Kari's Koupons

Do you have a story to share? This is part of a series called "Weddings on a Dime." Please send me your brief story (how you meet, got engaged, etc.), your budget (you can be as detailed or not detailed as you want), along with pictures of your "Big Day" to karikoupon@gmail.com. I would LOVE to consider featuring your wedding.

Also, if you have a wedding dress hanging in your closet and are not sure what to do with it, I HIGHLY suggest donating it to Adorned in Grace, a bridal and formalwear shop in which the proceeds go toward helping children escape trafficking!

(Photos by Christine of LCS Photography)

As told by Gretchen, who blogs over at That Mama Gretchen

How we met:

Dominic and I met while attending Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. We knew one another from a number of classes, but didn't start officially dating until we became apartment neighbors during the late summer of 2006. We had both recently ended relationships and thanks to those, had a much better understanding of what we were looking for in a spouse. Our first date was a casual one to Olive Garden followed by many more and eventually a trip home to visit my family for Thanksgiving.

Proposal:

On May 18, 2007, Dominic proposed on the Portland Waterfront after a fancy dinner at Portland City Grill. I didn't believe him when he got down on one knee. I actually told him to stand up and stop joking! We planned all the details of our special day over the summer and were married on August 24, 2007.

The rings:

When I was born, my Dad bought my Mom a 1/3 karat diamond necklace. The purpose of this gift was for her to enjoy it while I was growing up and then pass it on to me when I met Prince Charming. If Prince Charming got to know my parents and asked their permission to marry me, they planned to bless him with the diamond from my Mom's necklace as a center stone for engagement ring. Of course, Dominic followed this plan perfectly and we had my Mom's diamond set into a beautiful wedding band which we purchased on clearance for $467.

Dominic's tungsten ring was purchased for about $250. We did opt for the insurance on his ring and it has already paid off! Since tungsten can't be re-sized the insurance policy allowed for a ring exchange if needed. Dominic lost quite a bit of weight while I was pregnant with our first child and his ring was constantly falling off so we've already exchanged it for a new, better fitting one!

Wedding attire:

My dress is one of my most favorite stories in preparing for our wedding. After a disappointing visit to David's Bridal and a super chic (read "too expensive") boutique I stumbled into a shop in downtown Olympia where I had purchased a prom dress years earlier. In the back corner of Doria's I saw what I hoped would be the dress. And, after a quick try-on ... it was! It was a beautiful mix of lace and raw silk and was on clearance for a mere $214 which included alterations! For the rest of my outfit I found "something borrowed" in both my veil (from bridesmaid Leah) and my shoes (from sister Hannah). A dear friend (Denise) gifted me with hair and make-up on the day of the wedding so that wasn't an addition expense.

For Dominic, we decided to purchase a suit knowing that he would get much more use out of in the future. We purchased it at Men's Wearhouse for roughly $300 including the necessary alterations. He had the chance to wear it multiple times on our honeymoon cruise the following week.

Bridesmaids & groomsmen:

As a gift to my bridesmaids we purchased their matching shoes and my Dad strung my pearl necklace and each of theirs from supplies we purchased at a bead shop. The total was about $350 (including the multi-strand necklace I wore). Each of my bridesmaids chose their own black cocktail dress so they could stay within their personal budget.

Since Dominic bought a suit, we gifted his free tux to his best man/brother. As groomsmen gifts, we purchased Leatherman multi-tools from Costco for about $140 total.

Location:

Creating a "feel" for the environment for our wedding was really important to me. We opted to host our wedding at The Aerie Ballroom in Centralia, Washington. I looked at quite a few ballroom type settings between Seattle and Portland and this was by far the most affordable option.

To save a bit on the rental cost, we decided to get married on a Friday night instead of a weekend day. For the grand ballroom, kitchen and spare room (for our rehearsal lunch), banquet hall, and 2 upstairs rooms for getting ready we paid a total of $1,150.

Invitations & programs:

Between design, supplies, and postage for 300 invitations and programs we paid almost $1000. Not cheap, but it played into my hope od creating a fancy feel for our special day. Since we were so blessed with decorations and photography I felt like I had a little wiggle room to splurge on these. To this day, I still LOVE how they turned out!

