A Fairy Tale Wedding!

Is there any experience more magical than a fairy tale wedding? Ah, young love!

Last weekend's nuptials took place at the White Pines Forest State Park near Oregon, Illinois. What a gorgeous setting for this lovely outdoor ceremony. The Bride and her father arrived via horse and carriage - as befitting a beautiful princess! It was one of those days we will never forget because it was such a special event for everyone.

As wedding guests were we frugal? Well, sort of, but not cheap. The bride was my dearest friend's daughter - her baby - the last one of her children to tie the knot. We decided to give the wedding couple money - an amount we felt was generous but not insane. We had to remember that when our own son got married, my friend and her husband were extremely good to Charles and Di. We needed to reciprocate in kind - and we did.

So, how did we save money beyond the wedding gift?

We got a beautiful $4.00 wedding card free. Walgreens.com provided me with a $5.00 off a $20.00 purchase coupon. We purchased the free after rebate items for the month and a couple groceries on sale for $16.00 - the Wedding card was covered with the coupon.

The wedding party and guests were encouraged to rent cabins at the White Pines Forest State Park. Since our oldest son lives about 30 miles north of the park we decided to stay with him that night instead. We made sure our alcohol consumption was minimal (only one glass of beer for the evening) - driving back to the Rockford area was easy and saved us a night's lodging.

Clothing for the event was not a problem for my husband - he has a nice suit. Also shirt, tie and shoes relatively new. As for me - I must admit it was just pure luck. I needed a blouse to go with a dressy skirt purchased about three years ago at Khol's (free with coupon after $50 Christmas purchase). This has to be my favorite store because I am always lucky enough to find items geared towards a plump grandma body. I got the nicest top on sale for $15.00 and a classy looking purse big enough to hold my digital camera for $15.00 (both were free as I used a store gift card that Junior gave me last Christmas).

I took a ton of digital pictures and have had prints made for both the bride and groom and my best friend. This was an added expense BUT Walgreens just had a photo print special - 10 cents each. 140 prints cost me slightly more than $15.00 (including tax). I also splurged and got two classy looking photo albums at Walgreens (another $15.00). So, I spent a little more than I could have. But this was one of those fun, feel terrific little splurges for a dear, dear friend. Our treasured friendship is worth every penny.

We had a number of these at the reception - Happy Dance! Happy Dance!