I’ve been getting lots of request for more diversity in our BS-WOWs in terms of geography, so I am pleased to share this lovely wedding from Seattle, Washington! Of course with bigger cities we also might have some bigger budgets but I think that this couple definitely found ways to cut costs in their planning and deserve some recognition for that. I love the fun umbrellas they used for their pictures! Hope you enjoy this wedding as much as I do!

What was your budget? If you are able, give us a rough breakdown of how you spent your budget.

23K

Dress/Alterations $1800
Flowers $1000
Venue/Alcohol: 15K
Photography $2500
DJ $1300
Hair/Makeup $500-including bridesmaids hair
Officient $250
Cake $400
Towncar $50

How many guests did you have?

135

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

We wrote our own vows which was very emotional and very special for us.

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

Flowers and Photographer. We also saved quite a bit on venues fees by being able to purchase our alcohol separately and have the venue serve it.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Enjoy it and don’t over think things! Find a style or feel from a magazine and go with it. I loved planning my wedding and I did some details myself like place cards, but I didn’t want to do too much that made my wedding felt like a task.

What was your biggest splurge?

My dress, I didn’t expect to spend so much on my dress, but when I found it I knew it was what I wanted.

What was your favorite detail?

My dress was probably my most favorite aspect of the wedding. I loved wearing it, I loved how I felt and it made the day so much fun.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Taking photos at Gasworks before the wedding it was freezing cold and started hailing. My husband and our bridal party had such a great time despite the conditions. It was great to spend the day with our best friends by our side making us laugh.

VENDORS

Photographer Kaylee Eylander: http://www.kayleeeylanderphotography.com/

DJ: Joe Yamada: http://www.cascaderecords.com/

Flowers: Loves me Flowers Kendra: http://www.lovesmeflowers.com/

Dress: http://www.princessbridecouture.com/

Hair/Makeup: http://www.salonmaison.net/

I just love Sebrina– she was a longtime reader and supporter of BSB so I am so excited to share her wedding with you! I really love the black, white and yellow color scheme- especially the way she totally rocked her black bolero and the black lacing on her gown. I’m a huge fan of the sunflowers as well- which the couple got on the cheap for their bouquets and centerpieces. She picked her favorite things to splurge on and still pulled off this fab wedding for under $6k! Way to go, Sebrina– thanks for sharing your special day with us!

What was your budget?

Originally we set our budget at $5000. At the end I think we spent $5806. I was a little bummed about going over but I am happy that we stuck to our plan of having zero debt after the wedding

Save the Dates: $25 w/ postage
Ceremony Officiant: $300 donation to cover travel expenses
Reception Location: $250
Wedding Invitations: $170 w/ postage
Rings: $125
Wedding Dress: $323
Veil: $13 for supplies
Bolero: $52 for supplies
Shoes: $28 for both ceremony and reception pairs
Hair: $32
Make-up: $20
Nails: $100
Flowers: $70
Food & Drinks: $1000
Dishes & Napkins: $240
DOC: $200
Photographer: $500
Rentals: $566
Gifts: $165
Cake: $800
Linens: $362
Decorations: $365
Misc. Expenses: $100
Everything else was free through freindors and skilled family members. For instance my dad was the dj

How many guests did you have?

We invited 450 and I think we figured around 250 came.

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

Basically, everything about our wedding was personal and mostly handmade by myself, my mom, and our very amazing friends and family. We fell in love with the Old Pumphouse because it offered the picturesque butterfly garden that was perfect for my dream outdoor wedding and the fact that it’s a museum was great for Luke because he’s a mega history buff. I kept having to drag him away from the various plaques through the course of our reception

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

We saved a lot of money by making and doing things ourselves. My mom was able to make all our linens and table toppers for less than $10 a table. We contacted local sunflower farmers who let us pick the huge sunflowers for our bouquets for free. The smaller ones were picked from wild fields so we only had to buy the filler flowers for our bouquets. This meant we got to have floral centerpieces that only cost $.24 a table. Originally we planned on having a local restaurant provide the food but that would have been way out of budget, so we contacted a friend who used to be a caterer. He provided all the fajitas and sausage for the cost of the meat. Another family friend made the rice for a very reasonable price and we had our DOC prepare the beans in roasters on site along with the salad. Some friends gifted the mexican wedding cookies and punch and we bought concentrated tea from a restaurant supplier. So we were able to provide unlimited drinks and dinner for everyone for under $5 a person.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

