What Should I Do with My Leftover Wedding Supplies?

It seems like no matter how well you plan out your big day, there is always a little more than desired in the 'leftovers' department. Many women come back from their honeymoons just to find a room full of wedding things that they have no idea what to do with. Here are a few ideas that will keep you from ending up with more than you can handle once the dust has settled on your new marriage!

-Plan Ahead!
One thing I have always told brides is to plan ahead. Your wedding day, as blissful as it may be, is like any other huge event in your life. Once it is over, you'd like to have your clean slate back. It's kind of like Christmas, sure all the hub-bub is exciting but after Christmas day who is really excited to start taking it all down? I think I just heard a groan, you can see where I am going here! One sure-fire way to ward off buying in excess is to know how many people are coming to your shindig. If you're planning on inviting one hundred guests to your wedding do not go buy two hundred invitations! If you feel you must have extras purchase no more of twenty-five for anything!

Another way thing to consider are wedding bubbles, again knowing how many folks are coming can sure help, but if you feel like you are still going to have too much you can ask some of your guests to take more than one. They make great gifts and distractions for small children and wonderful tokens for parents to give to children that did not come to the wedding. You can pack a couple of extra ones away after your big day to blow bubbles with on your one year anniversary if you are into that.

Another huge leftover item is the centerpiece. If you are bound and determined to have a centerpiece or floral arrangement on every table have your Master of Ceremonies to make an announcement sometime into the reception that the centerpieces or floral arrangements are to be considered a gift to your guests. Guests will be more than happy to tote one home with them, thus leaving less to clean up and no dead flowers for you to come home to!

Ribbons, fake flowers and other items are favorites in crafting. If you are a crafty person just crate up a few things that you think you could use later. Perhaps you had planned on making a scrapbook or unique photo frame using some of your wedding leftovers. If you are not the crafty type then you can make some of your money back by selling your items on Ebay or your local Craigslist.

Lastly, it's never too late to just give the stuff away. There are millions of people out there that would love to have your leftover wedding goodies. You can list the things you have on your local Craigslist under FREE stuff or join a local Freecycle group (www.freecycle.org). Finding a group near you is fast and simple.