Slight African Twist: Wedding on a budget

My sister married a man from South Africa and they wanted the reception to be bold and colorful. The bride's favorite colors are orange and green so the bright colors lent themselves well to the event and looked fabulous on both bride and groom.

This wedding was done on a very small budget (about $2,800) and right in the middle of the Christmas season, so we had to get creative.

The announcement came in a pocket (left) and included a reception invitation, wedding invitation, photo of the bride and groom, and a map. I was able to print these at work to help save money and of course designed them for free.

• We wrapped little shoe boxes for the center pieces. The local shoe store collected their small boxes for us—for free—and we wrapped them using $10.00 worth of white wrapping paper.
• The ribbons came from the dollar store and the orange fabric was only a dollar per yard.
• The tissue paper for the poofers was dirt cheap, so it was used everywhere.
• The reception took place at our home—lot's of money saved there. We served favorite finger foods and my mom made the wedding cake.
• The grooms boutonneir, (and father's/mothers' corsages) we made out of left over pieces from the bride's bouquet.


Fun huh? Sometimes a wedding on a budget is a blast. Especially if the bride and groom are easy to work with and like to have fun getting involved. This whole motif suited their personalities quite well!