Happy Friday everyone! To kick off my return to blogging, I wanted to venture outside of my travel niche and try my hand at a more personal kind of post. Before I dive into our South Carolina mini-moon and upcoming honeymoon plans, I want to share a little bit about our wedding day! I always love reading personal posts from my favorite travel bloggers, and since wedding planning is something that took me away from this blog for a while, I thought it would be fun to get personal and share some stories and details from our big day. I loved wedding planning, and I have a lot to say on the subject, so get comfortable and settle in for wedding planning tips, a recap of our wedding day, and a full budget breakdown.
The Details
Dan and I got married in March at The Club Continental in Orange Park, Florida. Despite the share-all nature of blogging, Dan and I are fairly private people, and we knew from the beginning that we wanted a small wedding with less than 50 guests – just our very closest friends and immediate family. We initially set a wedding budget of $10,000 for the whole affair, which we exceeded in part by choosing a venue located two and a half hours away from home, and by forgetting to factor vendor tips into our initial estimated cost. Our total cost was closer to $13,000 when all was said and done.
Whoops! I’ll share a more detailed budget breakdown at the end of this post, for those who are interested.
Our venue choice was not necessarily the most cost-effective, but after visiting the Club Continental for the first time in February 2017, there was no doubt in my mind that this beautiful place would be worth the added stress and expense of planning a semi-destination wedding. From the moment we entered the Club’s crown jewel of a courtyard, we felt as though we had been transported back to Europe. I loved the grand Spanish-style mansion covered in rich ivy, the towering oak trees draped in Spanish moss, the abundance of greenery and unique architectural details, and the gorgeous ceremony site overlooking the St. John’s River. The Club even had several B&B style rooms available for our use, so Dan and I and our families could stay onsite and soak up the romantic vibes all weekend long if we pleased. We booked our wedding date and our hotel rooms the following week, and let the Club Continental serve as the inspiration for the remainder of our planning.
Our Wedding Style
No matter where we got married, I knew I wanted a natural, romantic look for our wedding. I dreamed of abundant hand-tied bouquets, dreamy shades of peach and blush, plenty of greenery and candlelight, and little touches of gold to glam things up here and there. The Club Continental, with its ivy-coated mansion, beautiful old trees, and crystal chandeliers, was the perfect backdrop for our day. All I had to do decor-wise was buy a few gold accents, fill the space with candles, and find the perfect florist to bring my floral dreams to life. My beautiful bridesmaids selected their own dresses in the color “pearl pink” from Azazie. Dan chose classic black tuxes for himself and his groomsmen, and our friend Heather wore one of her own black dresses as Dan’s groomswoman. My dress was an ivory creation from Alfred Angelo, which I paired with silver-toned accessories to match my wedding band. I was really happy with the way everything turned out, and looking at the photos, our wedding really fit the romantic and classic style I was after from the start.
Planning Advice
Create a Separate Wedding Savings Account
One of the hardest parts of planning a wedding is simply finding a way to pay for everything. My parents did contribute some money, and Dan’s dad covered our rehearsal dinner costs, but for the most part, Dan and I paid for everything ourselves. With just fifteen months between Dan’s proposal and our wedding day, we decided to open up a joint savings account and funnel a portion of each paycheck directly into that account. It made saving much easier, and it was encouraging to watch the total balance grow. It was empowering to see how much we could save in such a short amount of time, and it left us feeling a little more prepared to take on upcoming expenses like saving for a home and a family.
Anything we saved in that account went toward our overall “wedding budget” of $13K, and any extra little things we just had to have – like my beautiful Badgley Mischka shoes! – came out of our own individual bank accounts. Including those extra costs here and there, our total wedding cost was probably closer to $14K.
Join a Wedding Planning Site
I joined Wedding Wire when I first started wedding planning, and it was a huge help in keeping me on track throughout the whole planning process. I used their arsenal of planning tools like a planning timeline, budget tracker, and seating chart to keep track of any upcoming to-dos, make sure we were still on track budget-wise, and figure out how many centerpieces, chairs and linens we needed to buy. I also really enjoyed reading through the forums and asking for advice when I needed help. Most importantly, I found almost all of my vendors through Wedding Wire’s vendor search, and was able to read reviews and contact vendors directly to find out more information if I was interested.
