This past Friday, I married the love of my life after almost 4 years of being together. It was pure bliss when it happened, but the planning stages were definitely stressful. We’ve been engaged since December and have changed wedding plans at least every 2 weeks. It’s been quite the roller coaster, but we made it happen in less than 168 hours.

Initially, when we got engaged, we planned on spending under $10,000. The average American wedding goes up to about $30,000 which we thought was absolutely ridiculous. We both had good jobs and both have large families, so we wanted to have a big celebration of about 150-200 people. That plan was quickly axed due to my layoff. Cutting down to one income was tough, so plans were altered often.

We had found the perfect place for a ceremony that was still going to be amazing, but we were going to cut the guest list down to about 75 people. The venue was absolutely breathtaking, and the price was right, but when you reserve a date and venue, you have to make a deposit, which we didn’t have. Although we had a small windfall that would’ve assisted us, we had been discussing whether we should go for the huge ceremony and reception. We’re both pretty simple people and decided to go a different route yet again.

So, two weeks ago, once we found out his schedule, we went straight to planning a wedding under $1,000. One of the first things we immediately had to cut was the guest list. We decided on immediate family only. No friends allowed. We didn’t want people to feel slighted, but we wanted it to be an intimate moment for us. The guest list was reduced to no more than 25.

Next was the venue. We had to get a marriage license from a courthouse anyway, so we decided also to have our ceremony there. We chose the local courthouse, which had a very nice ceremony room that accommodated 25 people for only $28. The license fee was $61.50. Perfect. We continued to brainstorm.

What was needed next? A bouquet, a dress, a dress shirt, a cake, a photographer and a restaurant. Many phone calls were made for these things. I got my dress from the department store Nordstroms for $149. I got his dress shirt on sale at JC Penney for $10.80. The cake was made in 3 days by a lovely bakery called Patty’s Cakes for $149. We found a photographer on Craigslist that took wonderful pictures for $350 (can’t beat that!) The restaurant was down the street from the courthouse and cost $18.95 per person, which came out to be $400. Thankfully, my mom offered to pay for the food. The bouquet was $50.

The day turned out to be lovely, simple, and beautiful. We didn’t regret our decision and let our other family and friends know via Facebook and Twitter. Granted, some weren’t happy about being excluded, but we’re confident that they’ll understand we did this for us, both emotionally and for our pockets. Remember that your wedding day is about you and your significant other, and is not something you should go into debt for. We’re saving up to buy a house in the next year, and the people who love you will understand.