our greenhouse wedding
Hello, friends!
Today I’m sharing some photos from our greenhouse wedding in Black Diamond, Washington!
This event was DIY from top to bottom. My husband and I knew we didn’t want to go broke on a one-day event, but we still wanted it to be special, and we were able to accomplish both with a little effort!
It all started with the venue, which is a beautiful commercial greenhouse turned wedding venue called Black Diamond Gardens in Western Washington state. We got really lucky and discovered the venue when they were first transitioning to event hosting and were able to have our wedding there free of charge in exchange for photos of our event.
I purchased the floral stems in bulk and put together the bouquets and arrangements the day before the wedding, which saved us a ton of money on flowers. I bought my dress second hand from another bride who wore it for less than an hour for her ceremony—it was a dress that would have cost over $2,000 and I paid just $400 for it! If you’re on a budget, I highly recommend finding a pre-owned dress instead of buying new. There are several websites that sell pre-owned wedding gowns specifically and help facilitate the process.
Another money-saving tip: skip the fancy wedding cake! A fondant-covered cake from a bakery can cost over a thousand dollars, which is a lot of money for something that’ll be cut into pieces and eaten. My husband and I don’t like the taste of fondant or most traditional cakes anyway, so it made this decision a particularly easy one for us. We opted for a cheesecake bar instead, and didn’t regret it for a second! We purchased a few cheesecakes from Costco along with some toppings, and I ordered a pretty cake topper on Amazon and voila! Pretty little cheesecake bar that was delicious and cost us less than $100!
There are two things that we splurged on for our big day: the photographer and the chairs. An odd combination, I know, but hear me out! I think the number one area couples go wrong is skimping on the photographer. Hopefully, you’ll have just one wedding in your life. And as the memories of that special day fade, what you’ll have left to remember it by are the photos. Take the time to find a photographer whose style you love, and make your photography budget a priority! You won’t regret it.
My other splurge was the gold chiviari chairs that we rented for the reception. This was one of those elements that I just fell in love with as I was wedding planning and knew I couldn’t do myself, so I found a rental company and had them delivered for the day. It made me so happy to see the tables all set up with those chairs on the day of my wedding, and was totally worth it :).
I hope you’ve found a little inspiration here for your own big day! Just remember, there are so many ways to make a wedding beautiful and unique without sacrificing your savings. You really can have your cake (or cheesecake) and eat it too!
xo
