budget weddings

conica · January 2010

wondering, if anyone has ideas for budget weddings, we would like to do out own food and alcohol, but need a good kitchen. we live near S. Bend Indiana

Chrissy3321 · January 2010

There are lots of ideas for budget weddings!

I will tell you the easiest way to cut your budget is to have a small wedding. Because guests = money.

I am not familar with the south bend area, so no place suggestions.

I would considering purchasing things of the Trash to Treasure board from other knotties. Also, check craigs list and ebay or DIY when you can.

Set a budget, do some pricing research, and then fill in the budget realistically BEFORE you start paying for things. I suggest coming up with one splurge item: photography, dress, etc. Keep the mind set you can't have everything and the important thing is your getting married!

Good luck!

gobluebh · January 2010

We had a budget of $10K, and we only went over just a little bit. We had 160 guests.

My biggest piece of advice, based off of my own experience, is to go to the bridal shows. I knew who I wanted to do our catering (The Skillet, South Bend, awesome prices), and they were there. They gave us the buffet that we wanted, for only 9.95/person. This included plastic plates, but since we were having a polish buffet (which is MY favorite!!!), we didn't care. People remembered dancing, hanging out with friends, and the alcohol. We got a lot of compliments on the food. Noone complained about plastic...

We also got our photographer there. Since a lot of the photographers to go the shows, you can get their price lists and compare. But, the photographer is one of those things that you have to consider what is more important to you, quality or a cheaper price. But, we got a photographer who was half the cost of anyone else we found. Even finding photographers by word of mouth.

You can always shop for your wedding dress off of the 'discontinued' rack. That is how I found mine, and only paid 37% of the original price.

The first thing you definitely need to do, like Chrissy wrote, is set your budget. You might have one area that you splurge on... We did that with our cake... and I honestly do not think it was worth it. We spent $800 on our cake, and we could have had something that taste better for $200.

The cake is also something you could find for a good price at a bridal show.

In the South Bend area, to bring in your own alcohol and food... you could go to the Scottish Rite. That's where we got married. They have a very nice kitchen that you can have access to, and you can bring in your own alcohol (as long as someone has a catering license). We brought in our own alcohol there. Had to go thru hoops to get the catering license... but we succeeded.

You could always check out the clubs knights of columbus, or vfw's, places like that, because they will more than likely have kitchens.

You could google wedding budgets, to get an ideas of how to set yours.

Good luck!

tenglehart · January 2010

One way we are trying to keep our budget under control is by forgoing some guest "favors." We aren't going to have candies or treats at all the place settings, we aren't having our names or wedding dates put on napkins, etc. That is a quick way to spend alot of money you can spend on something else.

If you are having an early wedding you can do a brunch and make different egg casseroles, or for a later reception do simple finger foods like meatballs, cocktail weenies, etc. Those are things you could do very easily; many friends or family member could help with that as well. We are doing a very small, simple white cake to cut and then having sheet cakes in the back cut and brought to the front to serve. It's much easier and cheaper.

Also, scour the websites and see what you can do yourself as far as decorations go. I am making lots of stuff myself and have found almost everything second hand. Yardsales and trash to treasure, and ebay, have been good friends to me!

Also, remember that it is ok to not invite EVERYONE you've ever known to the wedding. We have decided we'd rather cut things from the wedding or reception rather than break budget and stretch ourselves too thin after the wedding. Nothing says "the honeymoons over!" like arguing about credit card bills used to pay for a nacho cheese fountain! Lol!

Good luck and hope this helped!

PhotoMoto · January 2010

We did our entire wedding for less than $1000. The key was we invited less than 50 people.

I have alot of great info about photographers, and other vendors who are inexpensive if you want to send me an email.

inkygirl · January 2010

Also consider doing a dessert reception. That's what we're doing and we plan on having 200 people. I'm a huge baker and FI is a chef, so it will help. We're going to figure out exactly what we want and then work on a timeline. A lot of things can be frozen, so we can do them ahead. I know we're going to do cake balls and those can be made 6-8 weeks out. Also, we're going to ask his dad to make his peanut butter cookies as they're amazing and we love them.

We're not doing favors, I plan on making our invites using cardstock and linen paper, I'm going to do most of the flowers myself by ordering them lose through a local shop (probably Kroger...they have great flowers down here) and then arrange myself. Making bouquets isn't that hard...neither is bouts if you can take the time to do them. And we're doing the ipod reception....stereo rental will be $65, including a portable set for the outdoor ceremony.

Oh, and we're asking some people to give us their talent as their wedding gift. One of our good friends is a hair stylist and she's already agreed to do my hair as their gift. My boss' wife plays the violin and we're going to ask her to do the ceremony music.

You can definitely do an inexpensive wedding and have it be very meaningful and perfect. One place I'm not skimping on is hiring a Day of Coordinator. That's super important to me and I'll be paying for that. I do not want to be caught up with the details the day of the wedding and it is so worth it to me.

budget weddings

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