A Bride On A Budget Wedding Planning Survival Kit

This A Bride On A Budget Wedding Planning Survival Kit is sponsored.

The first time we went to a bridal expo, one of the vendors asked if we had our venue yet. "I have the groom ... but that's it," I joked.

Honestly, though, that wasn't it. I also had a notebook with designated sections to write down information about each vendor. I had a section for venues, one for flowers, another for cake (because cake was most important to me!), on and on. Each vendor had a page and I would furiously jot down anything useful.

I ended up keeping a second notebook at home with a list of everything I needed to do and crossing things off as I went along. So, as I designed the A Bride On A Budget Wedding Planning Survival Kit with items from Expressionery, I knew notebooks had to be on there.

In fact, everything you as a bride (or maybe your bride, if you're a bridesmaid) could need is in the kit ... except the groom. You have to find him yourself.

A Bride On A Budget Wedding Planning Survival Pack

Pink Jute Zippered Wallet

This wallet is adorable. I love the feel of the jute cording and the zipper is great (one of my biggest gripes in life is a crummy zipper).

There are three sections inside, plus a zippered pouch, credit card slots, bill holders, and a small outer pouch. This wallet would be a good place for a bride to keep the business cards she collects at wedding expos (and it matches the pink and gold theme I'm going with).

Plus, it's a just a great wallet so your bride could use it after her wedding. Everyone will think it's just a cute wallet, but for her, it will be a reminder of her wedding planning. So sweet.

Address Stamp

If you read my post on 5 Times You'll Wish You Had A Stamp During Wedding Planning, you know how much I love personalized stamps as a gift for engaged couples.

The short version: This stamp will get used at bridal expos, on save the dates, thank you cards, engagement party and wedding invitations, and RSVP's. It's much easier to stamp a return address every time instead of handwriting it.

Plus, you'll get a lot more mileage out of a self-inking stamp than traditional address labels (which usually come in a sheet of 24 and by invitation 25, you have to order more).

To Do List Large Notepad (in cabaret) Personalized with to-do list / FOR OUR WEDDING

I was very in control of planning our wedding. I mean, I do run this wedding blog for a living so I know more about wedding planning than any one person should.

So when my mom or maid of honor or Pete would ask me what they could do, I didn't really have too much to delegate. That is, until wedding week when I was delegating as much as I could (I asked my parents to pick up champagne and orange juice for mimosas; I asked my maid of honor to scour dollar stores for blue gift bags because I needed six and the store I went to only had three; I asked Pete to print out shuttle information cards that I designed for our wedding welcome bags).

I was just texting out tasks, but it would have been so much cuter to have used this notepad. Plus, the afternoon before our wedding, I wrote Pete a schedule of what was happening, what time it was happening, and who needed to be there. It would have been great to use this paper instead of just a plain sheet of notepad paper (especially since he still has it almost two years later).

Floral Overlay Folded Notes (in blush) Personalized with FROM THE FUTURE MRS.

 
I personalized the entire pack to be pink and gold because I'm sort of obsessed with the combination of sweet and regal. And every item is personalized perfectly for the bride-to-be, like these thank you cards. They're "From The Future Mrs.", which means a bride will be able to use them throughout all her wedding planning. They're great for a quick thank you for any unexpected gifts or one to her mom and maid of honor after her bridal shower.

With most Expressionery products, you can personalize them as you wish. I made all the items in this kit pretty generic so they will work for any bride-to-be. If you are tweaking the pack yourself, you could change this to say "From The Future Mrs. Smith" (or whatever your friend's new last name will be, if she is changing it).

Classic Pin Dot Notebook (in blush) Personalized with WEDDING NOTES

 
This is the perfect notebook for a bride to carry with her to bridal expos and wedding appointments. It's compact enough to fit in her purse (especially if she's like me and still carries around oversized hobo bags in hopes that the trend never fades).

The cover of the notebook is flexible, in case it needs to move out of the way of a water bottle that gets tossed in her purse, and the cover is laminated ... just in case said water bottle decides to leak all over.

The gold dots on blush background is very Kate Spade-esque, without that extremely high price tag. I think that's part of why I was really drawn to the style of the cover. Plus, the pages are collage ruled (my favorite!), giving the bride enough space to write everything down -- because there is a lot to write.

And finally ...

Best Day Ever Photo Collage Mug

I'm so in love with the best day ever mug. We had a similar personalized mug once, but we dropped it and the handle flew off. We never replaced it ... until now.

I filled this one with my favorite photos from our wedding, but let's think engagement gift for a minute. Every woman I know has texted (and shared on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) a photo of her, her boyfriend turned fiancé, and her engagement ring -- usually with the caption "I said yes" or "He put a ring on it." You'll probably get that text, but, if for some reason you don't, you can always save her photos from social media and use them to make this mug.

Chances are, she'll say her wedding day is the best day ever but until then, proposal day will be. So making her this mug, which will be filled with seemingly endless cups of coffee (maybe wine) through her time of planning, is perfect.

The only thing you'll have to add to this that Expressionery doesn't sell is a pen. I'm thinking a long pen with a large pink poof on the top (a la Cher from Clueless), more for show than function, but you can add a simple gold pen instead.

Eventually, this pack will actually be curated right on Expressionery's website for easy ordering. For now, though, you can click on any of the links, use our personalization as a guide, and create your perfect pack. Be sure to add any items that your bride will love.

Plus, you can get 30% off personalized stationery with the code ENJOY30 (for a limited time) or 30% off a full price item with the code GIFTS30 through June 30.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What other items would you include in your wedding planning survival kit?