Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, but I didn't find much.
I wanted a simple wedding. I didn't have the time, patience, or army of resources (people) to spend on little craft projects and lots of decorations. Plus, I'm in the low maintenance camp. My reception was only 2 hours! It sounded like a lot of effort for such a small chunk of time.
The main focus was the temple. And that takes all of 10 minutes to book. I just wanted a fun celebration after.
So here's my "budget" LDS wedding in San Antonio. In all its detailed glory.
Nails: Done by myself and my sister. Fun project the day before. I laid on the floor of my bathroom with my feet propped up for Morgie to paint, while the Kyoo mom drilled me to make important wedding decisions.
Flowers: Done by H-E-B. Less than $60 for both the bouquet and the boutonniere (with a coupon). My bouquet made me so happy. I wish I could put it on my dining room table and have it stay perfect forever. There weren't any bridesmaids/groomsmen so those were the only specialty flowers we ordered.
Wedding Band: I don't get a wedding band yet (we didn't want to spend money on it at the time...) but we got the Gregband on amazon.com. We did a lot of research and decided on cobalt chrome. It's inexpensive and durable.
Hair and Make-Up: I do not trust myself when it comes to doing anything presentable with my hair so I coughed up for a hair and makeup package at got hair? salon here in San Antonio. It took about two hours and they were nice. Nothing too special. The "hair pretties" are from Wal-Mart. Represent!
Snowcones: These summer treats were whipped-up on demand (and free for guests) by T-Good's Shaved Ice. This was probably my favorite part of the reception. At least the food part. I think most of the guests would agree. They were very reasonably priced and looked great! Plus, doesn't everyone want the ambient sounds of grinding ice in the background? :-)
Food: Easy, buffet-style. Assorted sandwich, wrap, fruit, and veggie trays were purchased from HEB. They are by far the cheapest and still quite tasty. Plus, they were real patient with my million questions and had great customer service. The Chick-Fil-A nugget tray was the most popular at the reception though. Also affordable and highly recommended. Side items like chips and dip and sherbet punch (recipe here) were Costco purchases.
Centerpieces: The vases were a dollar at the dollar store and the flowers were bulk and in-season from Travis Wholesale Florists in town. They have buckets and buckets to choose from at their warehouse. Little bowls of gummy bears and Skittles added color and made the centerpiece useful. And doesn't candy make everything more presentable?? I think we sprinkled craft glitter around too. You know, so the guests would find it in their laundry for weeks and remember us!
Table and Chair Covers: We rented these thru a church acquaintance. She bought everything for her daughters' weddings and now loans them out. See all her options here. The ribbon was bought on sale at Michaels in a bunch of bright colors and tied around the chairs. We didn't do a tulle ceiling cause I didn't want inflict my family with the setup/take down.
Napkins/Tableware: Were purchased at Wal-Mart. I shopped around and they had the best selection/prices. Mostly because I needed a small quantity of just about each color they offered.
Music: There was no dancing at our reception because we are not dancers nor are we posers of such. We did have a playlist of our favorite songs playing in the background. It was supposed to be longer but I forgot to compile it until the day of...
Desserts: I can't tell you who did our cake/cupcakes/rice crispy treats...because I don't know. I had a friend take care of those details. Though I do know it was cheaper for us to go with a small cake for us and cupcakes for the guests. I threw in the rice crispy treats because they are my favorite and also added Costco brownie bites to the dessert table for even more variety.
Wedding Favors: Personalized fortune cookies! Cheap and fun. We ordered them from My Lucky Fortune, Inc. online and bedazzled them with stickers. There were three different messages with our names and wedding dates inside. Less than $40 for 200 of them, including shipping.
Guest Book: We asked people to sign a photo book that I made on Shutterfly as our reception guest book. You can check it out here. It was filled with pictures from our courtship and a few engagement shots. Everyone left fun messages and it's something we'll set out and look at for years and years.
Pinata: Don't remember where we got that but every wedding should have a pinata. So. Much. Fun. Filled with bulk candy from Sam's Club and various items from Dollar Tree. Think army men and leis and miniature play-doh.
Did I hate planning the reception? YES. It was such a pain. But now that it's all said and done, I'm so glad we had one. It was nice to have somewhere to go after the temple and share in the fun with so many people.
If you're planning a wedding...good luck. I sure hope this helps! For more wedding schtuff, here.
Have a great day :-)
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