Get hitched for P100,000

Weddings come in all shapes and sizes. From the grandiose to the simple, a wedding is about two people who love each other very much making a vow of staying together as husband and wife in the eyes of God and man.

Most women dream of a wedding to remembering, and making it happen on a tight budget is possible.

That’s what Betsy and her husband, Warren, was determined to do.

Here’s their story of what it was like to throw a wedding for P100,000.

Being realistic

“We wanted to be realistic.” Betsy said. “It wasn’t a matter of having a grand celebration of our love – that was grand enough as it is.”

When she and Warren sat down to plan their wedding, it was more about getting married than planning something over the top and very expensive. From their point of view, less was more.

“It didn’t have to be a huge church wedding,” Warren said. “It didn’t even have to be a huge church. What mattered was that I was getting hitched to the love of my life.

“Our parents had offered to help, but we asked that any money they’d want to give us be put towards helping us get a home of our own instead,” he said.

They pegged their budget at P100,000, excluding the cost of rings which were family heirlooms, and worked on planning for the ceremony and the reception.

Location is important

“We ruled the biggest churches out of the question, of course. There was also the fact that most churches charge more on weekends than they do on weekdays,” Warren noted.

They decided to it on a weekday, at the St. Pancratius Chapel in Paco Park, Manila. The cozy, air-conditioned chapel could fit up to 150 people, which was more than what the couple has on the guest list.

“All told, it cost us about P20,000 – and it was a beautiful place on its own,” said Betsy. “We’d looked at a few other venues. But apart from the budget, the venue you choose… also has to have the right ambience.”

There was also the reception, and then the hotel where they’d be preparing for the big day.

They decided to keep everything in Manila, specifically around Intramuros. They booked a pair of rooms at the Bayleaf Intramuros Hotel, which cost P6,316, thanks to Agoda. The reception was at Casa Manila Patio, which cost P15,000.

Other details

“We weren’t in any rush when it came to planning the wedding, but we really wanted to have everything good and ready so that our guests’ calendars would already have the date saved and everything,” Warren said.

The food was a maelstrom of tasting and narrowing down what they could and couldn’t have, and taking into consideration that some members on both sides of the family had food allergies.

“We decided on a package from Quido’s Catering that cost us about P48,000,” he said. “The food was amazing.”

The couple noted that find finding a wedding photographer package was a little harder, but their best friends said that they’d cover that cost for them.

“I remember being a little overwhelmed when they told us that at the cake tasting, and then we fell into the discussion of what the entourage would wear.” Betsy said. “Now I wasn’t particularly attached to keeping a dress I’d only wear once, but I did want Warren to have a suit he could wear to formal occasions.”

“But I didn’t want to wear the suit I wore to my wedding on random occasions,” Warren said. “In the end, we decided to rent our wedding attire, and pair it with awesome sneakers, because we wanted to be comfortable.”

The theme was blue, the couple’s favorite color. The men’s neckties and the ladies’ cocktail dresses in that shade would do. Betsy went to RoyAnne Camillia Couture for her dress, and Warren to Gardini Fashion Center for his ensemble. The rented gown went for P4,000, and the ensemble of coat, longsleeves, and pants for P3,700.

Betsy’s sister offered to do the makeup for the entourage.

Final touches

“We’re both geeks, so the souvenirs and invitations were fairly easy for us to do ourselves,” Warren said.

Warren and Betsy designed the invites using pixel art they found on Pinterest. The printing went for about P750. The souvenirs were papercraft pieces designed by Betsy to fold out into a 20-sided dice which cost P1,400.

“I have a bit of a pollen allergy, so instead of having our entourage carry bouquets of flowers, we gathered our friends and made papercraft pixel art flowers instead. It was the cutest thing,” Betsy noted.

Final thoughts

Betsy and Warren said they could’ve gone a little over and it wouldn’t have been a problem, but they wanted to stay within the P100,000 budget as much as they could. They said that having friends and family there to help them through made all the difference.

The couple has this to say to those wanting to get hitched on a budget: Be shrewd enough in setting the parameters on how big or small you want for a wedding, and make the best possible choices as a couple.

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