Our Wedding – LA PLANS

It has officially been 6 months since our wedding & as promised, I wanted to create a comprehensive post of ALL of the wedding details.

We were married on Saturday, May 14, 2022, which was also our 6 year dating anniversary. We we’re engaged for about a year and a half and plans didn’t change too much from our initial wedding plans blog post. We kept the invitation list to immediate family and our closest friends which amounted to 36 guests. Although we went back and forth with different ideas, we ultimately didn’t change too much and actually kept the wedding under $1,500!

Wedding Party

Our wedding party consisted of our closest friends. From left to right:

Sara – we met my first year of college when we worked at Starbucks together with Zach & Megan.
Marissa – my oldest friend. We met in middle school at a party but became best friends our freshman year of high school.
Brittany – I met Brittany through Marissa on my first day of high school. We instantly became best friends and if you watch my Plan With Me’s on YouTube, this was the friend that I threw the Gender Reveal for (if you look closely you can also see her bump!)
Zach & Megan – my best man and maid of honor. Like Sara, we met at Starbucks my first year of college and these two have been there for me through all of the ups and downs ever since we met. It was important for me to have these two on my side during the wedding and Zach deserved to be my best man just as much as Megan deserved to be the maid of honor.
After myself and my husband, you see Carter. Which, contrary to popular belief, is not Sam’s brother by blood but he essentially is. They grew up together and have been best friends since Middle School. Carter was the best man and also ordained the wedding.
Skylar & Luis – Sam’s friends that he met when he moved to Texas. Fun fact: we all actually used to work together and Skylar’s wife was the incredible photographer.

Venue, Location & Logistics

The first decision we made was to keep the wedding in Texas and once we did that I started to explore venues. At one point, at my previous job, I received quotes to do an event at Capital Cruise and I remembered how “low” the quote was. When I looked back to see if they do weddings, I instantly showed Sam and he liked the idea. We booked a 3-hour private cruise on Lady Bird Lake in January of this year (approximately 4 months before the wedding). The wedding was from 6:30-9:30 in the evening so we were able to be on the boat while there was still daylight, during sunset and we were able to see the skyline of the city at night. The weather was perfect for a boat ride and essentially, our outdoor wedding.

I highly recommend Capital Cruise in Austin. The captain and staff were absolutely incredible. The event coordinator who I signed the contract with was also very helpful and provided us with all of the information that we needed through out the process.

I signed the contract on January 12 for May 14, 2022. The first half of the payment was due March 28 and the remainder was due on the day of the event. For 36 people, the rate was $626.70 for 2 hours and it was an additional $200 for another hour – which I highly recommend because the 3 hours went by very fast – to the point where I had throw the bouquet after we landed (ultimately because we forgot but still). After the service charge, we paid $983.77 for the “venue” before tipping the captain and crew – which we used cash that we received as a present.

There was options for catering and a bar tender, but we did the base package where we just paid for the boat and brought our own drinks and food (which I will discuss below). We chose this option because it was significantly cheaper and we were able to chose exactly what we wanted.

For the boat itself, we were on the M.V. Nighthawk that fit a maximum of 50 people and had an upper deck. For more details of the boat, here is the description from the website:

With its covered primary level and upper deck access, the Nighthawk is the ideal space and setting for 21 to 50 people. The lower level is enclosable in the event of cold or inclement weather, while the natural shade of the upper deck helps keep it cool in the summer. The most popular spot on the boat will undoubtedly be the upper deck, which can accommodate up to 35 people.

Enjoy scenic views and the distinctive skyline of Downtown Austin, have dinner and cocktails, and catch the world’s largest urban bat colony at the Congress Avenue Bridge. The Nighthawk has an AM/FM stereo with a CD player and an auxiliary hook-up for an MP3 player or smartphone. It is has a restroom on board and, in the hotter months, comes equipped with a water-cooled evaporative fan to help keep the shaded lower level even cooler.

We had paper invitations that I designed on Basic Invite. To manage the RSVP list and our registry, we created a website on The Knot. We also added a Q&A question for logistics including parking, when to arrive, attire, and boat details.

