Food the most important part of any wedding

This can be SUPER ecxpensive or SUPER Cheap.. Its really up to you which rout you go but i went for somewhere in the middle...
First thing is you need to Determine your budget for the food..... then take that and divide it by the total number of guest you plan on having and that will give you a price per person... which is how most catering companys figure it out....( example : Budget $500, guests 100, total per guest $5)
Price Ranges:
$4-$6 stay with lunch, Heavy Apps or Desseret Only
$6-$11, Lunch or a very light chicken only kinda dinner,
$11-$20, Buffet , and pricier dinner

If you  are trying to save in this area a great option is to either do a late lunch wedding (lunch is always cheaper)a Appetizer only reception or a desert only reception... so you could do a 5:30pm ceromoney and have a 7pm reception and let guests  know that dinner is not provided and there will be
heavy apps or desserts.... many couples are doing this to save big ( because you dont have to worry about large dinner plates forks knives  which to rent are not super cheap)

We are fortnate tha i workk in the industry and that i am only paying for the food and have amazing co-workers who are preparing it for our big day!

Which leads in to the next option having family friends cook the food for you and do a sorta pot luck for the wedding espicailly if your wedding is not a "fancy  Event" Plus Grandparents love to contribute!!

We are actually asking my sister to do my cake( which is amazing lol Rice Crispy Treat Picture to follow) and Chads Nan to make Apple pies for all the guest( she was excited when we asked her!)

Groom and his mens outfits........

This subject was always a touchy on for me ...only because its so crazy expensive to rent a tux and then you have to give it back with nothing to show for it so of course i decided to change it up... I am going for this look!

I bought the boys their shoes tie and suspender for 20 each ...which is great because a tie in the store can run you any where from 15-50 crazy i paid $3 for each... and the shoe were even better 11$ each pair they were half off then additional 20% you just have to shop around a little and the suspender were $5. Best part is this is their gift!!! so too birds with one stone!!!

The boys had to buy pants and a shirt which cost them $80 but the nice part it that its theirs to keep!
Average Tux Rental Starts at $99 so i say there getting a much better deal...
But if the style i chose is to casual for you wedding there are always places out there that have sales like buy one suite get 2 free(Mens Warehouse) which one suite is typically $300 to $400 but they get to keep it that way too... so keep that in the back burner!

Chad (the groom) we had to buy him a vest instead of the coat.. cheaper and just as cute! vest cost 30 at JCpenny ( this store has changed so much and the prices are wonderful no guessing!!)

Center Pieces

So this is always a hit or miss or cheap or expensive item... you can go plain Jane and do votive's with some confetti or go crazy and do beautiful vases filled to the max with fresh flowers adorned with diamonds etc... well for me neither of those where an option. I wanted something that screamed simply but sophisticated. and also being budget friendly. Luckily i have some great co-workers and was able to get all the mason jars i needed for the center pieces for FREE!  the only items i had to buy were the flowers and burlap ribbon and tea lights. bringing my tally for center pieces a whole $40 for 17 tables.  opted to use the fake flowers because the fit into my rustic theme and are very inexpensive and look so life like.They are not quite finished but i thought i would give you a sneak peak!

The Dress

So i must tell you all i am by no means a girly girl.... i hate dresses and never thought i would find one that fit in to my budget that i actually liked......well i did. its simple and elegant and not to frilly and prissy!
Best part was that it was under budget! My Budget was 500 walked out at 419 and its brand new! I really see nooooo reason in spending thousands of dollars for a dress that you wear once and cant even get 1/2 back when you try to sell it. Yes it is your wedding dress and you want to remember that day.. but no need to remember it but the bills you get 3 months after!

Bouquets

Ok... so this past week i have made 5 bridesmaid bouquets, my bouquet and my throw away bouquet!

All cost me a total of $30 if that!
first are the Bridesmaids Bouquets (Pomador balls/Kissing balls)
 i bought grapevine balls for 2.00 each from hobby lobby of course using a coupon for each one!i used burlap ribbon i bought from  joanns 30 yds for 4.99
some buttons!
then used left over flower petals form my bouquet.
i made bows using the burlap and made handles for each
hot-glued buttons and leafs on the bows and filled the inside with the left over flowers!
So simple but very elegant and rustic at the same time!

Throw away bouquet and my bouquet....  bought all my flowers from hobby lobby arranged them with twigs and wrapped them in burlap an covered seam with a boutton...i think they are very pretty!

Boutineers....... this is a fun project i found browsing the web.... so me being all about diy i decided to make my own...
what you will need....
cereal box
fabric
buttons
flowers(or in my case apples)
ribbon
twigs
skewer twine

all of which are very inexpensive....i spent $4 and had enough supplies to make way more than i needed

cut the shape that you prefer out of the cereal box and glue on fabric...
next glue skewer on to..should be about 3in in legnth
glue twigs and flowers
wrap the skewer and stems with twine
glue on bow and buttons and your done
http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-a-burlap-boutonniere/ this website gives pictures!!!

Location's first then the date...

Just a little FYI.....I recently got engaged to my boyfriend of 6 years and we are in the very premature stage of wedding planning. But i wanted to share what i find and how i find it to other young brides like me who do have the largest bank account in the world but want to have the wedding of their dreams.....

My Ring!( he bought the set which can be cheaper than buying them seperate)

First things first... a location....

-this can be one of the most expensive parts of the wedding especially if you want a indoor wedding.

most facilities want you to use their caterer which makes the budget soar through the roof....

if you can avoid this you should....
- a great place to look into is shelter houses around your city there are many that are fully enclosed and have air and heat as well as a small kitchen. most provide tables and chairs and they can accommodate a variety of wedding sizes.

example: i live near Columbus Ohio and the price per hour for a wedding shelter is $65 so if your have  a 4 hr reception with a 1 hr set up and tear down the venue is only 325....crazy yes..although you have to supply food and music equipment but for that price you can afford to hire them.

- We have decided to have our at a park called Heritage Park the cost for their barn is 800/5.5 hours which includes set up and tear down of tables and chairs. a little more expensive than the shelter houses but still a great price and a great setting to have our rustic inspired wedding.(http://www.westerville.org/index.aspx?page=134)

- Maybe your a bride that's like "i want a backyard wedding"... that seems cheap right??? well not always...depending on the amount of people you having it can get very expensive... tables start at $6 each and chairs $1 but the tent is the crazy part  a tent that will seat 100 people can be upwards of $500 and i may be a little shy on the number.

- if you have the money to spend on a fancy wedding then do, I'm happy that you can but as for me i want mine to be as inexpensive as possible cause i don't want to have a debt of up to or over10k just for one day... that make me nervous.. My wedding will be worth more than i pay for it because i know that i didn't pay that much for it!