{Meg} M&M Final Wedding Recap
December 16th, 2011 | Author: Meg
You and your hubby’s names, and your wedding date?
I’m Meg, and my husband Matt and I got hitched on August 20th, 2011 in Simi Valley, CA, just northwest of Los Angeles.
What was your budget? If you are able, give us a rough breakdown of how you spent your budget.
Our budget was $10,000, and it broke down like this:
Venue: $2,750 Food: $1,360 Beverages: $750 Cake & Grooms cake: $403 Bride and Groom attire: $1,749 Flowers: $260 Decorations: $420 Photographer: $900 Video equipment (rental): $150 Invitations: $400 Rings: $225 Gifts & Favors: $750 Day of Coordinator: $300
Linens & rentals: $150 Marriage License: $90
Total: $10,657
How many guests did you have?
100 guests
What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?
We wanted our wedding to be fun, casual and romantic so we had an outdoor celebration under market lights and lanterns with no formal dinner or DJ. We served made to order crepes with summer salads along with appetizers from our favorite local bakery, Portos. Matt is a mathematician so we used mathematically significant numbers and symbols for our table numbers. We also featured our cat and other fun images that reflect us on miniature flags for our guests to wave during the recessional.
What was the biggest thing you did to save money?
We found a venue that we could use the whole weekend and gave us housing for the entire bridal party. The venue also included all our tables, chairs, and dining ware so we had to rent very little. We also saved a lot of money by using all of our talented friends and family members. Our good friend married us and also gifted us the audio equipment rental. Another friend made our custom photo booth as a gift to us and all my bridesmaids helped with making and setting up decorations. My maid of honor has amazing talent with florals so she purchased all our flowers wholesale and arranged them herself. We also used succulents to keep floral and decoration costs down. My mother in law made our cake topper and our guestbook bench. My brother filmed parts of the evening using a rented camera and made a video for us at no cost. A groomsmen managed the music we selected from his iPod. We found a great deal on photography on craigslist and we generally just tried not to spend on unnecessary things.
What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?
Focus on whats really important to you and disregard the other stuff. Be sure to stay organized and if you are doing things yourself or with the help of friends write down detailed instructions on what needs to be done so everyone can be on the same page. Enjoy the process and be open minded, sometimes the best deals or ideas are not in your initial vision.
What was your biggest splurge?
We really got a great deal on everything but I’d say initially we spent a lot on booze, luckily we were able to return all the unopened bottles to Beverages and More, so in the end our beverage cost was pretty low. Also my dress was a splurge but I sold it to recoup some of that cost.
What was your favorite detail?
The photo booth wall was so amazing because it was custom made for us and everyone had a blast hamming it up with the props.
What is the most memorable moment of your day?
When we were standing up at the ceremony and looking out at all our friends and family I was blown away by all the love I felt for us from everyone.