Posts in the 'Real Weddings' Category
May 23rd, 2012 by christen
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Oh, man. You guys. Have you ever seen one of those weddings where you’re all “HOLY CRAP I want to be friends with them,” and then audibly “D’awww” at the photos? Well, Bianca and Andre are one of those couples. This is one of those weddings. These two truly rocked a Broke-Ass-style event ($400!!!) and made sure their time and energy really went into all the right aspects – and they both smiled their way through their garden ceremony and cheesecake reception. Bianca also played it super smart by utilizing her resources: Marrying in a friend’s garden, trading services for the photography, having her best friend officiate, etc. They focused on what the day is really supposed to be: A celebration of one another, their loved ones and their future.
Name: Bianca & Andre
Occupation: Birth and Wedding Photographer & Server.
Wedding location: Friend’s garden in Tempe, AZ
Wedding Date: February 29, 2012 “Leap Day”
Budget*: $400
How would you describe your wedding: We had a secular ceremony that was simple and sweet. I wrote my vows while getting my hair done the day of and he totally winged his at the ceremony.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? My favorite was our vows.
What did you splurge on? André’s outfit.
What did you save on? My dress! I bought an expensive $100 dress and hated it! I went to Ross Dress 4 Less and found a gorgeous lace baby doll dress for $10 by Miss Chievous.
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect? I would have started my planning a little bit earlier to avoid the last minute stress that I had.
What was your biggest challenge in planning? Everything. There are so many choices in themes and it got a little overwhelming. Our color scheme was purple and orange and from there I chose vintage for me and music for him.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? To have fun with it all. Making the decorations and seeing everything put together was amazing. People are always surprised when I tell them our budget.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding? Both of our outfits, the garden, personal vows, having it small, and having my best friend marry us.
Top 5 least favorite? Last minute planning and walking in those high heels. I only fell once though so I think that’s pretty impressive.
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received? Go all out. You will only do it once and it’s your big day.
The best? To make it about us and how we wanted “our” wedding to be.
Any other bits of wisdom? Don’t get caught up in the wedding aspect of thing but the true meaning of why you are really having a wedding in the first place. Don’t spend money where it doesn’t need to be spent. You don’t want to return home and look at how much you spent and realize you are now broke. You never know, you could return home to a car whose clutch went out while you were on your honeymoon like I did. And lastly, good luck on your marriage. I wish all the happiness in the world.
Budget Breakdown?
Dress: $10 Miss Chievous
Shoes: $20 Bakers
Jewlery: $20 Charming Charlies
His Outift: $200 Men’s Wearhouse
Decorations/Invitations: $50
Cake: $30
Hair: $55 Deja at Bella Melange Salon
Photography: Puruhito Photography
Congratulations and all the best to you to.
Interested in featuring your radtastic wedding to Broke-Ass Bride? Email us or submit via Two Bright Lights.
xoxo
- Christen
April 24th, 2012 by christen
You guys ever see those weddings where you’re all “Day-um! That must have cost a million-bajillion smackaroos!”? Well, this one is one of those … or so it appears. But Lili and Ben really put their mind to it and rolled out this beautiful event for about $7K. Whaaa??? Yep. DIY to the max. The bride’s dress, decor, bouquet, PIES … you name it and they pretty much DIY-ed it. And the result? A beautiful wedding that looks like a million bucks. Well done, you two!
Name: Lili and Ben
Occupation: Lili, Spokesmodel; Ben, IT Specialist
Wedding location: Tampa, Fla.
Wedding Date: 3-12-12
Budget: $6000 (I had no idea what I was getting myself into)
Actual cost: $7300.00
How would you describe your wedding: Romantic, non-traditional and most of all FUN! The ceremony was a true reflection of how we felt about one another and how important it was that our family and friends were there.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? Ben’s favorite part of the wedding was our first dance to “Love Song” by The Cure.
What did you splurge on? I splurged on my hair stylist/make up artist.
What did you save on? Lots and lots. For starters, our venue was graciously offered to us by Ben’s father and stepmother. It boasts a large deck with an expansive back yard that ends with a lake.
My wedding dress was handmade by my mother with most of the material gifted to us from my godfather. My mother made the bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages with faux flowers herself. She also sewed all of the burlap table runners.
The ceremony pillars were at my father-in-law’s garage destined for a yard sale, but I thought they deserved a second chance. Ben’s family decorated them with the same faux flowers used in my bouquet.
The table centerpieces were a hodge podge of decorative trunks, later filled with fresh apples and knick knacks I had collected during the year of our engagement. My mother put the finishing touches by purchasing plants and potting them in preserve jars.
I purchased a bunch a fun props and disposable cameras that were set up in a designated area for a little DIY photo booth fun.
Instead of a traditional wedding cake I ordered seven specialty cakes from the local grocery store. And Ben’s sister, who came down from Atlanta, baked several of her famous pies that can also be ordered from her bakery, The Goods.
My husband bought string lighting, designed and hung it himself.
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect? I would have tried to enjoy the engagement more and worried less.
What was your biggest challenge in planning? Budget, budget, budget! At first, going through an online “rolodex” you could say became quite frustrating as I was brushed off by vendors that wouldn’t speak to me unless I was spending a minimum of $3000 on their services alone. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise: In the end each one of my vendors were amazing and delivered 110%. So much so that one of my cousins, whom attended the wedding, has hired several of my vendors for his upcoming nuptials, and I am happily referring all of them to my family, friends and acquaintances.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself: Before any vendors had actually been booked I asked my husband if we could just forget the wedding, run off and get married. He really wanted the wedding and promised that it would all be worthwhile in the end. So even though planning and executing our wedding was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, it taught me exactly how strong and innovative I could be.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
The Officiant: My husband’s best friend, Justin, had been the one to first introduce us and so we thought it was only fitting he be the one to marry us. He gave us the wonderful gift of becoming ordained and performed a ceremony so touching that family members have asked us to share video of it.
The Bar: This was probably my favorite pet project. For the open bar I bought all of my favorite brands of liquor, created the featured drink menu and punch. I hired a great bartending service to handle the rest.
