Armenian Wedding
September 28, 2019 - Budget $60,000 - My Husband and I paid for everything listed ourselves. We invited 310 guests. We had 250 RSVP and 6 no-shows overall.
Invitation & Rings
Ceremony - St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church - Location, Officiant, Live Organ Music - $1,500
Reception - DeLuxe Banquet Hall - Banquet Hall Venue, Catering (250 person minimum), Servers, Glassware, China, Tables, Chivari Chairs, Linens, Lighting, Dance floor - $18,275
Rentals - Exotic Event Rentals - Bride & Groom Chairs, Cake and Gift Tables, Centerpiece Stands - $1,096
Cake - Cake Studio LA - $1,375
Gown - Martina Liana 885 - Pebbles Bridal Woodland Hills - $2,637
Alterations and Pressing - $457
Veil - Pebbles Bridal - $200
Hairpiece - Etsy - $73
Shoes - Betsey Johnson - Macy’s - $70
Hair + trial - Veil of Grace (Ashtyn Letz) - $180
Makeup + trial - Ana M. - $200
Tux - Men’s Wearhouse - $200
Flowers - Rita’s Flowers - Bridal Bouquet - $125
Toss Bouquet - $40
6 Bridesmaid Bouquets ($60 each) - $360
10 Boutonnieres ($15 each) - $150
4 Corsages ($35) - $140
Flower girl hair piece - $35
Ceremony Arrangements (2) - $200
18 Aisle Arrangements + set up - $830
Centerpieces (21) - $150 each - $3,150
Sweetheart table decor - garland ($150) + 3 arrangements ($100 each) = $450
Gift Table, Cake Table, Guestbook Table Arrangements = $260
Total - $5,740
DJ Paul - 6pm - 12am - $2000
Photography - Vics Studios - 2 shooters + assistant (9:30am - 1:30am) - $3,300
Videography - Vrej Productions - 2 shooters (9:30am - 1:30am) - $2,500
Save the Dates, Invitations, Reply cards, Details, Envelopes, Stamps, Printing - My sister DIY - $858
Rings - Robbins Brothers
His - $1,344
Mine - $1,680
Hotel - $300
Favors - Etsy - $550
Bridesmaid Gifts - $234
Groomsmen Gifts - $240
Ring Bearer/Flower Girl Gift - Etsy - $130
Parents Gifts - Robbins Brothers/Watch Gang- $420
Honeymoon - Sandals Grenada - $13,334 (full review post to soon)
TOTAL - $58,893
Does not include:
Tips - approx. $600
Transportation - Groom’s gift to me
Alcohol - approx. $10,000 (Parents’ gift)
DIY projects - approx. $500 (My Mom’s gift)
Rehearsal Dinner - approx. $1,000 (My Parent’s gift)
The day was perfect! It did not go by too fast or too slow, I felt like I got to enjoy every moment. The rain did not hold off but it made for some amazing pictures! We ran a little late in the morning getting ready but my photographers were able to make up time during photos without sacrificing quality.
Details
I got ready at my house with my mom and my bridesmaids, we had champagne while I got my makeup done. I gave them all handkerchiefs that my great-grandmother had made to wipe their happy tears. I got to have a first look with my dad which was super emotional.
Cheers
My husband got ready at the Best Man’s house with his family and groomsmen. I surprised him with a note and a pin I had given to the Best Man to give to him on the morning of. The pin is a wolf that represents his grandfather who passed when he was 12, they were very close. This way he would be there on his wedding day. He said it made him cry.
His Details
The boys took the limos to my house for the first look. There was an Armenian band playing and dancing. Many of his close family and friends came along with my family and neighbors. There were probably 50 people in my house to witness our first look. It was really awesome to be surrounded with so much love and support. We had a light brunch and drinks with everyone before leaving for photos at 1 pm.
1950's Rolls Royce
The Girls
The Boys
LOVE!
Bride
Groom
We took family, bridal party and couple photos at the LA Arboretum, because it is mostly gardens my dress got so dirty/muddy on the bottom/underneath, you couldn’t really see it so I didn’t freak out too much. My florist, Rita’s Flowers, was amazing!! She took care of everything. She delivered all flowers to my house and groom’s house in the morning, set up the entire banquet hall reception (centerpieces, sweetheart table, cake, gift table, guest book table, and favors), set up and clean up of the ceremony (alter arrangements, aisle decor, guest book table, welcome sign). It was all so much more than I could have imagined, she has such a talent, my #1 vendor.
Welcome Sign
Aisle Decor
We arrived a bit early to the church with our bridal party so the groomsmen could help seat the guests. To my surprise it was a full church! I only put the start time of the ceremony, 5pm, on the invitation saying reception to follow so people couldn’t just skip the ceremony, I think it is so rude when guests do that. As I predicted the ring bearer and flower girl did not go down the aisle by themselves, their moms had to escort them, it was an adorable lighthearted moment before I walked down the aisle. The ceremony went well, it was half in Armenian and half in English (but the priest had a heavy accent so I really didn’t understand any of it). My Maid of Honor and his Best Man actually signed the marriage license right then and there so our first kiss was actually as Mr. and Mrs.!
JUST MARRIED!!
Family
After the ceremony we did not spend as much time as I expected taking family photos so we were able to get to the reception earlier. They had food and drinks waiting in the bridal room for our whole bridal party, we cheers-ed and ate while the guests were finding their seats.
Dancing!
Father Daughter Dance
Mother Son Dance
When we were announced in to the reception my mother-in-law greeted us with plates to break (Armenian tradition for good luck), and his grandmothers placed lavash around our shoulders (Armenian tradition for a long marriage) and fed us honey (Armenian tradition so our marriage will always be sweet. After that we tried to eat for 20 minutes but people kept coming up to us to hug and congratulate us. We spread out all the dances and activities to give people (mainly us) breaks on the dance floor. It went roughly like this:
7:00pm Dinner
7:15pm Entrance
7:30pm Toasts
Dancing
8:00pm First Dance
Dancing
9:00pm Father Daughter/Mother Son
Dancing
10:00pm Cake
10:30pm Bouquet Toss/Garter Toss
Dancing until 12pm when the groom was tired and told the DJ to cut it.
Cake Cutting
I think the timeline worked out. I let the DJ handle it because he is a professional. Because the night was going rather late a lot of my older relatives, and those with littles ended up leaving early. I was kind of bummed but their loss, the rest of us had a great time and the dance floor was packed. I joked that the only thing that went wrong that day was that the dance floor wasn’t big enough!
