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Weddingbee Blog
This weekend, I’m going to experience some very happy wedding deja vu. My Bride$hare buddy is getting married, and Mr. Meatball and I are thrilled to go back to the Bungalow Club for the first time since our wedding 6 weeks ago, and enjoy some of our decor, drink delicious mojitos, and dance our faces off, for the 2nd time around.
These are the fateful paper lanterns that spawned the whole idea! (Photo by Dan Chen)
Way back when, Rebecca saw a blog post of mine lamenting the desire for paper lanterns to spruce up the space at our venue, and she contacted me to suggest we go in on them together and share them. That was just the beginning.
Together, we were able to co-purchase and recycle many items from our weddings, which went perfectly with Mr. M’s and my mission to both save green and be green in our wedding plans! In fact, the reception venue owner likes them so much, she might even buy them off of us after the fact and keep them up, which means future brides can benefit from them, too! My bridal karma meter must be off tha charts, son!
These manzanita trees will make a repeat appearance this weekend, too!
Having a Bride$hare buddy was not only a great way to be more fiscally and eco-responsible, but it was also the beginning of a fun and resourceful friendship. Whenever we researched or booked vendors/hotels/rehearsal dinner venues, we’d check in and make suggestions or give feedback to one another about it. We talked invitation design and oohed and aahed over each other’s creations. We generally supported each other in a way that most brides only find via message boards, and that was a priceless bonus of the whole experience.
Together, we shared roughly $4,000 worth of goods/services. Saving all that money was certainly thrilling, but after blogging about it what excites me most is the amount of interest in and embracing of the BrideShare concept from gals all across the web. I encourage you all to try and share and save - after all, green is the new white!
I am so happy for Rebecca and Rupen this weekend, and can’t wait to celebrate with them, and raise a glass to our collective good fortune.
Oh good! I’m kinda bummed that we’ve pretty much purchased everything already, I wish I’d found a brideshare buddy earlier in the game!
I actually befriended a few brides that used my venue as well, but because of the destination location, we didn’t get to share any supplies. But this is an absolutely wonderful idea for local brides!
Meaty this is such a great idea! Are you going to share pics from their wedding with us? I’d really like to see them 
So fun that you get to go to her wedding and see everything again. It’s such a great idea! I could use a buddy for a few things! Anyone interested??
That’s such a neat idea. Of course you would come up with it, because you rock.
OMG how awesome! I wish I had a buddy.. maybe I’ll start stalking the local boards..
yay, I just registered at your Bride$hare.net site the other day! I just got engaged, and am so excited to find a brideshare buddy of my own. Great idea, and thanks for making a site for us all to use. PS your wedding pictures are so pretty I might die.
I love the paper lanterns look. My venue is similar and I would love to incorporate that. Do you mind if I ask how much you paid and how many lanterns you ended up using? Also, how did you get them up there and how long did it take? TIA! OH, love the bride share idea as well!!
@Miss French Bulldog: I’ll ask her if I can - I bet she doesn’t mind. The only trouble is our digital camera got lost at our wedding 
Maybe she can send me propics!
@SarahPtoWed: Aw, thanks! More pics coming in my recaps, so stay tuned!
@ladybuglove: We used 37 I think? Rebecca had an in with wholesale lanterns and we bought lots of extras, so in the end, they cost around $700 for everything. But you can find someone to share with, or buy them from another bride, and save a fortune! My brother-in-law helped to hang them with a guy that works at the venue, and I think it took a couple of hours. I’ll probably post more detail about that process later. Good luck!
I’ve been trying to find a buddy to share the expense of white paper lanterns - i hope it works out!
@Mrs. Meatball: Thanks for the info! Looking forward to hearing more details! Your wedding pictures were gorgeous! One of my favorite weddings ever!
What a good idea! My two best girlfriends and I were all married between last summer and this summer so we definately shared a lot of stuff, but not in this kind of sytematic, 50/50 fashion (which would have, not surprisingly, probably been more fair!) Instead we just did A LOT of handy-me-down-ing. That in itself is rewarding too though. Thanks for sharing! And…..recaps please!
such a cool idea, any suggestions how to find a brideshare buddy? the albany, ny local board on weddingbee is pretty sparse….
@Mrs. Crab Cake: I concur!
I’m hoping to find a buddy to split the costs of my wedding as well! 
[...] Earlier in the day my mom and sister dropped off a dozen or so of the vases I co-oped with my Bride$hare buddy with some grocery store flowers that were placed around the tables. It was a lively, vibrant [...]
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Mrs. Meatball, Hollywood Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer Engagement Date: October 7, 2007 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Blogging Since: September 16, 2008 Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
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