Identify Your Top Three Must-Haves
To anyone planning a wedding of their own: one of the most important things I learned early on was to pick our top three must-haves, and prioritize our spending around those items. We chose to focus on finding a beautiful venue, a top-notch photographer, and plenty of delicious food and drink for all our guests. We allocated about half of our budget toward venue and catering costs, and researched photographers in the area who matched our style and our budget. I really wanted a photographer who would capture the story of our day and match the light, romantic style of our wedding. We were super happy to find Jesse Giles Photography, who provided most of the images used in this post. She listed her pricing upfront on her website, was readily available to meet with us, and matched well with us style and personality-wise. After a couple of months of venue-hunting, we booked the Club Continental, who also provided catering services, and then booked engagement photos and eight hours of wedding day photography with Jessica.
After that, the rest of our vendors sort of fell in line. We still had about 13 months to go until our wedding day, which meant we had plenty of time to plan and shop around. With our top three priorities taken care of, we focused next on choosing our wedding party, shopping for decor items, and of course, finding a dress that suited both my style and the look of our venue. Which brings me to my next point…
Buy Your Wedding Dress Early!
My mom flew down in April 2017 to go dress shopping, which was a lovely and unexpected treat. Read about that trip here! It’s hard being so far away from the rest of my family, so having her come down to visit and be there for one of the most special and exciting parts of wedding planning was really nice. A good piece of advice for brides planning their own weddings is to shop for your dress a year or so before the big day. It can take months for the dresses to be sewn and shipped, and ordering early allows plenty of time for the dress to arrive, as well as several months to alter the dress or fix any unexpected problems, like the dress being ordered in the wrong size or color.
In my case, Alfred Angelo actually filed for bankruptcy a month or so before my dress was scheduled to arrive. Because my mom and I had gone shopping so early, I still had 8 months in which to find and order a replacement dress. I really loved my original dress, and after scouring web listings and making halfhearted lists of alternative dresses to try on, I found my exact dress style listed on Ebay. It was a sample dress from a bridal shop in Ireland, and even with the foreign exchange rate, conversion fees, and shipping and insurance costs, my dress from Ireland cost less than half what I’d paid for my brand new dress in the first place. I used the extra money gained to cover dress alteration costs down the line.
Hire a Day of Coordinator
I cannot emphasize this enough. I wanted to be very hands on and do most of the wedding planning myself, but when it came to the big day, I was happy to hand the reins over to our lovely day of coordinators. I didn’t want to spend my wedding day stressed out, fielding phone calls and vendor inquiries while setting up all my decor, stressing over all the attention, and finding time to relax and get ready. I definitely didn’t feel comfortable asking any loved ones to do it for me either. Dan and I hired a duo of talented wedding coordinators, who took care of our reception and ceremony setup, created and helped everyone to stick to a detailed wedding day timeline, and directed our other vendors as needed. On our wedding day, all we had to do was relax.
Professional coordination and planning services can easily become one of the biggest expenses in any wedding budget, but it doesn’t have to be! Most day of coordinators in our area offered services starting at around $1,000, but with a little effort, we found our fabulous coordinators for just $350. It still blows my mind.
When shopping for venues, ask if they provide a day of coordinator and what exactly is included with those responsibilities. If you do need to provide your own planner, look on planning sites like Wedding Wire and The Knot, ask recently married friends for recommendations, and join a few local wedding planning groups to find both established planners and those just beginning to build their client base.
Now, on to the wedding day itself!
Our Wedding Day
Dan and I slept in separate rooms the night before the wedding. We are not super-traditional or superstitious, but we both loved the idea of building a little anticipation and getting ready separately before meeting up for a first look. I stayed in the Tower Room inside the Club’s main mansion, and Dan stayed in one of the suites at the more recently added River Suites, overlooking the St. John’s River. We ate breakfast with our families, timing it so we would not run into each other, and then I retreated upstairs to write my wedding vows while Dan went out to run one last-minute errand. I felt a little stressed about leaving such an important detail to the very last minute, but sitting outside on my balcony overlooking the river and quietly writing down a few special words for my husband-to-be turned out to be the perfect way to start our wedding day. For anyone getting married soon, I highly, highly recommend taking a few quiet moments to reflect and get in the right mindset before the madness of the day begins.
