I think that a lot of people here wouldn't do a lot of this stuff, but here is what we did:
- I got married in red; my dress came from the "party dress" section of Bloomie's, and my shoes came from a store at the mall. (With alterations, Spanx and all, everything of mine was still less than $300 total). My husband mostly wore his own stuff, and didn't spend a lot for the extras. Our daughter's dress came from a local dressmaker and her shoes came from Target. Our son's little suit came from JC Penney on clearance.
- I did my own hair, makeup, and nails. My MIL did my daughter's hair.
- We had about 50 guests, but no wedding party as such, other than ourselves, the minister, and his partner, who was my assistant (and who didn't dress up).
- Our friend (who is ordained) performed the ceremony. We wrote our own vows.
- We held it at a public park in front of a gorgeous waterfall.
- Our reception was a potluck picnic; all of our friends brought fabulous food. We ate at the pavilion at the park, and our friends put up decorations.
- Our friends all brought cameras, did their own photography and sent the pictures on to us.
- My sister-in-law is a baker by trade, and she made the cake.
Oh, and we got matching tattoo rings.
It wasn't the way everybody does it, but it was exactly what we wanted and it was just perfect for us.