Flowers & photography:

Back in the day bartering was much more popular than it is now. Thankfully, it's an art my Dad has kept up! As a side business he offers personal and business tax preparation and was able to trade for both my wedding decor and photography.  I'm indebted to him for life

The florist we worked with contributed linens, seat covers, ceremony arch, center piece vases, and a set-up/tear-down team. We paid the wholesale cost of the actual flowers which was $700.

Instead of a traditional guest book we opted to have family and friends sign picture frames. The frames were purchased on sale at Target for a total of $40 and have made lovely wall decor in our home.

Our photographer, Christine of LCS Photography, is the most amazing photo journalist out there. Worth every penny she charges! I am so blessed to have had her capture my wedding. Christine is now our official family photographer and since the wedding has done 3 rounds of family photos and we're about to begin my 2nd maternity photo shoot with her.

Food & refreshments:

Our wedding began at 7pm, so we opted to provide a dessert bar after the ceremony. Neither Dominic or I are big cake fans so we served Costco cheesecakes as our main dessert! At a mere $10 each we spent $200.

In addition to cheesecake our church donated chocolate fountains and a group of my Mom's friends donated fresh fruit as cheesecake toppings and fun treats to dip into the fountains.

We splurged on champagne and sparkling cider for toasts - both from Costco, and spent about $250 on these beverages, lemonade, and water.

Music and other details:

Dominic connected with an old friend who DJ'ed our reception for $200. We also had miscellaneous expenses like the officiant fee and a few tips for folks who sang and helped with various coordination.

A church friend offered his videography services to create an introduction slideshow for the beginning of the ceremony for a discounted price of $150 and since the wedding ended so late we decided to skip a fancy car and just leave the ballroom in Dominic's truck.

All in all it was the perfect wedding totaling about $4,411 ... everything I envisioned with the blessing of beginning a new life with my handsome husband. I'm still so thankful to the Lord for bringing him into my life!

Wedding Photography: Christine of LCS Photography FREE thanks to the father of the bride's bartering skills / Videography: $150 friend of the groom / Wedding Venue: The Aerie Ballroom $1,150 / Event Design and Planning: FREE thanks to the father of the bride's bartering skills / Floral Design: $700 / Wedding Cake: Costco cheesecake $200 / Refreshments: Costco $250 / Linens: FREE / Music: DJ was a friend of the groom $200/ Wedding Dress: Doria's $210 / Bride's Hair and Makeup: Gift from friend Denise / Bride's Engagement Ring: Heritage Diamond from mother $467 / Groom's Ring: Tungsten Ring $250 / Bride’s Shoes and Veil: Borrowed from friends / Bride and Bridesmaid's Jewelry: Pearls strung by father of the bride $350 / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Individually picked by bridesmaids / Groom and Best Man's Tuxedos: Men's Warehouse $300 / Groomsmen gifts: Leathermen tools from Costco $140 / Invitations: $1000 / Picture Frame "Guest Book:" Target $40

Total Cost: $4,411

I'd love to hear your story!! E-mail me at karikoupon@gmail.com

Thank you for sharing your story Gretchen! Dominic, Gretchen, and I all studied business together at Warner Pacific College. I've always loved Gretchen because she is, well, just plain fantastic.You should really check out her blog at That Mama Gretchen.

-Kari

Do you have a story to share? This is part of a series called "Weddings on a Dime." Please send me your brief story (how you meet, got engaged, etc.), your budget (you can be as detailed or not detailed as you want), along with pictures of your "Big Day" to karikoupon@gmail.com. I would LOVE to consider featuring your wedding.

Also, if you have a wedding dress hanging in your closet and are not sure what to do with it, I HIGHLY suggest donating to Adorned in Grace, a bridal and formalwear shop in which the proceeds go toward helping children escape trafficking!

As told by Lyndsy, who blogs over at The Manz Fam

How we met:

I like to tell people we met online. Because it is partially true and because it makes Jonathan blush when I say that. We were in the same graduate cohort at Baylor University and were introduced over email in March 2006 as a class of 20 students that would be studying together for the next two years. J and I started emailing since we had a mutual friend and got to know each other as we happened to be reading the same Donald Miller book “Searching for God Knows What” and discussed church and religion and politics. That July we both relocated to Waco, TX and saw each other for the first time in person after months of email conversations (this was pre-Facebook). We started dating that fall semester and got engaged a year later.

