I'm Engaged!!

[disneygirlie11]

Hey guys! I am FINALLY engaged! WE are planning our wedding for 10/10/09. My problem is my budget! It's $10,000 and while that may seem like plenty, it's not! Anyone have any creative ideas to help keep costs down?

[thrillme]

Make a list of things that are REALLY important to you and things that aren't.

Do you HAVE to have a top notch reception?

Can you find a "discounted" dress, borrow one?

Do you have to pay for your bridesmaid dresses? Will they pay for their own (keep costs low here by selecting a light brushed cotton dress that they can wear again)

Cakes with "fresh flowers" as decorations are often cheaper than highly decorated cakes and very beautiful.

Are you or a family member members of a church. You might be able to get a good deal this way.

Food...does it HAVE to be "shrimp" or can it be "BBQ".

Your FIRST and FOREMOST thing is to sit down with your boyfriend and make a list. Put the things that are the most important at the top of the list (which should start with "Marry the one I love" EVERYTHING else is secondary).

There are LOTS of great ideas out there on the internet but you've got to come up with the must haves.

[RedSoxFan]

Congrats.

[teambricker04]

Congrats!!! How very exciting

My DH and I had a "destination" wedding for under 5k! Granted, he is from FL so it wasn't far to travel for his family! We got married on the beach by my Aunt (in FL you can marry people if you are a notary). We had the reception at my in laws.

Here are some of the other cost saving things we did:
*made our own invitations
*had a cupcake tower instead of a cake
*purchased orchids from an online site to use for decorations on the tables, cupcake tower, and flowers for corsages/boutineers (sp??)
*I made my own boquet from sam's club roses
*we made our own mixed cds and had some one man the rented sound system
*I bought my dress from J.Crew instead of a traditional wedding dress and I wore flip flops. My DH wore linen pants and a beachy kind of shirt.
*Limited the amount of guests to those who really mattered to us and told our parents tough luck on inviting Joe Schmoe.

Hope that is a good place to start... it always seems so overwhelming!

[Tick-Tock]

Congratulations! It seems like a long way off, but it will go fast!

Check out a book called Bridal Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields. It'll help get you oriented and give you some good ideas about cutting costs.

Steel yourself to resist all the offers to spend money on extras. For example, I got an e-mail for a fancy box for guests to deposit cards at the reception (it was designed like a tiered wedding cake) - for "only" $280! We used a cool wooden box from Ross, which I got for less than $15. Our favors were passed out from several Ross hatboxes. We loved the look of the containers, and you couldn't beat the price! We also skipped lots of extras such as cake cutters, toast glasses, etc.

You'll hear a lot about it being the "greatest day of your life" and you should have just what you want, no matter the cost. My theory was, I want a lovely event, but not necessarily the greatest day of my life. That would mean that the rest of my life is downhill! It was so wonderful to have an event that reflected us and that all our guests enjoyed, but that we weren't paying off for months and years afterward!

P.S. Leave some room for unexpected expenses and overages. Probably at least 10%.

[vizsla]

Congratulations

[alphamommy]

Congratulations!

I would recommend that you focus the money on the most important part(s) of the wedding. For us, it was photography. We could have spent a lot more on it than we did, but it was still the single most expensive part of our wedding.

We had sort of a "do-it-yourself" wedding. My mom made the dresses, my sister did the cake, and DH's aunt and others did food (we bought it, they helped out with it). We rented a small hall, hired a DJ, and just had a small reception. I would have been happy with just a cake and punch, but DH wanted more, so we did a little more.

Good luck!

[thrillme]

Congrats again...

anddddd...on the note of making your own invitations...I was just back from Walmart and they had some that you could just run through any old laser printer (I wish this was available when I got married the first time).

[Minnie Imagineer]

congrats!!!!!

[Stitchahula]

Look into aschool that do floral design they might do something or maybe someone that does it on the side. If you can find a consignment shop that offers wedding dresses (I got mine that way and I loved it). Go to bridal shows and put your name into everything they are having for drawings (we got our wedding favors that way). If you are doing flowers at the church they can do double duty and have someone take them and get them to the reception hall to put on or next to the table for the presents. Instead of flowers on the rows in the church you can go with just a bow on them something like every other row. It still looks nice. Try to go with the flowers that are in season at the time it's usually cheaper. A lot of the time a small "bakery" will be cheaper and still really good. The lady we used did it out of her house for extra money she didn't charge a lot of money and the cake was incredible. Always taste the cake first before you make a decision(they will give you free samples). Use the cake as the dessert no need to pay for a dessert and a cake right. Well that's all I can think of right now.

[diz_girl]

I agree with the Teambricker04 about inviting only those who are close to or important to you in order to keep the reception small. You won't remember any of those other people anyway.

