• Real Weddings

There is plenty of anticipation from every bride and groom before their wedding, but we are guessing that our next couple was a bit more anxious than most. After two long deployments and living in separate cities for one year prior to their wedding, Kev and Erin finally got to be together.
As you will soon see, all their patience paid off and they had an incredible day. Their wedding was overflowing with details that were carefully curated by Jaclyn Journey. One of our favorites has to be the wedding favor table. You can read on to hear more details from the bride, and see their exact budget breakdown. As always you can see the entire wedding in the full gallery here.  All beautifully captured by Whitney Neal Photography.

From The Bride:On June 2, 2012 we were left breathless. Not from the long day or the emotional highs of a big wedding, but from the perfection of our long awaited wedding day. This is exactly what we had hoped for when we started planning one of the most memorable days of our lives. Not only was this a celebration of our marriage, but also a celebration of Kev and I finally being together after 2 deployments and living in separate cities for a year prior to the wedding. The Navy had introduced us to each other less then three years earlier on the beautiful island of Guam where we were both stationed at the time. After being engaged on the island we quickly had to make a decision where to get married.

We decided the most central place for all of our friends and family was my hometown of Crestwood, Kentucky. Yew Dell Gardens was an obvious choice with all its natural beauty and rustic feel.

I was lucky to have been introduced to Whitney Neal our photographer who then introduced me to many of our other vendors, who she had worked with closely in the past. This was invaluable since I would be planning the wedding from San Diego, CA where I was stationed with the Navy at the time. Jaclyn Journey, who executed the flowers, the artistic design, and managed to find time to be our day of coordinator, was absolutely amazing. She managed to do all of these things with such grace and ease. The day from start to end felt effortless and natural. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and the company of our most favorite people.

Photographer: Whitney Neal Event Designer: Jaclyn Journey Venue: Yew Dell Gardens Cake: Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen Caterer: Dining Elegance Caterers DJ: Lightwave Entertainment Dress Designer: Justin Alexander from D'Angelo Couture of San Diego Flowers: Jaclyn Journey Stationery: Blue Glass Design Makeup: Sloane Winters | Hair: Ashley Wise | Cinematography: Stephanie Whonsetler Read on to see how much this rustic Kentucky wedding costs. Please note that costs change as the years go by, and prices are subject to change. This is just one couple's breakdown to give you a rough estimate on how much a wedding like this may cost you.

To be completely honest, no I would not have done anything differently.  I was so lucky to have worked with such great people that everything could not have gone smoother.  I wasn't even sad it was over because I was just so content with how everything went.  

Our budget:

 Dress= $2400

The actual dress was a bit cheaper but after adding the backing and straps as well as the few tailorings to the dress it was a bit more.

 Yew Dell (venue)= $4,550

Videographer= $950

I was able to really cut back on the wedding budget here because I used Stephanie who does weddings on the side.  She works for a production company as her full time job.  I love supporting new talent and by doing this you can usually cut down on expenses in comparison to established businesses.  

 Minister=$200

 Rental/Caterer= $16, 830

One thing that I did learn through the wedding planning process is to completely understand what vendors you can and cannot use at the venue.  After booking our venue I quickly realized that the only rental company that we could use was pretty expensive compared to others in the area.  Not only that, but the rental company was located over an hour away from the venue.  

Day of Coordination by Florist:  $1000

Florist/decorations=$2,300

DJ/Band= $1550

Invites= $764

We were lucky to have a good friend of ours offer to design our invites as our wedding present.  This was great because this enabled me to be a little more hands on with our wedding despite my distance from our wedding location.  We designed them together and then I found an affordable local printing company to print them all off.    

 Pies/Cake= $370

 Valet Service= $840

 Photographer= $3200