The Camel Wedding: Budget Breakdown

Originally we set a budget of around $15,000. We knew we wanted to invite as many friends and family as possible as it would be one of the few chances in our lives to have our widely separated families together at once. In the end, we went over our budget. I'm sure this is no huge surprise to anyone currently planning a wedding! Wedding costs add up fast. You might even have that wedding budget anxiety attack when you realize how expensive your dream wedding will cost. Suddenly your Pinterest-worthy wedding dreams begin to fade. But don't give up! There are lots of ways to trim your budget and incorporate DIY elements to keep costs down. We certainly could have had a much cheaper wedding without sacrificing the look and feel of our big day. 

Anyway, enough yapping from me. Here's the Camel Wedding Budget Breakdown: 

Number of Guests: ~80

Location: Athens/Arnoldsville, Georgia

Date: May 26, 2013

Type: Outdoor, seated buffet

Honeymoon: $3000

Two weeks in Malta, Gozo, and Paris (cost not included in budget)

Venue and Catering - Cloverleaf Farm / A Divine Event: $8,800

Sunday discount; this included the venue from 3:00 pm to midnight, the staff, two bartenders, two passed appetizers, a buffet with two entree choices, salad, rolls, and three side dishes, the cake cutting, a day-of-coordinator, all linens, all tables and chairs, and ceremony set-up and breakdown. 

Outdoor Lighting: $500

This was stupidly expensive but we just had to have it for the desired ambiance. It was worth it though, for it gave the entire reception a magical, fairy-party sort of feel. We were originally planning on having the reception inside the house and therefore never budgeted for lighting. This was a last minute addition when our venue coordinator suggested moving the seating outside if the weather was nice. I was immediately in love with the idea and thankfully the weather was perfect! But it was definitely a much-debated last-minute expense.

Alcohol - All Night Open Bar: $850

We collected bottles of red and white wine from Trader Joe's for over a year. We also purchased lots of beer from Costco and about 10 bottles each of rum and vodka for mixed drinks. Our caterer provided mixers for the alcoholic beverages. We had a LOT of leftover alcohol! 

Cake - Cheesecake Factory & Cecelia's: $200

We bought three chocolate cakes from the Cheesecake Factory (Linda's Fudge Cake is my absolute favorite cake in the world), and one lemon cake from Cecelia's so we could still provide a "traditional" cake offering for our guests. Plus it looked great in photos! Price also included the cake stand and cake delivery. 

Photography - Christopher Helm: $2800

Sunday discount; 10 hours of coverage, one shooter, engagement shoot, digital files with copyright

DJ: Gifted

My brother is a DJ and brought all the lights and sound equipment as part of our wedding gift. We had a blast!

Floral - Gardenia Floral Design / fiftyflowers.com: $1400

We hired a florist for my bridal bouquet, the Mr. C's boutonniere, three corsages (for my mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother), and ten table's worth of flowers for the reception and miscellaneous flowers for the main room, gift table, dessert table, and guest book table. We then DIYed everything else. We ordered around $100 worth of baby's breath from fiftyflowers.com which was used for our aisle decor, groomsmen boutonnieres, and bridesmaid/groomslady bouquets. 

Ceremony Decor: $180 

The aisle was decorated with hanging baskets I bought from Hobby Lobby which were filled them with moss. My mother made bows for them with sheer blue ribbon and they were filled with baby's breath which is included in the estimate above. We also rented a chandelier from a local antique shop which was hung from the tree directly over our ceremony site and provided guests with dried lavender to toss as we passed by during the recessional. 

Ceremony Music: $160

We paid two former students $80 each to play the cello and violin for about an hour and a half. I asked them to learn two different songs for the event. 

Hair & Make-up - City Salon and Spa:  $800

This included my bridal updo, hair trial, updos for our nine bridesmaids/groomslaides and two mothers, my wedding day make-up, and gratuity.

Bride’s Attire: $2810

Dress: $2,300 (Jim Hjelm 8105 purchased as a sample from Wedding Angels Boutique), Shoes: $50, Bracelet: $40, Hairpiece (DIY): $20, Sash (DIY): $30, Alterations: $400. I never in my wildest dreams expected to have such an expensive dress, but it was absolutely the one. I can't imagine our wedding day without it. As such, I tried to spend less on the other bridal accessories. I bought my shoes (by Lola Cruz) on sale on Amazon, but I just noticed that BHLN is now selling them for $200 in rose gold. 

