Planning a wedding, then and now

This post was sponsored by Beau-coup Favors, Inc.

Alfie and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary in just a couple of weeks -- well, sort of.  We actually celebrate two weddings.  We married in Las Vegas in November 2000 with just my sister, her family, and Alfie's two closest friends and their families in attendance (with the honorable Elvis Presley presiding -- yes, that was my dream wedding and it was the most fun ever!).  Then, nine months later we held a belated church wedding, with a much bigger party. My family flew in from the Philippines and Alfie's family flew in from the UK; it was a traditional white wedding with cake and flowers -- well, as traditional as you can get considering I had a 3-month old baby in tow :)

It was a lovely wedding, simple, small and intimate, with a focus on friends and family -- but gosh darn it, it was a lot of work!  Even though I had plenty of time to plan the ceremony and reception, actually doing the planning and prep work was another story altogether.  I was in my second year at business school, preparing for the birth of our first child and my move from Boston to California, while Alfie was neck deep in starting a company.  We didn't have any close family to help out, so I was basically on my own.

I tried to keep things simple and on a budget. We booked a reception site, caterer and wedding cake and photographer. I bought my wedding dress off the rack (from the famous Filene's basement!).  Alfie rented his tuxedo.  I made my own centerpieces from flowers, ribbon and flower pots.  I printed all the wedding invitations, wedding programs, place cards, menu cards and thank-you cards.  I purchased scented candles as wedding favors and packaged them in a sweet, simple way with satin ribbon and recycled card stock (you can see the favors in the photo above!)

If only the internet had existed in its present form back then!  I could have used online floral delivery websites or online wedding sites like Beau-coup Favors to help me with wedding invitations, place cards, thank-you cards, centerpieces and wedding favors.  I could have had the loveliest favors and decor and it wouldn't have cost me any more than what I paid -- and believe me, I traipsed all around looking for good deals.... but the online options in 2000 were limited, so my searches involved cars instead of laptops :)  Oh, well.  At least when my daughter gets married, she'll be able to plan it all online.  And you can bet I'll be doing the same when it comes time to plan our silver and golden wedding anniversary!

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
Tweet this!