How To NOT Spend 6 Figures On A Wedding - A Normal Person's Guide To A Gorgeous Event On A Budget

Weddings can be expensive, but they don't have to be! Who spends $100,000 on a party?

Idiots, that's who.

Several of my friends have gotten engaged over the last week or so, and more are getting married this year! I have helped quite a few friends with wedding planning after I've planned my own, and I'm happy to pass on more knowledge so read on! I also talk a bit about traditions and wedding drama bullshirt. Let me know if I can help you with a specific vendor or other ideas!

HOKAY, GET READY!

First things first: Set your budget before you do anything else! The thing is, though, every freaking article or book talking about wedding planning says to do this but no one really tells us HOW! So, I will :) Ask yourself:

• What does your budget look like? By this I mean: If you don’t already have a personal/household budget for you and/or your fiance, I’d recommend making one now. Like, right meow. I like the 50/30/20 method as a general guideline so ask me or google it if you have no idea where to begin. This is a great start to A. think & talk about money openly with your future spouse; B. figure out if some corners can be cut to save additional money for the wedding, honeymoon, dream home or vacation, etc; and C. allow you to figure out how much you have saved already, how much you need to save or budget in your household budget for paying off your credit cards, etc. and then FINALLY make a specific Wedding Budget. Feel free to ask me if you want more help on any of this!

• How are you going to stay organized? Between venue site visits, quotes from vendors, swatches, and receipts, you'll likely have at least some paper as well as digital copies of so many things you need to keep track of! There are tons of tools to manage, update, and keep track of your wedding checklist and budget. I'm a pen & paper person so I had an actual notebook (I also like this one because it comes with a cute pen) and you can use Excel or websites/apps such as The Knot, Wedding Wire, Zola, Manage My Wedding, Wedding Happy or Fudget to track your expenses and checklist.

• Who is paying for this? Most people I know pay for it all themselves, including us, but some families are better off than others and some families stick to tradition more than others. Regardless, you gotta have that icky conversation.

• Extra money tip: especially if you are paying for it yourself, you can get a new credit card just for wedding expenses (jointly is what we did and what I prefer like for our checking and then have separate savings, retirement, etc but that's ultimately up to you) and then once you get a bunch of points racked up, use the points for your honeymoon travel, hotel, etc. My fave is the CapitalOne Venture card! Please be careful and smart with your credit though - credit card rewards are great IF you use them to your advantage, but keep in mind that it’s only advantageous if you don’t dig yourself into a financial hole with a fancier wedding or honeymoon than you can afford! This is where the budget plan comes in and why I mentioned it in the first place & in the first bullet point. Try to spend within your means and not be tempted with every trend and tradition there is.

• Going along with that, how do you even decide what comes first? Make a top 3 or top 5 list of things that are important to you as a couple (and use it as your reminder when things start to get sticky). Make your lists separately and compare, or talk it over together from the start. Prioritize what’s important to you, and ditch the extras. Photography and food (shockingly) were our 2 biggest priorities, and we spent accordingly. It forces you to think about and have a chat about what’s important to you both and if neither of you cares about flowers, then you don’t need them! No garter, no problem! You get the idea. It’s your wedding, your money (probably) and therefore YOUR decision.

General Wedding Planning Tips:

• It may sound obvious, but your wedding date needs to be decided before all of the other details. I love fall, but some people love a spring wedding or dream of June. Decide the season & date between the two of you and whomever can come, can come. Speaking of that...

• Get married on a random weekday, Friday, or Sunday to save a horrifying amount of money as compared to a Saturday. Seriously - we picked a Friday and just shifting the wedding date one flipping day, from a Saturday to a Friday, saved us at least $2000. Yeah, 2 grand. That’s not insignificant! You may feel awkward getting married on a random Wednesday but consider this: A. hump day and B. save money and C. you can always pick your engagement anniversary or dating anniversary or another significant couple milestone date if you need a reason/justification especially for nosy people.

• IF YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED IN A CITY WITH A LARGE SPORTS TEAM: Beware! I got married in Green Bay, WI and anyone who gets married there/in that area (that has family and friends needing hotel rooms during the festivities) is at the mercy of the Packer football schedule. Now, I don't give one single fork about sports at all, so I was extra-bitter about having to hope and pray to all that is holy that our wedding wouldn't be during a home game weekend. Partly because of the traffic, but the main concern is that hotel room pricing, even with your block, could be an EXTRA $200 due to demand. Yikes. Thankfully that wasn't the case, but keep that in mind, if applicable, because you don't want to have half of your friends not be able to come due to budget concerns - not everyone can comfortably afford a $300 per night hotel room.

