I decided to write this blog series (hint— there will be more to come) because I was able to see my vision come to fruition, and that included a beautifully cohesive combination of ideas, projects, and advice that I believe could save others some $ along the way. And as I share more blogs, I’ll share more photos of the wedding to prove that budget weddings* CAN be tasteful, elegant, and undeniably photo-worthy.
*Caveat: I’m only calling my wedding a “budget wedding” because I PURPOSELY cut corners and tried to keep costs low. In my opinion, nothing about our wedding screams budget. But when I compare how much we spent to how much OTHERS spend on weddings, there is an undeniable gap. We were so incredibly blessed by my mom who paid for the entire wedding, and would not have been able to have such a beautiful affair had it not been for her generous contributions. Our wedding could have easily costed an extra $10k+ had we followed the standards of wedding norms, however, we made a conscious decision prior to planning of what we believed was reasonable to spend, and we followed our convictions on how to stick to that.
1. Make it personal.
Here’s a list of the things I made; keep an eye out for upcoming tutorials on how you can make your own personal touches:
- My bridal bouquet
- Flower Crowns for Flower Girls
- Paper goods (Save the Dates and Invitations)
- All Signage (Wood Photo Transfers, Vinyl Signs, and oversized lettering)
Bottom line: Decide what is realistic for you to make and what is not. Give yourself some time so there is wiggle room if you need a back up plan. Getting inspiration from Pinterest/YouTube/Etsy is awesome, and 9 times out of 10 I can find a way to make my own version. With commitment (and some craftiness) it’s amazing how much you can do when you try!
2. Know awesome people/let them help you.
Shout out to to the people who blessed us into saving:
Vendors:
- Photographers- Miles & Melissa Boyer and Max Grubb
- Wedding Planner- Amanda Reed of Bates-Reed Brides
- DJ- Brock Short of Brock Entertainment
- Lighting- Steve with Lightworks
- Grooms Cake- Lacie Lockamy (my sister in law!) made the coolest 3D camera cake inspired by Delyn’s Nikon D750. We were sure to offer to pay Lacie for her time and talent, but she insisted that she wanted to give it to us as a gift. It was such a special gift!
- Bridal Party Lunch- The women from our church saved us some time, money, and hassle by bringing lunch for our whole group of girls as we got ready the day of. They prepared an assortment of finger foods and snacks, and this was SUCH a big help to a busy bride, and was one less thing to worry about.
- Decor- I have some crafty friends! Two friends from Texas in particular contributed really special pieces that I was so thankful to have. Lindsay Cox created an amazing wood-burned piece of art on a wood disk that read “Let’s Be Adventurers, Darling”. It was personal and perfect! Chandler Gehm and her fiancé Michael Banas took the time to find, sand, and stain a wood pallet for us, which we modeled after a prayer board that Chandler previously created. Another special, personal touch that added to the character of the wedding and allowed us to gather prayer requests for the cause that we spotlighted (The A21 Campaign).
- Entertainment- Some of our closest friends who were in our wedding party (Zack and Becca McKim) performed our first dance song. It was BEAUTIFUL! If you have any friends who are musically gifted, this was such an awesome memory for us. Our only regret is that we didn't have someone tape them singing. It was so special!
3. Don't wait until the last minute.
Plan around sales. If you wait until the last minute, chances are that you will get stuck paying full price because you have no other choice. I’m the type of person who never goes to Hobby Lobby (or any store, really) without a coupon. I also bought my supplies far enough in advance that I took advantage of their bi-weekly sales. There’s no reason for you to wait until the week before to buy something, only to find out that particular item is full price (because chances are, you need more than one and a coupon won’t save you). I’m not kidding about this planning in advance stuff… it will save you some money!
Examples:
- Our rental estimate for a 50 ft Sheer Ivory Curtain (to drape on our pallet wall) was $600! I couldn't do it. I compared prices online to BUY fabric instead. I had been working with the Casa line at Joann Fabric for a previous project, and knew this would be a good alternative. I waited until the line went on sale 40% off and purchased a bolt (45 yards) for $100. You can reuse it, sell it, or trash it afterwards. For $500 savings, who cares what you do with it... just embrace it!
- In February I found a groupon sale for 70% off a Shutterfly hard-cover book. I ordered this early (when I found the sale) and we used this for our guestbook.
- We got married just before Thanksgiving, and we scored HUGE by using our wedding gift cards we received towards Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales at places like Bed Bath & Beyond and Target.
4. Be selfish.
5. Stay true to your vision.
Here’s a list of things I skipped out on, and why I’m okay with that:
- An oversized guest list: For us, a small and personal wedding was ideal. With lots of friends and family this was HARD to do but I wanted no more than 100 guests. Of course there were LOTS of people we both would’ve loved to invite, but the reality was that we had a vision of an intimate wedding and we wanted to stick to it. One controversial concept here was that we chose to not invite kids. WE LOVE KIDS! Some of my best buddies are under 10. But our guest list would have increased exponentially, and we felt like our vision lended towards our friends enjoying an evening with adults. Our friends and family were very supportive of this decision and it made for a fun date night for our friends/family who are parents.
- Champagne: My take is that we provided an assortment of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages at the bar. To toast, you don’t need champagne. Was it a faux pas? Maybe. But I don’t think it changed the course of the evening.
- Corsages/Boutonnieres for family: I’ll be honest, I think they are awkward and unnecessary. It’s one of those things that are great if you want them, but you really don’t notice when they’re missing.
- Excessive Flowers: I think we found a perfect balance of flowers for our taste. We didn’t break the bank, and I supplemented some paper roses and some tasteful silk flowers into a bouquet and floral crowns. Consider what's important to your vision and what is not, and make your cuts from there!