Tying the Knot: Budget Breakdown

I was never planning on doing this post. But after getting a few requests, I decided to share the nitty-gritty details of our budget. This post is an ode to my good work- my hours and hours of hunting for the best vendors and feeling like we really did spend our money well.

That said, here is a fairly accurate estimate of all the gory details. I did round up the numbers since I did not include what we gave in tips. This was a Newport wedding for close to 200 guests (178 lovely people showed up)We are incredibly thankful for all of the monetary gifts we received from our friends and family. They were so very generous.

Venue: $2,000
Damage Deposit: $200
Insurance/Host Liquor License: $175 (required by our venue)

Photography: $3,250
Video:$1350

Band: $1500

Catering (Cocktail & Reception):$7060
Catering Rentals:$484.00
Bar Expense: $500 (Bar tending service fee plus all the fixings)
Alcohol: $1100 (we hosted an open bar but bought our own alcohol)
Dessert Bar:$450

Officiant/Monks: $100
Cambodian Ceremony Food & Drinks: $250
Cambodian Wedding Clothes Rental: $200 ( The hubby and I only wore TWO outfits and my bridal party wore 1)

Day of Coordinator: $750

Invitations: $275
Save the Dates: $45

Flowers & Non-Floral Centerpiece:$852
Decor: $229
Linens:$375
Misc. items: $189.00

Wedding Dress & Alterations:$528

Bridal Beauty:$580 (I also paid to have my sister and my MOH and BM have their make up done professionally)

Bridal Accessories: $191 (including two veils, two pairs of shoes and a custom couture hair accessory)

Groom & Groomsmen attire/accessories:$512

Transportation:$206

All in all, not too shabby considering we got what we wanted and our day was beautiful and memorable. We did go over budget by a few grand which means I didn't stick to the budget but in the end, we both felt it was worth every penny. The average cost of a wedding varies from state to state. It is actually very expensive to get married in R.I (MA even higher). The national average is $26,542 so we are under by a bit. If you want to find out more about wedding costs in your area, check out the link below. G.L and happy planning!

Cost of Wedding

Picture Perfect Prints

Photography starts with an artist and a camera but it ends with a beautiful image captured in time. So in this digital age where all our memories are stored away in a electronic device, it is so wonderful to actually hold something as tangible as a photograph. The nostalgia is in the physical prints. They preserve a special piece of the day that a digital image simply can't replicate.

We recently took advantage of a special offer by Kodak Gallery to have 200 premium prints (matte or glossy) printed for pennies. We paid close to $3.00 for all of the pictures plus free shipping. The pictures will be sent along with our Thank You cards to friends and family. I also ordered some professional prints from a couple of online photo labs to compare the difference between the Kodak Metallic Endura and the Fuji Crystal Archive Pearl. The metallic has a nice glossy finish and of course metallic appearance. The paper creates images with exceptional visual depth. In addition to delivering rich, vibrant colors and flattering flesh tones, this paper also offers century-plus image stability. The pearl paper is equally beautiful. It has a more softer subtle opalescent shimmer than the metallic paper - hence the "pearl" in the name. I love how neutral and well balance the black and white photos look with the pearl paper. The pictures have the same high gloss as the metallic but with a milky iridescence. I had a combo of both types of photo paper printed to display pictures in our home. The nearest Home Goods store provided professional matte frames for a inexpensive price (starting at $7.99 for 5 X 7). I also took advantage of a Groupon deal to have a metal photo printed. Yes, metal! The metal is heat infused with an image to a specially coated aluminum surface giving the photo a luminescence sheen. It is definitely a great way of preserving and displaying an image. According to the companies that offer metal photo printing, they are scratch proof and are impervious to water. The metal photos are more expensive than the traditional canvas prints but with the deal, I wanted to see for myself what a metal photo looked like. I recently placed an order so I'll be back to write a review on the final product. Also be on the look out for Groupon and Living Social deals for Print to Canvas products as well as other photo print friendly offers.

As for our wedding album, I decided not to go the professional route because it really isn't in our budget. Pro albums can cost thousands of dollars. Plus we also don't care for the traditional flushmounts. They are definitely beautiful but we like the more modern and simple but sophisticated look of the press books. I'm currently working on the parent album with a pre-made designer template on adobe. It is definitely a lot of work but worth it.

The Details pt. 1

Life is all about the details. Weddings are no exception. As discerning urbanites, we wanted an escape from the mundane. More importantly, we wanted our wedding to be uniquely about us. This was by no means an easy feat to accomplish as what was expected from us was a very traditional Cambodian wedding. And yet somehow everything came together for us. We got what we wanted and so much more. Our theme? Moni & Aaron.

The primary colours for our wedding were Fuchsia and Teal. A vibrant shade of pink made perfect sense for a spring/summer wedding. I also loved how the fuchsia complimented the color teal my husband choose. We both love teal and our home is evidence of that - we painted the accent wall in our living room teal. Our kitchen is also a shade of teal with white trimming. So yeah...we heart teal! We also used a lot of gold in our wedding as a accent colour. Gold is a classic rich colour used in Cambodian weddings.

Concept wise, we wanted to keep things clean, simple, modern but also fun and whimsy. The colors and cultural influence created a marriage of modern meets lush jewel tone seaside soiree.

Teal Satin linens were much more inexpensive to buy than to rent. We also purchased fuchsia linens for the specialty tables (dessert bar, consumption bar, escort table and card table). The colors complimented the centerpiece decor. Our dinner set up was pretty basic and simple - not cluttered since with 7 courses we needed ample space on the table. Chopsticks were also provided by request. The disposable origami napkins were chic and cheap. As a Origamist, it added the perfect touch to our table setting.


