A few weeks ago, Martijn and I tied the knot surrounded by our family (my parents were present through video call). It was a solemn and short ceremony that lasted around 30 minutes, which included a little summary of how we met and so on.
Though it was a simple civil wedding, I have to say that the stress level is the same as the church wedding or in most weddings. Given, that I am not from Holland - I had to submit all fresh from the local Philippine government papers which made me travel for 10 hours to get a copy of my birth certificate further south of the Philippines and have to be here at least a month before the date we've reserved but all's well and as I'm writing - I'm breathing normally.
Initially, I just wanted a ceremony then dinner with nothing in between but as we were waiting for the day, a lot of ideas were popping in my head which ended in us handing give aways and printing thank you cards and getting proper bouquet and programs. I will be listing a few details as a guide, if in case any of you wants to do some DIYs for your own wedding to avoid spending.
Wedding Venue
Our wedding venue was at the Gemeentehuis Bergeijk. Before all the ceremony, we had to submit requirements which was evaluated by one of the wedding officiator. Requirements were birth certificate, certificate of no marriage, a copy of my passport and a copy of the passports of my sponsors/witness. For Martijn, requirements were his birth certificate, a copy of his passport and passport copies of his witnesses. They require you to have 2 witnesses each. It would also be nice if parents are all there but not necessarily. The number of guests inside the venue could be up to 30 or more but not more than 50 people.
Once, everything was set, our wedding officiator came to visit to do a short interview on us. Just to know a little history of how we met but more like to see, if our marriage was for real. I kind of freaked out about it but it turned out ok.
Basically, it's more easier to get married abroad than in the Philippines. I think, we have tons and tons of requirements back home which makes getting married impossible.
The wedding fees depends on which day you're doing it. Weekdays are a little cheaper than weekends. Also you can opt for where you want to be married and arranged your set up according to how you want the ceremony to be. If you want to walk the aisle with music, just like the traditional church weddding.
Total cost: 250euro
Invitation / Thank you Cards
Our invitation and thank you cards were from an online website that I stumbled upon while browsing for free card templates http://greetingsisland.com
I opted for the floral garden design because I've been a fan of peonies and rustic influences on flower settings. What basically goes down with the site, is you pick your design and customised it according to what you want to be written on the cards as well as what colours for the fonts and its sizes. Once done, save your design and download them. The tricky part is that, there is a watermark on each design, you can opt to get rid of it before downloading by paying 5.99euro or you can opt for a little more work by downloading it and cropping the watermark. Either way, it's a win win.
Once downloaded, you can print the cards using papers of your chosen size and color. But since I'm a little OC, I decided to first format the cards on MS Word using A5 papers before printing and viola! Easy peasy.
Our invitation and thank you cards were from an online website that I stumbled upon while browsing for free card templates http://greetingsisland.com
I opted for the floral garden design because I've been a fan of peonies and rustic influences on flower settings. What basically goes down with the site, is you pick your design and customised it according to what you want to be written on the cards as well as what colours for the fonts and its sizes. Once done, save your design and download them. The tricky part is that, there is a watermark on each design, you can opt to get rid of it before downloading by paying 5.99euro or you can opt for a little more work by downloading it and cropping the watermark. Either way, it's a win win.
Once downloaded, you can print the cards using papers of your chosen size and color. But since I'm a little OC, I decided to first format the cards on MS Word using A5 papers before printing and viola! Easy peasy.
We purchased our papers with envelopes here in Holland for less than a euro. One pack has 8 pairs of paper and envelopes (get an extra pack just in case you print it on the wrong sides). The printed names on the envelopes were also from MS Word but if you have a beautiful hand writing, it would be best to personally hand write the names. As an added detail, I decided to print a little verse from the bible at the back of the invitation card.
Total cost: 180php
Give aways
As mentioned above, we did not intend to hand out give aways but while we were waiting for the day, an idea came to mind while I was looking at a crafty kit that my mother in law gave me. That along with the "pasalubong" that I was supposed to give them Upon realising that I could do something to commemorate the event, I phoned my mom back home and asked if she can buy and send something for the wedding which she happily obliged.
