what is you budget? describe your wedding.

HisCB

so this question has been asked a million times on the budget and diy boards but i thought it would be nice to see local brides's answers. also how have you been able to save money?

i would like to have this wedding for less than 4k.
the guest list is around 190ish no clue how much that will change

our venue is our property outside aumsville. we have 2.4 acres with beautiful trees and a creek. we throw a lot of parties and my fi is a movie buff so we have a huge 40x40' home theater/shop. we will move the couches out and fill the space with tables (which we own most of what we need and will borrow any more we need)
for decor, i am diying a lot, and i didnt have a specific decor idea in mind, so i am building my vision out of what i find inexpensively.

table decor will be short wine glasses (thrift stores, so far, 24 for $9) with aquagems and floating candles, ribbon tied to the stem of the glass. these will line the table, like 5 of them, confetti, short candle holders, and tulle will be the table runner.

we are going to hand stamp lunch napkins from costco with some clear wedding quote stamps i got on clearance from joanns, roll plasticwear in them and tie with some little predone ribbon/ring dangly things i got from someone on CL.

food will be catered by a family friend. we will most likely go shopping with him abd pay for the food, but he is supplying buffet stations and cooking it all. before he offered to cater, i had gotten my heart set on some special family members bringing my favorite dishes they make. i will most likely ask them to do that anyway. like moms fruit salad for example.

for our cake. my MOH and i (and possibly FMIL, and mom) will make several hundred cupcakes. her moh thank you gift might end up being cake decor classes with me. (this is something i think she would like regardless of my wedding plans) each cupcake will be decorated really simply and we will have many different flavors (from box kits) and they will be labled on cup cake stands i plan to make.

lighting will be christmas lights, possibly some stuffed into white paper lanters, hanging from the rafters. and candles on the tables. also big white balloons with balloon lights inside.

our honeymoon (not included in the $4k) already happened. courtesy of KUPL i won tickets for 2 to las vegas to see Kenny Chesney. that included 2 nights at hardrock and airfare for 2we took our honeymoon budget and spent it there. we got an extra night and saw a few other shows. a few days after the wedding we might go to the coast for a few nights, or have a staycation, depending on budget.

my ring(not part of the $4k budget) set was purchased from Tiptons in the Lancaster Mall in Salem. the owners are long time friends of my Fi's parents. they sold it to him for about the cost of gold/diamonds. (under $500) his ring will probably come from there too. their prices are very fair even if you arent friends with them. Also. and they are so helpfull and nice, i recommend going there, it is amazing how much big box jewelry stores mark up the prices.

my dress will most likely come from Davids, but i am looking on CL, and at consignement shops too. im hoping to get a dress for $500 or less, my Fi's oldest friend used to alter for Bridal Exclusives so she can do any alterations needed.
i'm probably going to wear my moms veil.

my mom is going to make flowergirl and train carrier dresses, and depending on fabric and pattern cost, maybe the bm dresses too.

i got invitations on clearance for $4 for 50 at Joanns. i bought 3 boxes. i was happy with fedex office for printing part of my stds so i will have them print the invites. i will dress up the invites with scrapbook paper and ribbon i got for $1 for 8 yards at michaels.

guest book will be 2 signature mats i got on clearance at walmart for $0.75 each and gel pens i bought to use on my STDs

thats just the start and im probably missing some parts.

snarky_girl

Wow ... you're doing really good on your budget!

Our budget is about $1,000 to $1,200 for the wedding and we have about 130 invited (expecting around 100 to show). I'm not counting rings or the honeymoon because those are lifetime things and a vacation in my mind!!

We're getting married in mid-September a local park ($140 - $40 back if we clean up after ourselves!) by a friend of mine. It's going to be a very casual affair. I'm wearing a $60 sundress and my FI is in a nice shirt and shorts. It's still friggin' hot here around that time so no way am I wearing a HUGE dress so I can be sweaty and uncomfortable outside!

I've spent a couple hundred on decorations so far and I'm almost done there. We're doing burgers and dogs, picnic sides and since our location doesn't allow alcohol, sodas and the such. Not super fancy but truly fitting for us. We're also having some outside games - yard darts, bocce ball and the ladder-ball game - to keep people busy and mingling!

I'm getting my invitations for less than $100 and my responses cards for the cost of postage. I custom designed postcards on Vistaprint and I can get 100 of them free right now! Yeah!!

