January Budget Challenge: A Wedding in Houston, Texas for $10K (and not a dime more!)

Posted Monday, January 12, 2009 5:35 PM

Samantha from soiréebliss! events & weddings based out of Houston, Texas put together our $10K wedding of the week feature. Here's the plan... 

A $10K Wedding in Houston, Texas 

The Setting

Late afternoon garden affair. The venue is surrounded by lush flower gardens with an all-glass atrium for seating and air conditioning if the weather is too warm. For an afternoon wedding, there will be soft background music with songs by Michael Buble, Norah Jones and Harry Connick, Jr. to create a romantic, mingling atmosphere. The vision is for the bride to use a bold color scheme so that the decor will pop against the natural surroundings.

Wedding Ceremony
The ceremony will take place in The Gardens on Bammel Lane in River Oaks district of Houston with the couple positioned underneath the gazebo and the guests seated in a semi circle around the gazebo. They will use the chairs which are to be used for dinner to save costs. The cost is $2,000 to rent the grounds for the entire day and this includes parking and setup.

Bouquets and Boutonnieres
To save money and be cost effective, I would recommend purchasing the flowers from Village Flowery or Plants n Petals.  Both have high quality flowers and Plants n Petals is very accommodating of various wedding budgets.  

Ceremony Flowers
With the garden surroundings being so lush and beautiful minimal flowers are needed. To enhance the gazebo, the couple could use strings of gerbera daisies to create a backdrop to for behind the ceremony area. The bride or a friend can do this by using thin, clear jewelry thread. By choosing bold colored gerbera daisies, they will stand out against the garden surroundings. They'll also use natural pottery pots filled with gerbera daisies to line the ceremony aisles placed directly on the ground, every other row. The pots can be purchased from Garden Ridge or Home Depot. If they choose to use Plants n Petals for bouquets and boutonnieres, they would provide the pots to the florist to arrange the flowers.  The couple could also save money by having a friend or family pick up the arrangements and personal flowers and take them to the ceremony instead of having them delivered. The potted gerbera daisies will then be moved to the reception to act as centerpieces.

Ceremony Officiant
To save money, the couple may ask a close friend or relative to become ordained to perform marriage ceremonies. This will create a very personal moment for the couple to have someone so important in their lives to marry them. The friend or relative can be ordained through Rose Ministries for $29.95. The fee to obtain a marriage license in Texas is $60.

Ceremony Music
To enhance the moment of the ceremony, nothing is better than live music. The most cost-effective way to is to hire a string duo from a music school. Locally, The Sheppard School of Music at Rice University would provide a wide source of talented students who would welcome the opportunity to practice their craft. 

Reception Setting
In keeping with the beauty of the venue, the bride and groom can utilize the beautiful flowers and greenery of the space. By choosing to keep a light mingling reception, they can provide seating for 80% of the guests and set a few high boy tables near the bar. For the tables, they should choose a cotton poly blend linen for the tables to stay within the budget. Such rental companies as Any Occasion Party Rental or Elegant Beginnings can show you wide selection for $15.00 per table or less.

Reception Centerpieces
There will be 8 pots of gerbera daisies total from the ceremony to transition for reception centerpieces (6 guests table and 2 high boy tables).  The arrangements could then be given to the friends and family whom helped setup as a special thank you.  

The Menu
For an afternoon wedding, a full sit-down dinner or buffet is not expected. The bride and groom will want to offer a light array of foods for the guests, such as a cheese and fruit display followed by warm and cold hors' doeuvres. Do it this way and you'll easily be able to keep the cost below $18.00 per person. Two wonderful caterers in Houston to consider would be Tim Mehen and A Taste of Catering. Both have very affordable package options and will provide the staff. In keeping with the garden theme, the couple may choose to set up a self-serve decorative displayed bar of various flavored drinks like lemonade, ice tea, or raspberry lemonade. They could serve a signature drink of Sangria or Mint Julip and then put a limit on the number of glasses or pre-determine the number of gallons they want to serve, easily allowing them to keep their bar cost $600.00, including the server.

The Wedding Cupcakes
For an afternoon wedding, the couple could order cupcakes for all their guests. Try Nutmeg & Company in Houston for a variety of flavors starting at $2.00 per cupcake. As a display, they could ask female friends or family members to borrow their cake stands in different heights and styles to give a unique and personal look. They'll probably want one to designate two cupcakes as the bride and groom's and might want to order two special ones with their new last name monogram. If they don't borrow cake stands, I also like this cupcake stand from Global Sugar Art online.

