Miranda’s wedding was a HUGE success! It was beautiful and perfect and a million other things that I cant put into words. I am just so happy for them!
Before we get started you should know that all photography is courtesy of the AMAZING Avi Stoddard.
And as much as you want to hear me gush about how much I love my sister and how I cried the ENTIRE day, I know what you are here for…the pictures and the details. So lets get on with it! Here are a few tips that we learned to create a fabulous wedding on a budget.
1. Make it small and special: Miranda and Rob chose to celebrate their marriage with a luncheon for all of their close family and friends, instead of having a big reception. The location that they chose was The Gathering Place in Gardner Village. It was a big open space the comfortably fit the entire crowd. Pretty sure that every husband in the room was celebrating that decision. Instead of the groom’s family paying for a luncheon, and the bride’s family paying for the reception, they split the cost of the larger gathering. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
Which leads me to tip #2.
2. If you have a large space to fill, fill it with BIG things.
We used 14 giant balloons from the Tom Kat Shop. To fill them we rented helium tanks from a party store. (can you imagine the school bus we would need to transport these behemoths?!). We were super concerned because the clerk at the store told us that one tank would fill 3 balloons, and at $50 a pop that was NOT budget friendly. So like any responsible adult with a rebellious streak I bought one, just one, to see how far it would go. Um. SUCH a good idea. One tank filled 7 1/2 balloons!! So we used two total. To make them even more amazing we added 2 tissue paper tassels and a section of gold table streamers to each rope.
I also recreated the giant marquee letters from the tutorial that I wrote for Dylan’s HGTV Magazine Shoot. (Sometimes it is REALLY nice having detailed instructions again.)
The flower vases are just really basic tall glass vases that we found at Tai Pan. We added the copper and gold leafing. The bunches of Babies Breath are one of my favorite things ever.
All of the terrariums were upcycled from thrift store lights.
So good right?!
3. Thrift It UP! A lot of the planters were thrifted lights that found a new lease on life, but do you know what else was thrifted?
The AMAZING white leather chesterfield that we used in the guestbook photo booth. It was $35 and needed a really good scrub down to take it from dingy gray to bright white. Guys, Magic Erasers really are magic.
4. Buy your cake topper at Home Depot! Ok, so I know that this wont work for every wedding, but it TOTALLY worked for ours! Instead of having the florist make a $200 cake topper we found an amazing purple succulent at Home Depot for $10. I cut it off at the base and set it on a small piece of plastic wrap that I put on top of the cake. (Cake was from my favorite bakery in Salt Lake One Sweet Slice. Janell knows what she is doing.)
5. Inexpensive florals are your friend! Miranda is not much for flowers, and of course you know the obsession with Succulents on Vintage Revivals is at critical mass. We had a florist make the bouquet and boutonnieres, and then all of the hundreds (well, not hundreds, 160 to be exact) succulents were ordered off of Ebay. I want to say they were around $.70 a piece.
We used 13 bunches of babies breath to fill the tall vases. They were around $16 a bunch and the florist just ordered them for us, so she didn’t have any time invested into them.
6. Hire a good Natural Light photographer. The photographer Miranda and Rob used was in.cred.i.ble. Her name is Avi Stoddard and she is so talented, really great at directing a large crowd of people, and FAST. I loved meeting her and have loved every single picture that she has sent over. A Natural Light photographer is someone that specializes in working in outdoor conditions. Their rates are usually less because they don’t have studio or lots of equipment to store. But this is hands down the most important part of the wedding memories, so make sure that you are familiar with their work. Sometimes your cousin’s sister’s coworker’s best friend is amazing. And sometimes they just have a nice camera that they don’t know how to use. Don’t make that mistake.
7. Rent a dress. Miranda’s dress was a custom rental. Confused? Let me explain. The dress shop Gowns By Pamela specializes in rentals. They have a really big selection of skirts and tops that you can mix and match, and then you choose your sleeve, belt, and veil. We even added the piece of lace on the neckline on a whim. It comes with everything that you could need and includes the cleaning fee.
*Bonus Tip 8. Have THE BEST husband in the world. We had a few things to set up in the hour break between the temple sealing and the luncheon. It was chaos and Court helped me with everything. Even hot gluing leather letters onto our backdrop. Such a lucky girl I am.
Miranda is enjoying the sunshine in Puerto Rico, so there are some sources that I don’t have readily available, but I will update this post at the end of the week with everything (as soon as I can get her on the phone!)
