The "Cheap Ways To" Wedding
I got married in the dark ages before everyone and their dog owned a digital camera, so our wedding was captured on film (gasp! the horror!). So after many years of putting it off, I finally had my negatives digitized thanks to a Groupon to ScanDigital.
Looking back at the wedding photos made me realize I hadn't shared them on the Cheap Ways To blog. This, folks, is how it all got started – the inspiration behind the book Cheap Ways To Tie the Knot. So sit back and enjoy this blast from the past. I hope you find a tip or two you can use when planning your "Cheap" and fabulous wedding!
This was the lobby of the church where we were married. The church has beautiful furniture so there was very little we had to do. Since we were married in the fall we carried out an autumn theme. The lobby table was sprinkled with dried leaves and paper leaves that we asked our guests to sign. These paper leaves were incorporated into my wedding scrapbook.
I designed the wedding invitation and kept it simple. The quote set our theme "Love is the only gold." Gold was used throughout the wedding in addition to other autumn colors. The "heart" you see in this double image is part of the decorations that were painted by an artist friend of ours. We chose words that represented our day and the artist painted them onto transparent cloth tied to branches. These hung from the ends of the pews going down the aisle.
A closeup of the dried flowers that the church had on-site. Again, we used what we had available to us already so as not to spend extra money.
These were the wedding programs. I designed and my family helped put them together. I love how they turned out!
Here's a shot going down the aisle. Instead of rose petals our flower girl tossed dried leaves which we used throughout the wedding (in the lobby and also the reception - we hung them from the ceiling with fishing line and paper clips!)
The happy groom and bride ... I had my dress made from a favorite pattern and got the fabric on sale. We had a friend who makes wedding cakes make our cake from a picture I gave her from a magazine (carrot cake!). Instead of doing a full course meal, we offered a dessert buffet and hot chocolate bar for our reception since the wedding was in the afternoon.
A shot of the groom's cake. I was happier with how this one turned out than the main cake, I think! The chocolate looked delicious!
My ultra creative friend decorated the reception for us and had so many great ideas that made our day special. One of my favorites were the centerpieces. She spray-painting pumpkins gold to match our theme. So creative and they made such a lasting impression on our guests.
I'm a big proponent of decorating your 
fall decorations that I get to pull out each year. They remind us of our wedding and they help us not spend money on making home beautiful in the fall. 
our foyer. The wreaths are on sale now from Wal-Mart for $8 ... a little more than I normally like to spend, but these days convenience is more valuable to me. I don't have time to go to multiple stores to find or make one for cheaper. 
This post doesn't have anything to do with saving money on your wedding, but since I do have "weddings" as a category on the site, I thought I'd share the latest information from the Census Bureau about marriage. U.S. News and World Report says only about half of married Americans make it to their 25th anniversary. That's down 70% from those who married in the late 1950s and make it to their 25th. The rest were widowed, divorced or separated. The Census Bureau also reported that most Americans who marry still get married just once. About 12.5% of people marry twice and 3% marry three times. At least that's some encouraging news!
My article, "
www.cheap-chic-weddings.com will host their third annual “Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest”—based on the wedding shower game where contestants create bridal masterpieces from toilet paper. Grand prizer winner gets $500, so why not get creative?
I received an email from a Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot reader named Esteban last night. His girlfriend bought him the book as they plan on getting engaged and having a wedding in Hawaii. “We are thinking of having our wedding in Kona, Hawaii because her parents currently have a condo and live part of the year there,” he wrote. “She also has some sentimental reasons for wanting it there. I want it to be wherever she'll be happy, and Hawaii is pretty awesome. It would be outdoors, with the ocean behind us. We are going to be on a budget and we still need to research but $5,000 would be ideal. I currently live in Dallas, TX, and my girlfriend is moving here in some months. She is in Hawaii right now and is trying to find out as much information as possible.” 
A savvy Cheap Ways To reader named Buddy Overstreet sent in this fabulous tip. I love the creativity and the excellent and economical execution of the idea. Enjoy!
Sounds like couples are jumping on the chance to marry on 7/7/07. Those who are planning their ceremony on that day might find that they have competition for wedding vendors and services, which is likely to raise the costs of those services. Brides and grooms beware! Here's an 
A reader posted a question a few weeks ago asking about how to save money attending weddings, even being a part of them. Great question! I think we all have had the experience where we get hit with nine weddings in one year, three of which we're asked to be apart of.
The first line of thinking for a bargain bride is to find a dress you could borrow from a friend who is the same size. My aunt wore my mother’s wedding dress a year after my mom was married. Was she scarred for life? Hardly. Each of their personal styles were so different no one noticed it was the same dress. The accessories and bridal party style gave the dress an entirely different look.
Today's my three-year wedding anniversary. My wonderful husband Jeff had some gorgeous red roses delivered to the office today. 
Here's a