Wedding on a Budget...

In November 2010, I was contacted by a client who had heard about Lily Chic Events through her celebrant. She was getting married for a second time but this was her husband's first wedding. So, they decided to have a Lunch Wedding with family and friends.  They had booked their Reception at a local venue that hired out the room, tables and chairs only. 


She had wanted to do everything herself to save money...however realised she had bitten off more than she could chew as there was no way she would be able to get ready AND decorate her room on the day of her Wedding!  This is where I came in...


Normally, I like to 'create' elaborate and unique concepts that create the 'WOW' factor. When my client told me her budget was just $300 for the room decorations I admit, I did hesitate to agree to take on the challenge!  BUT as she really didn't have a lot of time to organise anything, I felt I had to help her.


Thankfully she wasn't too fussed in the details and I was able to have free reign in my idea's. She wasn't having a bridesmaid so again, I was able to choose the colours for the design. She wasn't on Facebook so instead jumped on the website and fell in love with my Spring Fantasy photo's. 

We both decided this would be a great theme due to the time of the Wedding Reception (midday) and the setting was very rural.  


I began with the Tablecloths...white linen. I had these and hired out 10.  Being a day Wedding, I chose to include the large Round Mirrors so the centrepiece would still look beautiful even though it wasn't dark inside the room. I had these also so hired out 10.


I LOVE my Antique White Crystal Candelabra's and thought it would be perfect for the style and so hired out 10 for the day.  For the Spring Fantasy shoot I went with Votive lamps and pink pom pom's, however with the budget constraints, I chose plain white Church Pillar Candles and instead used a Pale Pink Crepe Ribbon that wrapped around each candle, and atop this was a Pure White embroidered  floral ribbon that was held there with double sided tape. The Crepe Ribbon cost $5.00 and the White Ribbon cost $1.20 a metre...I purchased about 10 metres.

My client loved the Clear Glass Votive Candles so we went with only 3 per table (this worked out well as the Candelabra was 3 footed so it looked great at the base of each foot). To make them less plain, I placed them in a cute Spring Printed Cupcake Wrapper. Inexpensive yet effective.


To bring in some greenery, I found some scatters by Martha Stewart made out of Vellum Paper cut into leaves and flowers. (Two packets was plenty and they were about $5 a packet). 


To bring everything together, we both really liked the floral arrangements as seen on the shoot. However, using the tin containers would have blown the budget so instead I chose hot pink hard plastic flower pails ($1.30 each and I bought 30). I tied green and white twine around each pail and stuck a 3D Pink Vellum Lily Flower on top of the twine for a nice visual effect.

We had to wait till the day before the wedding to decide on flowers as she didn't want them to be too made up..just randomly place inside the pail. So on the weekend I headed off to the flower market and chose pale pink and white Carnations ($3 a bunch) and some white Gyp (Baby's Breath) as the filler. I finished these off the night before so that the flowers would open a little on the day.


And finally, on our final meeting four weeks before, my client was a little worried about the dark blue carpet and dark blue seats. I offered her my Lycra Chair Covers with a Pale Pink Organza Sash ($1.95 each) and she agreed. So, her budget was $300 and we did everything for just slightly over $400 with the Covers! Amazing, considering there was 100 guests!


This is the final look...with the before and after shots...

Note: My client had a Roast Spit and an open bar for all Adults and McDonald Happy Meals for the kids (great idea!), hence no cutlery and glasses were added to the tables. We placed plates only for the adults with their name tags done by the Bride.


I hope you enjoyed seeing this DIY Wedding come together. If anyone is interested in hiring items from Lily Chic Events for their own DIY Wedding, please feel free to email me.


In about 3 weeks time I am Styling two very different Weddings! One is a Black and White Vintage Wedding and the other is a Modern Purple and Red theme!


Lil xx