The rest of the day went by smoothly, for the most part. Since we’d hired wedding day coordinators to oversee everything downstairs, all Dan and I had to do was just relax and spend some time with family and friends. My fabulous hair and makeup artist arrived around nine, and my mom and bridesmaids trickled in after that to hang out, enjoy some drinks, and get their own hair or makeup done in turn. It was such a chill morning, and I really enjoyed just hanging out with my people, the majority of whom had traveled thousands of miles to support our union. Having that super detailed wedding day timeline really helped everyone to stay relaxed and be ready to go when it was time for family portraits, the processional, and more.
The only big snag came around noon, when I found out that one of my best friends (and co-maid of honor) had been hit by another car on her way to pick up lunch and meet us at the Club. Her whole family was in the car, so I encouraged her to go take everyone to a doctor or hospital and make sure they were okay, and to not worry about any of the wedding stuff. She insisted that they were fine; that she wanted to be there and that the aftermath of the accident could be dealt with the next day. My makeup artist shuffled her plans while my other maid of honor coordinated with Dan and with my dad to have someone else pick up lunch, and in an hour or so things had smoothed over again. Our wonderful photographer arrived early to get some detail shots, our coordinators came around to check on everyone, and my maid of honor arrived to rest up for a bit before joining the group.
While I was getting my hair and makeup done, my dad, four brothers, and all my siblings’ dates came rolling into our suite, bringing with them delicious sandwich platters and fruit to complement our existing spread of juice, sodas, chips and donut holes. It was almost comical to see everyone coming up the stairs (“hello, hello, hello!”) and going right into the kitchen to spread out and dig in. I wish I had pictures of everyone just hanging out in the kitchen having a good time! I’d planned on a first look with my dad once I was all dressed up and ready to go, but had failed to actually warn him of this, so in he came, the hero of the hour with all the food and a victor’s smile to match. At this point all I could really do was laugh and enjoy my family’s company while my hair was pinned and curled. I’m glad we booked the Tower Suite, which had more than enough room for everyone! Our beautiful flowers arrived just before it was time for us to get dressed, and seeing those beautiful blooms in person was one of the best surprises of the day. I’d given the florist a vague idea of the bouquet styles and colors I liked, as well as several inspiration photos, but did not have a real idea of what the finished bouquets would look like until they arrived in the bridal suite. Finally, it was time for everyone to get into their dresses and head downstairs for photos.
First up: the first look! I still had a first look with my Dad, which was a sweet moment for both of us. I was happy to see that he wore the tie I’d just gifted him, and even though we’d just seen each other, it felt a little different now that I was completely done up in my pretty wedding dress.
Then I had my first look with Dan, and it remains my favorite part of the entire day. He looked extra handsome in his tux, and when he turned around and smiled at me, his eyes extra bright, I immediately decided that all of the wedding planning stress was worth this single moment. I get all swoony just thinking about it.
We exchanged gifts before the ceremony, an engraved watch for him and a delicate pearl necklace for me. Both were perfect, traditional gifts that we love to wear now and think of that wonderful day. We took group photos with the bridesmaids and then the groomsmen, then went back to our rooms to wait for the ceremony to begin.
The Ceremony
Around 4:45, we all went downstairs and got lined up for the processional. It was finally time to begin!
I’m so glad Dan and I decided to do a first look earlier in the day, because it meant we could just enjoy the ceremony and be in the moment, instead of stressing about being on display. We were both at ease when it came time to walk down the aisle, and it really shows in our photos. We had a short but powerful ceremony, with a special dedication to loved ones who have passed, and heartfelt vows on both our ends. I loved it when Dan said he’d been writing these vows in his mind from the very beginning of our relationship. Total Jim Halpert moment.
After the ceremony ended, we took family photos while the rest of our guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the patio. Our photographer Jessica gave fantastic direction and was able to get through the formal photos very quickly, and then Dan and I took some newlywed portraits in the courtyard while our families happily went off in search of delicious cocktail hour food and drinks.
Our newlywed couple’s shots are some of my favorite from the entire day. I love the beautiful lighting, the elegant courtyard, and of course, that handsome groom! It felt a bit surreal, like of course we’re here in our finest clothes just casually posing for photos, what else would we be doing? It was nice to have some semi-private time before signing our marriage license and joining everyone else for cocktail hour.
The Reception
Our reception was in the Club’s Garden Room, and I just love how it turned out! I worried throughout wedding planning that the place would look weird or empty with our small crowd and minimal decor, but it was even better than I’d imagined it could be. It was satisfying to see it all come together: the decor we’d sourced, the linens we’d picked, the flowers, the candlelight, the menu cards, and finally, the people there to celebrate with us!
