My sister's wedding day

She's a nurse

He's a pilot

When Liz and Adam got married they were able to pull off a beautiful wedding on a very small budget. She was on her last year of nursing school, and he had just gotten a pilot job flying commercially. Paying for all that schooling didn't leave a lot of money for an extravagant wedding. I think my sister did a fabulous job putting together her wedding on such a small budget. I would like to share a few pictures with you. Be warned actually a lot of pictures.

My sister loves peonies. However they are very expensive. She decided to have peonies only for her bouquet and our bouquets (the bridesmaids) She ordered peonies from a grower and had them shipped to her. We put the bouquets together the night before the wedding. We got home from the rehearsal dinner and we didn't have any electricity for some strange reason! (We grew up on Camas Prairie which is in the middle of nowhere in Montana. 45 minutes from the nearest Walmart.) We were in the basement of my Mom and Dad's house trying to put bouquets together in candle light. Finally at around 2:00 a.m. it came back on. The bride ended up sleeping in a chair that night. Wouldn't recommend putting your own bouquets together. However it did save her a lot of money. She ordered the gerber daisies and ranunculus from Costco.

My sister, Monica made the ring bearer pillow out of vintage fabric.

Adam bought her ring at Costco!

My sister Thomasina helping Liz

My sister let all of us pick our own dress styles, they just had to be black. These are the bouquets that were made by candle light in the middle of the night. (My sister Thomasina is the blonde directly behind Liz)

I think one of the smartest things my sister did was choosing to have her reception at this beautiful mansion. She was able to rent the grounds for the entire day for $250.00 (price since 2007 has gone up). It is called The Conrad Mansion. It is located in Kalispell, Montana.

There are paths of flowerbeds throughout the entire grounds. They saved so much money by renting an inexpensive place that had the perfect backdrop.

Liz's hair looked so pretty. I love the peony she added to the back of her hair.

Adam taking a picture of his new bride dancing with her dad!

You can see some glimpses of the mansion in the background of my Dad and Liz dancing.

Liz's friend was supposed to make the cake and had to cancel last minute. She then ended up having to order it from a grocery store bakery. We added fresh daisies to the top and around the base.

Liz used this picture for their thank you cards. She had it printed out on card stock and sent it as a postcard thanking their guests. I loved this idea it was so cute.

You can kind of see the tent in the background of this photo. We strung tulle from the tent. It was over a 100 degrees that day.

We hung pom-poms from the ceiling of the tent. There are those pom-poms again. Click on this link if you want to know how to make these! Martha Stewart Pom-poms!

Vases were filled with gerber daisies from Costco and set on tables covered in white table cloths.

This handsome cowboy did all the barbecuing for my sister. ( this is my cowboy) He barbecued chicken and tri-tip. (California Style)

We had roasted potatoes and green salad. Along with some french bread.

My sisters made these cute shortbread cookies for favors for the guests. They were stamped with a stamp from Michaels. These were a real hit with the kids and adults. I am trying to find this recipe to put a link to it. It was from Martha Stewart Weddings. When I do I will put a link to it here. They were so good.

Drinks were set out in these galvanized buckets filled with ice.

My mom and sister, Monica

A picture of an entry way into the Conrad Mansion.

I love this picture of my sister walking with her friends along this old rock wall at the mansion.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my sister's wedding. Liz provided me with these beautiful pictures. Thank you Liz for letting me share your special day with all of these special women. I hope you don't mind how many I shared with all of you. I wanted you to see how pretty her wedding was without having to spend a fortune. I really wanted to share it on Valentine's Day, but I couldn't get it done on time. I love weddings, and hope to someday go into designing for weddings. I dream of renting out my chandeliers to help a bride create a beautiful atmosphere. I am always inspired by wedding magazines, and love incorporating ideas from those magazines into my own home.

Thanks again for all of your sweet comments! I was so excited to share the anthro clearance with all of you, I am glad you were all just as excited as I was.

I also want to share my sister in law's new blog with all of you. Wendy just started a blog on building homes in Montana. They built their first home and are now selling it. She has 3 little girls and homeschools.

Please check out her new blog if you get a chance!

Dream Homes in Big Sky Country

Take Care,

Maria