With Spring wedding season in full bloom, I wanted to share my Pinterest wedding dream versus the reality. I always read to avoid getting too caught up on Pinterest when planning your wedding because we all know how expensive things can get quickly. Most likely, the images you’re pinning of flowers at the altar can cost as much as your total budget! But I did want to share a few things I found on Pinterest and made them my own in an affordable twist. We’ll call this my wedding Pinspiration versus wedding reality!

For reference, all the inspiration photos are on the left and my wedding photos are on the right.

I came across this picture and loved this idea for table numbers. I could only find one seller on Etsy offering them and they were $$$$. I realized my Mom had access to acrylic through her art gallery. I asked a few friends and family if they knew of anyone with a vinyl machine to make the stickers, and it turns out my cousin has one! I picked the font and sent her the size we would need, and it turned into a simple DIY.

I love all the dreamy shots of bridal accessories on Pinterest, so I recreated my version here with my Iphone because I wasn’t sure the photographer was getting the shot I wanted, lol. My aunt did all the flowers for our wedding by the way!

For our sweetheart table, I had my heart set on these chargers and a lot of pretty florals to surround us. I would have loved to have these chargers at every table, but the rental price for them was out of my budget. I worried a sequins table-cloth would be a little too loud for my farm chic vibe, so I went with a standard table-cloth. For a cheaper alternative, my aunt used a pre-made garland for $10 instead of using separate greenery to create our own for the base of our table.

For my wedding cake, I’m drawn to simple designs with florals. I’m actually not a big fan of cake, so this was one of the last things on my to-do list. Once I found the right cake baker, I actually became a fan! I also had a warm chocolate chip cookie station with milk because that is more of my jam. This cake was the main inspiration for my cake, although I went with buttercream instead of fondant appliques.

I pinned this image long before I was engaged. I just love dreamy veils and sparkly Jimmy Choos! And before you think I’m fancy enough for Jimmy Choos, let me tell you my Cinderella story when it came to getting my wedding day shoes. My mom and I were shopping for my birthday, which is right after Christmas. Basically the only perk of having a birthday right after Christmas is all the post holiday sales. I ended up finding my wedding shoes on the clearance rack placed in the wrong size section. They ended up costing $299, which is definitely a lot for a pair of shoes, but I was looking at other pairs around $150 so I knew I couldn’t pass up my dream shoe at that price! My Mom was excited to kill two birds with one stone with a wedding purchase for a birthday gift 😉

I loved how this simple acrylic sign displayed the wedding party. I did my twist and had a calligrapher (than I found of neighbors who did all our calligraphy for $100!) do our escort sign on a piece of acrylic from my Moms’ art gallery. I love how it tied in with the table numbers! This picture is before the back plastic was removed, so at the reception it was clear.

I’ve always been a big fan of bows so I knew I wanted to add one to my dress. I fell in love with this oversized bow in this picture and had my alterations lady make one for me. I didn’t have to worry about tying ribbon perfectly and it falling flat the day of the wedding. Also, I originally wanted to do a overskirt for the ceremony and a top similar to this, but when the wedding started to approach I decided I didn’t want to spend anymore money towards my attire.

I don’t have a great picture of the cross, but this picture was what I showed my aunt for inspiration for mine. You may have read in my post 20 Ways to Save Money in Your Wedding Budget, where I mentioned how my Dad and uncle DIY’d this wood cross for our ceremony space for under $40 instead of renting the one there for $150. To save time, my aunt used faux flowers for the cross so she could make it a few days before the wedding.

For our reception tables, I really hated the idea of covering these beautiful farm tables with stiff table linens. I love how soft and organic the table runner is in the inspiration picture. I couldn’t find anything similar from rental companies, so my Mom and I went to a nice fabric store in Buckhead and spent way too much time there comparing ivory linens and found a chiffon fabric to DIY them ourselves! My cousin (thank you Trish!) took them to Joannes and begged them nicely to cut the fabric for her so they would be even.

~~~

Thank you for reading!

xo Amanda John

SaveSave