It is cold in Ohio. This should not really be a surprise, but the cold comes after three days of 74 degree weather (yes, in January).

Needless to say, today's shivers have lead me to hunker down on the couch with the pup to reminisce about sunny days. I've been on Pinterest too much, which made me think about how I never blogged about my wedding. So I figured I would do that today (two and half years late, but better late than never right?)
We had about 235 people on a $5000 budget and made nearly everything ourselves. (By everything I mean everything. Hand calligraphed and embossed 250 invites, designed programs, made flowers, made centerpieces, did the DJ'ing, set up, tear down, everything). This resulted in an awesome personalized feel and allowed me to have control over every detail. Which I liked because I am a control freak.

Our wedding is a good example of having a beautiful celebration on a shoestring budget. I'm quite the bargain queen so I was able to sniff out some great deals, but I want to encourage ANY bride that you CAN have the wedding of your dreams with some research and elbow grease. And a lot of beautiful talented bridesmaids who won't kill you when you ask them to hand emboss 250 invites ;)

So how do you do it??

Photography: Probably one of your biggest costs, and rightfully so! These are
the pictures that you look to on those blustery cold days years after your
wedding is over. It is important and usually expensive. All photography pictured
here and at the wedding was captured by the insanely talented Kim Stahnke of Kim Stahnke Photography. She was absolutely amazing to work with and we got a great deal because she was just starting out and wanted to build her portfolio. You can visit her website by clicking on any of the pictures below.

To save money on pictures, try finding a student who wants to gain portfolio experience, look on craigslist, or ask around to see if anyone's friend's mom's are budding photographers (which is how we found Kim). That way, you get to save money, end up with beautiful pictures, and you have the opportunity to invest in someone else. Everyone wins!


Food: Feeding 250 guests was tricky. We didn't want to be stingy but couldn't afford the traditional sit down dinner. To cut on costs we had a desert wedding. Michael's aunt and her friends made the awesome fruit tree, we had the caterer bring mousse cups, mini caramel apples, and cheese and crackers. We also had a s'mores station, but that ended up not working out so well because it got really cold outside at night. The guests ended up taking those as favors though, so it worked nicely. Our caterer was the beautifully talented Kate at Spice of Life Catering. She did everything off site and was so helpful in finding ways to keep everyone full without blowing our budget.




Cake: Again, I cannot say enough about asking around to see what talents your friends have. Michael and I were randomly walking in the mall one day and ran into Lisa, a woman who used to go to our church and was a good friend of the family. Turns out, she also makes beautiful wedding cakes. Score for us.


Venue: I ended up finding the Boston Township Hall through a random bridal site from a random DJ from a random wedding that happened like 15 years ago. I drove by and fell in love. The building used to be an old school and has gorgeous tall windows and wood floors, and we got it all for $450 complete with tables and chairs. Yup.



Invitations: Pictured below are my programs which I designed quite simply in publisher using fonts from www.dafont.com. All of our other invitation supplies I bought at Hollo's in Brunswick. They were open fold with three inserts (a map I designed, a post card RSVP and a reception card) plus the embossed invitation card. I got heavy cardstock envelopes that my friend Elly so graciously calligraphed for me. All of the supplies were under $30, including printing which I did through Staples.



There are so many ways to save money. We made our bouquets from flowers that I bought at a wholesale floral shop. The centerpieces were used from an old tree the in-law's cut down that I wood burned in our garage. I found dried flowers for the vases at a craft fair. My dress was off season, so it cost $300 marked down from $1200.

All in all, remember it is your day. Make it personal, have as much fun as you can, and if you're going to spend a ton of money, spend it on the HONEYMOON (and we did. A week at an all inclusive resort in Cozumel was way better than spending a fortune on invites or wine).

Happy budget planning!!