South Lake Tahoe Elopement on a Budget – What We Actually Spent

I got married last fall up near Truckee. Not South Lake Tahoe proper, but a little further north, in a patch of woods that belonged to some old cabin we found on Airbnb. The owner said his grandpa logged there decades ago and some of those pines were already huge back then. I don't know if that's true but it sounded cool.

Anyway we're from LA and originally I thought we'd just do something at a restaurant or a garden somewhere. Then I looked at prices and almost choked. Twenty thousand for a blank lawn. No chairs. No food. Just grass. So I started searching for forests because I figured nature is free right? Not exactly but way cheaper. I found this place on a whim, sent the link to my fiancé and said "this is it" and he was like "where is that" and I said "I don't know but we're going."

We only had nine people. Our immediate families and two friends each. No planner, no DJ, no nothing. We brought a bluetooth speaker and a cooler of sandwiches. The officiant was a friend who got ordained online. It rained the night before so the ground was wet and soft. I walked down this little slope to the spot where we set up a folding table and I slipped twice.

My cousin grabbed my arm and basically dragged me the rest of the way. My heels sank into the mud and when I pulled my foot out the whole bottom of my plus size wedding dresses came up caked in brown. The photographer said it looked like a Vogue editorial. I think she was just being nice but I went with it.

The dress. That was the stress. I'm a size 18/20 and bridal shops are the worst. Everything is a size 2 and they clip it to your back and tell you to imagine. I walked out of three appointments feeling like garbage. So I took a risk and ordered online from ANNAKOO.

I had seen them mentioned in a plus size Facebook group. I gave them my measurements and they emailed to ask if I measured with or without a bra which I thought was smart because I wouldn't have thought of that. When the dress came I tried it on in my living room and it zipped. No pulling. No weird gaping at the chest. The color was a warm ivory not that bright white and the lace on top caught the light outside. I showed my fiancé the day of and he stared for a second and said "wait you got that online" and I knew that meant he liked it.

I wrote these vows that I practiced in the car on the way up. Got through maybe four sentences and then my voice cracked and I couldn't keep going. So I just stood there crying and he hugged me and everyone laughed but in a good way. After the ceremony we took photos on some fallen logs. My uncle sat on one that was rotted and almost flipped backwards. We have a picture of him flailing and my aunt screaming. That's one of my favorites.

I didn't budget super carefully but I know the whole thing cost less than what my friend spent on her venue alone in Santa Barbara.

The dress was less than two coats I bought at Nordstrom last winter. I'm not saying everyone should do what we did because it was a little chaotic and we forgot to bring napkins and had to use paper towels. But I look at the photos and I don't see the mud or the crooked logs or my smeared mascara. I see those giant trees and my husband's goofy grin and my dress that actually fit without any alterations. And that's enough.