Sorry Ladies, this bio is being reconstructed to be more helpful to future (budget minded) brides... don't mind the mess!

Eye candy
http://snippetandink.blogspot.com/
http://classicbride.blogspot.com/
http://matthewmeadstyle.com/
And of course Martha and stylemepretty.com

DIY'ing & budgets
http://www.recycleyourwedding.com/
http://www.diybride.com/
http://www.impressrubberstamps.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=wedding
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/channel/exclusive/photogalleries/0,24642,,00.html

DIY Weddings I love
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=girlinthemoon
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=99vintageglam
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=KSirish
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=LJKaucher&MsdVisit=1

Others
http://www.cainweddingstationery.com/
http://davidandelizabeth2008.blogspot.com/
http://thepreppywedding.blogspot.com/
http://ladivinaevents.blogspot.com/
http://bsdstudio.com/blog/
http://parisapartment.wordpress.com/
http://newportweddings.blogspot.com/ she profiles some of my favorite things in life, how can you live without breton reds?
http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/
http://theunbride.net/
http://tenthousandonly.blogspot.com/
http://budgetdreamweddings.com/
http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com

Favorite bios and real weddings

http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/12/05/real-weddings-nicole-kent/
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=MrsStephM&MsdVisit=1
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=springchic
http://www.brides.com/weddingstyle/realweddings/161349?f=Region%3APhiladelphia&page=1&offset=2
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=MrsAnayisnin&MsdVisit=1
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=graceface
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=RedShoeGirl
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=reichb
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=mrs.pootiekins&MsdVisit=1
Some of the pictures don't load anymore, but gorgeous.
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=MrsPinkAJV
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=IvonneNYC
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=wittliz
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=soon2bmrs.stone
http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=stierwaescherin

This was such a good idea for a budget! Mine turned out exactly like Martha's but then I realized that our venue has a constant sea breeze making this kind of a fire hazard. If you are having an indoor wedding where lanterns will not be blown about, let me know. also the vellum used is lavender, it adds a nice hue to the glow. I spent $60 making them if anyone is going to reproduce these.

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=57636b7a81f63110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=lace%20centerpiece&rsc=header_5
Another similar idea
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.0e0eb51a2e6b5ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=74d0a6f093043110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=lace%20centerpiece&rsc=image_1

Personal Flowers:

Centerpieces:

Flowers will be DIY, here is the cost breakdown for 7 centerpieces (5 for tables, 2 for bar and guest book table) and personal bouquets for 6 bouts, 5 corsages, 6 bridesmaids bouquets and bridal bouquet

Flowers $370 fiftyflowers.com, depending on what you are looking for I hear Sam's Club may be even less expensive.

Materials $60 Michaels & Dollar Store (buckets from the dollar store for holding them, sprite+vinegar for plant food, moire ribbon which was by far the most expensive expenditure but I bought way way too much, wires for wiring corsages and bouts, floral tape, rose shears from garden supply, pearl head pins and wrist bands for wrist corsages)

$399 (now $499, ah inflation!) Dress - Julius Bridal "Coco"

$80 Shoes - Nine West "Jiopa" Natural

$10 clearence Hollywould for Target Clutch - something red, I'm removing the strap and using it for cosmetics but I will not really be carrying it around.

$30 Gardenia from Rush Creations - I really wanted a silk one so I wouldn't have to worry about wilting but good quality silk ones were hard to come by, a lot had stray fibers/threads unravelling etc which most people wouldn't notice but I'm really annoyed by things like that! I have a veil but I haven't decided if I want to go without it.

I think I want to do crinoline to give it more shape on the bottom like this Vera dress

Will also wear earrings and tennis bracelet, earrings modeled after grandmother's and bracelet from mother

Our first favor melted in a cross country move so our second favor is not a food. We bought these lovlies for $2.50 ea I believe

For the BM brunch I tied lemon drops in a cello bags with pretty satin ribbon and a stamped label, the total cost for 10 was $3 cello bags (I have a surplus though, they come in multiples of 50), satin ribbon from Michael's Dollar Bin $3, Gourmet Lemon Drops $6 (I imagine bulk candy section would have been less expensive but I saw these at the store and since I was doing so few, just grabbed them). See the pic in "Weekend Events" section.

For children attending our wedding I bought some books and toys from Target's dollar section and from the Dollar Store, I spent $2 per child. Plus I bought some coloring books for sharing and packs of crayons for around $1 each (back to school sales). I'll upload some pictures soon but I found some really cute things from puzzles to finger puppets. I have one guest who is 13, for her I purchased some inexpensive lipgloss, an Italian glass ring ($4 Pier1) and a little bottle of pink nailpolish. I also threw in a copy of Emily Dickenson. Its not really a cool gift but it was $6 at B&N and she needs to read more.

