Our Dream Wedding

When we first started wedding planning and knew that we had a really tight budget, I knew we would be doing a lot of things ourselves. I got really excited and thought it would be really great to be able to write a blog post about how to have the wedding of your dreams on a really tight budget. And our wedding day turned out to be more perfect than we could have imagined. The weather was perfect, the venue was gorgeous, and the food and dessert were delicious (and very beautiful). The flowers were much more than I had imagined, the decorations were stunning, and the dancing was amazing. Not to mention Phil and my wardrobes, and my hair! But I can’t write that blog.

Our amazing bridal party! We are so blessed with these friends and family!

Because we can’t take credit for ‘a gorgeous wedding on a tight budget’. The reality is that we could never have done what we ended up with on our budget. I am almost in tears thinking of how much incredible help we had. Our wedding day is probably one of the biggest moments when I realized how many people love Phil and I and how much they care about us. Not only because of all the people that took the time to come out and celebrate our union, but also because of all the people that went above and beyond (many who we never asked but instead offered their assistance) to help our day become our dream wedding. 

Sometimes it is easy for me to get caught up in our financial stresses, even though God has always provided for me. Now when I feel stressed out I think back to our wedding day. Wedding days are pretty special, but they are just one day and I never understood why people would break the bank or go into debt over one day. I didn’t see the actual wedding day as super important for God to provide for...because honestly I would have been okay with getting married in a church or (for those of you who were around me the 6 months leading up to the wedding, you know) even just eloping! But God proved me wrong. 

He provided in so many ways down to the tiniest detail from the perfect venue to the weather (it was 100% chance of rain!), and from the people who volunteered to help to the people who donated or made things for us to use. God has reminded me that not only does He care about the details of our lives, but he also cares about the little details of one day that was gone in the blink in the eye. Not only that, but apparently God knew I needed a reminder of all the amazing friends, prayer warriors, and encouragers that Phil and I have in our lives. 

My friend since about second grade, Keziah (KeziahRenee photography) took the amazing photos and perfectly captured all the details and beautiful moments of our wedding. Through the photos you can just see a few (not all are mentioned) of the ways that God provided for us and some of the ways people contributed to our day. At least to me, our wedding looks like something straight off of Pinterest, but don’t be fooled because many, many people made it possible and God brought each of those little details together. So enjoy Keziah’s amazing photography and some fun moments from our special day :) 

The venue for both our ceremony and reception took place at Lakefield Weddings

in Manheim, Pa. Perfect weather, courtesy of God :) 

My dress is from Country Threads by Gail in Manheim. Not only were the prices affordable and the dresses gorgeous, but Gail actually altered the entire back of my dress and did a fabulous job for a very reasonable price! 

 

My shoes were a gift but we found them at DSW on clearance (for under $20)!

My friend, Amanda Lewis, did a wonderful job on my hair and 5 of the other girls. 

Lauren Harder, front second from the right did my makeup.

And Etsuko front right, came the whole way from JAPAN for our wedding!

Bridesmaid dresses were purchased off of Amazon (without a hitch to some people's surprise).

The Groomsmen suits were bought Moda Gentleman, a store in the Exton mall. They were purchased for less than most places rent groomsmen suits and the Phil got his suit for free. 

Flowers were purchased from Etsy and Costco, and my amazing Matron of honor, Janelle Meador, took care of all things flowers, from our bouquets to the groomsmen's boutonnieres, to the table settings and our gorgeous arbor!

Both the Arbor and photo display were built from scratch by my Dad, Daniel Heitzman. 

Our pastor from Cityline Church, Jason Hsu, did the honor of leading the wedding ceremony.

Centerpieces courtesy of Eileen Sadik.

Centerpieces and tables put together by bridal party!

All signage and many of the decorations were done by my lovely sister-in-law, Danielle Denner.

We were beyond impressed with how our taco bar turned out! Wonderful friends from church took care of the meal-Brian George made the chicken and pork. Jan Bechtold put together the rest of the meal and was in charge of the day, with help from 3 other wonderful church ladies.

Phil's Uncle Marc Wayne, was an amazing MC and our friend from church, Allen Tam, DJ'd for the dinner and dancing. 

My amazing Mama, Pam Heitzman made all of the cupcakes and our wedding cake!

There were many other things that both of my parents helped Phil and I with both leading up to the wedding and on the weekend of the wedding.

Andrea Denner, Phil's mom helped so much with planning up to the wedding even driving out from Illinois on two occasions to help us with planning. Both Andrea and Joe put on a fabulous rehearsal dinner, post wedding brunch, and helped with countless other thing leading up to the wedding!

I know there are even more ways that God provided for our special day and other people that helped to make our wedding week and day so special. We can't even express how great are gratitude is. So no, we can't write a blog on how we had a Pinterest wedding on a super tight budget, but this is even more special. We had our dream wedding...even more beautiful than I ever imagined, and even more special because each little detail was crafted in love, by someone we love. <3

Our magical day ended with a sparkler send off.