These four blushing, budget-savvy brides will share their experiences and advice
at the panel discussion “The Art of the Small Wedding,” in the Hoover Room at 1:30pm.

Jessica Bishop is a graphic designer and wedding blogger who began her
award-winning blog “The Budget Savvy Bride” shortly after becoming
engaged in April 2008. She and her husband had to pay for the wedding
themselves, so they combined their creative and artistic talents and pulled off
a beautiful, unique, budget-savvy affair for around $10,000! Jessica currently
runs her own design business, JessLehry Designs, where she creates anything
from corporate logos to custom wedding invitations. She also keeps “The
Budget Savvy Bride” current with new cost-saving projects, updates from her
newlywed life, and a different budget-savvy wedding feature each week.

Kathleen Friesen was born to military parents in Texas. A month later, they whisked her off to New England, moved around for several years, and finally settled in Virginia. Kathleen went off to Wheaton College in Illinois—but didn’t meet her husband, a fellow Wheaton alumnus, until she returned to Virginia after graduation. After 18 months of dating and a picnic engagement at the National Cathedral, they planned their October 3, 2009 wedding in 5.25 months. Her post-wedding pasttimes are working as a software engineer, getting her masters in computer science, and discovering married life in a tiny apartment with too many kitchen appliances.

Nole Garey is the founder and editor of “Oh So Beautiful Paper,” a daily wedding, stationery, and design blog born out of Nole’s love for all things paper–from identity and business collateral to wedding invitations and paper artwork. Since its creation in September 2008, the blog has become a popular read for magazine editors, wedding and design professionals, and brides around the world. A resident of Washington, DC, Nole and her husband Andrew were married at Woodlawn Manor in Sandy Spring, Maryland in May 2008. Nole and Andrew planned a vintage-inspired outdoor garden wedding for 50 of their closest family and friends for less than $15,000. Their wedding has been featured on a variety of blogs and websites, including “Style Me Pretty,” “Once Wed,” “Elizabeth Anne Designs,” and “Project Wedding.”

Liza Kelley (nee Kindl) and Brian Kelley were married on September 5, 2009 at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. Liza is 24 and was born in western Pennsylvania. She works for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, and met Brian, 30, employed by the Washington National Opera, at Ohio University in Athens, in 2003. They moved to Maryland in 2007 and live in Silver Spring.