Ever since she was six years old and wearing a tutu on her head as veil, University graduate Molly Pruitt has imagined her big day.
“I’ve been planning this forever,” she said.
But planning a wedding can be exhausting and expensive, and for Molly and her husband Doug, who is also a University graduate, it was no different.
Doug proposed to Molly in August 2002, and so began the project of planning a wedding on a tight budget.
“I saved a lot of money planning (the wedding) myself,” Molly said.
With the help of University financial aid, money from egg donations and family contributions, the couple planned a 150-guest ceremony economically.
They began by researching different specialty stores in Eugene and Portland and comparing prices.
“I spent so many hours on the phone calling vendors,” Molly said.
Molly had the help of the “Bravo Wedding Planner,” which the Web site labels “the professional, step-by-step system that keeps track of every detail of your wedding.”
The time commitment to plan the wedding conflicted with schoolwork, but the couple gave themselves plenty of extra time in case of unexpected obstacles.
“You need more than a couple months for a wedding like ours. You need time to compensate,” Doug said.
As predicted, a few things didn’t work out as planned. When Molly went to pick up her dress at Tres Fabu Bridal in Portland, she found it hadn’t even been ordered. It took seven months to finally get her dress after she was told it would take three, and she was never offered a discount or compensation for her troubles.

Another common problem arose on the wedding day: rain. Luckily for the couple, they had a backup plan.
After some advice from a bank teller, the two found the Persimmon Country Club in Gresham to be “perfect” for the ceremony, as it was both breathtaking and affordable, Molly said. The tranquil site, which has a panoramic view of the Cascade Mountains, was clouded over on June 20. The couple took precautions by moving the entire event underneath an overhang, and it started to shower precisely as the traditional Wedding March music sounded.
At the reception, the bridesmaids and groomsmen hemmed the newlyweds at a center table facing the dance floor. Each table was adorned with flower pots brimming with peaches, which were garnished with tiny white flowers and miniature airplanes to represent Doug’s participation in the U.S. Air Force.
“They were all real Air Force planes,” he said.
Flower petals sprinkled the white tablecloths with oranges and pinks, which matched the Asiatic Lilly corsages on the bridesmaids’ white prom dresses. Although the bridesmaids had to purchase their attire, Molly allowed them to wear $15 J-Crew flip-flops.
To stay on budget, Molly and Doug ordered a revised menu for the reception that excluded expensive items like salmon, which carried a tab of $30 a head. A beer and wine bar opened for the first hour of the reception, charged for cocktails and stayed open to the bridal party all night long.
Molly, who loves the color orange, found her tangerine and peach decorations for 90 percent off at Michaels, an arts and crafts store. Her flower vendor, Blooming Bouquets of Portland, is run by a woman out of her home and offers bouquets at three times less than flower shops.

The wedding cake had flowers of marzipan and was made to feed about 80 percent of the guests. According to Molly, cakes are one of the highest expenses in a wedding, so the couple saved money by asking their peach-donating cousin to make a cake. The chocolate confection was in the shape of a slot machine, celebrating the couple’s honeymoon to Las Vegas.
Molly and Doug said it took a total of eight months to prepare for the wedding. After a speech from the best man, dancing with little children, champagne toasts and the bouquet tossing, the guests tossed hundreds of orange paper airplanes at the new husband and wife, who ran to their brand-new Chevy Silverado.
The couple now resides in San Antonio, Texas, where Doug is training to be a navigator for the Air Force, and Molly is working as a nanny.
“I like Oregon better,” Doug admitted, but the couple is slowly getting accustomed to the different location and their new lives together.