We had a 66-person wedding for $16,000. Our guests danced all night and still tell us how much they loved it.
Sam proposed in November 2014 on a stormy afternoon overlooking Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, Australia. We'd been together for eight years and had unexpectedly found out I was pregnant just a few months before. Marriage had never been on my bucket list, but we knew we loved each other, and it seemed like the next logical step.
With the help of our loved ones, we organized a small wedding for only $16,000 in just a few months. It was perfect for us.
My mom and sister helped plan our wedding
I didn't want to look heavily pregnant in the wedding photos, so we set the date for January 3, 2015. At the time, I was working full-time as a journalist and navigating the first trimester of pregnancy, so my mom and sister (who was also my maid of honor) offered to organize the wedding for me. I was so grateful to have someone else take over.
They scouted out wedding venues on the Gold Coast, where I grew up and Sam and I met, and narrowed it down to three. I chose a beautiful vineyard with a chapel and wedding reception venue on-site.
We had a 66-person wedding for $16,000
My parents and my parents-in-law very kindly offered to split the wedding reception. My husband and I wanted to keep the cost down and make it more intimate, so we limited the guest list to 66 people. The reception cost $7,500.
I bought my own wedding dress, which I found in a boutique store in Melbourne for $1600. It was an A-line ivory dress with a sweetheart neckline, a long train, lace, and diamantes. On the big day, I felt a million dollars.
My parents and my husband paid for everything else, including the flowers, a carriage to the chapel (which made me feel like a princess), a photographer, a DJ, the cake, and wedding favors for the guests. All in all, the whole day cost $16,000.
A few things in particular made our wedding so much fun
One of the things that helped make our wedding such a success was that we ate dinner quite early, around 6 p.m., and kept the speeches short during mealtime. Neither my husband nor I particularly like being the center of attention, and I didn't want the evening to drag on with too much chatter about us.
For me, the most important thing was to be present and enjoy the big day. I didn't want to get bogged down in the details. I couldn't care less whether each Champagne glass had a bow on it or even what color the decorations were; I just wanted to enjoy the occasion.
I also pre-selected the music. We'd been to several weddings where the music didn't work, either because the DJ was playing obscure artists that only the bride and groom liked, or old-school tunes like the Time Warp that don't really resonate with our generation.
So, I gave our DJ a list of all the songs we wanted him to play, in order. People were carving up the dancefloor straight after the main meal and didn't stop until the venue kicked us out. It was a blast.
Overall, having a smaller wedding worked well for us, as it meant that we were surrounded by our nearest and dearest — mainly family, and a few close friends. The people who were there were the ones who mattered to us, and because it was a smaller crowd, we could really mingle with our guests. Many told us afterward that it was one of their favorite weddings, and though we may be biased, we couldn't agree more.
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