Some key ways to keep costs low are to:

Get married in off-months (January through March and August). May, June, September and October are very popular months, so prices for anything wedding-related are higher for these months. Get married in the off-months when reception halls are really trying to get their places rented. I got married in November.

Avoid a Saturday night reception - they are the most in demand and the most expensive. Have a morning wedding and have brunch, not dinner. Brunch is about half the cost of an evening wedding with a steak dinner. I had brunch, which included smoked salmon. Having brunch made the reception an hour shorter than normal, but we still had an open bar. And our guests were still raving about the food years later. You could also have a Friday night wedding with a dessert reception.

You don't need a huge centerpiece at each table. I did a single rose in a narrow necked vase (which sat on a small circular mirror for stabillity) and it definitely looked elegant. Sometimes less is more. The centerpieces at my cousin's wedding were so big that the one at our table got a bit singed and almost caught fire.

Keep the favors simple, and edible. Non-edible items get tossed as soon as your guests get home, so don't waste your money. Milk or dark chocolate favors are the most enjoyed. Even better, make a donation to your favorite charity and put note cards where the favors would be.

You don't need the fanciest dress. Mine cost $370 at a time when most were $1500-$2000. Also, I've seen the white JCrew dresses. They are very nice. You don't need a fancy headpiece or shoes either.

Put a disposable camera at every table for candids. Sometimes these are the best pictures.

Also, you may want to get wedding insurance, just for peace of mind. Good policies will pay for weddings cancelled by weather (not cold feet). Thay can also pay for travel and dry cleaning costs to re-assemble the wedding party if the photographs don't develop properly.


My cousin got married 2 months before me and just the reception hall alone (with food and alcohol) was 2x what was spent on my entire wedding. It was a September wedding, with a live 10-piece band, steak dinner, harpist, etc. She has been divorced for a while now and DH and I have been married for 12 years.

[Tick-Tock]

:Get married in the off-months when reception halls are really trying to get their places rented. I got married in November. And ask for discounts if you're getting married in off months. If you aren't interested in a religous ceremony, consider combining the ceremony and reception at one location (or look for a church with a reception hall).

Avoid a Saturday night reception - they are the most in demand and the most expensive. I agree. We did a Sunday early afternoon wedding and offered hors-d'oeuvres. The food was great and people loved it.

Keep the favors simple, and edible. Non-edible items get tossed as soon as your guests get home, so don't waste your money. Milk or dark chocolate favors are the most enjoyed. I too thought edible favors were the way to go. But you may want to consider offering a couple of things to account for food allergies (we had a chocolate and a non-chocolate alternative, which was much appreciated). Consider buying candy in bulk.

Put a disposable camera at every table for candids. Sometimes these are the best pictures. But consider your site and lighting conditions. We were in a hotel with dimmer light and the table camera pictures were mostly awful. It was a waste of money for us.

Boy, this discussion is really bringing back memories of last year when I was planning my own wedding!

[DreaminofDisney24]

I kept mine around 5,000-we called in lots of favors and I'm pretty crafty, so that helped! We got married 10/9/04It's a good month...
We did our own invites (Staples)...
With the help of Michaels Craft Store
I did the programs...
I did the favors (magnets)...
I did the bridesmaids gifts (fleece blankets)...
I did the flower girl and ring bearer gifts- (i got two canvas bags, decorated them,and filled them with toys so they had something to do at the wedding!)
I bought cheaper toasting glasses and cutting knives and decorated them to go with the theme...
We didn't hire a DJ-just compiled a playlist, and had a good friend MC for the night!
We had it at a farm (friends farm so free!)-both wedding and reception-the aisle markers (pumpkins with mums in it) became the center pieces during the reception-tada!
We bought the food, but friends made everything, and my girlfriends were servers.
We did spend money on the photographer, because i think that's important.
We had a small cake, but lots of pies and even smores (fall!)
Music during the wedding was provided by my dad's old irish band-hammerd dulcimer, flute, violin, gorgeous...and my uncle is a singer-tada!
There are always alternative ways to do things...trust me! I think the most important thing is to truly put yourself into it-people are still talking about our wedding 4 years later!

[thrillme]

Favors???

I guess I sorta skipped these all together. The closest thing we had were either the bubbles or birdseed. I had birdseed roses...we made them they came out really cool too. Use satin or tafetta (you don't need a whole bunch 1 yard makes a LOT of roses)...sew up a bunch of "I think" 3 inch tubes. Tie these tubes to a "garden stick" (available at a lot of craft stores)...use floral tape to secure it and perhaps a couple of leaves. Stuff the tube with birdseed and fold the fabric inwards. Looks like a rose.

[disneygirlie11]

Thanks Guys!!!