• Create a separate email account for the wedding - we used our last name and then the year of the wedding, and then that was our wedding hashtag too. This is the email you provide to your jeweler, venue, and other vendors so you can all be on the same page. Once the wedding is over, you can ditch that email address or use it as a joint email account (this is what we did) for stuff like your shared bills, family to contact you both, whatever.

• Go to any local bridal expos and wedding shows to gather ideas, meet vendors, and enter all the contests & raffles you can - you can win a gift basket, free makeup for the bridal party, etc

• Gather questions to ask your potential vendors ahead of time so you know exactly what you’re getting, e.g. this article from TheKnot. I never had any issues with my vendors but I've heard others say to not tip them until you receive a product; there are horror stories about slumphotographers never giving people their paid-for wedding pictures after the wedding! Rude. I'd also highly recommend interviewing multiple vendors for each category instead of going with the first quote you receive

• Collect your change throughout your engagement in a big jar or adorable shadowbox, cash it in right before the wedding (side note, get any foreign currency at your bank if you need it rather than having to deal with it at the airport or your destination), and use it as bonus splurge money for a once-in-a-lifetime dinner or other special experience for your honeymoon. I talk about some of my favorite travel essentials here!

• This is an old tip but worth a shot: try to not use the words “wedding” and “bridal” for stuff like your rehearsal dinner, showers, or other purchases. You can try telling people that instead of a wedding, you’re planning a “themed family reunion” or whatever else you can dream up

• Get free or decently inexpensive fabric swatches, wood or other textures you want to incorporate, etc from a craft store, Amazon, Davids, Weddington Way, etc. to have a clear visual of colors, patterns, etc when planning out all of the decor, attire, etc

• Use Canva to design your own wedding logo or monogram and even invitations & stuff, but make sure you have access to a good printer if you are printing your stationery. You can email your save-the-dates, or make a facebook group, etc. instead of snail-mailing the initial information (unless you’re old-school like me haha, I felt obligated to have nice wedding invites and paper save-the-dates). Speaking of invite stuff, look into Wedding Paper Divas or Minted for professionally printed wedding stationery - they have sales all the time AND coupons galore in allll the bridal magazines that you can peruse FO’ FREE at Barnes & Noble - well, that’s what I did ;) BTW you can also get a magazine subscription for just about next to nothing nowadays, like a year or two for less than $10; I think I did a Brides subscription for a year for maybe $4.

• You can also use Canva or Pinterest to create a moodboard to showcase your ultimate wedding vibes and style you want to convey (be careful with not letting Pinterest suck you into an over-the-top $30k floral & decor budget though) - see mine below!

Wedding Planners & Coordinators

• Make sure to get a day-of coordinator of some sort (even if it's a friend - someone's gotta be the stage manager for the day and handle the details so you don't have to be anything but happy on your wedding day), but so much is free online that a wedding planner may not be needed; however, hiring a wedding planner can also help you save money throughout the process because they’ll be able to look at contracts and help you spend money wisely. Splurging on an awesome wedding planner can help you stick to a budget by more ways than you’d think, such as having a “preferred vendors” list available on their websites - you can search for these lists to see which vendors many planners recommend. They can recommend to you a DJ who is more within your budget AND can get you uplighting added on for about the same price, etc. Plus, they know the industry way better than you so they can tell you when you’re on the right track as far as meal ideas and such. They can help you decide how to best spend your money AND can help with rentals and decorating, hassle-free! We hired sash & bow (now called Alliey+Co) and they did all of the above and more. I have had to set up weddings and take them down, and let me tell you - it's way less of a pain to have someone do all that work for you and your family because again, it's your wedding day, and you can't be anything but happy on your wedding day :) it truly flies by, and your job is to soak up all that wedding bliss that you worked so hard for through all the months of wedding planning!

