Michelle Duggar from 19 Kids and Counting recalls her "sweet and simple" wedding day with great fondness, saying that she and husband Jim Bob decided to cut costs in order to splurge on their honeymoon, which would be their first time alone together.
"We got married in our church where our pastor officiated our ceremony. At the time, our church was still being built so we were meeting in a big gymnasium for services. We actually got married in the hallway of the building - we had set up folding chairs to use as pews!" she shared in her blog.
Michelle said she wanted to do as much as she could herself in order to save money and keep the expenses reasonable, so they did not even buy flowers and barely spent on decorations.
"Our backdrop was a lattice that we had woven through with crepe paper. Our colors were all pastels; yellow, pink, green and blue. I even made my own bouquet using fake flowers so I could keep them to decorate my home with later," she said.
Michelle's sister from out of town could not believe that Michelle did not have any flowers to decorate the altar, so she offered to create a floral arrangement using silk flowers, and Michelle was really impressed with her sister's creativity.
As for the wedding cake, Michelle actually worked on it herself, with a friend helping her decorate it with icing. They served nuts and punch along with the cake during the reception, and they invited 200 of their closest friends and family.
Michelle even wore Jim Bob's mother's wedding dress, and she considers it a "special touch" to the wedding. They didn't film their wedding, but they did take a lot of pictures and the couple enjoys sharing the special moment with their children, especially during their anniversary.
"Everything we did for our wedding was so inexpensive, but perfect for us. When we had our 25th anniversary renewal of our vows, we repeated the same reception style with the same songs and even the same pastor," she shared.
