My fiance and I are paying for over half the wedding ourselves. Since I'm in school, we had to keep things real tight. Our budget is going to come in between $3,500 and $4,500.
Out of respect for our banquet hall, the cost of this will not be included. I worked at our ceremony & reception location for three years and I did receive a big discount/gift. The cost
Exact cost of purchases can be found in the bio.
Here is an overview of our budget:
Cake: $2.99
Our cakes are a gift from my fiance's mother. However, they came to $320 with delivery. We bought a topper for $2.99.
Bride's Attire: ~$250
This includes my dress ($109.60), alterations ($25), shoes ($4.24), jewelry ($9.68), veil (~$10), RD dress ($38.15), undergarments ($47.68) and my hair comb (~$3).
Groom's Attire: ~$100
My fiance needs a new suit, so we are purchasing one for the wedding. He will wear shoes he currently owns. He will wear an orange & blue tie that he already owns.
Stationary: ~$470
This includes invitations ($235.85), STD postcards ($10.50), Thank You notecards ($19.95), programs (~$60) and postage (~$150).
Photography: $0
My sister did our engagement photos for free. Our wedding photography will be done by friends.
Music: $0
We will be using an ipod.
Flowers: ~$225
To include the bride's bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, crosages and reception flowers. These will all be fresh roses(~$150). It also includes silk flowers for ceremony & reception decor (~$75).
Gifts: ~$90
Includes wedding party gifts ($55.68) and parents gifts (~$30).
Favors: ~$30
Includes cost of supplies to make magnets.
Transportation: ~$60
Includes a rental car from a national rental company.
Miscellaneous: ~$75
Includes guestbook ($14.95), bubbles & ribbon ($14.43), domain registration ($7.20), knife & server set (~$4), card birdcage ($3.98) and any other miscellaneous purchases.
Total: $1,303
Add in the cost of the reception and we are within our range of $3,500 and $4,500.
If you have any questions about our budget, please page me on the Atlanta board.
Our story begins back in 2002 when we first met at a youth camping trip
with our church. I was being made fun of for my sad football throwing skills. We
got contact info and stayed in touch via AIM and the phone. Skip to almost a
full year later. It's July 3rd, 2003 and Andy is coming to visit me for the 4th.
At this time I was a senior in high school and Andy was a senior at the College
of Charleston in SC. His visit was fun, but we lost touch. Skip another year.
It's now Fall 2004. I've moved on to college and Andy was preparing for a
outreach program with our church. We somehow started talking again on AIM. Andy
had a meeting scheduled in Atlanta in late September so we arranged to meet up
for lunch. A few short days later, Andy moved to Ohio for the outreach program.
Since he wouldn't have access to the internet and would have such a busy
schedule, we decided that mail was the best way to communicate. That only last a
couple weeks. Before you knew it we were talking on the phone every night. We
did the long distance relationship thing for approximately 9 months. I was able
to visit him April 2005 and he came to see me May 2005. Then, after such a long
wait, he was finally able to move to Atlanta in August 2005. YAY!!! Ok, skip
another year. It's now June 21, 2006 and Andy is asking my dad for my hand. He
was planning on waiting until Saturday, but he couldn't. He proposed to me the
same night he asked my dad. He was so nervous, but his proposal was
wonderful.
Here is a picture of my engagement ring. I helped pick it out. I wanted something really simple and small and Andy wanted something more elaborate and big. We compromised and I got something simple and big!
Here are the photos that I have found that I like. If I took your photo and didn't give you credit, please let me know. You can page me on the Atlanta board.
Here is the Save-the-Date my sister designed. We ordered it from VistaPrint as a Standard Postcard. I ordered 200 for free, and only paid shipping and handling. Instead of paying to have a custom back to the card, I just customized one of the standard postcard backs. The total cost was $10.50.
Wedding Website
Here is some screenshots of our wedding website. I bought the URL from Go Daddy for $7.20 and then coded the whole thing by hand. Yes, by hand. I didn't use any software besides by handy dandy notebook and my browser. Note: The menu & picture don't appear three times like on the second picture.
We completed our invitations! The image is from iStockphoto. I found a coupon code online for 3 free credits, so the image cost NOTHING! My sister and I worked on the design, so that didn't cost anything either. Her company is Elm Designs.
