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Register an account at ebates.com through this link

You will automatically get $5 credit to your account. I will also get a referral credit, so please use that link.

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You will get a total of 4% cash back through ebates, on top of the $5 credit.

Sephora rarely has sales like this, so this is a good time to take advantage

Dedicate your Wedding to Someone you love

So many brides are caught up in there idea of a perfect wedding, they sometimes lose sight of what is important in life.  It's important to remember who has been there for you and what your core values are in life.

Talk to your fiance and discuss possible options if you have a close friend or relative that has suddenly passed away or is living with an issue you'd like to bring to light, you can give tribute to them through your event and continue their legacy.  It is a touching way to include someone special in your wedding.

An idea is through Breast Cancer awareness.  October is Breast cancer awareness month and to give tribute to someone I find to be strong and inspiring that is dealing with this disease for the second time, I dedicated this inspiration board.

A way to honor the person close to you, you could choose colors that represent the ribbon of the issue at hand. Pink for breast cancer, yellow for the troops, etc.

In lieu of gifts to your guests, you could donate money to a charity near and dear to your heart. You should also let guests know that your ceremony/reception colors, and choices were made with your friend/family member in mind.

You could yourself or  have someone important to you do a reading at your ceremony addressing this issue.

A Wedding is a celebration of love. What better way to celebrate love than by showing it to the people that mean the most to you?

Add a touch of "wow" to your wedding or event

I don't know about you, but usually the most excitement I see at a wedding is a chocolate fountain (boring and overused). I see all this exciting stuff but just about every wedding I go to is cookie cutter and boring.

Photo: Ice Sensations of Louisiana

Spice up you next party with something chilly, an Ice Feature. This could be a stunning towering ice display as the centerpiece in your room. You can have your initials, your theme (a swan, hearts, etc.), a raw bar or even a drink luge.  Add lights for a more dramatic effect.

I know what you're thinking "Drink luge's are tacky!". It depends on what kind of drink luge. I'm not talking about the hunk of ice that people stick their mouth under and slurp shots from. I'm taking about a three piece tower filled with fruit and flowers where your bartender can disperse perfectly chilled martinis from. How "cool" and different would that be at your next event? You can have signature cocktails from the first tower, cosmos from the second and classic martinis out of the third. Now what guests wouldn't love that?

Customize your entire wedding!

Are you Crafty? Have a specific stamp, envelope or even travel mug you'd like to send your guests for your wedding or next event? Can't find exactly what your looking for? If you're crafty, you can design it yourself and save a lot of money too. Upload your designs to zazzle.com and get exactly what your looking for.

Not so crafty? Have no fear. Other artists have put up their own creations on the site. There's such a wide array of items to choose from, you're sure to find something you like. Plus your helping to support the little guy out there when you purchase items from their store.

Create your very own save the date cards, design coffee mugs as your favors and even make customized labels for your favors with this site. The possibilities are endless.

Too keep with my nautical theme, I looked everywhere to find the perfect envelope with no luck, so I made my own. Check it out on my Zazzle page.


make custom gifts at Zazzle

Reinvent the guestbook with photos

Image: OpulentCreationsEvents

The guest book is a long-standing tradition of the wedding.

You get to see your guests' best wishes for you on your big day and look back upon them when you get teary-eyed and sentimental. Rather than have a big white book and a pen, get creative and let guests have fun.

Rent a photo booth or get a Polaroid ready with a cool background that matches your theme.

Check out this wedding where they had a beach theme.   The bride and groom setup a rowboat with props and a cute background.

Once your guests take their pictures have them write their names and a sweet message for you. Glue it or place it in a guest-book or on a tack board for everyone to see.  You could also have a wedding tree for guests to hang their wishes for you onto.

The other nice bonus to the photo guestbook is that when your reading your wedding cards and opening gifts and you say to your Groom, "Hunny, look at the lovely card Aunt Ethel gave us." and when he looks at you and says, "Which one was Aunt Ethel again?" You can pull out the photo and show him the aunt he forgot about in your sea of 500 guests.