One of the many things that I hope to provide for my readers is real world examples of wedding budgets. No matter what your budget is, seeing an example of how someone else was able to put the same amount of money to use is always helpful. I’m still in the process of collecting budgets from brides- ultimately, I would love to feature one budget a day. If you know someone that was recently married and may be willing to share, send them my way! On to the good stuff.

Couple: Erika & Chris

Wedding Date: March 21, 2009

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Guests: 70

Budget: $11,000

Ceremony fee: $510.00

Reception: $4,600.00 ($48pp buffet, DJ, open bar w/ beer, wine, & daiquiris, and the cake)

Erika and Chris were married, at sunset, at The Gatehouse in Baton Rouge, LA. They loved their venue, their only gripe was the 3 hour reception package.

From Erika: “I felt rushed between wanting to take pictures and enjoying the reception. At the end, our families wanted to take a huge family picture and our wedding coordinator had to warn me of only having 15 minutes left and we still had the garter and bouquet toss. It was just too rushed in my opinion.”

Their reception featured a buffet dinner with menu items such as Herb Encrusted Pork tenderloin, Cajun Chicken Alfredo with penne, Hot spinach and artichoke dip with pita triangles, Crawfish elegante with bouchee cups, and much more.

Wedding dress: $1068.00 (by Mori Lee)

Alterations: $250.00

Jewelry: $70.00 (by Swarovski)

Shoes: $85.00 (by Antonio Melani)

Tux Rental: $0 (free because the groomsmen (7) rented from the location)

Paper & Postage: $78.00 + $58.00= $136.00 Mostly DIY done by Erika- “I actually purchased a kit from walmart for $25 per 20 invitations. I didn’t like the way they looked so I tweaked them up a bit. I bought pink and black ribbon and made a seal out of our monogram for the top. Everyone thought they looked gorgeous! Pictures seriously don’t do the invitation justice.” Save the Dates were printed by Vistaprint.

Photography: $1,848.00 Included: engagement session, bridal session, copyright release with all prints on a CD in black and white, a 40 page flush mount album, 2 parent albums, 7 hours of coverage on the day of and several prints

Flowers: $525.00

Unity Candle: $70.00

Aisle Runner: $17.00

Guestbook: $65.00

Centerpieces: $49.00 DIY candle centerpieces

Ring Bearer pillow & flower girl basket: $20.00

Toasting flutes & cake server: $105.00

Favors: $50.00

Transportation: $150.00 A limo was included with tuxedo rentals and the couple rented a Rolls Royce for their departure.

Wedding party gifts: $200.00, Personalized flasks

Wedding night hotel: $171.00

Other:

Wedding bands: $990.00

Additional costs for bridal portraits: $55.00 (Cost of admission into plantation and bouquet)

Honeymoon: Erika and Chris spent a few days in New Orleans for their honeymoon and are saving for a trip to Vancouver in 2010.

TOTAL BUDGET: $11,033

Thank you so much Erika for allowing me to post your budget!  You can view her complete wedding bio, here to see more photos.

Image credit: The Photography Shoppe

So I may be  a little behind, but I just got put on to the  e.l.f. cosmetics line.  Can I just say…why didn’t anyone tell me about this stuff earlier?! If you don’t know about e.l.f, in a nutshell- they sell most of their makeup for $1 and the rest of it is pretty cheap too.

So what’s the deal with this company anyways?  Well, if you ask them, they’ll say:

We at e.l.f. believe that innovative technology, quality ingredients and superb delivery systems should not be limited to prestige retailers. Every woman should have the opportunity to participate in innovation, without sacrificing her budget. Our cosmetics are designed to improve and accentuate the individual, not hide her away.

Now, if you asked me, I’d say they make cheap, good makeup- and there’s always an opportunity to save even more with a discount code!

And what’s this internet buzz about them being owned by Nordstrom or something? According to the Nordstrom website:

06/18/08
Customer Alert – Unauthorized E-mails About eyeslipsface.com

Some of our customers have received e-mails from an unauthorized and unknown source regarding the website eyeslipsface.com. We have contacted the owner of eyeslipsface.com and determined that these e-mails are the product of a party unrelated to either Nordstrom or eyeslipsface.com.

Neither Nordstrom nor Nordstrom.com is affiliated with eyeslipsface.com or the e.l.f. product line. Nordstrom does not sell e.l.f. products.

I ended up ordering about $40 worth of makeup (that’s with a promo code and shipping). Shipping at the site is $6.95 unless you have a shipping promo code.

Side note: On the subject of promo codes- if you don’t do this already, you absolutely must get into the habit of googling for promo codes before purchasing online. No kidding-I probably saved over $50 bucks in the last month spending an extra 5 minutes searching for promo codes. You can really rack up the savings on sites that allow you to stack them. The e.l.f website, unfortunately, does not allow you to use multiple promo codes. I was lucky enough to find a code for 50% of their mineral makeup line, which resulted in a $15 savings for me!

Alright, so back to the review. I ordered some of their $1 line, mineral make up line, and a few from the studio line.

The $1 lip glosses were pretty good- very sheer with just a tint of color (the way I like them). I like the lightness of them compared to the MAC lipglasses that I typically use. A dollar well spent most definitely. I also liked the lip balms. The scents were very nice.

I did NOT like the $1 nail polishes. Out of the 3 I ordered, 2 produced a stringy paint coat when applied. I don’t know what the deal is, but I’ll stick to my more expensive polishes for my tootsies.

I also ordered the duo cream eyeshadows: grade A in my book. That’s me above after trying them out.

Okay…not really.

By far, I was happiest with my mineral makeup. The mineral eyeshadows were beautiful. I ordered a starter kit ($20) that came with a foundation, concealer, and blush. I liked the foundation, but admittedly,  I have not tried any other mineral makeup to compare. It gave me a very natural look that would be great for those days where you just want to “look” like you didn’t put any effort into being pretty.

The studio line is great too- a little more pricey (and by pricey I mean like $3 or $5 bucks). A lot of it seems to be out of stock too…oh well.

You definitely should give this stuff a try-I’m sure you’ll find at least a few things that you can use to replace the more expensive stuff in your makeup kit. And what about using the makeup in a cute little gift bag for your bridesmaids, or any other pretty chicky that takes part in your special day? Every girl loves lip glosses and eyeshadows!