It only took us about, oh, two weeks to book most of the big stuff for the wedding. For all the worrying and research I subject myself to, when I find *it*, whatever it is, I take action—and fast. I have no real interest in shopping around or weighing my options. Thankfully, Mr. Ladyfingers approaches life in much the same way.
Here are some of the big things we knocked out just in the first month:
The venue
In the days after we got engaged, we researched probably 50+ venues in and around the Tampa Bay area. We looked at banquet halls and hotels. We looked at museums and garden clubs. We looked at outdoor and indoor venues. County buildings. Historical buildings. Mansions. We considered a backyard wedding, or a city hall affair, more than once.
The speed with which we settled may have been a little unorthodox, but many of the venues were just either out of our price range or didn’t offer us enough time ($1,500 for a four-hour block that includes setup and breakdown time? Uh…no thanks). So when we finally found a place we could afford, we sped down to look at it.
And…it stunk. I mean, literally. The place smelled a little like, um, pet smells. The lady helping us walked us through the main room, told us there were waterfalls out back, and went to turn them on. Little streams of water came out of rocks as we awkwardly stood around listening to the main street traffic whiz by right outside the ceremony “garden” and giving each other silent “let’s go NOW” signals. The lady never reappeared, so, we left.
But! Bridesmaid Preggo had told me about the place where SHE was married a few years earlier, and it was only 20 minutes from the stinky place we’d just bailed from. So we gave them quick call and headed over.
And we found this:
Image via Palma Sola Botanical Park
There’s a back lawn (ceremony), and ponds and trees and plants, and a covered deck, and an open porch…oh, my!
So. Exciting. The best parts of this venue (other than the obviously adorable and charming setting):
- We get it for the entire day. Like, from 9 AM to midnight, it’s ours. For the price that most places were quoting us for four to five hours.
- There’s plenty of parking out back, with an onsite parking attendant to guide guests to their spots.
- The price includes an onsite coordinator who will handle all our problems for us during the ceremony and reception.
- The price also includes a bridal room with plenty of space where we can get all gussied up, cry, freak out, and get away from it all.
- We can bring in outside caterers! And our own alcohol! Yay!
- For just like $65 extra, we get to rent an attached county pavilion, which a.) guarantees the county won’t book a child’s birthday party there that day, and b.) gives our guests an extra place to go smoke, use the bathroom, and get away from the merriment. Though why would they want to?
Total cost: $2,365
The officiant
This search was also short—while some may say I’m throwing money away, I say I’m saving my sanity. Honestly, I have a really difficult time making decisions. I prefer one or two options, max.
So again, we researched a bunch of officiants in the area who were recommended by fellow brides-to-be and recently married ladies from around the interwebz.
I sent out requests and heard back from one lady who wanted to charge $425 for the ceremony and the rehearsal, so…no.
Another wrote back he’d do it for free/a donation to his ministry, but since he was in St. Pete and our wedding is in Bradenton, about 45 minutes away, we wanted to keep looking for somebody closer, both for his sake and for my comfort that he’d get there on time.
So, finally, we settled on the Rev. Charles Shook (Rev. Chuck), who gave us a very good rate for both the ceremony and the rehearsal combined, and sounded so warm and nice. His wife talked in the background, and he sent us a lovely choice of ceremonies. They made me cry, in a good way. Sold.
Total cost: $175
The DJ
Another score from Bridesmaid Preggo! This guy did their wedding at Palma Sola a few years back and works with her hubby. He’s great, super available, and non-cheesy. He was also very flexible with the deposit situation, which was useful in those early days of check-writing frenzy and bank-account brow furrowing. We booked him for the ceremony music and four to five hours during dinner and after dinner—you know, for the par-tay music—for just over $500.
Total cost: $550
The photographer
I love my bridesmaids. This one came courtesy of my MOH Ginger, who is just generally awesome. But this is a good time to bring up a point: When you’re on a budget, or if you just love a great deal, talk to EVERYBODY YOU KNOW about your wedding and the specific things you’re looking for. You want to be sensitive not to gush about how fun it will be to people you have no intention of inviting, but the best way to get bargains and the insider scoop is to get word-of-mouth referrals from those who have done it before/know people who have/know people who know people.
So Ginger has a boyfriend, and this boyfriend has a friend, and this friend’s wife does wedding photography. And she’s awesome! Her stuff has great style. She’s just not at the “uber-professional, I have a super well-known business” stage yet. She’s done a few weddings and is trying to jump-start her career. So she gave us a rate of $100 per hour, plus a free engagement session! Nice. Done.
Total cost: $500 + $100 travel fee = $600
Invitations
We have an awesome friend who works in graphic design who has offered to do our invitations as a wedding present! God, we have amazing friends. We’ll meet to go over options, and we may end up reimbursing her for any costs of super-fancy stuff. Then again, I’m not a super-fancy girl. Aside from the adornments I plan to add and the postage, the invitations came in at…
Total cost: Roughly free
The dress
Oh, yeah—almost forgot about this! Exactly one week and two days after our engagement, I went with Bridesmaid Esquire to Alfred Angelo, just to look. They were having a sale, and I wanted to get a sense of what looks good on me and what does not.
I outlined my requirements: Simple, not huge and poufy, and under $500.
I tried on one dress, and meh. Then I tried on another, and TOTAL EFFING WATERWORKS. I felt weird that this might be the dress—it was the second one I had tried on ever. So I tried on a third. Pretty, but not #2. And a fourth. Meh. No.
Did I mention I’m a decisive girl as long as I have few options?
I discussed it with Esquire and asked for her candid opinion: Would it be ridiculously dumb to buy this dress before I’d had a chance to look elsewhere?
And her response was: “Absolutely not.” And I am a follower, so there you have it. I put down the deposit. And, I bought an AWESOME headpiece with feathers and stuff on it. Because I really don’t like veils.
Sorry, no picture of the dress! But…
Total cost of dress: $480
Total cost of headpiece: $80
So there you have it! With the majors out of the way, we just had the catering and the bakery to knock out. Then it was time to focus on the details!
How decisive were you on the big stuff? Did you shop around? Did it result in some excellent pricing? What other benefits did you find in taking your time—or not, as it were.
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