My very special roommate and I eloped recently. As thrilled as I am to share my happy news, I also wanted to brag about how we had a fabulous wedding for less than $1,500!! The trick? Simple and small.
Flowers – I paid $45 for my bouquet of white hydrangeas and roses and a matching boutonnière. I also bought two small pots of daffodils at the grocery store on sale for $3 each to decorate the appetizer table.
His suit – My roomie wore his sharp charcoal gray pin-stripped suit that he had tailormade years ago during a work trip to Bahrain. It’s impossible to resist him when he is wearing this suit. Dry cleaning was $6.
My dress – I found a cute white number at TJ Maxx but had doubts. My friend Mary provided a second opinion: “Let’s go shopping.” I found the perfect dress
(and got incredible customer service) at The Express. Beautiful, sexy, and sooo comfortable. It was $79.99, but with a coupon I got a sparkly scarf (pictured below) and the dress for $70. I picked up a pair of metallic-colored Seychelle heels for $35 at a local upscale consignment store.
Hair – Getting my hair curled cost $45 with tip. The salon gals were floored I was getting married a few hours later and made me promise to bring by pictures.
Ceremony – We got married at a waterfront park about six blocks from our house where the waitlist for a summer wedding is two years. But in April it’s cold enough that we had the place to ourselves. Can you tell it’s only 39 degrees? Hiring a retired judge to wed us was $150.
License – Our marriage license cost $24.
Appetizers and champagne – We welcomed 14 guests at our home pre-wedding for appetizers and champagne. Our friend Sue lent us champagne glasses, small plates, and a white tablecloth. Groceries and booze cost $70.
Dinner – We decided to splurge and treat everyone to a tasty meal at a local restaurant. We could have saved a lot of money by choosing a cheaper place or by arranging a buffet with the restaurant. We decided having a really nice dinner would make our wedding very special – and stress free – so we let everyone order from the menu, though we ordered the wine. Cost: $998 (about $62/per person including tax and gratuity).
Cake – My friend Mary saved us a bundle when she offered to make us a cake. It was the most delicious chocolate cake with strawberries!!! Exactly what we would have asked for. We saved the top layer for our honeymoon and ate a piece everyday. Delicious!
Music – I knew I had picked the right restaurant when, days before the wedding, I dropped in and saw a piano. “Do you have a piano player?” I asked the restaurant owner.
“Yes, on Friday and Saturday nights we have live music.”
“What kind of music does he or she play?”
“Jazz, standards…”
“Does she take requests?”
“Yes”
Score! After dinner we had a first dance and tipped her $20. He dipped me twice!
Photos – Two of our friends offered to take pictures and they caught many fun and touching unposed moments on camera. Like when Dan and I arrived first at the waterfront rotunda, above.
Dancing – After dinner we headed to a nearby bar/club for dancing. There was no cover charge and our friends refused to let us buy drinks. Free party!
Our total cost was $1,469. We could have spent a lot more money on flowers, musicians/DJ, ceremony location, a bigger reception, wedding planner, tchotskys for guests, limo rental, attendant gifts, and photos. The upside to keeping our wedding so simple, aside from saving a ton of money, was it was stress-free and easy to plan. We got engaged two weeks before we said “I do.” I highly recommend eloping!
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
Congratulations!
Congratulations and may you and Dan have many, many wonderful years together.
Congratulations to the happy bride and groom! I’m so glad the word is now “out” so I don’t have to worry about spilling the beans. I’m looking forward to seeing you, meeting Dan, and seeing your mom very soon. Be sure to bring lots of wedding pictures!!! My very best wishes for a long and happy life together! You deserve the best! L&K and HUGS ~ El
This is so totally cool and wonderful! I’m teaching this to my daughter. Spend the extra time, energy and money on creating a lasting and loving marriage. I’m very happy for both of you.
Congratulations! You look beautiful!
Congratulations and good work on the wedding costs!
Congratulations!! Much happiness to you both!
Congratulations and may you two have many, many happy healthy years together.
Congratulations! It’s great to see you don’t have spend your savings or go into debt by getting married… kudos to you! I should have done things different (I’m still paying off debt from my wedding… boo hoo hoo)!
Congrats!!!!
This is awesome! Congrats! You both look so happy…
A lifetime of happiness? Priceless. Had to say it! 🙂 Seriously though, if you ask me, it was a million dollar wedding.
Wait didn’t you just get divorced not too long ago?
Yea, Bargain Babe, didn’t you just get divorced not that long ago? Was this a rebound marriage? I counsel a lot of people and first they have to take their time. You were already living with him? How quickly did he move in? Were you seeing him when you were married?
@Art and @qbanqt Wow, such probing and dare I saw, rude questions, from people who know very little of my personal life. You both make assumptions which are incorrect. My rule of thumb is, when in doubt, give the benefit of the doubt. I would have appreciated that from you both here.
Lots of best wishes to both of you! I would say that it was a very appropriate wedding. Enjoy each other always!
congrats Julia!! I’m so happy for you!! your pictures and words make me smile. I am soo happy for you!
This is wonderful! I am going to have to think like this when my daughter gets married. My friend Carol got married in her husbands back yard. She got a wedding dress from Goodwill for about $10 and she looked beautiful. The flowers came from her backyard, and we had a barbeque that we all bought a dish too, so she was married for under $200. The alcohol was the most expensive thing that they sprung for!
Well Julia people who have been following your column do recall how all of a sudden you split from your ex and moved across the country after insisting you both were very happy living frugal lives.
It shocked us then and it shocks us now too that you run off and get married on the rebound.
Hun, when you put your life on the internet like you have, don’t be surprised when people make comments
@BB ~ I’m still flabbergasted at how dense and inconsiderate some people can be. I’m glad you stood up for yourself, and I’m with you 100%! Those of us who know you know the realities of your situation, and want only the best for you and Dan. Whatever happened to the old rule of thumb in polite society: If you can’t say something nice or kind, don’t say anything at all. General comments are fine, but personal attacks are not OK.
Is anything in life black and white? While several of the comments clearly are assumptions (and you know that old saw about the word “assume”), Elke’s last sentence is not without truth.
Now I have an unrelated question about comments. Isn’t there a way we can opt to be notified about follow-up comments WITHOUT leaving one? There are times I want to follow the comments that are written on a particular blog topic even if I don’t write one.
And, while I’m here, what’s the status on those temperamental images?
Julia – all the best to you and Dan! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together. Your wedding looks beautiful – and perfect.
I think we spend way too much time sticking our noise into things that don’t concern us vs. trying to keep our personal life together. If BB is happy, that’s all that really matters. Why should everyone rain on her parade. There are way too many other issues we should focus our attention on and try to help with (ie., the people who have lost their homes from bad weather, the people who are still unemployed, hungry, and discouraged, struggling, losing their homes, blah, blah, blah. blah. All I’m saying is: People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Make sure you keep your house in order before you stick your nose where it really doesn’t belong.
I think that only each individual person in this world can know to whom and when they feel love in their heart. We cannot judge people on who they love, when and why – that is a personal decision that only each one of us can make for our own lives. 🙂
Congrats! I am so happy for you both. Please don’t listen to some of these rude people. They have nothing better to do then write such disgusting comments when people are happy! The real truth here is they are NOT! Enjoy your life together…it will be beautiful!