109 day progress post: $2000 wedding!
I tried to wait until day 100 but I just couldn't do it!
We're getting married May 30 of this year.
I'm going for a gardeny look, casual but not tacky, with a color scheme using tons of purples, gray, and silver. Inviting exactly 75 people, including kids. That includes about 15 people who I can just about guarantee won't show up.
The goal is to do this for under $2,000, in a way that feels casual, but not like I sacrificed what I wanted. Since budget is so important to me here, and I know it is to many of us here, I'm listing how much I paid for everything.
Website: http://mysite.verizon.net/ganit : free
Location: Lakeside Park, Fort Wayne, IN. We're at Pavilion #2, which is semi-covered. ($104)
This park is absolutely stunning during the spring and summer, so I am very excited to be in the middle of it for my wedding!
This is the pavilion where we'll be. Holds 80. I can't wait to decorate it!
The garage doors pull up so you can see the lake with geese, and there's a kitchen and bathrooms included.
Here's a youtube of the park:
--
Music/Officiant: my friend Erik, who runs Megasound: Officiant package with 2 hours of MCing and music ($300).
He's helping me with arranging the components of the ceremony, announcing everything, playing music, and has told me he'll be taking photos as well.
My one concern: Since there's a law in the city about no DJing in the park pavilions, I want to make sure that he does the music pretty low. The official law is something about music not being heard from over 30 feet away, and a friend who works with police told me the worst-case scenario will be that we get a warning, so we should be fine. Doesn't mean I'm not paranoid though :)
---
Photography: free plus gas money and donations. I also have several friends who've offered to take pics: estimated $100.
I've found a community-college photographer on craigslist who's offered a trade: I get free/almost-free photography, and she gets photos for her portfolio. Since she's only done four weddings, this is doing us both a favor.
I've seen her website, but I get the impression she doesn't currently want it broadcast everywhere, so I'm going to respect her privacy.
In the end, I plan to make a book of all my wedding photos from ofoto.com. I can find cheaper for a basic album, but ofoto's premium book packages just look too cool to pass up.
I'll probably spend about $70 on the book.
---
Dress: Make a Match Separates Bridesmaid Dress from David's Bridal ($188; $201 with tax-- Tom's dad and stepmom gave as gift!). I actually liked going to David's :) And Tom's stepmom, who used to be a seamstress for David's, has graciously offered to do all the alterations. She says this dress is really easy to alter.
It flatters my bottom-heavy shape really well, and I liked it better than wedding dresses I tried there for twice the price.
Here's me testing the dresses in the colors they had in stock in my size, as well as a drawing from the David's Bridal showing how it looks in white:
This pic made me realize I have chicken-wing flab, so I've been doing weights for over 5 weeks now. I'm already more toned! :)
---
Rings: eBay. Mine's rhodium-plated sterling silver and CZs, $31.44 shipped; his is titanium, $8.98 shipped (his ring is huge on me :P )
Accessories: Dyeable shoes from Payless, $9;
Anyone know if there's an easy way to dye the shoes at home? I'm starting to regret not asking to dye them in the store and wish they were lavender, but don't want to pay much to dye 'em.
white gold-plated barrettes, $17.50 from ebay, for putting my hair up on the sides (I have a pic here of something similar, only with a barrette on only one side).
I really love the little lavender stones.
I also got some little Swarovski-flower pins for my sister/MOH as a gift (on the right of this pic): $6.99
----
Centerpieces: Lots of origami lilies in glass purple vases! Green pipe cleaner stems-- I like how pipe cleaners remind me of kindergarten and fun kiddie crafts. Some flowers are made of origami paper, some from scrapbooking paper from Jo-Ann Fabrics, and some from wrapping paper. Wrapping paper is by far the most cost-effective option. This is still a work in progress: I need 216 lilies to fill 18 vases, 12 flowers each, and right now I'm at about 145-150 complete.
Side-note: Having a paper cutter is a lifesaver!
Making 18 of these for 9 tables, and it's coming out at about $50 for all 18 of them:
---
Other decorations: I made some of those Martha Stewart tissue paper pompon things. 18 of them. I fluffed two up to see what they look like. Here they are, closed and opened: $14
Also got 60 feet of white icicle lights to string along the ceiling: $16.
And at dollar tree, I found soap roses with cool little paperthin petals. 9 for a dollar, so I got 5 and am planning to put them on the table here and there: $5.
---
Cake: Tom wants a Star Trek Chess set cake, which I think is just the coolest idea ever. For those who aren't familiar, it's like this three-dimensional version of chess that originated in the original Star Trek series.