All the wedding blogs can get overwhelming so don’t feel like you have to catch up on every post from every single one but don’t rule them out either because I found life-saving inspiration from one barely 2 weeks before our wedding. Also account for about double the estimated time for diy projects and call in as many friends and family to help. There’s no way I would have been able to get through without my amazing support system. And don’t pick vendors hastily but give yourself enough time to do your research while booking early. We probably saved nearly a thousand dollars by booking our photographer and venue a year early.

What was your biggest splurge?

While planning we discovered that my mom and I are cake snobs. So we ended up spending nearly as much on the cake as the rest of the food. But it was so worth it because it both looked and tasted amazing. Unfortunately we ordered way too much and ended up with nearly 150 pieces to take home.

What was your favorite detail?

Looking back it’s really hard to pick one favorite detail because I absolutely love how everything came together. However, we both agreed that the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse is what really made the event. Luke loved the museum part of it and I couldn’t imagine finding a more beautiful venue.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Our first dance was very special to me because it was a surprise I planned for Luke. I took a song he had written for us called “Let’s Grow Old Together” and gave it to my dad to play for us. He took the original lyrics and matched it with a melody he had written 20-some years before for my mom. So it made the whole moment really sentimental and unique especially since we had to keep it a secret from Luke right up until my dad announced the song.
Please also include a list of all your vendors including any website links.
Venue: Old Hidalgo Pumphouse
Save the Dates: Vistaprint
Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal
Photographer: SixFourteen Photography
Rentals: All Party Rentals
Cake: Honey’s Cakes by Nancy Cortez

What makes you the Ultimate Budget Savvy Bride?

Okay, everyone isn’t Chelsea Clinton and can’t spend $3 million on their nuptials. So, the BSB and Blooms By The Box are joining forces to make your wedding a little easier on your wallet. So, we want to know how are you planning on saving some cash at your wedding! What DIY aspects will you be incorporating? From making your own invitations to arranging your own wedding flowers, we want to know it all. What advice can you give other brides during the wedding planning process? What worked for you? What didn’t?

We want to hear your stories! The BSB and Blooms are looking for innovative, detailed responses. Feel free to write as much as you’d like! Pictures are welcome and encouraged! Submit your entries to danielle@bloomsbythebox.com before 11:59:59 p.m. CST on Sunday, September 19^th, 2010. We will choose the top five entries and open up the contest to votes from BSB readers to determine the winner, who will be announced on October 1! But what’s the prize?

The winner will receive

a $500 gift certificate

from Blooms By The Box!

With Blooms great prices, that’s ALL of your wedding flowers!! I know this could help many of you greatly in your budget savvy wedding endeavors, so I cannot wait to see your entries!

Good luck to all who enter! See the official rules below for details!

Essay Contest Period

Launch: Monday, August 30^th, 2010 at 12:00:01 a.m. CST.

All Entries must be submitted by: Sunday, September 19^th, 2010 by 11:59:59 p.m. CST.

(We (BBTB and BSB) will review entries for a few days and collectively pick the top 5 we think are the most deserving)

Voting Period: Thursday, September 23^rd, 2010 at 12:00:01 a.m. CST and ends on Thursday, September 30^th, 2010 at 11:59:59 p.m. CST.

Winner Announced: Friday, October 1^st, 2010 via blog post on BSB and Blooms By The Box’s Facebook Page.

Official Contest Rules

Eligibility: All participants must be Brides-to-Be and legal residents of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and other territories and possessions of the United States) at the point of entry. All participants must have a valid e-mail address.

