My Big Fat Low-Budget Wedding
Dec 12 '02
The Bottom Line Weddings can be done quickly, affordably and beautifully.
As many of you know, I recently tied the knot (on December 7th) to the love of my life, Kirk. The wedding, which was supposed to take place May 31st, was moved up--not because I was pregnant, like everyone assumed, but because we just bought a house and our Veteran's Association financing would not go through if we weren't married. We also had to take into consideration that Kirk is in the Army Reserve and it's possible that he will be activated for the festivities in Iraq. I decided on November 4th that our wedding would not be on May 31st but, instead, would be a month away. Kirk, like the good husband he is, didn't put up much of a fight.
So, for your reading enjoyment (and for some ideas for all of those soon-to-be-brides), here's a story of my Big Fat Low Budget Wedding!
The Location
The first thing that every bride-to-be needs is a location for the shindig. Since neither Kirk nor I are involved in organized religion, we opted not to get married in a church and instead decided to have the whole she-bang (ceremony and reception) in one location. We chose an affordable banquet hall that just happens to be an advertiser in the magazine I work for. Can you say...DISCOUNT?! In the month of December, many facilities are chock-full of holiday parties and are either not available or not willing to do a party for under a certain amount of money. For this particular facility, they usually would not do a party in December for under $20 a plate. But, because they were affiliated with the magazine and because we promised to feature pictures of the facility on the cover of our next magazine, we booked it for $8 a plate. No, we wouldn't be getting prime rib and shrimp cocktail, but we also wouldn't be paying for the wedding until the cows come home (which they often do in Nebraska). With dinner, one keg of (cheap) beer and decorations, we paid $2100. Not too shabby.
The Dress
Every bride needs her wedding dress. I had started looking months ago for a dress, promising myself I wouldn't spend over $300. Of course, as soon as I started looking I realized that it would be difficult to find one under $500. In my quest for the perfect dress, I visited a David's Bridal (in Omaha, Nebraska) and two local stores in Lincoln. The first thing I realized is that not all styles of wedding dresses look good on all brides. Let me describe my build to you: I am tiny on top. I have tiny little arms, tiny little wrists, a small waist and--you guessed it--not much to keep a strapless dress up! Now, imagine that top put onto a Jennifer Lopez-like bottom half. When I buy suits, I have to sneakily switch bottoms and tops so that the top I buy is at least two sizes smaller than the bottoms. So, the perfect dress for me is one that emphasized my slender top and hid my bottom. I don't even know why I tried on the dresses that had slim skirts--the A-line was the way to go with me. I also found that tank-style dresses did not flatter my slim shoulders, nor did anything with sleeves. Strapless and halter were my two best options.
When we moved the date up, I suddenly had one month to buy a dress, which is not enough time to order the dress I had already picked out. So, I was off to Bridal Gown Outlet with my maid of honor and we picked out a dress in under half an hour for $200. A couple of hints on this process: first, I can't tell you how many compliments I got on my $200 dress. I certainly wouldn't have gotten any more for a dress that cost hundreds of dollars more and would have felt stupid for spending hundreds of dollars on a dress I would only wear once. Second, don't get bamboozled into buying a slip, bustier and veil, which can jack your price up hundreds of dollars. Most dresses don't need a slip under them and I did fine with bra cups sewed into my dress (which cost about $5)--but this may not work for those brides blessed with more than a B cup. As for the veil, the ones I liked were upwards of $200. Instead of dropping that much cash, I had my maid of honor make it. Hobby stores have all you'll need to make a beautiful veil for dollars. Mine ended up costing $40 and it was nicer than those $200 ones I was looking at! Total cost of outfit with dress, veil, shoes, jewelry--$290.
Cake
I'd heard horror stories about how much we might have to spend on a cake, which I think is just ridiculous. You're just going to eat the damn thing, not bronze it for posterity. We lucked out by finding an affordable woman who did cakes out of her home. She designed little cakes that looked like gift packages--there were three of them and each fed about 10 people. As for the other people, we got a big sheet cake that was not put on display. The showy cake looked gorgeous and we even got to take one of the packages home to put in the freezer. Total cost of cakes: $95.
Pictures
Another money-funnel for weddings are the pictures! Many of the photographers we checked into not only charged a per-hour charge (usually at least $300 an hour), but they also made you buy huge packages of pictures, which cost hundreds more. We found a photographer who charged us a flat fee with no obligation to buy pictures. In fact, he's going to give us proofs so we can scan them on our computer and print out our own! Total cost of photographs: $400.
DJ
The music for your ceremony and reception is key. It sets the mood for the whole celebration and needs to be personalized, appropriate and fun (for the reception, at least). Luckily, I know a great DJ who knows my personality and who is extremely outgoing. Our families and most of our guests aren't that outgoing, so we really depended on the DJ to keep the party moving and get people out on the dance floor. If you don't personally know a good DJ, make sure you ask people for referrals (people who've seen the DJ in action). His job is very important.
Total cost of DJ (with $100 tip): $500.
Flowers
Unlike other brides, I did not think it was necessary to have the place dripping with flowers. All I needed flowers for were the wedding party and families. I considered going silk instead of real, but time constraints made it impossible to put in an order or make them myself (you can order silk corsages for $3 off the internet--real ones cost me $7). So, I went to a grocery store floral shop. They were much more reasonably priced and did an excellent job with my bouquet, my bridesmaids' bouquets and the flowers for family and Kirk's groomsmen and ushers. Total cost of flowers (with delivery to the reception hall): $160.
The Official
Kirk and I made the decision to be married by a Justice of the Peace. We got two names of retired judges that perform ceremonies by calling the courthouse and Kirk chose one. We found out later that one of the two judges was a drunk, always showed up late and often blew his lines. We luckily had chosen the other one. If you plan on having someone you don't know perform the ceremony, make sure you check them out first!! Total cost of official: $125.
The Wedding
The wedding rolled around very quickly and I was worried that I'd forgotten something. Actually, Kirk was more nervous than me. He was worried we wouldn't have enough food, no one would show up, he'd fall down, etc. etc. It's a good thing he worries about things because sometimes I'm laid back to a fault.
I've babbled on quite a bit, so I'll be brief when describing the wedding. Everything went very smoothly. We hadn't forgotten anything. The JP performed a very nice ceremony (meaningful but not religious), Kirk did blow his lines but it was cute, and everyone had a great time at the reception. I couldn't imagine a better wedding, even one that cost thousands of dollars more. The important thing is having those you love present and having a good time.
Total cost of the wedding (including Kirk's $50 tuxedo): $3720.
Thank you, everyone, for indulging me and letting me yap about my wedding. If anyone has any questions or comments, I welcome them!
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Epinions.com ID:
goldmoon
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Member: Angie
Location: The Land of Corn and Cows
Reviews written: 166
Trusted by: 72 members
About Me:
Busy at work and being a mommy...will hopefully return some day soon!
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