We married on July 17, our two-year relationship anniversary, which also happened to be a Saturday. We decided to try our best to make everything else about that day feel fresh, joyful, and personal because other couples had chosen the same exact date to get married.
What could be more personal than throwing a little gathering in our own lawn for less than 100 people?
Our wedding was essentially a massive do-it-yourself job. We personalized everything we could (without breaking the cash) by making everything with our own four hands, from the invites and decor to the food and entertainment.
We were also able to invest money that would have otherwise been spent on venue decorations into our own home improvements because the event was held at our sweet home (gifts that kept on giving even years later). For example, we were well aware that our old jagged patio was ripe for tripping.
So we used some of our wedding funds to replace the old slate patio with a new cobblestone paver version, which provided the ideal setting for a large wooden buffet table piled high with delectable gourmet fare and a chef’s grilling station.
We needed a smooth surface for serving, eating, and entertaining, so we opted to pave our difficult gravel driveway.
The recently paved surface was ideal for grubbing and mugging for the photobooth we rented for the event. We’ve never been so grateful for having such a large driveway before (with a spacious turnaround area in the back of the house which kept all of our partying private).
It was also one of the nicest wedding gifts we could have given ourselves because we never had to weed out gigantic driveway again, which used to take days.
While we hired specialists for these two home repair jobs, we did almost everything else ourselves (thanks to some help from our fabulous friends and family).
We absolutely did our best to keep things personal and meaningful, with my cousin officiating the ceremony, a friend performing “Here comes the bride” on the guitar, and relatives grilling up some gourmet meals.
I Keep Budget at Wedding Invitations
From our summery wedding invitation to the personalized thank you postcard, we chose to produce all of the paper goods for the occasion ourselves. But first, let’s start with the piece of paper that started it all in early 2019: the save-the-date card.
We wanted something simple yet meaningful, so we drew on one of our favorite marriage traditions: photobooths.
We didn’t want to spend a lot of money trying to find the perfect photostrip, so we made our own with a digital camera, Photoshop, and some glossy photo paper.
The end product was a memorable approach to convey some basic information (what, where, and when) that was addressed in a plain white envelope. Who knew it would subsequently inspire the decision to rent a photobooth for the event? But we’ll get to that later.
We used our invitation to establish the tone after our save-the-date had announced the news. After all, an invitation is one of the first impressions your visitors will get of your event, so it’s the ideal opportunity to set the tone and color palette.
We wanted something exquisite while still conveying the spirit of a lively backyard wedding. So we developed and printed our own invitations, utilizing a citrus-y yellow and green hue and adding graphic elements like lemon topiaries and buzzing bees to bring it to life.
You’re in luck! I’m also going to share my wedding invites with you all. Just be patient.
Isn’t this an out-of-the-box wedding invite for an out-of-the-box wedding? Not to mention the fact that we hand-addressed the rustic brown envelopes in which they were wrapped (complete with an RSVP card, hotel information, and instructions). Even though it hurt our hands just thinking about it, it was another personal touch that we couldn’t refuse.
Free Purple Watercolor Flower Wedding Invitation Templates
As I said to you before, I will gladly share my wedding invites for you guys! No need to worry cause you will get it free. All you have to do is just simply download the templates and then you can customize with anything software you are capable of.
Take a look! There are 7+ beautiful template designs which are so refreshing to watch. I can confidently say that you will not only cut the long process of sketching and designing your invitation card.
You can spend your time more into decorating your party, like making your own party distinctive garland with roses, or something like that.
Download Instruction
- Right-Click each one of your selection
- Then select “Save Image As”, locate where you want the file to be saved in your device.
- Click “Save”, or tap “Enter”, and the download process will start shortly.
To make your card look like done by the professional, you can optimize your effort by buying either Cardstock or Cotton paper to help your special invites deliver sturdy and versatile feels, which makes it brilliant party favors and can be used as future references for your lovely guests.
What to Wear at Our Wedding?
You might be thinking about what to wear as well. I obviously dressed more casually than the conventional wedding attire, partly to fit the laid-back environment and partly because July in my location is extremely hot. Simple khakis, a white button-down, and flip-flops were my husband’s choices. It was purely coincidental that his best friend was dressed similarly.
But I’m sure you’re curious about my attire as well. It’s a $190 dress from Arden B, of all places, that I bought just two days before the wedding. It’s not a lie. I had bought another dress months earlier – the first one I tried on – and was thanking my fortunate stars that I had fallen in love with it so quickly.
Until July 5th, when I was out having girl time with my BFF and came across this outfit, which I immediately fell in love with. We didn’t mind the additional expense because it was only a tenth of the cost of the normal wedding gown. My first gown cost roughly $150, so the change of plans didn’t cost much.