The Music: We had my favorite local DJ who followed all of our requests to the T and handled MC duties beautifully. We never once had to worry about disliking a single song that night.
The Ceremony: When my father walked me down the path to the ceremony arches while the song “Time” by Hanz Zimmer was playing (from the movie “Inception”) and everyone was smiling it felt like I had walked into a dream.
The Moment: When I walked over to our wedding reception and saw that Ben and his family had done a great job putting all of the little last minute details together. I was so happy and relieved that all of the work was over.
Top 5 least favorite?
It is difficult to come up with five least favorite situations. So we will at least contribute one each.
1) Ben’s least favorite part was posing for pictures.
2) Looking back I wonder if I could have made the wedding an hour longer. Five hours seemed quite lengthy to me for an outdoor wedding. But it all went by so quickly.
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received? My mother and I bumped heads a lot. She was always drawing ideas from her first wedding that took place in the 1970’s and was very traditional and catholic. In the end she cooperated with my non-denominational ways.
The best? The best advice was also from my mother. She insisted we have a rented dance floor and gifted it to us.
Any other bits of wisdom? Timing is everything. When I was in the throes of planning my wedding, most of my friends and family members were too busy to help. In the end a lot of people rallied together to help make our wedding look perfect. No matter what, ask for help, every little bit helps.
Also make sure your dock has adequate lighting so no one falls into the lake after dark … (sorry Aunt Joyce)
Budget breakdown?
Please be sure to include a list of all vendors.
*optional, but preferred.
Wedding Venue: Residence of father and stepmother of the groom- $$ Gratis!
Photography and Videography: Life’s Highlights, $2000.00
Catering: Affordable Catering, $1614.00
DJ and Master of Ceremonies: Rodney Coro Almonte, $500
Officiant: Justin Lampert, Groom’s best friend $$Gratis!
Bartending: Spunky Spirits Bartending, $465
Alcohol purchased separately: $300.00
Event furniture, linens, uplighting: Event Design, $1000
Floor rental: Coastal Equipment rental, Gift
String lighting: DIY by the groom: $280.00
Chocolate Wedding Favors: Viktoria Richards Chocolate, $200.00
Cakes: Publix, $200.00
Pies: DIY sister of the groom (from The Goods Bakery in ATL!) $$Gratis!
Hair and Make Up for Bride: Michele Renee Hair and Makeup Artist Group, $280.00
Bride’s Dress: DIY by mother of bride/ Material gifted by godfather of bride $$Gratis!
Bride’s hair comb: Gift (N/A) $$Gratis!
Bride’s shoes: Vince Camuto, Gift
Bride’s pendant: Gift (N/A)
Bride’s earrings and bracelet: Kohls, $30.00
Groom’s suit: Ralph Lauren for Dillard, $75.00 (Clearance!)
Groom’s cufflinks: Thrift store/ Gift
Groom’s shoes: Cole Haan, Gift
Groom’s tie: Robert Talbott, Gift
Centerpieces: DIY by bride and mother of bride/ $260
Burlap runners (18) and burlap pennant flags: DIY by mother of bride/ $50.00
Photobooth: DIY by bride, $50.00
Ceremony Arch Design: By mother and friend of the groom $$Gratis!
Congratulations, guys!
Would you like to be featured on The Broke-Ass Bride? You can submit via email or at Two Bright Lights.
xoxo
April 18th, 2012 by christen
You guys ever run into someone that you feel could be your wedding twin? Well, here’s mine. Erica and her partner, Eric (E-squared, yo!!!), had a retro-cool, Blues Brothers-styled rock fest. They found a nifty way to DIY their stationary (Ticketmaster?!?), they spent money in all the places deemed right to them (brooch bouquet instead of flowers, booze, pictures), they chose some rad photographers (same ones we had) and made sure everyone had the most rockin’ time possible. Because this was a second wedding for both, they pulled out all the stops to ensure it was all them, all the way. Erica also has some seriously legit organizational tips, so those of you in need of chaos-clearing, pay attention!
Name: Eric & Erica
Occupation: Owner of an electrical contracting company (Eric), writer/editor (Erica)
Wedding Location: Seattle
Wedding Date: October 1st, 2011
Budget: Less than $15k
How would you describe your wedding? Since we consider ourselves to be pretty unique individuals, right away we recognized that our wedding was going to be different from anything we or our guests had ever seen. As the second wedding for each of us, we benefited (so to speak) from our previous experiences during planning because we had already gone the “traditional” route the first time around, developing strong likes and dislikes.
Enter, “The Ball and Chain” Tour!
We walked down the aisle (up the stairs, actually) to AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Billy Idol’s “White Wedding,” recited the vows I had written and toasted each other and the crowd that was gathered around us, all in less than 15 minutes. No sooner had we said our I Do’s, the beverages really started pouring and the dance floor filled up. I don’t remember one song that didn’t get the crowd going, thanks to our great DJ.
As far as themes go, Eric is all about rock ‘n’ roll, loves Star Wars and his dirt bikes, while I love jazz, crafting, sparkly things and most anything retro. Naturally, we married (ha!) all the things we love into a totally eclectic and rockin’ theme. I wore a white polka dot dress, my girls wore black and the boys dressed like the Blues Brothers: Ray-Bans, white socks and everything.
We set out to plan the party of the year for our family and friends and, not to brag or anything, we’re pretty sure we succeeded.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? That everything about the night was very “us,” and watching my newly-minted husband dancing to “Soul Man.”
Plus, six months after the wedding, we still hear how great of a time people had.
What did you splurge on? My bouquet, transportation and photography. Ok, and maybe my second dress (but that was NOT intentional).
Instead of fresh flowers, I opted for an AMAZING brooch bouquet made by Jen Diehl of The Ritzy Rose, who also designed Miranda Lambert’s bouquet. She took my color inspiration (red and aqua, with silver and gold accents) and theme ideas (mermaids, cherries, roses, stars, anything retro) and ran with it. I could not have asked for anything more unique for our wedding festivities.
