As a paper company, we couldn’t help but notice these pretty paper cakes features today on Brides.com.  These favor boxes from Crafty Kauzi’s Paper Bakery are not only practical and fun, but we also love their beautiful displays that are sure to look beautiful at any party or reception.

Everyone is trying to cut down on costs these days, especially when it comes to wedding planning.  Luckily, Wedding Paper Divas, along with our partner Beau-coup, has teamed up to form Resourceful Brides, a site dedicated to helping Brides find creative ways to save a buck when planning their wedding!  Plus, you can enter to win a total of $1000 worth of gift certificates from both companies.  Contest ends July 24th, so make sure to enter soon!

One tip that we’ve seen is to rent your wedding accessories instead of buying them.  I personally love this idea; Although having a special necklace or bracelet on your wedding day can serve as an excellent keepsake, you might not want to shell out for every piece of jewelry that you’ll be wearing.  From dresses to handbags, jewelry to hairpieces, rentals are available across the country.  Check out some of our favorites:

• Avelle (formerly known as Bag, Borrow or Steal) has a special section of their website dedicated specifically to wedding rentals.  From handbags to extravagant jewelry, they have everything you’ll need to make you feel like a princess on your big day.

• Adorn Brides offers rental jewelry in all shapes and sizes.  They even have matching sets for both brides and bridesmaids!

• Many brides opt to Rent their Bridal Gown.  Often, this will include shoes and a headpiece/veil.  Most of these stores are local, so I suggest doing a search in your local area for a bridal gown rental store.  One example is Fairy Godmother Gown Rentals, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.  They’ll even deliver your dress directly to your door!

You’ve seen it in all the movies:  The bride and groom joyfully emerge from the church as husband and wife as their admiring guests toss rice at them in jubilation.  This image lives in my memory; sadly, the image was not part of my own wedding day!  These days, many wedding ceremony sites ban the use of rice in celebration at the end of a wedding–not only is it difficult to clean up, it’s also quite slippery and is even said to be harmful to birds that ingest it.  Luckily, we here at Wedding Paper Divas have some alternate ideas that are easy to DIY and distribute to guests!  Celebrate!

1) Birdseed:  Although this doesn’t solve the problem of cleanup, it’s not nearly as slippery as rice and, obviously, not dangerous to birds.  Plus, it’s simple to make.  You can purchase large quantities of birdseed and any nursery or home improvement store.  Then, diving and conquer–package the birdseed into small favor bags and tie with a pretty ribbon.  You can even attach a sticker to tag to complete the look.  Try these great Polka Dot Organza Bags from Beau-coup.

2)  Flower Petals:  Another simple yes beautiful alternative to rice:  flower petals.  You can order petals from any florist in bulk.  Package them the same way you would the birdseed (see above) and you’ll have an environmentally-friendly ceremony toss with gorgeous color!

3)  Bubbles:  OK, not so DIY…but still adorable!  Blowing bubbles on the bride and groom requires no cleanup and still produces a gorgeous effect.  My favorites are these Wedding Bubble Tubes from Beau-coup.

4) Sparklers:  Admittedly, some parents may not be thrilled to have handfuls of sparklers in close proximity to their children, so proceed with caution based on your guest list.  However, if you have an adult-only wedding, this is an amazing alternative to rice.  I’ve seen some amazing wedding photography with all the guests wielding sparklers around the happy couple (see below!).  Plus, so easy to DIY…check out this tip from Martha Stewart Weddings:

“These can also be used as favors for the guests at an evening wedding, where they can be given out along with printed matchboxes or matchbooks. Tape a sparkler to the back of each matchbox to keep them from sliding about, and tie with a ribbon.”