Frugal Friday--Frugal Wedding Gifts

My brother got married two weeks ago and we were on a very tight budget. I still wanted to get them something special and meaningful though. So, for their shower I made Anna a little cookbook filled with all of Colter's favorite recipes from growing up and special family tradition recipes. I just took a little 4x6 photo album and typed up the recipes and added them to the album and made a cover page that said, "Feeding Mr. B____"

I also sewed her an apron from cloth I had on hand only to realize it just didn't look right for it since she prefers wintery colors and this was orange and purple floral. So, I saved it for another friend who adores purple who's also getting married and bought a simple, black apron for $5 at WalMart and embellished it with red polka-dot ribbon and buttons.

For their wedding gift:

I'm not sure where I got the idea but I decided to do a "gift a day" for them to open on their 12 day honeymoon. Here are some of the things I included:

*Snacks for the trip

*Tylenol and sanitizing wipes

*Thank You notes with a note saying that if they fill them out, I would be happy to deliver them to folks in town long after they are gone (this gift made Anna do a happy dance so she said!)

*Foot spa packets and foot scrubbing brush

*Heart candle and candy hearts and matches

*Yummy chocolate!

*Love and Respect CDs to listen to

*A Christian novel and a little wooden massager tool

*Taco Bell Bucks (Anna adores Taco Bell)

*Quarters and detergent for laundry stops

*A special letter to the Bride and Groom

*An article from the internet with 100 ways to love your husband and some "pajamas" for Anna

*Some romantic dinner music CDs

*Toothbrush to share (inside family joke)

*Plastic heart goblets to toast their new life together

Other ideas I wish I could have included:

*Dave Ramsey book

*Cough medicine (they got colds and this seems to be common after all the stress)

*Paper plates and utensils

*Massage oil or lotion

Of course this gift idea works best if the couple is taking an extended honeymoon in a car and not flying, but even if they are going somewhere fancy in an airplane, a nice letter or card each day would be fun and you could add some gift cards or cash in them.

Use your imagination and consider the couple's location and preferences. I had to be careful about what I bought since my brother lives in Honduras and doesn't want tons of stuff to store here so I chose things that were mostly disposable. Who wouldn't like to get a little surprise each day on their honeymoon? Anna said she really enjoyed opening the presents! And because I shopped for deals and got much of the stuff at the dollar store (thank you notes, dinner music CDs, etc.) we spent only about 1/3 of what we had originally planned to spend on them, which was good for us during our time of temporary scarcity.

For more frugal ideas than you can handle, head on over to www.lifeasmom.com