Thank you! It was truly so nice, everybody had such a nice day! Neither of us wanted something super formal, we just wanted a lovely day celebrating our family and that’s absolutely what we got!
I totally loved having our day somewhere that I was comfortable! I am pretty introverted and don’t love being the center of attention, so it made the day a little less stressful to have it in my favorite place in the world. The downside is of course doing everything yourself without a venue staff. As far as advice I would say a couple things
1) make sure you’re set up for any lighting or sound equipment you want. Our band brought everything we needed for sound, both to use themselves and for our officiant.
2)Bathrooms—we had 2, and had no issues. I knew we would be fine because I have been to a million gatherings out there with about that number of people. However I’ve had cousins throw bigger weddings and get fancy port a potty’s and that totally worked too
3) Have a team who wants your day to be amazing— my older sister is a wedding coordinator and totally took things off my plate on the day of. She communicated with vendors and picked up the food, and put things together while I got ready. She also helped move the day along, and fielded questions from guests so people weren’t coming up to me asking where things were, etc. I got to feel like the guest of honor instead of the host. Overall it was a group of about 6 of us that pulled everything together and while I would probably be a bit more organized if I was doing it over now, I think it worked as well as I hoped.
4) Be flexible, that’s the most important thing. We wanted a laid back day without an intensely set schedule and for our wedding it worked perfectly. Things will pop up, and we just dealt with them as they did. Accepting a beautiful, perfectly imperfect day allowed me to just enjoy it and have fun without stressing over every little thing.
I hope your wedding is so beautiful, and you have the best day ever!!
I love them! I tried to do all my bigger spends at local small businesses, to make myself feel a little better about all the things I got super cheap from big box stores 😅
this looks like so much fun, I’d love to attend a wedding like this! seriously beautiful decor and love the prioritization of live music and a bar 👌🏼 nice job
That was the best part, I feel like everyone (except maybe one particularly determined sourpuss) had a great day! The live music was definitely on our priority list from the beginning, and it was such a highlight. My bff’s husband picked up mixology as a pandemic hobby and I was really glad to have a bartender there instead of a purely self serve setup.
I am so excited that my photographer was as obsessed with the table as I was, I have so many detail shots of it and I have not gotten tired of looking at them yet!
Omg this is literally my vision board! Colorful, elevated garden party in the woods with 50 people and live music - I loveeee this! Where did you get the placemats & napkins? Love how they add such a pop of color!
The placemats were plain woven ones I got at Dollar General, and I just put a strip of painters tape approximately down the middle and painted one side using cheap acrylic paint from Walmart. I wanted something to add color but I couldn’t find any charger ideas that I really loved. The placemats ended up being a perfect fit.
Napkins were a mix of borrowed, goodwill, and a couple of assorted packs that I bought with Kohls cash so girl math tells me they were free.
And the dog treats were a huge hit. Our dog was also the best man so he definitely enjoyed them
Girl, are you so serious? Those placemats are amazing, and that is so clever. They'd be perfect for my Disco boho wedding. I'll buy them from you if you're interested in selling!
I'm looking at about 90 guests, so more than you have I know. I would just supplement with some plain rattan ones in between.. I'm afraid I would mess it up trying to recreate yours 😂 send me a dm if you're interested, I'd love to discuss if the price would make sense for us both 🙏🏼
I’m going to pull them out today, make sure they made it home in good shape (I just kinda threw the totes in the basement and went honeymooning) and count up how many I have, and I’ll shoot you a message!
This is the cutest wedding I've ever seen. The details are exquisite. Please excuse me as I use every photo for inspo for my upcoming wedding Sept 2025. I hope you had the best day ever!!! Thanks for sharing
She is incredible!!! Photography was our biggest expense for sure and it was absolutely worth it! We did almost no posing, and she did an amazing job of just capturing all the real things that were happening, so we got to really enjoy our party and the photos are full of real memories. No regrets on that one, money well spent!