Entry: Limit one entry per person. All entrants must provide a valid email address in order uphold the official rule of one entry per person. All entries will be submitted via email to danielle@bloomsbythebox.com by the times stated above and will then be posted. Any entries submitted after the deadline for submission will not be eligible. Entries must be entrant’s own original work, must not infringe on any third-party rights and must be deemed suitable by both The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box.  Entries deemed lewd or offensive might be disqualified, at the BSB and Blooms By The Box’s sole discretion.

General Conditions: All participants must “Like” Blooms By The Box Page on Facebook and The Budget Savvy Bride on Facebook in order to qualify and be eligible for winning the prize. All essay entries submitted after the specified dates will not be eligible. Voting will be conducted on The Budget Savvy Bride via comment where as the voting participant will comment on what essay they liked the most and their reasons why. Comments on the BloomsBlog will not count towards the contest votes. All comment votes submitted after the specified dates will not be counted. Both The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box will review all entries and choose the Top 5 essay entries we feel are most deserving. Then the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite essay, which will determine the winner. The essay with the most comments (votes) will receive the $500 gift certificate from Blooms By The Box.

The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box are not responsible for malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer hardware or software, or any other technical problems related to website entries. Any attempt at entry as above stated is void. Entries become property of The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box and will not be returned. By entering submissions, entrants are agreeing to have their submissions published and promoted on both www.TheBudgetSavvyBride.com and www.BloomsByTheBox.com and any affiliated websites. The Budget Savvy Bride’s computer will be the official clock of the Contest.

The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box both reserve the right to disqualify any individual they find to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest, or any web site related to the Contest; to be acting in violation of the official rules; or to be acting in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner.

Prize details: The winner will receive a $500 gift certificate from Blooms By the Box. Cannot combine with any other promotions or discounts. The awarded $500 can be spent on any items available at www.BloomsByTheBox.com. BloomsByTheBox.com will only ship in the United States. Prizes are not transferable. No cash redemptions or prize substitutions are allowed. If the prize or any part thereof is unavailable for any reason, as determined by Blooms By The Box in its sole discretion, Blooms By The Box reserves the right to substitute the prize with another prize of equal or greater value.

Winner Notification / Selection: The winner of the contest will be announced on Friday, October 1^st, 2010. The winner will have 7 days from notification to respond to Blooms By The Box via email (danielle@bloomsbythebox.com) to accept the prize. Failure to accept the price within 7 days from the notification, the winner will then forfeit the $500 gift certificate. In the event that no one claims the prize, the participant who received the second most votes will receive the prize and the same rules apply. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received during the Contest Period. The drawing of the top 5 essays to be voted on  will be conducted by The Budget Savvy Bride and Blooms By The Box, the judges of the Contest, whose decisions on all matters related to these official rules shall be final and binding.

Monique & Timothy’s relaxed outdoor affair just brings me joy! Even though this wedding is on the larger side of budgets that we feature, there’s still some great takeaways from the bride’s experience. Her helpful tips: find a venue that will let you bring in your own alcohol and sometimes doing all inclusive can save you money! I definitely love the ‘green’ aspect of this wedding as well, and with a guest count of 200 those costs add up quick! And while the bride paid to have her flowers professionally done, the laid back wildflower arrangements are totally easy to recreate on the cheap so I hope you find them inspiring! I also love that their sweet dog is all-up-in the wedding action- so adorable! Hope you all enjoy this wedding eye-candy as much as I do!

What was your budget?

We had one vendor provide food, staff, tent, tables, chairs, linens and more! It was the bulk of the budget at $14,000 plus gratuity!

We spent the rest on amazing flowers and photography and the cake!

Oh and Alcohol! The Bryn Du allows you to bring in you own alcohol! It was so nice to keep the left over wine and etc. And it was better the paying $5 a pour that other venues and caterers tried to charge us! In total we spent around $25,000.

How many guests did you have?

200 of our closest friends and family!

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

We tried to be as “ Green” as possible. By forgoing the traditional wedding invitation, we had a casual vibe from the beginning. We had our rsvp’s done on our wedding website and other directions for the wedding weekend. The caterer sought out biodegradable plates, cutlery and cups for our backyard North Carolina style BBQ/picnic reception. We also had yard games available as well! Everyone loved being able to play corn hole or crochet during the reception. We also requested our cards and gift wrapping to be as creative and reused as possible.

