How Much is a Destination Wedding in Mexico?

I've gotten a ton of emails and comments on posts or photos asking how much our destination wedding and overall trip to Mexico cost so I figured I'd gather up all the receipts and emails and lay it all out for you. I did this for our pre-ception already and had a great response from people that liked to really see how much everything costs! When it comes to money I know some people don't like talking about it. However when I was researching destination weddings I'd get so annoyed when people wouldn't say how much things actually costs. How else are you suppose to get a clear idea!

How To Find The Perfect Wedding Dress

| All photos are by the amazing Monroe Fox Photography |

Wedding dress shopping.

A time every girl dreams about.

Trying on dresses, feeling like a princess, crying when they've found the one.

Like most things wedding related I was dreading it.

I didn't mind trying dresses on, wasn't really worried about my weight, nor did I care to look like a princess, in fact I wasn't even sure I'd cry like everyone says they do.

I wasn't dreading so much finding a dress but finding one I liked that wasn't a shit ton of money.

I knew the styles I liked because I had pinned a ton. But I also looked at the prices of those pins and knew most were far more than I wanted to spend.

Something I just don't understand is when people spend a mortgage payment, or ten, on a wedding dress! I don't care what anyone says it's INSANE.

If you've been married think about how much you spent on your wedding dress...now think about what trip(s) you could have gone on instead.

Yea, makes you feel real dumb doesn't it.

That's how I feel about that. Travel over clothing, ALWAYS.

Last year I wrote a post here on how I found my wedding dress, the cost, etc. If you follow along on Snapchat (@eastwillowgrove) or on Instagram you've seen a few pictures from the wedding. Today I wanted to share the dress in more detail.

As mentioned I found my dress at David's Bridal, not somewhere I thought I'd find it to be honest. I always thought they had cheeseball dresses so I was pleasantly surprised at the selection and the fact that I loved my dress almost instantly upon trying on.

I went  shopping knowing that the absolute most I was willing to spend was $1000.

MAX.

And that was if I didn't think I could live without the dress. Who the hell thinks they "just can't live without a dress?" I honestly wanted to spend $500 or less. My dress was $500.

Boom.

After I had decided it was the one my mom told me she was going to give me $500 toward a dress regardless so she basically bought my dress for me!

It was perfect.

It had that beachy boho vibe I wanted. There wasn't too much structure as I knew a fitted dress would look out of place in a wedding in Mexico.

But it fit me perfectly and most importantly I felt fucking beautiful in it.

As a mom my body isn't exactly how it was before kids so feeling beautiful is sometimes a challenge.

It had an empire waist so I didn't have to stress about it looking unflattering on my mommy midsection.  I also went braless and my funbags sagbags didn't look half bad! I knew I didn't want strapless when we were looking and I loved that this had a sweetheart shape bust line but it had what they call an illusion tank.

Here is the link for the dress if you want to see it on a 5'9 model but I think I looked pretty damn good in it myself!

I've thought about selling it because like I said, travel over clothing but I decided against it. I'm hoping maybe one day I could pass it on to a niece or daughter-in-law; because we know I'll most likely only have all boys #notmadaboutit #houseofboys I might even be buried in it. Is that morbid of me to think about?

As I've mentioned before, find a dress that makes you feel beautiful. If that is a $50 dress from Zara, wear it! If it's a $10,000 from a shop in London, wear it, but know you could be traveling the world on that kind of money! Your wedding dress is suppose to scream you.

Brides are often so caught up in the wedding chaos that we think we're suppose to do this, to wear that, to think this. It's fucking exhausting!

If you're wedding dress shopping don't dip out on David's Bridal, they might just surprise you!

XX chels

PS. to view any wedding related post you can click on the Wedding section under topics here to the Right. Or you can click here if that is better!

Destination Wedding Planning- Wedding Talk: Flowers

[All photos are taken by Monroe Fox Photography ]

With our surprise Nashville trip done and June in full swing I figured I should get back into the wedding talk since I have so much to share but haven't really shared it. SO lets slide into something fun and easy and talk about flowers!
                           

