Well, you might have wondered what this whole blog silence is about. Yes, I’m ultra busy (and sadly not with crochet) but even before the move into our new house, my blog was really silent. One of the reasons were a couple of commissions. One of them I’m finally able to talk about now.
When you open the latest issue of Inside Crochet you’ll find my Four-in-a-row blanket. When Claire sent me the call for submissions over I was really quickly clear that this was the one to go in that issue. I’ve had the idea for a while to turn this into a proper blanket for a while. Actually, since our last camping trip last year when I was; a) freezing, as it was cold (summer in the UK haha) and b) we also wanted something to play while camping. I loved four-in-a-row since I was a child and even though I’m now pretending to be a grown-up that doesn’t mean that I stop playing games. So the idea of a four-in-a-blanket was born and Claire luckily agreed that this was a good idea! :)
Besides finding another one of my patterns in Inside Crochet it was also very lovely to see that this time my lovely friend Dedri from lookatwhatImade got featured in the issue too :)
My blanket is done in a very lovely Rowan Yarn (Pure Wool) what a joy to crochet and it’s a superwash yarn it’s durable and therefore practical at the same time.
The pattern features lovely pictures of two children playing with the blanket :) Even though I see adults playing with it too (well I might be one of them ;))
The corner play stones are actually attached to the blanket which gives it a cute little extra when used as a blanket to cover up rather than a play blanket.
Besides being featured in another issue of Inside Crochet I’ve got even better news for you. I’m ENGAGED :) Wuhuuuu :) It was a very lovely surprise and now I’m the proud owner of a really lovely sparkly ring on my left hand.
I’m so chuffed as I wasn’t expecting that. We’ve been going out for over 4 years but still being THE question asked was a really lovely surprise.
But after having a quick look at a rough estimate of what a wedding might cost I’m currently actually a bit frustrated. As we just bought a house we don’t really have the money to have a full blast of a big-fat wedding. It’ll be more of an “on-the-budget, I’m trying to do as much as I can DIY” type wedding. Which will be lovely for sure but now my question to you :) Do you have any tips and tricks which helped you making your wedding to be a lovely day without completely breaking the bank? Any help would be very much appreciated and I’m sure that there will be more than a little bit of crochet involved in my day ;) I’m actually thinking of trying to sell a couple of my crochet blankets just to help a little bit with raising the funds for the big day or do you think that wouldn’t be an idea worthwhile doing?
Hope you’re having a lovely week!
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6 Comments
I was in the same scenario! My then-fiance and I depleted our meager savings to buy a house in April and found ourselves planning a wedding (on our dime) for later that same year. We looked at so many different options (including renting out the community center in our neighborhood) but ended up getting married off-season (October) at a very nice Marriott that managed the location, set up, take down, food, and event planning. We focused on spending money on the things that we cared most about and thought we’d remember the best (location and photographer).
We cut cost by:
Getting married during the off-season (the hotel had dramatically discounted rates for booking in Oct)
Minimizing our guest list (our friends and family knew we were on a budget and did not bring children or plus ones we didn’t personally know)
Doing flowers on the cheap. I ordered table settings from the grocery store (not as bad as it sounds) and got my bouquets and boutineers from a local florist.
Cash bar. Your family will understand.
Made our own playlist instead of hiring a DJ and asked a friend to help manage it. My husband burned the mix for me later and it’s a great memento.
Small wedding party.
We also discouraged gifts. We’d been together a while and had everything we needed. Not sure it if helped but it made me feel better for not going all out for our guests.
My husband and I both remember our wedding fondly and had a surprisingly enjoyable and stress-(and debt)-free day. Including clothes, we spent about 8K for a 75 person guest list.
Thank you so much for your tips and tricks! I do like the idea of an off-season wedding in a nice location!x
Hello, I found your blog this morning and am enchanted by it :)
Firstly: Congratulations! :) :)
I had a WONDERFUL down-scaled and crocheted wedding; I crocheted my own wedding dress, the long pinafore, blouse and sweet little headscarf for my ‘flower girl’ and my husband wore a crocheted tie!
We had our wedding in the backyard of our house with my mother-in-law making and icing the cake, a barbeque manned by my brother-in-law and family and friends supplying the food.
Everyone still remembers it as a beautiful wedding and happy day – so you can do it! :)
Thank you so much! Thats sounds like a really lovely wedding! I’m actually thinking about crocheting my flowers and the wedding cake will be made by my aunt :)
Hi and many congratulations to you on your engagement – so exciting!
I found the wedding stationery – invites, order of services, seat plans etc all very expensive for the ones I liked so I made my own. I say ‘I’, actually it was ‘we’. I designed and then printed off or bought anything that was needed, then had a fab time with my mum and gran (and a few glasses of wine!!!!) putting everything together. The result was fabulously original stationery and quality time spent with family!
I was lucky enough to sell my house in the run up to the wedding, so had some money to spend on extras, so I would say go for it – sell some of your gorgeous makes – every little helps.
Angela
Thank you so much for your ideas! I’m planning on doing my invitation and all the decoration myself. Actually really looking forward to that bit! Think whats most frustrating for me at the moment is how much venues just charge you. I wish I just could a tent up in a field and I would be happy ;)