*Does a happy dance and squeel*
Now it's time to focus on the nitty gritty. What do I have figured out? This...
1. My half of the wedding party. It will be my daughter and youngest two nieces as flower girls, my little sister as my maid of honor, my best friend as my bridesmaid and my oldest niece as my usher\junior bridesmaid.
2. The wardrobe -- Flower girls - white sundresses
Ring bearers - black jeans, white button up shirt, red bow tie
Bridesmaid\Maid of Honor\Junior Bridesmaid - black dress, mid calf length, maybe a red sash...maybe
Groomsmen\etc - black jeans, red button up shirt
Groom - Black jeans, white button up shirt, red tie
Father of the bride - black jeans, white button up shirt (what's your opinion - tie or no tie?)
Bride - gorgeous wedding dress...still need to buy the veil and the slip so the picture will come, just not quite yet
3. The flowers - calla lilies and red roses
This is what I want for my bouquet. The guys will have a calla lily for their boutinerre, except the groom, fathers, and ring bearers. They will have a red rose. The mothers will have red rose corsages and the flower girls will throw red rose petals. The bridesmaids will carry this
4. The reception dinner - hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, potato chips, pasta salad
5. The cake
Where this shows green, it will be red to match my colors. A very dear friend of mine (and my dd's uncle's gf on her father's side) works at Hyvee in the bakery and loves to decorate cakes as much as I do. She has agreed to do this cake for me.
6. The venue
-The wedding is going to be held in a small church in Nevada. Jaime has lived in Nevada all of her life. I have grown up aroudn this area and this is the same church my older sister was married in some 12 years ago. It is a sentimental choice for me, Jaime likes the smaller area and it has gorgeous stain glass windows. Plus it has a fellowship hall that we can use to have the rehearsal dinner (taking out the time of driving somewhere else after the rehearsal. And with small children, that is GREAT)
-The reception is going to be held at a company hall. My mother and brother-in-law both work at a factory in ames that has a rec building. I can get this FOR FREE. I have to pay a $25 deposit that I get back afterwards as long as I clean up after the reception. I can have my best friend's hubby bring his grill (a tailgating grill that can hold 100 hamburgers) and, if the weather cooperates, we can spend the time outside. Plus there is a basketball court and baseball diamond that the guests can amuse themselves (or the males can get themselves into trouble for not dancing with their significant others lol)
7. Photography - Currently I am going to have my sister, my daughter's nana (again on the other side) and other family members take pictures with their digital cameras. I will then have them email me ALL of the pictures (or I will give them CDs to send to me) and pick out my favorite. On top of that my older sister has a friend who will turn a photo into a canvas art for me. I'm thinking I definitely need a picture of Jaime, Alexis and myself.
8. Invitations. I made my invitations completely by myself. I am sending them to Staples to print them for me. My total budget at this point, including deposits is looking like this
$25 deposit for reception venue
$100 for the pianist (this is still not decided for sure)
$100 for the use of the church
$200 for the fee for the pastor
$150 for the use of the fellowship hall and kitchen
$45 for my wedding dress (and yes I've paid this already)
$83 for invitations (printing and mailing)
This comes to a total of $703
I still will have to pay for flowers, my daughters dress, my slip, my veil, food for the rehearsal dinner (my dad is paying for the reception dinner), the cake, and decorations. My goal had been to stay under $1000...I don't think it's going to happen. But I have a plan. And this plan includes sites such as Craigslist and Ebay. And hopefully this will help!
If you have any ideas on how to help keep the costs down, PLEASE PLEASE leave a comment below.
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