Our wedding package included my bridal bouquet and 2 boutonnieres. I paid extra to have the girls bouquets made in smaller version of mine there in Mexico. Since I couldn't see any of the flowers in person I sent numerous emails and texts to my sister in law who runs a floral business to help me pick everything out. I knew I wanted some greenery with all white/off white flowers. She knew by the flower names what ones were available in Mexico that I could also get in white. The resort had sent me pictures of flower arrangements to choose from. After speaking with my coordinator she said I could choose an arrangement and then alter the colors of the flowers [as long as they came in the colors requested.] This is the picture [below on the left] that I choose but what I told my wedding planner in Mexico was listed below.

( I would like this arrangement/the style of it but I want to keep the Limonium flowers and then use a combination of Roses, Alstromaeria, Lisianthis, dahlia and Marguerite-all in WHITE-with some greenery]

As you can see just because this is the picture they show you, you don't HAVE to have those exact flowers. There were others I could choose from that were white so with Amy's help I incorporated them in and took out the pink ones. I left the bits of purple in because they went really well with the girls dresses and flower crowns

You can see the girls bouquets were just smaller versions of mine. I was very hesitant on what these would look like but they turned out beautifully! One of my favorite things from being in weddings is taking the bouquet home and sticking in a vase for the next month so I was bummed we couldn't take any of these with us (due to the flight and bringing outside items into the U.S)

Speaking of flower crowns! This was another add-on I could have had the resort florist make but if you read my post about our pre-ception and my sister in law who did those beautiful flowers you'll be excited to know that she also did the flower crowns, boutonnieres and corsages.

Amy is the owner of MI Honeybee Flowers and does amazing work with real flowers so I knew she was up for the challenge of making everything I wanted with faux flowers! I wanted to go this route for 2 reasons, 1. to save money. The flower add on options carried a large price tag and 2. the ability to fully customize and bring a part of Michigan with us to Mexico.

With that in mind we needed to have everything assembled here and able to transport it to Mexico with us safely.

I started off by asking each girl to measure her head so Amy knew what she was working with. She then dragged me to Michaels one Sunday afternoon and I stood in the isles complaining about how I really don't know what I want. I'm really a bad wedding planner guys! So I did what any bride in 2016 does and I went to my Pinterest board. I had a private one only my mom and I could see as I didn't want everyone able to see my vision, or lack there of!

Here are couple photos I showed her for inspiration while flower shopping. I also sat and stared at her as she held together different color combos and said yeah that's pretty. and nodded a lot. I kinda let her have at it if we're being honest here! I trust her 110% so I knew what she would make would be beautiful. Plus, her and her husband would also be wearing these so I knew all was well!

The girls each wore different styles and colors of dresses so I knew the one thing I wanted that matched was the flower crowns. I wanted them to be simple as to not take away from the dresses but to also tie into mine. Amy did an amazing job, they fit every ones head perfectly without ever trying them on before hand! They stayed on all night and traveled in my suitcase effortlessly.

The one thing I knew while wedding planning was I wanted a flower crown. I just did. I didn't want some huge head dress that I could barely keep from breaking my neck though. Something that worked with the girls dress but was beachy boho like the style that we were going for. Again Amy killed it with my crown. You might even find me rocking it this summer with a black romper if you're lucky!

Moving onto the moms flowers. She made both mine and Jerek's/her mom beautiful corsages. I had asked her if we really should do this because I tend to think these can be super cheesy but she assured me they don't have to be! Again, she was totally right [not sure why I ever doubted her!] She used cute pearl elastic bracelets to adhere the small floral arrangements to and they were the least bit cheesy, defiantly glad I had her do them!

As mentioned above our package included 2 boutonnieres but since Amy was making the bridal party ones, I gave these two to Jerek's dad, who was our officiant/married us and to Tom, my moms boyfriend (she hates that word) our sound man, DJ and ultimate tech engineer!

For the guys I showed her the picture above and again said they need to be similar but NOT too matchy to mine or the girls. Home runs must be her thing because I think I loved these more than the flower crowns and I LOVED the crowns!

Another item that was included in our wedding package was a "head table centerpiece." Since we weren't doing a head table I knew I wanted to utilize everything that we were paying for. I picked this flower arrangement from the pre-made ones offered to us and said that I would like this one but with Lilis, roses and alstroemeria, all in white please!" They did a great job with this piece as well!

I used this on the table under the pergola for added decoration. We then had this moved to the reception after the ceremony was over.

