I can’t believe we’ve already been married for a week! I’m so excited for today’s post – I’m sharing all the details of our DIY wedding as well as some tips for planning your own wedding on a budget. We had a tiny wedding with just our immediate families at Walter Baker Park in Kanata, with a simple picnic reception. Our ceremony was beautiful and performed by Keith from Exceptional Ceremonies. I highly recommend them if you’re looking to book an officiant in the Ottawa area!
Arno and I are not formal people, so we decided to keep our wedding casual and relaxed. The idea of wearing a long white gown never really felt like me, so I opted for a Free People mini dress and comfortable ankle boots. We had a beautiful day with lots of laughs and a few happy tears and it was perfect for us.
The most important thing I learned while wedding planning is really to do what you want. It’s your day, so make sure it feels like you!
Pretty much everything about our wedding was DIY – which certainly suits us! I made my own bouquet using a mix of florals from Michael’s, dried eucalyptus, and a large air plant. I simply used a floral cone as the base and wrapped it in a wide burlap ribbon. My Mom and I decorated the gazebo with big burlap bows, florals, and battery powered fairy lights. My Mom also surprised us with our gorgeous wedding sign that she made herself! We kept it simple and I just love how everything turned out!
I also did the wedding invitations myself using Canva print – I have a whole blog post with free templates here.
We wanted a casual picnic vibe for our wedding, so we did a charcuterie board with fruit and salad. It was delicious, looked beautiful, and was relatively easy! For our wedding cake, Arno and I decided to make our own! With such a small wedding we didn’t need a big cake, and baking is actually one of our favorite things to do together. We used this peach ricotta cake recipe from Half Baked Harvest – it was so good! If you do decide to DIY your own wedding cake, be sure to test the recipe so you know exactly what you’re doing and aren’t adding stress.
Tips for a Beautiful Wedding on a Small Budget
Keep it small! Obviously, the bigger a wedding is, the more it costs. If sticking to a small budget is important to you, consider editing the guest list to those people you & your partner couldn’t imagine having a wedding without. We loved the intimate, more relaxed feel of our micro wedding.
Choose a public venue. We had our wedding in a gorgeous local park, Walter Baker Park in Kanata. It only costs about $30 to reserve the gazebo for the afternoon.
Shop your home for decor. You likely have some items that work with your wedding aesthetic, so consider just bringing them to your venue!
Do your own hair & makeup if you can.
Consider not hiring aphotographer. I know this goes against every piece of wedding advice out there, and of course it is a completely personal decision. That said, we decided to DIY our wedding photography, and I’m totally happy with how our photos turned out. When I looked in to hiring a photographer, I found that we would have been spending upwards of $3000. For us, and with such a tiny wedding, we just couldn’t justify the cost. So, my Mom and Step-dad took most of the photos (with phones)! For family photos, I just brought my tripod and remote.
My biggest budget wedding tip is to do things the way that truly works best for you. There are so many shoulds when it comes to weddings, but really the day is about you and your partner. So if something isn’t important to you, feel free to skip it! You don’t need printed invitations, or a fancy reception, or a $4000 dress. Think outside the box and design a day that is completely you.