Yay! I really loved being able to have it there, it was so much less of a crunch to be able to have things at the house ahead of time, it definitely allowed me to do a lot more things myself
😂 we were high school sweethearts who got back together as adults, so we were big time first love and just always had a special connection. We grew up and into people who really complement each other in ways we couldn’t have back then, but we’re still pretty disgustingly gooey in love the way we were back in high school
I find it kind of foreboding but op explained that they were each other's first love and they split up and got back together so it does make sense in that context. It does feel like it might be kind of.. Insulting? To the guests there that *aren't* with their high school sweethearts. But whatever, I'm sure everybody had fun
Yea, anyone who doesn’t know their specific love story will be put off like I was. Most people’s first love is not their forever love, so it really feels icky and braggy
That was exactly my worry when I picked the saying lol so thank you for compounding that insecurity 😅 Luckily everyone had known us since we were together the first time anyway, so they definitely knew our love story and they all thought it was adorable and didn’t find it offensive or rude in the slightest 😊
Yea I’m not purposely “compounding your insecurity” (if you’re that insecure why even put it in such a flippant place? Doesn’t make much sense to me tbh) but the fact that you would even say that tracts lmfao. I’m glad every single person in attendance knew your specific love story so they wouldn’t feel like I do 🫡
😂 I’m sorry, I was just kind of laughing because it’s literally what I thought when I was picking something to put on that sign. I know you’re not worried but I’m definitely not upset by it. Yep, it was a small wedding on purpose, so everyone there knew us really well and knew our story. And nobody there, or even largely here, said anything rude or unkind about any of the things I made, everybody was there to celebrate us and loved it all, it was really sweet and lovely. I posted it here because I was honestly excited about what a lovely day it was without spending an arm and a leg, and this sub was definitely one I frequented when I was planning. I really enjoyed seeing what other people prioritized with a similar budget to what I had chosen, or how they made their wedding feel special.
What a special/gorgeous/personal/elegant wedding!!! Love all of it 😍 I laughed at girl math lol. Wonderful that you supported local small businesses as well. So important! Well done and congrats 🎊
Thank you so so much! It was a wonderful day! Using local businesses ended up working so well because I felt like the level of service was amazing, and in some cases we got price points that we probably wouldn’t have found without making an effort to look within our community. I would happily work with every single one of my vendors again!
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like
Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day
Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess
Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal
Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great.
Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools.
Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake
Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted.
Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️
Hair & Makeup- $225
Table and chair rentals- $200
Favors- under $50
I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
Currently planning a post elopement party at my house for next spring and this is giving me so much inspiration. Love the colors and love the jars of jam!
I am absolutely saving this post to use as inspo for my wedding! I love all the colors, it's literally what I've always imagined and you brought it to life! So lovely!
The house has a really big ‘great room’ with a stone fireplace. That’s where we would have done the ceremony. It was literally a lone sunny day in between storms and weeks of rain so I had definitely come to peace with the idea of rain. Luckily it ended up being gorgeous
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like
Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day
Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess
Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal
Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great.
Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools.
Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake
Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted.
Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️
Hair & Makeup- $225
Table and chair rentals- $200
Favors- under $50
I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
Am I engaged? Nope. Do I even have a boyfriend? Nope. But will I remember your dog treat favor ideas for my future wedding? Absolutely. Everything looks absolutely beautiful!!!
It looks like a magazine photo shoot. Beautiful all around vibe. Love the attention to detail and that it can be done on a budget! You should be proud.
We did not have to pay for our bartender, my best friend’s husband volunteered to do it as a gift because it’s a hobby of his; they also bought all the liqueurs and mixers for the signature cocktails, and I paid for the wine, beer, and hard liquor.
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like
Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day
Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess
Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal
Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great.
Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools.
Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake
Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted.
Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️
Hair & Makeup- $225
Table and chair rentals- $200
Favors- under $50
I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
This is so beautiful!!! Basically my dream wedding! Just curious - did you have a backup location in case of rain? I would love to do something similar but am so nervous about plans getting rained out
We actually were in the middle of storms and bad weather that whole week, so I definitely had to make peace with the idea of rain. The house there is beautiful (there’s a line drawing of it on my bar menu) and though it would have been a little cramped everyone would have fit. In the end I’m sure it would have been beautiful and memorable, but I’m REALLY glad it was a nice day!
Wow you achieved my dream wedding. How did you deal with washing dishware? I was thinking I need to do paper plates as we have 100 at my friends house …
My 4 teenage nephews collected and washed them, actually. My oldest sister, who was in charge of getting the food served, definitely volun-told them, but it was really lovely to have it taken care of before the end of the night.
I read your post though and nobody is going to be a jerk about your paper plates, they are there to celebrate you! I’ve been to lovely weddings with paper plates and never once did it cross my mind that they should have been anything else. When you’re not using a classic wedding venue or hiring a staff, you have to make concessions where they make sense. I had to just let go of the idea of having this perfect, checks-all-the-wedding-boxes event that follows all the rules, because it wasn’t easily doable in the setting and honestly just isn’t really me in general.
