Weddings and other Special Events on a Budget!

[smiles]

My wedding was 3 years ago. My dress was on clearance, It was $120 and I had $60 worth of alterations. My bridesmaids took care of there own stuff. I picked out a reasonable dress for them, and I just required they had silver shoes. I made all the centerpieces myself. I made about ever decoration myself. I got married in the fall and the church had fall decorations, and an arch so I took advantage of those. I got married at the church I grew up at by my youth minister, so there was no fee, just a donation for the church and the officiant. I was my own wedding planner. I used a lady for the cake that worked out of her house. I used a young photographer just out of school that was starting out. I'm sure there were more things also I did to save money.

[nurse janet]

I dont know if this is the right place to post this or not, so if it isnt please move to the right place...I am engaged and plan to be married the end of May 2009 ( not too far away). I want to get married on our 2year anniversary of meeting and that would be on May 29. I need any and all ideas that anyone can give me. I will be 38 and my fiancee will be 36 ( so we are not kids), and we want something simple and most of all inexpensive !!! Please post any helpful ideas that you might have and any DIY ideas too ! Thanks so much !!

[Debbieomi]

First off, congratulations to you!
Second...Dollar Tree!
They have an entire wedding selection. My niece was married last May and she did all the bouquets, boutinerres, and church and reception flowers from Dollar Tree. She also found beautiful glass heart candy bowls for the mints and peanuts. Candle holders and candles for centerpieces and different tables at the reception. She also used flower petals for the flower girl's basket and strewn about the cake and gift table from DT. Let's see, what else? They printed their own invites, RSVPs and place cards. I believe she found the paper at Michaels and only bought it when she could use their 50% off one item coupon.
Depending on how fancy you are going and if this will be a big shindig, I've been to many lovely receptions that were buffets where the bride and groom asked close friends and family to make a dish in lieu of wedding presents. She included the bride/groom toasting glasses and cake cutter on her Target registry for her shower and got them.
They had a cash bar but did have free beer, I think two kegs bought on sale from a local party store. They also were able to bring in 2 lt of pop and igloos of iced tea, all bought on sale, with coupons when they could.
She bought her glorious gown from David's for $99, veil was about $40. The attendant's dresses were bought there also. The groomsmen and groom rented but found a great deal with a coupon.
Their biggest expense was the reception hall, dj and photographer. But there can be ways of making that cheaper also. If you have a trusted family member or friend who djs or is a photog, they may consider doing part or all as your gift. My niece also had us taking lots of candids which she later copied off and I'll tell you, some are better than the professional shots.
OK...that's bout a novels' worth. There is a thread on here somewhere, let me see if I can find it for you...
shoot, my computer is acting up again. I won't be able to look right now. Maybe someone else can provide the link for you... I will try but no promises.
Hope some of this helps!

[Debbieomi]

Hot finance: Frugal Living: Cheap Wedding Ideas
My computer won't let me copy and paste the direct link. TONS of ideas in there for ya!

[warcraftbaby]

My wedding, including dress and the certificate/license, was less than $300. I loved it! We did it in my parent's backyard, so location FREE. We used my mom's church for reception and they loaned chairs for the ceremony, so also FREE. Decorations and my bouquet (which I love because I can keep it forever) were bought at Hobby Lobby. My dress was actually a homecoming dress on clearance for $60 at Younker's. It was white and gorgeous and no one even knew it wasn't a wedding gown!

My veil, hair comb, and wedding day cosmetics came from Wally World. I already had my shoes (a pair of those clear Cinderella type shoes I bought on clearance the summer before for $5 lol) My hubby didn't wear a tux (outdoor wedding, July, no way!) he bought his dress pants, shirt, tie, and shoes at Wal-Mart. My aunt's friend made our cake. Family took our pictures.

We did the wedding at 2pm so no need to provide lunch or dinner. We bought mints, nuts, fruit, etc. for appetizers to go along with the cake at our reception. Me and hubby's toasting glasses, cake cutting utensils, and the disposable plates came from Hobby Lobby. For music when I walked down the aisle and our first dance we used my stereo and I had made CDs of the songs we wanted.

Our officiate was a friend and all he wanted was some beer afterward lol! Heck I think our license was one of the most expensive parts, it was like $33 O and the bridesmaids/groomsmen, we bought fake flowers for the girls to hold and the guys to wear at Hobby Lobby that matched my bouquet, and we told em to wear whatever they felt like.

