BRONZE BUDGET BRIDE

Amie and Justin Doucette planned an elegant wedding for 150 guests with a $5000 budget proving that you too CAN have the wedding of your dreams despite your small budget...here's how she did it!

"We were married on Thanksgiving weekend, October 10th, 2009. It was amazing, family and friends came from all over Canada and the United States. Our wedding was in Nova Scotia Canada, and things here are quite a bit more expensive than in the USA. Our Final wedding cost around $5000.00, the bulk of our budget went into our reception which was held at a Ball Room, at the Grand Hotel.

I pinched pennies EVERYWHERE I could. I spend hours looking at every single wedding site imaginable especially Bronze Budget Bride and I honestly believe THAT is what saved us money in the end.



My family lives in North Carolina, so thankfully, some things were able to be purchased there like my wedding dress. I know everyone has seen the show Say Yes To The Dress, where ladies go into this amazing bridal store and try and dress after dress until they find, "THE ONE!" well not this girl. For starters, the closest bridal store to where I live in Nova Scotia is 3.5 hours away and wedding dresses are roughly twice the price of dresses in the USA. I just could NOT bring myself to pay thousands of dollars on a dress, it was just not my main focus.

The Wedding Dress



One morning I spent hours browsing DavidsBridal.com. I looked at EVERY SINGLE DRESS they had on their site. We all know our bodies and we do know what will be right for us so TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT! I saw THE ONE that I wanted and called my Mother, who was actually at work that day. My younger brother David was home at home however and I have to say that I have the best brother EVER. My 23 year old, hockey player brother drove to Fayetteville North Carolina, walked into David’s Bridal with a picture of “THE DRESS” I wanted and said, “I NEED this dress for my sister!” David called me an hour later and said "Amie…I have your dress, I have your necklace and your earrings!" I could NOT believe my brother would do that for me but he had NO reservations about it, he knew what he had to do and he did AMAZINGLY! He picked out a lady in the store who was roughly my size, and said “I need THIS dress in HER size.” The dress fit me PERFECTLY.I did not have to have ANY alterations done to my dress whatsoever! It was perfect and the total cost was $549.00!

My Wedding Shoes



A little note on our wedding! My husband’s family is a very traditional Catholic family. I personally, would have been totally fine with jetting off to Vegas and getting married by Elvis since it really did not matter to me, but it DID mean something to my In-Laws so it was a very easy decision, Catholic Wedding here we go! However one day I came across Endless.com, a wonderful shoe website and I found my AMAZING wedding shoes in BRIGHT RED! It was my little giggle through the hour long Catholic Wedding. I didn’t realize that my shoes would be seen while I was kneeling down to pray, lol, it was wonderful! Since I bought them late summer they were on sale and I paid less than $50.00 for them if my memory serves me right!



The Invitations

For our invitations, I did them on my own. I went to Michaels and bought kits that included everything. Although it did take me a few days of trying different styles of font, I think they came out beautifully! So for any bride doing their own invitations when you type out your invitations, a slight change in the color and style of the font makes your invites look very professional! Do a Google search for invitations and study MANY then do them yourself and you’ll save TONS of money! I had so many friends ask who on earth made our invitations, they had never seen anything so beautiful and they had NO idea I did them on my own! I spent $39.95 for two invitations kits which equaled 120 invites. That was MUCH cheaper than the printer who quoted me $3.40 - $7.80 PER INVITE. You CAN do them yourself!

Flowers



Another piece of advice, please use real flowers. It is 100% possible to have lovely REAL flowers, at a LOW cost to you. How? Use flowers that are IN SEASON. Do not choose flowers that are coming from far away or that are hard to get and remember that bigger is not always better! We had lovely orange roses, mixed with red berries and greenery and they were STUNNING! Go to a small florist, tell her you are on a limited budget and ask her to come up with what she can for YOUR chosen amount. Everyone knows when you throw the word WEDDING in front of ANYTHING, the cost go sky high, so use the word party instead and make sure to set a limit for everything and stick to it!

I got my bouquet, a toss bouquet, 2 brides maid bouquets, flower girl crown (she threw leaves which was beautifully fall), 3 corsages for our mothers and my grandmother and 7 boutonnières for the guys for $300.00. The little old lady was so sweet; she even sent the extra flowers to be put in our hotel room!

I'm so excited to share this with you because Amie, one of the original members of Bronze Budget Bride, she has proven that you can have a beautiful, breath-taking wedding for 150 guests with a $5000 budget!

If you want the details on how she and her husband Justin pulled it off, check back very soon because I will be posting all her money saving tips. For now, please enjoy these beautiful photos from the couple's Thanksgiving nuptials in Nova Scotia, Canada!





Her wedding dress was $549 from David's Bridal and since it didn't need altering, she saved even more.



The bride and groom went to a small florist and were able to get the bride's bouquet, a toss bouquet, two bridesmaid bouquets, a flower girl crown, three (3) corsages for the moms and grandmas, and seven (7) boutonnieres for the men all for $300.









Although the photographer shot only one wedding prior to theirs, his portfolio impressed the couple so they took a chance booking him which obviously paid off.











Amie's gorgeous bright, red wedding shoes were purchased at Endless.com for less than $50! As the bride explained, these were her "little giggle" throughout her October 10th, 2009, Catholic ceremony.

The reception that followed was held at the Ball Room of the Grand Hotel in Nova Scotia where the 150 guests partied the night away!



Amie and along with her bridesmaids carved the pumpkins for her centerpieces the night before the big day. They made decreative holes in the pumpkin "just shy of making a full hole" and placed tealight at the center of it so they glowed in the dimly light room.



The cake was another money saving move because Amie found a baker who makes amazing birthday cakes but hadn't yet tried her hands at making wedding cakes. They took another chance here and got a beautiful, three tiered wedding cake with three flavors for $250.