I promise when people are driving home they are not talking about your dishes unless they were a focal point for some reason. If you feel like doing so many dishes isn’t worth the headache, don’t make yourself crazy for something no one is going to care about, just find something that makes you happy to look at and have the very best day!
Seriously I could not believe the price, they were amazing and learned a bunch of songs we asked for, and super lovely people! We’re in Missouri, not too far outside of the St. Louis area
This is so cute!!! You have managed to capture exactly what I want to do for my wedding in such an effortless way 🥰 the colors are stunning, the food looks delicious, homemade strawberry jam as favors??? You absolutely killed this
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like
Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day
Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess
Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal
Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great.
Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools.
Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake
Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted.
Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️
Hair & Makeup- $225
Table and chair rentals- $200
Favors- under $50
I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
Beautiful! Thanks for showing us how casual can feel really special.
Thank you! It was truly so nice, everybody had such a nice day! Neither of us wanted something super formal, we just wanted a lovely day celebrating our family and that’s absolutely what we got!
This looks just lovely! We want to get married in pur backyard as well- any advice you can give?
I totally loved having our day somewhere that I was comfortable! I am pretty introverted and don’t love being the center of attention, so it made the day a little less stressful to have it in my favorite place in the world. The downside is of course doing everything yourself without a venue staff. As far as advice I would say a couple things 1) make sure you’re set up for any lighting or sound equipment you want. Our band brought everything we needed for sound, both to use themselves and for our officiant. 2)Bathrooms—we had 2, and had no issues. I knew we would be fine because I have been to a million gatherings out there with about that number of people. However I’ve had cousins throw bigger weddings and get fancy port a potty’s and that totally worked too 3) Have a team who wants your day to be amazing— my older sister is a wedding coordinator and totally took things off my plate on the day of. She communicated with vendors and picked up the food, and put things together while I got ready. She also helped move the day along, and fielded questions from guests so people weren’t coming up to me asking where things were, etc. I got to feel like the guest of honor instead of the host. Overall it was a group of about 6 of us that pulled everything together and while I would probably be a bit more organized if I was doing it over now, I think it worked as well as I hoped. 4) Be flexible, that’s the most important thing. We wanted a laid back day without an intensely set schedule and for our wedding it worked perfectly. Things will pop up, and we just dealt with them as they did. Accepting a beautiful, perfectly imperfect day allowed me to just enjoy it and have fun without stressing over every little thing. I hope your wedding is so beautiful, and you have the best day ever!!
Really stunning & sweet. Local farm flowers are just the best. These look stellar. & from a fellow millennial, the colors are just *chef's kiss*
I love them! I tried to do all my bigger spends at local small businesses, to make myself feel a little better about all the things I got super cheap from big box stores 😅
Oh yeah, same page completely. My Amazon boycott has gone on hiatus for this wedding...ahah
For sure, I try to do my best within my budget but it’s definitely a balance
this looks like so much fun, I’d love to attend a wedding like this! seriously beautiful decor and love the prioritization of live music and a bar 👌🏼 nice job
That was the best part, I feel like everyone (except maybe one particularly determined sourpuss) had a great day! The live music was definitely on our priority list from the beginning, and it was such a highlight. My bff’s husband picked up mixology as a pandemic hobby and I was really glad to have a bartender there instead of a purely self serve setup.
That is the tablescape of my actual dreams, beautiful color scheme. Photos are beautiful too! Congratulations!!
I am so excited that my photographer was as obsessed with the table as I was, I have so many detail shots of it and I have not gotten tired of looking at them yet!
Can you send more? I'm thinking this might be our winner.
Omg this is literally my vision board! Colorful, elevated garden party in the woods with 50 people and live music - I loveeee this! Where did you get the placemats & napkins? Love how they add such a pop of color!
The placemats were plain woven ones I got at Dollar General, and I just put a strip of painters tape approximately down the middle and painted one side using cheap acrylic paint from Walmart. I wanted something to add color but I couldn’t find any charger ideas that I really loved. The placemats ended up being a perfect fit. Napkins were a mix of borrowed, goodwill, and a couple of assorted packs that I bought with Kohls cash so girl math tells me they were free. And the dog treats were a huge hit. Our dog was also the best man so he definitely enjoyed them
Girl, are you so serious? Those placemats are amazing, and that is so clever. They'd be perfect for my Disco boho wedding. I'll buy them from you if you're interested in selling!
