The Wedding Pie: Lara + Steve

Lara and Steve put together a gorgeous Minnesota Flower Farm wedding that we had featured earlier here. They were kind enough to share all of the details of their budget with us. It’s nice to see that they were able to have such a beautiful celebration with such a smart budget!

Budget Breakdown:
Venue & Rentals: $5000
Florals: $1375
Food: $1875
Photographer: $2500
Drinks: $875
Stationery: $1250
Dress: $625

From the bride, Lara: I would recommend every vendor we used. We definitely splurged on our wedding site because we felt like it was the most perfect place to have our wedding and we were willing to spend less for other details. We did our own invitations and programs. We also did a buffet, picnic-style dinner that included compostable dinnerware. We also tapped people we knew to help out with details like the music and my hair. I would say a photographer is a priority because it’s one of the only things that lasts beyond your wedding day itself and a bad photographer can really feel like it puts a damper on your special day.

Our “splurge”: Our wedding would have truly been a budget wedding had it not have been for our location. Our location, Camrose Hill Farm, was to be used for both the ceremony and reception, but having our wedding there meant we had to also rent the semi-permanent tent erected there, provide our own rentals (chairs, tables, speaker), and use the owner of the farm as our florist. These costs added considerably to our budget, but we feel it was money well spent.

Cost cutting tips:
– Ordering food for ten less people with our final count for our caterer.
– Ask around for people you know that might have things you can use or borrow.
– We had 2 iPods we could switch between for the music which saved us money for the dance.
– Choose only 2 or 3 details that you want to add for a personal touch.

Wedding Location: Stillwater, MN / Wedding Photographer: Jeff Loves Jessica Photography / Wedding Venue and Flowers: Camrose Hill / Wedding Dress: Sue Wong / Bride’s Hair: Samantha Palumbo / Bridesmaid’s Dress: BCBG / Groom’s Outfit: Reyn Spooner / Wedding Caterer: Divine Swine / Ice Cream Dessert: Sebastian Joe’s / Wedding Invitations: Mara Mi