."

Urban Decay Chill Cooling and Hydrating Makeup Setting Spray


I hope this helps! :)

Edit: formatting.

Yes - We set up the sparkly backdrop and bought TONS of fun props at the dollar store and online. Big hits were inflatables (inflatable pickle, inflatable flamingoes), glow necklaces and LED batons, and the Mexican luchador wrestling masks. We put a big sign on an easel with our hashtag to encourage people to share their photos and videos. I rented two super bright LED lights from my photographer so that the area was really well lit for quality pics. We paid for a 2nd shooter as part of our photography package and she was basically stationed there from after dinner through the end of the contract taking pictures of guests at the station, in addition to guests taking their own pictures with their phone.

Here's the backdrop frame I bought from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BCNRTY/ref=sxts_kp_bs_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=8778bc68-27e7-403f-8460-de48b6e788fb&pd_rd_wg=zySdW&pf_rd_r=Y65QGMR8EF2PC6J56FV6&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B072BCNRTY&pd_rd_w=ICthz&pf_rd_i=photo+backdrop+frame&pd_rd_r=ce238929-391a-45ca-bec2-14844bc4c535&ie=UTF8&qid=1540929096&sr=1

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The silver sparkly backdrop was from Etsy - https://www.etsy.com/listing/263963777/sequin-photo-backdrop-sequence-wedding?ref=shop_home_feat_1

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Nicholas Cage from was from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Nicolas-Cage-Life-Size-Cutout-x/dp/B00WUN7FFI/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1540929167&sr=1-1&keywords=nicholas+cage+cardboard+cutout

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We also did cutout big heads on sticks of us (bride & groom), our cats, Guy Fieri, and George & Gil from Oh, Hello (Nick Kroll and John Mulaney) from Build-A-Head.com - they have groupons available for discounts!

You don't have to get white :) If you search "flower girl dress" you may get a lot of white or ivory, but you can just search girl's special event dresses too. Check Department Stores like Macy's or Sears. They have a ton.

Here's a link to the one I ordered, thanks to a recommendation from a fellow wedditor. The fabric is very similar to my bridesmaid dresses so it worked out perfectly! We got ivory, and I'm going to clip light purple flowers instead of the large ivory one.

I take my ring off to shower and sleep, but my ring is definitely pretty darn loose when I'm cold. It spins around and can fall off if I really try to shake it off, or if it gets caught on something...like a pocket. I think the best option is to get a ring size adjuster that can be easily removed and put back on for days when it's a little looser. My ring size is already pretty small so I don't want to bring it down any further.

I totally get it (36D here). My dress is pretty low cut since I really wanted to show off my tattoos, which cover my chest. When the corset is done up properly, things feel very secure but I'm also wearing a slip underneath (this one, the straps are removable), in case of a little loosening or slippage.

With concerns about accidental flashing aside, I also had a few of the same modesty concerns as you - is is too much cleavage for a wedding? Our people going to think I'm showing off too much? But it's my wedding day, and I want to look like me, cleavage and all. If anybody is more interested in being offended by my body then celebrating my marriage, they are welcome to leave.

If you do feel a little insecure about the boobage, maybe you could get a nice shawl or wrap (as opposed to making a permanent change to your dress)? You can use it for coverage when you feel it's necessary, and ditch it if you change your mind.

Early on in the process, my older (married) sister told me to keep a journal of everything I (bride-to-be) was feeling so I could look back on it later. I found this book on Amazon, and it’s been amazing so far:

The Bride-to-Be Book: A Journal of Memories From the Proposal to "I Do" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307887987/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_0.4UCbCW7Q4M1

There is space for photos, a few places for random thoughts, and a lot of directed prompts (things like “Details of Your First Date” that I might forget in 50 years).

On a kind of similar note, my fiancé was given this book by a married friend of his:

The Groom's Guide: For Men on the Verge of Marriage https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998739995/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_Fe5UCbN20XSS8

We’ve chosen to spend a couple of evenings with him reading the book out loud and sharing the tips, ideas, and things to ponder, and it’s been great bonding time!

We use/used "The Bride's Essential Wedding Planner Deluxe Edition" I bought it on amazon for about $15.

It was really helpful for guest list creating, though I made sure to photocopy the guest pages because there wasn't enough for our less than 100 invites. It's spiral bound, which I like but the spiral came off the back. Looking back, we realized we're not really "hard book" types when it comes to planning, but I am really impressed with all the space it has for organizing and comparing options for each aspect of the wedding and all the tips and timelines. I think it might have had too many - which is probably perfect for some planners.

