Inexpensive Venue Sources

Kellys Korner is hosting a link up about wedding planning, and I feel like this is a PERFECT topic for me to blog about since I am in the middle of planning mine and Matthew's wedding.

When I first started planning out wedding, I knew that I did not want to get married at my church because it has two aisles, and I did not want to pick which aisle to walk up and down and where to sit guests, etc. I also did not want to have our wedding at his church because I would be at home planning a wedding that would be happening about 2 hours from where I lived. I wanted to be closer to vendors so that I could go taste cakes and sample food without driving that far to do so.

I decided that I wanted to find somewhere around Charlotte where I could get married by a lake or outside, and then find a reception hall for our reception. The problem that I ran into is that I am a poor school teacher, and wedding venues cost WAY MORE then I thought they would, especially for a summer wedding when everyone else gets married. I looked at a place that was perfect, then I realized that I had to pay $2000 to rent it for one night, then pay built-in fees for electricity, etc. PLUS I had to rent tables for $9 a table and chairs for $2 each...that is just way too much money for my budget.

Well, I started looking at parks around Charlotte. One of my friends got married at a park in Charlotte through their parks and recreation. I ended up booking a park that has a lake with an arch to get married, then you walk over to the reception hall next to the lake. Tables and chairs are included, and there aren't any additional fees to pay. Once I booked it, it ended up being less than $500 for the ceremony site, tables, chairs, and reception hall. Now I get to have the wedding I always pictured without spending all of my hard-earned money, ha.

Wedding Site

While I was wedding planning, I cam across several other counties near me with similar parks and venues for less. So if you are trying to save money on a venue, check out your local/nearby parks and recreation department!

Wedding Planning Fun

Matthew and I booked our wedding venue...so wedding planning has shifted into high gear.

The day after Christmas, I went with my mom and best friend from elementary school to look at dresses. The place where I really wanted to get my dress from was having a "Day After Christmas" sale. I ended up with the same consultant that my friend Emily had when we had come there in May to get her wedding dress. Emily picked out dress #3, and I also happened to pick out dress #3 with the same consultant.

It was SO packed in the bridal salon with girls who had gotten engaged during the holidays. Every time I came out, I felt like all of these people were staring at me. I was one of three girls trying on a dress, but there were probably 13 people in the little dressing room areas. The other two girls in there had brought a ton of people with them. The bridal consultant told me the girl that she had before me tried on 22 dresses, narrowed it down to 3, then went to eat lunch because she could not pick. While I was checking out after picking out my dress, that girl came back to begin trying on dresses again.....then 2 hours later I came back to try on my dress again to get pictures with a camera....THE SAME GIRL WAS STILL THERE. I felt really bad for my bridal consultant, ha.

When Matt came back from Hendersonville, I forced him to go register for our wedding. I was so excited to go and thought it would be so much fun....WRONG. Trying to look at every item in the store and pick what I would potentially like was kind of difficult. I tried to work the scanner and could not manage it, so Matthew ended up scanning, which made it a lot easier. Matthew scanned $1.69 bamboo skewers as a joke...I really hope someone gets those for him.

Our Wedding Website

Bed, Bath, and Beyond Registry

First Christmas Tree

I made Matthew let me put up a tree and deck his apartment out for Christmas this year since we are engaged, ha. Here are the pictures of our tree:

(PS-I did all of the work while Matthew watched football)

I wanted this pink ornament SO BAD last year. Matthew and I saw it in a store in Hendersonville. I have literally thought about it all year and regretted not buying it. I visited the same store this year, and they had ONE of these left from last year. It was meant to be my ornament haha. 

Yes, that is a peacock ornament. 

That M is not for Matthew...it's for MCMURRAY haha

Matthew and I picked out this ornament together last year...it's my favorite on the whole tree. 

The full tree. There are probably too many ornaments. It is maybe a tad bit gaudy and tacky. Am I going to add wide ribbons and beads tomorrow anyways? Probably. 

Matthew is going to hate me when it's time to take it down. 

Matthew picked out the star on top. We will have to get a new one next year because it already broke. He looped the cord around at the top to make it stay haha.

While we were visiting his parent's house this weekend, I found out a neat story about their tree topper. On their first Christmas as a married couple, they did not have a tree topper. So Mr. McMurray drew a star on paper, and Mrs. McMurray traced it on cardboard, cut it out, and covered it with gold glitter. She then glued a clothespin to the back and used that to pin it to the top of their tree. It has been their tree topper ever since!