wilsons.

Our lovely friends tied the knot this past weekend and it was a great celebration of their relationship and love. So happy for their married lives to begin! These photos were from my phone and some other bridesmaid's as well. Mostly things that the photographer wasn't around for - just you wait for those! Jessi and Jodi do amazing work, I can't wait to see them!

'80's themed rehearsal dinner!

Best. Suit. Ever. 

Make up time!

She looked like a European model. Seriously.

Before the crazy happend. 

bachelorette.

Monday was spent loving on my soon-to-be-married friend, Savannah.

Saw this party and was inspired. We went with root beers as the bride is a fan and it was in the afternoon. ; )

All of her maids were able to attend along with a couple other lovely ladies. We had way too much root beer and ate ourselves into a sugar coma.

We all brought bras that represented us and made her guess who brought which one, we helped her write her vows ala mad lib style and pinned some cocks on a jock, and tasted lots of root beers. We might have had a mini root beer keg as well as a root beer cake... to go with our root beer floats.

A cock n balls donut with the groom's name made this party complete!

I think this is my favorite from the day. So elegant. 

So excited for this wedding!

Now to find shoes to go with my dress!

wedding.

The reason for our week in California was to see Jaime, Husby's long time family friend, get married. She was a beautiful bride. The weather was perfect. It was at a winery. All in all a grand ol' time. And I had a good hair day - that's always a plus.

friendship.

One of my favorite people is  f i n a l l y  getting married!


j + s are too perfect for each other.

They were a part of our wedding and Husby & I are excited to partake in their special day!

At our wedding : )

So thoughtful. I'm pretty sure I asked my maids via FB...

This summer is going to be amazing!

bridal budget breakdown.

[Warning, this post is for the Type A's. But I've thrown in some photos to make it look prettier : ) ]

I've been meaning to do this for oh...two years, but here I am doing it now! You're welcome. If you care. I still get nauseous when I think about the"average American wedding"cost.  I thought we were awesome and incredibly amazing and only spent roughly $1,000 on our special day. But I went over the expenses today to really see what we spent. While it's about two times what I thought (I still don't like counting the rings as part of the "wedding"...) our whole wedding - with over 300 guests - was still under $3,000. I'd say I can still pat myself on the back!

How did we do it, you ask?

Necessity.

We were are broke and in love.
Our parents didn't have that "wedding fund" waiting for us.
We didn't want to go into debt from our wedding. (Student loans are enough!)

So, we I sacrificed let go of some of my teenage wedding fantasies and did what was practical but still would make me happy. Such as getting a dress from China, making everything I could, choosing disposable tableware instead of renting, getting bulk flowers from Costco, and having a "potluck" style buffet.... can you imagine how much it would cost to feed over 300 people?!

Here it is, it's pretty rough still, but I always rounded up, so if anything things were less than what they say. 

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*Includes tableware, place settings, centerpieces, Costco flowers, peacock feather, candy table jars, Photobooth props, etc... 

** Items in ( ) were paid for by either family or wonderful friends
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And if you're the type who likes to know...

Where I got stuff from : )

Save On Crafts

The Feather Store (I think this is where I got them from...)

IKEA

Dollar Tree

Party City

Iron & Honey (Etsy)

The White Bouquet (Etsy)

The Pretty Petals (Etsy)

Boxed-Gifts.com

Lightinthebox.com

Costco.com

...and Craigslist and some awesome thrift stores!

Here's to being crafty, frugal and awesome!