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North Carolina Thrift Savvy Wedding

diy dried hydrangia bouquet

Alright all you thrifty readers, our next bride is a girl after your own heart. She is a self proclaimed thrift shopping junkie and by that was able to supremely cut the costs of her big day! Your jaw will drop when you hear that her designer dress was 75 percent off, and she picked and dried all the flowers for her bouquet and centerpieces. And there are plenty more money saving ideas that this bride is wanting to share with you. So we just have one question for you... Are you ready to save?!
Looking to squeeze all you can out of this thrift savvy wedding? Don't forget that we have a full gallery attached to all of our weddings. They are your back stage pass to any wedding you fall in love with, and this wedding has some great details captured by Josh Deaton Photography that you are sure to love.

wedding dress from the bridal garden

getting wedding ready

josh deaton photography

From the Bride:I'm a huge thrift shopper, so we used that mentality as much as we could! My dress, I bought for $420! It was a sample designer gown I found at a bridal shop in NYC called The Bridal Garden. It is the only not-for-profit bridal boutique in New York City, with donated designer wedding gowns discounted up to 75% off the original retail price. My husbands suit we bought for $55 from Macy's. It was left over from the previous season!

grey suit groom

reviewing his wedding vows

diy wedding couple

Honestly, I can't think of anything we would have done differently.  We adopted the mindset early on in the planning, that whatever was going to happen would be okay. I wouldn't say we had low expectations, but we just knew that everything was going to be fun and perfect, no matter what! I think that's very important for future brides to remember.  In the end, all that matters is you are marrying your best friend.From Josh Deaton Photography:This was a gorgeous lake side garden themed wedding. The ceremony was held under a tree by the lake on the grooms parents property. The couple made all of the details themselves!

lake side wedding

simple outdoor wedding

family style wedding ceremony

newlyweds

The flowers were picked from the property and friends homes just a few days before the wedding. Most of the flowers were dried and used for center pieces and the brides bouquet was full of dried hydrangeas as well.From the Bride:As Josh mentioned above, all of the flowers were free, I'm proud of that accomplishment! We had a completely different plan for flowers, and decided 2-3 days before the wedding to throw that out the window and use what we had. The hydrangeas turned out classic and beautiful. 

welcome table with diy burlap banner

have guests sign little hearts or leave you helpful tips

donated flower and dried hydrangea flower arrangement

gift and card table

chalkboard wedding program

My advice to brides to help control cost: use what you have, try to do as many DIY projects as you can, shop thrift and consignment stores, and never be afraid to ask if a vendor can work with you on cost.

diy floral arrangement

wedding favor mason jars with thank you straw tags

customized wedding favor mason jars

simple burlap and white plate table setting with birch paterned straws

dried hydrangea centerpiece

With the last name of Barr who can resist the adorable pun when labeling the cocktail table? This crafty couple made the burlap "Barr" banner here and on the 'Gifts n' Tips' table. After plenty of dancing the night wrapped up with a lantern release and fireworks. What fun!

diy burlap banner for bar at the barr wedding

cupcake bar

homemade wedding cake

wedding lantern release

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