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Not sure what I'm doing

Every little girl dreams about her perfect wedding. You know, the one with the big, poufy white dress, in the big church, with everyone and their next-door neighbor sharing in the joy? Well, that's not the idea of my perfect wedding.

I want the slimmed down, crimson wedding gown, outside in the fall with the orange and yellow leaves everywhere, and a small party for our closest family and friends.

I know it's not traditional, but for my fiancé and I, traditional just does not seem right for us.

So our ideas (so far) are for me to get my red dress... If I can find one that doesn't look like a cheap prom dress (any ideas?). Our wedding is going to be in the fall, we haven't decided if it's going to be inside or out. And we just found out that the restaurant we went to for our first date is now doing receptions.

Other than that, we have a color scheme and the idea that we want individual cupcakes instead of a big elaborate cake.

I think our biggest problem is the fact that we’re not exactly rolling in dough… So the wedding has to have a pretty tight budget. Pretty much everything from the invitations to the centerpieces are going to be hand-made by me.

If anybody has any ideas for some cool DIY ideas, please let me know.

If it helps, our color scheme is Red, Black, and Silver.

Comment by Jenn Ayres on January 13, 2011 at 8:43am: Hi Kelsey!

My name is Jenn Ayres, and I'm a wedding photo-journalist in Buffalo, NY! I get to experience a lot weddings each year, and I have seen more and more brides wearing colors other than white, and looking fabulous! I had a bride this past summer who wore a turquoise dress with peacock feathers, and she looked amazing. Sometimes J.Crew's wedding dresses come in red. They are always pretty affordable compared to your typical wedding dress, and always modern and fashionable. I found one crimson dress on their site, but I'm sure there are more: http://www.jcrew.com/wedding/Wedding_Bridesmaid/dresses/long/PRDOVR...

I have seen a lot of couples moving away from traditional cakes, as well. Cupcakes are adorable; who doesn't love a cute cupcake? We had a couple last Fall who was working on a pretty tight budget, too, but they still managed to have the wedding of their dreams but doing a lot of the decorating themselves. They had cupcakes, too! Check out their wedding here: http://www.ayresphoto.com/wedding/megan-brian/

There are sooooo many great ideas for do-it-yourself centerpieces. We have a lot of brides who create their own centerpieces to stay within their budget, and they always look amazing. Some Fall centerpieces we've seen are potted plants with Fall flowers (bought at a nursery and then transplanted into terracotta pots), glass vases or large mason jars (bought a thrift stores and antique flea markets) filled with grapevines, twisty branches, or pussy willows. We even had one bride and groom make their own centerpieces by taking thick branches (about 6 inches thick if you measure from side to side, or about 12 inches in diameter), hollowing them out with a jigsaw, and filling them with candle wax - they made their own rustic looking candles! It was awesome!

So there are definitely a ton of things you can do to stay within your budget, but still have the wedding of your dreams. I see it done all the time! :)

Best of luck with your upcoming wedding!