Wedding Decor on a Budget: How Hobby Lobby Can Help You Save

Hobby Lobby is just a fun store. It holds a ton of treasure–more than just simple hobby supplies. They sell everything you need to make a cute scrapbook, or to decorate a tee-shirt, or to prepare for a picnic. But they also sell a ton of wedding supplies.

Sometimes you need to look at something beyond its originally intended purpose. For example, a piece of scrapbook paper can be more than just the canvas for stickers and photographs. It can be folded, printed upon, and much more! For my wedding, I made my own invitations and wedding programs using mainly scrapbooking materials. I used texturized cardstock for the base of the invitations and programs. Then I used paper, a butterfly punch, and ribbon for the decorations. They took a little more work, but they were completely different from any other wedding invitations or programs and cost much less.

Hobby Lobby Secrets

I have a serious advantage over Hobby Lobby deals. I used to work as a department manager for Hobby Lobby (I headed up the “cards and party” and “candles and scented” departments). So, I have an insider’s look.

The sales at Hobby Lobby run from Monday through Saturday. For the store I worked at, we would hang up the new signs and get the new flyers ready every Saturday after we closed at 8 pm.

Regular frames (as opposed to open frames without glass) are almost constantly 50% off. And just about everything else (cake decorating, party, and candy making supplies excluded) goes on sale to at least 30 to 50% off on a regular basis. In fact, at the time that I am writing this post (May 10, 2011), all wedding items are on sale at 50% off.

Here’s an interesting tidbit concerning seasonal items. Hobby Lobby’s goal is to sell out of all of its seasonal inventory before the holiday arrives. For this reason, you’ll see Christmas trees pop up in stores in July and by the time December rolls around they’ll typically be on sale for 80 or 90% off. So, the closer to the holiday you can wait to get something, the less expensive it will be. Just before Christmas (but also afterwards since not everything usually meets the goal of being sold before the holiday) is the best time to get ribbon; and just around Valentine’s Day is the best time to get heart-shaped items.

The clearance section is also a great place to get items. Around the beginning of the year, new items for the year arrive. Most of the seasonal items dawn a sticker that will say something like “Spring Splash 2024.” These help the employees sort through what items belong to a particular collection (such as Spring Splash) and to determine which are leftovers from last year and which are this year’s. Anyway, around the beginning of the year, last year’s items go on clearance. They may start at 30 or 50% off, but if you wait, they’ll drop even lower (do grab what you want if you’re willing to pay for it, though, because these items go fast). If I remember correctly, 90% is the deepest discount they give.

What about items like cake decorating or candy making supplies? These very rarely go on sale. But, have no fear, because coupons come into play! There will be coupons for like 30% off all Wilton cake decorating supplies. But even better, just about every other week, Hobby Lobby puts out their 40% off coupons. These are perfect for purchasing items that don’t typically go on sale (some exclusions apply) or for buying items not on sale now. You can, however, only use one coupon per person per day, so make sure you use it on the most expensive non-sale item. It also helps to bring other people with you. Depending on the cashier, you can use one coupon per person in the same transaction (whenever I cashiered, I allowed this because it follows the wording “one coupon per customer per day” on the coupon verbatim; however, there are those cashiers who aren’t as kind or whose managers don’t allow this). My Hobby Lobby also accepted competitor’s coupons from Michael’s or JoAnne’s (if we carried the same items) but be sure to check with your local Hobby Lobby’s manager to see if they do too.

So, there you have it! Hobby Lobby is a great resource for great deals (often even cheaper than anything you can find at Walmart). You just have to play the sales and use the coupons. If you possibly can, do wait for the deeper or deepest discounts!

Here’s a list of some items that can be purchased at Hobby Lobby (almost all go on sale or can be purchased with coupon) and used for your wedding:

all kinds of wedding stuff (start with the obvious; you can get unity candles and holders, guest books, favors, veils, decorations, etc.)
rental items (you can rent things like candelabras and arches from the floral section)
candles and holders (in the candle department and by the wedding section)
silk flowers
silk garland
ribbon (by the sewing department, wedding section, and seasonal section)
glasses and decorations from the housewares department
baskets
picture frames
custom framing
matt board to frame (get a hole cut for your picture) for people to sign
scrapbook paper
stickers
embellishments
jewelry
charms
flip flops
tee-shirts (for the bride and groom for rehearsal)
iron-on decals
paintable wooden and ceramic items (be creative!)
dishes
party supplies (plates, plastic silverware, crepe paper, favors, candy, etc.)
napkin and plate holders
invitations
Cricut (to make your own stickers or other items)
cake decorating and candy making supplies
fabric
tulle
candy
lights
Sharpie markers