You can view our actual wedding website here: theknot.com/burford

Schedule & Ceremony

For the wedding, I created a shared note with my husband, his best man, my best man and the maid of honor that went as follows:

Time	Agenda	Who	Notes
10:00 AM ?	Sign Certificate	Carter	House
12:00 PM	Hair Appointment & Lunch	Linda	DryBar followed by drinks with Marissa & Zach
	Haircut	Sam/Carter
3:00 PM	Food & Load Vehicles	Sam/Carter	Food will be delivered at 2:00 PM
4:00 PM	Hotel Check In
4:30 PM	Photos	Bridal Party	Location: Outside of the Hyatt, on the pier by dock where trail begins.
5:30 PM	Decorations	Bridal Party
6:15 PM	Guests Arrive	–	Guests can get drinks as they find a seat.
6:30 PM	Depart	Zach	Zach ensures everyone is sitting down.
6:45 PM	Ceremony	Carter
7:00 PM	Dinner	–

Everything went according to the schedule until we we’re at boat. The boat is docked outside of the Hyatt Hotel in Austin. So Sam and I ended up getting a room there to make it easier. One of bridesmaids did as well so I got ready with her and the maid of honor in her room while my husband got ready in our room.

We were able to set up an hour before departing. So, I decided to do our official wedding photos before the wedding. So we could focus on enjoying the evening while on the boat. So we asked our immediate family and the wedding party to be there an hour before set up (4:30 PM) to take photos.

Although we had an hour to set up, we asked guests to arrive at 6:15PM and gave them all notice that if they were late then they were missing the boat and the wedding. So we ultimately had about 45 minutes to set up. Luckily we didn’t have too many decorations. We had the arch and some flowers. I purchased table cloths and some other decorations that I ended up returning because we didn’t use it. I liked the minimal look and loved how everything looked.

After speaking with the Captain when we first arrived to decorate, we decided to do the short 5 minute ceremony on the upper deck. We did not want a long ceremony to the point where we were just going to do the reception/party and so ceremony, but I am happy that we decided to do a short one under 5 minutes.

Once it was time to decorate, the wedding party helped set up the chairs, create an aisle, and helped put out all of the food and other decorations. The captain also recommended that we start the ceremony after we left the dock because we would have a view of the city and greenery which I’m very glad we did. So we had everyone grab a beverage and head upstairs while we took off. Once everyone was seated and the boat was fully in the lake, we began the short ceremony. We also spent most of our time upstairs on the upper deck because of the views and breeze.

Traditions

Samoan & Polynesian Traditions. The most important part of the wedding to me, was to incorporate traditional Polynesian traditions. I ordered several traditional wedding leis from Hawaii for the wedding. I ordered Maile Ti Leaf leis for my husband, dad, best man, brother, father-in-law, and groomsman. I also ordered a white Haku Lei (traditional floral crown) for myself and Kukui Nut Lei’s for my brother and other father-in-law. However, the order was unfortunately delayed and was not able to come in on time (the delivery was supposed to be made on Thursday for the wedding on Saturday and it was delivered the Monday after). I was honestly devastated because that was the only detail of the wedding that really mattered to me in regards to decorations and planning but I didn’t let it ruin the weekend. I anticipated something would probably go wrong and knew that this was a possibility because these leis were supposed to come from Hawaii. So the day before, I wanted to plan for the worse, so I looked at local flower shops and because it was also graduation season they didnt have enough flowers or couldn’t do it. So, I went to party city and bought matching leis – which you see in the photos. I took one of the leis and made my own haku (crown). Given the scenario, I honestly liked the way everything turned out and how it all matched and ultimately that we had these traditional pieces in our wedding – which was most important.

Something. As for the wedding rhyme/essentials, my:

Something Old was the pearl necklace given to me at my brother’s wedding when I was 8 years old and I was his flower girl.
Something Borrowed was the Kendra Scott Drop Earrings (kind of) – I borrowed my best friend’s birthday discount to purchase them 🙂
Something New was my White So Kate Louboutin‘s.
Something Blue was a ring from my mom.

Cake & Food

The beautiful cake was made by the Maid of Honor and was her wedding present to us, I found the design on Pinterest and she chose the rest. The cake had a Swiss meringue vanilla frosting and was two layers. The top layer was a Guinness Chocolate with Bailey’s Ganache and the bottom layer was vanilla. & IT WAS DELICIOUS.

As for food, we wanted to keep it simple (and cheap). To keep inline with Polynesian traditions, we chose to do a pu pu style bar. We ordered fruit and mini sandwiches that we ordered from our local grocery store, HEB. The total cost of food was less than $100 for their party trays that could feed 40 people. We spent another $100-$120 on soda, beer, wine, and liquor.