So, I'm sure you are wondering cost so I'll break it down for you:

$125 at Michaels. I ended up returning $45 worth of unused flowers after Amy was finished. Making the 4 flower crowns, 5 boutonnieres and 2 corsages $79! BOOM!

$295 for 3 brides maids bouquets. As mentioned the bridal bouquet, 2 boutonnieres and centerpiece were included in our wedding package.

A total of $374 was spent on flowers! I know many weddings I've gone to that have costs thousands and dollars and I'm here to tell you it doesn't HAVE to be! Find a good florist and do a little research. Figure out what is really important to you and what works for your budget. I knew I didn't need or want any decorations at the alter because the view alone was breath taking!

If you are planning a wedding here in Michigan or in a land far away contact Amy! I promise you, you won't be disappointed! She has done both our small wedding of 30 in Mexico, our Pre-ception of about 90 here in Michigan and a ton of other weddings here in Michigan ranging from different budgets and locations, even a wedding on the Detroit people mover!!!

I realize I sound 100% completely bias as she's one of my best friends and sister in laws but I mean it when I say she's the bee's knees in this flower business! Get it, MI Honeybee Flowers! Anywho, happy hump day and wedding talk Wednesday! 

xx-Chel

After the wedding

It's been awhile since we last spoke, sorry bout that! As you may have seen from the last post, IE: 20 days ago, I was off to get murried! Yes, I spelt that wrong so you would hopefully pronounce it like I do when Jerek and I talk.

Anywho.

Back to the point.

I mentioned before leaving the best way to see any photos or videos would be on Snapchat or on Instagram ( both are @eastwillowgrove) so if you joined me in the adventures there you would have seen all the fun and amazing cocktails we were drinking, the beautiful sunsets, Skylor being sassy and the selfie that Jerek asked to take at the alter in his vows. In case you're wondering, that's why I married him. I mean HE ASKED ME TO TAKE A SELFIE AT THE ALTER PEOPLE!!!! This man is a dream boat I tell ya! (If you haven't seen it go take a peak. There's a photobomber in the background) :)

Things around here and my Youtube channel have been quieter than I'd like over the last year. I've had dreams, ideas and plans for both outlets but planning a destination wedding, raising kids, working full-time and trying to maintain a house have been exhausting. Never mind the fact trying to fit in date nights, snuggles with the kids and time at the gym took up so much of my brain that some of these ideas and plans were put on hold. 

That is until now. Now my brain is about 40% freed up! No really, it is. I swear half my brain was consumed with wedding things most days. I was constantly looking up bridal gifts, researching flight options, shopping for shorts, ties and shirts. There were fake flowers to buy for crowns and boutonnieres, shoes to find in secret bins at Marshalls, makeup looks to Pin and tears to cry over all of it.

Wedding planning wasn't this ideal fun planning sesh for me, it was work and it took up a lot of my time, time I wanted to be spending filming or photographing my family. It was time spent on lunch breaks where I'd ask Elyse what appetizer she thought people would rather eat. I sent pictures of shoes to my mom while I sat on a bench in DSW alone thinking is this really important, does this really even matter?

All the stress and planning was worth it though. I never understood when people said that because wedding planning wasn't this thing I looked forward to like 99% of the women in this world. I never really dreamt what my wedding would look like but if I ever did, it was 99% better than I ever thought it would have been!

I will share more wedding photos once my wonderful and talented photographer Jenny, of Monroe Fox Photography, sends them my way. But you can't tell from the sneak peaks though, they are breath taking! [You can see all of Jennys work on her Facebook page or website ]

I can't wait to share all the details, planning and stories that lead up to the big day but for now I'll leave you with a hi, hello, I'm back, with SO much planned, so stay tuned!!! Love you guys!

Hump Day Confessions: Wedding Planning

Wedding planning hasn't really been that enjoyable for me if we're going to be honest here. I'm 90% sure this is because I take on so much. This is also why my word for the year is balance!

Sure, finding a dress that makes me feel beautiful in, having a 'parentachlorette' party and shopping for the boys has been fun but it's been stressful.

I work full-time and that job has been pretty demanding the last few years. While being bogged down in corporate life I also blog here, film for my YouTube channel, film weddings and events, run an Etsy shop and am a mom. All these things outside of work is where my passion lies. I wake up early or stay up late to edit, to write, and to create. If a wedding email comes in at 9pm I automatically become 'too tired' and pretend I can't be bothered to respond. Call it a copping mechanism but I'm a procrastinator to the fullest when it comes to this wedding planning business. This is no surprise if you follow my Snapchats (@eastwillowgrove) as I speak out this frequently!

