Wedding recap: how I saved money in DFW

haley05aggie

While it's still fresh on my mind, here are a few things that may help the brides looking for vendors. We got married at Northeast Wedding Chapel on 9/25. I'm sure other people have found better deals, but I feel like I got a good value for what I spent:

Photos on my blog: http://cardiganjunkie.blogspot.com/2010/11/wedding-recap-party.html

1. I used Rohmer's Restaurant in Muenster for catering. Everyone raved about our food, which was not fancy but very home style. We had chicken fried chicken (and grilled), green beans, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls and tea/water for $8 per head for 150. That is an unbelievable price! They were on time, super helpful, and cleaned up after themselves.

2. It's cheaper to buy linens than to rent them. This site will be your friend: www.efavormart.com I got my 72" square table cloths to go on top of the black linens at my venue and paid $6 each and then sold them for $4 each. My satin runners were $2.50 each. You can also search "wedding" on craigslist every day and find all kinds of things as well as on the Dallas/Ft Worth community on theknot.com.

3. We skipped using a florist and got flowers at Dallas Wholesale Flower mart - hydrangeas were about $1.25 per stem and our total floral bill was $400 and we had a lot of flowers. Hydrangeas are easy to arrange and take up a lot of space so you need fewer of them.

4. You can buy glassware and vases for $1 each at Dollartree.com if you buy a case of 12. Shipping to a store is free. They also have plates, but we ended up going with thick clear plastic ones from Costco b/c we needed to clean up quickly.

5. I kinda wish we'd gotten married at Rose Chapel in Ft Worth. It was prettier, cheaper, and they don't do multiple weddings in one day. We had to have a rehearsal at 2pm on Friday b/c of all the weddings going on.

6. Get a photobooth if you have room in the venue/budget. This guy mentioned giving Aggie discounts for his photo booth - www.cowtownphotobooths.com I am SO glad we had one, everyone loved it and now I have a scrapbook full of photos and pages people decorated, which is more fun than a guest book

7. Candy buffets are cheap and everyone keeps saying how much they liked it. Favors ended up running about $1 per head. We got mesh drawstring bags from efavormart.

8. For bridal alterations, call Ruth Calvert. She does them out of her home in Plano and I paid $150 for a hem and french bustle and I've seen people pay upwards of $350 for the exact same thing.

9. My dress was a Maggie Sotterro sample from A Bridal Closet in Plano. You try on the actual dress you'd be buying and they are the styles from last year, so they're super discounted. My dress was $399 and would have originally sold for closer to $1000

10. My cake was from Texas Star Bakery in Hurst. They did a fantastic job, everyone kept saying it was the best wedding cake they'd ever tasted. We had a two layer cake and 3 half sheets and paid $300 including delivery and setup.

11. I made my own programs in MS Word and printed them on card stock at Kinko's for $11. I put two side by side on regular 8.5 x 11 paper and had it cut in half lengthwise. They looked just fine!

12. Save the Date magnets were $1 each including envelope from www.magnetstreet.com

13. Perfect bridesmaid gift under $30 (the girls loved them): http://www.ballarddesigns.com/ballard-tote-bags/accessories/tote-bags/42338

14. I opted for a wedding day coordinator to handle setup and cleanup and she was under $200 and totally worth it!

15. I had a system of labeled plastic bins that contained decorations and items for reception/chapel. Each bin also had instructions on where its contents should go. Each person helping out was in charge of unpacking/packing about 3-4 bins and it worked perfectly.

16. We couldn't afford a band, so we made playlists on my mac and had a friend be an unofficial deejay.

17. My bridesmaid dresses were black strapless dresses from The Limited for $55. The girls were very happy with them and everyone ordered her own online.

18. Instead of renting tuxes, my husband found a buy one get one free suit promotion at Mens Wearhouse and, after checking with the groomsmen, they all decided to buy the same black suit and each paid for half of one (about $200) and then got to keep it. We bought them ties as part of their gift and they wore their own shoes.

19. My photographers were www.krauskaphotography.com I feel like we got a great deal - good quality and the rights to our own photos.

I'll post more as I think of it, but let me know if you have questions or want to contact anyone I mentioned. Good luck!

Jay&Marissa

Great tips! Though Becky Fowler still beats anyone for alterations--she did a hem, custom sleeves, sewed in cups, and made a gorgeous bustle for a little over $100

fallbride1109

Wow, these are some great tips and I love your blog too.  Everything looks great.  Do you have all your pics yet?  I'd love to see more! 

The only thing I would caution brides about is the candy buffet.  While the way you did it WAS economical, if a bride wants candy using only her wedding colors, it will be much more.  I spent twice what you did on mine.  It's helpful to see what the difference can be though.  And while I agree Becky is cheaper, it is great to hear of another affordable option for alterations, as Becky is not convenient for everyone.  Thanks so much for sharing!

DFWIndian

Sounds like you did a great job on a budget. Who did you use for your DOC? It would be great to see pics.

Tiffany618

Sounds like you did a wonderful job, congrats!

I also agree with Stephie about the candy bar.  We did all pink, and I even shopped after-Valentine's and Easter clearance and it still cost a fortune.

Glad to hear there is another good alterations person.   Becky did my double french bustle and sewed in cups for me for $75.

bsn1752

Thanks for posting this!  It's really nice to hear great ways to save money. I believe that I am going the Wholesale Connection way too!

brooke.anne

I would like to know who you used as DOC, also! 

Thanks for all the great tips!

MLandCJ

I wanna know who you used for DOC too!

haley05aggie

Thanks ladies!  My coordinator is named Gwen and I think she did a great job.  I'm not going to post her email on the internet, but you can send me a note at aggiehmf at hotmail dot com and I'll send you her way. 

I will post more pics online - I just got them back yesterday.  So exciting!

StarrDust2130

Okay this may be totally lame, but I was just out to eat and had this brilliant idea, doesn't help me any because I already bought some.... but anyhoo.

For people who are going to buy any type of coloring book or type thing to keep kids busy, well at restaurants they have the kids coloring menus with crayons already. and if they aren't too lame you could "snag" a few! Of course ask them first! I'm sure they would not mind if you took a few. And then maybe a few from another restaurant??  Just a thought?!?! If the kids are young enough they won't really care i dont think, i mean crayons and something to color is all i think they will care about ya know?!

anyhoo like i said just an idea i had while out to eat a few min ago, so i thought i would share, might save someone $15!