As promised, here is a glimpse into our big day! As a frugalista, I conscientiously looked at our entire budget and weighed what we deemed important (splurge) versus what I knew I could save on, all the while without compromising our sense of style and the overall experience we wanted our guests to enjoy.
What we splurged on:
- Venue & Food - Good food is very important to me and my newly-minted husband. We really know how to enjoy food. Sadly, budgetary limitations prevented us from choosing our first-choice. In serendipitous fashion, our decision to hold our wedding at the Richmond Golf & Country Club really suited my taste for modern luxury and my husband's love for picturesque, sprawling golf greens.
- Photography - Whether you're a once-only or experienced bride, you only get one chance to capture all the special moments on that day. Having the right photographer tell your story of your wedding day really helps. After all, there are no do-overs! We interviewed 3 professional and equally talented photographers and chose Katch Studios.
- Wedding Planner - Worth every penny, IMHO. Having an experienced wedding planner do the leg work for you is invaluable and we recommend considering one if you know exactly what you want but are unsure about how to go about obtaining it. We chose Leo Damien of Wish Events for his eye for exquisite and effortless-looking design.
What we saved on (pretty much everything else!):
Our Invitation
Your invitation is really the first point of communication that your wedding guests will see and helps to set the mood and style of your wedding. I found these gorgeous invitations at, of all places, Michaels. At 50 invitations per box, I needed 4 boxes to adequately invite the 200 guests on our list. But wait, I saved 50% on 3 of 4 boxes. How'd I swing that? For each purchase, my receipt offered 50% off 1 item on my next visit within a calendar week!
His Ring
His engagement proposal came to me as a complete surprise and therefore, I held no budgetary jurisdiction over the cost of my engagement ring (LOL)! Admittedly however, I do have discerning taste and only one other person, my maid of honour, knew that I longed for an Ascher-cut, conflict-free diamond. Thanks to his equally discerning taste, he opted for a non-traditional band, not made of gold but, made of tungsten carbide — an uniquely dense metal, so durable it won't bend, scratch, nor tarnish. Check out the many other styles of tungsten carbide rings at Black Tie Rings; you'll be surprised at how affordable these rings are!
Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into our special day! Let me know your thoughts on splurging and saving on your wedding by leaving me a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by,
yvrfrugalista
My Dress
Simply put, I could not stomach the idea of spending upwards of $1,000 on a dress that I would only wear for a few hours. This dress cost me only one-tenth of that! In total, I spent about $500 on 4 dresses of different silhouettes where 3 would serve as wardrobe in our engagement photo shoot. My veil was self-made using $5 worth of tulle and a hair comb from Michaels.
The Decor
Finally, the decor is what sets your wedding apart and helps to make the experience of your guests memorable. With the sophisticated mood set by our invitations, we chose decor that would carry that theme through to our wedding day; from Jeff Leatham-inspired flower arrangements at wholesale (thanks to our wedding planner), to the self-made card box for $10 (compared to $80 store-bought), to inexpensive, consumable party favours of M&M chocolates, I made sure to save wherever possible. Even our (fake) wedding cake, created by the wonderful Peter Fong of Ganache Patisserie, fit our desired theme to a tee!
Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into our special day! Let me know your thoughts on splurging and saving on your wedding by leaving me a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by,
yvrfrugalista
