Just a little encouragement for ladies with a tight budget, lots of DIY projects involved in the future, and feel pressured for time:
YOU CAN DO THIS!
I am a college student. I am NOT rich by ANY means. I got engaged on Feb 14, 2015, and our date is June 27, 2015 (Just 4 months, say what?!) Our budget is $2500 for THE ENTIRE WEDDING.
The wedding is less than three weeks away and guess what? We're done planning! Everything is coming together, and we did not go over budget. It takes lots of resources, lots of research, and lots of patience, but believe me, IT IS POSSIBLE.
So don't feel pressured! Don't feel discouraged! YOU GOT THIS!
Re: Wedding Impossible!
Because lots of people don't have in-laws with big houses that can accommodate over 100 people for free and who will be absorbing the clean-up costs after this shindig that you would normally also be paying for or a large pool of people they are willing to make do stuff for them. You also don't mention who is paying for both dinners that are being thrown and any workers that are being hired (DJ, photographer, caterers, waitstaff, set-up/tear-down, etc.). Are those being covered under the $2500, too? Is someone else paying for them? Are you abusing relationships to make friends and family work your wedding for free for you and take care of those roles?
So in reality, you're not throwing a $2500 wedding. You're throwing a "$2500 + the cost of whatever they decided to do for you for free + the cost of time and work they are putting in at your behest that normally someone would be hired to take care of + the cost of whatever anyone else is in actuality outright paying for not coming from that $2500 budget + the fair market value of what an equivalent venue would cost you if your in-laws weren't being so kind" wedding. Which is a little misleading. Sure a "Look, these are some of the items I managed to save money on" post would be appropriate, but "I threw a $2500 wedding and YOU CAN, TOO!" post is a bit misleading for those brides who literally must limit themselves to $2500 for everything and were looking for actual budget wedding tips.
BOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOXBOX
The point is that it is NOT appropriate to ask for someone else to give up their time/money for your wedding. If they volunteer, that is perfectly acceptable. My family is very generous and helpful. I still never ask for anything. On occasion I accept what is offered. Not always, because I am an adult and responsible for dealing with my own shit.
There were so many things that they could have done to make this a stress-free wedding, but they just had to have their wedding vision, even though it was out of their budget.
1. They could have had a small wedding party.
2. They could have had an afternoon ceremony followed by a cake and punch reception.
3. They could have cut their guest list.
But, no. They just HAD to have their dream wedding on a budget, to the regret of their friends and relatives who had to work instead of enjoying the wedding as guests.
My statement? You do realize that I did not post that, right?
I'm not telling you how to post. I'm letting you know you are being rude. Please get a dictionary and look up irony. You are demonstrating how to be obtuse and obstinate, not irony.
Also, the bolded is advice, all of which you will ignore and treat your guests rudely.
ETA: Clarity (someone has to)
They MADE the flowers? Or bought them and did them themselves? Either way maybe that's all they could afford. Not nice to bash people's hard work for their lack of money. I certainly don't appreciate it. I'm making my centerpieces with flowers I bought from Michaels, because I'm not rich, can't afford a big wedding, but still want my wedding to look nice. Flowers are ridiculously expensive and end up dead anyway, so why waste the money if you can put it somewhere else like food?
My sister carried a single rose, tied with a ribbon from Michaels, at her budget wedding in the park. It was beautiful.
One of the tackiest weddings I have ever seen (other than the one I cited) was also the most expensive.