Bride, Tianna, shares her budget saving tips. She got married in Hampstead, North Carolina.
IM A WIFE!!!!
I got married this past Sunday and would love to help answer any questions yall have. I’ll try to breakdown some things below 🙂 Hope this helps someone!
venue: my friends backyard, free! we rented a tent, chairs, a cross arbor, and a bar from a rental local company for under $800. table + tablecloths are from my church.
flowers: I spent around $300 on Hidden Bouquets (they’re also on etsy) and LOVED them. i ordered a bouquet, a boutonniere, and “loose stems.” i ended up redoing the bouquet they sent me, and it was perfect. the dried flowers last 2-3 yrs and now they’re decorating my home!
rings: Hubs is from amazon for $20, my wedding band was my great grandpas that my mom had re-sized for me! ❤️ for only $45
food: olive garden! i ordered 4 chicken parm platters (comes with pasta and breadsticks and salads and dessert and drinks) for 40 and had lots of leftovers!! it did get cold rather quickly outside even with chafers, but no one complained. around $1000. we did a graze charcuterie table for the cocktail hr and people loved it! another prob $200-$300
dessert: tiramisu (my fave) was included with olive garden, then we made cookies, and got 2 carrot cakes (hub’s fave) from grocery store. around $30
decor: i borrowed bud vases from someone at church and filled them with my “loose stems” from above. we had plenty for 8 tables (would have spread them more even). then i made candles (i thrifted glass dishes, filled them with wax and scent, then added dried flowers. i might sell some or make custom orders, everyone loved them and i let some guests take some home!). then I made cheap table numbers with Dollar Tree frames and a paint marker!
bar: rented a $75 bar and bartender was a local guy for $150 (plus tipped). then a friend closed a general store and donated alch, but we spent another $150 on alch, $100 on beer/wine, prob $100 pn mixers / garnishes / etc, and ~$50 on plastic cups
plates/utensils: i ordered nice white plastic plates from amazon + used dollar tree utensils (they have nice premade napkins with silver plastic utensils in a 3 pack). everything was disposable for easy clean up!
photos: we had a gal from church take pics for only $600, but I haven’t seen them yet obviously so we’ll see if this was worth it! then asked friends and family to capture the night as much as they could on phones and i have hundreds on my phone already 🥹 we also had disposables for everyone and they actually got used!! we’ll see how they turn out!
music: we opted out of a dj, and i think this was great for us! we borrowed a speaker system from church and had a detailed list for my uncle to play music (for aisle, first dances, cocktail hr, and reception playlist). i was nervous for this since a lot of people say the DJ keeps the night moving, but ours moved seamlessly. for the dancey part of the evening, i let my friends play what they wanted but also had a playlist. we didnt dance all night, but at least 1.5 hrs! it was fun.
vows: we did standard Christian vows with our pastor at the ceremony. then read personal vows privately during out photo session (during cocktail hr) and it was my favorite part. im so happy we did this.
welcome sign: i bought a mirror that i will use in my home and had a friend write on it. she did great!
invites: we just texted people and i kept track of responses in an excel sheet!
guests: we only ended up having 42! we had a 3 month engagement, so we invited tons of friends and family with the caveat that there was no pressure- we know it’s expensive and 3 months isn’t a lot of planning time. i definitely missed a lot of people that i wish were there, but in the end you don’t spend much quality time in one day with tons of people and it’s about you and your hubs. ❤️
coordinator: I didn’t have one. i had married friends help me with a checklist and timeline, then asked friends to help with specific duties. i then made specific timelines for all helpers so everyone knew what they were doing and I didn’t have to have to micromanage or hire a coordinator. my fam also jumped in and helped TONS even though i wanted them to relax 😉 it was easy peasy
hair/makeup: i did my own and im so happy i did! i highly reco doing this or having friends help. i dif a few trials in my own. i also did my own gel nails (i always do!) with an amazon kit
dress: i wore my moms and just had some alterations (removed straps and took it in) for $175! it was perfect
accessories: i got earrings, sandals, garder, and my veil all CHEAP from shein! perf!
water: we used a large dispenser from church and had glass bottles with water on every table with plastic cups. we borrowed the bottles but they have them cheap at dollar tree!
random notes:
~we didn’t have wedding parties and i loved that. we didn’t feel stressed planning colors or gifts or anything. i just asked a couple gals to get ready with me. 🙂
~the only thing i can think of that went wrong was we ran out of ice for the bartender, but a friend went and got some! i didn’t even know this, someone told me after 🙂
~dont stress the details. it was SO windy and my vases were falling over on table and table cloths were blowing all over and i didnt care,that’s not what the day was about. i’m still glad i had the decor, but really it made me realize no one cared, they wouldn’t have cared if tables were empty. they were there for US not the decor.
~if you can, take advantage of all the help people offer. i saved so much money with help from my church and i’m SO thankful for that.
~if you’re a Christian, give it all to the LORD. I prayed about this day for months and He gave me so much peace. I was rarely anxious and He reminded me what it was really about. there’s absolutely nothing to stress about. let your day be chill by remembering that you day is about uniting as One with Christ and anything that goes “wrong” is laughable.
…and i can’t think of anything else!!!! feel free to ask questions 🙂 Happy Planning! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