Guest List & Decor

• Invite only your closest friends & family if at all possible! A large guest list increases the price FAST, and not just the per-person cost of dinner! Think: more chairs could very quickly mean more tables, which means more flowers, centerpieces, etc; not to mention cake, invitations, place cards… trust me on this - it escalates quickly! We were A-OK with a small wedding =p

• Reuse, thrift, and DIY as much as you can! Place cards, table numbers, centerpieces, vases etc. - you can get many things at St. Vinnie's, Amazon, and the dollar store that look nice. I have seen absolutely GORGEOUS fine china sets at multiple thrift stores and if you're savvy and/or having a really small wedding, you could possibly get away with thrifting, borrowing or even registering for all the dinnerware, glassware, etc. for 20 people or less, especially if you're mixing & matching the plates. This tiktok shows how you can obtain candle holders for the wedding that you can also use as drinking glasses after

• Remember to prioritize what's important to you and let the rest go when it comes to spending money. That being said, ambiance is important which is why I did want to invest in amazing food, music, uplighting, etc. I have heard that the most bang-for-your-buck decor items are chargers, candles and chairs.

• Facebook groups sell many once-used items e.g. tablecloths, centerpieces, wedding dresses even! Lots of stuff such as cute wedding cocktail napkins like this you can buy through Oriental Trading (other than personalized napkins or signs, obviously) you can find on facebook marketplace, craigslist, poshmark, through friends or cousins who have gotten married before you, etc.

• Renting vs. buying wedding decor: Going along with the above point, keep in mind that if you buy the wedding dinnerware, chargers, stemware, linens, chairs, whatever the case may be - you’re going to be stuck selling those after the wedding! On this note, I recommend just renting - this way, it’s less hassle after and you can usually get exactly what you want instead of plastic everything. We rented centerpiece things like vases & votives from our wedding planner, and the linens were included in our venue cost. Below, I have a picture (all of the images used in this post are mine except the stock photo for the title graphic) courtesy of our wedding photograper of the final result, including the above plus blue uplighting for our head table

Photography & Music (and a bit about favors)

• DO NOT skimp on a photographer - photos are what you’re left with at the end of the day! Photography and food (shockingly) were our biggest priorities, and we spent accordingly. My photographer did a wedding of someone I knew in college, and I just LOVED her style. She had a special where if you put down more than the required deposit, it would basically cover her travel fees (since she lived out of town) so we did that

• Photography, videography, photo booths, uplighting, DJ vs. band - these are all up to you. I pesonally think videography would be a better investment for your memories than a photo booth, as a photo booth is more fun for your guests, but you could also do the photo booth picture strips as their favors

• Related to favors - instead of/in addition to serving your wedding cake at dessert time, have a piece for each guest ready to go as your “favor” OR just forgo wedding favors! No one really cares or remembers if you provide them or not - people are way more likely to notice the ambiance: your amazing food, music, etc - the overall vibe/experience of the day - rather than the stuff on the table during the reception. If you really want to have favors, make sure you get something that won't be a total pain in the butt for you or overdone like mints or bubbles. I highly recommend something edible like this instead of a cheesy trinket with your names on it. Get something nice and personalized if you'd like, but I don't recommend buying little candy bars or whatever the case may be and DIYing little stickers on favors for 100 people because you're going to hate yourself. You'll be busy enough with planning!

• Many photographers do mini sessions for the holidays - use this for your engagement photos and/or ask photographers if they can include an engagement session in your photography package.

• Get your photos as high-res images released from your photographer, then print your own album(s) later! We used Shutterfly for our engagement book (collection of our favorite engagement pictures to double as a cute display & guest book at showers as well as the wedding), fancy wedding album, and honeymoon memory book

• Speaking of pictures and guest books, this wasn't really a thing when I got married but I love the idea of using a disposable or Instax instant-print camera for all the events leading up to and including the wedding! Think of all the laughs and candid memories you can capture AND also have the fun thrill and magic throwback nature of not being able to edit the photos on your phone like we're used to. Plus you can get a cute album for the candids too!

Food & Alcohol

• Bring in your own alcohol if you can - buy wholesale (hola Costco!) & you can often return bottles you don’t open. I say "if you can" because it depends on your venue; mine didn't allow it.

• Limit alcohol to beer, wine, and signature cocktails that you pick as a couple instead of having an open bar or cash bar - no joke, one of my cousin's alcohol bills was $15,000. Le YIKES. Most of my friends are still in college and might shoot for under $5k for the whole wedding! Well, that's what you get for having an open bar with a large family. I successfully avoided that nonsense by having a small wedding on a Friday!

• Use restaurant catering instead of a catering company - I’ve heard of people doing this with Qdoba and Black & Tan!