We opted for a limo to transport the ladies up to the Ballard Locks, our first group photo location pre-wedding, and also to drive the entire party to the venue. After the wedding shenanigans were over, we hopped in a vintage Austin London Cab (complete with a bottle of sparkling cider), took a short drive around Ballard and then drove to our hotel. When we left for our honeymoon the next morning, we were picked up in a Lincoln Towncar, which was so much less stressful than having to pack the car, jam in our bags, wait for the valet, etc., not to mention the money we saved by not having to park at the airport for nine days. I say we splurged because we could have easily relied upon family or personal vehicles to move us around, but I wanted to decompress a bit before and after the wedding. Any relaxation time you can get is priceless!
Our photographers, Kat and Justin, were exactly what we were looking for to capture all the special details of our party. My mantra? FORGET MOST OF THE FRILLY STUFF, BUDGET FOR AMAZING PHOTOS. We didn’t interview many potential photographers, primarily because we didn’t need to. We clicked immediately with Kat and Justin, trusting in their expertise, professionalism and beautiful portfolio. When I’m old and wrinkly, I will still be able to look at our pictures and be brought back to that day and how incredibly happy everyone was.
What did you save on? Attire: Instead of fresh flowers, I created guitar boutonnières for the boys and gifted my gals with a clutch to carry instead of bouquets. No worrying about floppy blossoms for this bride! The girls bought their dresses and shoes from chain stores and the boys rented tuxes from Men’s Wearhouse. I also created my own fascinator out of tons of Swarovski crystals to bring out a little bit of my inner pin-up girl.
Decor: We used existing decor in the venue to set the mood, taking advantage of the old brick walls, exposed ductwork and beams overhead and the well-worn hardwood floors to really pull it all together. At the time of our wedding, the venue was even showcasing colorful, glittery paintings of ’80s cartoons on the walls, which was so awesome and fun!
Favors: We made our favors at home using CDs and plastic jewel cases bought at the office supply store. In keeping with the rock-show theme, we used a clip art picture of a 45 record adaptor and made our very own personalized wedding “demo” CD. Our guests were all over 21, but I hear the kids at home got a kick out of the songs too. Also, no show is complete without backstage passes, so we created and laminated VIP badges on lanyards for each guest. Now they’re a collectors item!
Food and drink: Since an open bar wasn’t in the budget, we covered beer and wine for a specified period and purchased several mixed cases of wine from our venue’s distributor. Having in-house catering also helped, since we were able to avoid having a per-plate charge that could also have blown our budget. Instead, guests filled up on the variety of yummy finger foods we picked. When we rented the upstairs room at the BalMar, they included the price of food and drinks toward the amount of the rental, so we didn’t have to pay an additional flat facility fee.
Stationery: I’ve seen people spend hundreds of dollars on their save-the-dates and invites, but we cut that back significantly by using customized tickets from Ticketmaster as our save-the-dates and by designing the invitations ourselves. For the invites, I had a hard time finding anything I LOVED that was in our budget. Inspired by some of the amazing (and worth it, if you’ve got the money!) designs I saw online, I put together a “wedding poster” in PowerPoint. We found some old pics of iconic Seattle landmarks and put those as the background, and played around with several different fonts, layouts and wording. Several versions later, voila! A one-of-a-kind invitation suitable for framing and/or stapling to your nearest light pole. You don’t get much more rock ‘n’ roll then having show tickets and posters to announce your wedding!
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect? I wish that I would have let myself relax more during the planning phase. I became so Type-A and emotional and let myself get overwhelmed by all the details that I kept adding. Eric sat me down and we laid out a better budget and knocked some things out of the plan that were superfluous.
Since we spent so much time keeping a system of organization going and knew where we stood with regard to finances, I don’t think there is anything we could/would have added or removed to change our wedding in any way.
What was your biggest challenge in planning? Patience. I think that part of the fun of planning your wedding should be taking the time to read through magazines, go to bridal shows, etc., to see what’s out there and establish a vision for your own wedding. Buying everything the second you see it doesn’t always work out, as you may change your mind at some point and discover you may not have needed 400 personalized cocktail napkins (a la my first wedding). Let your friends or family help when you start to feel besieged by all the details and give yourself a break; there’s a reason you don’t plan a wedding for yourself every year.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? Centralize your planning details: I bought a bright pink hardbound planner (bonus: it’s pretty and the color made it easier to find when things got messy) with 2-page-spread of months to write down all of our appointments and payment due dates. This came in handy when I was at work and received calls on my cellphone from a vendor that wanted to set up a time to meet. The only downside for me was when I left it at home! I bought the 8×10 size that would fit into my purse or workbag relatively easily and still have enough room to write info down inside each date box. Business cards were taped inside the front cover and then entered into my phone for quick reference. I wasn’t a big fan of the wedding planning albums you can buy in-store because I prefer to make my own lists that better reflect the needs of a nontraditional bride.
Keep track of what you’re spending: I put an Excel workbook together for major purchases and religiously maintained it. Receipts all went in a zippered pouch that traveled with me everywhere (along with my planner), so each time I bought something, in the pouch went the receipt.
Sort those emails: I also created a folder in my email account that I put every single email regarding the wedding planning details into. It was easier than trying to categorize them all by type.
A small flash drive on a lanyard (also in a bright color!) was where I stored my checklists, copies of contracts received through email, important notes, inspirational photos, the final versions of our invites and copies of the guest list and addresses.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
Save-the-dates and invitations — much fun to design and see them displayed on refrigerators and bulletin boards before and after the wedding!
Cupcake toppers — we bought Han and Leia peg people toppers from a gal on Etsy. They were adorable and I plan on keeping them forever.
My dress — I love polka dots and big poufy skirts!
Eric’s ring — I had his ring custom-made in titanium by an metalworker on Etsy, created to look like a “knobby” dirt bike tire and inscribed with a mushy little message.
Our first dance as husband and wife — to a remake of the Beatles’ “In My Life” sung by Storm Large.
Top 5 least favorite?
To be honest, I can’t think of anything other than 2 super minor things. First, I’m gluten-intolerant and I should have picked out some more GF cupcakes. Oy. Second, if I designed my dress again, I’d probably have kept the straps from the original design. Your husband eyeballin’ you in your wedding dress that makes the most of your “assets” Great! Nearly flashing the entire crowd while dancing with your new father-in-law? NOT SO GREAT.
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received?
