Celebrations
A Wedding Story
A Dream Wedding on a $5000.00 budget — by April Payne
Upon hearing that my younger cousin had just announced her wedding engagement, I immediately knew my role. I have been an event planner for over 10 years with experience planning, producing and orchestrating events in different places around the country. This particular event would have to be perfect though because my cousin is near and dear to my heart. The goal was to make it not just perfect, but spectacular!
After meeting with the loving couple, I realized their urgency to get married. You could truly see that their love was magical. Even though they were newly-engaged in June 2010, they were adamant to have their wedding on July 31, 2010 and they were counting on me to make it happen.
LeTroy and Eunece didn’t have much money since both were just beginning to pursue their careers but, they both agreed, they wanted the wedding of their dreams. We set a budget of five thousand dollars and immediately set a date to meet with family members. Our family is very large and because we are also close-knit, I knew I could count on others to assist with this big request.
I started by putting together a committee consisting of five family members and then we began to plan. We had exactly six weeks until the big day, so we had to be on fast-forward. The mother of the bride, the bride and groom, and I immediately finalized the invitation list, printed invitations and got them in the mail. Next, we called different reception venues, set up appointments at bridal and tuxedo salons for the wedding party and selected a photographer.
Week two consisted of the mother of the bride and I taking part in tastings in order to select a caterer for the event. We decided on Gist Family Catering to provide food, the wine & champagne bar was provided by Corridors, and the wedding cake was the creation of Loch Lomond. Floral designs were provided by Blue Iris. My cousin arranged all of the transportation for the day. Three weeks before the wedding, we were ready.
The major task, since there were limited funds, was to turn a drab warehouse into a wedding wonderland. I had a meeting with the grooms’ sister and we decided to rent exquisite fuchsia, peach and white linens and white chairs from Ridgewell’s. My final task was to meet with my floral designers, Angie and Diane of Blue Iris at Washington, DC’s Eastern Market and a close friend and decorator Gayle Oliver. The reception site was set. I put together the seating chart, floor plan and designed the chart to match the reception site on the big day.
One week before the wedding, my committee had a briefing via conference call and everyone knew their role for the big day.
Two days before the main event, the festivities started. All out-of- town guests had arrived and were comfortable with their accommodations. The day before the wedding, we set-up complimentary spa treatments for the entire wedding party. After a day of relaxation, the production started. The wedding rehearsal started and ended on time. The decorating committee immediately left to meet me at the venue site. We had exactly seventeen hours to transform the warehouse into something amazing! Ladders, lights, lanterns, linens, chairs, float sheeting, glass globes, and candles were brought in and set-up. My design teams of family members were simply amazing. As we left the venue for the evening, I was confident that the wedding was going to be fabulous.
Early morning of the big day, I sent a text everyone to go over the minute by minute timeline for the entire day. The wedding party was at Antoinette’s Salon for hair and makeup, so we were right on target. At 10:45am, the photographer (Patricia Rogers) and limousines by Absolute Limo were all in place. Pre-wedding photos were taken by members of the bridal party.
The ceremony committee was in place to greet the wedding party. Vendors were all in place, on time, setting up for the event. The flower arrangements and tiny accessories to make a reception elaborate were properly placed. Oh!!! This room was emerging and it was going to be fabulous!
The texts from the wedding committee were coming in; they were on time and heading to the reception. I was totally ecstatic at the outcome of the reception site. I really thought everyone would be pleasantly surprised and they were.
As the guests arrived, they marveled at the décor of the room. The mother of the bride could not believe it was the same room. To say the least, the entire day was perfect just as I had imagined it would be. And I was so delighted that although we had just a little money, with a lot of good planning and a lot of love, this was indeed a wedding to remember!