Christmas, wedding for $700
Christmas roast with all the trimmings, fruit cake for dessert . . . oh, and a surprise festive wedding.
Waikato couple Melissa Miller, 27, and Teddy Miller, 35, surprised their families by getting married on Christmas Day and managed to pull off the combined nuptials and nativity celebrations for a cool $700.
The Millers bought their first home in Maungatautari in July and invited their immediate family – about 25 people – to spend Christmas with them.
It was meant to be just a lunch with family members but that all changed five weeks ago.
The couple, who have been together for four years and engaged for two, had loosely talked about getting married in July next year.
‘‘I thought, well the family was going to be here anyway so why not just get married on Christmas Day,’’ Melissa said. ‘‘We wanted it to be really simple and lowkey and didn’t want anybody to be stressed out.’’
But not wanting to completely catch everyone off-guard, especially their parents, the couple called family members on Christmas Eve night and some on the day.
‘‘They were completely surprised but thought it was a really neat idea. It was my nephew’s third birthday the same day, so it was a triple celebration.’’
Miller started planning the wedding in November. She had the help of a playcentre mum and family friend, Nicole Johannes, and her family, who organised flowers and did Miller’s hair and make-up for her.
The biggest expense was the wedding licence and marriage certificate, which was $182. The celebrant asked the couple to donate to the Cancer Society in lieu of a fee, so that was another $100.
Miller also paid for a spray tan and her eyebrows to be shaped. This cost $95 and also doubled as her Christmas present. She also managed to score a cheap dress off Trade Me for $23.
Their three children, Bonny, 3, Baxter, 1, and Betsy, 5 months, wore clothes they already owned. And a relative downloaded music the night before, which was played via a phone throughout the ceremony.
‘‘We did it within our budget, within our means, and it was a really great day.’’
The family then tucked into a potluck lunch, including roast, salads and fruit cake for dessert.