“Oh my gosh, thank goodness you came in now! Dresses can take several weeks or months to come in and you don’t want to be dress-less at your wedding!” ~ consultant at a large bridal shop
It was only January when I went in and this lady freaked me out so I felt pressured to buy a dress on the spot. I was so mad at myself when the dress came in 2 weeks later. There I was, in February, 7 1/2 months to go, with a dress that wasn’t everything I wanted. I later purchased a custom designed gown from Dolly Couture four months before the wedding and it was BEAUTIFUL.
The best?
“Relax. Everything always turns out in the end.” ~ my darling husband (though I hated hearing this at the time).
Also, create a registry at a few different stores, even if this is your second wedding. We let our guests know that gifts were not at all expected, but some people buy them anyways. If you’re going to get a gift, you may as well choose some things you’ll both love.
Any other bits of wisdom?
Do not underestimate the limits of your own creativity! If you have a vision and you can’t find somebody who already makes it (or, like me, you can’t afford their prices), you can often make it at home for a fraction of the price. If you aren’t up to the task of bedazzling your fascinator with hundreds of tiny jewels, ask a friend. Chances are you know somebody who would love to help out and be a part of your special day.
If you buy things for your wedding online, check for coupon codes before you commit. I am the online coupon-clipping queen now. Sometimes just signing up for newsletters will get you a 10% off (or more!) coupon to use and save yourself a few extra bucks. I hate paying for shipping too, so I looked for every single free shipping option possible.
When creating our stationery suite, we purchased a large pack of clear adhesive address labels from the office store. After we had the guest list finalized, the names were printed out on the three-label-wide sheets so we had the first column for save-the-dates, second column for invites and the third column for thank-you cards. It worked out great and we didn’t get confused by whose envelopes had already been tagged and mailed.
I’m a HUGE fan of checklists and I cannot sell them to other brides enough. The only thing I love more than making the lists, is checking things OFF! And, like I said before, the premade wedding planners you can buy didn’t really seem to jive with our outside the box wedding.
Vendors:
Dress: Dolly Couture
Veil: Tiffani Saxton Designs on Etsy
Bouquet: Jen Diehl of The Ritzy Rose on Etsy
Bolero jacket: French Sugar Vintage on Etsy
Bride’s shoes: Iron Fist
Bride’s jewelry: Swarovski
Bride’s rings: Blue Nile
Groom’s ring: Stonebrook Jewelry on Etsy
Men’s attire: Men’s Wearhouse
Men’s accessories: Ray-Ban glasses, Express ties
Women’s attire: David’s Bridal and White House/Black Market
Bridesmaid accessories: Coach clutch, Swarovski jewelry
Garter: Heather at Sugarplum Garters on Etsy
Officiant: Julie Cooper
Photography: Kat and Justin Speyer of Persimmon Images
DJ: Adam’s DJ Service
Venue and catering: The BalMar
Cake toppers: PeanutButterBandit on Etsy
Cupcakes: The Yellow Leaf Cupcake
Mini pies: Shoofly Pie Company
For more photos, check out Persimmon Images’ blog here.
You guys SERIOUSLY rocked. Congratulations!
March 28th, 2012 by christen
You guys! We’ve got a SUPER huge treat today. Broke-Ass Bride’s very own Emily has decided to grace us with her very own wedding awesomeness and DAY-UM does she deliver.
via Whitney Huynh
Name: Emily & John
Occupation: Freelance writer/blogger/Etsy shop proprietor & Fisheries Biologist, respectively.
Wedding location: Decatur, GA
Wedding Date: February 18th, 2012
Budget: < $10K
via Whitney Huynh
via Whitney Huynh
via Theary Meak
How would you describe your wedding? We wanted our wedding to feel more like a big party, with all the things we love. We’re foodies, music snobs, vintage enthusiasts – and we love a good cocktail, so obviously these were our priorities.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? I had almost no expectations about things like, you know, the ceremony – in fact, I fully expected to trip coming down the aisle, or have something go terribly amiss – but looking back, this was actually one of my favorite parts of the day. It was perfect. I got a little choked up – much to everyone’s surprise – I am NOT a crier! Also, having about 95% of the people I love in this world in the same room was a big deal for me.
via Whitney Huynh
via Whitney Huynh
via Whitney Huynh
via Theary Meak
What did you splurge on? We splurged on the things that people generally splurge on when throwing a wedding – the food, and the venue. Initially I didn’t expect to spend so much on the venue itself, but it took us a long time to find our ideal venue – and because it was a community center, we felt good about where our money was going.
What did you save on? Photography, flowers, music, and my officiant. The photography was definitely the biggest save – I snagged my dream photographer Whitney Huynh, via Wish Upon A Wedding - an online charity auction site that provides dream weddings for couples who are facing serious illnesses or life-altering circumstances. I paid a RIDICULOUSLY low price for a $4K wedding package – so low in fact, that I’m too ashamed to quote it here. It included 2 photographers (but I actually got 3!), a photobooth, and even more goodies!
I also made a crazy-amazing trade with my fabulous florist, Juli Vaughn Events. I fully intended on doing the wedding flowers myself, to save money – but my mom wanted to go with a traditional florist. We brought this up in front of my caterer, who recommended me to Juli. I was about to make a cross-country move, and I had a lot of choice vintage and antique goodies to unload – so Juli and I made a swap. A bunch o’ typewriters, oscillating fans, my epic collection of mason jars, and a smattering of vintage cameras, for wholesale pricing on flowers. #WIN.
My officiant, Brenda M Owen, aka The WeddingWoman, actually found me through my blogging gig here, and gave me a nice little “wedding blogger’s discount” (Being a wedding blogger has its perks, y’all!).
We also opted out of hiring a DJ or a band – my parents were really pushing for that, but John and I both have very exacting musical tastes, so we made our own playlists for the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dance sesh, brought our own pair of kickin’ vintage speakers and sound equipment, and even made CD playlist favors!