Our honeymoon was a gift from one of my hubby's old friends, a nite in a B&B. And he bought us dinner and some drinks (and none of us ended up liking the drinks lol!.) I loved everything about our wedding. It was simple, and it was US! We laughed thru our vows because that's who we are

Now our rings are not counted in this. I won't tell the long, odd story but my hubby proposed without a ring. So when we went to pick out my ring we bought the engagement ring and matching wedding band and my hubby's band so we'd have em. They cost more than the wedding But we had those rings a long time before we got married so I don't count those. And we planned this wedding FAST. We picked a date around the end of May and married on July 7th. Most of the planning and work happened in the 2 weeks prior. So you can do your wedding cheap and fast, depending on what all you want to do. HTH!

[nurse janet]

Hi everyone...Im getting married in May of this year and would like any and all ideas that anyone might have on things to do for my wedding. It will be rather small and I want to keep in inexpensive...My fiancee is a "country boy" so that will kinda give you a idea of things. Thanks for all the helpful ideas !!

[cupcakegirl27]

When you order a wedding cake, DON'T say it's a wedding cake. I worked in a bakery and the moment a person said that it was for a wedding cake the price started at $300. order a couple of round (cakes doule layer) have some scroll work done on the sides (just looks like fancy Ss) put some fake flowers(Hobby Lobby has some great ones) on the top of the cake in the center with a few ribbons among the fake flowers.
Now for the table for the wedding cake, grab some phone books, some plain clear christmas lights, a white table cloth and some sheer material in your wedding colors. Arrange the phone books at different heights on the table(you will put the cakes on top of these.) Then put the white table cloth over the top of the phone books then arrange the christmas lights arount the phone books, then drape the sheer material over the top of all that. Then add the cakes at different heights. Plug in the christmas lights. I learned the table trick from the guys who set up the weddings for fancy country clubs. Order a few round cakes for this table, and order sheet cakes for the rest, it is so much cheaper. I hope this helps, and if you have any questions, just let me know.

[littlereddeer1]

My friends wedding was this past Saturday and she is all country. For table decorations she did glass pieces in different size mason jars filled with water and put in a floating candle and tied ribbons around the mouth of the jars. It was very pretty. She also had a stock the bar party and we all brought the liquors that we were going to drink and she provided a keg of beer. Her friends mom made the cake. It was a very nice wedding and the added touch was when 2 airboaters (not scheduled came through when she was walking down the aisle)

[hopeky94]

Something my cousin did last year: use artificial flowers for decorating, and if you don't already have colors picked out, make them ones that you can use in your house afterwards!

Same idea goes for any tabletop candle arrangements: I found really nice 3-piece pillar candleholder sets on clearance 2 yrs ago and bought the last ones they had... I used one set for the main centerpiece at my parents' 50th anniversary party, with cream-colored candles and cream-colored roses (artificial- from Dollar Tree, LOL), and it was beautiful!! (BTW, the other 2 sets I gave away as wedding present- hehe!)

And for locations: keep an open mind and check out places that you may not commonly associate with weddings, especially for the reception. If your wedding will be in a church, the church's auditorium/fellowship hall/parrish hall may be the cheapest and easiest location for the reception. But there are other options... One friend rented the floor of a local convention center, then used it for both their ceremony and reception. My niece had a church wedding, then rented the shelter house at a local park for their reception. If a dance floor is not important to you, check around at some locally owned restaurants-- my siblings and I got a good deal for the aforementioned anniversary party when we rented out the small restaurant owned by a friend of my sister's, and she also prepared the meal! And most recently, we've rented the large meeting/activity room at the local senior citizen's center (once for a bridal shower, twice for milestone birthday parties)!

On the cake, I would call around to local bakeries and find out their prices for wedding cakes of the size you're looking at. Don't give them your name or other info, unless you're sure you want to use them... so if the prices are high like PP said, you can always call/go in and do as she suggested! Ask around to friends and family too, as they may know someone who does cakes part-time and might give you a better deal.

Whew- sorry for such a long post, but when I get started on stuff like that, it's hard to quit! HTH, and congrats on your upcoming marriage!!!

[mrsschroeder1]

Hello fellow knottie! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I have learned a few things. 1. Photographers are willing to deal 2. Keep it simple. Noone will remember what decorations went wear or how the bows were tied. What they will remember is your wedding. 3. Look for your dress on Ebay if you haven't already gotten it. You will be the only one who knows it's "used". 4. Use mother nature! If at all possible have the wedding and reception at the same place and outside, a lot cheaper and noone has to get lost! You can order a case of vases here for $12 and fill with twigs and place votive candles around the vase for a more dramatic effect. 5. For cake, follow PP advice! Walmart now does "wedding" cakes. Have them do a simple icing and add your special touch!

I am on a budget of $2500 for everything and I am having 100+ guests! If you need anymore ideas feel free to PM me!