It is possible to have a reasonably priced, yet beautiful wedding. To leave for Italy with her fiancé, my daughter decided to get married with only two month's notice. We managed to put together a beautiful wedding with a decent price tag.
First of all, she wanted to get married on the beach at sunset. We found a gazebo right on the beach and asked the local mayor to officiate the wedding. The cost was nominal. The gazebo was just large enough for the people attending to be seated inside. The bridal party walked around the gazebo and stood between the gazebo and the water for the ceremony.
One of my big concerns was the people on the beach. They weren't invited guests, yet they would be in the midst of the wedding. Much to my surprise, these people were quite delighted to witness the ceremony and treated the officiating with the utmost respect. They merely turned their beach chairs around and watched the wedding in silence. Decoration for this part of the wedding was minimal. We donned the posts of the gazebo with bows of tulle and let the breezes blow them about. Extra chairs were loaned from our church and returned by a friend. The happy couple stayed at a bed and breakfast for the night and came back to town the next day.
Since the beach was not close to where we live, we had the reception the next evening at a hall. Maps were provided on small cards in the invitations so guests could find both locations with ease. The hall offered a complete package if you liked, DJ, cake, flowers, linens, the works. After figuring out each individual price if I didn't pick the package, the price would have been much higher. The DJ did an excellent job as master of ceremonies, introducing the parents, the wedding party, and finally the couple. Then the couple had the first dance with everyone looking on. This was nice for the older folks who would leave early in the evening and ordinarily miss the first dance. After the meal he also helped officiate over the cake cutting and got the music started on time. Table decorations were simple for the evening, flowers from the catering package, and large flat bowls filled with sand, shells and a light blue candle.
The most expensive factor of the wedding was the photographer. We chose a photographer that not only did the posed traditional pictures for the album but also included hundreds of candid shots. We had to pick a longer time package than most weddings because the celebrations were spread out over two days. This ended up being a great factor because it offered a lot more opportunities for candid shots with attendees. The longer time package was great value because it included a leather-bound photo album for the bride and groom with 50 photos inside. My daughter was extremely pleased with the variety of photos she could choose from.
Overall, my daughter got the wedding she dreamed of, which was quite lovely and had a reasonable price tag.
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