The invitation is 9in x 4in (#10 envelope size) and is folded on the right edge.The front is the invitation and is only 7in long. The 2in on the left are part of the inside. The back of the invitation is the back of the detachable postcard that will be perforated. The inside include the front of the RSVP postcard as well as accomodation information and directions.
We will print the invitations on 11in x 17in paper and will use the leftover space for our favors. We are getting them printed by Catprint.
Here is the cost breakdown for 140 invitations:
Printing by CatPrint: $116.90
Expedited Shipping Cost: $30.00 (see Catprint review)
Envelopes: $68.38
Cutting by Kinkos: $11.06 includings cutting for favors
Perforating Blade from Frys Electronics: $6.34
Envelope Sealer from Frys Electronics: $3.17 Total: $235.85
Price per invite: $1.68
Postage for invitations: $78.58
Here is what the invitations look like assembled:
Here a screenshot of the design:
FRONT
(The black vertical line on the invitation will not be printed.)
BACK
INSIDE
(Click the image for a larger preview)
For the envelopes, we ended up ordering from VistaPrint. Although I have heard HORROR stories about VistaPrint, they had the cheapest prices for what we wanted. We purchased 200 envelopes for $68.38 including s&h. We used the same design that was on the invitations and we added the return address to the back.
I found an AWESOME coupon code from icetab. I was able to get over $250 worth of merchandise for FREE. Yes, FREE. One of my favorite words!
Here is a (crappy) picture of everything I got:
I also received address labels. These were left out of the picture above.
That's 23 items for free! I plan to use the business cards, We've Moved magnets & photos, address stamp and address labels for wedding related things.
My sister (Elm Designs) helped me design a magnet to give as favors. We are printing them on the scraps of our invitations. We have not decided how we are going to actually turn them into magnets.
Here is an example of a completed magnet:
Here is a close up of the designs:
I found a video on Martha Stewart's website for making magnets. She used mat board, a Xyron 900 and a x-acto knife. This did NOT work for us! The mat board was VERY diffcult to cut straight and get a clean line. But, I have to say, they were REALLY sturdy with the mat board.
Instead, we ended up JUST using the Xyron 900 and the magnet cartridge. The magnets turned out GREAT. They were REALLY easy to cut with the x-acto knife.
As for cost, they were pretty cheap. The printing cost is included in the invitation printing cost. But, we only spent $34.96 for two magnet cartridges. We actually only used 1.5 cartridges. We stopped at 250 favors, but we had plenty of supplies to keep going.
We have changed our wedding location. We originally were going to have an outdoor ceremony and reception. However, due to the time of year and the high temperatures in GA at that time, we have decided to change the location. We will now be having our reception at Winfield Hall. I worked at this location for 3 years and the owner is extremely nice.
We are planning on having a morning wedding with a full buffet breakfast. We want to have things like eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, muffins, fruit, grits, and then juice to drink.
These are the rings we picked out. The outside of Andy's ring will be gold and the inner part will be white gold. The rings definitely were over budget, but since this style was really the ONLY thing that looked good on Andy, we went with it. We bought our rings from D. Gellar & Sons for a total of $722.79 including tax.
Here is the overall look we are going for with the bridal party attire. Being able to see it put together like this really helped me feel at ease with the attire decisions we've been making. Note: The yellow sashes, will be orange.
Here is my rehearsal dinner dress. I will be wearing it to the picnic after the wedding as well. I bought it from Target for $38.15.
I bought my dress!!! :) I got an awesome deal ($109.60 total!). I'm going to get it altered to a tea length dress. I know a lady who is great and very reasonably priced!
Here is the hair style I think I want to go with for the wedding. I will probably have my sister Victoria (a BM) do my hair and makeup.
Pictures from atlgatorgirl
I got these shoes from Payless for only $4.24!
I purchased jewelry very similar to these at New York & Company. I paid $9.68 for both items.
Andy will be wearing a suit for the wedding. We are planning on either grey, black or tan right now. He will wear a blue, white and orange striped tie that my sisters bought him while they were in Italy.
I found the dresses! We ordered the following dress from Target. Target was running a special for free shipping and I had a 10% off coupon. They cost $38.15 a piece.