For GM I bought bottles of "Texas Champagne" hot sauce. I was going to do more but we also hired a croquet pro to host a croquet match with beers and then FI is taking them to lunch. FI thought a sporting thing would be better than another wedding-type gift. Hot sauce was $3 ea and to hire a croquet pro it was $200 but there was no limit on participants. For the civilian groomsman, I purchased bowties at saveonties.com. They ended up being Jos Bank ties, I think its a discount TJMaxx type shop for ties.

BM's gifts were DIY silver earrings (really easy, check the handouts at craft stores, or the books they keep in the beading section) which cost me $8 to make six pairs. I paid $25 for a similar pair on the street in NYC a few years ago, yes I am kicking myself for not learning how to do it earlier! I also ordered e.l.f. cosmetics for $1 ea and a brush from them too. I found paisley picture frames from the Dollar Store, great find! I also ordered Crane's stationary during a clearence sale. $5 per pack, orig $15! I also found nailpolishes (Essie and OPI) on clearence for $1 ea, neautral colors, at a beauty supply chain. Check sales! I ordered their shoes for them from cutesygirl.com.

Parents gifts:

Mother - hankerchief from Oriental Trading Company $3.95, says "Mother." Jay Strongwater picture frame (could use any inexpensive pretty frame too!) with a photo of my mother holding me as a toddler, copied in black and white at a Kodak station at a Kinko's.

Father of Groom - he really enjoys fly fishing and goes to these Canadian retreats (think "the Edge") to go fly fishing so I found a great artist that does this small fly fishing prints, troutprints.com

Mother of Groom - bifold picture from from Restoration Hardware with a photo of FI in uniform on one side and a photo of her uncle in uniform on the other, both were/are Naval Officers.

FSILs - Restoration Hardware Picture Frames, Stationary from Cranes

FBILIL (married FSIL) - Navy PT gear (physical training) since he is a big marathoner, this is his fourth Chicago Marathon I guess.

Grandfather - Book, still need to pick one out!

FI is a Naval Officer so he really wanted to wear his uniform. He went through OCS (actually I went through it too, not hearing from him for months!) and he is really proud of what he does - which is fly planes :) We have six swordsmen for the arch, two will be ushers, four will be GM

For our two civilian GM, best friends of his from college, they will wear bowties. I really like Vineyard Vines but FI hates them since he thinks they look declasse and "aspirational" whatever, I like pastels. So we found common ground in a striped rep tie pattern (traditional) in purple (not traditional) and they were $9 ea on saveonties.com

Bridesmaids - I told them to each pick out their own navy colored dress, they will come out in different shades but I'm really okay with that. I bought their shoes for them from cutesygirl.com for $11 ea

When came to the venue, we had a hard time selecting. We had to do it from a distance because of the military so we found out that his grandmother's family vacationed there. She passed this year so we were really glad to be getting married here. The menu and the venue go hand in hand and are by far the most expensive parts of the weekend. Our original idea for a budget wedding reception was to have an outdoor picnic with a tent, catered bbq foods. We also thought about a renting out a restaurant for the evening, both of which would probably have been more budget friendly.

Menu for the weekend

Friday

Friday Rehearsal dinner, just family so its small enough to let everyone order their own

Friday Cocktails, served with bar foods like snack mixes

Saturday

Bridesmaids Brunch - French Toast, Mimosas

Groomsman Lunch @ Pub - allowing everyone to order their own

Pre-Reception - Fruit & Cheese platter - we wanted to do passed HDO but we couldn't agree on them so to make us both happy would have been really expensive, haha so we decided to keep it simple and easy

Dinner - Rack of Lamb

Wedding Cake (see below)

Late night snacks of mixes, peanuts, chocolates etc. Again we thought about sliders but really we weren't sure if everyone would eat them so we opted not to do that.

Sunday

Continental breakfast buffet with hot biscuit sandwiches

Marble pound cake with vanilla syrup and vanilla buttercream, garnished with coconut flakes but just imagine the top three layers!

Cake topper, kitchsy no?  Ordered from JW Cake tops which was less expensive than the other online retailer of these specialized tops. I had it customized with his rank, warfare designations (mini aviator wings basically) and medals as well as my hair color obviously and no veil. You can customize everything from the skin color to the dress style to the flowers but I decided not to go too crazy! With customization $70, without $50