Groom’s Attire: $440

Suit (from Macy's): $280, Shirt: already owned, Socks: $15, Tie: $25, Shoes: $120

Transportation: $120

A limo ride from our venue to our hotel the night of the wedding. This is one luxury I wish we had skipped! 

Paper Products: $300

All paper products were designed by me with Adobe Illustrator and printed either through Moo or Catprint. Moo is better quality, but a little pricier. This estimate includes our postcard save-the-dates, invites, RSVP cards, program fans, mini Moo cards with website address, rehearsal dinner invites, thank you bookmarks, envelopes, and postage.

Favors: $200

Around 200 French macarons from a Korean bakery in Atlanta. Some were individually wrapped with attached thank you tags for gifts and some were displayed on our dessert table as seen above.

Wedding bands: $500 

I bought mine used (it's a slim platinum band from 1926) from an online vintage jewelry dealer and Mr. C bought his tungsten from a local shop. 

Rehearsal dinner - Highwire Lounge: Gifted

Hosted by Mr. C's dad and stepmother. We never saw the bill, so I have no idea! It included one meal and two drink tickets for around 40 guests. 

Hotel - Hotel Indigo: $150

One night at the Hotel Indigo in downtown Athens. We know someone who works there and we were upgraded to the palatial presidential suite for free! 

Officiant: $50

Our officiant was Mr. C's dear friend and former coworker. We gifted him a local restaurant gift card and a night of babysitting for their two girls. 

Marriage license: $60

Gifts: $500

I gifted my bridesmaids and groomsladies gift bags with Anthropologie initial mugs, picture frames, chocolates, and a piece of jewelry from Etsy seller Edor. My maid of honor, our moms, and my sisters-in-law who held my bridal shower were also gifted with floral cotton robes. The bridesmaids and groomsladies were given paper parasols from Luna Bazaar for some post-wedding photo ops. Our moms received necklaces and embroidered handkerchiefs, and I gifted my dad a Little Prince popup book (for sentimental reasons, he's hard to shop for!). Groomsmen were gifted pocket knives with their initials on the sides.  

Reception Decor: $500 

I collected milk glass, silver trays, tray mirrors, and votive candles for over a year and I never bothered to keep track of how much I spent on everything, so this is a rough estimate. I still plan to sell everything if you are in the Atlanta area and interested!

Reception Party Items - Oriental Trading Company: $80

We bought  glow necklaces and plastic sunglasses to hand out during the reception dance party. They were distributed by our catering staff. They were a huge hit and I consider this money well spent! The glow sticks also made it possible for us to have a glow stick exit when our sparklers were MIA. Speaking of sparklers. . . 

Sparklers - I Love Sparklers: $50 

Never used. Later discovered in the trunk of my car and sold to a local bride to recoup my costs. We went with the 20" sparklers, if you're curious. 

Crafts: $150 

I'll throw in this figure for any miscellaneous paper, hole punches, ribbon, baker's twine, and whatnot I purchased from the craft stores throughout the wedding planning process. Thankfully teachers get a discount at Michael's (and I used those 40% off one item coupons all the time) to help save some money!

Photo Guest Book: $80 

This included the guest book itself, archival ink pens, washi tape, and several packages of film for my Fujii Instax MINI 25 camera which I already owned. 

Website: $50 

Created through Wix and with a personal domain name. 

I think that's about everything! I'm sure I've managed to forget some cost here or there, and some of these costs are estimates, perhaps slightly over or under what was actually spent, but this should give some idea of where our money went! And now for the grand total . . . 

Grand Total: Around $21,800

Yes, that's quite a bit over the $15,000 we originally envisioned. 

And now, some advice: 

A few areas which pushed us over our budget would be my dress, the outdoor lighting (which wasn't originally budgeted), and the flowers, which we originally planned to DIY. As I mentioned above, we could have definitely skipped some of these items and still had a really amazing wedding. Another suggestion for those of you with long engagements is to buy wedding-related items in increments. It makes things much more financially feasible and palatable. Our venue came at a steal, but came with the caveat of booking their in-house catering which was a little pricier than we would have chosen otherwise. If we had chosen a similarly priced venue with cheaper catering, we could have saved money. I also highly recommend booking a venue that allows you to provide your own alcohol. This saved us a lot of money! Also, remember that many of our items like there reception and ceremony decor can be resold in order to cover some of these costs. 