Wedding planning:

Planning a wedding long distance while finishing a Master’s degree and job searching for dual careers could have been the recipe for disaster. But it helped us to keep our priorities in order. We were most excited to begin marriage together!

We wed on June 7, 2008 in Fresno, California in the First Church of God where I had grown up and was baptized. Our joint philosophy for wedding planning was ‘darn the Man.’ Meaning we didn’t want to feel pressure to “have to” do or have something at the wedding just because a Bridal magazine told us. So while I enjoyed looking at the pretty pictures, I did not use magazines as a guide for what our wedding on a budget would be like.

We knew that many of our friends and even family wouldn’t be able to travel all the way to California to be part of our day, but we wanted to include them still through invites. To do this affordably we decided to utilize email and through copying a card digitally we sent this along with a note directing people to our website that was set up for free with a coupon. J’s brother was a video productions major and filmed a video invite for our official invitation that was posted on our website.

My cost priorities for the wedding were to have beautiful photos so we used a professional who was also a friend acquaintance that we trusted and loved his photojournalist style. We paid $1,400 for all the rights to over 300 photos digitally touched up and 200 printed 4x6 proofs.

Flowers were the main decoration besides the beautiful people all dressed up. We got bouquets for the bride, bridesmaids and mothers, corsages for grandmothers and cake topper flowers all for $426.40.

The other priority we had was for our friends to not pay more than they already were by flying to CA for the wedding. So we purchased the bridesmaid dresses for them, after December holiday dresses went on clearance for $19.99 at Ann Taylor LOFT. Because my ladies were spread out in OR, GA, TX we were able to get all the sizes needed and they actually got to try them on locally. (And really do get to wear them again!)

We tried something a bit unconventional with the guys and decided to not do suits because it was Fresno in June and HOT! And suits are expensive with nobody wearing the full thing the whole day anyway. So we rented matching vests and ties for $10 for each of them and they provided their own black pants and shoes and white shirts. The guys loved it and because they didn’t have a coat on we didn’t order boutonnieres. We bought Jonathan a black suit for $200 on sale that he continues to get use out of to this day.  My dress was on sale at David’s Bridal for $300. I wore flip flops I owned and borrowed a veil, bra and slip from my sister in law.

The cake was done by a home baker for $75 who also lent her beautiful cake stand to help our preferred two-tiers to stand a bit higher and look regal. Our 2pm wedding had an afternoon reception with a Mashpatini Bar $14.95/person done by International Catering Company that provided table linens, water and tea, desserts and best of all servers to oversee everything so all of our family and friends could enjoy being with us and not working.

Because we met in Grad School we decided to ‘decorate’ the table centerpieces with books. We borrowed from my Grama’s library collection and stacked a large medium and small book with different fabric and wrapping paper then tied with a bow. $10

Every other table had a hurricane glass of lemons that were from my parent’s backyard and borrowed vases from the high school where my mom worked. The caterer offered silver charger plates to put below them.

Since this was a church fellowship hall reception no dancing or alcohol was involved, but our entertainment was an Open Mic. My brother played MC, calling people up to offer a story or congratulations to the bride and groom. It was a wonderful way to make the day personal and see so many of our ~120 guests that we may not have gotten around to all of them.

Because why buy bubbles when you can do a soccer tunnel??

We borrowed my parent’s convertible to drive off in. To extend our post-graduation, pre-job honeymoon we stayed in Fresno two days to enjoy the family that was still in town visiting. Then, we went to housesit for friends who lived in the Yosemite foothills an hour away and hung out solo for a week. J’s parents gifted us their timeshare that we transferred to a resort in Lake Havasu, Arizona that was driving distance from CA. Although the average temperature there was 105, we were happy and in love and not at all regretful of our wedding day spent with friends and family.

Venue: $200 donation for Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall use First Church of God, Fresno, CA / Photography $1400 / Flowers: $426.40 / Bridesmaid Dresses: $19.99 ea. at Ann Taylor LOFT / Groomsmen Attire: $10 ea. / Grooms Suit: $200 / Bride's Dress: $300 David's Bridal / Cake: $75 / Appetizers: Mashpatini Bar $14.95/head by International Catering Company / Table Decorations: $10

Total wedding costs: ~$4,100

Wow, what a fun wedding Lyndsy!!! I love all the details! Thanks for sharing your story. Lyndsy and I went to undergrad together at Warner Pacific College. She is definitely an inspiration!

