Need Help

[Deleted User]

I have been on my own for 46 year and now I am engaged and have to plan a wedding with no money saved up for a wedding  I don't want to go broke but want something nice.  Any suggestions? 

2dBride

If you have only a few people, you can take them out to a nice restaurant after the ceremony, and still not spend a whole lot of money.  We had our reception in the private dining room of a Legal Sea Foods.

right1thistime

Step one of planning any wedding (or any event, frankly) is to set a budget.  Since you and your Fi will be footing the bill, an open conversation about how much money you can save by the time of the wedding is an important one to have ASAP.  Once you have that information, you can then plan what you can afford.  IF you want more, you can postpone to save more money.  ~Donna

coralee715

Go low key, buy used items from the classified section here or craigslist.  Do a cake only reception.  Barter.  Do you have a skill you can offer to someone else in lieu of a service they can do?

mnmsnjas

Do everything yourself. Small is key.
I am in the same boat, I have been a single mom with 2 kids (for 8 years)  my sons girlfriend moved in last summer,  and now their daughter(who is a week old). Being the sole provider for 5 now is a lot of work!!!

I have been laid off 3 times in the last 4 years. I have zero money saved and am starting a new job next week, thank goodness. But planning a wedding is no fun.
My fiance is a dr. however he just made his last school loan payment yesterday and doesn't have a ton of money. We are using one credit card which is one that earns miles, when we got engaged in October we started using his card, I now have my own. As soon as we use the card we try to pay it off. Which works and we are earning miles to take a family trip to DisneyWorld this summer.
I have a bankruptcy so no credit for me. But its the only way we will be able to pay for everything, but we will earn free plane tickets by June 1.

I know not everyone can do that but its an idea.

My key is ebay. My first wedding was the same way but my parents paid for my dress and the reception(which is 3/4 of the budget) I spent about $6,000 on that wedding and 5000 was just for the ceremony/recpetion which were held at the same place. the other $1000 was spent on the favors, decorations, etc....

EBAY!!! Craiglist has a lot of services as well.
My biggest saver are the flowers, I am allergic to practically every type of flower so not fresh real flowers for me anywhere... so silk flowers are the way for me which will save me about $500.00, They look just as pretty as real.
I am making my own invites, programs and favors. my daughter who is 11 will be my honorary MOH and my best friend is my moh, plain cocktail type dress a friend is making for me which saved me a lot of $$ and my best friend, My fiance is having his best friend and my son as his attendings, its sweet. Also not doing tuxes. Dress shirt and dress pants with tie but not tucked in lol just not their style. but it saves money too.

Cake - huge money for a cake... this might sound weird and silly but I am honestly ordering mine from Sams Club. I love their cakes, really delicous. Sams also does flowers.... just an idea.

We have a very LOW budget so sticking to it is key!!!!

I also started using coupons and my fiance matches what I save and it goes to the wedding fund....

I am telling you if I can find a way to cut corners, stay traditional and have a beautiful wedding, I will do what i need to!

mnmsnjas

also check the DIY board on here. I just saw a clever idea.. open house reception... actually sounds like a good thing. maybe have a nice wedding with the importatnt people and open house could be for everyone.. hmmm thought  I would share