On ebay, we found just the chess board without pieces or the extra attack side-boards for $49.99 including shipping:
'll be making three 4"x4" square cakes wrapped in marshmallow fondant and with little blue squares on top, then placing them on each of the three tiers. Ingredients for the cake will be $5 or so.
Me and Tom's uncle and cousin have been testing out cake and fondant recipes. If anyone plans to try this out for themselves, I strongly recommend researching marshmallow fondant recipes. They taste good and aren't difficult to make. Plus, it's easy to use, even for newbies:
Since this'll only be about a 12-serving cake, it'll mostly be for decoration. The main eating-cake will be a sheet cake from Wal-Mart, $35.
Food: Tom's choosing and cooking all of this. All casual food from Gordon's Food Service, and he'll be cooking in the house and pavilion kitchen. For an estimated 55 adults and kids, I'm expecting we'll spend about $600.
Tableware: We've bought clear decorative throwaway plates for the meal, clear plastic silverware, lavender paper plates for the cake, clear throwaway cups, silver plastic throwaway tablecloths, and table clips to hold them down. Tom's stepmom is loaning us her cake cutter from their wedding. We're currently at $85 for all of this, and will surely go over $100 after getting stuff to serve the food.
Favors: Since I'm into gardening, we made little boxes with packets of cosmos seeds in them for everyone. Cost $70: ugh blurry shots.
Also got napkins with our names and the date inscribed on them. Even if for the cake, I got the dinner napkins because they were bigger for the same price. 100 for $20:
Invitations: Office Depot pastel cardstock, envelopes, and address labels, then some cute stamps, made it all come in at around $36 for 62 of them. Printed them at home. I figure simple cards lets people know it'll be a simple ceremony.
As it is now, it looks like I will barely make $2000 if I count the $200 Tom's dad paid for the dress as a gift, or have breathing room if I don't.
Left to do/questions:
Still waiting on planting flowers in my garden, which I'll be using for my and MOH's bouquets :)
Still need to figure out what happens when in the ceremony, and what music we'll use.
Tom still needs a tux. We want a nice rental with a silver vest, but can't get a discount for having a wedding party since we only have a MOH and best man. Does anyone know a place in the Midwest where you can rent a nice tux for less than $100? Men's Wearhouse wanted us to pay $119.
Still need passports because my dad is sending us to Playa del Carmen, right beside Cancun (!!!). We'll be staying at his wife's beach house-- while she isn't there, of course.
Do we need to get passports now if we plan to leave in June? How do I get this started? And has anyone been there?
We're getting married May 30 of this year.
I'm going for a gardeny look, casual but not tacky, with a color scheme using tons of purples, gray, and silver. Inviting exactly 75 people, including kids. That includes about 15 people who I can just about guarantee won't show up.
The goal is to do this for under $2,000, in a way that feels casual, but not like I sacrificed what I wanted. Since budget is so important to me here, and I know it is to many of us here, I'm listing how much I paid for everything.
Website: http://mysite.verizon.net/ganit : free
Location: Lakeside Park, Fort Wayne, IN. We're at Pavilion #2, which is semi-covered. ($104)
This park is absolutely stunning during the spring and summer, so I am very excited to be in the middle of it for my wedding!
This is the pavilion where we'll be. Holds 80. I can't wait to decorate it!
The garage doors pull up so you can see the lake with geese, and there's a kitchen and bathrooms included.
Here's a youtube of the park:
Click to view--
Music/Officiant: my friend Erik, who runs Megasound: Officiant package with 2 hours of MCing and music ($300).
He's helping me with arranging the components of the ceremony, announcing everything, playing music, and has told me he'll be taking photos as well.
My one concern: Since there's a law in the city about no DJing in the park pavilions, I want to make sure that he does the music pretty low. The official law is something about music not being heard from over 30 feet away, and a friend who works with police told me the worst-case scenario will be that we get a warning, so we should be fine. Doesn't mean I'm not paranoid though :)
---
Photography: free plus gas money and donations. I also have several friends who've offered to take pics: estimated $100.
I've found a community-college photographer on craigslist who's offered a trade: I get free/almost-free photography, and she gets photos for her portfolio. Since she's only done four weddings, this is doing us both a favor.
I've seen her website, but I get the impression she doesn't currently want it broadcast everywhere, so I'm going to respect her privacy.
In the end, I plan to make a book of all my wedding photos from ofoto.com. I can find cheaper for a basic album, but ofoto's premium book packages just look too cool to pass up.
I'll probably spend about $70 on the book.
---
Dress: Make a Match Separates Bridesmaid Dress from David's Bridal ($188; $201 with tax-- Tom's dad and stepmom gave as gift!). I actually liked going to David's :) And Tom's stepmom, who used to be a seamstress for David's, has graciously offered to do all the alterations. She says this dress is really easy to alter.
