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It is possible to have a reasonably priced, yet beautiful
wedding. To leave for Italy with her fiancé, my daughter decided
to get married with only two month's notice. We managed to put
together a beautiful wedding with a decent price tag.
First of all, she wanted to get married on the beach at sunset.
We found a gazebo right on the beach and asked the local mayor
to officiate the wedding. The cost was nominal. The gazebo was
just large enough for the people attending to be seated inside.
The bridal party walked around the gazebo and stood between the
gazebo and the water for the ceremony.
One of my big concerns was the people on the beach. They
weren't invited guests, yet they would be in the midst of the
wedding. Much to my surprise, these people were quite delighted
to witness the ceremony and treated the officiating with the
utmost respect. They merely turned their beach chairs around and
watched the wedding in silence. Decoration for this part of the
wedding was minimal. We donned the posts of the gazebo with bows
of tulle and let the breezes blow them about. Extra chairs were
loaned from our church and returned by a friend. The happy
couple stayed at a bed and breakfast for the night and came back
to town the next day.
Since the beach was not close to where we live, we had the
reception the next evening at a hall. Maps were provided on
small cards in the invitations so guests could find both
locations with ease. The hall offered a complete package if you
liked, DJ, cake, flowers, linens, the works. After figuring out
each individual price if I didn't pick the package, the price
would have been much higher. The DJ did an excellent job as
master of ceremonies, introducing the parents, the wedding
party, and finally the couple. Then the couple had the first
dance with everyone looking on. This was nice for the older
folks who would leave early in the evening and ordinarily miss
the first dance. After the meal he also helped officiate over
the cake cutting and got the music started on time. Table
decorations were simple for the evening, flowers from the
catering package, and large flat bowls filled with sand, shells
and a light blue candle.
The most expensive factor of the wedding was the photographer.
We chose a photographer that not only did the posed traditional
pictures for the album but also included hundreds of candid
shots. We had to pick a longer time package than most weddings
because the celebrations were spread out over two days. This
ended up being a great factor because it offered a lot more
opportunities for candid shots with attendees. The longer time
package was great value because it included a leather-bound
photo album for the bride and groom with 50 photos inside. My
daughter was extremely pleased with the variety of photos she
could choose from.
Overall, my daughter got the wedding she dreamed of, which was
quite lovely and had a reasonable price tag.
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