I need to edit this into my main post but I just ordered [these] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XW7D2GX/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and I feel like they would be great for someone who only feels like its too loose in certain circumstances, or is too nervous to go down further for othere reasons. So discreet and comfortable.

Bridalvenus Wedding Veil and... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071ZH4THM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I just decided to go for it and see, thinking if it didn't work out it was only $15 and I could return it. I got this one and it is stunning! It's lovely quality and matches my ivory dress perfectly! I'm ecstatic, because the veil I tried on at the shop (just plain tulle) was over $400!!!

I got these as my something blue.

They came with silicone pads for the ball of the your feet and pads for the heel for comfort which I thought was a nice touch.

Love that they are a short heel so I wont be taller than my FH and they are pretty comfortable. I need to start wearing them around the house to fully break them in

i bought one off amazon and got it in the mail yesterday-really gorgeous quality, soft and clean looking. tons of good reviews and if you’d like you can DM me and i’ll send you photos of the veil i got- it was ‘fingertip’ length and it was $12.99. so cheap for such a good quality.

I'm a photographer and I just worked a wedding where they did DIY sound. Honestly, it was great.

I'd say, skip wireless mics. I've seen them cut out wayyy too many times, even with pro DJs.

If you haven't already bought a speaker, I'd say look for something around 100 watts or more. It won't be as loud as your average DJ at a wedding, but it's probably perfect for a crowd that doesn't dance too much. Here's a couple of battery powered ones with bluetooth and aux inputs that work nicely:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HXE4BVU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/ION-Audio-Block-Rocker-Plus/dp/B07C32XSH1/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=battery+speaker&qid=1568129991&s=gateway&sr=8-10

It looks like you don't need a whole lot of support, just nipple coverage? If so, and if the cups are sewn on top of the lining, you could carefully remove them yourself and just use stick on covers like these.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PU9A9Q/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use them all the time, and they are SO comfortable, you won't even know they're there. I'll be using them on my wedding day (I have a similar neckline to yours, also backless).

Great advice. Thanks!


Edit: Decided to buy the Harmony for the airport, and I'll also bring my other crossbody purse that I already own. Thanks again!

I blurred our names as I added in some punch outs of our save the dates. Awesome idea from this sub! I used this hexagon punch and this one for the smaller size. I bought an 18"x24" frame, as I had a small wedding so not toooo many cards. Some particularly beautiful ones are punched a couple of times.

yes! reposting from another comment.. I got 16x20 foam board and some deep blue acrylic paint for the surface. Then I cut covers of the cards off (I wanted to save the insides so we could still read the notes people wrote us). I used this hole punch and just went to work! A lot of the cards I have to cut up to be able to get to the part I wanted. Using the hole punch upside down was easier so that you could see exactly where you were cutting. Then I arranged all of them on the board with the colors and textures as evenly distributed as I could and started gluing! I just used clear gorilla glue. I should have drawn a grid to keep it perfectly even but I thought eyeballing the distance turned out fine :)

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman (aka the love doctor). We just booked our photographer for the engagement/wedding photos and they sent us this book as a gift! This book has some fun questionnaires to go through together as a couple.

FH and I (we've been together nearly 8 years now) had a relationship meltdown last year because of our 2-week overseas trip that led to short-term couples counseling. After 4 sessions, we figured out what went wrong (ie. different expectations and lack of communication... of course it was communication) and have a better understanding of each other. We're considering those sessions as our pre-marital counseling. :)

My sister got me this really cute journal for brides to be - it’s a sort of scrapbook of the whole engagement / wedding planning process.

Amazon link to the journal

A friend also did a basket for us with mini bottles of alcohol tagged for milestones in planning: little wine bottles for getting engaged, booking a venue, and booking our honeymoon, mini Prosecco for saying yes to the dress, and nips of gin for a “rough day”

Nippies!

Literally my favorite sticky pasty. Its the BEST thing I've ever had. I get really sweaty boobs, and these things just let the sweat roll off without losing the adhesive. HIGHLY suggest it

If you're looking for more of a guided prompt thing I recommend this! One of my bridesmaids bought it for me when I got engaged, and I've loved it so far!

I bought my wedding dress on Amazon. Because I was between sizes, I got it in the size up and shrank it down in the dryer until it fit. I'm pretty happy with it considering I paid $30 for it. It did take me a long time to find one of quality.

I travel next week but I plan on using a Wally Bag. I have heard great things and there was actually a discussion about this just a few days ago where it was recommended there too!

Do you want a DJ? Do they have a list of recommended vendors? If you want a DJ, does the venue have restrictions?

