This is practicalprincess's Chocolate Wedding!

We've decided to have a fun, care free first anniversary party. We will save the big fancy renewal for a later date. Our party is sports themed. That includes cracker jacks, beer mugs, etc.

I've chosen our favors and they're super cool. Twenty year old factory sealed Fleer football cards. Some of them could be valuable. I think our guests will love them.

On the invites, I've instructed everyone to wear their favorite team apparel. I bought my shirt already and am looking for a pair of red skinny jeans and black pumps.

Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated as I know NOTHING about sports. It's more for my hubby than me. Thanks!

I wanted to share a few of my collages from our wedding in hopes that other brides who are having a casual, outdoor, or low budget wedding will be inspired by them. Hopefully, someone will see these and see that casual can be an inexpensive alternative to the uber-formal wedding and still be pretty.


I am also printing these out on 8 by 10 photo paper to create my wedding book.

We went to Bossier City, LA for our minimoon. We had sooooo much fun! The skyline is beautiful at night and the casinos are AWESOME! I am not a gambler but what better time to go than for a honeymoon. We ate delicious food, we stayed at an awesome hotel, and we got wasted at the casino. LOL, it was the most fun I had had in along time.

We went shopping on the Louisiana Boardwalk. They have lots of stores and shops that sell everything from clothes to chocolate covered fruit, mmm. We only stayed two nights so I guess it was more of a mini moon but it was well worth it.

I just thought that I should chime in about this since I have gone through it. If you have decided that you want a color wedding dress, first, be sure that it is really what you want. Lots of brides start out wanting color gowns but change their mind because of the pressure to fit in or be traditional. It is almost guaranteed that someone will try to change your mind but you have to stand your ground.

Also it may be hard to find the style of dress you want in tradional wedding stores and shops. But lots of stores offer a great variety in the bridesmaids section that can also double as wedding dresses. For instance, there are bridesmaids dresses with trains, sashes, crinolines, and everything that you will find with the more traditional white/ivory dresses. You can even add a crinoline to make the dress more full or fluffy if you like.

No one says you can't be 'bridal' in a non-white dress. You can add a veil, fascinator, tiara, anything you would add to any bridal attire to make it feel more 'bridal'. Be confident in your decision and OWN the dress and you will be a beatiful bride in your colored gown.

My vow renewal will be on May 4, 2013. I am shooting for a 'Night Club' feel. The attire is all white for EVERYONE. I have already settled on centerpieces, guestlist, narrowed it down to two venues, and now I'm searching for the perfect dress. There will be no kids, the party will start at 9 pm, and there will be lots of alcohol. These are the ones I love because they are pretty and look kind of like club attire. I am torn between these.

Which dress would you choose for my party atmosphere???

I have decided on the decor for our vow renewal, it will be all white and I would like it to have a club/lounge theme. The tables will be covered in white linens and the centerpieces will be lots of candles of varying sizes and heights on large mirrors. Our sweetheart table will have a tall white feather centerpiece surrounded by candles.

I want the walls to be draped in white fabric and I MUST HAVE a disco ball. Of course, there will be no kids there. It will begin at 9 pm and there will be an open bar.

I am so excited that all of my ideas are coming together and I can't wait to start buying stuff. If anyone has any ideas on how to make it more club/lounge like, I would love to hear them.

We set our budget at $1500.00. Yes, it's low, but we did it AND managed to save money.

The first thing on my list was a dress, I set myself a $200 limit for this. It might sound silly to some of you, but it is VERY possible. In my quest for the dress, I literally saw hundreds of dresses for under $200. In my case, I did not want white or anything in that family so I began to search bridesmaids and prom dresses. Even if you do want white, bridesmaids and prom dress stores carry a large number of dresses in white. Most people won't do this, but I hit the jackpot at a local Salvation army store and found my dress for 15 bucks! Can you imagine how happy I was?

The next thing was the venue. We agreed that we wanted outdoor. I had remembered that his family had held their family reunion at a local golf course/park. The price was only $125, that is $50 for the pavilion rental and a $75 deposit that will be returned after the event. The park is beautiful and very well kept. Then my invites, I did fifty of them at Walmart for 29 cents apiece and bought a box of fifty invitation envelopes for $5.

This is a rundown of the prices of everything else, this way, you can see where our money went. 8 table cloths $1.29 apiece, 8 table runners $1.99 apiece, 8 vases $1 apiece, 8 plates $1 apiece, 8 bunches of silk roses $1 apiece, 8 paper butterflies $2 total, 5 spools of brown ribbon $1 apiece, red and cream cardstock $3.50 apiece, stickers for fans $3, glue gun and sticks $5 total, food and drinks for 50 people $100, 2 disposeable cameras $10.00, tissue paper for pompoms 5 for $1 apiece, brown yarn $3, my sash(actually a shawl) $3.99, my necklace $10, earrings $1, my slippers $4, flip flops for our favors $1 apiece, cups and plates $12 total, utensils $2 total, his pants $50, his tie/shirt $20, his shoes $50, my tiara $15, my son's shirts $5 apiece, marriage license $27.50.

Then there are the family members and friends that helped us, my silk flowers for my bouquet were given to me by my cousin who got married before me. My mom bought my garter. Our officiant was free (father in law). My MIL brought a dish. My best friend purchased 2 large sandwich trays and a meat and cheese tray. My cousin who is a DJ provided his services as a gift. My SIL made our cakes as a gift. We had plenty of photos taken by our guests and sent to us.

The food: I spent only $100 on food. I bought 2 big bags of large shrimp, a large package of Lil Smokie's cocktail sausages, lots of veggies for a veggie tray+ranch dip and lots of fruit for a fruit tray, both of which I cut and arranged myself. Cookies and a variety of candy (we had a small red candy buffet).

I DIYed mostly every aspect of the wedding. I used the card stock to make fans to help guests to cope with the heat. I used the tissue paper to make pompom balls to hang from the ceiling using the brown yarn. I hot glued the butterflies to my roses as part of my centerpieces. I prepared my own food which was super simple. I also made my own bouquet plus the handpieces that my bridesmaids carried. I used a staple gun to hang curtains in the pavilion. They were so pretty!

I spent around $600 and I saved about $900 of the original budget and had an awesome and perfect wedding day.

Here are a few photos from our super personalized wedding day. My country boy groom chose Levi's. I chose a colored gown. The bridesmaids were allowed to choose they're own look. We had no unity ceremony (sand or candle) because a wedding IS a unity ceremony. I diyed EVERYTHING all by my lonesome and enjoyed every minute of it. I made the paper flowers that hung under the pavilion, the centerpieces, the invites, the programs, even my hair and make-up. It was wonderful and was a fun-filled family day in the park.

Me and my honey got married on May 4, 2012 in a casual, laid-back wedding with our family and close friends in attendance. It was picnic themed and super fun. We are now planning a one year vow renewal for our one year anniversary. It will be a huge bash. The attire will be semi-formal, all white. The guests will be wearing white, the decor will be white, everything will be white, with silver pops here and there. I honestly can't wait and am happy to be planning again. I will keep you updated on my progress. Suggestions are welcome. Thanks.