Well, we did it! I'm finally Mrs. Michael Yerry! How exciting!
Overall, the wedding went excellent! We had a small, intimate ceremony with family & close friends in attendance. A few hiccups, but nothing that couldn't damper the mood. Even the photographers said they were impressed by the quaintness :) All of the DIY things ended up fitting together very nicely. I'm going to attempt to break it all down!
Granted, I am an extreme craftaholic, so I already had a lot of items on hand. I also suggest using your resources: one of my associates gave me left over tea lights from her wedding, my best friend brought sand from home (Outer Banks) & some mason jars, a sorority sister brought her (fancy) camera & a cupcake stand, & mom brought some food. You will be surprised how many people will be willing to help you for your special day!
Disclosure -- my in-laws helped tremendously, so my figures may be slightly skewed. They rented a cabin for us to stay in, they rented chairs for the ceremony & they got our cake/cupcakes. I'm not sure the cost of these things. We also borrowed many things, which I HIGHLY recommend! Especially if you have friends who've recently been married. Take all the help you can get!
Our wedding was in my in-laws backyard--they have a beautiful cabin right on Lake James, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful location & free doesn't hurt one bit!!
Okay let's see...
Pictures: 3 hours w/ 2 photographers & an assistant; 150 digital images -- $880.69 after tax, then iPhones & friend's cameras for the remanding of the time--free! I used CapsuleCam (free app!) so I could have all candid photos in one place--it was great. My sister also video'd the ceremony, toasts, etc. on a iPhone.
Food/Drinks: hot dogs, hamburgers (plus buns), condiments, s'mores, 4 cases of beer, 3 boxes of wine $160 (this includes sparklers, yay for a sparkler sendoff!); his parents had tea/water & bought a variety pack of chips & my mom brought BBQ.
Music: iPod + iHome = done! A friend helped start/stop processional music. $0!
Decorations: We used white christmas lights & a lot of nicknacks we had among the families to do most of the decorating. We got a lot of ribbon, burlap, lace, tulle, tiki torches, etc. from various craft stores (Michael's, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby) probably a total of $100, however I have a plethora of items left over. I probably only needed half of what I got! Below are a few crafts I made:
Guest book -- wooden letter "Y" spray painted coral with a white paint pen for signing
Ring for a Kiss Bell ($8 cow bell from tractor supply) on a shepherd's hook held by twine. I was border line regretting making this as often as it rang back to back haha
I also made a cooler & cornhole boards for the ceremony, but of course those will have prolonged use.
We bought the cornhole boards built plain with bags for $135, I paid about $50 for the paint & sealant I used, but I have plenty left over of that as well. The cooler is from Walmart & used paint & sealant I already had on hand! They were a great touch to the ceremony & will last throughout our marriage!
The little Pinterest inspired crafts definitely helped tie everything together perfectly!
It's hard to give you a 100% accurate price point of our wedding due to using many things we already had & the assistance we received buuut with rounding up/inflation we spent (approximately) $1500.00.
Granted, I didn't include my dress (about $700 after alterations), hair & make up ($70), nails ($131 for 2 mani/pedis + a mani) & our rings (total of about $3500). So really we spent about $5900 in total, however these last few things, along with the photographer, were splurges we agreed were "must haves"--there was no way I was giving up lifetime memories captured in film!
**We are planning on going on our honeymoon on our 1 year anniversary, which will give us the time to save until then! Haven't quite decided where were going yet, but still so excited!**
All in all, I am so pleased with our intimate wedding & proud of how everything came together so beautifully, but I do have to admit that the below picture is the exact emotion I was feeling up until I was walking down the aisle. It was very stressful, but beyond worth it!
Happy crafting!!
