The Venues:
The town we both grew up in has a state park with an amazing view. There is a little pavilion which we rented. We were planning a small gathering for the ceremony and the three picnic tables would be enough. It turns out, the 9 people we started with, turned in to 20 or so and no one sat down anyway. At first, we were planning to just have the wedding with some deserts served after ceremony at the pavilion. My mother-in-law offered to host a reception for us in lobby and meeting room of her office building. It was a sweet offer and a big money saver. The total expense for the wedding pavilion and reception was $60.
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| It's hard to look serious when you're so happy!! |
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| from Texas Parks & Wildlife website |
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| from Texas Parks & Wildlife website |
The Decorations:
I was a little discouraged to find that the picnic tables were bolted to the ground, but I wasn't going to let that stop my plan. My friend loaned me a couple of drop cloths to use for table cloths and I went to Wal-mart and got another one ($11.00). At Hobby Lobby, I got two 18 inch wide Burlap table runners ($15.00) and from Esty I had ordered a dozen lace doilies ($8.50). Also at Wal-mart, I found 5x7 Burlap canvasses for less than $5 each. We both love baseball, so I found cute quotes and my friend printed them on colored paper that I got at Hobby Lobby for $0.40 a sheet. Another friend, whose husband is the high school baseball coach, loaned me 4 used baseballs (free!). I needed four vases for the centerpieces, and I had to get a little creative for these. I found 2 large, matching jars with attached lids at a garage sale for $1.00 each. Years ago a friend had given me homemade candy in one about the same size and design which I had been storing loose change in after the candy was gone. My canisters are have the same type of lid and the one that holds cornmeal was about the right height. The trick was to keep the two matching jars from being next to each other. Beyond that I didn't think anyone would notice or care if they did. Total expense for decorations (not including the flowers) was $60. This was $10.00 over what I wanted to spend, but I justified it because I know that I will reuse the table runners and doilies for other events and projects.
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| It was windy! To solve the problem of the table cloths blowing up, we used duct tape, of course!
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| I have hung the cute baseball quotes and my dried bouquet in a grouping above my computer in the office area of the apartment. It's different and sentimental and it makes me smile! |
The Flowers:
This was one my favorite parts of the wedding. I think my friends and future MIL thought I was crazy when I said I was going to go to the grocery store the day before and get the flowers and then arrange them myself. I was very confident right up until the day before. I went to Market Street (Albertson's) and when I walked in there was a sign that said the bouquets of 1/2 dozen rose were on sale for $5 each!! After I stopped doing the happy dance, I picked up 3 bouquets of gorgeous hot pink roses. Then I wandered aimlessly around for a good while. I finally broke down and asked for help (stubborn, much?). I told the lady my plan and she helped me find filler in wedding colors of pinks and maroon. She told me to keep the flowers in the air conditioner as much as possible since July in west Texas can be a bit warm. That night after everyone else had left, I said a serious prayer, and I set out to arrange the flowers. It actually wasn't that hard and turned out beautifully. Total cost for flowers (my bouquet, 4 centerpieces, maid of honor flowers) $50.
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| My bouquet inspiration that I found on Pinterest |
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| The real deal! Isn't my man a hottie?? |
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| The bouquet was also used to decorate at the reception. |
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| I loved the way the rose buds opened up overnight! |
Our little town hosts a flea market, craft fair type event 3 times a year. You can find everything there from foot long corndogs to beautiful art work and as it turns out...wedding dresses. I had been looking everywhere for a short lacy dress. I had a vision, and I found it at the Old Sorehead Trade Days. I paid $40 (seven of which I had to borrow from my friend because we passed the corndog booth before we got to the clothing vendors!) I found my shoes at Payless. Again, they were exactly what I had been searching for, and they were on SALE. I found my accessories at Clair's in the mall and my "foundation garments" (aka. undies) at Target. I did my own make up and a my friend helped with my hair. Total cost for my wedding day look about $100.
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| The inspiration for my look! |
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| I felt amazing - love will do that to you! |
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| Trying on the dress to send to Mom. |
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| I love these shoes! And the toes - my pedicure guy is amazing! |
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| Pedicure inspiration from (any guesses??) Pinterest. |
Up until the week before I could not decide what I wanted Derek to wear. I loved the look of a white button down with Dockers, but I was also very worried about us blending together in pictures. Option B was to embrace the Spirit of Aggieland. This was pretty tricky. For all you non-Aggies, there is only one acceptable shade of maroon, and Maroon Number 14 is not always easy to find. I went to JC Penney and Kohl's and came home with 2 white shirts and 1 possible maroon match for around $26 dollars total. Hey, what can I say? I know how to find a sale! I don't know that it was exactly the right shade, but the maroon was gorgeous on and I'm glad that's the one he chose! He already had the pants, belt and shoes. His mom did the ironing and bought the flower for him to wear.
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| Derek's mom, pinning on his boutonniere |
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| Love the contrast of the white lace and maroon... |
You know that friend I keep mentioning? Well, she is a woman of many talents and she has a huge heart. I love her guts. She also has a really great camera, a good eye and a kind husband who was willing to take the shots for us during the ceremony so she could stand by my side. I bought a storage disk and did the editing myself. I ordered the prints at Wal-mart. Heather and Dennis didn't charge me for their service. That brought my total for photography and prints to about $65. We went on the internet for ideas for poses and shots and some of them really worked and some of them didn't.
I know that the way we did our wedding isn't right for everyone. It was perfect for us. I think as a non-traditional couple (a nice way to say older) we were at place where we realized what's really important. It took us a long time to find each other and being together was what really mattered. We wanted something simple, short, and sentimental. We wanted to be surrounded by our family and closest friends. And we wanted to be wise about our budget. For the wedding we spent about $475, which includes the gifts we bought our attendants and the ministers. We wouldn't change a thing. In fact, several people told me it was the most moving or sweetest wedding they'd ever attended.
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| The End. Did I mention we really wanted to have fun?? |
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