Dan and I had our first dance to a Haley Reinhart cover of Can’t Help Falling in Love. We’d struggled to find the perfect first dance song for weeks leading up to the wedding, and I actually cried the first time Dan shared this one with me. I loved dancing with him and just soaking up the moment, in this beautiful place with my new husband, surrounded by the most important people in our worlds.
Dinner was a well-prepared feast of wild-mushroom-stuffed chicken and ginger-glazed salmon, accompanied by rolls, seasonal veggies, and roasted rosemary potatoes. Since Dan and I had missed most of the cocktail hour, the staff at the Club brought us two each of the cocktail hour appetizers to enjoy with our dinner, which was awesome. After dinner we enjoyed champagne toasts and speeches from Dan’s brother and my two maids of honor.
It was wonderful to be surrounded by love by the people I’ve adored for years, and to be so readily accepted by my new family. This was another moment in which I knew without a doubt that we’d made the right choice to invest in our traditional wedding day, rather than eloping just the two of us. Then it was time for the cake cutting and father-daughter dance.
I’m a huge daddy’s girl, so I expected that this would be the only moment of real tears in the night, but thankfully, it was just the two of us being silly and making faces at my siblings. Our poor photographer probably had a hard time sorting through her photos and trying to find one where no one had a double chin or rolled back eyes. Classic us.
Finally, it was time to everyone to get on the dance floor! We had a relatively short reception with about two hours of dance time, which we mostly spent socializing rather than actually dancing. I’m super introverted, so even our small gathering felt like a big party to me. One of my favorite parts of the night was actually just stepping outside to look at the moon, huge and brilliant above the peaceful river, and just take a few minutes for myself. Looking around, I saw some of my siblings doing the very same thing, and I got to just relax and talk to them for a while before heading back inside to join Dan on the dance floor.
The last hour or so of the reception is when everyone really started to cut loose and have a good time, and it’s when our photographer took some of my favorite shots of the night! I just loved getting to celebrate and have a good time with everyone.
When the last dance was announced, our friends did this bizarre thing where they joined hands, Whoville-style, and danced in a circle around Dan and I. My sister and her fiance did this silly dolphin leap thing around the circle, and everyone was just laughing and having fun, while Dan and I just laughed and went with it.
While our guests gathered their things and went outside for the bubble exit, Dan and I shared one last private dance together. I surprised him by choosing Endless Love, one of the songs he was rooting for as our first dance pick, and we just held each other and enjoyed the last moments of our wedding reception before heading out for our big getaway!
I should say, faux getaway, since we actually just came right back to the venue ten minutes later to stay the night! We stayed in the beautiful Tower Room for the night. The next day, we went off on our fabulous mini-moon to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina!
Budget Breakdown
(all totals include taxes, fees and tips where applicable. Click any of the category headings to see each vendor’s website)
Venue: The Club Continental – $5,469
Venue costs include: 5 hour weekday rental of the Club’s Garden Room and ceremony space, and dinner and premium bar for 35 guests. The Club also provided all tables, chairs, banquet linens, serving staff, glassware, dishes, bartenders, etc.
Accommodation: The Club Continental – $862
Since the Club did not provide a prep area for brides or grooms, Dan and I booked two separate rooms for the weekend. Cost includes 3 nights in the River Suites, and 2 nights in the Tower Room.
Photography: Jesse Giles Photography -$1,609
Cost includes 8 hours of wedding day photography, an engagement session, photo rights and digital files, travel fees from Orlando, and the cost of one night’s hotel stay in Jacksonville. We were also given a discount for paying in full the day we signed our contract. For current pricing, visit Jesse Giles Photography.
Dress & Attire: $1,080
My original wedding dress and belt cost about $1,550 from Alfred Angelo, but since the I had to buy a second alternative dress, I’m only including those “second dress” expenses. My wedding dress, belt and alterations came out to about $1,000, and another $80 was allotted in our budget toward the cost of my accessories. Dan paid for his tux rental out of pocket, and I paid for additional accessories with gift cards, PayPal credit, and my personal bank account.
Rings: $500
We got our rings from Helzberg Diamonds, the same store where Dan bought my beautiful engagement ring. We paid $500 out of our official wedding savings/budget, and an additional $330 out of pocket. This cost includes both of our wedding bands and lifetime warranty plans for peace of mind.
