Wedding on a Budget?
tweedy asked:
i’ve always wanted a really wonderful wedding with all my family and friends, but now im in the real world both our families and ourselves are limited on money right now. what are some good money saving tips, but still be able to have a nice wedding.
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February 17th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Make your own invitations, RSVP cards, place cards, thank you cards and programs. This link is to a site I used, and all our paper and envelopes for all the items mentioned above were only cost $100. (We had less than 50 invitations to send out).
Favors can be made pretty easily. These bags are inexpensive, and there are more things like this on this website.=%3FYWF&N=36
Think of going with silk flowers instead of real ones. Invite only the “must haves” to the wedding, you can spend more on the affair itself.
We had our wedding and reception at a restaurant, so we didn’t serve alcohol, if someone wanted a drink they went to the restaurant bar. We had champagne for the toast, and that was it.
I hope this helps!
February 20th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Try to cut costs by making as much as u can yourself like favors arangements ect . alot of the craft stores have really nice wedding things you could use on a buget
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Make a lot of the things you need yourself. Favors, invitations, get some silk flowers and make the arrangements, pick up your dress at a consignment shop or Davids bridal $99 sale, have a friend be DJ, don’t get bridesmaid dresses. Cut corners on the unimportant things, don’t be cheap on important things: rings, photographer, videographer, etc. That will get you in the end
February 26th, 2010 at 2:10 am
Bed and Breakfest have nice package weeddings including room, food, cake, photos, minister and so on….they can start at $2,500. Its for the entire weekend. They have to compete with the big hotels so they tend to work harder and cost less
February 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
look for an outdoor location. Try a local beach or park, see how much it is to rent or apply for a licence. Find a reasonable caterer, possibly a bbq or bonfire picnic. Hire a student photographer and DJ/Band. Use flowers from the grocery store or silks. Get a dress on e-bay. Good luck.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:40 am
Craft stores saved me, I made my own invitations using a kit. Don’t skimp on the photographer, this was the mistake I made. Jordan almonds are a cheap wedding favor, I ordered them online, wrapped them in tulle, tied it with pearl strands and hot glued a fake flower on each (all from a craft store). I made my centerpieces myself too using cheap glass bowels, jeweled stones, and floating candles.
March 4th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Get married at a non-traditional time. Either in the winter, which is usually an off season, or on a weekday. I got married on a Thursday because we wanted to and ended up saving a bunch of money. The reception hall alone was only about 25% of the cost of a Saturday and for twice as much time.
March 5th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Spend the money on someone to help serve, washup and, preferably, cook the food but keep it a buffet-style to limit the number of paid help. The reason I suggest this is where you spend the most money is because the stress involved with trying to cater your own wedding is not worth it. Also you don’t want to spend the whole night running around organising things. If money is a real problem, just have snacks instead of a proper wedding breakfast. Also make your own cake with a simple icing.
Areas you can reduce spending on are:
CEREMONY VENUE some countries allow you to have outdoor weddings
DRESS wear something you can wear again or go 2nd hand on eBay, etc. Caution wedding dresses cost a lot to dryclean. Get cleaning prices b4 you buy.
ATTENDANTS paying for bridesmaid’s dresses, & groomsmen suits is really expensive. Instead of attendants simply have two witnesses who dress themselves in usual wedding guest attire. Their only duty is to stand up at the correct time and sign the registrar.
CARS use your own or borrow
MUSIC use CD’s. For the reception, make up some mixed CD’s before hand.
INVITES making your own can get really expensive. Keep them simple and hand-deliver where possible.
CAKE: make your own
PHOTOS: ask a friend with a good digital camera to do this. Get a friend to help the amateur photographer, so your hair/jewellery/etc is sitting nicely.
VIDEO: as above or don’t have one.
RECEPTION VENUE: you may need to spend a bit here, but size is more important than style. Too big and you lose atmosphere, etc.
RECEPTION ENTERTAINMENT: again CD’s
RECEPTION FOOD: buffet so you only need one waiter. Or ask a friend to BBQ or spitroast. Your parents to make salads, etc. Or just have snacks and make the focus dancing and having fun.
RECEPTION ALCOHOLIC BEVS: Serve cheap champagne (sparkling wine). Enough for everyone to have a couple of drinks and then have a pay-bar. Ensure you have two non-alcholic drinks available for free (water and one other, eg OJ)
Consider having a keg, but keep in mind that kegs often mean a lot of wastage unless you have experienced people pouring. BYO is tacky to suggest, but encourage if offered.
HONEYMOON: Wait until you can save up, or better still go home for the first night (you may be hungover anyway) and then spend just one night in a local hotel.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Find a dress shop that has layaway. Do silk flowers not fresh. Use the little disposable cameras at your reception. Just lay them on the tables for the guest to use. We got some great photos of stuff we would have otherwise not seen. Do as much as you can ahead of time so you can just get a little at a time and find a photographer/videographer that you can make payments to. Decide what is most important the wedding which will last from beginning to end all of 15-20 Minutes if that or the reception. After that then you will know where you should focus the money on.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Do some online research, with the internet you will see great offers, esp. now since its wedding season!
March 11th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
You can still have a wonderful wedding with family and friends! It’s all in the planning. You and your bf figure out how much the two of you can afford between you, and budget accordingly. Plan the guest list and the reception according to what you can reasonably spend.
Best costcutter – don’t bother with professional photography
Others – do your own invitations, shop around for best deals on bands, flowers, etc.
Don’t skimp on the food or full open bar.
Good luck!