Wedding planning has been more of a chore. Ticks on a to-do list that I always dread pulling out. Phone calls and emails I feel are never ending and the money, the money! I keep telling myself we are spending it wisely and I know when I'm on the beach with a Mai Tai in hand I will believe it, but for now, I keep questioning myself.

This is the reason why I wanted a destination wedding though. I wanted to relish in a feeling of bliss with my family and friends for a week. To feel like the money was well spent, the phone calls and emails paid off and that to-do list was done, finished, completed. 

My brain is filled with so much wedding planning I feel lost in the midst of it all. If pictures and video didn't mean everything to me I would probably walk down the isle bare foot in my favorite sweats eating candy with the boys, drinking a cocktail and smiling at Jerek. I'm ready for these next 10 days to fly by. I'm ready to shoot travel diary videos I've been dreaming about, to be on our first ever family vacation all four of us and to say 'I still do' to Jerek.

T-MINUS 13 DAYS!

10 Things I've Learned Destination Wedding Planning

Another week of chaos has passed and we are less than ONE MONTH FROM THE ACTUAL WEDDING DAY!!!

This last week I had to fill out 18 pages worth of questions for the resort to plan for our arrival. Things like what kind of ambiance lighting do you want for the cocktail hour (I didn't even know that was a thing!) to questions about flowers, menus, chair counts and cake choices. I picked up my wedding dress from the final alterations and it fits amazingly (big relief since a month ago it was a littttttllleee too snug!)

While going through this whole process over the last year I've had many people ask me questions regarding planning a destination wedding. While answering questions I've been keeping a list of things I wish I would have listened to or done. So for anyone thinking about planning a destination wedding, hopefully this will help you, (realistically this could go for a traditional wedding as well.) [I'm going to have a follow up to this post AFTER we have the wedding so you will have an idea of do's and don'ts of how the actual wedding went as well.]

1. DON'T SAY THE BRIDAL PARTY CAN WEAR WHATEVER- I learned this the hard way. At first I told the girls "you can wear whatever, you'll look great in anything!" Then it turned into, "you can wear whatever but it needs to be in this color scheme" Now I'm wishing I would have just been like, "you wear this, you wear this and you wear this" The only reason I say this is because no one wants the bride to NOT like what you picked out so I always felt bad when the girls would ask if I liked a certain dress or not. I love all the dresses they picked and they go nicely together but laying something simple out like find a long dress in navy would have been smarter on my part then me trying to be an "easy going bride" when ultimately you still want a certain look.

2. PICK COLORS/THEME- Another thing I was very like "I'm not having a theme or color scheme, as long as everything looks nice I'm cool with it!" My wishy washy ways caught up with me when I changed my colors and my mom remade all the banners for the pre-ception because I switched my theme/color scheme. This also goes with #1 which you just read because I changed my ideas on those colors/theme so.many.times. Damn me!

3. FIGURE OUT HOW PEOPLE CAN HELP- Everyone wants to help, everyone asks to help and they mean well. My problem is I don't like asking for help and I don't like giving up control. My mom offers help all the time but I have no idea how to let her pick up something as simple as a slip for under my dress, because I feel this need and desire to do everything myself! #controlissues So make a list of all the things you need to do, every month, week or days as it gets closer and write peoples names next to the functions or things you will need them to do. The ask if those people can help YOU do these things or just do it themselves. It makes them feel involved and useful and that they are helping you out, which they are, give up some control why don't you!

4. DON'T TRY TO "DIY" EVERYTHING- I had this whole vision that I would be making all these decorations and bringing everything with us and as it's has gotten closer I've not only realized I don't have the TIME to do all the things I had envisioned, I also don't have the space in our extra luggage to bring all these brilliant ideas! I will have more on this later about what I DIYd vs. what I spent money for someone else to make and what I said eff it all together to in posts after the wedding.

