cheap wedding inspiration

{Real Wedding} Amanda + Aaron’s Nifty $9k Nuptials

Lydia, from Ever Ours here, with a really neat wedding that showcases the true personality of the couple through their wedding, and includes a budget breakdown!

Many thanks to Amanda and Aaron for sharing some real down-to-earth advice, behind the scenes details, as well as their adorable images by Laura Dye Photography via Two Bright Lights.

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What kind of theme were you going for on your wedding day, if any?

We found our location (The Whitehaven Hotel), which is a gorgeous, historic bed and breakfast in a tiny little town near our home, and we ran with the whole look of the hotel itself. We allowed the hotel to shine on it’s own, and the only decorating we did was the centerpieces for the few tables we had outside and a few white paper lanterns hanging from the tent. I guess if we had to put a title on it we’d call it “eclectic country chic“.

While wedding planning, how did you decide what was most important to you?

During the planning process we felt finding a location where we could have both the ceremony and reception, and allowed enough parking for our guests was very important. We also wanted to feel a connection to the location, and since neither of us are religious, we found that connection through the historical and local significance of the Whitehaven Hotel. I have a degree in history so this place holds a very special place in my heart, and Aaron shares that passion with me as well.

Describe any DIY or handmade elements from your wedding.

I love owls… a lot, and my Mom can make almost anything out of fruit and vegetables… so we went online and collected a bunch of images (most of them from cruise ships) of owls made out of fruit and veggies. We took those images and created our own version of the owls, so at our reception we had a bride owl and a groom owl made out of pineapple, kiwi, grapes, carrots, and cantaloupes. My sister made the veil and bouquet for the bride and found a bowtie for the groom.

For the center pieces my sister and I went to our local Goodwill store and bought almost every colorful, cut glass vase and vessel that we could find. I ordered some plain white hydrangeas from Sam’s Club online, and the day of the wedding my brother and brother-in-law arranged them on the tables for us (and they did a fantastic job!!). We even used some antique pieces my Mom already had around her house, so the centerpieces had a very personal touch to them. It was very inexpensive and now we have amazing glass pieces that will always hold a special meaning.

I don’t know if this counts as DIY, but I definitely pieced my outfit together from head to toe, and it came together surprisingly well. The veil and my ceremony fascinator were ordered from birdcageveils.com in Texas, my reception fascinator was from Tousled Dolly on Etsy.com, the dress I found on sale at David’s Bridal in Bowie, MD, and the sandals I found the day before the wedding in Vernon Powell’s clearance section (I love clearance shopping!).

If it’s even possible, what’s one moment that’s significantly your favorite from your wedding day?

Oh gosh, just ONE moment?? The whole day went so perfectly it still feels like a wonderful dream to me. I never felt so beautiful or so loved by so many people. I absolutely loved the ceremony, our officiant (Rod Whisner) was so amazing and was willing to play along with our crazy ideas. The ceremony started off like the ceremony from the movie “The Princess Bride” (which we watch on a weekly basis) and Rod even pronounced “mawwiage” perfectly and totally played the part. And then there were the cowbells, we really had “MORE COWBELL” at our wedding and it was fantastic.

My older brother picking Aaron up and carrying him across the lawn was hilarious. Dancing with my new husband to Dave Matthews’ “You and Me” and dancing with my Dad on the lawn surrounded by the soft glow of torch light was magical. Having my best friend from Wisconsin there with me was an absolute life saver.

I think one of my definite top favorite moments was at the end of the night. Aaron and I went up to our top floor suite, got in our robes and went out on the widows walk. We stood beneath a canopy of stars and looked out on the river while we listened to the last few guests winding down the party below us. The perfect ending to a perfect day.

Any tips on saving money to the newly engaged?

Look local and keep it small! I loved having our wedding at a bed and breakfast since it allowed us to have the outside ceremony we wanted and provided the perfect location for the reception and dancing (on the lawn surrounded by glass cattail torches I found on sale at Food Lion). It was so wonderful to not have to drive anywhere, or worry about people getting lost from one location to the next, and at the end of the night we just went upstairs and went to bed. It was considerably less expensive than paying for a ceremony location, reception location and hotel rooms separately (we compared). There was also a maximum capacity of 60 people so it made telling guests who were not invited a little easier, since the venue simply didn’t allow us to invite every distant relative and acquaintance (which we did not want to do anyway).

We also used a little out of the way deli (called “The Deli“) that my sister really enjoyed, for our caterers. They created an amazing spread for the reception and were very inexpensive. I would definitely advise following any leads or recommendations that friends and family offer, that’s how we found practically all of our vendors.

I would also recommend shopping around for the best deals, checking out sales and clearance sections, and meeting with multiple vendors to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. And don’t let vendors bully you into choosing them, or making you feel like you have to make a decision immediately. We ran into one photographer who harassed us for over a month after we had made it clear that we were not going to choose him, not only for his pretentious attitude and generic pictures, but also for his extremely outrageous pricing.

What advice would you give to the newly engaged while wedding planning?

Try and have fun with it and don’t become an over-obsessed, psychotic chick. Don’t fret about what could go wrong, just assume that things are going to happen however they happen, and all you can do is put everything in place and let the ball roll once the day starts. For example, my brother-in-law was kind enough to set up the straw fans and cow bells on the chairs at the ceremony, as those were our wedding favors. We had custom made stickers to go on the cowbells, and custom tags that we tied on over 50 fans. My brother-in-law thought the tags were price tags (he neglected to read the “Thank You” that was on every tag, haha) so he tore off every single tag. Once I found out all I could do was laugh because it was FUNNY. Silly things like that are definitely going to happen and I thought it added character to our wedding story.

Also, accept all the help that you can get because you will need it. And try and get everything done and out of the way as early as possible. I started planning for my August wedding on February 15th of this year (the day after we got engaged). I’m so happy we didn’t have a long engagement because it would have drawn out the whole process and made me second-guess my decisions.

Also try and take at least one day or night each week where you don’t talk about wedding stuff AT ALL. Go out for a date night, or if you can’t afford it, make dinner together or go for a walk. A major stress reliever for us was actually our engagement photo shoot (we went with a man named Aaron Foreman, who had never done a photo shoot before but had taken a workshop with Laura Dye, so we gave him a shot and it turned out beautifully. You can find him and his work on facebook by searching for his name). That day we almost got into a major argument, (which is a big deal for us because we have never fight about anything. Aaron is my best friend and we always seem to find a solution to any issues we have without arguing), and we were both stressed and cranky, but once we got out to the gorgeous location (Cedar Hill Park & Marina in Bivalve, MD) we forgot everything and had a wonderful and stress-free time looking into eachother’s eyes and smiling for pictures.

- Lydia