Fun Virginia Wedding!

Always the right time for a game of Jenga and fun games. Take a look at how this lovely couple made each and every moment of their wedding celebration special!

“With WeddingMix, I have solid documentation of everyone giggling during the ceremony when I tried to grab the rings too soon, and I have moments on film that a videographer wouldn’t have been around to catch- like our friends and family running around frantically during the treasure hunt Josh and I set up for them. “

Josh and Kayla are a newlywed couple living in wedded bliss…and South Carolina. Josh is pursuing his PhD in mathematics while Kayla works as a freelance writer. You can see more of her work here

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1. What part of your wedding planning are you most proud of?

I think I’m most proud of the feeling of community that we managed to foster in our ceremony and throughout the entire wedding weekend. It really felt like those final days of summer camp when everyone’s gotten to know and like each other and your days are spent just being happy to be together! This was really great because feeling the support of our community and putting the focus on interpersonal relationships were some of the most important things my husband (yay!) and I wanted to get out of this wedding. Plus, I really love summer camp!

Some of the things we intentionally included to enhance this community feeling were a ring warming during the ceremony, where we passed our wedding rings around in a little bag and everyone held them and silently imbued them with their blessings and well wishes and a “community candle” which was a spin on the more popular unity candle where everyone took a vigil candle with their program as they came in, then later in the ceremony, my husband and I lit our candles from a single flame and then passed the flame to our attendants who passed it to our guests until everyone’s candle was lit. I also wrote our ceremony script, so I was able to include a lot of specific language that emphasized the role of our community in supporting our new marriage. Of course, we also had a bunch of icebreaker activities and group games over the weekend so that people who hadn’t met could get to know each other.

2. Where did you get married?

We got married at Douthat State Park in Millboro, VA. After all, Virginia is for lovers! The location was beautiful and roughly equidistant for all our far-flung guests so that everyone had to travel, but no one had to travel too far- except hubby’s relatives from England!

The ceremony took place at the park’s amphitheatre, which looks out onto a lake that’s backed by mountains. We loved this venue not only because of its natural beauty and convenient location, but also for the lodges and cabins it had on site that gave our guests a place to stay for the wedding weekend. And despite all these amazing features, it was very, very affordable. It’s definitely a place we’ll be coming back to visit again and again on anniversaries, vacations, you name it.

3. Why was using WeddingMix appealing for your big day?

I was so excited when I first heard about WeddingMix because I knew that a traditional videographer was not going to fit into the budget, but I wasn’t sure that photos alone would capture the event well enough. With WeddingMix, I have solid documentation of everyone giggling during the ceremony when I tried to grab the rings too soon, and I have moments on film that a videographer wouldn’t have been around to catch- like our friends and family running around frantically during the treasure hunt Josh and I set up for them. I actually had to make a pizza run during the treasure hunt, so the hilarious videos my husband filmed let me be included in something I otherwise would have missed completely.

4. What were the most important moments that WeddingMix was able to capture on your special day?

Other than the funny little moments I mentioned before, the most important thing I wanted to be filmed was just the ceremony itself. I’m glad that I’ll always have a video of that day to etch every word, every look, and every faltering, emotional voice onto my heart in a way that I couldn’t while it was happening.

There was actually also a moment that I’m glad WASN’T filmed, and that was a surprise I gave my husband right at the beginning of the reception. Neither of us really like to dance, so we had board games and other activities instead of dancing at our reception. But, I still wanted to incorporate “our song” into the wedding, which is Ingrid Michaelson’s version of Can’t Help Falling in Love. So, I colluded with the harpist who played during the ceremony and she agreed to accompany me as I sang this song to him. Guys, the tears came almost as soon as he realized what was happening. I was obviously emotional too, and so the performance wasn’t exactly flawless from a technical perspective, but it was certainly meaningful. I’m glad that we have the memory to look back on without an actual recording so that I can’t sour the moment with self-criticism after the fact.

5.What is your top wedding budget tip(s)?

My top wedding budget tip is to thoughtfully consider every purchase you want to make. Ask yourself if it’s something that you and your intended really want to have, or if it’s something you just feel like a wedding “should” have, or something someone else is pressuring you to have. There are a lot of things that people feel are a traditional, must have part of a wedding that serve no purpose at all. My stance is that there’s no right or wrong way to have a wedding, as long as you’re married to the right person at the end of the day. I know that these expectations are deeply rooted, and a lot of couples face pressure from relatives to have everything just so, but really try to separate yourself from that as much as you possibly can. Reading the book A Practical Wedding by Meg Keene is a great way to ease yourself into this mindset. To save your budget and make your wedding a great experience for you, keep only the parts of the “wedding” concept that are important and meaningful for you and your fiance.

