Well hello there, pretty people, and welcome to our blog! We are Devin and Kathleen, we started dating May 20, 2010 and got engaged June 17, 2011. We are planning our wedding for December 10, 2011, and we're freakin' stoked about it. I wanted to start this blog for short-term wedding planning documentation (and advice for anyone else planning on a budget), and for the long-term sharing of our marital adventures.
So here is the current state of affairs: We are both on summer contracts with Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, MI (1/2 hr outside Traverse City) until the end of August. We are getting married in central Indiana. We have "VIP's" (immediate family and wedding party) in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, and Colorado; and because the lease on my Indianapolis apartment ends in October, I'll be moving in with Devin, location TBD, wherever he gets a job, and finishing wedding planning from there. Probably Tennessee. "Shenanigans," indeed!
On top of crazy locations, we also have finances to consider. I've read that the average wedding costs $20,000. We say: NO FREAKIN WAY! If you have that kind of cash, by all means, go for it; it will be gorgeous and spectacular (and will still only last a day!). But many of us don't have that luxury, and there are all kinds of creative ways to cut corners while still providing a great, memorable time for everyone. We are depending on the time and talent of many friends and family members (as well as our own skills) to help us have an awesome wedding UNDER $5,000, and that is a big part of what we'll be blogging about.
Our first wedding-related purchase was an online half-off deal ($57) for premarital counseling videos. The deal actually came up in an email from The Wedding Channel before we were engaged, but because we'd been talking about marriage for...just about our whole relationship, we went ahead and bought it to save some coin. It's a series of 8 videos...so far we've only watched 2, but we have until September to finish the series. More on those in a later post.
Today I did some shopping with friends and found the first few centerpiece items. I've promised to myself to buy all centerpieces at Goodwill (or at an insanely good deal elsewhere). And after the wedding, we'll just donate everything back (I'll be posting more on how we're being charitable with our wedding as time goes).We're going for sort of an eclectic vintage vibe, so the items I bought were clear and colored glass bottles along with some figurines in our wedding colors. Every table will be different. I will definitely want to pick up some ribbon eventually to beautify and add color to the clear and white objects, and some flowers will be added as needed also. Anyways, the total cost of about 8 or 9 items was $12. Score! Then we went to the mall, where I actually found some PERFECT lingerie at Charlotte Russe (we'll stop the descriptions there) and spent $31 (would have been more exact on the dollar amounts had I remembered to bring my receipts in from the car...). It's not the cheapest, but it was definitely a step down from, say, Victoria's Secret, and it fits my style better that most VS merch anyways.
So now that we're up to speed, I'll just keep posting as things happen. Comments welcome!
And to the end of every post, I will add:
Total spent so far: $100
Total remaining: $4,900
So here is the current state of affairs: We are both on summer contracts with Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, MI (1/2 hr outside Traverse City) until the end of August. We are getting married in central Indiana. We have "VIP's" (immediate family and wedding party) in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, and Colorado; and because the lease on my Indianapolis apartment ends in October, I'll be moving in with Devin, location TBD, wherever he gets a job, and finishing wedding planning from there. Probably Tennessee. "Shenanigans," indeed!
On top of crazy locations, we also have finances to consider. I've read that the average wedding costs $20,000. We say: NO FREAKIN WAY! If you have that kind of cash, by all means, go for it; it will be gorgeous and spectacular (and will still only last a day!). But many of us don't have that luxury, and there are all kinds of creative ways to cut corners while still providing a great, memorable time for everyone. We are depending on the time and talent of many friends and family members (as well as our own skills) to help us have an awesome wedding UNDER $5,000, and that is a big part of what we'll be blogging about.
Our first wedding-related purchase was an online half-off deal ($57) for premarital counseling videos. The deal actually came up in an email from The Wedding Channel before we were engaged, but because we'd been talking about marriage for...just about our whole relationship, we went ahead and bought it to save some coin. It's a series of 8 videos...so far we've only watched 2, but we have until September to finish the series. More on those in a later post.
Today I did some shopping with friends and found the first few centerpiece items. I've promised to myself to buy all centerpieces at Goodwill (or at an insanely good deal elsewhere). And after the wedding, we'll just donate everything back (I'll be posting more on how we're being charitable with our wedding as time goes).We're going for sort of an eclectic vintage vibe, so the items I bought were clear and colored glass bottles along with some figurines in our wedding colors. Every table will be different. I will definitely want to pick up some ribbon eventually to beautify and add color to the clear and white objects, and some flowers will be added as needed also. Anyways, the total cost of about 8 or 9 items was $12. Score! Then we went to the mall, where I actually found some PERFECT lingerie at Charlotte Russe (we'll stop the descriptions there) and spent $31 (would have been more exact on the dollar amounts had I remembered to bring my receipts in from the car...). It's not the cheapest, but it was definitely a step down from, say, Victoria's Secret, and it fits my style better that most VS merch anyways.
So now that we're up to speed, I'll just keep posting as things happen. Comments welcome!
And to the end of every post, I will add:
Total spent so far: $100
Total remaining: $4,900
Hey Kathleen and Devin!
ReplyDeleteSince you're talking about vintage table centerpieces, I just wanted to let you know what I saw done at a wedding recently.
The brides mother decorated everything... and she was going for vintage fairy tea party - which is definitely a bit eccentric and very elegant. But they too bought all sorts of bottles, little statues, etc from Goodwill. Then, to "beautify" the centerpieces (as you say), they got lace doilies and leather-bound books (also purchased at Goodwill). It gave the centerpieces elegance with elevation!
There last touch was to add tea lights and candles to each table in whatever way they could. It was definitely very cool.
I don't know if this fits your style, but it is a cheap way to jazz up a center piece...
Hope you're doing well.
-Alli N.
Yep, Alli that's pretty close to what we're going for...we'll be adding ribbon/lace/candles/flowers as needed :) Maybe I will have to enlist you in helping to decorate!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know we were both Indiana brides! Yay! I'm happy to meet you and follow your wedding planning process. Love the blog.
ReplyDeleteSweet, I didn't know that! Small world :)
ReplyDelete