Our wedding give aways was consists of a brown paper bag with a locally weaved decor basket from the Philippines. As an added memorabilia, I hand cross stitched 8 flowers in this cute DIY kit that my mother in law gave me when I arrived last July. I then, added some Philippine dried mangoes and rosquillos cookies for our dutch guests and something dutch for my filipino guest. We added a dutch fridge magnet and dutch stroopwafels. Along with these items, we included our invitation copies and thank you cards as souvenirs. We had a total of 9 guest. 3 couples and 3 individuals.
Total cost: 1600php
Wedding Rings
Our wedding rings were handcrafted in the Philippines by a local goldsmith. Our rings is the definition of something old and new. Old in the sense that it is made of scrap golds that my mother has collected over the years. The rings are gifts from my parents.
The design of our rings is from an online jewelry shop I saw online. It's tri color - yellow gold, white gold and rose gold. I printed the photo and put on the sizes and gave it to the goldsmith. It took about a month to have it made, since we had to resized it the first time it was done.
Total cost: none
When having your rings done and handcrafted, it is so important that you and your fiance are present for the ring sizing. I was basically relying online for our ring sizes that's why we had to have it resized. Name engraving is not part of the package, so you have to pay extra for it. Also, handcrafted rings are not perfectly shaped because it is not machined made, so expect a little uniqueness on your wedding bonds.
Wedding Ring Cushions
The wedding ring cushion was given by my mother in law. She also made the cute detail of hand stitching our names and the wedding date on it which made it extra special. I, on my part, decided to change the white ribbons to blue - so it was our "something blue" for the wedding.
Total cost: none
Wedding Clothes
For our weddings clothes, I was wearing a simple off white dress which I purchased back home. My handbag was borrowed from my mom and my pair of heels were from my own collection back in the day. Martijn on the other hand had new shirts and pants. The rest of his outfit were from his closet.
Total Cost: 520euro
Wedding Bouquet
Initially, I bought fake bouquet from the Philippines for the wedding but since we were getting married Holland - a flower country, my mother in law gifted me with a personalised wedding bouquet. A week before the wedding, she took me to a flower shop and from their website, I get to choose the type of arrangement I wanted and once I decided, they florists asked me which other flowers I wanted to be in it and which ones I don't.
The bouquet was everything I wanted with the colours I wanted.
Total cost: 40euro
Wedding Dinner Venue
We had our wedding dinner at a restaurant on the next village, Nu Restaurant. It's a quaint restaurant with a beautiful back garden. The initial plan was to have a tent on the garden and the table for eating but then it was windy during the afternoon of our wedding thus, the no tent.
Our wedding dinner was a gift from Martijn's parents. We only had 11 people including Martijn and I. Dinner was consists of champagnes, endless drinks, Italian appetizers, salads, soups, barbecue assortments and a wonderful dessert made by the world champion ice cream maker.
Photographer
Photographers in Holland charge you by hours maximum of 2 hours plus you have to pay for their travel to your place. Since we really didn't include it in our itinerary, we asked our sister in law Claudia, if she can take the photos for us which she happily obliged. So, that saved us a lot.
Total cost: none
This entry is just to give a little summary of what went down within the wedding budget and so on. I shall be making another entry about how it is to be married - the jitters and butterflies before and after the wedding.
It was a fine day. Though, I was a little sad that my parents weren't there, still I felt extra special knowing that they were there the whole ceremony. And my aunts and Martijn's sister who flew with his partner from their respective country of residence just to support us, made it extra special. We did spend money but we also had gifts from our parents which made it a little easier for us. We were blessed. Also, I have to give emphasis on the fact that I find it easier to be married in a foreign country than in my own. Simply because here, there is a big importance on giving everyone the ability to freely express their love and selves thus, the little requirement on getting married. Back home, I think we have to submit a handful of paper and pay more just to get hitched. Marriage is a beautiful thing which is decided by two individuals who wants to share a life long commitment, I think keeping everything simple and easy for them is the best gift that society can give.
Overall, a couple's wedding budget should depend on how much they earn and to how they want their special day to be. Some, if you're lucky to have enough budget then make it an extra celebration but if you're like us, who opted for something on the budget then a simple wedding is always nice. Though, Martijn and I had to spend a little (he did all the paying - I did all the DIYs) I have to say a wedding no matter how simple, will always require a little extra and no matter how a wedding goes, the important thing is about the couple who are stepping into a future as one.
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