Nashville weddings

Jordan and Jay Host Their Impressive, $5000, Do-It-Yourself Wedding in their Nashville Backyard

Friday, February 15, 2013

I'm absolutely amazed at how much creative, focused people can achieve when they plan weddings.  Take Jordan and Jay.  Their wedding was $5000 but it could easily pass for 5xs that budget.  They knew what they wanted, what they valued.  Then, they splurged on photography and a planner, asked for help and DIY'ed what they could.  

No matter what your budget - be it $5k or $100k, you want to spend your money wisely while ensuring your day reflects what you value.

Jordan and Jay
Wedding Date ~ September 29, 2012
Ceremony & Reception Venue ~ Couple's Backyard
Budget ~ $5K
Guests ~ 70

Wedding Team

Day of Wedding Planner | Hillary Capes of Your Day of Fairy Tales

Photographer | Kate Underwood Photography.  Kate also shot our engagement pictures. Her work was phenomenal and we were so pleased with the end result!

Gown | David’s Bridal and cost around $600.

Bride’s Accessories | Veil - Etsy; Bracelet and earings were borrowed from bride’s sister. Shoes were bought at David’s Bridal.

Men’s Attire | Groomsmen was asked to where an outfit made of pieces that should be in every man’s closet. No purchase was necessary. They wore a white button up shirt, any shade of grey dress pants, and were provided with black suspenders by groom. They were a little hesitant at first since most are used to renting suits, but in the end it turned out exactly how we envisioned and they enjoyed the suspenders!

Bridesmaids’ Attire I Each bridesmaid bought their own dress. The only direction given was blue, lace, and above knee length. A few of the places the bridesmaids shopped included Macy’s, Modcloth.com, and ShabbyApple.com.

Hair and Makeup | Betsy Briggs and Team from Studio BBC Salon.  The team from Studio BBC was so professional and efficient. They kept the flow of the day going. The work they did with each individual woman was so beautiful and unique, I’d recommend them anytime.

Stationery | Invitations were bought at Minted.com. They were personalized even more by printing out our website address on a piece of paper, punching a hole in each one, and wrapping each invitation with a piece of twine that held it all together. The stamps for the invitations were bought at Zazzle.com and included an engagement picture of the couple. We did not hire a professional calligrapher, instead we printed each address on our invitations with our own printer, saving us a lot of money while still looking professional.

Caterer | Whitt’s BBQ provided the catering for our reception. They were extremely professional and the food they provided was delicious and perfect for our casual wedding! We got so many compliments on the choice of food that a friend of the bride actually used Whitt’s BBQ the following November for her wedding reception.

Cake Artist | Stacy Snyder at the French Confection designed our 50 cupcakes and groom’s cake without flaw for the reception. We gave her a picture of the groom’s actual banjo and she designed an exact replica of the picture. From pictures alone, some people think it is a real banjo. The flavors provided by the French Confection were to die for. From their selection our cupcake flavors were “Rum Butter” and “Pina Colada” with a plain vanilla icing and the Banjo Cake was “Jack Daniels Chocolate Cake”. For months after the wedding everyone was talking about how good the cakes were!

Floral Designer | We did not hire a floral designer. We bought the flowers inspired by pictures on Pinterest, and arranged all flower decorations ourselves. We purchased all flowers from Import Flowers on Murphy Road. They were so helpful when it came to suggesting flowers to buy and arrangements to make. For the bridesmaids bouquets we bought a wildflower assortment, wrapped the stems with burlap and tied with twine. For the bridal bouquet, we picked flowers and greenery that were the bride’s favorite. For boutonnieres, the bride and her sister handmade them from supplies bought at Joanne’s. The boutonnieres were inspired by Pinterest as well.

Music | David Parr played the Chapman Stick. He also played in the bride’s sister’s wedding the previous May. He routinely plays at Puckett’s in downtown Franklin. He played Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Time after Time for the wedding party and What a Wonderful World for the bride’s processional.  For the reception, we did not hire a band or DJ. We created a playlist on iTunes and hooked up the iPod to the outdoor speakers the groom purchased and just let it play!