Photographer: Avi Stoddard
Venue: The Gathering Place
Dress: Gowns by Pamela
Florist:
Cake: One Sweet Slice
Table Runners:
Glass Terrariums: Thrifted
Glass Vases: Tai Pan Trading
White Brick Backdrop: Wallpaper Direct
Marquee Letters: Tutorial Here
Balloons: Tom Kat Studios Shop
Have any questions PLEASE leave them in the comments below and I will answer them! xo
This is awesome! My sister is planning her wedding (with me as the maid of honor of course) and I cannot wait to show her this! I love the thrifted terrariums and the succulents, which I am sure we can pilfer from our mom’s amazing garden. 🙂 https://www.vintagezest.com/2013/10/garden-tour-2-succulents.html
By the way, you gals all look so awesome and I NEVER would have known about custom rental dresses. It looks like it was made just for your sister. Awesome idea!
drop dead gorgeous. all of it. high five!
What a beautiful wedding and family, amazing job.
All of it is so gorgeous. Can you source out the gold sequin material on the table runners for us?
AMAZING!!! Everything looks fantastic and so many personal touches. I’m seriouly in love with the photo booth….long live the Magic Eraser!
Very classy and beautiful! Did you do a tutorial on this and I missed it? Or would you please? I’m heading out for a light fixture today!
A tutorial on the planters!!! whoopsie!
Everything looks gorgeous! And thrifted light fixtures turned terrariums? Brilliant.
Wow! You did a fantastic job on all the details! Bravo! I did a lot of DIY at my wedding, 15 years ago… But I would SOOOOO love to get married these years… Lol! Things are so much more cool right now!
BTW, great tips about the photoghrapher… Thanks for it! I’m a wedding photographer and you said what needs to be said… 😉
My husband and I got married a year and a half ago and we opted for a luncheon rather than have a reception. I’m still SO glad, it was such a relief to not have a reception, not to mention the cost. My dress was custom made from China that I ordered from a website and even after alterations only cost me $150 when it was all said and done.
I think it’s crazy, how big and extravagant (expensive) weddings are, so it’s nice to see a simple, yet elegant wedding. I love all the succulents and the gold/glitter is fun!
Absolutely beautiful….. all of it. What cute ideas too!!
xo
I would love to know where you got the sequin table runners!? I am DIY-ing my wedding in June!
Thanks! beautiful, joyous day!
8. Have a ridiculously stylish frugal blogging friend.
Well, that might help a little…
Beautiful wedding! Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely beautiful! I love the photo booth area best!
Is the luncheon thing a Mormon tradition? I have never heard of that. I am familiar with the groom paying for the rehearsal dinner and then the brides family paying for everything else except the groom’s cake.
I dont know if i is Mormon thing, or not. Maybe they were started to have a big meal in place of the rehearsal dinner?
Yeah, its a Mormon thing. Its to replace the rehearsal dinner. It gives everyone something to do between the sealing and reception. I was a rebel and insisted on a rehearsal dinner the night before. My husband and I picked up a pizza and went 4 wheeling between ours. I swear that’s how my hair got messed up 😉
What a lovely couple! Great job Mandi, it looked amazing! I think my favourite is the terrarium light fixtures. Being a HUGE thrifter myself I think the best thing is that not only does it save money but it looks so unique.
what was the ebay shop/name where you got the succulents? i lovety love them but would rather pay 70 cents instead of $3 a piece. thanks!
Gorgeous and unique…. Just your style 🙂
Thank you SO much for sharing this! I’m helping a friend plan her wedding in the fall, and it’s definitely on a budget! We were already planning to incorporate round balloons & succulents — it’s like you read our minds! This is SO helpful! You did a beautiful job!!!!
i had no idea you could order plants off ebay? were they real? i would love to know your source. also, the light fixtures turned terrariums are gonna have us all running to the thrift stores this week…brilliant! congrats to your sister!
LOVE IT! Great details and those pictures are amazing! And that cake topper is bomb.
mandi! it is all so amazing. love how feminine, but still masculine it was. LOVE all the ideas…off to pin..and btw..you and your sisters are GORGEOUS! congrats on a perfect event. 🙂
oh wow! Such a beautiful wedding. Love all the decorations and that dresses is gorgeous! You would never be able to guess it was all separate parts!!
Love love love this! Down to every last detail. Dang, you’re good! So happy for your sis and her man. What a happy day.
just perfect; a 10. btw, did you just use magic eraser on the sofa; i’m a little confused, i’ve seen them for walls but maybe they also make them for furniture?? ty
Amazeballs! I would love to see a tutorial on the lights turned to vases! I want to know what you used as a base for the soil and plants to sit it! Everything about this wedding looked so amazing!