Here is the jewelry I made for the Bridesmaids. It was much easier than I thought it would be. It only took me the whole entire GA Tech vs. Miami game to complete 5 necklaces, bracelets and earring sets! I bought all the supplies from Joann, Etc while they were on sale. Some items were 50% off and some were only 40% off. I did a rough divide of what the sets cost me and I ended up with $2.89 for each set.
Here are the shoes I bought from Wal-mart (one of my LEAST favorite places!) for only $5.30 a pair. I bought 4 out of the last 5 pairs they had. It's amazing they had the EXACT sizes I needed!
Here is a pair of flip flops I bought from Joann, Etc. on clearance for only $.80 a pair. Once again, I was very fortunate that they had the sizes I needed!
The groomsmen will wear either grey, black or tan suits...whichever Andy chooses he wants to wear. We bought these ties from Walmart (of ALL places!!) for only $12.68 a piece! They design is hard to see in the picture, but they are all orange with blue accents.
Flower Girl Attire
I found the dress! I absolutely love it! We got it at a local consignment shop for $37.10 with tax. I love the way the pearl detailing goes perfectly with the jewelry I made for her!
Here is the jewelry I made for the flower girl. I used slightly smaller pearls and a different clasp than the bridesmaids' jewelry. I made her earrings different as well. She doesn't have pierced ears yet, but her mom said that she most likely will by next year. The set only cost me $2.89.
This is what I want my bouquet to look like. It will by DIY and the BMs bouquets will be identical but smaller.
I would love to be able to do the one on the right, however I don't see how it would be possible for me to do it myself.
We ordered the Simply Devoted cake from Publix. It will be three teired, stacked (no gap).
For the groom's cake, we ordered this pirate ship.
The total for the cakes came to $320 with delivery. It's a bit more than we wanted, but for twocakes, it is a great deal.
For the wedding cake, we will have a flower cake topper made of roses. For the groom's cake, we purchased these:
The ducks are originally from Oriental Trading. They are $5.99 a dozen. But, I didn't need a dozen and didn't want to pay all the s&h. So, I bought one set for $2.99 including s&h from ebay seller kandbconcepts.
We met because Andy was trying to show me how to throw a football. We chose to have a football as our guestbook so we could remember how we met and our wedding day when we look at it.
We bought it off ebay from seller darmk for $14.95 including s&h.
In order to complete some wedding related DIY projects, we had a little party and invited some friends over to help. During the party, we addressed all the envelopes, completed the favors and tied ribbon to the bubbles.
We'll be having another party to complete all the centerpieces, floral arrangements and paint the card birdcage.
Our wedding night will be in Sautee, GA at Lucille's MountainTop Inn. We chose this location based on recommendations from family friends. We wanted to stay near Helen, GA because it's on the way to Asheville. My parents are organizing a trip for family and OOT guests to Helen to go tubing on Sunday. We are going to join them and then head to Asheville that evening.
We are going to be going to Asheville, NC for our honeymoon. We will be staying for 5 days and 4 nights.
We will be staying at Renaissance Asheville Hotel. It's downtown Asheville, so great restaurants and shops will be in walking distance. We also choose this for a practical reason...rewards. Our honeymoon is a gift and we probably shouldn't be thinking practically. But, we love the idea of getting all those rewards. We'll end up with enough points for a free stay, which we'll use for our labor day weekend trip to the Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech football game.
We are still working on some activities to do, but we are definitely going to go to the Biltmore Estate.
Caterer:Winfield Hall
We are having a morning wedding and have chosen to have breakfast at our reception.
Cake:Publix
Andy's mom was originally going to make our cake, but that fell through. She's buying us a cake from Publix.
Florist: DIY
I will probably be buying the flowers in-store from Costco and doing the flowers myself. Decorations
will probably be silk.
Engagement Photographer: My sister
Rating:A
My sister took our engagement photos for us. She was wonderful and easy to work with. Hehe.
Wedding Photographer: TBD
Hiring a professional photographer just isn't in the budget. My fiance and I really aren't set on having "great" photos, so it isn't that big of a deal to us. We will probably ask some friends who are amatuer photographers, to do our photos.
Videographer: TBD
I'm really considering not having it videotaped.