• Buffets are often less expensive than a sit-down, plated dinner. We went middle-of-the-road and did a family-style dinner at Rock Garden with beef tips, garlic mashed potatoes, and a vegetarian or vegan I can't remember ravioli dish. Chicken would have been less expensive, but my grandfather will not eat chicken and The Groom wanted beef (and obviously his opinion was extremely important lol) so that's what we did! And we got RAVE reviews on the food and cake, for which we hired Monzu Bakery - check out their AMAZING handiwork below!

Cake & Desserts

• Get donuts, pies, or cupcakes - less expensive than a fancy cake, and it's something different and unexpected! Or maybe you're not a sweets person at all, and you want a, I don't know, trail mix bar, charcuterie, or stir fry station? (I'm a sweets person lol) I have been to some super-fancy weddings where they have cake plus snacks, but you don't have to do that to impress your guests. The catering or venue people might suggest it, but you don't absolutely need late-night hors d'oeurves.

• Get your cake at a grocery store such as Festival, Costco, or Whole Foods - less expensive than a bakery and can look nice.

• Have a small cake for display and ceremonial cutting, and then use a sheet cake to serve your guests.

Wedding Registry

• I rented the gorgeous cake stand shown above from my wedding planner, but the cake cutting set and sassy cake topper on the right was from my registry - you can use the registry to acquire certain wedding items ahead of time! Let family & friends buy your champagne flutes, cake stand, cheesy koozies and mugs & crap that says Mr&Mrs or whatever that you can use both during and after the wedding, etc.

• There are plenty of registry guides out there about what to register for so I won't give you the same sort of list here BUT sometimes when you register, you have stuff you wouldn't mind upgrading (like the coffeemaker from college, or you could probably use some nice new towels or sheets), sometimes you start from nothing, OR you already have a house full of nice stuff already - what now? If you have NO idea what to put on there, a nice place to start besides what the store websites will say is to look at your friends & family's registries - I used theknot.com to search for people I know who are engaged - and get some ideas. You can even search your own name and see if people with the same name as you come up! I figured that out because I searched for us as a test to make sure we were visible to anyone looking, and others with the same/similar name showed up and you might feel creepy looking at other people's registries but it gave me lots of out-of-the-box ideas haha such as outdoor stuff like grills and games for your yard, tools, experiences like skydiving and couple's massages, camping stuff, board games, art for your place, gift cards for travel or home improvement stores, anything

• If you DO know you want certain specific things such as fresh new bedding or a decent drill, I love resources like The Strategist and Wirecutter because they are like Consumer Reports and stuff like that but (mostly) free. Another way to get ideas is just to ask google what the best blank is. I found this list to get ideas for kitchen stuff because I love cooking and compared it with America's Test Kitchen equipment reviews like this one (I used the free trial to look at alll the things) but also with Wirecutter & ATK, if you're sneaky you can find the direct links to the stuff they recommend without paying. Don't wory, they still make money through ads and affiliate links at no cost to you!

• As far as where to register, I have some thoughts - unfortunately Bed Bath & Beyond isn't doing registries anymore because they are kaput but Crate & Barrel is now the best, hands-down! They have private registry events where you can have the store to yourself and get snacks and advice - this was one of my favorite parts about wedding planning! You can use your phone or a scanner, or both so you can split up, to build up your wishlist for your married life together. I love their simple, clean, midcentury (&) modern design options. We considered Target but the in-store selection and overall process was underwhelming at best so we decided not to move forward with that (also please let me know if it's just me, but the last few years I've noticed ordering online is near-impossible because the website is so clunky). I also don't recommend Macy's because they rarely had someone there to help us and I never got the free vegetable dish I was supposed to but anyway I digress. The point is, use it to your advantage! People will want to buy presents to congratulate you and this is one of the rare times that it's socially acceptable to say "hey, here's my wish list, get me something!"