They had the wedding of their dreams and they obviously had fun yet they spent way less than the average cost of a wedding!  Congratulations to our bronze budget couple!

I found this site that allows you to search for the perfect shoe. You can search by color, size, price, heel height, etc... Check it out: www.myshoes.com!

Hi there Ladies!

Instead of posting this on my page, I decided this might be better. These are just a  few things I have been coming across that might be of help to you. Enjoy!!!

This site has great deals on candles. Here you can get 72 tealight holders with 100 tea light candles for $29.95!! Now thats a bargain! The amber holders are going to look great with my Fall Wedding theme.

http://www.candles4less.com





This site has portion/condiment cups with lids, plasticware, food containers etc...
http://ecoproducts.com





This site has eco friendly cupcake tiers, favors, etc.
http://www.greenpartygoods.com





This site has some great cupcake liners.
http://www.acupcakery.com




And dont forget ebay!  I have gotten some GREAT deals on there. Just be sure to do your research before you buy. These are some of the items I have purchased from ebay....my wedding gown, flower girl gown, ringbearer, tux, wedding bands, tulle, artificial fall leaves, foil cupcake liners, white light strings, a bubble machine, table runners, table cloths, and table gems.
The quality of the dresses is amazing! I have yet to have any trouble with any of the items I have gotten ( knock on wood).

Hope this helps!

• We'll meet in the chatroom or instant messenger and talk about wedding dresses, centerpieces, the ceremony, what to do, when to do it.

• Get support, exchange ideas and get advice from other small budget brides!

• Discuss wedding day fears, what's stressing us out, whose freaking us out!

• And while we're at it, enter to win some fabulous prizes.

• Don't forget to invite your friends!

The Prizes:

• A $50 Gift Certificate from PhotoCardCreations.com

• Gift Certificates and Coupons from LinenTableCloth.com

• Body Express Work-out DVD: Hips, Buns and Thigh Solution

• And more...

To Enter:
 

• Visit the website of the sponsors of this event: LinenTableCloth.com and PhotoCardCreations.com to see the amazing items they have to offer.

• Post a comment on the prize you'd like to win on the day of the event, leting us how much it will mean to you to win it for your wedding.

Want More Chances to win:

• Tweet this no more than once daily: Come and meet other small budget brides April 20th, 2010 at 8/7c! @minibudgetbride. RSVP today: http://tinyurl.com/bridesmeetandgreet

• Subscribe to Bronze Budget Bride Newsletter. Once you’ve signed up and activated your subscription, come back here and leave a comment.

• Follow Bronze Budget Bride on Twitter and/or become a fan of the Bronze Budget Bride Facebook Page. Leave a separate comment below for each when you do it.

• Help Spread the Word! Post about this giveaway on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, your blog, etc. Leave a comment below letting us know you did it!
  

Open to participants worldwide. Contest ends April 20th, 2010. Comments not adhering to the rules will be deleted. Winner will be chose at random by Random.org on April 21st, 2010.

Tonight I found some really great invitations on Etsy (have you heard of Etsy, it's like eBay with all handmade stuff....there are some really cool thins for sale there, very artsy.)  I couldn't believe the price! 

I am having a peacock themes wedding and doing most everything myself to stay within my very low 5,000 budget and I couldn't find affordable invitations anywhere.  Check out the woman's shop where I found them:

www.capturedmomentsbyamy.etsy.com

Here is a direct link to the invites I am getting:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28221628



Aren't they vibrant and wonderful?  She had a ton of designs to choose from and does custom work at no additional cost.  It was under $150 for the following:

100 6 x 9 Wedding Invitations
100 5.5 x 4 RSVP cards
200 Envelopes
200 Return address labels

I hope this helps someone else!

So I have found my wedding dress. I am on a tight budget and I am looking to save money any way I can. I found the prefect dress for our informal back yard wedding. I wanted a simple white dress that still looked like a wedding dress but allowed me to move around and not feel restricted. I have one big problem with the dress.....I have not seen it in person or tried it on!!! I know crazy right? But the price of the dress is only $65.99. I found this great site called Milanoo.com. I have read the reviews of the dresses and like all sites, there are good and bad. You can't please everyone all the time.

This site has all types of wedding dresses, brides maid and flower girl dresses in a variety of colors. They sell by the size or you can have yourself measured for a custom fit. They do recommend that you have a professional do the measuring. I plan on ordering the dress now as it can take up to 3 weeks to receive it. I plan on getting the custom fitting so that it will be MY dress. I figure if I order now and hate the way it feels or looks, I have time to get a new one or have alterations made by a local seemstress.

Oh and in case you are wondering which dress I am getting, it was the one in the link below. Wish me luck!!!

http://milanoo.com/Sheath-Column-Strapless-Empire-Waist-Applique-Beading-Satin-Organza-Pongee-Wedding-Dress-p20728.html

Most couples these days definitely are! Look for innovative ways to lower your wedding costs such as planning your wedding in the offseason. Spring and summer wedding dates are more expensive and book up fast. Plan your wedding for wintertime instead. Though the weather may be frightful, your wedding can still be delightful ... and cheaper too!

Saturday night is the most popular time for weddings. To save a few bucks, plan your wedding on a weekday night instead. Wednesday and Thursday night are terrific choices. The costs for the reception site and most of your wedding vendors will be a fraction of the Saturday night rates.

Did you ever think of finding sponsors for your wedding? Young couples on a budget are thinking of inventive ways to cut wedding costs. One way is to host a sponsored wedding. Local businesses may be willing to sponsor your wedding. In exchange for subtle advertising on your invitations or at your reception, you can offset your costs with funds from wedding vendors and other businesses.