As a bride-to-be you have a lot of correspondence to send. From formal wedding invitations, to bridal shower invites all the way to the thank-you cards that wrap things up, you and your Post Man should become bosom buds! Depending on your and your fiance's style as a couple, the mail that you send can be anything from formal to quirky.

The best thing about incorporating Do It Yourself into your wedding is that it allows for your personal style to shine through. And it terms of wedding correspondence, Save the Date cards are a great way to let that run wild. In scouring the web for some fun DIY Save the Date cards, the idea that I was most struck with was making magnets!

Let me tell you a little something about my darling boyfriend: he knows when Christmas and St. Patrick's Day are. He's fuzzy on his mother's birthday and we decided long ago to celebrate a spontaneous anniversary. So when his cousin sent him a Save the Date card for a wedding last spring, I immediately took the card and practically glued it to my fridge.
Why not save date-impaired people (and their girlfriends!) the extra step by sending that Save the Date card as a magnet already?

This is an extremely easy craft, and for those of you who are limited on time you can also have magnets made for you (more on that later).

Supplies:

 

• A cute photo of you and your fiance
• Paper
• Scissors
• Sheets of adhesive magnets (3.5" x 2" is a good size!)

Directions:

There are lots of ways to vary this one and have it come out with your personal mark it on. If you plan ahead, you can even have your engagement portraits photographer in on the craft!

Take a photo of you and your fiance. If you can find a location with a cute weathered or vintage sign that can be Photoshopped with your wedding info onto it, bonus (this is where your engagement portrait photographer could come in)! If not, just an adorable photo will do.

Stick the photo onto a piece of the adhesive magnet sheet. Now getting the wedding into onto the magnet is the fun part! I created some cutesy magnetic poetry-style words and glued them to the photo surface. For the words I used Times New Roman, size 19 font. After printing out the words, I cut them out and adhered them to appropriately sized pieces of magnets and voila!

If you don't dig on magnetic poetry, you can also find some very cute digital photo frames on the internet. Hp.com has a several cute ones you can use, and they will even print your photo in them!

Not feeling very crafty? Sites like Magnet.com let couples to create their own Save the Date magnets. You send your wedding information, photos, and any artwork and their graphic artists design your magnets. Pretty sweet!

The DIY Stats:

Cost – Expect to spend about $30 on 100 3.5" x 2" adhesive magnet sheets. Use that figure to calculate an approximate cost based on your guest list.

Difficulty – Another very easy one.

Time – Depending on how you decide to design your magnet, time spent could vary. Once you have a design ready, each magnet can be done in a few minutes.

Fiance Friendliness

- This could be a fun craft to do working as a team. If you wanted to go all out with the magnetic poetry theme, this could become a great afternoon of creating silly love poems together for your Save the Date magnets!

Jen Kiaba is a photographer and burgeoning crafter who lives in Rhinebeck, NY with her lovely boyfriend, two crazy cats and an adorable basset hound. When her hands aren't covered in tacky glue, she specializes in taking romantic portraits of happy couples in the Hudson Valley!

The Tipping Point: Who and How Much Should You Tip?

No matter what your wedding budget, sooner or later you'll be writing a lot of big checks to pay for everything. The contracted price is pretty self-explanatory. But when it comes down to the day of the wedding...

How much do you tip?

A tip is supposed to be voluntary. However, just as it has become customary to tip your restaurant server, it has also become customary to tip many of your wedding service professionals.

You want to make sure your wait staff is tipped adequately. If you receive outstanding service, your tip should reflect that. But who gets tipped and how much?

The short answer: it all depends.

I turned to Margaret Brower, Banquet Manager of the Grandview in Poughkeepsie, NY and a newlywed herself, for help navigating the confusing world of wedding tip etiquette.

Many of the tip guidelines suggest tipping based on your guest list, such as tipping $2-5 per person. Unfortunately, this just isn't a good rule of thumb because catering halls structure their fees differently. It's easy to end up under or over tipping by mistake.

According to Margaret, catering halls usually charge one of two ways: a house service charge or a gratuity.

WARNING: Please check with your venue regarding all the details of pricing and before you follow the advice in this article. Pricing and gratuity structure varies by location. The best thing to do is ASK.

House Service Charge vs. Gratuity

A "house service charge" is used when your caterer presents a realistic bottom line price rather than an itemized bill for each service. Everything is included in the quoted price and then the house service charge is added to cover all setup fees. However, this house service charge DOES NOT include a gratuity, which means none of the money goes to the staff.

If your venue charges a house service charge, they likely pay a higher wage to their staff. However, it is also customary to tip them.

Other wedding venues add a "gratuity" or "service charge" to your bill. The percentage is generally 15-20%. This gratuity DOES go to your wait staff.

However, you will probably still want to tip your maitre'd and your head server. In the Hudson Valley, $100-300 for your maitre'd and $25-75 for your head server is a reasonable range.

Ask These Questions Before Tipping Your Caterer

• How are the bartenders paid? Is a tip included?

• Is a tip included in the house service fee? Do both wait staff and bartenders receive it?

• Is a tip included in the gratuity? Do both wait staff and bartenders receive it?

Traditional Tipping Guidelines (adapted from Mindy Weiss' The Wedding Book)

Bartenders: 10 percent of the total liquor bill

Bathroom attendants: $1 - $2 per guest

Catering manager: $200+

Coat check attendants: $1 - $2 per guest

Hairstylist: 15 - 20 percent

Limo or bus drivers: 15 percent

Maitre d' or headwaiter: 1 - 3 percent of food and beverage fees

Makeup artist: 15 - 20 percent

Music: 15-20 percent or $15-25 per musician

Photographer or videographer: If you're paying a flat fee with no overtime, $100

Valet or parking attendants: $1 - $2 per car; 15 percent for valet parking

Waiters: $20 and up each (distributed by the catering manager or maitre d')

Wedding planner: 15 percent

Generally, couples do not tip service providers who are also the owner of the company. However, a tip is a way to express your gratitude for going above and beyond. If your wedding vendors truly delivered excellent service from start to finish, a tip is a great way to thank them.

The Logistics of Paying

Believe me, you won't want to be doing the math to figure tipping percentages, pulling out cash and writing checks on your wedding night.

Please, please delegate this responsibility to someone you trust. You may even make arrangements with your catering hall to pay the tip beforehand to make it even easier.

Summary...

Generally, a house service fee does not include a tip for the staff while a gratuity fee does.

Even if your gratuity covers the fee, you'll still want to tip your maitre'd, head server and make sure your bartenders are included.

If you aren't sure about what is included in your fee, ASK. This is the best way to make sure everyone has been taken care of. Keep asking until you understand exactly what is included, who gets paid and how.

Try not to ask: "How much should I tip you?" Believe it or not, many catering managers are a little uncomfortable answering this question. Of course, they want a tip! But they don't want to seem greedy by suggesting a number.

A good rule of thumb is to tip generously for service that goes above and beyond. If you're happy, let it show!