5. DON'T THINK OF IT AS A VACATION- This entire time I have just been thinking about this as a vacation with my closest family and friends. Once we got the boys passports in and our flights booked I literally didn't even look at that 18 page booklet I needed to fill out. I didn't think about chairs, lighting, menus or anything else until about a week ago, big mistake! I thought of it as a vacation and it was getting close, how exciting! It's still a wedding and weddings take planning! Remember to keep your mind in "wedding mode", you're just planning it from afar so you don't loose scope of what is really going on or you'll end up stressed when that 18 page document is due to your wedding coordinator in 3 hours. Just me? mmkk...

6. INVOLVE FAMILY THAT ISN'T GOING-When you plan a destination wedding you have to go into it knowing that maybe no one may be able to come. With that said try and do things that involve family or friends that won't be able to partake in the festivities. For instance, I had a dress fitting for alterations and my mom, aunt, grandma and I all had dinner before and went to the dress fitting after. They were able to talk wedding plans with me and see me in the dress. We took some pictures and it was great time! I personally didn't think that it would be a big deal but my mom mentioned involving them and making it a little girls night out. I was so glad that I did because it meant a lot to them and me in the end.

7. HAVE A PRE-WEDDING PARTY- Ours was in September and we combined it as a wedding shower so anyone that couldn't (or could) go to Mexico could go to the party and celebrate with us. This also was my preferred method so I didn't have to have a wedding shower and sit and open gifts awkwardly in front of people. I HATE opening gifts in front of people, my reaction is never as genuine as I'm feeling inside.

8. DON'T WORRY ABOUT TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS- 90% of our guests going to Mexico are leaving out of Michigan but there are some leaving from San Francisco, DC and Chicago. Then there are some staying the entire week and some are only going for 4 days. I decided to not go through our travel agent for booking flights because 1. She sucked (but that's another story for another time) and 2. Everyone has their own agenda. Some want leave early, some later, some out of Detroit some out of other cities and it can get to be a bit much trying to please all parties!

People also have their own price in their mind they are wanting to pay and I just can't be stalking the internet for people to find good flights and the perfect time, for the perfect price, I just can't. With our wedding being over a Spring Break week prices are a little higher than normal. As we are in the less than 30 day range I've been extremely stressed that some people haven't bought tickets but as others have reminded me, they will get to Mexico and it's their own problem, don't worry about it. Truth be told, it's hard not too, work life is crazy busy and we still aren't 100% sure on what Jerek and the boys are wearing so I'm trying to concentrate my mind there!

9. DON'T BOOK THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENT-I know, you may think I'm crazy but you know what the travel agent did that I couldn't do through the resort website? JACK SHIT! In fact, she has only made my life so much more stressful! There was literally NOTHING she did that I couldn't have done myself or done WITH the wedding coordinator. As long as you do a little research and have good contact with the wedding coordinator at the resort you WILL BE FINE!

10. DO A DESTINATION WEDDING- If you're on the fence read some more posts and dig a little deeper, I'm sure you will find your answer son! This past year I've been in weddings, gone to weddings and shot video for weddings and after each one I always ask myself, do I wish I was having it here in Michigan? And every time my answer to myself is NO, absolutely not! Sure, I would love it if my entire family could be with us celebrating, my dad could walk me down the isle, that I didn't have to try and fit everything for a wedding into suitcases or to try and pick out chairs, flowers, decor, dinner and cake without seeing ANYTHING for ourselves.

This day isn't about anyone else but me, Jerek and the boys. We aren't going into debt or taking out loans for a wedding, we aren't getting just a few hours with family and friends hoping by the end of the night you made sure you said hi to everyone, (including aunt Bertha who is your moms, sisters, best friend cousin but just haddd to be there.) What we are getting is an entire week with family and friends. We are paying for everything with cash that we've saved. We get to have a vacation in the sun with unlimited food and drinks, with room service 24/7 filled with swimming, laughter and fun.

No matter what wedding route you go make sure it represents you, the couple getting married, and what you both want. At the end of the day you are still going home as a married couple.

Remember: A tiger doesn't loose sleep over the opinion of a sheep

Don't be a sheep, baaa betch!

Wedding Reception Outfit: Wedding Talk

Lets continue the pre-ception wedding talk shall we! Last week I shared all the details on the vendors we used including how much everything costs. While I was tempted to talk about clothes I refrained because well, the post was long enough!

I knew going into shopping I wanted to find something new for everyone to wear, something affordable and something we would wear more than just once. I really don't buy things anymore just for one occasion, they need to be multifunctional.

