renee and matt’s wedding photos

Posted on 23. Jan, 2011 by Princess Lasertron in bouquets, photos

A few months ago I had the honor of making a bouquet for Renee and Matt’s wedding. One thing that Renee did that I LOVED is she asked her close friends and family to give buttons to her at her wedding shower, which she sent to me to use in her bouquet. She was truly able to carry a piece of each of her loved ones with her as she walked down the aisle.

Now, on with the photos, with Renee’s own words about her big day sprinkled in between!

Renee said that she and her husband approached all of their wedding planning with the belief that they didn’t have to pay top dollar to have the best celebration of their relationship and the uniting of their families, and their prudent budgeting started right from the engagement!

We met when I was 6 and he was 9! After an almost two year engagement we were married last October. This May we will have been together for 6 years. We has discussed getting married at some point because I needed health insurance! We already lived together, shared finances, had a dog together, were basically married without the paperwork. I was at a jeweler 3 days before we left for Vegas to visit my dad getting my watch battery changed and I found my engagement ring. I went home and joked that I found my engagement ring and he just had to go in and pick it up. Little did I know he went and got the ring, snuck it on the plane, asked my dad’s permission and proposed less than a week later!

I found my ring at a bridal show and fell in love right away. I told Matt they had a buy one get one free sale at the jewelers and we went and got both of our rings for $600! My entire wedding was planned with discounts, clearance, special favors and bargains, and these kicked it off!

The biggest challenge throughout our wedding planning was money. We paid for most all of the wedding ourselves and I wanted do everything on my own. So I bought what I could on discount. My dress was $120 online, my wedding cake was made by a friend for $45, one of my best friends is a photographer so he took our photos for free, I made everything I could on my own and used Michael’s coupons and clearance bins. Our table markers were cocktail napkins I went and stole from casinos with my dad, my whoopie pies were a wedding present from my former boss. I shopped around for deals and booked well ahead of time. I decided what I could afford to pay full price for and everything else was secondary. If we couldn’t afford it, we didn’t get it or I found something similar or I changed my vision. I found a birdcage veil that was $40. I hadn’t wanted a veil until I tried a birdcage on with my dress. I hadn’t budgeted for it so I found a similar one at Claire’s for $15 and dressed it up with one of your flowers. It ended up being so much more fun to plan because I was very rarely disappointed. I didn’t have my heart set on things I couldn’t afford and I found a way to get the things I truly would have missed.

There were some elements to the wedding that I just had to have.
…I had to have a photobooth. I saw one at a bridal show and decided that it would serve as our guest book. Everyone loved it and used it! We had some awesome photos!
…I had to have your flowers. Once I googled “black and white flowers’ and saw your bouquet, nothing else would do!
…I had to have burgers, mac and cheese, and french fries. Some reception sites wouldn’t make them for us, so they were scratched off the list! I also wanted wicked whoopie pies instead of a grand cake!

Everything in my wedding was about the details. They sort of fell into place as I went. I tried to plan my wedding as a guest. I wanted my guest to have fun and want to stay all night. I put a lot of time, effort, love and not to mention money into this day and I didn’t want people leaving after an hour!

I asked Renee how she and Matt’s lives changed after their wedding and her answer was just perfect.

I can afford to go to the doctor–ha! Nothing else has changed and I’m SO glad! I loved our life together which is why I wanted to get married. I couldn’t be happier with our little “rut”! We live in the woods in NH with our little dog and we keep to ourselves. We’re happiest when we’re at home together! I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel if anything had taken a dramatic turn. However, it is weird writing my new name and when he introduces me as his “wife” and I refer to him as my “husband.” That’s taking some getting used to!

Finally, here are Renee’s best tips for future brides!

Breathe. Things will happen. My black and white cake came with colored flowers and my MOH locked herself out of her car on her way to get me for my hair appointment. I imagined my site on fire and my groom with a broken leg and my dress being too small and none of my guests showing up. None of the things you worry about will happen. And you CAN NOT control everything! All of my planning helped me so much though. I’m a total control freak but on the day of the wedding I just said, “O well.” I heard everyone say “You won’t remember anything”, but I remember every moment. I wasn’t worried about anything because I was there, Matt was there, and we were both happy. I took in everything I could and my day was perfect!

I wish I had scheduled more time with my family before/after the wedding. I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on dinners and brunches and things like that. I also didn’t have much time to meet up with everyone so I was trying to cram in years of visiting with everyone and trying to enjoy my wedding at the same time. I hadn’t seen some of my family and friends in 5 or more years so it was tough to visit with them and enjoy my husband! Matt and I didn’t have any time alone until Monday evening! We should have taken some time for ourselves.

Don’t be a pushover. Be flexible, but stand your ground on important things. I ordered shoes from a woman who was going to make them. I ordered them in Feb and I got them a week before my wedding in October. They were ugly and didn’t fit. I had spent $40 (I thought great deal) and ended up going shoe shopping at my bachelorette party. I found the perfect shoes and it worked out, but I should have been more firm with her about what I needed and when I needed them. I also had some issues with my seamstress because she had a different vision than I did and she was overworked. I ended up giving in and my dress wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it was “good enough.” I wish I had stood up for myself, but I was afraid of being a bridezilla. I think you have a to find a balance and decide where you can compromise when you’re asking for help.

Congratulations again to Renee and Matt from me and all of my helpers who had so much fun putting your bouquet together!
xo
meg

Tags: brides