I posted a sneak peek a few weeks ago but we got all our pictures back so I wanted to do a full BAM!
Our day was perfect as cliche as it sounds, even with the little mess ups we both enjoyed the day fully and loved every second. I am an enormous worrier so even I couldn’t believe how well everything went! I HATED wedding planning. It was the most stressful year of my life. I planned it all myself and would never do it again BUT I loved every second of our wedding and it felt so great to see the fruits of our labor after we had set everything up. My family helped so so much and I couldn’t have done it without their support.
Invited: 207
RSVP’d Yes: 148
Actually Showed Up: 144
Budget: $10k (LOL)
Actually Spent: $16k
Brides Dress: Azazie
Caterer: Star LLC
Hair: HALO hair company
Photographer: Sarah Shank
Videographer: Winston Media
Rentals: Something Special by Tracey
DJ: DJ Groove
The Good: The number 1 compliment we got was with our caterers. They were AMAZING. Completely random Filipino restaurant that also does catering which I picked because they were MUCH cheaper than the normal wedding caterers in my area and they were absolutely phenomenal. Did above and beyond what they needed to do, even provided flower arrangements for the food display! And the food was AMAZING. Definitely the best vendor we had at the wedding.
There were NO mess ups at all. Everyone did everything perfectly at the ceremony and reception. We had my Husband’s aunt be our DOC and OMG she was a life saver! She allowed me to be worry free the day of and did all the random logistics things instead of me having to think about that all day. She was everywhere at all times and made the day perfect. It wasn’t in my budget to have a DOC but I highly recommend to have at least someone who can be that logistics person!
The Bad: Our florist was terrible. Delivered at 11am the day of and they never delivered my FIL boutonnière and the flowers were mostly just greenery. I immediately called and go figure they are CLOSED on Saturdays so nothing could be done. I ended up having to give my FIL one of the boutonnières that I had for my grandfather. I had been SO excited for my bouquet and it was a huge disappointment. My mother had to run to Giant to buy random white flowers in order to bulk up my bouquet. All the arrangements got droopy and gross before the reception even started, my MIL’s corsage fell apart DURING the ceremony. They sent me a check for $100 but considering how expensive they were it does little to compensate.
I few more money saving things I wanted to add:
- we did a DIY photo booth. I bought props and a backdrop and let everyone just take pictures on their phones, it was a BIG hit and a fraction of the cost of renting an actual photo booth.
- I bought a lot of deco off fb marketplace and wedding consignment groups. Most of the stuff was used once at another brides wedding and it was much cheaper than buying new
- We bought all of our alcohol bulk from Total wine and I had two friends I used to bartend with bartend the wedding. It was awesome having them there and spent MUCH less than hiring bartenders (only had beer, wine and champagne)
- We attended the bridal show that our reception hall has hosting so we were able to rent all the plates, glassware and silverware from the hall for free just for attending! Definitely be on the lookout for deals at bridal shows.
And now for the pictures!