It flatters my bottom-heavy shape really well, and I liked it better than wedding dresses I tried there for twice the price.
Here's me testing the dresses in the colors they had in stock in my size, as well as a drawing from the David's Bridal showing how it looks in white:
This pic made me realize I have chicken-wing flab, so I've been doing weights for over 5 weeks now. I'm already more toned! :)
---
Rings: eBay. Mine's rhodium-plated sterling silver and CZs, $31.44 shipped; his is titanium, $8.98 shipped (his ring is huge on me :P )
Accessories: Dyeable shoes from Payless, $9;
Anyone know if there's an easy way to dye the shoes at home? I'm starting to regret not asking to dye them in the store and wish they were lavender, but don't want to pay much to dye 'em.
white gold-plated barrettes, $17.50 from ebay, for putting my hair up on the sides (I have a pic here of something similar, only with a barrette on only one side).
I really love the little lavender stones.
I also got some little Swarovski-flower pins for my sister/MOH as a gift (on the right of this pic): $6.99
----
Centerpieces: Lots of origami lilies in glass purple vases! Green pipe cleaner stems-- I like how pipe cleaners remind me of kindergarten and fun kiddie crafts. Some flowers are made of origami paper, some from scrapbooking paper from Jo-Ann Fabrics, and some from wrapping paper. Wrapping paper is by far the most cost-effective option. This is still a work in progress: I need 216 lilies to fill 18 vases, 12 flowers each, and right now I'm at about 145-150 complete.
Side-note: Having a paper cutter is a lifesaver!
Making 18 of these for 9 tables, and it's coming out at about $50 for all 18 of them:
---
Other decorations: I made some of those Martha Stewart tissue paper pompon things. 18 of them. I fluffed two up to see what they look like. Here they are, closed and opened: $14
Also got 60 feet of white icicle lights to string along the ceiling: $16.
And at dollar tree, I found soap roses with cool little paperthin petals. 9 for a dollar, so I got 5 and am planning to put them on the table here and there: $5.
---
Cake: Tom wants a Star Trek Chess set cake, which I think is just the coolest idea ever. For those who aren't familiar, it's like this three-dimensional version of chess that originated in the original Star Trek series.
On ebay, we found just the chess board without pieces or the extra attack side-boards for $49.99 including shipping:
'll be making three 4"x4" square cakes wrapped in marshmallow fondant and with little blue squares on top, then placing them on each of the three tiers. Ingredients for the cake will be $5 or so.
Me and Tom's uncle and cousin have been testing out cake and fondant recipes. If anyone plans to try this out for themselves, I strongly recommend researching marshmallow fondant recipes. They taste good and aren't difficult to make. Plus, it's easy to use, even for newbies:
Since this'll only be about a 12-serving cake, it'll mostly be for decoration. The main eating-cake will be a sheet cake from Wal-Mart, $35.
Food: Tom's choosing and cooking all of this. All casual food from Gordon's Food Service, and he'll be cooking in the house and pavilion kitchen. For an estimated 55 adults and kids, I'm expecting we'll spend about $600.
Tableware: We've bought clear decorative throwaway plates for the meal, clear plastic silverware, lavender paper plates for the cake, clear throwaway cups, silver plastic throwaway tablecloths, and table clips to hold them down. Tom's stepmom is loaning us her cake cutter from their wedding. We're currently at $85 for all of this, and will surely go over $100 after getting stuff to serve the food.
Favors: Since I'm into gardening, we made little boxes with packets of cosmos seeds in them for everyone. Cost $70: ugh blurry shots.
Also got napkins with our names and the date inscribed on them. Even if for the cake, I got the dinner napkins because they were bigger for the same price. 100 for $20:
Invitations: Office Depot pastel cardstock, envelopes, and address labels, then some cute stamps, made it all come in at around $36 for 62 of them. Printed them at home. I figure simple cards lets people know it'll be a simple ceremony.
As it is now, it looks like I will barely make $2000 if I count the $200 Tom's dad paid for the dress as a gift, or have breathing room if I don't.
Left to do/questions:
Still waiting on planting flowers in my garden, which I'll be using for my and MOH's bouquets :)
Still need to figure out what happens when in the ceremony, and what music we'll use.
Tom still needs a tux. We want a nice rental with a silver vest, but can't get a discount for having a wedding party since we only have a MOH and best man. Does anyone know a place in the Midwest where you can rent a nice tux for less than $100? Men's Wearhouse wanted us to pay $119.
Still need passports because my dad is sending us to Playa del Carmen, right beside Cancun (!!!). We'll be staying at his wife's beach house-- while she isn't there, of course.
Do we need to get passports now if we plan to leave in June? How do I get this started? And has anyone been there?