Do you have a story to share? E-mail me at karikoupon@gmail.com

-Kari

Do you have a story to share? This is part of a series called "Weddings on a Dime." Please send me your brief story (how you meet, got engaged, etc.), your budget (you can be as detailed or not detailed as you want), along with pictures of your "Big Day" to karikoupon@gmail.com. I would LOVE to consider featuring your wedding.

Also, if you have a wedding dress hanging in your closet and are not sure what to do with it, I HIGHLY suggest donating to Adorned in Grace, a bridal and formalwear shop in which the proceeds go toward helping children escape trafficking!

We met on eHarmony - Love Begins Here.....plain and simple. We talked on the phone for at least a month before we finally had our first date. He took me to Gerry Franks Konditorei which is a little cake shop close to downtown Salem, OR. We hit it off pretty well and were there talking until the cake shop closed. Two days later we had our second date. We went bowling and then out to Coldstone for ice cream. And on it went. He proposed over dinner while visiting my family in Arizona for Christmas. We got married 6 months later on June 20th, 2010 which was Father's Day.

Getting Ready:

I went to Simply Grand Bridal in Salem to get my dress. They were great! She picked out a dress for me and it was perfect! It was also off the rack so the discount helped. I got my veil on eBay instead of purchasing one at the dress store. My dress covered my feet so I wore white sandals (which I already owned) that I decorated with ribbon and rhinestones (they were also very comfortable!). I purchased my jewelry on Etsy as well as three sets of pearl jewelry for my bridesmaids. I splurged on my hair and makeup and went to Salon 554. They are my favorite salon in Salem. The flower girl dresses I purchased on eBay. I was really blessed to have my friends help me with so many DIY details. One of my bridesmaids grandmother owns a flower shop so she did the bouquets. My bridesmaids mother even helped with day of event coordination. She helped all the girls do their hair and makeup and even brought protein filled snacks for the bridal party!

Ceremony:

I knew I wanted an intimate "small town" wedding. I really loved this cute little chapel in Independence that I passed every day on my way to work. I spoke with the pastor and he said we could get married with marriage counseling for giving a donation to the church. They even had our wedding live on a website for family and friends who couldn't be there!

I found some really cute wreaths to attach to the pews from Michaels and waited to purchase them until I had a great percentage off coupon. The church has nice stained glass windows so no other decoration was needed. My wedding favors were cute little flower seed packets that I found at the dollar store along with bubbles for the send off.

Dinner & Dessert:

It was really difficult to find an inexpensive caterer. I used google, wedding websites, and word of mouth until I finally found Special Occasions in Woodburn. They have AMAZING prices and delicious food. We had appetizers, a full coarse meal, and chocolate covered strawberries from them. For our cake we did a small 2 tier cake, cupcakes, and a John Deere groom's cake for Bill. I found an up and coming baker Brooke Baker of Pretty Sweet Wedding Cakes. She was really easy to work with and did a beautiful job.

Reception:

Bill's aunt has a lovely house in South Salem with a good size backyard. She was so sweet to let us use her house. I got some beautiful pink and cream dahlias in bulk online and put them in mason jars on the guest tables and also picked up some wild flower bouquets at the Saturday Market to use on other tables. Mason jars were used for non-alcoholic drinks. I rented some tables, linens, & wine glasses from A to Z and purchased plates, silverware, and napkins from Costco. I got all signs, programs, stickers, and banners custom from Etsy. My friend helped me make some mixed cd's on Itunes and we used a cd player for all of the music and dancing. My bridesmaid found me a wonderful up and coming photographer, Heather McGrath Photography,  who traveled from Portland to capture our special day Aren't her pictures beautiful!