The Reception Music
With the afternoon setting and garden atmosphere, the couple won't need a large sound system. Instead they should fill an iPod with relaxed songs similar to the ceremony selections and have it playing in the background.

The Photographer
The benefit to a couple hosting their event in the afternoon is that it will be more personal and intimate with less of a party atmosphere. In keeping with a more personal feel, the couple may not want the photographer to shoot the last portion of the reception when they are socializing with their guests. The bride and groom can save money by scheduling the photographer for a 4-5 hour block of time. This would be a huge time-saver and allow the photographer to book an evening event. Another option would be to ask for a shoot and burn package. The photographer would shoot the wedding and put the pictures on a CD to provide the couple. They could then create their own wedding book through SnapFish.com. A few photographers who offer a shoot and burn are MorganLynn Photography, JTG Studio, and Montage Photography in Houston.

The Videography
The couple should ask a friend to record the ceremony.

The Invitations
The couple will make their invites themselves and can find tons of style options at Michael's.

The Gown
I would suggest going outside the box to either purchase a sample gown or a pre-owned dress. Brickhouse Bridal in The Woodlands has a small collection of sample gowns that are available year round. Another wonderful resource for pre-owned couture gowns is PreownedDresses.com. Consider looking for one to fit the setting -- one with a simple sweep train with minimal embellishment would be ideal. You could also try a short dress to put a modern spin on the traditional aspect of the event. For your hair, go for a fresh flower or a simple, single tiered veil. 

The Formalwear
With an afternoon garden affair, the groom would be appropriately dressed in a suit. Depending on the time of year, I would suggest a tan for spring and early summer or a dark suit for fall. The bride will want to consider her color scheme when choosing. A fun way to pop the groom's outfit would be for the bride to purchase a tie in the bold colors to match the wedding

The Transportation
To cut cost, the couple could opt to borrow a fun vehicle like an antique car or a convertible from a relative or depart the wedding in their own vehicle. 

Favors
A favor is a form of thanking the guests for attending the couple's wedding. They may choose to skip this for item the day of the wedding and choose to call each guest upon their return or to send each guest a hand written thank-you note for attending their wedding. This would be done once they return from their honeymoon.

CEREMONY TOTAL $89.99
1. Officiant registration $29.99
2. Marriage License $60

RECEPTION TOTAL $5,081.14 (incl tax & gratuity)
1. Site rental fee $2,000
2. Table and chair rentals $259.50
3. Food per person ($18/person) $1,440
4. Drinks $600
5. Linens $150
6. Taxes and gratuity $631.64

CAKE $273.20 (includes tax)
1. Cupcakes $173.20
2. Cupcake stand $100.00

STATIONERY $206.44
1. Invitations (diy through Michael's) $84.44
2. Thank-you cards (from Target) $36.00
3. Guest Book $45.00
4. Stamps $41.00

TRANSPORTATION $0

PHOTO / VIDEO $2,000
1. Photographer for 4-5 hours + CD of photos (no retouching or printing) $2,000
2. Video $0

MUSIC $300
1. Ceremony musicians $300
2. Reception iPod $0

FLOWERS / DECOR $698
1. Bouquets $100
2. Boutonnieres $48
3. Corsages $50
4. Ceremony flowers (potted plants and gerbera daisies) $150.00
5. Reception centerpieces (6 tables) $350

ATTIRE $335
1. Wedding dress $300
2. Bride's accessories (veil/headpiece DIY) $35
3. Groom's attire $0

GIFTS $160
Attendant gifts (2 attendants) $60
Parent gifts $100

GRAND TOTAL $9,143.77!

Want more $10K wedding plans? Check back every week this month as we'll unveil a new one every Monday. In the meantime..

- Stay on track with our Budgeting Tool

- Search hundreds of affordable gowns

- Check out our featured outdoor weddings

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Photos from top: Ceremony from Jessika and Jeff's wedding in Fullerton, CA; gerbera daisy ceremony decor from Kelly and Adam's wedding in Boston, MA; lemonade stand from Nicole and John's wedding in Wrightsville, PA; and cupcake display from Sida and Andrew's wedding in Harbor, ME