Fall Weddings - Part 2

One of the first things that my husband and I decided on when planning our fall wedding was that we would stay within our small budget. Invitations were the first item that I wanted to take care of, and we opted for a medium-sized guest list. We have a lot of church family, and we didn't want to leave anyone out. In order to save money, we decided to create our own invitations, rather than spend money ordering them. I went to a local office supply store and found some autumn patterned stationery. I designed the wording on my parents' computer, and we printed them out. They were beautiful, and they cost us next to nothing!


When we figured out how many guests we were planning for, we started looking into food options. When reflecting on autumn and the splendor that it beholds, we considered the bounty in harvest time. A cornucopia of foods was our final decision. Again, we were sticking to a small budget, so we took a trip to our local Sam's Club. We spent less than one hundred dollars on food for our wedding. No kidding. We bought whole chunks of deli meats and cheeses. We took them to a friend of ours who owned a local restaurant at the time, and he sliced them for us. My mother and some of the ladies from our church rolled them and placed them onto disposable platters that we had purchased. We then asked our friends and family to consider making a dish to pass, and we ended up with a fabulous buffet feast.

Our decorations followed suit with the seasonal bounty theme. Gourds, pumpkins, candles in autumn spice scents. Vines. We brought nature into the rooms. Why pay a fortune when you can find inspiration in your back yard or along the roadside?

We didn't need to spend a fortune in order to have fun, either. We looked at who we knew and chose our photographer and our d.j. from that list. We were blessed by both with very reasonable pricing. Another lady that we knew from church blessed us with our wedding cake. It was her gift to us for our big day. Think about who you know. They are usually more than happy to contribute to your celebration and will give you lower prices than those who are in their business for the money.

These are a few more tips for planning a fall wedding on a budget. I hope that you've found some useful pointers!

Below are some fabulous table setting finds that are available on Etsy.com. To see the designer's shop, please click on the photograph. It will take you directly there.


Left - Right: Cotton Bird Designs, Mary Wibis, Beadz2Pleaz

Left - Right: April Hiler Designs, Tim Wilson Glass Art, Sunshine And Ravioli

Left - Right: Chester and Donkey, mooshoopork, flores del sol

Fall Weddings - Part 1

It was 11 years ago this past Saturday...October 3rd, 1998, when my husband and I exchanged our wedding vows on a beautiful autumn day! The leaves were in their peak color, and the air was crisp. The sky was slightly overcast for most of the day, but it was still a beauty to behold!

In honor of the fond memories of that day, I wish to focus my blog on "Fall Weddings on a Budget" this week. I have searched one of my favorite places to shop, www.Etsy.com, to find items ranging from wedding gowns to decorations to invitations...everything one could think of desiring to have for their fall wedding.

I have had more than one person (actually, I've had several people) report back that our wedding was one of the best they'd ever been to. How did we pull off such a successful event? This week, I'll tell you all about it!

The first thing that a bride typically thinks of when she's proposed to is her dream wedding gown. At least, that's what I immediately started thinking of! What colors did I want in my wedding party? WHO did I want in my wedding party? What style dress did I want to wear? Where would I find that dress?

My Bridal Party:
Amy Kropp (college friend), Lisa Morales (sister-in-law), Frieda Suess (sister),
Tracie DeSilva (MOH), and myself

I already knew who should be in my bridal party. My cousin was my first choice of Maid of Honor, but she couldn't be there. My second choice was obvious to me, and she turned out to be the best "MOH" (pronounced "Moo") ever!!! She literally laid down her life for me and my fiance the entire week or two before our wedding! My first advice for planning a budget wedding? Find someone who loves you enough to lay their life down for you in preparation for your big day. Make that person your Maid of Honor! I never could have done it without her! My bridesmaids were just as obvious. Siblings, college buddy, done!

Colors? We purposely chose the first weekend of October as our wedding date. There were two reasons behind this: 1. We didn't want to wait to get married. 2. We knew that it would be peak fall color that week. Because I believe that there is no true way to recreate God's glorious colors, we wanted those colors to be our main focus. (Sure, we come close to recreating His colors, but nothing compares to the fall foliage in the mountains!)

We chose black and white to be our wedding party colors, and we drew from nature for the rest. Our decorations, flowers, photos, and more contained the "pop" of autumn color that we were looking for! We used fall colored flowers, gourds, pumpkins, wheat, and more to pull the color into our black and white wedding party. Look around, use what God created to make your wedding look complete. It doesn't cost anything to drive down the road and cut some wildflowers from the fields to fill your table centerpieces or your bouquets.

My choice for a dress was very close to what I'd always dreamed of. I always admired lots of layers to my gown's skirt. I also always imagined a white gown. To keep costs low, I decided to wait for David's Bridal to have their $99 Sale. It took some digging and a lot of changing room action, but I finally found my perfect gown! With a couple of tucks done by a close friend (rather than paying for the tailoring), it was a perfect fit! Between gown, veil, and a bridal garment, the total cost was $330! What a bargain! Having the perfect dress and veil doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Save the money for the honeymoon! In all honesty, I think my bridal ensemble was the most expensive part of our wedding, after the rings!

Here are some gowns that I found at www.Etsy.com when searching autumn wedding:

Absolutely Breathtaking and Stunningly Beautiful Gowns
from Romantic Threads:

These are quite lovely and would look fabulous with a warm bridal shawl thrown over your shoulders to keep you warm in the crisp autumn breeze!

from Rohm and
from Exquisite Gowns

Fall Shawls (click on photo for link to shop)

Tomorrow, I'll be back with more wedding tips!