Hello all you lovely BSB readers!  My name’s Jenna and I’m absolutely delighted to be guest blogging here on Budget Savvy Bride.  I’m a 25-year-old administrative assistant (read: secretary) for a local government social services agency in Virginia. My fiancé David and I have been engaged for just over a year and have been together for almost two years.  David’s a power plant operator at a large power company and has what I like to call Gardening Ambitions.  We met through mutual friends and he swept me right off my feet.  After four months of dating we were practically living together and three months after that we officially were.  Three months after that, we came home after a night of board games and were talking about how much we loved each other (schmoopy, I know) and then he asked me how I’d feel about having a husband instead of a boyfriend!

I was totally shocked – at the time he was in nursing school and while I had made it known that if he asked I would say yes, I had figured we’d be waiting at least three more years before marriage became a real possibility.  Now, a year later, here we are!  We’ve both got ambitions (David’s, as I said, are gardening related; mine are more of a decorative sort) and practical heads on our shoulders so we’re definitely going into this whole wedding-planning shindig with our eyes on the prize: getting married.  Even now, in the midst of what feels like a moral crisis about catering options and the size (oh the SIZE) of our guest list, I just keep repeating to myself “we’ll end the day married, everything else is just icing.”  It’s kind of helping.

Anyways, enough panicking, more introductions! I’m a total nerd and a crafty, bookworm, DIY kinda gal.  In fact, this weekend David and I just replaced a toilet (ew), changed our oven hood (and didn’t catch anything on fire) and built ourselves some nightstands (without anyone bleeding).  You might gather from this that I’m also a bit of a klutz … and you wouldn’t be wrong!  I also enjoy scrapbooking, cooking and reading blogs when I’m supposed to be working.  This last habit has been particularly useful in gathering information and pretty, pretty pictures for wedding planning purposes.

Our wedding is set for September 17th at a lake house about 40 minutes from where we live.  It’s a tiki house (which will be a decorating challenge), and since it’s a private residence we’re pretty much on our own for planning and supplying everything for our 200-ish guests!

 

 

We’re lucky that we’ll have help (both monetary and otherwise) from our immediate families, but we’re still going to be super budget conscious because everything else will come out of our own pocket.  We definitely don’t want to have to give up any of our long term goals because we squandered money when it wasn’t necessary.  This isn’t to say we’re not excited about the planning, the crafting and the celebration, it’s just all about keeping things in perspective, which is what BSB is all about!  We don’t have a budget set in stone, but we’re hoping to come in under $14,000 for everything (including the rings, honeymoon, and the parts we’ll be getting help with).

I’m really looking forward to sharing all the ups, downs and fun times as we navigate the next four (oh my) months!

What was your budget?

10,000 for 50 people

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?
My Maid of Honor made all of the bouquets, and they were so perfect. I was in her wedding a few months prior, and noticed her bouquets were so cute. (And I was severely procrastinating on last minute details like bouquets..) So I had her make mine. Best of all, she’s used this as a springboard for starting her own business, Boyd Bouquets.

We also had a student photographer do all of our wedding photography. He had previous wedding experience, so it wasn’t too much of a gamble because we knew he did amazing work.

What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?
Don’t let the fear of a blizzard scare you out of your winter wonderland wedding, but make sure your contracts allow you to reschedule! You never know what’s going to happen. Our big day was originally supposed to be December 20th, 2009. Unfortunately, Virginia saw a historic blizzard that weekend and we had to reschedule. It was very frustrating, but luckily the venue (and most of our vendors) were able to make the new date. Be assertive! When I was interviewing a new wedding DJ the week before the rescheduled wedding, I asked if they were running any specials for that month. I ended up getting the last hour of the reception at no charge.

What was your biggest splurge?
Having the cannon lit off after the ceremony. While touring The Inn at Kelly’s Ford, Alex and I saw the cannon and jokingly asked the owner if they could light it off for us. I was a bit on the pricey side, but totally worth it. We all ran outside to watch the cannon, and it made for some adorable pictures.

What was your favorite detail?
My shoes! I got a pair of hot pink heels from David’s Bridal and put some gel inserts in them. So they were super comfortable and chic!

What is the most memorable moment of your day?
I work in the healthcare industry, so I made sure to get my ring fitted half a size smaller. I had heard horror stories from my coworkers about flinging off their wedding bands into the garbage after taking off gloves. The ring fits me jsut fine, and I never have to worry about losing it at work. The only problem.. Alex had a little bit of trouble getting it on. I ended up taking it from him and putting it on myself. Also, mid ceremony he asked me which hand it went on. (Can you tell we barely had a rehearsal?)