For the outdoor party I was trying to find something long, flowy and NOT white. As you can tell I got neither long nor flowy and I wore white. The reason behind this was because I couldn't find anything that I loved and was reasonably priced. I did find this dress and this dress but I wasn't loving either or price tag.

We got the boys and Jerek's outfits first. I wasn't feeling myself the day we went shopping, most likely I was on the rag and felt like a 1000 pound whale so dressing the boys was more fun at that moment. All three boys got their outfits at H&M with the exception of Jerek's vest and tie he already had that were from Forever 21 Men.

I wasn't going to have the boys match but it just ended up happening that way. The pants and blue shirts are different colors but ultimately, they have the same outfit on, womp womp. If we ever have twins (which secretly I want, you won't catch me dressing them them same, I'm just not really into the matchy matchy look)

Jerek bought new pants and a shirt from H&M and then used a tie and vest that he already had at home. How handsome is this guy!

As I shopped around for myself the more I thought about nixing the dress idea and getting a romper. You see, I still needed to be a mom and take care of kids that day so I wanted to make sure that if I was bending over I didn't have a butt cheek flop out or a post nursing nip slip, you know, casual things.

I ended up going to Forever 21 as you do, and found a little white romper. I was so against white at first because well, WHITE AND BOYS = ONE SLOPPY MESS! Not to mention I'm a slop kabob in real life so white is just not a good idea for me. Truth be told it could have been pink (ew) and I would have gotten it because it complimented my body SO well!

I self tanned the day before and if I'm being honest here, which I always am, I looked hawwwttt! My legs looked like I spent a week in Mexico minus the sun cancer of course. I've raved about this tanner many times, I even wrote a whole post on it because it's THAT great. You can check out the post here or stalk Loving Tans instagram because the before and afters are LIFEEE!

I'll definitely be bringing the romper with us to Mexico while we're there so it wasn't a one time outfit wear that I thought might be happening. At the end of the night everyone actually seemed to manage to not spill wine apple juice on their clothes so I was pretty happy with ourselves!

Hope you guys are having a great week and Happy early Thanksgiving! Don't forget I have a HUGE Black Friday sale on all the T-Shirts in my Etsy shop! The codes are good till December 1st so snag some house of boy shirts, kids, Olsen, Drake and Brunch tee's!

Wedding Pre-Ception Party + How Much We Spent

It's only taken me two months to gather my thoughts and share our wedding pre-ception party and I mean that in THE most sarcastic way possible. Here's to hoping it doesn't take me that long to post wedding pictures and the video after the big day!

Before the many photos lets talk details! I used social media for a ton of the planning aspects. I asked for vendor advice on Facebook and got so much help from fellow moms, brides and friends.

To plan the pre-ception I knew we needed a tent, tables, chairs, table coverings, catering, bathrooms and a bounce house, yes, I refuse to have bored kids at a party. We needed these things to stay on budget so working with family friends, off recommendations and DIYing was the route we went.

TABLES/CHAIRS/TENT:
Starting off with the tent, tables and chairs. I checked into a few companies but went with a recommendation from our friends and we used C&N Party Rental. They were great to work with, drop off and pick up was done in a timely manner and I was able to add things on and take things off as I got a final count of people coming. We got 80 chairs, 12 banquet tables, 6 high tops, 18 table covers and a 20x40 tent all for $635!

CATERING:
For catering I knew I wanted to go with Dorsey Culinary School. How many of you knew you could use a school to cater your event?! My girlfriend used them for her wedding a few years ago and said the food and service was phenomenal and for an outstanding price. She has great taste so I contacted them right away. Funny story, I found out the catering manager is my 6th grade teachers son, small world! We went with the choice of 4 pass hors d'oeuvres, along with chips and hummus and artichoke dip to start with.

Followed up by an antipasta station that you see below. I was in awe of it really! It was THE biggest cheese and cracker platter you ever saw! I loved how it was basically a antipasta salad bar taken apart to munch on, so clever! For the main dinner we choose Que Pasa Mexicana! In honor of our wedding in Mexico and it being our favorite food; there was a selection of nachos, tacos, or quesadillas and all the toppings.