• Once the wedding is over, you get discounts up the wazoo for pretty much anything on the registry at most stores for 6-12 months after your wedding date - usually between a 10% and 20% discount! Plus, you can still keep the registry active for years (by updating the event date; usually they disappear after a year or two after your wedding date if you don't update it or delete it) and I don't think it's a bad idea because it doesn't cost anything and you have a ready-to-go wishlist for birthdays and holidays for the years going forward. I actually still have mine at Crate & Barrel active to use for my own shopping list mostly for future furniture upgrades AND my family knows anything on there is fair game of stuff we need/want

• In case no one tells you, you can get free stuff just for registering and after people buy you gifts. LOTS of stores will have a page that talks about their perks, bonus gifts, whatever. It's a way for brands to entice you to buy their products and you get a little something in return! My favorite:

• It's a little used now, but this is a small All-Clad skillet engraved with our monogram and wedding date! We don't use it all the time as we default to cast iron for skillets and we'd typically pick our 12" All-Clad skillet over this smaller one, but it was such a nice gesture from the best cookware brand you can buy (I won't be the first or last to say this but All-Clad is awesome; it's a splurge but you'll never have to buy another cookware set again). You can use it as decor or as a skillet (clearly) or both!

Flowers

• Check out Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, florist wholesalers, or other large grocers for flowers and greenery if you want to save money on fresh flowers and not go through a boutique florist.

• Rent bouquets and boutonnieres with Something Borrowed Blooms, or try Bloomerent for using flowers from another wedding the day/night before - which also reduces flower waste!

• Artificial flowers save lots of money AND let you get any flower variety regardless of season - check out Michaels, JoAnns, etc to get started and definitely check facebook, poshmark, or the dollar store for vases! You could also do faux florals for shower decor and real for the wedding only.

• Speaking of season, please for the love of all that is holy DO NOT insist on fresh peonies for a December wedding and expect your floral estimate to be under 4 figures. Keep in mind the seasonal availability when picking your fresh flowers, and if peonies are your favorite and it's that important to you, then have a June wedding! I love peonies, but roses are my favorite so we used all roses :) side note, I was pleasantly surprised that my (eventual) husband had some opinions and thoughts for our wedding instead of putting everything on me, but he didn't care about flowers so that's what I picked for us =p we used Divine Nature for our florist, recommended by sash & bow. I love Nichole Campbell at Petal Pusher as well - they have a shop kitty!

Attire & Accessories

• I never got into that Say Yes To The Dress show because I am not at all a fan of reality TV but I know people who are into that and I just want to say, DO NOT let that show blow up your dreams or your dress budget! The actual experience at Kleinfeld's in real life isn't what the show makes you think and the idea that a wedding dress has to cost thousands needs to die. Do not let yourself get wrapped up in the $5000 dresses and have that shatter YOUR experience of choosing what you'll wear when you marry the love of your life! Through all the stress of choosing ALL the things, you have to keep in mind why you're picking out this stuff - to look bombin' while committing to your person forever! It doesn't matter if you wear a $50 outfit or a $50k outfit, the result is the same

• Hear me out here: Amazon has inexpensive wedding dresses as well as a try-before-you-buy feature for dresses, shoes, etc so you aren't stuck with a white-ish dress-adjacent thing and no refunds - it's sent to you for free and if you like it, keep it and pay, or return it for free - also a nice idea for wedding guest dresses for other weddings or even your wedding party! More on that below

• Ask to see wedding dresses from last season or “off the rail” at the bridal boutiques - they’re often much less expensive! Everyone knows about David's Bridal, and they have a $99 dress special sometimes. David's is ok, but I preferred the local dress shops in my area. I ended up finding my dream dress at Tie The Knot - an absolutely GORGEOUS 3D floral beaded 2014 Jasmine Couture dress for around $1000 (originally double that) and I felt like the beautiful queen that I am! By the way, my alterations were under $200 or $300 directly through the bridal shop. I got slight size adjustment alterations as well as hemming because I'm a shortie and my not-at-all professional seamstress opinion tells me anyone who says your alterations will be like $850 or more (and they're not actually custom-making your dress)... walk away. You can do better.

• Look to Modcloth, Rent The Runway, Adrianna Papel/Weddington Way, Macy's, etc for white dresses or suits that may or may not be priced like wedding dresses, but for parties or bridesmaid purposes. I could not rock a suit but if you can, more power to you!

• You can rent a dress, suit or tux, or just wear what you have (a word on "tradition" - Queen Victoria started the white-dress-for-weddings thing, but in the Depression, etc people used to just wear the nicest clothes they owned), but if you can't or don't want a whole new outfit that you'll wear once, get something inexpensive! Of course you can also forgo tradition by wearing whatever color and whatever outfit you want

• Look on StillWhite and other consignment sites for gently used wedding dresses BUT ask loads of questions about sizing and condition, etc.

• I bought this little emergency kit for my own wedding and you can also bring it to other weddings!