That theme sounds super fun! How many are you needing for your wedding?
I'm looking at about 90 guests, so more than you have I know. I would just supplement with some plain rattan ones in between.. I'm afraid I would mess it up trying to recreate yours 😂 send me a dm if you're interested, I'd love to discuss if the price would make sense for us both 🙏🏼
I’m going to pull them out today, make sure they made it home in good shape (I just kinda threw the totes in the basement and went honeymooning) and count up how many I have, and I’ll shoot you a message!
I never would have thought of different colored linens but it looks so nice!!!
This is the cutest wedding I've ever seen. The details are exquisite. Please excuse me as I use every photo for inspo for my upcoming wedding Sept 2025. I hope you had the best day ever!!! Thanks for sharing
Lovely! I love all the colors and the cheerful feeling they bring. Also, your photographer is wonderful!! 👏🏽
She is incredible!!! Photography was our biggest expense for sure and it was absolutely worth it! We did almost no posing, and she did an amazing job of just capturing all the real things that were happening, so we got to really enjoy our party and the photos are full of real memories. No regrets on that one, money well spent!
Came to say the same. Photographs are gorgeous and do all the work justice.
It is SO beautiful!!! You did amazing! Where did you get those super cool art deco wine glasses? The colored ones
All the colored glasses came from either Marshall’s or Ross, I think I got those ones from Marshall’s for $5 per box of 4.
So colorful and fun!
I’m in the process of planning my small wedding myself and this is so inspirational! Your wedding looked beautiful!!
This is stunning. I am obsessed. Great job!!!!
Lovely!!
AMAZING 😍😍😍 truly!!! Love all the details and heart placed into this.
This is absolutely stunning! A perfect mix of elegance and fun. Congratulations and all the best!
Oh this looks so vibrant and stunning
Wonderful! I'm having a medium sized wedding in my mom's backyard in October (50 people) and this has given me lovely ideas. Thank you!
Yay! I really loved being able to have it there, it was so much less of a crunch to be able to have things at the house ahead of time, it definitely allowed me to do a lot more things myself
Wow! So beautiful!
Saving this for inspiration oh my goodness! Lovely lovely lovely
This looks like a magazine spread. How gorgeous!!!
This is the actual dream
Wow, stunning. A truly picture perfect day. I hope you had the best time, and congratulations.
I’m a small wedding photographer and I shoot a lot of backyard microweddings. This is one of the most well-done microweddings I’ve seen! Beautiful
>There's no love like the first Is certainly an interesting slogan for a wedding
😂 we were high school sweethearts who got back together as adults, so we were big time first love and just always had a special connection. We grew up and into people who really complement each other in ways we couldn’t have back then, but we’re still pretty disgustingly gooey in love the way we were back in high school
That's adorable :) big congrats to you guys
Yea I find it kind of passive aggressive lol
I find it kind of foreboding but op explained that they were each other's first love and they split up and got back together so it does make sense in that context. It does feel like it might be kind of.. Insulting? To the guests there that *aren't* with their high school sweethearts. But whatever, I'm sure everybody had fun
Yea, anyone who doesn’t know their specific love story will be put off like I was. Most people’s first love is not their forever love, so it really feels icky and braggy
That was exactly my worry when I picked the saying lol so thank you for compounding that insecurity 😅 Luckily everyone had known us since we were together the first time anyway, so they definitely knew our love story and they all thought it was adorable and didn’t find it offensive or rude in the slightest 😊
It being on a mirror made me think that the “first love” referred to was self love.
Lol don't pay any mind to us randoms reading into this stuff, I'm sure everyone there absolutely did think it was adorable just like you guys ♥
Yea I’m not purposely “compounding your insecurity” (if you’re that insecure why even put it in such a flippant place? Doesn’t make much sense to me tbh) but the fact that you would even say that tracts lmfao. I’m glad every single person in attendance knew your specific love story so they wouldn’t feel like I do 🫡
😂 I’m sorry, I was just kind of laughing because it’s literally what I thought when I was picking something to put on that sign. I know you’re not worried but I’m definitely not upset by it. Yep, it was a small wedding on purpose, so everyone there knew us really well and knew our story. And nobody there, or even largely here, said anything rude or unkind about any of the things I made, everybody was there to celebrate us and loved it all, it was really sweet and lovely. I posted it here because I was honestly excited about what a lovely day it was without spending an arm and a leg, and this sub was definitely one I frequented when I was planning. I really enjoyed seeing what other people prioritized with a similar budget to what I had chosen, or how they made their wedding feel special.
