Stretching a Wedding Budget

I read an article recently that said the average wedding costs about $27,000. Good grief. I think mine cost about a tenth of that.

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I’ve never had expensive taste, which is just as well, because I had a fairly tight budget for my wedding. Thankfully, I have been blessed with a wonderful and also talented group of family and friends who offered their help, which I readily and gratefully accepted.

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Invitations. Most craft stores now sell ready-made wedding invitations that you can print yourself. Of course, they won’t be "engraved," but I thought mine looked pretty good. I embellished them a little by buying some white ribbon and attaching a bow to each one with a glue gun.

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Dress. I started at the expensive wedding dress stores. All the dresses they had were strapless, which was "in" at the time but not my style at all. I just couldn’t see spending $800 or more for a dress I didn’t even like. Then I discovered Memories consignment store in Hermitage. I found a dress that wasn’t strapless that I liked much better. The cost: $200, including dry cleaning beforehand. It had been worn once and looked brand new. Someone loaned me a veil and a tiara. I bought some sandals at Shoe Carnival for about $12, I think. No one saw them anyway. I did my own hair, though I did get some tips from a stylist beforehand.

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Church/Reception. We got married at Don’s church (which I later joined). Because he was a member, the cost was minimal. We had the reception in the fellowship hall there. My family and friends and I came in the day before and decorated it. Don and I picked some songs we both liked and made a CD that we played at our reception. It is something we cherish now, as it brings back memories of our wedding day when we listen to it.
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Catering/Cakes. I was blessed to have my brother who is a chef volunteer to do the catering for me. He knew where to shop for good prices on food. He had several of his friends from work volunteer to help him, including one who made both the bride’s and groom’s cake for me for $8 total. He produced an incredible array of food (with help from the rest of my family), and threw in ice sculptures as an added touch. People are still talking about how good the food was at our reception.

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Photography. My sister-in-law has a friend, Angie, who is an aspiring photographer. She was thrilled at the opportunity to do a wedding. She said she would do it for free, but I paid her for costs, plus a small additional amount. In return she took hundreds of wonderful pictures, which she gave me on CD, so I was able to have as many of them as I wanted reproduced at a low cost.
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Programs. Not a requirement, but I made these on the computer and had them copied for a minimal charge. I folded them myself.

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Flower Girl Dresses. My nieces were a part of it all, and my mom was kind enough to make beautiful dresses for them.

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Flowers. I did pay full price for these but kept them to a minimum.

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Music. We had a friend who is an excellent musician, but who refused to accept payment, play the piano for us. The congregation sang one hymn, and the rest was just piano music.

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We had just over 100 people come to our wedding. When I remember my wedding day, I don’t remember how nice my dress was or how many flowers I had in the church; I remember the people who came from near and far to celebrate with us and the things the pastor (who I had known for many years) said to us. I remember the way everyone pitched in and helped me make it all happen. I remember my niece Gracie, the flower girl, carefully placing each petal on the floor as she walked, and how cute Don’s nephew Daniel, the ring-bearer, looked in his tux. I remember the look on Don’s face when he saw me come in as my dad walked me down the aisle, and the way Don hugged him when he gave me away. I remember being in love but at the same time scared to death as Don and I exchanged vows and pledged our lives to one another.

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Half of all marriages end in divorce today. I’m not saying those who choose more elaborate weddings are necessarily those who will end up divorced, but have we maybe lost sight of what is really important in a wedding and a marriage? If I had it to do again, even if I had an unlimited amount of money to spend, I wouldn’t change one thing about my wedding day. Well okay, maybe I would remember to bring the clips for my hot rollers.