How I Saved Thousands Of Dollars When I Planned My Wedding At Silver Lake in Peachland B.C.

I recently got married to my best friend in the whole world at Silver Lake Resort in Peachland B.C. We have been through so much together ever since we were fresh out of middle school and now we are a married couple. Being husband and wife was always a goal for us and I knew I wanted to have a camouflage wedding with Alice in wonderland and skulls somehow in the mix. I planned the entire weekend on my own and learned a lot along the way. We had 75 guests, including our bridesmaids and groomsmen, I knew it was going to be around $10,000 but I wanted to try and cut costs wherever I could. So I found ways to save and here are a few of my favourites:

I earned a bunch of Amazon gift cards by using Swagbucks every single day. I played games, answered surveys, and signed up for offers until I got hundreds of dollars towards my Amazon shopping cart. I got chair covers, sashes, decorations, photo props, photo backdrops, candy buffet items, my wedding cake topper, and so much more for free by using my Swagbucks gift cards.

I opted out of getting a photographer. I had all my friends and family take photos of us with their iPhones and Samsungs and I chose what photos I liked the most. A photographer was going to cost a minimum of $1000 and I wasn’t sure it was worth it since iPhones can take just as good of pictures. And I don’t like the fake poses photographers get you to do.

We did the BYOB option. I chose a venue where we could all stay the night and food was included but people had to bring their own booze. An open bar would have been another $3000 and that didn’t sit right with me either. Everyone came and stayed in cabins and brought their own booze saving us a small fortune. 

I had groomsmen and bridesmaids buy their own dresses and vests. I bought all our coordinating outfits off Amazon. It was super easy to get everyone to order their own outfit and give them the option to attend as a guest or part of the wedding party. This easily saved us over $1000 as well. 

We opted for cupcakes and a small cutting cake. Rather than have a huge wedding cake that would have been wasted we got cupcakes and a cutting cake made by a local bakery. It was delicious and I was able to put my skeleton cake topper on the cutting cake. 

We didn’t use real florals or plants. I made our bouquets using artificial flowers and they looked great. I get to keep them forever and the setting we had didn’t need any extra plants or flowers we were in the forest at a lake and it was beautiful. 

We asked for cash instead of stuff. We made it clear for our guests not to give us gifts but if they could afford a small monetary tribute it would help pay for our wonderful time at Silver Lake. So we got even more savings by putting that cash towards our bill. 

All in all we saved thousands by carefully planning and being strategic. We ensured everyone had a safe place to stay and be together for the whole weekend and got married out in the forest where we love to be. The food was amazing it was some of the best I have ever had and the serving sizes were huge there was so much leftovers and people could have sat there and ate for hours. 

The only thing I had issues with when booking my wedding was communication, the only person doing bookings is the camp director and he is in and out of service and can sometimes take days to answer, I recommend keeping in contact weeks before hand in case of any changes. Silver Lake Resort is perfect for the outdoors lovers and their families just make sure you take a look before you go as this is also a summer camp for kids and that’s the style of bunk and cabins your guests will be sleeping in. You can bring your own RV if you like which some of my guests did so it made for an easy choice for those who were able to do so. 

Silver Lake Resort website has a great photo gallery to show you how the setup is to give you an idea of what you are getting. Ensure you book the right amount of cabins and double check that the honeymoon suite is included in your reservation because those are all additional costs. 

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