Rediscovering the Library

Back in my uni days I wouldn’t have dreamt of buying a book (other than textbooks). If I wanted something to read I went up to my local library and borrowed what I wanted. Once I joined the walks of the employed, I began to buy books rather than borrow them. There’s something nice about reading a nice, crisp clean book - plus I do love the look of a nice full bookshelf. The catch is that buying books, especially non-fiction books, can be quite expensive.

The other day I decided that I wanted a book on bread making. As we are trying to cut costs at the moment, rather than running straight to the bookshop, I thought I might try the local library. My oh my, did I find some treats at the library. I have never noticed before, but not only does the library have books but they have CDs and magazines (amongst other things).

We have pretty much decided that one our wedding invites we will ask guests to choose a song or two that they would like to hear. I have often wondered though what the older people will pick and how much it’s going to cost us to download high quality versions of all of the songs that we don’t have (this is something that we haven’t budgeted for). Now I know that our first port of call will be the local library. They even have an online catalogue so I can search for what I’m after from the comfort of my own home!

I beg of you, before you spend money on wedding books, magazines or CDs, dust of your library card and see what your local library has to offer. Free stuff is the best kind of bargain (plus you give it back once you’re done so it doesn’t end up at the tip or cluttering up your house)!

PS. I only really mentioned CDs in this, but our library has hundreds of books on weddings – more than I imagine that any non-online bookstore would ever have.

Budget Section Added

They say that sharing is caring so I have added a page to this blog where I have added our budget and actual costs. I did this on the basis that it could be a really useful tool for others. I’ve tried to give as much description as possible for each item of what that price gets us and who our suppliers are but feel free to ask any questions you may have. I realise that this has left us completely open to judgement from people that think we’re spending too much or too little, but a) those people seem to judge without seeing the actual $ figure anyhow, and b) they can go get stuffed. As I’ve mentioned on the page, my only request is that after we have committed to paying for something you don’t tell us how much cheaper we could have got it for – sometimes it’s better just not to know! I am more than happy to hear any tips or advice for items that are not yet finalised though!