Rentals | We rented everything from Southern Events in Franklin, TN. It was tough to save money in this category since most rental companies run about the same cost. It was well worth the money though because they did just a great job delivering, picking up, and working with any order changes we had before the wedding. They have a really wide range of props, tables, linens etc. to choose from that I would definitely recommend them.

Lighting | To provide lighting for the backyard, we bought 3 strands of 100ft string light to drape across the back yard. We did not need any more light than that, as it reflected off the fence and created the perfect ambient glow that we were aiming for.

Transportation | We did not rent any transportation. The grooms father shuttled the bride and groom to their hotel after the reception.

Decor | Save-on-crafts.com.  I used this website to buy some decorations for the wedding and also for inspiration. Their prices are reasonable. The upside of the type of decorations I bought is that I can decorate my house with them now that the wedding is over!  Southeastern Salvage- I would frequent this store for items such as half sized whiskey barrels, lanterns etc. I also bought an entire roll of burlap for about $15 which paid off in the long run. I used the fabric for various project and also made a “cards” and “love” banner. Their prices are extremely reasonable.

My Wedding Details

Describe your wedding in one word?
Personal

How would you describe your style as a couple?
We have a very humorous relationship, always laughing but at the core of everything, our actions are very meaningful. We are very laid back and love to just have a good time with each other and our friends and family.

How did you incorporate that style into your wedding?
Our wedding was a reflection of just that. We don’t believe in spending tons of money on things that don’t retain value, but wanted to spend in the appropriate places. We are very personal, which was why we invited people into our home to share in our wedding. It doesn’t get much more personal than that.  We are both very unique which was reflected in a lot of choices in our wedding, including the wedding favors. The groom plays any musical instrument with strings, most noted: the banjo. His self-taught skills have earned the groom the nickname “Banjovi”.  Each year he makes a CD for his friends and family. This led to the idea to make a special “Wedding Edition” as a favor for each guest instead of investing in just any generic wedding favor. The album included an array of songs by the groom and a few of his friends, in addition to a few songs specially recorded for the event featuring the bride and her two sisters.

What was your (or your guests’) favorite aspect of your wedding?
Our guests enjoyed how relaxed and unique our wedding was.

Where did you splurge? Where did you save/DIY?
When it came to photography, we were not stingy. In about every other category we did any DIY projects we could to save money. Decorations, flowers, and boutonnieres were all done by the bride and her family.

Now that the wedding day is over, is there anything about your planning process you feel you could have done differently?
I feel like I overthought every detail possible that I don’t know what else I could have done differently at the time.

If you hired a planner, why and are you glad that you did?
I am very glad that I hired a “day of” wedding planner, Hillary Capes. It was fun to plan the whole wedding up until the day of the wedding, but to have all the stress and pressure taken off of me for the day was priceless. I was able to spend that time enjoying my friends and family that had come into town. I got to laugh and make memories with my family and bridal party instead of stressing out about little details.

Why did you select your venue and would you recommend it to others?
We had the perfect size fenced in back yard for the type of wedding we wanted. We did not rent a tent and luckily the weather was perfect for our wedding. I would definitely suggest something similar to this to other brides because venues can be so expensive, which adds to the stress of having a wedding altogether.

What words of advice do you have for couples in the midst of their planning?
I would say enjoy the moment, enjoy the planning, and don’t lose sight of the relationship. The guests will not remember exactly what your centerpieces looked like, or other decorations for that matter, they will remember how you made them feel. They will remember the love felt between the couple, the love felt between everybody at the wedding, and how you made the guests feel overall. They will remember the glowing bridesmaids and the groom’s family’s eyes full of pride. Only so much can be planned but the day of the wedding is when the magic truly happens. It is also important to step back the day of the wedding and really enjoy the moment. The day goes by so fast and some of my favorite memories are when I just stepped back and watched everyone having such a good time.

About the Author:

Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide

Hey - I'm Ashley! I started AshleysBrideGuide.com to give Nashville brides, or folks planning a Nashville wedding, a local resource for inspiration and resources. Hope to see you at a bridal show soon! Happy Planning.

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send   Posted on February 15, 2013 | Filed under: DIY & Budget Wed Finds, Real Nashville Weddings