Question: re: weddings

[jelti 0]

I had my dream princess wedding for under $3000 which included the airfare to get to Oregon. However, I have a lot of friends and family that were are talented and I am very good at delegating tasks and getting people to do things for free! Such as my make-up, hair, professional pics, video, decorating, and boquet arrangements. When two separate people came up to me and said it was the most beautiful wedding they have ever been to--Ifelt like the true frugal queen!

Aidan and I also had our dream wedding for under $3000!! We had an outdoor wedding at a historical state park here in Central Florida followed by a pot-luck reception! About 50 guests attended. My friend Sherry played her flute during the ceremony, and I played CD's during the reception. I designed my own dress and had it made for me by a seamstress. Our cake was from Publix (and it was beautiful!), and I made all my own centerpieces (wicker baskets filled with fruit) and decorations. I also made my own bouquet. Our theme was Autumn in Ireland, and it turned out beautiful!

Here are some pictures (I love showing them off)!

It was the most wonderful day of my life!

[chri'stina 190]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

Unfortunately for us, 75% of our gift money went towards filing AOS, EAD& AP....ridiculous. Maybe I am out of the ordinary and maybe people usually get thousands for gifts, but we didn't. I don't have one single "well to do" family member. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it seems it would make a huge impact.

[Sister Fracas 5]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

That sooooo was not true for us. I'd say that fewer than half of our guests gave us gifts, not even a card. I wondered if gift-giving wasn't so big at UK weddings (of course hubster is clueless). On the other had, the US reception we had, everyone gave us a gift.

[Jenn! 918]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

Unfortunately for us, 75% of our gift money went towards filing AOS, EAD& AP....ridiculous. Maybe I am out of the ordinary and maybe people usually get thousands for gifts, but we didn't. I don't have one single "well to do" family member. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it seems it would make a huge impact.

Yes, I guess that is a factor that I didn't consider. Although usually I think that if you throw a more expensive elaborate wedding, people are more generous than if you were to say have pizza and beer.

[pax 0]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

Unfortunately for us, 75% of our gift money went towards filing AOS, EAD& AP....ridiculous. Maybe I am out of the ordinary and maybe people usually get thousands for gifts, but we didn't. I don't have one single "well to do" family member. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it seems it would make a huge impact.

I'm certainly not expecting wedding gifts into the thousands. I mean, we surely won't send them back if we get them or anything , but it seems unlikely.

[Jenn! 918]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

That sooooo was not true for us. I'd say that fewer than half of our guests gave us gifts, not even a card. I wondered if gift-giving wasn't so big at UK weddings (of course hubster is clueless). On the other had, the US reception we had, everyone gave us a gift.

Huh. I didn't know that it wasn't a given. I guess we were very lucky then. We had our cake and ate it too, so to speak!

[pax 0]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

Unfortunately for us, 75% of our gift money went towards filing AOS, EAD& AP....ridiculous. Maybe I am out of the ordinary and maybe people usually get thousands for gifts, but we didn't. I don't have one single "well to do" family member. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it seems it would make a huge impact.

Yes, I guess that is a factor that I didn't consider. Although usually I think that if you throw a more expensive elaborate wedding, people are more generous than if you were to say have pizza and beer.

Nothing wrong with pizza and beer, LOL.

[Sister Fracas 5]

It was the most wonderful day of my life!

beautiful dress!!! and your train reminds me of my train...except mine was ivory. I love the chiffon though...so floaty...

[Jenn! 918]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

Unfortunately for us, 75% of our gift money went towards filing AOS, EAD& AP....ridiculous. Maybe I am out of the ordinary and maybe people usually get thousands for gifts, but we didn't. I don't have one single "well to do" family member. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it seems it would make a huge impact.

Yes, I guess that is a factor that I didn't consider. Although usually I think that if you throw a more expensive elaborate wedding, people are more generous than if you were to say have pizza and beer.