We also saved a TON on decor by using what we had (VINTAGE), and hitting up Target the day-after X-mas to save BIG on string lights and other doo-dads. I understand that not everyone has a giant arsenal of vintage and antique treats in their personal collection, but still…you likely have something sitting around your home that could make your event design scheme infinitely more interesting!
via Whitney Huynh
via Whitney Huynh
via Whitney Huynh
via Whitney Huynh
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect? I would have invited more people. We invited 75, knowing only 50 would show. As the RSVPs trickled in, I realized barely a third of those in attendance would be under 30, and only a tiny number were single! (That made me feel seriously old.) As a result, there were fewer people on the dance floor than I had hoped – the libations didn’t turn enough non-dancers into dancers, unfortunately!
via Theary Meak
via Theary Meak
via Theary Meak
via Theary Meak
What was your biggest challenge in planning? Well, despite the fact that we’d been engaged for 2.5 years, we planned this entire shindig in 3 months. That was challenging – but what was really challenging was the cross-country move that got jammed in right at the halfway point. My hubs got a job offer he couldn’t refuse, so off we went to Reno, NV.
Also, I am pretty laid back – my mom and dad are both EXTREME worriers. It only took one parental freak-out for me to realize that I was going to have to be totally on my game with the wedding planning, so that we could all still be on good terms by the time they walked me down the aisle together.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? Expect surprises – and be open to them! My wedding turned out to be much more fabulous than I ever could’ve anticipated.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
The one thing that touched me the most was how much John LOVED everything. He had been very involved with planning, but we were both elated with how beautifully things turned out. He said “Best day ever” at least half a dozen times. And he was right!
MY FLOWERS were absolutely amazeballs. I was seriously going to make little arrangements myself, and I’m sure I would’ve been satisfied with them, but having professional arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnieres really bumped my wedding up a notch. (I have to pimp Juli Vaughn Events here again – Atlanta brides, take note!) We also rented an antique bar cart, chairs for our photobooth, and a black chandelier from Four Inch Fold. These larger pieces rounded out our vintage look quite nicely!
MY CEREMONY! Because of our big move, Brenda and I never actually got to meet until my wedding day – something she was a little anxious about (because she’s such a PRO). But everything worked out splendidly – Brenda crafted a beautiful, moving ceremony that we’ll always cherish. Also, the time immediately following the ceremony was really special. After we got hugs and kisses from all our guests, we ran out in the rain with our photographers for a few couple portraits. These photos are my absolute faves from the whole day. We were so pumped up with love.
MY BRIDESMAIDS! My b-maids were/are the 3 ladies I love most – and I was so happy they traveled from all over the country to be there! FABULOUS LADY TIMES.
THE FOOD! We queried a LOT of caterers, and we really didn’t think we were going to be able to get the food we HAD to have for the price we wanted. We lived in Athens, GA for almost 3 years before our move to Nevada, and we LOVED locavore, contemporary Southern cuisine. The menus that looked the tastiest to us were often more than double what we wanted to spend on catering, and included ridiculous, excess charges that we simply couldn’t fathom paying ($500 for a coffee service?!). Zest Atlanta Catering TOTALLY got us. They understood what we wanted, they wowed us with a totally opulent tasting spread, and when they gave us a quote, the food was SO much more affordable than comparable menus we’d seen!
via Theary Meak
via Theary Meak
Top 5 least favorite?
I really have no complaints – it was a PERFECT day. I’ve been reading about “real weddings” for so long, I was prepared for anything (and prepared not to lose my cool) – but everything was so much better than I ever expected.
Ok fine, I have one or two complaints. John and I love fancy cheese – so we had our caterer do a beautiful cheese spread using Sweet Grass Dairy cheese – Sweet Grass is a Georgia dairy farm, so we were stoked to share our little foodie obsession with our wedding guests. It was by all accounts, an awesome spread, which I did I not get to taste any of, or even see! Things move really fast at weddings, so don’t be surprised if you don’t get to stuff your face with apps between your ceremony and reception.
Also, I only had one bite of my wedding cake – on top of our dessert table, our cake was totally excessive (but still beautiful). So keep that in mind if you’re doing a dessert table – you probably only need cake for half your guests.
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received?
Peeps – when you start throwing ideas like “wedding taco bars” around, people start to freak. My friends were freaking in a good way – others (like my parents) were slightly appalled. Be prepared to defend your stance, pick your battles, and make an occasional concession – but make sure the wedding day you get matches your wedding vision, no matter what.
The best?
“Have a cocktail.” – this cures most wedding woes!
via Whitney Huynh
Wedding Vendors:
My Dress: Venus Bridals, purchased at The Bridal Outlet of Atlanta
Bridesmaid Dresses: Nordstrom
Hair & Make-up: BB Salon
Venue: The Solarium at Scottish Rite
Catering: Zest Atlanta Catering
Officiant: Brenda M. Owen, aka The WeddingWoman
Flowers: Juli Vaughn Designs
Photographers: Whitney Huynh, Second Shooter: Theary Meak
Vintage Rentals: Four Inch Fold
Cake: Publix
Story: Wedding Story Writer (This is a rather luxe new wedding service I got to test-run at my wedding at a STEEP discount, thanks to a writerly connection I made via Twitter! Again, the perks of being a wedding blogger…)
In addition to her bloggy duties at BAB, Emily also writes for BRIDEfinds, SHEfinds, and Zankyou’s Wedding Mag. She will totally be your BFF if you follow her on Twitter.
March 21st, 2012 by christen
You guys!!! Spring has officially sprung, and while it looks like it’ll be nice in my little neck of the woods for the next couple of days, spring usually means at least two months of rain and mud. With that in mind, how about a Real Wedding that highlights the fact a little rain never hurt anyone and can actually make for some pretty great photos? Reba and Andy got married at a really cool YMCA in California. It did, indeed, rain on their parade, but didn’t dampen their spirits. And they got a visit from wildlife! Let’s check their innovative, DIY-filled rainy event, shall we?
Name: Reba and Andy
Occupation: Yoga teacher
Wedding location: YMCA Point Bonita, Sausalito, Calif.
Wedding Date: 11/5/11
budget: $10,000
How would you describe your wedding: Casual, relaxed, in nature. The officiant helped us write our own vows, which included anecdotes about us meeting for the 1st time.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? Saying “I do” of course! Kissing my husband in the rain and feeling surrounded by love and support from our friends and family.