Dress: $544 Simply Grand Bridal / Veil: $10 eBay / Brides Jewelry: $18 Etsy / Bridesmaid Gifts: $34 Etsy / Hair & Makeup: $285 -Salon 554 / Flower Girl Dresses: $30 eBay / Ceremony Flowers: $40 Michaels / Reception Venue: FREE / Flowers: $250 WholeBlossom.com & Saturday Market / Mason Jars: $60 / Rentals: $280 A to Z Party Rentals / Tableware: $40 Costco / Reception Decor: $180 / Music: FREE / Photographer: $100 Heather McGrath Photography / Church & Officiant Donation: $150 / Ceremony Decor: $36 Michaels / Favors & Bubbles: $35 DollarTree / Invitations: $89 Etsy / Catering: $750 -Special Occasions / Cake: $150- Pretty Sweet Wedding Cakes

After the wedding I was able to sell most of the decorations on eBay and Craigslist and made $135 from that. I also got to consign my dress & veil so a lovely bride would be able to get it at an affordable rate, instead of it sitting in my closet. I made $200 from the dress and veil.

Total: $2746

Thank you so much for sharing your story Sharayah!!! Sharayah and I lived on the same dorm in college (Go Upper D)!

Can't wait to hear your story! E-mail me at karikoupon@gmail.com.

-Kari

Do you have a story to share? This is part of a series called "Weddings on a Dime." Please send me your brief story (how you meet, got engaged, etc.), your budget (you can be as detailed or not detailed as you want), along with pictures of your "Big Day" to karikoupon@gmail.com. I would LOVE to consider featuring your wedding.

Also, if you have a wedding dress hanging in your closet and would like to find a good home, I HIGHLY suggest donating to Adorned in Grace, a bridal and formalwear shop in which the proceeds go toward helping children escape trafficking!

David and I met at a friend’s house a few days after I arrived in China in 2008. We started hanging out with a group of friends and started dating about six months later. We dated for just over a year and took a trip to the States during that time to introduce David to my family. On Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (moon-cake celebration), David took me out for Sichuan food and then walked through his university campus looking for a good spot to look at the moon and eat the moon-cakes. When I opened my moon-cake box, lo and behold there was a beautiful engagement ring and David asked me to marry him! We married 4 months later on January, 23 rd 2010.

It was really hard to decide where to have our wedding! We had family and friends in both the US and China, and we realized it was going to be impossible to have everyone at our wedding. In the end, we decided to have our wedding in China, and had a reception in America the following Summer.

Chinese Wedding:
We wanted to have a western style church wedding, have the Good News about Christ shared with all of our friends, and be surrounded by people we love. We had a 2:00pm wedding with a simple ceremony and a standing cake and finger food reception. It was a wonderful day and everything I’d ever dreamed of and more.

We were extremely blessed by our sweet friends who helped us make it happen. Everyone really supported us and went all out to make our day special. Here are some of the things our friends helped with: set-up and cleaning the venue, sewing the table runners and flower girls dress, setting up a slide show, playing music, arranging a car to transport sound equipment, and the list goes on and on!

Wedding Breakdown:

(Prices marked in Chinese RMB)

Wedding Photography/Videographer:1000 RMB, Videographer was Patrick Harubin / Wedding Venue: 3850 RMB / Floral Design: 225 RMB (Parents gave gift of large arrangements) / Wedding Cake & Reception food 910 RMB (church ladies provided finger food, punch bowl borrowed from Hotel) / Decorations: 628 RMB / Music: sound equipment borrowed from a friend / Wedding Dress: Tailor-made for the bride 1500 RMB / Chauffer: 30 RMB/ Bulletins: 50 RMB / Flower Girl Dress & Ring Bearer Suit: made by friend / Maid of Honor's Dress: 240 RMB / Best Man's Suit: 300 RMB / Groom's Suit: Re-used from his brother's wedding

Total Cost: 8633 RMB = $1,233 USD

American Reception and Renewal of Vows Ceremony

The Summer after our wedding, we had another ceremony with family and friends in Columbia, Missouri. It was a super-fun, casual and stress-free event! David’s Uncle officiated a renewal of the vows ceremony. We had a great time with my grandparents and others who were unable to make it all the way to China.

Reception Breakdown:

(In USD)

Venue: Stoney Creek Inn Ballroom $300 / Hotel Room Deluxe suite: $91 /Dinner for 50 people: Fajitas buffet w/ lemon bars for dessert 12.95 x 50 = $647 / Champagne: 6 bottles x 16 =$ 96 / Photography: gited to us by Jack Kustron / Flowers: Hyvee $125 / Groomsmen’s suit: Goodwill $10 / Groomsmen’s ties: tieguy.com 4 X 5= $20 / Table linens & Decorations: rented from Stoney Creek $100
Total: $1,389

Total cost for wedding and reception: $2,622 USD

That is pretty awesome if you ask me! Wow only $2,622 for essentially 2 weddings! Thanks for sharing your story Julie!!