Decorations

Overall, I spent about $200 on wedding decorations including cutlery. I purchased most items from Hobby Lobby and Amazon. For everything I got at Hobby Lobby, I went to purchase everything when it was on sale for an additional 50% off for the week. I also made sure that everything was disposable so it was easier to clean up afterward. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I bought more items than we ended up using so I returned what we did not open/use. Below is the list of everything we purchased and used:

Hobby Lobby

Gold Cutlery – the colour scheme for the wedding was navy and gold, so we purchased the gold cutlery to match.
- $2.99/pack of 20 x 6 sets (2 forks, 2 knifes, 2 spoons) = $17.94
Stemmed Clear Serving Trays for food & Stemmed Clear Serving Bowls for fruit – these were also stackable so we purchased large and small sizes to elevate the look.
- $2.99 for small + $3.99 for large x 2 sets of each trays = $13.96 – 50% off = $6.98
Napkins – $3.99 x 2 – 50% off = $3.99
Tongs (2 pack) – $1.99
Gold straws (2) $.99 x 2 = $1.98
Containers for tongs & serving wear – $1.99 x 2 =$3.98
Clear Plates (20 pack)
- $3.99 for small plates for cake + $4.99 for large plates for food x 2 sets of each = $17.96 – 50% off = $8.98
Glitter Flutes & Cups – $3.99 x 3 = $11.97
Wedding Stand (Arch) – $29.99 – 50% off = $14.99
Bouquet – $4.99 x 5 = $24.95
Pearl Bouqet Wrap – $4.99 – 50% off = $2.49
Flowers & vases for tables – $3.99 x 6 + $1.99 x 6 = $35.88 – 50% off = $17.94

Hobby Lobby Total: 118.18

Amazon

Gold Cake Stand – $20.59
Hanging Flower Garland for Arch – $24.99

Amazon Total: $45.58

Party City

Last Minute White Plumeria Lei (I altered them) – $3.50 x 10 = $35

Party City Total: $35

Subtotal for Decorations: $198.76 (+ tax)

Decorations Total: $215.16

Dress

I tried and purchased SO many different dresses and the LAST dress I bought was PERFECT. I initially was looking for a short white dress because we were going to be on a boat in the summer in Texas. Then I saw the Love of Details White Lace Backless Maxi Dress from Lulu’s and instantly fell in love with it. It was perfect in every way and in someways, I thought it resembled Padme’s Wedding Dress. This dress is also $109 and came with a nice quality storage bag.

The Wedding

Overall, Sam and I both agree that our wedding day was as perfect as it possibly could be. We unfortunately did not have a few important relatives physically at the wedding but we were able to have them FaceTime in so they were able to be there and see everything live on an iPad. Throughout the entire week, we made the best of whatever happened. Of course, when you get your family together (or at least mine) and you put them on a boat together with no way out (downside of a boat), there is bound to be some drama which occurred on our wedding day. However, we just blocked it out as best as we could. At the end of the day, it was about marrying Sam and it really was the happiest day of my life. This was the first time that I had the most important people in my life together and I was so grateful that we kept our wedding to the key people in our lives. All of my close friends were able to meet and my siblings and I were finally all in the same room for the first time in 20 years. It was truly incredible and I honestly think everything was as perfect as it could be – quirks and all. I have never been more grateful for the people in my life than I was at our wedding. Our wedding really showed us how incredible our friends are. Whenever something went wrong, my bridal party was there and made everything better – any way they could and I couldn’t be more grateful. They all helped with whatever needed to be done and truly made the day special.

Words of Advice

Expect and anticipate for things to go wrong. At the end of the day, as I mentioned, its about marrying the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. That is all that truly matters. If something goes wrong, let it go. If someone upsets you, ignore them. At one point during the night, I received the same advice that I gave someone at their wedding – the people who truly matter are the ones that are there for you and there to celebrate with you. If anyone is trying to do anything else, let it go and celebrate your day. We had people who wanted to be there for us as well as family who wanted to be at the wedding and couldn’t whether it was due to health or deployment – that is what mattered most.

On that note, don’t invite anyone to your wedding that you don’t want there. EVERY single one of our friends that was married all said that they wish they did what we did and had a small wedding. The best part of keeping it small was that we were able to spend quality time with everyone throughout the night which made the night more special.

Finally, I think the biggest piece of advice that I can give is, think about what you’ll remember on this day when you look back and talk about it. You’ll want to remember having fun with your friends, family and new spouse – not letting something like decor or someone upset you. With that, and as hard as it may sound especially if you’re a planner like me, just roll with whatever is happening and don’t mind the small things. You’ll thank yourself later. I am very grateful that we were able to just stop and remember to enjoy the moment. & that is honestly the best advice that I can give to anyone – make the best out of whatever comes your way and enjoy this special moment in your life.