What did you splurge on? Photographer, cake, shuttle buses.
What did you save on? Coordinator, venue (price included dinner), invitations, booze, dress.
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect? Not a thing
What was your biggest challenge in planning? We really didn’t have too many. Even the wedding dress, I bought the first one I tried on. Maybe the biggest challenge was doing so much of it on our own. We really took DIY to the extreme. The day of, the groom was buying non-alcoholic drinks, and dropping them off. A few days before, I realized I needed to have some plywood to cover a very ugly fire pit where we would stand to get married. So I was at Home Depot, getting the plywood, and finding a way to make it fit into our Volkswagen, and delivering it to the Y, and making sure the tablecloth would cover it.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? Friends are so helpful. Three of my girlfriends did the flowers for the tables and the bouquet. Some other friends delivered the alcohol. Having a coordinator (and her two sisters) was the best suggestion, made by my mom. They took care of everything, even cut the cake for us. And the coordinator realized just in time that the officiator had left without signing the marriage license, and called her to get her to come back.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding? Everyone talked and had fun, the toasts were spontaneous and funny, the food was delicious, the views of the ocean so beautiful. We had a clothesline of photos of us, friends and family, and I loved seeing people look at them and laugh.
Top 5 least favorite? Well, it rained, so there was no sunset. But it really didn’t matter.
The best? Enjoy every minute of the day, it goes by fast! And for the groom, his friend told him not to drink too much.
If you’ve been married for more than a year, what have been some challenges? Wanting to go on a honeymoon, but not having the money to do so, but it’ll happen.
Any other bits of wisdom? If you are planning an outdoor wedding, and it rains, don’t worry about it. It makes for beautiful photos, and people don’t really care. Also, it’s nice to have casual events around the wedding day. We had a yoga class and pizza party the night before at the hotel, which was inexpensive and fun. Everyone brought their own drinks and got to know each other. We also did a walk in Muir Woods the day before.
Budget breakdown? Click to view spreadsheet.
Photography: Alison Yin
Coordinator: Andrea Frenkel of Lily and Mint
Venue: YMCA Point Bonita
Submitted via Two Bright Lights.
The Broke-Ass Bride is always looking for rad-tastic Broke-Ass weddings and engagement sessions to feature. Interested? You can submit via Two Bright Lights or by emailing us directly!
xoxo
-Christen
March 14th, 2012 by christen
All right! Everyone know what time it is? That’s right! Time for your weekly get-out-your-ogling-glasses time! Julia and Andrew had a LEGIT home-brewed Massachusetts wedding, and they made sure to spend in all the right places. There was so much DIY going on, I’m not sure how Julia managed to emerge un-papercutted. She and Andrew did all the invites, she and her sister took care of the decorations and Andrew even brewed the beer! Mmmm … beer. Maybe it’s time to sit back and toast to this gorgeous couple as Julia tells us how they did it.
Name: Julia and Andrew
Occupation: Research Associate
Wedding location: Watertown, Mass.
Wedding Date: 9/24/10
Budget: About $10,000
How would you describe your wedding:
I like to call it “Down-to-earth traditional”. We wanted to uphold the traditions we felt strongly about – the ceremony was traditionally Catholic in most regards. We wanted to keep the whole day very “us” and cut out a lot of the pomp and circumstance. I wasn’t given away, I was escorted down the aisle, we didn’t do the bouquet or garter toss and I didn’t have something blue.
What was your favorite part of your wedding?
One of my favorite moments was walking back down the aisle after the ceremony. I was overcome with the realization that I was married and that all the planning and work that had been done to make the day perfect had come to fruition – finally, it was time to relax and celebrate with my husband and everyone I love in life!
What did you splurge on?
Photography! When we first got engaged, by husband and I sat down and talked about what was most important to us. We knew we would be working within a tight budget and before we made any choices, we wanted to determine our priorities. We quickly agreed that we wanted a photographer who had an artistic style that would give us art, not just photographs. When we found Ciras Photography and looked at their work, we knew they were perfect for us and felt the price was an investment that would definitely pay off.
What did you save on?
More like what didn’t we save on! The flowers, DJ, and cake were probably the biggest savers. We bought the flowers wholesale and with the help of my amazing mom, we made all of the table arrangements and she made the bouquets and boutonnieres. They looked completely professional, and by choosing to use all chrysanthemums, a relatively inexpensive flower, we were able to save a bundle! My best friend, who was my man-of-honor, is a talented musician who provided all the sound equipment and the music was played off of a laptop. Finally, my sister (and bridesmaid) made all of the cupcakes and a small cake for us to cut. She even made chocolate filigree autumn leaves to put on top of the cupcakes.
We also saved on the stationary, all of which my husband and I created, printed, and assembled; the bridesmaid dresses which were prom dresses on sale after prom season; the venue by booking it for a Friday instead of Saturday (saved a couple thousand!); and the honeymoon which was local enough that we drove and didn’t need airfare.
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect?
I think the only thing I would do differently, is I would have splurged on a day-of wedding coordinator. It was a lot to juggle on the day of … Making sure everything was dropped off where it needed to be the day before and arranging for everything to be set up at the church and reception on the day of was difficult. We were fortunate that nothing major fell through the cracks, but there were minor things – like table decorations that were not put out.
What was your biggest challenge in planning?
Creating a realistic budget was the biggest challenge. We originally thought maybe we could do it for $6,000 … then we upped it to $8,000 and finally $10,000. What we thought things should cost and what they actually did cost astonished us. Much of the problem is where we live – the greater Boston area is EXPENSIVE!
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
I absolutely loved my dress. It was perfectly “me” and I felt more beautiful in it than I ever felt in my whole life. I intend to make it into Christening gowns for my children some day.
My husband brewed all of the beer for our wedding. He had taught himself to brew around the time we meet and had gotten really good at it by the time we were getting married. He brewed four batches: Something Old (Breakfast Stout), Something New (RyePA), Something Borrowed (Patersbier), and Something Blue (Blueberry Hefeweizen). It was a great way for him to share his passion for beer with our guests, it saved us a lot of money and was one of our favorite things about the day!
