Our $5,000 Wedding

This spring I participated in Kari’s KouponsWeddings on a Dime feature. Seeing that today is Dominic and I’s 5 year anniversary (WOOHOO!), I thought it would be fitting to share the scoop on our frugal wedding! Hope you enjoy!


HOW WE MET … 
Dominic and I met while attending Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. We knew one another from a number of classes, but didn’t start officially dating until we became apartment neighbors during the late summer of 2006. We had both recently ended relationships and thanks to those, had a much better understanding of what we were looking for in a spouse. Our first date was a casual one to Olive Garden followed by many more and eventually a trip home to visit my family for Thanksgiving.

THE PROPOSAL
On May 18, 2007, Dominic proposed on the Portland Waterfront after a fancy dinner at Portland City Grill. I didn’t believe him when he got down on one knee. I actually told him to stand up and stop joking! We planned all the details of our special day over the summer and were married on August 24, 2007.

THE RINGS
When I was born, my Dad bought my Mom a 1/3 karat diamond necklace. The purpose of this gift was for her to enjoy it while I was growing up and then pass it on to me when I met Prince Charming. If Prince Charming got to know my parents and asked their permission to marry me, they planned to bless him with the diamond from my Mom’s necklace as a center stone for engagement ring. Of course, Dominic followed this plan perfectly and we had my Mom’s diamond set into a beautiful wedding band which we purchased on clearance for $467.

Dominic’s tungsten ring was purchased for about $250. We did opt for the insurance on his ring and it has already paid off! Since tungsten can’t be re-sized the insurance policy allowed for a ring exchange if needed. Dominic lost quite a bit of weight while I was pregnant with our first child and his ring was constantly falling off so we’ve already exchanged it for a new, better fitting one!

WEDDING ATTIRE
My dress is one of my most favorite stories in preparing for our wedding. After a disappointing visit to David’s Bridal and a super chic (read “too expensive”) boutique I stumbled into a shop in downtown Olympia where I had purchased a prom dress years earlier. In the back corner of Doria’s I saw what I hoped would be the dress. And, after a quick try-on … it was! It was a beautiful mix of lace and raw silk and was on clearance for a mere $214 which included alterations! For the rest of my outfit I found “something borrowed” in both my veil (from bridesmaid Leah) and my shoes (from sister Hannah). A dear friend (Denise) gifted me with hair and make-up on the day of the wedding so that wasn’t an addition expense.

For Dominic, we decided to purchase a suit knowing that he would get much more use out of in the future. We purchased it at Men’s Wearhouse for roughly $300 including the necessary alterations. He had the chance to wear it multiple times on our honeymoon cruise the following week.

BRIDESMAIDS & GROOMSMEN
As a gift to my bridesmaids we purchased their matching shoes and my Dad strung my pearl necklace and each of theirs from supplies we purchased at a bead shop. The total was about $350 (including the multi-strand necklace I wore). Each of my bridesmaids chose their own black cocktail dress so they could stay within their personal budget.

Since Dominic bought a suit, we gifted his free tux to his best man/brother. As groomsmen gifts, we purchased Leatherman multi-tools from Costco for about $140 total.

LOCATION
Creating a “feel” for the environment for our wedding was really important to me. We opted to host our wedding at The Aerie Ballroom in Centralia, Washington. I looked at quite a few ballroom type settings between Seattle and Portland and this was by far the most affordable option.

To save a bit on the rental cost, we decided to get married on a Friday night instead of a weekend day. For the grand ballroom, kitchen and spare room (for our rehearsal lunch), banquet hall, and 2 upstairs rooms for getting ready we paid a total of $1,150.

INVITATIONS & PROGRAMS
Between design, supplies, and postage for 300 invitations and programs we paid almost $1000. Not cheap, but it played into my hope od creating a fancy feel for our special day. Since we were so blessed with decorations and photography I felt like I had a little wiggle room to splurge on these. To this day, I still LOVE how they turned out!

FLOWERS & PHOTOGRAPHY
Back in the day bartering was much more popular than it is now. Thankfully, it’s an art my Dad has kept up! As a side business he offers personal and business tax preparation and was able to trade for both my wedding decor and photography.  I’m indebted to him for life :)

The florist we worked with contributed linens, seat covers, ceremony arch, center piece vases, and a set-up/tear-down team. We paid the wholesale cost of the actual flowers which was $700.

Instead of a traditional guest book we opted to have family and friends sign picture frames. The frames were purchased on sale at Target for a total of $40 and have made lovely wall decor in our home.

Our photographer, Christine of LCS Photography, is the most amazing photo journalist out there. Worth every penny she charges! I am so blessed to have had her capture my wedding. Christine is now our official family photographer and since the wedding has done 3 rounds of family photos and we’re about to begin my 2nd maternity photo shoot with her.

FOOD & REFRESHMENTS
Our wedding began at 7pm, so we opted to provide a dessert bar after the ceremony. Neither Dominic or I are big cake fans so we served Costco cheesecakes as our main dessert! At a mere $10 each we spent $200.

In addition to cheesecake our church donated chocolate fountains and a group of my Mom’s friends donated fresh fruit as cheesecake toppings and fun treats to dip into the fountains.

We splurged on champagne and sparkling cider for toasts – both from Costco, and spent about $250 on these beverages, lemonade, and water.

MUSIC & OTHER DETAILS
Dominic connected with an old friend who DJ’ed our reception for $200. We also had miscellaneous expenses like the officiant fee and a few tips for folks who sang and helped with various coordination.


A church friend offered his videography services to create an introduction slideshow for the beginning of the ceremony for a discounted price of $150 and since the wedding ended so late we decided to skip a fancy car and just leave the ballroom in Dominic’s truck.

All in all it was the perfect wedding totaling about $4,411 … everything I envisioned with the blessing of beginning a new life with my handsome husband. I’m still so thankful to the Lord for bringing him into my life!

 
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Comments

  1. says

    Wow your wedding was so pretty! I would've never guessed it was less than $5,000.

  2. Katie Shannon says

    Ours was less than $5,000 too and even though it was to me it was perfect :) Your dress was gorgeous!!!

  3. says

    I loved how awesome everything turned out and how smart you were about everything! less than $5,000 that's amazing!

  4. discoverystreet says

    gorgeous! We had about double that for our budget–creativity can lead to stunning weddings!

  5. ThatMamaGretchen says

    Thanks so much – I loved my dress! One of these days I think it would be fun to have anniversary pictures taken in my dress. Dominic still has his suit and once some of this baby weight comes off I ::should:: be able to fit into my dress again :)

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