When Paul Brooks married his fiancée, Caragh Brooks, in Normal, Ill. last Friday, the guests munched on Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supremes and the bride wore a hot-pink number priced reasonably at $15.
The couple (who had the same surname even before they were married) wed at their favourite Taco Bell location, which was littered with hot sauce packets that read, "Will you marry me?"
"It's appropriate," the groom reportedly said afterward. "It's an offbeat relationship."
Although the Taco Bell wedding may be an extreme case - the bill came to $200 - recession-crunched brides and grooms are certainly getting creative this year.
Forgoing lavish bombonieres for homemade paper cranes, trading in suede-embossed invites for a DIY website and ditching the videographer for a retro-style photo booth, couples are making sacrifices and getting inventive in the process.
"If you get creative, that's going to be a reflection of you as a couple, and that's what's exciting about a wedding. It's like a social study. I always say, take your everyday life and put that into your wedding," said Catherine Lash, creative director of The Wedding Co., which put on the posh Wedding Show in downtown Toronto last weekend.
Filling the Carlu theatre with towering sugar-flower-embossed cakes, luxurious table settings and polished vendors, the show attracted more than 1,000 brides, somewhat fewer than last year; Ms. Lash surmises that some may have been spooked by the economic downturn and postponed their weddings.
Or perhaps the high-end nature of the show had something to do with it: Bridal budgets ranged around the $50,000 mark, about double what the average Canadian couple plan to spend on their wedding this year, according to industry sources.
Even so, many of the attendees fessed up to creative scrimping.
Hilary Goss, who will marry on Sept. 12., is trimming her budget despite parental help: "They're having to look at what they're taking out of their investments to help with us. Obviously they're thinking about their retirement," she said.
Ms. Goss, who works for importer the Sherson Group, decided on homemade invitations and co-opted a friend for the makeup. Instead of favours, Ms. Goss will put candy in homemade boxes on a table.
These are the sorts of changes that fit with Ms. Lash's advice to DIYers: "Tap into something you know, so you don't sacrifice the quality. If you're a lover of food, then make cookies for your favours. If you know how to do Web design, make your own website."
Do-it-yourself weddings also give brides an opportunity to learn something new, such as flower arranging, says Ms. Lash, who took an origami course to master the art of folding paper cranes, which she recommends as cheap party favours.
Of course, some things are best left to the professionals. Take the cake, which many budget-conscious brides are reconsidering. Carla Rocha of Caketherapy says she expects many will forgo popular but pricey sugar petals and spun-sugar bird nests atop their cakes this year.
"Fresh flowers as an accent tend to be a little more affordable," Ms. Rocha said.
Another big-ticket item is the venue, so some couples are seeking out less expensive ones. Backyard parties are becoming popular in West Vancouver, where chances are good that a relative may have a mountain view, says Miranda Lievers, who will co-produce Indie I Do, an "alternative wedding show" in Vancouver this Saturday.
She remembers one recent backyard party where the bride and groom served pulled pork and cornbread. "That was just as memorable, if not more memorable than somebody who has $200 a plate at a downtown hotel."
Ms. Lievers hopes to attract two types of couples to Indie I Do - those who want an offbeat wedding and those trying to save cash - although she recognizes they may be one and the same lately.