In hindsight, we could have been a little more strict in our spending -- but in the end we have no looming regrets and personally, I think our wedding turned out perfect! Despite being over budget, we accumulated zero debt from our wedding, which was funded primary by Mr. C and me along with some very generous help from my dad and stepmother. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know! 

My Wedding Dress Reveal

If you recall, from months and months ago, I never actually shared pictures of my wedding dress with you. I wanted it to be a surprise for the family and guests who had yet to see it. Plus the model shots of the dress aren't very convincing and I hated all of the blurry cellphone pictures of me wearing it in a fitting room. Well, now I am very happy to finally be able to share my dress with the hive!

All photographs are by Christopher Helm Photography.

The designer is Jim Hjelm and the style is #8105. The model shot does not do this dress justice. For me, it has everything I ever wanted in a wedding dress: A-line, natural waist, romantic, soft, whimsical. It is comprised of layers upon layers of ivory silk chiffon ruffles. My absolute favorite part is the train, which stretches back behind the dress like the foamy trails of a water nymph.

This is actually the very first wedding dress I tried on, strangely enough at a very posh bridal boutique in Pasadena, California. I was there with three of my bridesmaids and honestly, 99% of the dresses in that shop were not my style and not within my budget, but one of my bridesmaids had once worked there and she was the one who kindly booked the appointment. Everything there was a little too over-the-top for my style and personality. But I figured it couldn't hurt to try on a few dresses. My bridesmaids kept saying they wanted to see me in lace or a fit-and-flare gown but those things just aren't my style. Lace isn't me. Then I saw this Jim Hjelm number, which reminded me of a more elaborate version of BHLDN's Cascading Goddess gown which was my favorite dress at the time.

So I tried on the Jim Hjelm and it was a hit, but of course you never give in after just the one dress. I tried on several more, but in the end I went back to this dress for a final look before we headed off to another bridal salon. But first, it needed a little something extra.

The dress originally had a flowery sequin applique attached off-center to the waistline. I knew I wanted to remove it and for some reason I was inspired to have a wide sash tied around the waist with a large bow in the back. Luckily the salon had a sash I could try on and the moment the bow was tied in the back I was totally sold. My bridesmaids oohed and aahed in approval. My stepsister had tears in her eyes. I had to have it and it had to have a massively long sash with a big bow in the back too. But I had made a very tragic mistake. I didn't ask for the price before trying it on, and it being a designer gown, it definitely had a price tag to match. I left the salon crestfallen, but I thought I might find something better (and more affordable) in the future.

Alas, I did not find anything that captured my heart the way the Jim Hjelm did. But luckily I was able to find a salon back in Georgia (Wedding Angels Bridal Boutique in Roswell) that carried this designer. I grabbed my one Atlanta bridesmaid, made an appointment, and went to try it on again (and was hoping for an Atlanta price rather than an LA price) but unfortunately they did not have a sample available. I was so disappointed. We were just about to leave when suddenly the saleswoman had a thought. They did have this dress but their one sample was for sale in their clearance room. What luck! In just moments my dream dress became a reality, as it was available for a much more reasonable price. Talk about fate!

I bought this dress in June 2012 and I got married in May 2013. I had a number of people tell me that I bought it too early, that I would see something else I liked more and develop the dreaded wedding dress regret. But I have to say that after nearly a year of stalking every major wedding blog you can name and of course the dress forum here on Weddingbee, I never did find a dress that I loved more than this one.

It wasn't until later that I discovered what I believe to be my subconscious inspiration for the giant blue sash. When Marie Antoinette started to spend more time at the Petit Trianon (her small, personal palace outside of Versailles) she wanted a new type of gown that was more natural and easier to wear outside in her private gardens. As you probably know, most 18th century French women (of wealth and status) wore very elaborate, heavy gowns that required corsets, stays, and cumbersome hoops to support the weight and shape of the gowns. I can only imagine how hot and uncomfortable these types of dresses must have been! But Marie Antoinette wanted freedom from her typical restrictive wardrobe and the result was the chemise a la reine - a gauzy white muslin gown that was tied at the waist with a colored sash. This gown quickly caught on and all the most fashionable ladies were wearing them, even if they were likened to underwear or lingerie in comparison to the typical fashions of the day. 