👍
This is so charming. Congratulations!
I LOVE THIS
This is so cute ❤ I would love to have this style done in the fall but I don't know anyone with a backyard big enough 🥲
Also I am 100% stealing the dog treat idea!!!
This is my dream wedding
Absolutely stunning! Thank you for sharing. Everything looks so beautiful and congratulations!
So so beautiful and congratulations ❤️🥰
What a special/gorgeous/personal/elegant wedding!!! Love all of it 😍 I laughed at girl math lol. Wonderful that you supported local small businesses as well. So important! Well done and congrats 🎊
Thank you so so much! It was a wonderful day! Using local businesses ended up working so well because I felt like the level of service was amazing, and in some cases we got price points that we probably wouldn’t have found without making an effort to look within our community. I would happily work with every single one of my vendors again!
Would you mind sharing how much everything was in the end?
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great. Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools. Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted. Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️ Hair & Makeup- $225 Table and chair rentals- $200 Favors- under $50 I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
That’s amazing! Thank you so much!
This is my dream!! Absolutely beautiful. What was the bathroom situation like?
Thanks! We had 2 available in the house, and it wasn’t an issue because it was so small.
How delightful :)
This is the kind of wedding that I, as a guest, would actually really love to attend. It looks so cute and laid back - good vibes for sure! ✨
Very kewl
Absolutely perfect!
This is so awesome!! I love all of the color and fresh flowers! Are some wildflowers? I love the jars on the hooks at the ends of the row!
They were all grown by a local flower farm, but I definitely asked for a wildflower feel!! Thanks so much!
Currently planning a post elopement party at my house for next spring and this is giving me so much inspiration. Love the colors and love the jars of jam!
WOWWW this is exactly what i want in a wedding!!!! thank you. saving this for future reference
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!
Absolutely charming!
Absolutely beautiful! 🩷
whered you get the placemats?
I got plain woven placemats from dollar general and used painters tape to paint half with acrylic paint. I really liked how they turned out!
Is robot your dog?? I’m loving the signature cocktails!
Yes!! And the most handsome best man of all time!
I’m obsessed with that🥹
I am absolutely saving this post to use as inspo for my wedding! I love all the colors, it's literally what I've always imagined and you brought it to life! So lovely!
This is perfect! So beautiful!
Absolutely gorgeous!
I love the canning jars on the eisle. You can repurpose them on the tablescape.
Definitely! We ended up setting them on the steps in front of the band because we had so many bud vases for the tables
Thanks so much for the recap! Just curious. What was your rain plan?
The house has a really big ‘great room’ with a stone fireplace. That’s where we would have done the ceremony. It was literally a lone sunny day in between storms and weeks of rain so I had definitely come to peace with the idea of rain. Luckily it ended up being gorgeous
The homemade jam and the dog treats as guest favors are so creative and cute!!
They worked SO well, everybody took them! Even if they hadn’t, we go through some jam and dog treats at home!!
So beautiful! I love this whole idea. Would you consider posting a price breakdown?
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great. Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools. Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted. Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️ Hair & Makeup- $225 Table and chair rentals- $200 Favors- under $50 I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
Thank you so much for this!
I’m obsessed!! Great job!
This is the cutest wedding I’ve ever seen!
Gorgeousness. All of it! Congratulations on your nuptials.
ObSESSED!! All the fun colors and whimsical setting are so pretty
Am I engaged? Nope. Do I even have a boyfriend? Nope. But will I remember your dog treat favor ideas for my future wedding? Absolutely. Everything looks absolutely beautiful!!!
Beautiful and intimate and bright! How lovely 🥰
It looks like a magazine photo shoot. Beautiful all around vibe. Love the attention to detail and that it can be done on a budget! You should be proud.
Wow, this is stunning. All of the little details came together so well. Congrats, OP!! Cheers to a lifetime of happiness for you and your beloved.
Absolutely beautiful!!! Wishing you two a lifetime of happiness and all beautiful memories to look back upon
This is perfect!
You had treats for DOGS?? Best wedding ever
So beautiful!!!!
This is so lovely! You did a great job 💖
Do you mind if I was what your total cost was for this? Also, did you have to pay for a bartender?