Julie is my sister-in-law, and my husband and I were so sad to miss their big day. Its fun being able to post this on my blog!!!

Can't wait to hear your story! E-mail me at karikoupon@gmail.com.

-Kari

Do you have a story to share? This is part of a series called "Weddings on a Dime." Please send me your brief story (how you meet, got engaged, etc.), your budget (you can be as detailed or not detailed as you want), along with pictures of your "Big Day" to karikoupon@gmail.com. I would LOVE to consider featuring your wedding.

Also, if you have a wedding dress hanging in your closet and are not sure what to do with it, I HIGHLY suggest donating to Adorned in Grace, a bridal and formalwear shop in which the proceeds go toward helping children escape trafficking!

Jeff & Sarah's Wedding

As told by Sarah, the bride:

Jeff and I met in the summer of 1998 at Lake Retreat Camp and Conference Center's high school church camp. We were both from different churches and met on the baseball field.

We were instant friends and were there for each other through thick and thin. From dealing with harsh breakups with others, to the craziness of him joining the Navy in the spring of 1999.

September 11, 2001 is something that everyone remembers whether it has personal meaning or not. Jeff and I had a more personal attachment to the tragedy. At that point, we had been bestest best friends for a few years and had developed feelings for each other. However, we were both too afraid to lose our friendship that we didn't say anything. On 9/11, we came to the harsh realization that Jeff could be off to war, during which so much could happen. We could no longer afford to not share with each other how much we meant to one another.

It was on September 13th that Jeff was able to send me an email, and he received my handwritten letter both which detailed our love for one another.

On January 2003, Jeff proposed to me with his Grandmother's wedding ring.

Photos by Tyler Gould

Do you have a story to share? I'm starting a series called "Weddings on a Dime" and I need your help!

Please send me your brief story (how you meet, got engaged, etc.), your budget (you can be as detailed or not detailed as you want), along with pictures of your "Big Day" to karikoupon@gmail.com. I would LOVE to consider featuring your wedding.

Also, if you have a wedding dress hanging in your closet and are not sure what to do with it, I HIGHLY suggest donating to Adorned in Grace, a bridal and formalwear shop in which the proceeds go toward helping children escape trafficking!

Here is my Wedding on a Dime:

Peter and I met at church in the winter of 2008. Sparks flew instantly (just ask our friends who were there!), and a few months later we started dating. We got engaged the following winter overlooking the city lights on a beautiful starry night. We were married July 25, 2009.

Our main priority was just getting married. We couldn't wait! We wanted a simple wedding where we could invite all of our friends, have a Christ centered message preached, and have great pictures to show for it. So we had it at Southwest Bible Church (the church we met at, and currently attend) and our photographer was Tyler Gould. It was a simple ceremony with a light cheesecake reception after the ceremony. During the reception we had people share advice and other stories. We loved saying hi to all of our guests. Some people traveled great distances to celebrate with us, and it really ment a lot! It was a truly wonderful day!

Wedding Photography: Tyler Gould $1800 for engagement and wedding / Wedding Venue: Southwest Bible Church, Beaverton, Oregon $300 / Event Design and Planning: Southwest Bible Church Debbie Eaton and Linda Springstead (included in venue fee) / Pastor: Bill Brown / Floral Design: Elina Hamilton and Dasha Adzhigirey (we did our own flowers with friends) the flowers were from Costco and Trader Joes $300 / Wedding Cake: Costco cheesecake $200 / Linens: Party City $30 / Music: Danna Leontescu, Kaya Palmer, and Janean Shiewe / Wedding Dress: Kathy Ireland via Charlotte's Weddings & More $450 / Bride's Hair: Maggie Armentrout $25 (she was in beauty school at the time) / Bride’s Shoes: Ann Taylor $30 / Bride’s Jewelry: Given to me by my mother-in-law / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Nordstrom $240 / Groom’s Tuxedo: Imported from China $80

Total Cost: $4,175

Can't wait to hear your story!

-Kari