I am the QUEEN of deals!

In the last month I have been given the opportunity to review two websites that allow customers to personalize holiday cards with pictures and text. I just posted my thoughts about Shutterfly.com (love them, use them all the time!) and I will be doing a similar review for Urbanity Studios on The Budget Savvy Bride where I guess blog. Both sites were kind enough to give me 50 free holiday photo cards for doing a review of their website. Unfortunately, Matt and I had already decided NOT to do holiday cards this year. Our wedding invitations are going out this month and we couldn't rationalize spending the additional postage on holiday cards as well. I'm not sure if you've heard this before, but weddings are expensive!!! I know, tell me about it, right?

So when I was offered these free cards, my first thought was to go ahead and order them, and hang on to the cards for next Christmas. Then, as I was personalizing the holiday cards with our engagement pictures, I had the most brilliant idea: turn them into Thank You cards for the wedding!!!! I chose cards with customizable text, changed "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" to "Thank You" and VOILA! One hundred almost FREE Thank You cards. Yippee!!! Here's my Thank You card from Shutterfly. Their site has the ability to share your cards online in your blog, facebook page or twitter feed - how cool is that! Gah! I love them!

Classic Sky Blue 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

So, I'm sure you're thinking, 'Great, but how does this help me?' It's true, not everyone has a blog to lever for online freebies. The moral of the story is GET CREATIVE! Sign up for emails from your favorite vendors and watch for opportunities to turn the unexpected and inexpensive into something fabulous for your wedding.

Any other great deal stories from my fellow brides out there? I'd love to hear them!