Since the beginning, I’ve been trying to show our readers that weddings come in so many different shapes and sizes. There are million dollar brides who don’t want to spend a lot on their affair, there are budget brides who are willing to splurge a bit. There are perfect backyard affairs, unbelievable ballroom fete’s. There are weddings with 40 guests and weddings with 400 guests. There is simply no longer a right or wrong way to throw a wedding.
So, when the fabulous Courtney Toney of Joyful Weddings and Events sent me today’s second featured affair, I swooned! The wedding came in at just around $10,000 and it was ALL about the fun.

I mean, any bride that can rock a pair of red shoes and outfit her girls in candy stripes (from Anthropologie) while still looking fantastic is OK in my book. The photos were all taken by Kim Fox who together with Courtney must have had a complete ball helping to make this wedding a reality. We have more to come including some pretty fun details!
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So completely fresh and fun, I love it!
Love the chic color combo. and that dress! Any idea who the designer is?
I'm also loving the BM dresses and those shoes. So adorable!
I absolutely LOVE the red!!!
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I must know who made that dress! Its beautiful!!!
Wow - This does NOT look like a $10,000 wedding! Simply stunning.
Hi! I'm the bride....The dress was a Watters gown that I got online though House of Brides, a discount bridal site. Not sure if it would still be in production (the wedding was in May 2007). But there do seem to be more and more short dresses these days. Happy hunting!
Where are the gorgeous shoes from?
Wow, and the bouquet to match the bridesmaids dresses? Beautiful wedding.
O.K. the shoes are just fabulous!
I appreciate that $10K is less than the average wedding, and that everything costs more in a big city, but with only 40 guests, I don't consider this a budget-friendly wedding. Maybe I'm the only mid-western bride-to-be who feels this way, but that $10K is my budget for around 175 guests. Anyone with me on this?
Of course, I mean no disrespect to the lovely bride and groom featured here! Their wedding was clearly very individual and perfect for them.
Such cute ideas! My wedding will be around 120 guests and my budget is about $4,000 (talk about budget friendly!) I've gotten so many great ideas from all the gorgeous weddings featured here! There's always a little something to take away from each wedding. :)
To Sara, 10,000 dollars was their budget, as is yours. How you choose to spend it, be 120 guests or just 40 like the couple above is your call. You can do so much with 10,000 dollars if your willing to open your eyes and see what can be done.
Nice Job! This wedding is Super cute and a testament to what can be done with a little DIY.
Awesome colors! from http://jenniferwernethphotography.com " rel="nofollow">WEDDING
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LOVE IT! The forceful red is so bold against the milky white. Absolutely beautiful!
I am planning on wearing red shoes for my wedding! I love this idea. But my dress is long.
A wedding consultant from Colorado. I think this is so personal and perfect! Love the flowers going with the theme. Perfect! There is no other way to discribe this wedding!
One thing I can say for sure is that if one is getting married in NYC or L.A. $10,000 is definately considered low budget. For example in Santa Barbara, Ca. the averge cost of a decent rental facility is $5,000 and most hotels have a minimum of $30,000 food and beverage min. on week-ends and holidays. So yes in major U.S. cities 10,000 is considered on the low end.
It's great to see the personal sense of style that is exuded in this affair, no matter what the budget.
Hi, bride again....you guys are right...this wouldn't be a budget wedding in a less urban area....but considering that half the budget was the location fee, I think the rest would fall in line with the rest of the country. I actually spent much less than my Ohio and Indiana friends :)
Oh, and the bridesmaids' dresses were picked to match the flowers, not the other way around. Actually, the whole wedding was designed around those striped tulips! I saw them in a Jo Garten wedding book and knew I had to have them! Then I saw a Martha Stewart spread about a year that used the red and white cardboard trays and it was all set :)
I'll try to answer questions as the come.
Thanks for the comments!
Cute cute cute! So carefree and playful. Courtney from Joyful Weddings always comes up with such pulled together weddings. Those tulips are so plump and perfect too. I recognized them from the Jo Gartin book.
Bride, thanks for the perspective! It's hard for me to image the price difference from my corner of Iowa. Our venue price is about 15% of our budget. I guess I should count my blessings! And I'm with you on the tulips! I started with flowers too, and deep purple tulips are the inspiration for our big day. Best wishes!!
Hi Jess-- I have to know where those shoes came from! I'm looking for shoes exactly like that...but pink!
The wedding is lovely and it looks like everyone had a fabulous time. But I must ask, am I taking crazy pills? I can't believe that spending 10k on 40 people is considered a budget wedding at SMP- thats $250 per person! I'd be more impressed to see what someone could do with $50 and under per guest.
Hi Joaie! I am actually the coordinator for this wedding and, while it was definitely easier to work with a $10k budget with 45-50 guests (the ending total for the wedding), certain prices are fixed regardless of how many guests there are. For instance, at this venue, the rental fee is $5,000- half of the budget, regardless of how many guests attend. That left $5000 for everything else, including my fee, which, again was set without any reference to numbers. So, it definitely was still a budget wedding. I have been involved with weddings that have guests counts up to 200 with a similar budget, and it is definitely difficult- you have to get really creative :)
So many comments about my shoes :) I looked forever for red shoes with big bows and found them at Charles David. I feel like I see so many similar pairs these days - wish I had had more options when I was looking! Though the Charles David shoes were the perfect look, they sure didn't hold up. The bows had ripped by the end of the night. And then I had them repaired and the first time I wore them again, they ripped! grrr! but they look cute in the photos :) Hope everyone finds cute shoes!
How sweet. It's like peppermint candy.
BEAUTIFUL COLORS, LOVE IT!!!