Blue Gold and Peach Romance Wedding

Budget Breakdown:
Catering: 20.2%
Photographer: 11.2%
Venue: 6.7%
Rentals: 27%
Dress: 4.5%
Coordinator: 5.4%
Cake: 1.8%
Flowers: 6.7%
Dj: 2%
Alcohol: 6.7%
Lighting: 5.4%
Invitations: 1.1%
Misc. Decor: 1.1%
DIY Details:

I DIYed almost everything for the wedding. I had so much fun doing it, but I underestimated how much time it would take!Somethings were not worth doing! Do a lot of research before you sink your time into something difficult logistically! Think about your resources in friends and family when you are planning! My brothers played music as I walked down the aisle. Free and touching!

My biggest undertaking was the paper-lanterns that hung on the string lights strung across the courtyard. How many weddings have those Japanese globe lights? Way too many. I wanted something different. I decided to make star lanterns, not because I had an affinity to stars, but because I was living on the East Coast at the time and needed to create something that would pack flat and be assembled at a later time. I made the star lanterns out of construction I painted, and poked tiny holes in an intricate paisley pattern. I had made three different sizes, and turns out only the largest size fit onto the lightbulb. This is definitely a cautionary tale I wish I could tell other brides. Figure out the logistics before you dive head-on into a craft! I ended up with 30 large star lanterns, I couldn't use the other 40 that I had made! I also wish I hadn't done so much detail, the gorgeous detail of each one was missed purely by how high the lanterns were hanging!

I also created paper flowers, out of construction paper and crepe paper and decorated everything with them. I had bought several window frames at a salvage yard and used them to create "display walls", (I had found it hard to create decorations without any height) and used a large one behind the cake display, and used two for table assignments with crepe paper garland. I had created another garland around the wrought iron easel, mostly because I hated the curly-q's on the easel!

I also painted signs to direct my guests around, framing them in salvage-yard found window frames. I bought a font off the internet and used them to make a template to recreate the look of hand-lettering.

I had some help creating the moon back-drop, (after all, it needed to hold the weight of adults!) I had the idea in mind for a few months but it materialized only in the last month. What was amazing was post-wedding, a photo surfaced of my late-grandfather sitting on a paper moon backdrop as a child! I loved that it tied in the theme of "moon and stars" and seemed both whimsical and vintage!

Also -use your resources! My brother works on a dairy farm and he had access to small glass jars (for free! -yay!) which I painted the lip gold and we used them as votive holders. We also used them as holders for our favors (M&Ms, both initials for our last names!)

But BY FAR, the best and cheapest detail we did was the hand-written notes to each guest that we had sitting at their seat. We took time prior to the wedding to think about each guest and write them a thoughtful note about what they meant to us. This was the kind of personalized detail that hardly costs a thing, and it makes each guest feel special. The goal of the ceremony was to marry Jake, but my goal of the reception was to get the love in the air and all around our guests!