We both loved the church we were married in. It has a beautiful stained glass wall that was a perfect backdrop for the party walking up the aisle. We had actually just moved to the area and didn’t have a parish yet, but the parishioners were so welcoming that we felt like we had been going there for years.
Top 5 least favorite?
One of our least favorite moments was when one of my in-laws gave an unexpected toast. It was a nice enough toast, but it wasn’t appropriate for her to give one and we were completely caught off guard when she grabbed the mic and demanded everyone’s attention.
Another annoying thing is how little we got to eat! We missed out on the cocktail hour appetizers because we were doing photos and while we did get some dinner, so many people stopped by our table when we were eating that we had precious few bites. I got up at one point during dinner and when I came back to my table moments later, the plates were cleared!
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received?
We were fortunate to not get any bad advice! However, we did hear from a lot of people who felt they knew exactly what we should do for the wedding. We just smiled and thanked them for their input them did what we wanted to anyway.
The best?
Whenever I would get stressed by the planning, my mother would remind me that regardless of who sits where, or what music is played, or any of the other details, my husband and I would be married by the end of the day and that is all that matters. It helped me keep things in perspective.
If you’ve been married for more than a year, what have been some challenges?
One big challenge we had was merging our finances. We lived together and split bills prior to being married, and thought it would be as easy as combining all our accounts. What we didn’t expect is how difficult it was to merge our mentality about spending and saving! My husband is quite the saver, and I tend to think we can splurge more often.
Another challenge is choosing where to go on holidays. Our families live too far apart to go to both in one day, so we have to choose one family and therefore let down the other family when we tell them we won’t be there for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. We decided on a plan that we think is the most fair and works for us and have just let the families know that is how it is going to be.
Budget breakdown?
I can’t find the budget tracking documents! At least 85 percent of the budget was the catering, the venue, the photography, the dress/tux (in order of most to least expensive).
The Broke-Ass Bride is always looking for rad-tastic Broke-Ass weddings and engagement sessions to feature. Interested? You can submit via Two Bright Lights or by emailing us directly!
xoxo,
-Christen
March 7th, 2012 by christen
Happy Wednesday! Oh … wait, that must mean it’s time for another Real Wedding droolfest! Y’all, Laura and Chase had a sweet, food and booze-filled backyard-type wedding. And they did it right. They got alcohol in bulk from a local store to stock their full bar, and returned any unopened bottles. Laura Hobby Lobby-ed her brains out for supplies to make their pomanders, Chinese lanterns, seating charts and a plethora of other things. Their focus? Friends, family, each other and FOOD. Also, guuurrrllll … I feel yo pain with the hairdo that takes FUR-EV-UH. But you rocked it. Oh … did I mention there’s ADORBZ pups involved?
Names: Laura and Chase
Occupation: Aerospace Engineer (Laura), Photographer (Chase) www.chasehoffman.com
Wedding location: Boulder, Colo.
Wedding Date: June 4, 2011
Budget: Projected: $22,500 – Including the wedding, the rehearsal dinner, wedding bands, gifts for the wedding party, and a hotel the night of the wedding. Without the rehearsal dinner, about $18K.
How would you describe your wedding: We had a very casual and comfortable wedding. We wanted our guests (and ourselves) to feel laid-back. Like an upscale backyard party.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? Way before we were ever engaged, we started making a list of all the things we hated at other people’s weddings and vowed to never do them at our own. We wanted an open bar, we wanted assigned tables, we wanted a live band … I’m so glad we were able to have each of those things. I also think the food was one of the best parts. We’ve never been the biggest fan of wedding cake, so we came up with cheesecake. My favorite comfort food is mac ‘n’ cheese, and the caterer worked it into the meal by making fried mac ‘n’ cheese balls as an appetizer – yum!
What did you splurge on? Food. We’re foodies, and well, we really wanted excellent food.
What did you save on? Venue. We found a quaint farm that was a relatively new venue. We were able to rent it for two days, so we could arrive anytime and then didn’t have to worry about cleaning up the night of the wedding.
Was there anything you would have done differently, in retrospect? One thing I would’ve done differently is getting my hair done in practice. I didn’t want to spend the money on it, and I thought, how long could it take to curl my hair? I planned for 45 minutes and it took over two hours …
Luckily we had lots of buffer time with having our pictures before the ceremony. I had my father officiate our wedding, but felt so bad asking such a “huge favor” that I wrote the entire ceremony. I should’ve just let my dad do what he knows how to do (be a minister and lead a wedding), rather than try to control him.
What was your biggest challenge in planning? Being a people pleaser, I felt like I had to make sure everyone was happy and OK with how things were going. It was a challenge between feeling OK with the decision I made and how people reacted to it. It was difficult not feeling guilty about asking my busy friends and family to help with things.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? I knew from the get-go that you can’t get everything you want at the price you want. I learned to prioritize what I absolutely couldn’t do without, what I would be OK settling on.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
- The overall comfortable vibe we achieved. It definitely represented us as a couple.
- Having tasty food. And the time to do a plated dinner.
- Live band – I absolutely love live music.
- The photography. And getting a photo with our little family – the pups, Penny and Leo!
- My dress and jewelry. I wore a pearl necklace from my great-great-grandmother. It really meant something to have that piece of family history.
Top 5 least favorite?
- My hair taking an hour longer than I thought – but it was really pretty in the end!
- Chase’s brother starting the toast before the Champagne was served. We forgot to tell him to wait for that … oops.
- The limo company not showing up at the end of the night to take us to our hotel. We hitched a ride with one of my bridesmaids.
- The camera we set up as a photobooth ran out of battery power.
- The fact that I kept forgetting my gorgeous bouquet of flowers during pictures!
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received? “You get what you pay for.” Most things we ended up paying an average price, or slightly cheaper. We did our research, and found quality vendors at an acceptable price. I don’t think we lost out because we didn’t pay tons of money for something.
The best? Trust your vendors. They do this a lot, they know what they’re doing. The catering manager was pretty much our wedding coordinator and she did amazing.
Any other bits of wisdom? Check the weekly ads at Hobby Lobby (if you live in that area of the states). I saved so much money on decorations by strategically buying things when they were on sale! And stay organized – Google Documents was a huge help. Finally, doing a first look and then all my portraits before the ceremony was so worth it. We had so much more time and got to enjoy cocktail hour with our guests.