Hello Mandi
Everything looks just Beautiful! Could you please share the link for the succulents?
Loved the succulent bouquet and cake topper !!! The terrariums in the lights, are GENIUS!!! In my former life before being a stay at home mom, I was a wedding/event planner, and all I can say is you guys did such an amazing job!
What a lucky girl! So many gorgeous things. I love all the succulents. And that dress- I’ve never heard of that kind of option. Fantastic!
The first pic is my fave. They are emerging as husband and wife in that perfect happy bubble of LOVE! I really like the white brick wallpaper. And that little sofa is just so rad.
gorgeous! congrats to miranda and rob!
Such a cute wedding filled with personality! I’m praying you have a tutorial on the thrifted Glass Terrariums! Way too cute and I love how they add geometric shapes to a space.
Girl….you create wonders….This was AH-MAZINGLY beautiful!
So I LOVE a good DIY your wedding, budget but still looks amazing. But I never actually see the budget. It would be awesome if one of these times they would show the budget so brides were realistic.
My question too. What was the actual budget of the wedding? Maybe you aren’t comfortable revealing the final costs and that is fine with me. But I am curious as to what the starting goal was, specially since I’m on an extreme budget for my wedding this September.
I was just about to give up on incorporating sequins into my July wedding (Diamond Rental told me their sequin tablecloths are $100 each!) but using runners is going to save my bacon! Can you please tell me where you found them or if you made them? I need them in my life!
Hi Amber, you can buy sequin fabric like this online for a good price, or places like JoAnn Fabrics – they have a nice selection of sequin fabric right now because it’s Prom season – plus a 40%-off coupon from their app or online ad! Search sequin fabric online and you’ll probably find some great deals too. Does not need to be edge-finished in any way, so easy!
Looking good ladies 🙂
How does the cost of renting a dress compare to buying? I am just curious if you rent and also pay for the alterations? Your sister’s dress looks like it fits amazing. I think renting is smart, you really don’t need your dress after and after a few years you question what you should do with it??
It seems a great wedding. I don’t have any wedding this year for now. Visit my blog if you like:
https://enarasthings.blogspot.com
Your sister with the darkest hair looks like Samantha from Bewitched 🙂 I love the cake. I’ve never been a big fan of smooth icing. You did a great job!
Just lovely! My favorite hands down are the terrariums. So amazing!
Joanna
Thenestbook.com
BLOWN Away!!!! All the little details make this for a memorable , outstanding wedding. When trying to recreate this lovely wedding, the gorgeous people are not included…get your own!!!:)
Felicidades a la pareja. Todo a estado muy bonito. Me ha encantado 🙂
hi mandi! amazing job, just wondering…i see that the brick wallpaper is 1’8” wide, did you just tape it from behind? did the seams match up horizontally or vertically?
I know you’re going to do a post with more details so no rush to answer 🙂 I can wait patiently
Hey Ren!
We did tape it from behind and it lines up vertically!
xo
m
LOVE! So simple and so beautiful! I love the old light fixtures into the terrariums… I am going to have to remember this for parties. And who knew you could order succulents off eBay?!?!? Well now I do! Thanks Mandi!
Stacy
http://www.anygirlcandoit.com
Hi Mandi! I’m still on the search for sequin fabric. I haven’t had any luck at JoAnn in Orem or Draper. (The fabric they have is holographic which won’t work for me.) Do you know where your sister got her fabric? This is the closest link I’ve found so far: https://www.etsy.com/listing/107251540/gold-sparkling-sequin-table-runner?ref=shop_home_feat_4
Thanks!!
What Source on Ebay did you buy the succulents from?
Thank you!
How do you keep gold leaf paint from oxidizing without ruining its finish? Is there clear coat you know of that would work with gold leaf paint?
I haven’t ever noticed oxidation with gold leaf, so that is a great question! Maybe some sort of clear coat?
xo
m
Hi there,
love your blog and just wondering if you used a template to trace those leather letters and if so would you mimd sharing? My sister is getting married on 10/4 and I volunteered to make these for her but am now sire how to get them to look uniform amd pefect lile yours. Thanks so much!
Hi Sarah! I actually used my Cricut Explore to cut them out with Source Sans Pro font! Hope this helps!!
xo
m
My husband and I had a very tight budget and DIY’d most of our decor. Love love love this post!!