My vendors:
planning/officiant/flowers: Virginia Chilton

photography: David Mudre

hair/makeup:  Trish Langley

venue/catering: The Inn at Kelly”s Ford

bouquets: Boyd Bouquets

dress: David”s Bridal

bridesmaid dresses: Alfred Angelo

cake: Simply Sweet

DJ: Grenier & Sons

There’s just something about fall weddings… the rich colors just get me! The whimsical details from this wedding make me swoon- the pumpkins, the perfect plum pumps, the topsy turvy cake, and the curly monkey tails in the bouquets- all gorgeous- and captured perfectly by the ever-so-talented Kelli Nicole. I hope you all love these images from Emily and Andrew’s magical fall wedding as much as I do. You can find Emily’s full recaps from her wedding and other interesting tidbits at her blog, Sassy Smolak!

Where did you get married?
We got married in Mechanicsville, VA (just outside of the city of Richmond) at a lovely place called The Manor House.

What was your budget?
My budget was $20,000 but that was to include our honeymoon which ended up taking up $4,000 so we really did our wedding on $16,000. I am not totally sure of the breakdown but I feel I did well with the money I had.

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?
I love to craft and enjoy doing things for myself so Andrew and I got really into it. We made all the programs and any signage that was around. We even made huge signs by the road to direct to the venue that we painted added touches to. I also cut all the paper for the “wishing well” which was our guest book. It was really fun to see my work at the venue, made it more personal for us.

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?
Biggest thing we did to save money was research. We looked and looked for things before deciding on it. I bought a lot of things on sale and we made things for ourselves which helped too, truthfully it was just waiting to find the right price and not just buying it because it fit our needs.

What's the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you're on the other side?
Best advice for planning a wedding now that I am on the other side is to breathe! I know everyone always says this but it will work out and it does!!! I mean it rained on my wedding day and I still have wonderful photos and had a fabulous ceremony. I forgot my jewelry for have my photos but who cares because you aren't there for all the “stuff” you are there to celebrate the union of you with the one you love and of course to party?.

What was your biggest splurge?
I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but my biggest splurge was my dress. I always said I could never imagine spending thousands of dollars on a dress you wear once, but I suppose when you find what makes you feel beautiful you can't put a price tag on it. I spent 2 grand on my dress only after talking to my mother. She told me that I had done a fabulous job with the budget and that I had the money to splurge on the dress if that was what I wanted to do and I did so there you have it I wore 2000$ for just about 6 hours but it was totally worth it ?

What was your favorite detail?
My favorite detail for sure was the bottom of my shoes. I only bought them because they were the purple I wanted and were 4 inches high (since my husband is 6'9″ I needed some height. Well when they arrived I noticed that they had hearts in red on the bottom soles….I mean how perfect is that! I loved that for sure, but if I had to pick a second favorite detail it would be the guys screen printed ties. I found them on ETSY and have been in love with them ever since.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?
Most memorable moment would be our first look, we did the first look because we knew it was going to rain and I knew we didn't have a lot of time. So as I was coming down the stairs out of the house to meet Andrew, my knees were shaking I was so excited and nervous. When I tapped on his shoulder and he turned around he started to tear up and so did I. It was just such a lovely moment for both of us. I doubt I will ever forget it.

Vendors:

Venue — The Manor House
Photographer — Kelli Nicole Photography
Flowers — Strawberry Fields Florist
Catering — Sam Edwards Catering
Cake — A cake to remember
Makeup — Lou Stevens
Dress — Jingles
Jewelry — Lili Swan
Hair accessories — Dandy Apple
Guys Ties — Toy Breaker
Music — Choice Entertainment

Last week I shared Vicki‘s wedding, and this week I am sharing one that she coordinated! Check out the fun details of this colorful wedding in VA. I bet you already know that I love the color scheme.

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Where did you get married?

Manassas historic courthouse with the reception at an old candy factory turned art gallery in Downtown Manassas Virginia.

What was your budget?

20K and for the DC area and 100+ guest this can get tight.

What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?

Renting a Baby Grand and an old Elvis microphone for performances by our close friends and family.

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

Having the event on a Friday and selecting a venue that was unique with fit our aesthetic vision. This allowed us to cut back on decor cost because the venue was stunning with exposed brick walls, loft clings and old historic wood floors.

What's the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you're on the other side?

Find a venue the fits the look you are going for, it will be much more cost effective to make your vision come alive. Many of of New York quests even commented that they felt like they were in Manhattan in a jazz club and our wedding wouldn’t have had that feeling in a standard ballroom no mater how much was put into decor.

What was your biggest splurge?

Lounge furniture and the Baby Grand. It really made it feel like a jazz club and everyone just let loose and had an amazing night.

What was your favorite detail?

The escort cards were designed like old punch tickets and tables were names for renowned jazz musicians, like Holiday. The cards were then tied to bubble gum machines with a ribbon thru the punch. Everyone from the kids to the grandparents loved them and had a great favor to take home.

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

Daniel’s brothers preformed a medley of almost 20 songs for us that chronicled our relationship. We were seated directly in front of them as they sang and played the guitar. It was amazing and very touching.

Planner: My Simple Details
Photographer: Laura Kay
Caterer: R&R Catering
Venue: The Center For the Arts
DJ: Jeff Mercer
Florist: Growing Wild
Decor/Lighting: Gala Events