All photos by Chelle Wootten Photography
The Venue
We knew we wanted a casual backyard wedding, so Adam's parents' beautiful lakeside home was a natural choice. We were thrilled when they agreed to host our big day. We rented a tent in case of rain, along with chairs, tables, tablecloths, mini lights and a portable toilet. The venue was free, but the rentals set us back $1,626.
The Flowers
We saved a ton of money by ordering hydrangea stems from a local florist and making bouquets ourselves. My bridesmaids - two of my best friends from university - carried single white hydrangea stems and I carried a mixed bouquet of green and white stems. The morning of the wedding, I stopped by a florist shop and picked up a few bouquets of spray roses and snapdragons to decorate the reception site, and a calla lily for my hair. My mom was nice enough to purchase the flowers for the bouquets and I spent $90 on flowers.
I ordered fabric boutonnieres for Adam and his groomsmen/brothers from a seller on Etsy (she's Canadian!), which looked great (unfortunately Adam managed to lose his somewhere between the ceremony and our photos, haha). I paid $17 for four boutonnieres and I saved one to keep as a memento (I'm planning to include it in a future wedding shadow box project).
Attire
I actually bought my dress online, but since it was only $150 (courtesy of a big Bloomingdales' sale) I wasn't too worried about it not working out. With the cost of my shoes and dress alterations, I spent $328 in total. My earrings were a lovely gift from my new mother-in-law.
Adam decided to take advantage of a 2 for 1 deal and bought his suit instead of renting a tux. It was definitely more costly this way, but now he has three really nice suits to choose from for special events (that's a lot of suits for a musician). The store gave him a $50 coupon towards his dress shirt and we bought his and the groomsmen's ties at H&M. It all came to $737.
Hair + Make-up
My bridesmaids and I got our hair done at my favourite salon and did our make-up ourselves. I loved my 'do and it stayed in place all night, so it was money well-spent. I paid for the girls' hair as well, so the total cost was $290.
Music
Adam's bandmates and a friend played during the ceremony and we used a laptop during the reception, so we only spent $112 to rent a PA system.
Officiant
Adam's best friend's father was nice enough to marry us for free! He did a fantastic job and really captured what we wanted the day to be all about.
Photography
This was our wedding splurge, but considering that we had two photographers and their assistant for the entire day, received a CD with more than 300 photos to print and use as we please and had a bonus engagement shoot, the $1,500 price tag was a steal. Photography was one of the most important elements of the day for me and, as you can tell from the photos above, it was worth every penny (and then some).
Transportation
Since my parents' friends were generous enough to let me and my bridesmaids get ready at their cottage up the road from Adam's parents' place (they let Adam and I spend the night there too), we just used our own cars to get to and from the wedding site. Since there was limited parking at the lake, we hired a bus to transport guests to and from the wedding/reception. I'm really glad we did, since it meant our guests didn't have to worry about the cost or hassle of cabbing it (did I mention we were out in the boonies?) and we didn't have to worry about anyone drinking and driving. The cost of the bus was $518.
Decorations + Favours
I made what felt like a million tissue paper pom-poms, which my bridesmaids and a few friends faithfully fluffed. I also made tissue paper dahlia favours, but unlike Martha's, I filled each "flower" with five jordan almonds, symbolizing five wishes for the bride and groom - health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity - and a little nod to my Italian side. The centerpieces were another DIY project, as were the pocket-sized wedding programs, but my favourite was definitely the guestbook - I cut out pieces of cardstock for guests to write messages on and tape into the book with some pretty Japanese washi tape (another Etsy purchase). We received some really sweet and funny messages and I'm so glad we have this memento of the day. In total, we spent around $325 on decorations and favours.
Food + Drink
We opted for a "dressed up BBQ" over a traditional seated meal. We set up several different seating areas around the lawn, along with four high-top tables. I really liked how this allowed guests to mingle and chat, and it made the event feel more like a party than a "reception" - exactly what we wanted to achieve. Adam's parents were kind enough to cover the cost of the food and wine (which Adam's dad made with a friend), and we hired a talented chef friend to put it all together. He put on an amazing spread, which both vegetarians (me and Adam included) and meat-eaters raved about. For dessert, friends made delicious cupcakes (which I decorated with my DIY seating cards-turned-toppers) and a variety of pies - both options were a big hit with our guests. We opted for paper napkins and plastic cutlery and dishes (Adam's band was playing a big gig the next day so we needed to keep clean-up simple), which seemed to work with our "dressed up BBQ" vibe. We spent $660 on our chef and two servers and another $875 on beer, soda and water (which guests could grab out of a canoe filled with ice), napkins, dishes, those awesome wine labels (designed by friends), and a wine tub and beverage dispenser (which we'll be able to use for future parties).
Invitations + Thank-yous
We asked some talented friends to design our invitations, which we screenprinted ourselves. I used a gift card to purchase our thank you notes, but we spent about $150 on the invites, envelopes and postage.
In short, here's how it all breaks down:
Venue: $1,626
Flowers: $107
Attire: $1,060
Hair + Make-up: $290
Music: $112
Photography: $1,500
Transportation: $518
Decorations + Favours: $325
Food + Drink: $1,535
Invitations + Thank-yous: $150
TOTAL: $7,223 (a big thanks to my parents, who helped us out with a large portion of these costs)