• Get accessories like a veil, jewelry, and shoes on Etsy, Amazon, etc as bridal shops tend to mark up the prices (unless they have exactly what you want on sale, of course!)

• Speaking of jewelry, I highly recommend local antique shops such as the awesome family-owned American Antiques and Jewelry for literally hundreds or thousands of dollars off your wedding rings (they have both modern AND vintage styles!) and Etsy too for gifts for each other or wedding party, etc and PLEASE stay away from mall jewelry stores like Kay's. My husband got my engagement ring at Kessler's in Appleton (and I got my wedding ring there to match) plus a diamond necklace for my wedding gift (I got him a watch), but my antique right hand rings came from AAJ. His wedding ring (shown below with mine) was $150ish on Amazon since it was just a simple 6mm gold band, but those chain stores will want $700 or $900 from you for the same simple style. NnnnnnOOOOOoooo thank you!

Wedding Party

• Bridesmaids can rent their dresses like the groomsmen do with suits/tuxes and there are lots of options for both traditional and nontraditional bridesmaid outfits: Modcloth, Rent The Runway, Adrianna Papel, Macy's, etc

• Have people pick a dress style of their choice in a color of your choosing - this will allow everyone express themselves in a style that fits them best.

• If the wedding party doesn't want to or can't rent their dresses/suits/tuxes or if you want a more casual look, a button-down with nice pants or even jeans can look nice AND be affordable for everyone. You can go as fancy or as casual as you want, but those pictures aren't going to matter as much. I can promise you, you'll only be able to focus on one thing during your ceremony, and it won't be someone's crooked bowtie, mismatched dresses or shirts, or the fact that you wanted something fancier than what you got - it will be your future spouse. The point of going through this super-fun planning time is that you'll be surrounded by people who love you supporting you and your permanent wedding date while you verbally commit your lives to each other! Way more important.

• If there is wedding party drama #beentheredonethat: first ask them to consider the fact that it's an honor to be a part of such an important day in your life, and to chill the fork out/not pressure you or the others into spending more than they can afford! If they still push back, that’s on them, and you may have to just thank them for their time but they're not going to be standing up. They may or may not be heartbroken, throw a fit, and/or ignore you for the rest of time. Weddings bring out the best and worst of people, unfortunately. This is an important time in your life though, and you don't deserve extra stress because someone else isn't being a reliable adult. Be like Elsa and let it go

• Have a smaller wedding party, or no wedding party, to save money on gifts for them. We went with a smaller wedding party, and got jewelry sets for the women to wear to the wedding & shotglasses engraved with their names for the men on Etsy - we handed out gifts to the wedding party and our parents at our rehearsal dinner at 1951 West

• To help with alteration costs, try something like Union Station (flat fee for dress - $150 - based on a person's specific measurements) or see if a friend or family member will do it as your wedding gift!

Ceremony

• Make sure to get to know and interview officiants well (just like ALL of your vendors). We had to interview a couple of people because the first person refused to perform a secular ceremony, which was important to us. We also interviewed Joan from Better Together Ceremonies and Sally Masters from Masters Ceremonies, and ultimately went with Sally because we felt like we really clicked with her when we met with her and she helped us create a completely custom & secular ceremony including a wine box ceremony (it's not the exact item, but I got our wine box from this guy on Etsy), and didn't judge us for that like other people. She is also LGBT-friendly - my "maid of honor" was actually a gay man (my first friend when I had to move to WI in high school & best friend ever since) so she didn't judge when I chose him as my man of honor. I can't recommend her enough!

• A simple, small ceremony is much more practical than an extravagant one, and it's awesome to get to spend more on your honeymoon, house, or other big goals you two have! We had a small 50-person wedding and a wonderful honeymoon in Paris 😊 As long as you two are happy - the entire point of this whole process is to celebrate your love, not appease other people.

• The least expensive wedding (that’s also kinda the most offensive to family, I've noticed) but also least stressful for you is an elopement OR a very small justice of the peace ceremony. Literally the most traditional wedding is done in a living room with a small cake and punch reception (and like I mentioned earlier, people used to just wear the nicest clothes they had)! You can add on a catered party at your place or whatever for not a whole lot but again, ultimately, it’s what’s right for you two 😘

My final thoughts for you: breathe, take it one day at a time, use whatever planning system works best for you, and enjoy the process. Remember, you're building the foundation of the first day of the rest of your life together 😊 Good luck and happy planning!