Real Wedding Saturday: Amanda & Matt

When Amanda emailed me with the slideshow from her recent wedding, the photos, taken by Jessica Johnston, were so gorgeous that I knew it had to be featured for a Real Wedding Saturday. Then when Amanda told me that she and Matt had put this wedding together for under $15,000, I had to know more (once you see these photos, you'll barely believe it). Here's what Amanda had to say about staying within their budget:

We skipped some things in order to upgrade others. We wanted a unique venue and an amazing photographer. By having an ornate venue, we didn't need to decorate much and still gave guests a great impression.

Our venue does not allow hard liquor, so we served beer and wine and nobody seemed to complain. We also skipped the champagne, which saved on champagne, champagne flutes for the two of us and rental flutes for the guests.

Matt and I hated the idea of having a DJ - we think it's cheesy and we always hear horror stories about bad DJs. So once our musician left after dinner, our iPod came into action. Our venue had the audio setup, so all we needed was to bring the iPod.

Our cake and flowers were made by people who work out of their homes, so we didn't pay storefront prices. The cake was insanely delicious and only $2.50 a slice. Word of mouth is the best advertisement one can have!

If that's not inspiration enough, then take a look at these photos!


Amanda found some vintage clip-on earrings on eBay for $8, and clipped them onto her custom-dyed shoes.














Amanda's bouquet, by Michele Nonis (586-776-1201), consisted of orange and peach roses, white sweet peas and orange ranunculus.


Amanda's dress is by Casablanca - and she ordered it off the internet without ever trying it on!


The wedding took place at The Guardian Building in downtown Detroit. Most of the inspiration for the wedding came from its Art Deco style, and the color palette came from the colors of the elaborate ceiling: gold and orange.


Amanda made the pomanders herself out of tissue paper.




She also made these fabulous programs, modeled after Western Union telegrams - such a fabulous detail!












Day-of coordinator, Two Foot Creative.


The centerpieces were lots and lots of candles, to create a "path" of light down the banquet tables. I love that such a simple thing creates such a dramatic effect, and by not using floral centerpieces, Amanda and Matt kept their budget down.


There were only 75 guests at the wedding, which made for an intimate and emotional event, as well as helped to keep costs down.




The cake was based on Amanda's own design (a subtle Art Deco pattern) and topped off with a cake topper from the 1930s. Covered with white buttercream, each layer was a different flavor: red velvet with French vanilla filling, white cake with chocolate mousse, and chocolate with chocolate mousse. Made by Cakes by Lisa (313-881-2888).


Matt is a photographer, so he already had most of the equipment to set up a photobooth for guests - such a fun element, that didn't add a whole lot of cost. You can see more of their photobooth shots here.


Thank you to Amanda, Matt and the talented Jessica Johnston for sharing these stunning photos with us! What a truly beautiful wedding, made all the more unique by do-it-yourself
elements and creative budgeting.

For a closer look at the planning process, check out Amanda's Knottie Bio where she shares her story, her inspiration, and her do-it-yourself projects.

{to submit a real wedding, email me at kathryn@snippetandink.com}