Lessons Learned From Another Bride On A Budget

Bride on budget congratulates bride on budget.

Venues, restaurants, and halls not your thing? Take a page from my friend Dayna who planned an awesome wedding day that was intimate and very affordable. 

CEREMONY

Not into a bunch of people staring at you while taking your vows? Neither were Dayna and Patrick.  Instead, they opted for a private ceremony in Patrick's mother's backyard in front of immediate family. The best part? They were able to use their dog, Dax, as the de facto flower girl/ring bearer/videographer*.

RECEPTION PART 1

After their ceremony, Dayna and Patrick met their extended family for lunch at Mangia & Bevi. The best part? Dayna told the restaurant she didn't have centrepieces, so the restaurant made their own! It was a sweet gesture and total surprise -- Dayna loved it. 

RECEPTION PART 2

Reception part 2 was held in a friend's backyard. The event was catered by a food truck (yum!) and the couple hired a bartender to distribute the libations. Because they were already officially married at this point, the newlyweds were able to mix and mingle with their guests. In fact, I don't think I've ever been to a wedding where I've had so much one on one time with the bride! Usually it's just a quick, "Congratulations!" and they're off to see another guest. 

At dusk, guests were invited to a nearby park to check out a fireworks show. It was romantic and fun and awesome. 

So! What advice does Dayna have for other bride's on a budget? I've posted her nuggets of wisdom (is that a thing?) below. 

ADVICE

"For a wedding like mine, I would advise people to plan it in 3 or 4 months. Don't wait a whole year cause it just gives people longer to mix up the details."

Dayna's engagement lasted just over a year and like us, she sent out an email save the date/wedding invite. The newlywed said there were some mixups with family when it came to the actual date of the wedding, but I think that can happen at a larger wedding as well. Some people are just bad at remembering dates. 

If you plan on having an intimate ceremony with a larger reception afterwards, Dayna advises not to mince words.  

"Be super blunt and clear with everyone when it comes to the invites... if you're trying to protect feelings they'll just misinterpret what you're saying. For instance, the invitation to the aunts and uncles said we were having a small ceremony and would like them to join us for lunch after. We gave them the date, time, and location of lunch only. I thought that made it clear cause they didn't receive the location and time of ceremony, but that didn't happen."

So there you have it! Advice from another bride on a budget. 

*When you attached Go Pro to your dog, they become a videographer. 

"She's Not Buying You Two a Garbage Can"

Early last week Peter and I went out for dinner with his parents. Inevitably, the conversation turned towards the wedding. Peter's Mom was fielding questions from his relatives about our, ahem, bare registry list.   

"Your Aunt Marg called... she said to add some stuff to your registry, because she's not buying you two a garbage can. Also, she said she couldn't find your registry at Kitchen Stuff Plus. Have you not registered there yet?" 

We hadn't. In fact, after posting about our initial foray into the registry world, we decided against it. Feedback to that previous post was that we should stick to 1 store for our sanity, and that we should allow ourselves to have some nice things. 

Anyway! Not wanting to disappoint Aunt Marg, we spent this past Saturday cruising the aisles of The Bay looking for stuff to add to the registry. It was smooth sailing until it came to dinner sets. I won't bore you with the details, but after much back and forth Peter and I had finally decided on a set. Well, we decided on a set until a Bay representative came by. 

He picked up the plate we were looking at and began aggressively scratching the surface with a fork. Where he got the fork I still have no idea. 

"Let me give you one piece of advice. Do NOT buy stoneware. Just because it's heavy doesn't mean it's good. See these scratches? This is what will happen to your set in a year or two. Stoneware doesn't last. Porcelain, china and bone china are the best and will last a lifetime." 

And with that, he went into a 5 minute lecture about the different types of dinnerware you can buy, and what that means for the wallet. For someone who had never considered the differences between earth ware, stoneware and china, I was confused/intrigued. Also, bone china? What is that? Turns out, it's actually made of bone. Gross. Out of the question for us. 

We ended up going with a porcelain set, but in three different colours (another compromise I won't bore you with). Am I happy I added stuff to our registry? 100 per cent. I just hope Aunt Marg likes our selection! 

Didn't take a photo of us shopping for our registry, so here's one of us on a segway instead.