Intimate Lake Wedding: Reformation Dress Under $600 & Ethical Favors
Wedding Dress under $600
Would you believe that the brides gorgeous lace dress cost less than $600?! We almost couldn't. But we found it and we're sharing the Merlot Dress from Reformation with all you budget savvy brides out there.
From the bride
My husband Ian and I are true high school sweethearts. We grew up together in New York and were in the same second grade class. We started dating when we were 16 years old, and we’ve been madly in love ever since. For months, we had planned to elope in Bali. But after dating for a decade, our families wanted to share our special day with us. So we decided to throw together an intimate wedding with about 60 guests—and planned it all in just 6 weeks!
House on a lake
We wanted to get married at my family’s Lake House in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Since the year I was born, I’ve spent every summer there with my thirty plus cousins jet skiing, kayaking, camping, fishing, and hiking. It's the happiest place on earth for me; it’s the place that taught me to love the great outdoors and to appreciate the incredible family I've been blessed with. Ian and I grew up going to my lake house together, so it is a special place for him, too. We invited everyone up for Labor Day weekend to enjoy the lake together. We played cards, enjoyed some kegs, and canoed and paddle boarded around the lake with our guests.
laid back & intimate
Ian and I elected not to have bridesmaids or groomsmen. Instead, I asked my mom, my two sisters, and Ian’s sister to wear white. My girlfriends and cousins still embraced the wedding's palette and donned pastels and floral dresses. My flower boy and girls—my niece Savannah and my cousin’s two kids, Mia and Milo—chose their own attire. They dropped petals off the dock and into the lake before I walked down the aisle so that when I arrived rose petals were floating all around me. It was beautiful.
Ian knew I wanted to get married over the water, so he had arrived at my lake house the week before our wedding to build a dock for us to get married on. The day before our wedding, he hand built our wedding arbor out of wood he found on the property.
A beautiful ethical wedding
As a female founder who was launching my business a couple months after my wedding, my goal was to have a beautiful and ethical wedding for less than $15,000. I am proud to say I achieved my goal. I chose to wear a gorgeous, sustainably-made wedding dress from The Reformation that cost $536. In comparison to the industry standard, my dress saved 87 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions, 3,638 gallons of water, and 8.3 lbs of waste. The lace was made from surplus fabric that would otherwise be thrown away. I accessorized my dress with my cousin’s gold wedges, large drop earrings, and a bouquet of Lisianthus, Protea, Eucalyptus, Roses, Hypericam, and fern.
As our guests were leaving, we gave out candles from my company, Gifts for Good— which sells life-changing gifts with a social impact. The candles were hand poured by women refugees who have recently resettled in the U.S. and are building a brighter future for themselves and their families. I wanted to give away a meaningful favor that my guests would truly remember.
- Favors & Gifts: Gifts for Good
- Flowers: Country Accents
- Photographers: Carie Hughes
- Rentals: Adirondack Occasions
- Wedding Dresses: Manon Gontero
- Wedding Dresses: The Reformation