Meghan and Nick were married on January 19th, 2008 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts.
Since they planned to move to the UK two weeks after the wedding, they were especially careful with their budget and set it at $7000.
With a combination of good planning and smart sense, Meghan was able to plan a wedding that was both beautiful and personal.
In her words, here are some areas where Meghan found savings:
The Dress:
I bought three dresses for less than most brides spend on one. The first was a midnight mistake on Ebay… somehow ended up with a 1970’s velvet get-up for $3 including shipping. (Quickly decided against wearing it). Second was a desperation purchase in NYC – a dress, I didn’t want to wear, but bought for fear I wouldn’t find anything else appropriate ($120). But over Christmas, I went to Chatham, Masschussetts where I found a dress that I loved for $100.
Flowers
This was the best part. My sister was just starting a floral design business, Moss Florals. Yes, she’s my sister, but her specialty is budget weddings. By using unique greenery to highlight particular blossoms, she makes a small budget stretch forever. For instance, at my wedding, I wanted to incorporate the wintry beach ferns that grow on the side of the road on the Cape. We drove around and collected these free ferns and they became a lovely, soft, natural part of my bouquet and the centerpieces. She incorporates the couples’ personalities and the setting of the wedding so that the look of the flowers compliments their surroundings. I couldn’t have been happier with what she created on a budget of $750.
Booze
I had a number of Englishmen arriving who, I knew, would be a thirsty bunch. To keep the bar tab down, we had an afternoon wedding with buffet from 2-6. Then, we encouraged everyone to stay at the Cape Codder hotel where we all met at the bar later to continue the celebration (everyone bought for themselves there).
Music
During the ceremony, my cousin played his guitar to accompany the procession down the aisle. In the restaurant, we simply hooked up an ipod to the speakers and played a playlist we had created in advance.
Table gifts
My mother made her famous snack treat. Although, my cousin recently was married and had made donations to charities in each guests name (I loved that idea!).