Image source via: The Dreamstress (the last portrait is Marie Antoinette herself)

I think these images must have been floating around in the back of my mind when I suggested wearing a sash with my wedding dress. The sash itself was custom made by my own mother. I bought the fabric in that lovely blue color that so often reminds me of Marie Antoinette, and had her make it extra long so that it trailed the ground behind me. I definitely struggled with whether or not to wear the sash. I realize it is a little unconventional and I didn't want to look back on my wedding photos with regret. Now that the wedding is over, I have to say that I love it and I can't imagine my wedding day look without that big blue sash. It added just a touch of uniqueness, a little dash of me. Plus it tied in so well with our wedding theme. 

Well, that's the story of my wedding dress! And now it sits hanging languidly in my closet, taking up way too much space. I am thinking of having it cleaned and reselling it, because as much as I love it, I feel bad that it will spend the rest of its days gathering dust in the back of my closet. 

What were you looking for in your dream dress? Do you (or did you) plan to sell your wedding dress after the wedding?

Our Wedding Website

Thanks to the wonderful advice and example set by our own Mrs. Wallaby, I decided to create our wedding website through Wix. It was actually quite simple and I had a lot of fun creating a unique look that reflects the theme of our wedding. I upgraded to a premium account and bought a domain name through 1&1. You can actually buy a domain name directly through Wix or through a variety of other providers. It was important to us to have a web address that is simple and easy for our guests to remember, plus it's incredibly inexpensive! I would highly suggest purchasing your own domain name.

I have a widescreen monitor so I was struggling with cropping these images and keeping the look of the website. Sorry they are a little wonky!

The main page really sets the stage with our wedding colors and one of our engagement photos. The flower graphics were actually from a Wix template but they worked perfectly for our purposes! And yes, because I apparently live on the internet of the 1990s, we have a song that plays when you visit our site. You can turn it off with the pause button, but I just had to do it, as stupid as I know it sounds. It plays a song from the soundtrack of Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette.

I wanted to have a little fun with the website, so I added some 18th century fashion plate illustrations to tie it into our wedding theme. These illustrations won't have a place on our big day, but I thought the website was the perfect place to add them and incorporate some of that whimsical flair. You will see them on subsequent pages of our website.

If you can't tell from the screenshot above, I broke our website down into several pages: Our Story, Gallery, People (an introduction to parents of the bride and groom and the bridal party), Events (address and maps for the ceremony/reception and rehearsal dinner), Accommodations, RSVP, and Registry. 

The "Our Story" page has a brief description of myself and Mr. C, how we met, and an abridged version of our engagement story. There are plenty of my distant family members or family friends who have never Mr. C (and vice versa) so this allows them to get to know a little about us before the wedding. 

Since we are also having a lot of out of town guests, I decided to include sections that recommend local restaurants and bars as well as tasty local beers. I hope our guests check out some of our town's amazing local eateries!

And because our we have some family drama, we blocked out three different hotels and designated family/friends for each hotel. I know that sounds crazy, and I would prefer that everyone just happily get along, but it was necessary to keep the peace.

The "People" tab for the website introduces our guests to the bridal party and our parents. This means that these amazing people are recognized and appreciated at the wedding. Again, sorry for the weird cropping, but on the main site the rococo ladies are not cut off.

Wix is great because if you are ever unsure or confused about adding a feature, they usually have a step-by-step video in their help section to walk you through adding specific features to your site. I am definitely a hands-on learner who sometimes has difficulty translating written instructions into actions. That's why video tutorials have been my absolute savior lately, especially when it has come to creating our save-the-dates and invitation suite in Adobe Illustrator.

After setting up our website, I created an account with Google Analytics (it's free!) and linked it to our wedding site. This allows me to track the number of visitors and the location of visitors (even down to city) who have visited the site. So far, it's been quite a hit!

In the end, I hope our guests find our webpage easy to navigate and informative. Most importantly, however, I hope it gets them really excited about our wedding!

Do you have a wedding website?