There are few things I like more than seeing a glamorous wedding on a budget, and Katrina and Connell did a great job of creating an event with lots of glam! The purple color scheme, the glitter accents and beautiful flowers all came together perfectly to create a beautiful event full of glitz. And how fun is their custom-made cake topper? Enjoy this glamorous, purple wedding from Georgia! xoxo, Jessica

Katrina + Connell

August 9, 2015

Atlanta, GA | Villa Christina

What was your budget? 

$20,000 was our maximum budget.

The all-inclusive venue: $13,000

The photographer: $1,100

Our wedding planner: $1,200

Flowers: $500

Photo booth/props: $410

Live butterflies: $175

Décor (table linen, napkins, centerpieces, place cards): $400

Makeup: $120

Hair: $50

Canvas wedding guestbook: $80

Candy table: $200

Invitations: $400

Wedding dress, shoes, and accessories: $950

DJ: $300

Cake cutter and topper: $140

Transportation: $400

Officiant: $300

How many guests did you have?

120

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

Our centerpieces were wine glasses turned upside down, flowers inside the glass with candle votives on top of the glass.  Instead of having table numbers on the cards we gave the table romantic street names for example, Partnership Park and Honeymoon Avenue.  Instead of doing the normal first dance I choreographed a dance and we did a time hop through generations of 5 songs, starting with the 1960’s (“My Girl”) and ending in 2015 (“Hit The Quan”).

What was the biggest thing you did to save money?

I think most brides don’t know that most vendors in the wedding industry all network with each other.  You can book your wedding planner who will give you a discount of you book another vendor that he/she has a work relationship with.  All of my vendors had a professional relationship with each other. Because I booked within that circle, I received discounts.

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

Your day will not be perfect, but your guests will not know that almost everything went wrong.  Try to not get so caught up on making sure every detail is perfect that you forget to enjoy the moment.  Hire a day of coordinator at the very least, in order to take care of final details and décor.  Make sure you sit down with your photographer and go over a shot list, telling him/her everything that you want photos of including certain family members.  No matter how tired you are, take time out to get photos of you and your new spouse right after the ceremony.  Last but not least, sometime after the ceremony or during the reception, take 15 minutes alone with your new spouse to take in the moment and breathe for a little bit.  Duck off to the changing room  or some type of secluded area.

What was your biggest splurge?

It would have to be between the cake topper and the live butterflies.  The cake topper was custom made and it cost $90.  I fell in love with the cake topper and it really represented us a couple.  The live butterflies, which were released during the ceremony when we kissed was absolutely beautiful, however, it was a luxury.

What was your favorite detail?

The cake and cake topper, hands down!  My husband loves football, so our cake topper was the bride pulling the groom away from the TV which had a picture of his favorite football team (the Patriots) on it. 

What is the most memorable moment of your day?

My husband is 5’4” and I am 5’9.5”.  People always joke about our height difference so we decided to play a joke of our own.  Right before the Pastor said, ‘you may now kiss your bride” my husband stopped the ceremony and had his Best Man bring out a foot stool to stand on so that he would tower over me for our kiss.

VENDORS

Photography: M & A Photography • Photo Booth: Say Cheese Atlanta • Florist: Festive Creations • Planner: A.M.E.E Event Planning