Nothing wrong with pizza and beer, LOL.

Not at all! I just meant that the gifts tend to be proportionate to the extravagance of the affair.

[Mand 1]

Jelti: Your pictures are great! I LOVE LOVE your dress...it really does look like a magical day

Stina: We were the very same, all of our wedding gift money went towards AOS/EAD/AP and the feckin' civil surgeon, but that in itself was a great help

Edited April 25, 2006 by Mand

[pax 0]

Not at all! I just meant that the gifts tend to be proportionate to the extravagance of the affair.

Hee! I think maybe it's not a direct relationship, but more like if you can afford to have a big fancy wedding, your friends and family can also afford more extravagant gifts.

It was the most wonderful day of my life!

What a pretty pic!

[jelti 0]

It was the most wonderful day of my life!

beautiful dress!!! and your train reminds me of my train...except mine was ivory. I love the chiffon though...so floaty...

Jelti: Your pictures are great! I LOVE your dress...it really does look like a magical day

Thank you!

[Sister Fracas 5]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

That sooooo was not true for us. I'd say that fewer than half of our guests gave us gifts, not even a card. I wondered if gift-giving wasn't so big at UK weddings (of course hubster is clueless). On the other had, the US reception we had, everyone gave us a gift.

Huh. I didn't know that it wasn't a given. I guess we were very lucky then. We had our cake and ate it too, so to speak!

To be honest, I didn't know how to react....I mean, not even a card???? I wouldn't even consider going to a wedding if I didn't have some sort of gift and certainly a card. And they aren't into registries...even though we had two, so some of the gifts we did get were ...um...unusual...like the Richard Prior DVD, which we can't watch cuz we don't have a multi-region DVD player...LOLOL

[chri'stina 190]

People seem to keep forgetting that often the price of the wedding is covered by the gifts you receive from your guests.

Unfortunately for us, 75% of our gift money went towards filing AOS, EAD& AP....ridiculous. Maybe I am out of the ordinary and maybe people usually get thousands for gifts, but we didn't. I don't have one single "well to do" family member. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it seems it would make a huge impact.

Yes, I guess that is a factor that I didn't consider. Although usually I think that if you throw a more expensive elaborate wedding, people are more generous than if you were to say have pizza and beer.

Nothing wrong with pizza and beer, LOL.

Not at all! I just meant that the gifts tend to be proportionate to the extravagance of the affair.

I agree partly, because ours was not as big of an affair as I would have wanted...because we waited to plan it until after Sujeet's visa was approved, to avoid planning and then having to cancel just in case. That only gave us just under 2 months, we didn't have a lot of time to save up more money to have an even bigger event, and invite another 50 guests or so. I am sure we would have gotten more money, but still it might have only been a couple hundred dollars different.

Jelti: Your pictures are great! I LOVE LOVE your dress...it really does look like a magical day

Stina: We were the very same, all of our wedding gift money went towards AOS/EAD/AP and the feckin' civil surgeon, but that in itself was a great help

Yeah, that part was crappy! It's like, ooooohh money ....oh yeah, dumb AOS filing!!

Edited April 25, 2006 by stina&suj

[MichelleandCraig 1]

A few things to say:

Jelti, your pictures are gorgeous!! thanks for sharing.

Karo, your 'princess bride' in this thread didn't sound the least offensive, but it did sound like it was MEANT to be rude in Melissa's thread. I know you'll disagree, so JMO. Also, great that you're not offended on the Internet by anyone, but I don't care what means you use...Internet, phone, person to person, etc...why make people feel bad and/or antagonizefor no good reason? and agian *IMO* I don't think 'for your entertainment' is a very good reason. I find that kind of behavior especially curious coming from a therapist.

Close to what Rebecca said, my mom and dad paid for our wedding at it was only about 2000.00 and still very beautiful. Christina, we used most of our money for AOS too, so don't feel bad! M.