We also had chicken fingers and mac and cheese, because well kids man, kids. For dessert we did a sweet table dessert station that had mini mousse & tiramisu cups, mini cheesecakes, truffle fruits and chocolate dipped strawberries. I also was dead set on candy bar because my sweet tooth is HUGE. We did the candy bar on our own though because it was much cheaper to do so, plus I got to pick exactly the candy I wanted. I choose to pick candy I actually liked instead of following some color scheme, the last thing I want is candy left over that I'll never eat because it "went with my colors", so not practical people!

The catering part for about 85 people was $1762. Breaking that down it was about $20/person for hors d'oeuvres, pasta station dinner and dessert (candy was purchased separately) and to me $20 a person seemed great for all that food! What was also built into this cost was the two chefs that worked the entire function and not only cooked, they passed and replenished food and cleaned up the entire event.

CANDY STATION:
The candy station jars were found at all different dollar stores and Salvation Army's and the candy was bought on Amazon and at Doc's Sweets by my mom and Tom (thanks for being so sweet guys, get it! Lord I'm funny) I can't tell you how much it all was but I want to say under $200, correct me if I'm wrong mother!

BATHROOMS:
Speaking of my mom and Tom, because they were so gracious to let us use their backyard for the party their one rule was no one in the house. We all know that 85 people using the same shitter can get messy and that's just not something they needed to deal with. We also went by recommendation by my girlfriend that used the cater' and we used Jay's Septic Service. We got 2 standard bathrooms and hand washing station for $285. To be honest, we probably could have just used one but yolo ;)

KIDS ACTIVITIES/BOUNCE HOUSE:
Originally we invited 120 people with 20 of them being kids over 2 and I knew I didn't want them to be bored so a bounce house was always on the list. We also grabbed a bunch of little toys, play dough and coloring things for them to do so their parents had two hands free to eat and drink! We rented the bounce house from Acme Partyworks that Jerek's sister and wife had used for our nephews birthday before. We made sure to get the one that allowed grownups to go on, because you know, we are children at heart. It was $134 with delivery and pickup and then another $50 for the activities so call it $184 for the kids to give their parents a few hours off. While we anticipated more kids being there it was well worth it to have activities to keep them happy!

DRINKS/PLATES/UTENSILS/NAPKINS:
All the juice, soda, water, beer, plates, cups, and napkins were all bought at Sams club, Costco and the dollar store. The wine was from Trader joes and the keg at our local liquor store. I have receipts somewhere but it's almost 1am and I'm sitting on the couch typing this so my best guess is it was all under $500.

MUSIC:
Tom had the backyard wired with surround sound so I hooked up my iPhone to a Spotify station and called it a day. I really wasn't too concerned as long as it was good music. Free, good, music people!

FLOWERS:
I did a whole post on the flowers because they deserved their own post! If you want to see how I only spent $130 on all the flowers and why you should hire Amy from MI Honeybee Flowers you can read the post here!

DECORATIONS:
My mother is a wiz with a sewing machine. With that being said I showed her my Pinterest board with all the lighting and bunting hung in the trees and tent she went to work. At first I said I don't care what colors you do so she ordered fall fabric. And then I came in, being a bridezilla for about 5 seconds and changed my mind after she already ordered the fabric. So doing what any mother would do for her favorite daughter, she bought all new fabric and made over 200 feet of fabric bunting. She bought the lights on sale last day after christmas for a few bucks. She then took old barn wood, painted, distressed the parking signs and made us a sign for our house with our last name. I mentioned how great she is right??!!

MISC:
Odds and ends we picked up through the month were probably about $200 I would say.

HOW WAS THE PLANNING?
I planned a little each week over the last 6ish months. I did research when I had the time but used social media a lot to rely on others for opinions and references. Don't be afraid to do this either, after all, don't you want to know first hand about a bad experience!

I commend you if you've made it this far, I almost didn't. Over all, loosely summing everything up we (not including what my mom bought) spent about $3700. Personally I think this s great for a reception for about 85. We will still be have the wedding portion and reception to pay for in Mexico that is for about 25 people. I included all the pricing because I want you to see that things can be done on a budget and still be nice, tasteful and creative. Most people planning a reception aren't getting away with $3700 just for the booze for their guests!

As for the wedding, we have everything budgeted out to account for flights, the all inclusive resort and wedding reception but you'll have to wait till April to find out more about that! Thanks for following along on our wedding journey! I'd love to hear any secrets you did to save money on the big day, so leave them in the comments below and thanks again for supporting my family!