Floral & Linen Rental: Aime Peterson Flowers and Event Design – $1,102
I still can’t believe how much we were able to squeeze out of our floral budget! This cost includes our wedding party flowers (one bridal bouquet, six bridesmaids bouquets, one grooms woman bouquet, two corsages and six boutonnieres), specialty linens for our guest tables and cake table, five garland wreaths for our guest tables, one long garland of greenery and roses for our sweetheart table, and some beautiful loose flowers to place on top of our cake. All that, and delivery and set up!
Additional Decor: $404
Buying decor was my favorite planning challenge! We had a small budget, so I shopped a lot of sales, used coupon codes, and shopped local wedding resale groups to make a big impact without breaking the bank. It helped that our venue was beautiful and didn’t really need much to dress it up. We did not decorate the ceremony site at all, and relied heavily on flowers and candlelight in our reception space. Our decor budget included things like centerpiece lanterns, candles, candle holders, signage, our guest book, table numbers and place cards, and the sequin linen on our sweetheart table.
Wedding Day Coordination: CK Design & Events – $400
Cost includes day-of coordination of a small wedding, presence at the wedding rehearsal, creation of our wedding day timeline, and plenty of other priceless little things that made our wedding day stress-free and easy. Our coordinators set up all the decor listed above, and quickly packed everything up for us when the wedding was over.
DJ: DJs to Go – $695
Cost includes 5 hours of weekday DJ services plus ceremony coverage, reception uplighting, custom gobo monogram.
Invitations & Paper Goods: Minted – $299
This was a total splurge item for me. Our small paper budget excluded things like custom stationery, watercolor maps, calligraphy and wax seals, so we compromised by ordering some gorgeous, high-quality items from Minted. We shopped sales, took surveys for discount codes, referred friends for credit, and created our wedding website with Minted for an additional credit, and with some amazing luck, we were able to get way more than expected for our money. We ordered 25 invitations, RSVP cards, detail cards, pre-addressed envelopes, and 45 menu cards, all from the same foil-pressed Forever Elegant suite. Our paper goods budget also includes $50 spent at Wedding Paper Divas on Save the Dates, and money spent on stamps.
Cake: Kakes by Katie – $274
I am obsessed with our cake! I’m already counting down to our anniversary just so we can buy and eat another one of these beauties! Cost includes 50 servings of a two-tier buttercream cake with two different flavors. We chose almond cake with amaretto cream filling, and lemon cake with blackberry mousse filling. The cost also includes a simple cake base, delivery, and arrangement of the cake flowers provided by our florist, and the $19 cake topper we ordered off of Etsy.
Officiant: Knot Your Ordinary Officiant – $210
We loved our wedding day officiant! She sent us several script options so we could build our own ceremony outline, was present at the rehearsal and the wedding ceremony, and she filed the marriage license for us so all we had to do post-ceremony was enjoy our honeymoon and wait for the official stamped wedding certificate to be returned to us from our local clerk of courts.
Miscellaneous Costs: $465
Gifts for our parents, lunch and snacks to eat while getting ready, and the cost of our marriage license.
Out of Pocket Costs
While these costs are not included in our official wedding day budget, it’s worth noting that we did pay more out of pocket for hair and makeup services, gifts for our bridesmaids, groomsmen, and to each other, Dan’s tux, and my additional accessories. Just trying to keep it realistic for anyone else planning a wedding and trying to figure out their overall costs! Having professional hair and makeup was important for me, but definitely did not fit into our budget, so I saved bonuses, gift money, credit card rewards and more throughout the year to be able to afford this luxury for myself. Several bridesmaids opted to have their own hair and/or makeup done as well, which they paid for individually. I love that my mom got to treat herself and have her makeup done professionally, and seeing my youngest sister getting her hair curled and pinned warmed my heart as well. Hair and makeup was done on location by Sarina Durden Makeup & Hair.
Total Cost: $13,369
Of course, the biggest reason we could afford such a lovely wedding in a relatively short amount of time is because we opted to delay our honeymoon and save for one thing at a time! Now that the wedding is over, stay tuned for posts on our mini-moon to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and check out my Instagram for a sneak peek of where we’re headed for our honeymoon (finally!) in the spring!
Alina says
Great entry! There was some really helpful advice in there for people looking to plan a wedding.
Loved the pictures and how they really captured the romantic intimate feel of the day.
Beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple.
Adventuring the Great Wide Somewhere says
Thanks Alina! Wouldn’t have been the same without you there. <3
Besh