Budet Savvy Bride: Adirondack Dream

using our second hand skills to create a dream wedding (community article)

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The Inspiration

The situation:

We are paying for the wedding ourselves and I have a large student loan debt to pay off, so we knew it would be a tight budget from the beginning. We also weren’t willing to comprise on our desired location since it means so much to us, even though that would mean location and catering costs would be higher. So our budget for everything else is tiny!

BUT this is the most fun we have ever had! We love garage sailing, flea market finds, and overall finding great deals. We are treating our wedding as a chance to show off our skills and make the day a true reflection of ourselves.

For us the “sacrifices” are often a great excuse to involve our family and friends intimately in our special day. We also plan on buying very few new items for our wedding and hope to show that you don’t need to break the bank or the environment to have a beautiful party for all your family and friends.

Here are some of the ways we are saving:

MY ATTIRE

$100 off of Craigslist I cannot stress Craigslist and other re-used wedding dress sites enough.

Notes: My mother will be sewing a shrug for the dress and it will need slight alterations but not bad.

ACCESSORIES (REUSE!)
For shoes I am wearing a pair I already own in ivory that I bought for a friends wedding. I am also wearing pearls I received as a gift from another bride for having the honor of standing next to her on her wedding day. I like the idea of wearing accessories that have been worn at my friend’s marriages. Plus they are FREE!

FLOWERS

I was amazed to learn that bouquets originated because brides in some cultures would carry herbs to ward off evil spirits! I was really intrigued since a close family member is an herbalist and I am really excited to get her involved in this way, I know she will put a lot of love into it, and again this means the bouquets and bouts will be FREE!

CENTERPIECES

We want our centerpieces to be simple yet beautiful, and since we can’t afford flowers we had to search for other options. We love the idea of apples! Especially since our wedding will be in the fall and one of our favorite things to do is go apple picking in September. We will be picking our own apples the weekend before at a local farm it only costs about $10 for a large bag!

The vases and candles I am searching various message boards for, if anyone has any they might be able to part with!

PAPER
I love Letter Press invites, and I had been talking about them long before we became officially engaged. So as an engagement present (as if the ring wasn’t enough!) my fiance BUILT a letter press machine!

We plan on using recycled paper and RSVP post cards to save on postage and costs. We also plan on only sending electronic save the dates with our wedding website (via project wedding!). The STD will ask that people request an Electronic Invite as well, to save on cost of postage and creating formal invitations.

For a the seating chart and the menu I plan on doing two big boards to cut on printing costs and also to save time, cause we all know time is as precious as money!

Other ways we are saving:

We are only serving beer, wine and one signature drink. We found a photographer looking to expand their wedding portfolio who was willing to give us a deal in exchange for letting him do what he wants that day. We are having a friend play guitar for the ceremony. We are searching for a DJ but the more we research the I-Pod actually looks like a great idea. Honeymoon will be a camping trip!

I have really found that if you just look for ways to incorporate your friends and loved ones into your wedding not only will it help you save but it will bring you closer to those around you and also add a special touch to the start of your lives together.

Budget Totals:

Dress - $100 (not including alterations and shrug)

Accessories - $0

Flowers - $0

Hair and Makeup - $0 (friend)

Favors - $0 (none!)

Photog - $550

Centerpieces - est $100

Paper - est $200 (including postage if the electronic RSVP works well!)

We are still in the early days of planning, but my number one piece of advice is cut out the fat. If your venue includes ice cream as a dessert, just get a small cake at the local grocery store if you need to do a cake cutting. Do you already own jewlery you could wear?