DIY Wedding

Wedding under $10,000!!!

I'm located in Pittsburgh and I've been told over a million times the average wedding is $25,000, but sure, that's for people that HAVE that to blow. I'm determined to do my wedding under $10,000 and believe me i will!!!! I'm planning my own wedding and it's not them cheap sounding wedding that you Google for cheap ideas. My wedding guest list is 150-160 ppl, i have 7 bridesmaids, 2 jr. bridesmaids, 4 flower girls, 1 ring bearer and matching grooms men and jr. groomsmen.

So far i have SOOO MUCH DONE! my colors are the Tiffany blue and chocolate, and the perfect matched colors is David's Bridal Mermaid and Truffle. (Everyone will say it's the Pool that is Tiffany Blue, but i don't know what Tiffany Blue they are talking about, but the the one that actually MATCHES my Tiffany jewelry box is Mermaid lol). I got my dress at MB brides and i caught it on a 75% off sale =) and OMG i LOVEEEEEEEE it, i'll post pics later b/c i don't want my fiance to see it but it's ivory with sequences all on the top, it's strapless with pick-ups and a nice length train. So that was a bargain to begin with

My ceremony location is at the Rose Garden located in Renzi Park and it's just breath taking! A garden filled with only roses! How can you go wrong, and the price for a 2 hr block? $50! yes, fifty bucks!!!! My ceremony will start at 5:30 (no excuses to be late). The only downfall, lets just hope it's a nice day =)

My reception is my biggest task. My family is all about the soul food and so am i, but didn't want a huge dinner to make everyone sleepy. My mother is the best cook in the world! and my fiance is a chef so together with help, they are cooking. I know, i know, i know. When they first said that i was thinking WHAT! But we came up with a nice menu that will make it kind of easy and WAY cheaper than getting a caterer. We are ordering rotisserie chicken from Boston Markets (they have the BEST rotisserie chicken ever!) and it's less than $10 each and it's cut into 4 pieces, 2 white, 2 dark and that will feed 4 people! The second meat will be several Roasts. 3 different salads, red skinned garlic potatoes, fresh string beans, (and I'm not sure what else for sides) and fresh baked rolls.

For the decorations i am not able to post anything on the ceiling or walls, but the hall is new so at least the walls are extra clean, so i have someone doing lighting for $300 bucks! I purchased my satin table cover that are chocolate for round tables that fit 8-10 ppl. Yes for only $10 each!!!! WHAT A STEAL! and i purchased my table runners that are Tiffany Blue, i got them $4 each i believe, another great deal. I am renting my universal chocolate satin chair covers from hook-my-wedding-up.com b/c they have the cheapest price out! My centerpieces will be for 2 different kinds. 1 will be manzanita branches with crystals dripping from them, and i have about 30-40 branches that i will spray paint silver to make them pop. I took all the acrylic crystals at Michael's craft store they had on the shelf. They were $5 each =). The other centerpieces will be in tall Eiffel Tower vases 20inches, and i will fill it up with sparking water with blue food coloring and top it with silk hydrangeas.

I ordered my wedding invitations from Ann's Bridal Bargain at an unbelievable price and they look great! If your computer savvy like i am, i made my own response cards by downloading a fancy font, and printed it out on a nice parchment ivory paper and used the fancy design scissors to give it a nice edge. I also printed out directions to the ceremony location and i not quite finished with my ceremony program. I saw one on line that i just had to have and i made it myself and it turned out BETTER than the one i saw, I'll post pictures when I'm completely down with the project. I'm making the same design for my reception program.

For my favors i'm doing a huge candy buffet with some of our favorite candies as kids. Straws (sugar filled neon plastic straws), watermelon and peach sucker (big slice lolli pops), pop rocks, fund dips, caramel apple sucker (lollipops), ring pops, unicorn pops, lemon heads, war heads, crybaby tears, Swedish fish, gummy peach O's, apple O's and puffy strawberries, and soooo much more. I ordered small gift bags in dark brown on line, and i ordered a custom made rubber stamp from Etsi.com so that everything can be personalized and stamped the bags in the Tiffany blue. The other gift will be CD's with our favorite love songs like Butterfly by Alicia Keys, Her Heart by Anthony Hamilton, Dangerously in love by Beyonce and things like that and i printed out the CD case slips with the same logo on my stamp. I ordered 200 CD's and CD cases online for under $200.

My wedding cake is 3 huge tiers of cherry almond nut cake, in square. The cake is hard to explain but it's under $400 =) and the best cake i ever taste!

That's just a tiny bit of everything i have done and i would keep going but i have a crazy 18 month daughter who is a dare devil lol. I will keep you guys updated and feel free to ask questions!!!!