Planning Tip #2: Sign Up for Promotional Emails

If you're anything like me, you hate getting 27 new promotional emails everyday from stores that you can only afford to shop at maybe once a month. I always unsubscribe from emails from stores and websites. But when it comes to wedding planning, getting floods of emails is good! Here's my advice:

1. Create a separate email account for your wedding planning things. That will keep your life (and your email) so much more organized. Make it fun by creating your first ever combined email address with your future spouse! Just make sure it is generic enough that you can keep it after the wedding by just unsubscribing from all the promotions and ads.

2. Think about the places you shop on a regular basis. If you're going to be a DIY bride, those are probably the places you'll be finding things for your wedding. I decided what email lists to subscribe to by going through my budget worksheet and asking myself where I would possibly get those things, or the supplies to make them. You can also do this as you go through your planning process, as you see ads in bridal magazines or friends tell you about various companies that they used.

3. Be liberal with the number of stores that you sign up to receive emails from. The more places, the more sales, which means more saving money!

4. Be patient. Don't jump on the first "sale" you see if it's really not that great. Some places are having sales all the time, and advertise that, but they're not really what you need. Wait for the good deals to come around. Holidays are an especially good time for shopping the sales!

My success with this so far:

• I had been looking into ordering Save the Dates since we plan to send them out in October. Our plan was to do postcards, which is easy enough to print 4 on an 8.5"x11" piece of cardstock, so I was checking prices of places like the copy center on campus, FedEx copy center, online wedding sites, etc. (Surprise, surprise, the places that sell traditional wedding stationery were so expensive!) However, Vistaprint has reasonable printing prices. I had seen Save the Date postcards on their website for a decent price, but they were still sort of expensive ($25 for 100 postcards). Well, Labor Day weekend came around and I got an email from Vistaprint: Save the Date postcards, 100 for $10. I immediately sent my fiancé a text that we were ordering them that day! We got 200 Save the Dates, nicely printed, plus shipping, for the same price that it would have cost us in the on campus copy center. That was an amazing deal!
• David's Bridal is constantly having sales! I happened to go on a weekend when every dress was on sale, so even though I had planned to only look that weekend, I ended up buying my dress, got it $50 off, and on top of that, I got 25% of all my accessories (bra, slip, veil, and sash), which saved me SO much money since those items are so expensive! 
• Hobby Lobby is pretty much my favorite craft store ever because it ALWAYS has amazing sales. I've signed up for their weekly ad email, so each week, I know exactly what will be on sale. That way, for example, when I'm looking for organza for the flowers, I will know when it's 50% off. Not only that, but Hobby Lobby ALWAYS has a 40% off one item coupon that you can just print from their website or the weekly email and take it into the store (or show it to them on your smartphone). Bring a friend (or five) all with their own coupons and save even more! Do the math -- that's saving you a lot of money! They are also a Christian company, so I like to spend my money there and support them. (Just be aware that they are closed on Sundays so that their employees can spend time with their families, so don't plan your bridesmaid shopping trip for a Sunday!)

If you're interested, here is the list of places that I've signed up to receive emails from:

• Vistaprint
• Wedding Paper Divas
• Hobby Lobby
• Michael's
• Party City (for plates, cups, napkins, etc. since we won't be renting)
• Oriental Trading (for cheap party supplies to do DIY projects with)
• David's Bridal

If you have a long engagement, I encourage you to try this out! Patience is key -- wait to hit the right times and sales for different items and you can save money!\

**Disclaimer: Watch out for the loopholes that some places like to place in their sales! If you're not 100% sure and you won't be able to return it, don't buy it. Watch out for people trying to pressure you into buying something that you will regret buying.