Finale

All in all we had a wonderful time! And it was perfect!

The Band

The two biggest expenses a bride has in the budget are the band and catering. I was very lucky that my guitar teacher and a singer I know were nice enough to be my band for the wedding. They were fantastic! I still paid them but I had to pay considerably less. The lesson here is to make sure you think of all the resources and good friends you have and ask for their help. It is best to save in every way you can since weddings really add up.

Purse

Etsy Photo of purse

I found this purse on etsy in the shop Ellenvintage. I got the same one but with a silver clasp. I put the bridal emergency kit inside of it. bobby pins, tissues, etc. I found this purchase to be the least worth the money. I never opened my purse once at the wedding and it stayed at my table the whole night. But it is beautiful!

Hair

Photo found

My hair

I found a photo of how I wanted my hair on google. I knew I wanted flowers in my hair but I was worried about them falling out or falling apart. I bought real dried blue orchids and dipped them in plastic resin to make them hard and durable. I glued them to a comb tooth hair pin. My hair has three flower pins. My bridesmaids each have one. 

Jewelry

The flowers of my wedding were orchids. I found blue swarovski crystals jewelry with silver orchids. They matched perfectly with my dress. 

The Dress!!!

Finally the dress!! I spent weeks looking at various dresses in stores and online. I finally found one that was perfect on etsy. The shop is called Wedding Dress Fantasy. It is a lace back corset top with one shoulder strap. It has a ball gown skirt with the front layer is gathered up with teal flowers. The dress was Ivory with Teal accents.

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer

My flower girl dresses were $15 on ebay. The ring bearers suit was also from ebay and was around $40. I thought they looked fantastic for that price!!

Shoes

I don't do heels and I knew they would just sink into the ground outside so I ordered these beautiful and comfortable handmade fabric shoes with recycled rubber soles and peacock feathers printed on them. They were from the shop uku2 on etsy.

Bridesmaids

I got the bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal. Some of the girls could not afford the dresses at full price so they found some on sale but they were in the lighter blue. I decided it would look good to have both shades of blue anyway. You can see the babies breath bouquets they have. They actually looked very nice against their colorful dresses.

Bouquet

My bouquet

As I said earlier, the one thing that went wrong was our florist flaked out. I chose to use a friend's brother who used to be a florist but he was completely unreliable. I ordered the flowers with the help of my friend, and the night before the wedding we attempted to make the centerpiece flowers and bridesmaid bouquets. We ended up just putting together babies breath and making it simple. My husbands cousin saved the day and went to a florist early in the morning. While they made my bouquet, she put together the boutonnieres, and corsages. 

Gift Table

The gift table had hand mosaiced wooden letters that stand on their own and read "Amber & Patrick." I ordered the letters plain from the shop Painted Posh Designs on Etsy and then mosaiced, and painted them. 

Guest Book, Pen, Garters, Flower Girl Baskets, and Ring Bearer Pillow

The guest book, pen, flower girl baskets, ring bearer pillow, and garters all came from a set made by the shop all4brides on etsy. 

The Cake

The cake idea came from a google image search. I decided to do mini cupcakes for the first three tiers because an actual cake costed $300 more and I believe the cupcakes were less messy and more accessible. There was originally supposed to be a topper but the one thing that went wrong (and there is always something) was the florist.

Table Setting

The table setting I put together from multiple pictures on google and pinterest. I used smartyhadaparty.com for the plates, silverware, and napkins to cut down on rental costs. I rented the glasses since I did not see any I liked on the website. The wine glasses were given to me but they were originally $1 each from the dollar store. I chose to use my fathers honey from his very own hive as my favors. The centerpieces were peacock vases with babies breath. The bridal party table had the peacock teapot.

Isle Pom Poms

Lining the Isles were paper pom poms.

Chair Decorations

My chairs were decorated with ribbons that held the color scheme of the wedding. It was a really neat idea that I found on pinterest I think. With 10 or so people putting the ribbons on it didn't take as long as you might think. Only about 30 min the night before the wedding. Cutting and grouping them together was the real time consumer.

Location chosen for the wedding

This is a beautiful location outside of Gainesville, Florida. I wanted it to be an outdoor wedding where the beautiful oak hammock and lake would be the perfect natural decorations. I was the second to the last wedding ever held here . They put the property up on the market. I hope that it continues to be used as a wedding venue. It was called Bay Laurel.