I'm doing a ton of DIY stuff: flower girl pail, ring bearer pillow, the arch, the chalkboard directional signs, decorating with christmas lights slipped into tulle sleeves; pinwheels for the aisle and several more than I'm forgetting I'm sure!

sarahmarietm

Since FI and I are paying for the wedding mostly, here's what we've done.

dress, shoes, veil, petti coat, spanx- 200 bucks from a woman who used to rent wedding gowns, but was closing her business to respect her partner who lost her battle with cancer.  she wanted to help girls on a tight budget (like me!) get their dream dress, which I totally did.

we're getting married at a place called ogren gardens.  It's close to our house, and really, really, pretty.  The owners are great, and have a lot of stuff (tables, chairs, ect) that we can use.  1500 dollars for the whole day.

I DIY on the invitations/ceremony.  Had to make about 85 invites and 125 programs.  Spent about 30 bucks on all paper and 30 for postage.

Music will be provided via iPod.  Have some friends with nice speakers who are letting us borrow them.  They're on stands so we'll be able to pick them up when the ceremony is over, and move them down the lawn to the reception.

Food is being done by a good friend of mine, who is a chef at work.  She's only charging me the cost of the food.  We're doing a sandwich bar, having a few salads, veggie/fruit plates, ect.  Our venue doesn't allow alcohol, so we'll be having soda/water/tea/lemonade.

As I work in a bakery, I'll be baking my own cake!  A good friend of mine and decorator at the store offered to do my cake, for free!

Tuxs are being rented from men's warehouse, and BM dresses were bought at DB.

My flowers are again, coming from our florist at work.  She has great suppliers and I was able to get my bouquet, 8 boutineers, 3 bm bouquets, flower girl wristlet, mom corsages, flowers for the cake, flower petals to scatter down the aisle, and a toss bouqet for 260 bucks! 

I think that's about it, for now

HisCB

sarah, does the woman who used to have the shop still have anything? can you pm me her info? that sounds like a great deal! (and i already own the spanx!)

nannabug42

CM - are you getting married on someone's property or a rental place? I can't think of a place to rent outside of Aumsville (I went to CHS.)

Our budget is around $8,500 for everything except the honeymoon, which will be determined by our tax return next year. Expected guest list is probably around 130-150.

Over half our budget is on the reception - the only thing Chris wanted was good food and drinks. We're doing a ballroom in downtown Salem for $1,450 that lets us pick our own caterer and bring in our own alcohol. We're having the ceremony there as well to save money.

My brother is going to officiate, so we just have to pay for whatever licensing fees there are.

We're having it catered by Caruso's, a local Italian restuarant that's my favorite. We're having antipasto apps during the cocktail hour and a buffet with three types of pasta, salad, and bread for $2,300 (includes the waitstaff, delivery, cleanup, etc.)

The alcohol (beer and wine) is being done for $200. His dad has a professional brewing setup and is making all the microbrew for free. The wine is the only cost, and we have a friend who works at a winery and his discount is 50%.

Cake is being made by one of my best friends from high school, who does that sort of thing for a living.

No DJ, just doing an IPod since it's an afternoon wedding.

Flower girl dress was $11 and Ring Bear suit was $28, both from Macy's.

We're up in the air on whether to rent real china or buy high quality disposables. Renting will add $400.

Decorations I've just been getting as I find them on sale. Centerpieces will be submerged tulips in cylinder vases (I'm DIYing it). Table runners I bought when cvlinens.com was having their sale.

Photographer hasn't been decided yet. If anyone has any good recommendations...

Practically anything that can be done myself I'm doing, I'm fairly crafty. The invites, flowers, centerpieces, RB pillow, etc etc.

sarahmarietm

Ya know, I tried contacting her a few months ago, because my dress got too big, and I was going to see if she'd let me swap it if she had the same one in a smaller size.  I never did hear back from her, so I just went and got it altered.  The place was called something borrowed boutique, so should try again!  Maybe you'll have better luck than I did.

Piru

Budget: as low as possible. Trying to stay under 5k. I am buying and doing things here and there and I took on a job this summer which should save me up the money I need for the internship I want. Then it's a paid internship and I'll be getting money I have nothing else really to spend on, so there you go.

The wedding is exactly a year away so I haven't gotten too in depth yet. It's offbeat lite. Outdoors, small, intimate, personal, probably a rock theme when you boil down to it.

My dress is white with the bottom dipped in blue and it's not terribly formal. It'll be secular. No veil or other antiquated things, especially not sexist things. Our vows will probably be shaped around a favorite song and we'll be playing great music. I would like for it to feel like a casual outdoor concert/party. And we're probably forgoeing a wedding cake in favor of Voodoo Donuts!

HisCB

nannabug, we are getting married on our property. that is saving LOTS of hassle and money. well except that we built an extension onto our shop for storage. but that needed to be done anyway because we use the shop year round for other things. it just had to be built in time to clear out the shop for the wedding is all. we stole the old storage space to build an apartment on his parents property so thats why we needed more storage.

im so glad to be able to set up and decorate well ahead of time and not have to worry about travel, much of the wp will be staying at our house the night before.