I've always considered flowers to be an important aspect of a wedding. They bring color, texture, warmth and aroma to the ceremony and reception. Our venue is a blank white canvas so we used bright bold colours to paint life into them. The roses came in every shade of the rainbow which made it an easy choice for flowers. They are also available year round and are relatively inexpensive so I highly recommend brides to use them. Peonies are one of my favorite blooms and lucky for me they were also in season. Their lush fullness and vibrant pink hues are so dreamy. The billy balls aka Craspedia flowers and bear grass added texture and a whimsical look to the centerpiece.

- Special thanks to Sherry from Wholefoods University in Providence for turning my vision into a seamless reality.


We alternated the floral centerpieces with fuchsia Lotus candle holders made from capiz shells. They were small but had a big impact. Lotus flowers are significant symbols in Asian cultures especially in Buddhism. They represent elegance, beauty, purity and grace. Many of our guests loved them. We used soy candles because of their longevity - as oppose to using paraffin wax candles. It was also an eco-friendly choice too. The non-floral centerpieces helped cut down on the cost. They also last longer than fresh flowers so guests took them home as a keepsake favor.


We eschewed from the traditional choices for cake toppers. I didn't want a generic porcelain figurine, flowers or a monogram letter. Luckily Etsy provided a host of personalized options. We choose the custom clay couple from Etsy artist, Mudcards. she created cute cartoon figures of us. My husband wore his favorite sports team jersey under his suit while holding his xbox controller. I wanted to make sure to his other favorite hobby, tennis was also represented. I decided to have my figurine wear a traditional Cambodian outfit since I had no intentions of changing from my white wedding dress into one. My way of paying homage to our roots.


We had another Etsy artist create us a fabric scroll for us to use as a sign in guest book. We have a space spoken for it on one of the walls in our living room. It has the signature of all of our loves one on it. The Apsara monogram from our wedding invitation suite was also used in our paper luminaries and reserved cards. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our luminaries from the wedding. We used mini picture frames I found at Target for $1 a piece as table numbers for our reserved tables.


Since we had no assigned seating for our guests, I had place cards made only for us and the bridal party. I had an Etsy artist laser cut their names in gold cardstock (our accent color). Our names doubled as decor at our reception which made for some nice pictures. I still have our place cards in the living room.



As I mentioned before, we had no assigned seating arrangement but we did reserve tables for some of our guests - mostly for the out of towners and our friends who are more accustomed to the Western style seating arrangements. I made a manzanita tree with the names and table numbers but one of the hiccups was we lost the bag containing the origami cranes with the names of our guests and the hanging crystals. Luckily, my day of coordinators quickly crafted paper punches with names of the guests and their table numbers. If time was on our side, I would have requested fresh blooms to decorate some of the branches.

The personalizations continued with the luminaries. I had a Etsy wedding and my penchant for paper things and hand crafted goods made up much of our decor. The Apsara luminaries (not pictured) and the custom name luminaries were placed in one of the many glass windows overlooking the beach. We used led lights for safety reasons to light them up. Our coordinators set up the name luminaries right behind the bar. It was the perfect place to greet our guests. We were careful not to go overboard.

Better Together

After all that's happened, my happiest days and my saddest moments -the fire inside me has been rekindled. The hubby and I are trying to add to the list of "us adventures" by spending the whole day together doing nothing particularly special except being together. We realize everything in our life is just better when we are together.

Better Together

There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographsWith sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together


~ Jack Johnson

Blessed

Today my dad took me to the temple to be blessed. While I was there, the monk offered me some spiritual guidance and advice on life. One of the things he told me was that all great marriages include conflict. This just means the couple is trying to get it right. He told me I had to face my fears and insecurities if I wanted to grow as a person. But most importantly change the way I respond to people. I am going to try my best to make amends and work on my relationships with not only my husband but my mother and the other important people in my life.

I'd like to be able to say that after this week, my irrational behavior is no more. Kind of, sort of, is closer to the truth. I'm still learning to manage my anger, cope with stress and pull myself out of depression. After looking deeply into my soul and talking to good friends and the most supportive family a girl could ever have, I've come to recognize certain things about myself. Not to get all Dr. Phil about it, but I've had to examine my history with an emotionally damaged and strong-willed mother and the biological father who abandon me. I have to face up to all the ways, both good and bad, that those relationships have affected how I approach my marriage. But that's the strange beauty of it. Marriage is full of hard times and hard lessons that no one can ever prepare you for. But in the end, those are the things that give richness to your life together -- and make your love even deeper and stronger than when it began.

Limbo

Within one week, I've managed to destroy everything important in my life. My uncontrollable rage has left me physically and emotionally scarred. My relationship with my mother and my husband is damaged. I am not sure if they can be fixed. All I know is that I feel very hopeless and alone right now. My husband is on vacation visiting his family some 3,000 plus miles away while I am here in the depths of depression. He is in equal pain or so he says. I just can't sense that with the stone cold tone in his voice. I don't know if this is the end. Maybe this is grief or pain or whatever it is they call it. Language always falls short of describing this type of misery. But I want to numb it. I want to be lobotomize so I can have dissociative amnesia. That way I won't have to remember or relive all the painful memories all over again. He will return home to a broken home...literally...I have torn to shreds all of our pictures and broken things that would remind me of us. I am left wondering if I can pick up the pieces of my life and put it back together again. Everything is such a mess...

Vows

“May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn’t live a day without you” - Leap Year