Here's my breakdown..Wedding was October 8th, on Saturday, at 5pm. We had a full meal AND alcohol, and a guest list of around 60ish! The theme was Country Chic.  How did I do EVERYTHING for around 3 grand?? Well,  I am an excellent online shopper and I buy as much as I can on sale. I google search coupon codes for EVERYTHING!  I'm also a bit of a DIY queen. ;)

I am doing the breakdown as best I can and including a few pros and non pros for your enjoyment! :P  For more pics of our special day, go to http://gingeranderic.weebly.com 

Ceremony venue- FREE- mom's front yard

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• Reception venue- FREE- mom's barn. There is a pretty wooden fence and horses right beside it.
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• Invitations-$150 including shipping- Vistaprint. 100 invites, rsvps and thank you's, with envelopes for all. I searched coupon codes AND got them on sale.
• Photography- $350- found an AMAZING photographer that was desperate for business in a big town close by that has a LOT of competition lol  Free e-pics,  full coverage of ceremony and reception, all pics edited and put on cd and rights to them.  She brought in an extra photog to do pics at our DIY photobooth and will put all of them on cd as well.
• Dress- $261- ebay- David's Bridal 9V9743- Still in stores and priced at $550
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• Jewelry- $160-splurged lol  BEAUTIFUL Swarovski crystal and pearl necklace and earrings from LuLuSplendor on etsy
• Bouquets- $360-another huge splurge lol from The Artsy Butterfly on etsy. handmade fabric flowers..omg you must look her up!
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• Shoes-$23 for 2 pairs-payless.com with buy one get one 1/2 off and a google searched coupon code for another 15% off.  I the DIY'd them to make them fabulous! I wore them for the ceremony, and my cowgirl boots for the pics. :P
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• Tables/chairs rentals- $350- more than I planned but I didn't feel like driving over an hour the day before the wedding to pick them up. :/ We are using the same chairs for ceremony and reception since it is at the same venue, just have some guys pick them up and move them.
• Linens for 8- 5' rounds, 8-4' rounds, 3- 8' banquets, 80 chair covers- about $250- I bought used linens from weddingbee and projectwedding brides. There are NO linen rental companies in my area!!
• 80 burlap chair sashes, 20" wide burlap runners for ALL tables, and 50' burlap aisle runner- $180 for material, $12 for thread, and free labor because I made them myself. :D
• Food- $495 including gratuity- country buffet catering for 60 people-we had 2 meats, and a whole bunch of sides!!
• Cakes- my dad is gifting this to us-My step-aunt makes cakes and I know she gave him a great price.
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• Alcohol-wound up being around $200 for mixes and everything
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• Serveware-$180- 100 really nice ceramic plates from Dollartree and 60 Mason jar mugs from fillmorecontainer.com (I didn't like the caterer's dishes lol)
• Orange striped paper straws-500 of them for $22 including shipping
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• Reception centerpieces- about $200- mason jars wrapped in twine, wine bottles wrapped in twine, with silk flowers (afloral.com)
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• Reception lighting- $125- tons of paper lanterns and light strings from an online place that was having a sale..can't rememebr where though :( Also clear Christmas lights hung everywhere. It was so beautiful during the reception!!
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• Favors- $130- 100 mason jar salt and pepper shakers, filled with sunflower seeds, and a ribbon tied around the top. Totally unique and fitted to my theme! (also from fillmorecontainer.com- GREAT prices!!!)
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• Ceremony decor-about $215-10 fabric pomanders, 1 fabric arch swag to match, (they were a little pricey, handmade from a girl on weddingbee, but I'm not 100% in love with the swag) 10 wrought iron shephard hooks(bought), wrought iron arch(rental)
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• Flower girl dresses for 3 adorable little girls- $100 worth of material and my mom made them. :)
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• Photobooth backdrop- DIY from tons of streamers- $23 (the wind messed it up a little for pics, but it still turned out awesome!
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• Props for photobooth- we had a LOT- less than $100.  I hit up the dollar tree and I actually had a lot of wigs already. I DIY'd all the mustaches and lips on sticks.
• Burlap pennant banners- DIY from burlap scraps, I just had to buy the stencil set-Hobby Lobby 50% off..so..$2.50?
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• Mason jar hanging lanterns-I had all the jars and some wire, so I just paid for 3 cases of votives-$15
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• The most awesome hay couch EVER! FREE.  mom had thehay for the horses and my stepdad owned the quilt. Mom did buy me some yellow mums to put around, but she kept them afterwards so I'm not figuring that cost in. They were around $30 and she already had the planters.
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• lots of miscellanous DIY stuff- my hair flower, the flowers on my dress (another budget friendly way to have a couture gown ;) tears of joy packets that never got used lol, This is most of the stuff that I can remember. I have every little cent written down in a ledger somewhere so I can see how much my wedding ended up costing lol I checked a few months before the wedding and I was WAY under budget!

Our day turned out better than I anticipated. I had so many compliments on the little details. Everyone kept saying 'Oh my! You must have spent a lot of money on that!'  lol..nope. ;)  I hope this gives you ladies a little hope about wedding planning on a tight budget.  I know it's hard, but it is do-able!!!   Good luck to you all!

You did a seriously amazing job!  And congrats on being a MRS!

Thanks for the details!!! You are quite the bargain shopper and I LOVE it!!!!

WOW!  Thank you so much for sharing this and all the details!  I love every touch and DIY project you did!  I needed to see this...I'm trying to do a cheap rustic wedding and this is perfect. 

That is SO gorgeous! Congrats on the wedding and saving SO much money! Everything was beautiful! :)

Thanks guys. :)  I couldn't imagine spending the price of a new vehicle or even a house on one day of our lives.  The economy isn't what it used to be.  We were pretty much paying for the wedding ourselves and I refused to start our new life together in debt. I'm STILL waiting on all the pro pics, the photographer said they were in the mail lol  Our day really did turn out fabulous.  :)

All I can say is WOW!!  Your wedding is amazing!  Thank you so much for sharing this and giving us budget brides still planning some hope that it can be done! And done fabulously!! ;)

awesome.