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Wedding-Affordable-Meaningful-Celebration-ebook/dp/B005XQ97KK

I highly recommend this book for helping plan your wedding.

You might want to consider getting a planner or a day of coordinator, if you have the budget for it (usually day of coordinator is enough, but you might need more help, depending on your situation).

I got the little purple one by uh...Weddings or something. Barnes and Noble, it fit in my purse, took it everywhere with me!

JK foundsies: https://www.amazon.com/Brides-Essential-Wedding-Planner-Deluxe/dp/1454908459/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C3MNG7R48AW5RV4QNWQN

This is totally extra, but what about fabric pasties for see-through coverage under the larger silicone pasties? So these under these. Nippies brand is absolutely the best either way.

This is the one I got. It’s a bit pricey, but I figured it was worth investing in something good quality (and I was very impressed with the quality of it when it arrived). And my full length dress didn’t have any problems fitting in it.

Garment Bag

Amazon! I didn’t even think of it until I saw others suggest looking here. I wanted a plain veil because I wanted to keep the back details visible and didn’t want to compete with the lace top half of my dress.

I wound up getting a great fingertip length one for $13 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071S7Z1VP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rPaNDbBE46RAM

OK - PLEASE buy yourself a copy of, "A practical wedding" and follow her directions. She gives such a down to earth perspective on planning the wedding that is right for you and your fiance rather than catering to the pressures of the wedding industry. I HIGHLY recommend it.

http://smile.amazon.com/Practical-Wedding-Affordable-Meaningful-Celebration-ebook/dp/B005XQ97KK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412270774&sr=1-1&keywords=a+practical+wedding

I would get something like this. It works very well for parties.

Portable Speaker

I love both pieces and they’re phenomenally well made! You can buy the veil here and the belt here

I haven’t tried this, but perhaps a photography background stand with curtains or fabric that matches your venues draped around it or tied to the side?

Here’s a stand I found on Amazon

And you can add any curtains or fabric you like draped around to hide the legs. You can find black sequin curtains for pretty cheap

Mine is super loose (spinning) in the winter, and when I'm hot it's a struggle to take off.


One suggestion I got was to look for small plastic "clips" that loop around the bottom of the rig and works to increase the size a little on the days it's super loose. Some jewellers have them, sometimes you can (apparently) find them at department stores!

Like this: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.amazon.com/RinGuard-Ring-Size-Adjuster-Sizes/dp/B00PI0T25Q&ved=0ahUKEwiH892G3bfKAhVL9WMKHQYFDygQFgghMAI&usg=AFQjCNHMiDAvxwBRh7W0B9z3zllPsDyM2A&sig2=gW6qfDx5ELv3EeDZMjowmA

I'm looking at ordering this bag on Amazon for transporting my dress from North Dakota to California. Seems like most of the reviews are from brides transporting their dresses, and they're mostly positive!

I got this planner and it is huge! There are spaces for interviewing 5 vendors of each type with suggested questions. If you have no idea where to start, it's a great and very inexpensive resource for how detailed it is!

Highly suggest reading this book
We've been doing the exercises at night and it has lead to some really interesting conversation. It feels like a little marriage prep!

It's the Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman. It's a really good read, I would recommend it.

For $15 and a pair of fabric shears ($10-15), you can trim this veil to your desired length! My mom trimmed my veil to waltz length and it worked well with my dress! I think a few other people on this subreddit bought the same veil and kept it long for the dramatic effect.

My bridal consultant recommended this one. She said the tailor will be able to pack the bag correctly, and it’s easy to carry on. Especially if you tell the flight attendants that it’s your wedding gown.

Here’s a link to the bag on Amazon

I'm having a hard time stomaching the cost of veils, so I ordered this one from Amazon because it was $13 and had good reviews. Haven't received it yet, might end up with a different one.

This book is really good, it has a lot of exercises and questionnaires to do together. They based the principles on years of scientific research into relationships.

I may do that...I actually also just ordered a second (cheap) veil option because I can't decide what I want lol

my ring size changes a lot depending on the weather/temperature. i sized it for summer, so it would never be too small. in colder weather, i use ringuards to keep my rings snug. they get gross over time, but i don't mind buying a new pack once a year.

edit to add: i did have sizing beads put on the engagement ring, but i hated them. they were frequently uncomfortable for me in cold weather, and i found them unbearable in warm weather, so i had them removed after a few months.

My guess is an edge paper punch.

I'd wait to have them soldered.

Maybe get a temporary ring size adjuster and then have your ring re-sized and have them soldered after the wedding.