An Australian Wedding for $2K: Jenna + Ben

Yep, you read that right! It is possible to have a beautiful wedding for under 2k (in fact we shared another beautiful wedding that was in this same budget last week too!) Jenna + Ben were married on the South East Coast of Australia. They were married at the Sydney Australia Temple and then had their reception on the banks of a river in a barn. To keep the cost down and help make the wedding more personal, every aspect of the wedding was handled by the families with almost nothing being outsourced – with the exception of their talented photographer, Tim Coulson. One job you really don’t want your family to take on – unless you happen to have a great photographer in the family in which case, lucky you! :) Jenna grew up as a country beach girl and Ben a suburban boy and they are both close with their families. They really wanted their day to reflect that and have the wedding they dreamt of (while trying not to care what others thought of their nontraditional wedding). Congrats to Jenna + Ben for having a wedding that was perfectly you guys! :)

bridal party by the water

temple-wedding-aus

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? Our most memorable moment of our day was being sealed together in the Sydney Australia Temple (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) where we were sealed for time and all eternity not just “till death do us part.”

tin shed wedding

tin shed wedding

tin shed wedding

bride and groom, beach

bride and groom, beach

From Jenna, For my wedding dress I wore a strapless dress with an attached ballero jacket. My shoes were $25 dollar flats (no body sees them anyway!) I asked each of my bridesmaids to buy a purple dress well within their budget and one they would actually wear again. My Mum and I did my hair and I did my own make-up.

bride and groom, beach

bride and groom, beach

Jenna’s beautiful brooch bouquet was from her friend Hannah Murrin (the brooches were donated and then arranged into a flower bouquet).

bride and groom, tall tree

bride and groom

bride and groom

tin shed reception

tin shed reception

bride and groom cutting cake

bride and groom exit

Any advice for those planning now?
Simple is always best. We had our guest raving about our wedding to everyone they knew even weeks after the event. One quote from a guest “it felt like being in heaven with the birds and the sounds of the river and it was like we were all as one.” Our wedding was simple but beautiful, make your wedding reflect the couple you are. You do not need to spend a fortune to make your wedding your dream day. Our wedding cost us about $2000 and that’s including EVERYTHING. I borrowed the bouquet, we got friends to cater. Remember the day is about you. Also we were very strict with our guest list and only had family and extremely close friends. To enable the other people you care about be apart of it all, invite whoever you want to your engagement parties. We had two, one for Ben’s side and one for mine.

Also when deciding where to take your photos, choose places that have meaning to you. We had them at the beach where Ben proposed and on the piece of land I grew up on. We are an interracial couple, so we both have different cultures. However our advice is don’t let cultural traditions interfere with plans. If you don’t want it to be cultural and traditional then make it know at the beginning of the planning and stick to it. Many will disagree but remember at the end of the day it your wedding.

Your photographer is the key to helping capture those precious moments that you don’t see as you’re flying through the day and Tim Coulson did just that. It shouldn’t be a photo shoot where you are put in ridiculous poses that don’t reflect you. Tim captured real moments and made them look beautiful. It is also important for your photographer to capture photos of the people who are most dear to you, and without telling Tim he captured beautiful moments of grandparents and nieces that are very dear to us. For the guys: don’t always give into what the girl wants. Put your foot down on where you feel you can save money. Like wise for girls.

Thanks so much for the great advice you two and we wish you both the best!

vendors:

photography: Tim Coulson // venue name: Sydney Temple; Gerringong Boat Harbour, Berry, NSW; Drift Wood Shed Terara, NSW // catering: Charles and Mele Tupou catering // music: We used our own ipod in which we had made up our own wedding playlist

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