Some examples of things that weren’t important enough to us to make the cut include: flowers, dancing, a purpose-built wedding cake, escort cards, save the dates, and anything old, borrowed, or blue. I feel like I must have said, “nah, we’re not doing that” about a thousand times during the planning process. Luckily, my family was understanding. On the day of, I didn’t miss any of those things, and I really enjoyed the things we added in that aren’t part of the traditional wedding picture yet, like the board games at the reception.

6. What was your budget?

Our total wedding weekend cost about $8,000. That includes costs for the wedding itself as well as food and activities for our guests (about 30 total) on Saturday and Sunday, and lodging for the wedding party Thursday through Sunday. Here’s how it all broke down:

$525 for the “Platinum Package” at our venue, which included two day rental of one outdoor venue and one indoor venue. They let us break it up so that we were renting the amphitheatre on Thursday and Friday, for the rehearsal and the big event, and the reception room on Friday and Saturday, for the big event and then clean up the next day. (Thanks, Liberty!) I also spent $92 a bit farther down the line on a covered picnic shelter as a backup ceremony location in case of rain, though the weather was gorgeous and we didn’t end up needing it. It was worth it for the peace of mind.

$1950 for the photographer. This was our largest single expense, but I feel that it was still a great deal. We got the wonderful Linda of Awesomesauce Photography for an unlimited number of hours on the day of, and she even had to travel to us.

$1,000 for rental of a lodge Thursday-Sunday for the wedding party to sleep in. Other guests made their own arrangements.

$550 for hair and makeup for me on the day of, travel fees, tips, and a trial run prior to the wedding.

$485 for two hours of music from our Harpist, including travel fee and tip.

$407 total paid for WeddingMix 2 camera HD package.

$506 for my wedding dress, which I ordered from a shop on Etsy. I sent her my measurements and she sent me a custom fitted, gorgeous wedding dress! Some of my friends were a bit skeptical about this process, but I’m happy that it all worked out, and I can confidently recommend Lace Marry’s Etsy shop! I got a higher quality dress from her than I could have gotten at this pricepoint in any bridal shop, and it was handmade just for me.

$25 for the groom’s attire. He wore a suit he already owned, and we bought him a fancy new bowtie to go with it.

$500 for food expenses for Saturday and Sunday. This included a lot of grocery store bagel, muffin, and danish platters for breakfast, sandwiches, pizza and salad for lunch, and burgers and hot dogs for dinner. I also frantically made enough mac and cheese casserole for 25 people the night before we left home so that the bridal party and families would have something to eat for dinner on Friday, since we were doing a late ceremony and a dessert reception.

$305 for favors, which were custom printed camp style mugs that were printed with a logo that I designed, as well as our wedding date and location. I went back and forth on whether this purchase would be “worth it,” but I’m glad I went through with it in the end because I really wanted them, and I look forward to spying them in cabinets whenever we visit our friends from now on. The mugs also served as drinkware during the reception, and Josh particularly enjoyed using them for the champagne toast(s).

$750 for all the food, serveware, and miscellaneous things we needed for the reception. We self catered, so this price includes all the desserts for our dessert reception (mostly bought from the local Kroger) cake stands and serving trays to display them on, and supplies for the hot chocolate/coffee bar that I really wanted. We also wanted to be a little less rough on the environment, but without access to a kitchen, we felt that biodegradable pressed leaf plates were the best that we could do, so that’s what we got for our guests. They looked nice and people seemed to be interested in them. They’re unique enough that they seemed to circumvent that “disposable” vibe.

$200 for tablecloths. I got them from LinenTablecloth.com, but I had a bad customer service experience with them, so I don’t recommend them.

$130 for programs from Wedding Paper Divas. We ordered 50 and they included the order of ceremony as well as the schedule of events for the rest of the wedding weekend.

$575 was spent on decorations for the reception (clustered flameless candles with moving wicks) a PVC and fabric backdrop we constructed for the ceremony site, bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts, and just general miscellaneous things, like Mr. and Mrs. t shirts to wear on Saturday, guest book, card box, firewood for campfires, s’mores supplies and other things like that.

We were lucky to be able to take advantage of several free services and gifts from our friends and family to keep our costs down as well. For example, my father, who is a minister, wanted to marry us, so we didn’t need to find an officiant. Josh’s father and brother made our rings and gifted them to us. My mom spent 2 years of labor hand sewing a gorgeous quilt for Josh and I that didn’t technically save us any money, but it did hide the display of antique saws and shovels that was on the wall in the reception room, so it’s invaluable to me!

Other things we just did without. I think we did a pretty good job of sorting through which elements of tradition were meaningful to us and which we could let go of. So, you might see something missing from my list that would absolutely need to go on yours, or something we bought that you would never want to spend your money on! I think that’s great. At the end of the day, it’s your wedding- you do you!