Budget breakdown?
Venue: $1975, 63rd St Farm
Flowers: $860 Painted Primrose
Music $1600 18 Switchbacks
Invitations: $300 Wedding Paper Divas
Save the Dates: $55
Cake: $400 Cheesecake Therapy
Liquor: $1145 LiquorMart , we bought in bulk and returned anything we didn’t use.
Catering/Rentals: $6677 Savory Cuisines
Photography: $2250 April O’Hare
Groom’s Suit: $407 Men’s Wearhouse
Bridal Attire: $400 (shoes, veil, jewelry – dress was gifted by Grandmother)
Decorations: Everything was DIY’d, and the supplies cost $335
Congrats, you two!
The Broke-Ass Bride is always looking for rad-tastic Broke-Ass weddings and engagement sessions to feature. Interested? You can submit via Two Bright Lights or by emailing us directly!
xoxo
-Christen
February 29th, 2012 by christen
Happy Leap Day, Broke-Asses! Since this is kind of an odd day out, we’re going to take a break from our regularly scheduled weddings and engagements to bring you a very Broke-Ass Save the Date from the lovely Ashley. She channeled her and her husband’s professions as inspiration and used her money-conscious mind to dream up these babies. Take it away, ladyface!
Since my fiance and I are both teachers, we have sprinkled tiny little “teachery” elements into our wedding planning such as these save the dates, schoolhouse chairs and personalized pencils as party favors. We love our jobs, our students and each other very much, so why not highlight that with our wedding!?
I got my inspiration for our save the dates from things I already had around the house. I think I saw the heart apples on Pinterest, but pairing them with the books and chalkboard was my idea. As far as the emailing them out decision, that was all my fiance. He had NO preconceived notions of “wedding etiquette,” which has turned out to be pretty helpful. When I mention something like “we need to go buy $50 worth of stamps for our save the dates,” he replies “what is a save the date?” His obliviousness to all “do-it-because-everyone-does-it-that-way” wedding issues has really helped me to think about things. So, we decided to email our save-the-dates. It was FREE, people could click on our wedding website link, and it was FREE.
To make this scene, I used cookie cutters on the apples, a window chalkboard and old books. I then took pictures of it and created a collage in Picasa.
We are both secondary teachers in East Tennessee. We are having small ceremony in the forest where we got engaged, but are meeting up with all of our friends and extended family at a barn dance later that evening.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Ashley! Please come back and share you wedding and/or engagement pictures with us!! And congratulations!
The Broke-Ass Bride is always looking for rad-tastic Broke-Ass weddings and engagement sessions to feature. Interested? You can submit via Two Bright Lights or by emailing us directly!
xoxo
-Christen
February 22nd, 2012 by christen
You guys, I think it’s time for a sweet ‘n’ savvy e-sesh. Don’t you? Kristal and Justin returned to a spot that was uber special to them – with photographers and a videographer in tow – to snuggle, frolic and dance in the rain.
Our engagement session was inspired by a couple of things: One, being our first mini getaway; two, our love of nature; and three, a “Save the Date” video I saw on a wedding blog.
Our first mini getaway consisted of us spontaneously packing up the car with camping gear in the middle of October and driving to Kettle Moraine State Forest about 30 minutes from our house. There we found a beautiful, secluded, “hike in” camp site in which we ended up sitting by the fire until wee hours of the night talking about life and love. This site was #28. Why do I know this? Because that date was so incredibly special to us that we kept a copy of the map with our site number highlighted, now in our keepsake box.
Two years had passed and it was time to plan our engagement photo session. All of this was done very last minute as we decided, “who needs a year to plan? We can do this in 3 months!” Our engagement session & video was actually done just 2 weeks before our wedding in which our photographers so graciously pumped them out in time for us to print and add to our wedding slideshow.
We contacted Woodnote Photography based on my random Google searching, trying to find a photographer that wasn’t the norm in the wedding industry, stepped outside the box in creativity and really meshed with our personal style. How could you say no to a hilarious and witty husband/wife duo, with a passion for music, travel, art & photography? Um, hello … I know right? Their enthusiasm for creating something personal and unique was inspiring.
We had just days prior to the shoot to discuss via email ideas for both the photos and video, which were shot simultaneously. We knew we wanted them to be extremely personal to us so my first thought was our camping weekend at Kettle Moraine State Forest — how beautiful, lush and green the sites were.
We wanted the video to be styled similar to the “Save the Date” video I had seen, but knowing that the video would only be shown ON our wedding day to guests, kind of defeated the purpose of a save the date! We trusted Robert Ingraham (videographer, who is the brother of the Woodnote duo) to be able to make it applicable to us and our day. I listed out some of our hobbies and interests, as well as some songs/artists that Justin & I both loved, and they were able to take it from there.
We arrived at the state park and it had just begun to rain, driving up and down the paths trying to find a good spot to start shooting. Just then, Justin yelled out “wait, stop! I think that was our old camp site right ahead of us!” We didn’t necessarily know where we were going, but managed to stumble upon OUR site … #28. After shooting the portion in the woods, we realized we needed more light before the sun went down and found an abandoned farm shed by a field with a GLORIOUS tree. Perfection! A tree has been very symbolic to us over the years … how the roots grow deeper over time, which makes you stronger. We chose our wedding venue based on the fact that we could be married under a huge catalpa tree, so we figured this beautiful old tree in the field was meant to be a part of our engagement shoot. The rain stopped, the field was misty, quiet, & peaceful and we danced, laughed, climbed trees and gave piggy-back rides until the sun went down. It was our perfect engagement shoot and the video was a testament to how much fun we truly had.
The photography and video for the engagement shoot totaled $475, which was a pretty crazy deal, really.
And check out their video by Robert Ingraham:
Kristal+Justin: 24 Sept. 2011 from Robert Ingraham on Vimeo.
Submitted via Two Bright Lights
The Broke-Ass Bride is always looking for rad-tastic Broke-Ass weddings and engagement sessions to feature. Interested? You can submit via Two Bright Lights or by emailing us directly!
xoxo
-Christen