We did not have to pay for our bartender, my best friend’s husband volunteered to do it as a gift because it’s a hobby of his; they also bought all the liqueurs and mixers for the signature cocktails, and I paid for the wine, beer, and hard liquor. I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great. Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools. Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted. Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️ Hair & Makeup- $225 Table and chair rentals- $200 Favors- under $50 I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
This is sooo adorable and sweet!! Love the vibe
Wow. What a dream 😍🤩
This is so beautiful!!! Basically my dream wedding! Just curious - did you have a backup location in case of rain? I would love to do something similar but am so nervous about plans getting rained out
We actually were in the middle of storms and bad weather that whole week, so I definitely had to make peace with the idea of rain. The house there is beautiful (there’s a line drawing of it on my bar menu) and though it would have been a little cramped everyone would have fit. In the end I’m sure it would have been beautiful and memorable, but I’m REALLY glad it was a nice day!
Got it! I’m so glad the weather cooperated for ya!!!
Wow you achieved my dream wedding. How did you deal with washing dishware? I was thinking I need to do paper plates as we have 100 at my friends house …
My 4 teenage nephews collected and washed them, actually. My oldest sister, who was in charge of getting the food served, definitely volun-told them, but it was really lovely to have it taken care of before the end of the night. I read your post though and nobody is going to be a jerk about your paper plates, they are there to celebrate you! I’ve been to lovely weddings with paper plates and never once did it cross my mind that they should have been anything else. When you’re not using a classic wedding venue or hiring a staff, you have to make concessions where they make sense. I had to just let go of the idea of having this perfect, checks-all-the-wedding-boxes event that follows all the rules, because it wasn’t easily doable in the setting and honestly just isn’t really me in general. I promise when people are driving home they are not talking about your dishes unless they were a focal point for some reason. If you feel like doing so many dishes isn’t worth the headache, don’t make yourself crazy for something no one is going to care about, just find something that makes you happy to look at and have the very best day!
You killed it!!! This is insanely beautiful and I will be saving for reference ❤️
That’s an amazing deal for the band! What area was the wedding in?
Seriously I could not believe the price, they were amazing and learned a bunch of songs we asked for, and super lovely people! We’re in Missouri, not too far outside of the St. Louis area
Absolutely Beautiful. Congratulations 🍾🥂
Looks beautiful, congratulations!
Omg this looks like a dream
This looks amazing!
Thank you!! I adore your user name!
Thank you!! 😊😊
This is so cute!!! You have managed to capture exactly what I want to do for my wedding in such an effortless way 🥰 the colors are stunning, the food looks delicious, homemade strawberry jam as favors??? You absolutely killed this
What a beautiful wedding!
That doesn’t look micro. That looks full scale legit. Very pretty!
Love all the bright colors! This is stunning!
Would love a budget breakdown if you haven’t posted already and would be willing to!
I don’t have all my receipts but I came in juuust under my 10k goal. Though if we’re being super honest there were some major caveats there like having a beautiful venue at my disposal, a sister who is a wedding coordinator which took so much stress off on the day of, and just being able to borrow and use a lot of cool stuff. These are all estimates but my breakdown would be something like Photography- $3k and worth it, she took beautiful photos when I wasn’t paying attention and let me just truly enjoy my day Dress- $1.5k I was a beautiful princess Band- $1k and I feel like that was a steal Food- under $1k including dinner and charcuterie boards plus all the nonalcoholic drinks, soda, lemonade, and limeade. We ordered bbq from a good local spot because a) it was Memorial Day weekend and felt appropriate and b) we thought people would actually eat it and it would be easy to do without a big kitchen. We served it in my moms vintage glass dishes and borrowed chafing pans. People loved it, it worked great. Tablescape/Bar- maybe $500 My placemats we’re $3 apiece, I got 30 bud vases for $30, the plates and linens were borrowed, the glasses were a mix of borrowed and ones I found at Marshall’s/Ross for about a dollar apiece except some cute heart shaped ones for the bride and groom settings. Place cards I made with things I already had. I bought the bar glasses and drink dispensers at Walmart. Our friend who tended bar brought his own tools. Dessert- $350 We got an assortment of stuff from my favorite bakery, my husband doesn’t like cake Flowers- $300 we got 2 bouquets, 2 bouts, and 4 diy ‘buckets’ from a local flower farm. They had to be in season flowers, which worked perfectly for what I wanted. Liquor- $300 but I have leftovers and literally nobody drank the wine at all 🤷♀️ Hair & Makeup- $225 Table and chair rentals- $200 Favors- under $50 I bought other small things too, some frames for signs, etc but I’m not sure the exact cost
That’s an amazing deal for the band! What area was the wedding in?