Disc Jockey: DIY
Will be using an mp3 player and a sound system.
Transportation: TBD
Considering renting a getaway car.
Save-The-Dates: Designed by my sister and printed by VistaPrint Vistaprint Rating:A Elm Designs Rating:A
My sister designed our wonderful STD postcards. Check out her site at Elm Designs. We ordered them from VistaPrint and they arrived just as expected and much earlier!
Invitations: Designed by my sister and printed by TBD Elm Designs Rating:A
My sister will be helping to design the invitations as well. Check out her site at Elm Designs. Kinkos Rating:A
We had our invitations cut at Kinkos. Andy at the Lawrenceville, GA location was AWESOME! CatPrint Rating:C
As much as I wanted to give them a higher rating, I can't. The print quality was great. My sister's company orders from them ALL the time. But, my order just happened to be a complicated one. The file size for an 11x17 document was HUGE. We had issues uploading, then they had issues printing the file. After we received a hard copy proof, we made a few changes. We re-uploaded the file, which went much better this time around. Then, they sent us our order. Well, they had to "rush" the order to get it to us on time (which they wouldn't have had to if there were so many problems with the first upload. So, the "rushed" delivery arrived and they printed the WRONG file. Yes, they printed the original file. So, they had to "rush" another order to us. We told them if they weren't able to ship on Friday NOT to overnight the package. They shipped on Monday and overnighted the package anyway! So, my sister found a $75 charge on her card for the overnighted package. We split the cost and just moved on. To give them some credit, my sister has placed numerous (30+) orders with them and hasn't had any problems until now. So, I think my order was just the exception.
Thank Yous: ebay seller kitztech Rating:A
Can't beat the price! Very smooth transaction. They arrived within 4 days!
Favors: Designed by my sister and printed by TBD Elm Designs Rating:A
We are making magnets for our favors. Joann, etc Rating:A
I bought the magnet cartridge from them while they were having a 50% Xyron sale! Hobby Lobby Rating:A
I bought a LARGE mat board from here for the favors (which we didn't end up using) with a 40% off coupon. It was only $4. The lady in the framing department cut it into 4 pieces for me for FREE!
Engagement Ring:D. Geller & Sons - Cobb Location Rating:A
We bought my ring from D. Geller & Sons. I wanted something extremely simple and I got just that! The sales people weren't pushy and were very helpful.
Wedding Rings:D. Geller & Sons - Gwinnett Location
Rating:A We bought our rings from D. Geller & Sons and are happy with the results. Once again, the sales people were exteremly helpful and patient!
Groom's Suit: TBD
We'll probably be buying Andy's suit.
Bride's Dress:David's Bridal Rating:A I bought my dress from David's Bridal during the $99 sale. I will be getting it altered, but not at David's Bridal. When I went in, the sales lady kind of left me to myself. She had a previously scheduled appointment. Personally, I really liked this, as I didn't really want to have a sales associate help me.
Bride's Shoes:Payless Shoe Source Rating:A
Got my shoes from Payless. Nothing to complain about here.
Bridesmaid Dresses & Rehearsal Dinner Dress:Target.com Rating:A
I ordered the dresses and my sisters tried them on. They are perfect! Ordering was simple, they arrived early and in perfect condition. The sizing was very consistant with everyday dress sizing.
Bridesmaid Shoes:Walmart Rating:A
I don't really like Walmart, but you can beat the price of the shoes! Plus, they were exactly what I wanted!
Flowergirl Dress:Once Again Kids Rating:A
I bought the dress from this consignment shop. I talked the seller down $5. The seller only gets 50% of the sale, so I really didn't feel right talking her down much more than that. This shop is a great little shop for higher end children's clothing.
Bridesmaid & Flower Girl Jewelry: Supplies from Joann, etc and then DIY Joann, etc Rating:A
I bought all the supplies from Joann, etc. while they were having a sale. It only took about 4 hours (or one football game!) to complete everything. Joann's was extremely nice when it came to returning some extra supplies! I went back numerous times!
Hair Stylist: DIY
Makup Artist: DIY
Honeymoon Destination: Asheville, NC
If you are considering going to Asheville, be sure to go to the website and request a visitor's guide. It's been very useful!
