Lets be honest ;)

JordynLeighx3

What are some things at your wedding that you felt was a MAJOR necessity, that you and your budget probably could have done without?

I'm trying to cut costs by getting rid of things that nobody felt was really needed, but did anyway.

OBX2011

Favors and programs

angele4200

There were a lot of things we probably could have done fine without, but that we really wanted to have there. The first thing that comes to mind is the wedding car we hired, it was very pricey but we thought it was worth it (see sig pic). For our entrance we drove the car into the reception site

acaponi87

Things I am doing without:
-videographer
-favors
-programs
-transportation for the wedding party (we did hire a shuttle to and from the recpetion/hotel though for all guests to use)
-prof. done makeup
-guestbook
-fancy centerpieces (we have them but they are simple DIY..I definitely would not pay a florist to do those)
-cake (we're doing wedding pies instead..it's about $1-1.50 cheaper per slice)
-photobooth

Things I am not doing without but you easily could:
-table runners/chair covers
-bathroom baskets
-alcohol
-DJ (a lot of people are doing Ipods now)

I took the opposite route because the only thing I really feel is necessary for a wedding is an officiant.

Grits8812

You don't need:

professional makeup

a videographer (who really watches their wedding video enough to get their money out of it?)

favors

super fancy table cloths

programs

expensive shoes (if you will wear them again, that's one thing.  if not, don't waste hundreds on a pair of shoes you will use once for a few hours)

huge centerpieces

HobokensFury

I had what may be considered a "luxury wedding" to many, but in fact it was just a typical Jersey wedding.  If I had too I would have cut programs, favors, gotten a simpler cake, and DIY flowers.

RamonaFlowers

Really, the biggest things I cared about were good food, good DJ and open bar. And now that my wedding is over, I can honestly say making sure I had all of the above was worth every penny.

I didn't really go too nuts worrying about any of the other details because I was pretty sure nobody was really going to remember them anyway. And I was right-despite my mother insisting they were utter travesties at the time, nobody remembers that they jelly beans we gave away for favors didn't match the wedding colors, or that the escort cards were handwritten. But they all still talk about how awesome our DJ was and how much they loved the food.

librababy

I know I should not even bother with a program or menu cards or save the dates but I want them anyway and I plan to DIY to keep the cost down.

I mean what do people do with the menu cards anyway? Where do they put the programs. BUT hey, i want to it and I can make it cheap so I'll have it as keepsake for me at least.

I could do without favors too but I found a way to make them happen at a lower cost: I am using votives as a part of the decorations and people can take them home after if they want BUT I am only buying one votive per couple/guest... so that will leave me to  buy roughly 50 as opposed to 150 (kids won't get votives...I plan to set up a candy buffet for them).

JordynLeighx3

Thanks everyone. I was really wondering if programs were worth it, seems to be they're not!

LoisLane007

I WANTED to do bathroom baskets; but didn't. mainly because I ran out of time. No one missed them.
I WANTED to professional make-up until about 7 months before the wedding then decided I can live without. (Good choice IMHO)
I WANTED welcome bags for the OOT guests, but not many people used the provided hotels, and just stayed at someone's house.

graci67

 great suggestions! Im on a pretty tight budget too. Im going to be doing a cheap wedding favor ( local honey from our town in cheap plastic jars with a DIY label and twine) no programs or menu cards... thinks like that I know are just gonna go in the trash anyway after the wedding. my mother is going to do my hair and makeup, my future mother in law is doing our cake, im doing my own flowers and centerpieces, and we havent decided on food yet if we're gonna just make our own food or hire a caterer. plus ALL decorations are being handmade by my family and myself. I love being a DIY Bride and I think it makes the experience even more memorablel and better

leamide

We are doing a lot of our own stuff to keep cost down. Our Save the Dates we really wanted magents, but they were way too expensive, so we watched for sales on the card websites and found a buy one get one free deal and mad up our own special cards for cheap! My Dad has always grown zinnias in his garden, so this year he is planting extra, so we can use them as centerpieces on the tables. We are placing them in mason jars and also having pint size mason jars with tea lights in them, (all of which we have already). We are cutting out the limo from the church to the reception (darn it, it would have been nice to have the wedding party all together, but that's life). Our cake is very some and we went with cupcakes, brownies, and cakepops to cut down on cost. Our food is being down by family who have done it for other family members in the past and we are having a limited bar selection, a keg of beer and wine (my favorite - couldnt cut that!) Also, I was really not wanting to spend a lot on linens, so we are just doing plastic table clothes.
Things I couldn't cut - my paper laterns! I love them! There was no way I could do without them. And a certain bean salad he wanted, if would would have just done a simple vegetable it would make prep and serving it much easier and the cost would have been so much cheaper, but he wanted the bean salad.
We are also doing programs, BUT using regular paper stock and micro soft publisher to do the program (cheap!!) We weren't going to do favors, but we decided to do some little ones, we found very inexpensive baskets that we are going to put our favorite candy in.

leamide

Also, our photographer was inexpensive only $400 and we get all the pictures.

Jluse

I would say that a lot of things can be less expensive with DIY- program costs are so small if you do DIY, I made 80 programs and had minimal costs just for printing with local coupon. 

Although I am not married yet, I agree that money spent on making your guest comfortable and make sure they have a good time.. food, drinks and music are probably the best place to put your money.  

I'm not doing any kind of custom wedding water bottles, candys etc that are monogramed with our date. Although those personal touches are cute they can quickly add up and I don't think your guest will care if the napkin they wipe there face with has your wedding date on it or not.

Happy Planning! 

PhiSigFly

Looking back, I spent too much on my veil and the car that will be taking us from the reception to hotel.

I disagree with what people are saying about dropping video. I don't know ANYONE who regrets getting a video, and know couples that DEFINITELY regret not doing it.

Other than that, we did everything we wanted to do, but economically. DIY programs and menus, cheap invites, postcard save the dates, bathroom baskets with contents from the $1 store. We also shopped around A LOT to get the best deals on vendors.

JadziaDax

Everyone says programs but I just bought really cheap ones online, so it wasn't a huge expense. 

I'm glad we didn't book a photobooth- I was going back and forth on this for a while. It would have been a lot extra and it wasn't missed at all.