Did you do any DIY projects or create any handmade items for your wedding?
I made my own bouquet out of faux flowers from Michaels, incorporating faux succulents to go with the desert venue, which saved me quite a bit of money and I get to keep them forever! I might dismantle it and put the flowers around the house, still haven’t decided!
What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?
My grandmother was one of the very few people we told we were eloping and she gifted me her wedding band two weeks before we left. I wore it during our wedding as my something old and I wear it regularly now!
What is the most memorable moment of your day?
It was probably after the ceremony when we got back to the hotel. We were still all dressed up and wandering around the casino before dinner and it was touching to have strangers be so happy for us and give us well wishes!
What was the biggest thing you did to save money?
Eloping saved us a ton of money, and we tacked it on to a Las Vegas vacation to have a destination elopement! Since it was just the two of us we didn’t need to rent a big ceremony space or a reception venue and have all of the costs associated with that as well.
What was your biggest splurge?
Having a photographer (which is why we went with Simply Eloped as their packages included a photographer). Having photos to remember the day was important for me and everyone I know who has been married said the photographer was their best investment. I’ve since made a nice photo album with some of our favorite photos, money well spent!
What were your favorite details?
I loved when we popped the champagne and toasted ourselves! It also had the benefit of loosening us up for the remainder of the photography session! Doing a champagne toast is something we knew we wanted from day one, and when we realized we forgot to pack champagne flutes we made sure to purchase them when we purchased the champagne for our ceremony.
What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?
Do what feels best for you and your partner! We talked about having a surprise wedding or a small ceremony with our immediate family, but in the end, we decided on an elopement for a variety of reasons. We both have family out of state that would have to take a lot of time off to go to something like that. We wanted to do it relatively soon (our planning from start to finish ended up being less than three months!) so an elopement was easier to accomplish.
Also, neither of us likes to be in the spotlight so an intimate elopement just the two of us, with awesome photos (thank you Heather!) that we could share with friends and family later, was perfect for us.