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

By finding a venue that allowed us to bring in our own vendors and alcohol!!

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Hire a day of wedding planner. Or have someone designated to ‘work’ your wedding day making sure everything is in place and people are where they need to be and vendors are paid.

What was your biggest splurge?

The food!

What was your favorite detail?

My trees! I had aspects of trees in everything!

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

When I turned and looked at all of my friends and family once I met my husband at the end of the altar. So much love that day!

Vendors

Caterer: Weilands Gourmet Market

Florist: Flowers on Springtree Lane

Venue: The Bryn Du Mansion

Cake: Bakery Gingham

Photography: Kevin Keefer

What was your budget? If you are able, give us a rough breakdown of how you spent your budget.

Our budget was $10,000. I searched a lot to get the best deals and I did a lot myself too. I paid for a large portion of the wedding myself.

Photographer – $1,000

Chapel – $500 (student/employee rate)

Videographer – $600

Save The Dates – Free (only paid postage – done by friend in the printing company)

Cake – $1.50/ slice (Made by a lady out of her house)

Groom’s Cake – Free! (Gift from a friend!)

Flowers – $1,100 (Used all daisies and kept it simple!)

DJ – $450 (local radio DJ –does weddings just for fun!)

Favors – $.75 (boxes from Dollar Tree and discount bulk M&Ms)

Invitations – (Postage only – Same friend as the save the dates!)

Reception Site- free with the purchase of food

Food – $6,000 (included reception for 275 & rehearsal dinner for 50)

How many guests did you have?

275

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

I love to do crafts! I enjoyed making a number of things myself. Even though our guest list was a whopping 500 people I still wanted it to feel personal. I made our monogrammed cake topper. I also made our initials to display on the chapel doors. I made our guest book on blurb.com with pictures of us from while we were dating and our engagement photos. I also made all the paper cones used to throw our Ecco-fetti. Also, one of our groomsmen designed our Save The Dates, Invitations, and Programs which brought an even more personal side to them.

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

Tons! We tried to save money everywhere without it being cheap. I bought all the centerpiece vases at Goodwill on the first Saturday of the month because that is half price day. I used 40% off coupons from the paper at Michael’s almost every week. Instead of buying expensive ribbon sashes at David’s Bridal my mom made them from ribbon from Michael’s. I purchased my dress at a place that did alterations for free. We have a lot of family and friends that are very talented and we used them!

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?

Don’t swoon over things you can’t have. I read tons of wedding blogs and wanted to take all these ideas and put them to use. But, I had to realize that on a budget you have to be selective and choose the things that are important to you. I also had to look at my personality. Just because it was a good idea for one wedding didn’t mean it was a good idea for our wedding. We wanted to feel like we were at our wedding and not someone else’s.

What was your biggest splurge?

The food is what cost the most but it was for both the rehearsal dinner and the reception. The photographer was the next thing. And, what was even better is that our photographer had an intern with her so we got even more pictures! It was great!

What was your favorite detail?

I liked the sentimental pieces of the day that no one else knew about. I carried with my bouquet a tiny Bible that Tyler’s Mom gave him when he was born and a handkerchief that my great Aunt gave me when I was born. I had my Grandfather’s (who I never met) and Grandmother’s wedding bands sewn into my dress. I had a sixpence in my left shoe that has been used in over 30 other weddings that was lent to me from a family friend. And, just outside the chapel we were married in is where he proposed to me.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

It had been a running joke for years that Tyler could never remember what hand the rings went on and I would always have to remind him. We were at the altar exchanging rings and I remember being so nervous. I was trying to put his ring on and he kept telling me it was the wrong hand. I thought he was kidding at first but then I realized it really was the wrong hand!

Vendors

Florist: Jenny Stephen at Flowers N Things

DJ: Gene Lovin with 410 Productions

Invitations: Designed by Groomsman Daniel Hunley;

Photographer: Shelby Demory of Shelby J Photography & Amanda Urso of Urso Photography

Videographer: Colt Helton of Clean Pony Productions