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What I Learned on my Wedding Day and How I saved Money
May 20, 2017
My husband and I got married two years ago! They say, "time flies when you are having fun" and it really has flown by. In the past two years, we have had two houses, had two jobs each, two dogs, three vacations, many day trips, lots of burnt food, adventures, tears, arguments, choosing each other daily, trying new things like Crossfit, and many more changes. Marriage will teach you a lot about yourself. I have to lay my selfishness down daily to serve my husband and be the wife I am called to be.
It feels just like yesterday I was in the "Wedding Season" and doing my internship to become a teacher at the same time. It was stressful, of course, but a fun season with learning how plan a wedding as I went. I will be the first to admit my family told me from the beginning that they would not go broke for my wedding. We budgeted while paying attention to small details and still having the wedding of our dreams.
What I Learned During the Wedding Season:
It is all about you and your future spouse and working on your future marriage!
The decor, the food, and the venue are all about what you want and they important for a moment. In the end, it is about preparing for your marriage. Flowers will be thrown away, food will be eaten and gone, and people will come and go. If you did not take the time to make the wedding about yourselves and prepare for your marriage it is not worth it. Go to premarital counseling, talk about your future together, and communicate ideas about the wedding together. Don't sweat the small things like what you are going to use as centerpieces, because honestly no one really cares! My husband and I both agreed we would not stress out over the wedding. Every time I would get stressed my family and Jarrett were there to help me. I had to make many choices and I would try to make decisions thinking about others, but I learned I had to make decisions on what was best for us a a couple!
What I Learned on my Wedding Day:
Soak in the little time you have alone together on your wedding day.
There will be a lot going on and it will probable be a blur to you. I am so glad that we decided to have a first look before the ceremony. We were able to have about an hour together to talk, laugh, and read letters that we wrote to each other. Out of everything that we had going on that day, that is what I remember the most. We went far enough away so no one could see us and took our pictures during that time. So, just relax and don't think of everything going on! Play some music, pray together or do whatever you have to do to enjoy the moment! I know a lot of people debate on having a first look. Jarrett wanted to wait till I walked down the isle, but we agreed on having a first look. I thought it may take away from the sentimental meaning of walking down the isle but Jarrett cried both times so it was worth it! ;)
During the ceremony take a look around at all the people that came to support and love you.
In my wedding video, you can see me look around at everyone there attending . I let that moment soak in that there are people that love you enough to come and watch you and your spouse become one. It is a truly humbling feeling.
Have sentimental, fun and intimate moments that represent you as a couple.
To be honest, I am not a very detail oriented person. It was a struggle for me to plan my wedding because it is hard for me to focus on details, I just saw the big picture. I am so glad that we put a few sentimental moments in our wedding that represented us. First, we wrote letters to each other to read during our first look. We have wrote many letters to each other through out the years so this was our way of telling each how we felt about the wedding day. and each other. During the ceremony, we had a time to worship and pray with both of our families and we all signed a bible from my Mimi. That was such a special moment as it represented how we were becoming one and it represented the meaning of our marriage, Christ in the center of everything. Our food was catered by my granddad and we decided to have a Taco Bar because of our love for tacos (little did we know how many tacos we would eat our first two years of marriage because they are so cheap). It was such a fun touch to our wedding! I can not stress enough that those are the details that matter!
How I chose where I wanted use my money and how I saved money:
I would suggest to make a list of 3-5 things that are the most important to you and go from there with budgeting your money. Mine were photography, flowers, and food. I knew that I wanted those three things and so that is what I decided to budget for first and then spend less money on everything else. I caught 50-80% sales at Hobby Lobby, hired a cheap DJ, and chose a free venue so that I could use my money on my top three things.
Fun fact: I bought my wedding dress for $18 at Bargain Hunt! If it wouldn't have been EXACTLY what I wanted it would have been at the top of my list!
Photography / Videography
My number one thing that I wanted was amazing pictures. From the beginning, I realized that a lot of wedding details are temporary. I knew my pictures were something I could look back on and feel like I was back in the special moments of my wedding day. I asked people that had already got married about their experiences with their photographers. I did not want to pick a random photographer. I called and emailed around and went with someone that was experienced, had a great portfolio, had a reasonable price and had great reviews from people I personally knew. Talk on the phone with the photographer and ask a lot of questions! I knew when I talked on the phone with my photographer she was the one for me! Do not cut corners on cheap photography!
Also, I decided to have my friend from college to video our day. She had no experience but she was up for the task and did amazing! I would suggest if you can't afford a fancy and expensive videographer have someone at least record your first look and ceremony you will want to look back on it! If you can afford a video, do it! I have watched ours over and over!
Here are some amazing and affordable photographer suggestions that I have personally been around:
Love of Mine Photography (the one I used)
India Rose Photography
Susan Weathington Photography
Food:
I wanted to have an afternoon wedding so I knew that would mean I would have to serve dinner. I knew I wanted my granddad to cater it because his food is my favorite! We wanted something fun and different but knew we had to budget for the food. We decided on a Taco Bar. It was so cheap! We went to Sams Club and bought everything we needed to feed 150 people for around $500. If you know someone that can cook it is cheaper than going through a catering company. Everyone loved the taco bar! My granddad has his own restaurant and caters amazing food! Hectors Kitchen on Facebook they are in Attalla, AL!
Flowers:
I knew I wanted real flowers from the beginning but knew it could get really expensive! We decided to risk it and order from a few different places. We ordered white and pink roses and two 25 feet greenery garlands from Sam's club for around $350-$400. We ordered a ton of Eucalyptus from online (linked below), it is the best and easiest greenery to play around with! We bought 15 bundles for $125 and had SO much! Also, Davis Wholesale in Birmingham has a fresh selection of florals and greenery. I do understand that not everyone is able to assemble bouquets and flower arrangements on their own. If you know someone that is willing to help or if you can do it on your own I would suggest it. Make sure you order them two to three days before the wedding and read all the storage directions. It does take a lot of time and work, but it will save you hundreds of dollars!
Flowers:
Greenery:
www.wholesaleflowersandsupplies.com - you have to have a business license or know someone with one
Other money hacks:
1.) Catch sales at Hobby Lobby! They have every type of decoration you can think of and they always have a 40% coupon you can use online!
2.) So if you were like me you had bridesmaids that had been a million weddings. I gave my bridesmaids a color and they chose their own color that way they could buy the dress they could afford!
website with affordable and high quality dresses: www.kfbridal.com (all around $100-$120 with SO many colors!)
3.) We got a ton of white lanterns from Five Below and they have cute boho decor there!
4.) We had to make our own rectangle table clothes so we hemmed bed sheets! haha.
5.) Etsy and amazon are two websites I used to get my accessories for cheap!
