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12 steps to having a destination wedding for under $12,000
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Villa Antonia in Lake Travis, TX
Have you ever imagined flying all your friends and family to Costa Rica to share a walk in the sand, or to England to likewise weather the windy cliffs of Tintagel, or to Ireland to savor a Guinness in a haunted country castle? Well these dreams are not as far away as they seem, even in this economy.
1. Find a location that looks like the destination where you’ve always dreamed of getting married. I accidentally stumbled on an Italian villa in Texas 2 years ago, upon attending a friend’s wedding. I’m not sure how many of these types of venues there are or if they’re common here, but there is certainly one in Lake Travis, TX (45 minutes outside of Austin) where I had my destination wedding 2 Saturdays ago—which hopefully excuses my extended absence from Examiner.com blogging.
Villa Antonia is the gorgeous location tucked away in the hills of Lake Travis, and it seems the only people who know about it are those who have already been there. I thought I’d share with you this Shangri-La-esque location that I never expected to find in the Texas Hill Country, as well as some tips for having a killer wedding.
2. Pick a location so picturesque that you do not need to pay a florist to decorate. Also pick a place that has contingency plans for bad weather so guests can enjoy the scenery in any weather. Villa Antonia has indoor and outdoor options so my November wedding featured the ceremony outside and the reception inside.
3. Have your wedding and reception at the same location. This is convenient since it lowers the propensity for guests to get lost between events and it can also lower your site rental bill at most places.
4. Have your wedding at an unusual time or on a day other than Saturday. An unspoken secret about my location was that they actually do morning weddings for almost half the price of evening weddings. They also happened to rent the site for Friday and Sunday weddings. They also neglected to tell me that if you book their location, you can have your bridal portraits taken at the site for free (my photographer was the one who informed me of that; Bridal portraits there are normally pricy because of the stunning surroundings atypical for Texas), so be sure you know all the options and perks of booking your location.
5. Build your own bar through donations at a couple’s shower or some other form of BYOB. The location of my particular wedding had a built-in caterer that they were under contract with (Sterling Affairs), which had its pros and cons. They were pricy and they didn’t let me bring in my own alcohol, so half of my $12,000 went towards food and beverages. On the plus side, several guests commented that the food was delectable. Many places will let you choose your caterer or even let you bring in your own food, so certainly find one that will let you BYOB if possible, because alcohol and food are usually the most expensive things.
6. Have silk flower bouquets, if you can stand it. I couldn’t. I broke down and bought real flowers at the last minute because they just look better. But if you can stomach it, you can buy pre-made bouquets at Michael’s for under $12 or you could pay their silk flower designer to bundle a personalized bouquet for much cheaper than the real thing.
An Italian villa courtyard against a Texas sky
7. Create your own centerpieces. I constructed mine from cheap vases, decorative rocks, and silk flowers I bought at Michael’s.
8. Get your cake at a grocery store or a “have-everything store” like Super Target, and have a friend deliver it for you if necessary. For only $250 I was able to get a 3 tier white cake with red gum-paste roses that fed 125 people. The only catch was that Target doesn’t deliver. My maid of honor and 2 of my bridesmaids were angelic enough to pick it up for me the morning of the wedding. Be aware very good friends are required for this option as well as a car larger than a Volkswagen bug. Cake boxes used in transit are very large (allowing a foot of buffer room for the cake in each direction) and my bridesmaids found this out before having to pick up an additional vehicle.
9. Wait and see if anyone can recommend an amateur photographer. After I booked my photographer, I had two different guests contact me about amateur photographer friends who would shoot my wedding for food, just so they could build their portfolio. Sure there are risks involved when it comes to amateurs, but I think the savings could be worth it when most professionals demand at least $2,000 to shoot a wedding. (Seriously. How hard is it to point a camera?) However, I would put disposable cameras at every table (it’s a cliché for a reason) just so you will have another source of pictures if things go awry. But be sure to have an explanatory card that asks guests to please leave the cameras on the tables at the wedding’s end that also explains how to operate the flash if applicable. Otherwise you’ll have whole rolls of black pictures from the technologically inadvanced.
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10. Have a friend get ordained on the Internet and perform the ceremony. Even religious officials charge up to $200 to perform a ceremony these days, yet you can get your marriage license for just $70. Let’s say you have someone you want involved in the ceremony and you just don’t know where to put them. People can get ordained on the Internet as quickly as purchasing something off ebay, so why not have a friend perform your ceremony for free? After my best guy friend (who happens to be a well-spoken litigation lawyer) told me he’d be willing to wear a dress to be included with the bridesmaids (a joke, I hope), I asked him to instead perform the ceremony. He did a wonderful job, and it made the experience so much more personal. Who wants a stranger who might just stumble on your last name performing one of the most important ceremonies of your life?
11. DJ your own wedding and have a loud-spoken friend shout your announcements on cue. Don’t hire a DJ. Bring your own stereo (one with at least a 3-disc changer) and merely plug it in. My husband and I spent a week downloading 80s dance music off iTunes, because no one is going to know what you want to listen to at your wedding better than you. We placed our planned dances as the first song on each disc so someone could simply hit the disc number to get to the first dance, and then the special bridesmaid dance to “Thriller.” Why pay someone to do what you or a friend could accomplish by hitting a button?
12. Print your own invitations, save the date cards, and place cards. I bought printable versions of all of these at Target and designed them in Microsoft word with a font I liked. This was specifically helpful with the invitations since I had complete control over the language, even in varying circumstances. It was much easier to explain guest designations to people if I could do it right on the invitation for a specific group. For instance, “you and a guest” or “you and your parents are invited” etc is much clearer than just “you are invited.” The specificity also cut down on the questions about additional guests, which also helps cut costs.
Overall, a good rule is to never pay a wedding planner, florist, etc. to do what you or a friend could do. Also, take out a travel magazine, hit the Internet, and research obscure nearby locations that you would normally only find across seas. There could even be a picturesque gem in your own neighborhood. A close second for us was a medieval castle that an eccentric architect built in his own suburban backyard for weddings. Don’t limit yourself to the church plus hotel. There is much more out there, and you could be the next to find it.
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