Last month we celebrated our 2nd Anniversary and I thought back to when I was actually planning for the big day. Thinking about all the suggestions on the venue, ceremony, decor, which vendor to use and who to invite. And then there was a sense of relief because when we said ‘I do’, I knew we hadn’t gone into debt or spent a ridiculous amount of money on one day.

Did you know that the average cost people spend on their wedding day is $30-40k? According to The Knot, the average wedding costs for 2016 (the year we got married) was $35k in the U.S. and this amount did not include the honeymoon. And in all honesty – that day is kind of a blur. The day came and went so quickly, I only remember bits and pieces and had I spent $35k for bits and pieces I would have been pissed at myself.

So here is how I stayed as close to the $5,000 budget as possible:

I said no – A lot and often

Once I decided my budget was going to be $5,000 and figured out what the most important items to make the day special were, I said no to everything else. If I felt was unnecessary – No. If a co-worker asked if people from work were getting invites – No. My Aunt calls my Dad five days before the wedding asking if their sister (who I don’t really know), her children and grandchildren (who I also don’t know) could come to the wedding because they “needed” something to do – Oh hell no! I was saying no so much that after a while people stopped asking me about the wedding and how planning was going.

My Mom felt that we should decorate the front of the boat with tulle and the back with a ‘Just Married’ sign. I didn’t think having these items would make a difference. So again I said no. However, when I showed up at the venue they were there and I was fine with that because they were gifted and didn’t hit my budget*.

Sidenote – Even though you say no, there are some small battles you won’t win and you should be fine with that. Just remember, this is your day and you need to stand firm on the bigger more important battles.

Stuck with my Guestlist

I wanted a small intimate wedding with 35 of our closest family and friends. The only person I actively discussed my half of guest list with was my Soon-to-be-Husband. I wanted to make sure that the only people in attendance were people we cared about. This meant no input from our parents because the people they think should be there, may not be who we want there. I invited my parents, siblings and their significant other, niece and nephews, Nana and Papa, Godparents, my two good friends, some of my Aunts and one of my cousins. Hubs invited his parents, brother, son, his aunt and cousin, and a few of his frat brothers and their significant others.

We didn’t invite all of our aunts, uncles, and cousins for various reasons. Luckily, everyone who didn’t receive an invite was very understanding and still really happy for us and our special day.

I was comfortable with the idea of DIY

Originally, I had sat with a decorator and was quoted $600 for five tables. I felt like that was too much and figured I could do it myself. I love crafting and I’m confident in my ability to create something. I was able to do a lot of wedding decor myself. So I borrowed five small glass squares from my mom and sister-in-law for the centrepieces. They were filled with the flowers, water beads and a purple waterproof  LED light. I also wrapped some rhinestone ribbon around the glass. The centrepieces had to be short and simple because if they were tall and over the top, they would clash with the simple relaxed boat feel.

I built our card box with the leftover purple material I had from a dress I made a few years prior, leftover rhinestone ribbon and a few of the calla lilies. I wasn’t going to make a card box, but my friend convinced me that I could do it. And I am glad I did. It came out amazing.

We assembled our wedding favours instead of ordering them. I purchased small organza bags, two pounds of Jordan Almonds and the morning of the wedding while we ate breakfast my friend and I put them together. It took us about 20 minutes. In the organza bag, we put 5 almonds and a note saying:

Lastly on the DIY front was our make up. I spoke with a makeup artist and she wanted to charge $185 for my face and $125 for my sister’s. Nope. Not going to happen. I do my makeup for other special occasions and do an awesome job. So my wedding day would be no different. There was no way I was going to pay $310 for that knowing I wouldn’t keep the makeup she used.

I kept it short and to the point

Aside from the commitment you are making to each other being the most important aspect of the wedding, the reception comes in at a close second. We booked the UberVida for three hours and it allowed us to have both the ceremony and the reception in one place – we didn’t have to book transportation to get us from the ceremony to the reception, we didn’t have to decorate two places, and it allowed us to have a beautiful sunset ceremony on the water. However, booking the boat for three hours meant we had to say ‘I do’, eat, drink, dance, toast and have cake within that time. Three hours may not be long enough for others, but for us, it was perfect because when it was time to say goodbye and head home, I was so tired and ready for bed.

The timeline went like this:

6:00 – Guests arrived and mingled while the boat was docked

6:30 – Boat leaves dock and heads to Paradise Lakes

6:45 – Ceremony

7:00 – Take photos

7:15 – Eat dinner

8:30 – Best man and Maid of Honor Toast, first dance and dancing

9:30 – Cut the cake and give everyone their cupcake

9:50 – Thank you’s and disembark the boat

I really liked the UberVida because they added a half an hour to the beginning and the ending the wedding for boarding and disembarking. But because our guest showed up 6 sharp we really had four hours instead of three.

Total cost – $5,312.36 ($312.36 over-budget)