Rachael's Budget Wedding!!!

Well the wedding is over and we had a brilliant day. It was perfect in every way and it was a budget wedding.

When I say budget wedding, I don't mean 'cheap', but it was budget. It cost less than $9,000 - and that is for absolutely EVERYTHING that we bought - and I mean everything (including wedding rings). The only thing I haven't included in this is the cost of buying pictures. I have bought a very large framed print from my photographer which cost a fair bit and I have ordered 2 canvas pics from a website which was having a sale buy one & get another for $1. These were totally optional and as I have the disc, I didn't need to purchase from my photographer. However, Greg and I love her work so much we decided this after we received the pics that we would get the BIG pic from her. We are very happy with that decision!!!

We have not gone into debt for our wedding at all. This was deliberate and planned as we have a mortgage & kids, however it applies to anyone. It is very easy to get caught up in the moment and spend a fortune (& I think I spent a fortune!!!). I personally don't think it is worth it, but that is me. I have seen people still paying off the Credit Card months (years) later...............

We could have gone cheaper too.........much cheaper!!! But, some things I didn't want to comprimise on - so I didn't. I could have got a cheaper:

• photographer
• cake
• venue
• flowers (bought a small bunch from the florist the day before)
• alcohol (guests pay their own)
• nails (not worried)
• rings
• makeup (done our own - we did our own hair)
• table decorations (not worried)
• bon bons (not worried)

But, I really wanted these things, so it boosted the cost up.

To save money you need to do the following:

• Keep it small & simple (we had 50 guests only)
• What time? (we had brunch on Sunday in Winter - weather was beautiful)
• Food (we had platters on the table rather than sit down single serve meals)
• Cake as a sweet
• Didn't get a photo album, only a disc package (no hard copy prints)
• Shopped around - Gregs suit $40 from Rivers, my dress $100 from Ebay - I checked prices on everything!!!
• Borrow what you can - I borrowed shoes, necklace, Jemmas dress, vases
• Buy to resell - I will resell my wedding dress, Michaels suit, flowers, hair piece, wrap - anything I can
• Simple - my invitations were simple but elegant. RSVP was via email, phone or return card (& I didn't provide stamps). Table decs were simple too - stones from Aldi for $7, vases we had & I borrowed from my sister, sticks from local florist.
• DIY - My lovely sister made my invites, RSVP's, name tags, petal throws. I just provided her with the equipment. I think they looked brilliant, she did such a great job.

I will post my suppliers when I get time for anyone who is interested. I think my wedding was quite expensive but honestly any function is dear when you are providing food and drink. I hope I can give some ideas to other brides, that you can have something elegant and gorgeous but not spend $20K++++