Mice, I love this wedding. Matt and Liz got hitched at the incredible Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois, and they made the most of the beautiful landscape. Matt calls it the most beautiful place in the Midwest, and I think he's probably right. I love how they incorporated paper lanterns and parasols into the ceremony!
Ok, first of all, Liz found her dress for $400, and it was the first dress she tried on. If only it always went that way.*

She hired her bridesmaid, Cara--who has her own invitation business--to do the paper goods. Aren't the programs cute? I like the fan shape, especially considering the theme. They also figured out some great budget tricks:

"There are a lot of small ways to save on your wedding," Liz said. "For example, avoid shopping at specialty wedding stores. Anytime you add the word wedding to something it costs more. You can find similar items at craft stores or at Target for cheaper. Another way to save is cutting back on expensive flowers and finding other ways to decorate. We used flowers for half the tables and affordable $5 Japanese fans for the other half. My bridesmaids also carried paper parasols instead of bouquets. Cutting back in the smaller areas like the cake, guest book, guest gifts, etc can also save you more than you think!"

I also really like that they had Matt's dad officiate. They didn't completely plan it out,** but just let it happen on its own. They included traditional and non-traditional elements, and included important family members to make it feel deeply personal.

* My dress search definitely did not go that way. Neither my mother or I cried, either, so there.
** Not sure I could do that part. I am a planner.
(Photography by Jeremy Lawson.)