Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul

Twin Cites Under $10,000 Weddings

I kind of feeling like doing a wedding around $8,000 is impossible.. Am I the only one who feels like that? If so What things have you done to meet your budget requirements?

Re: Twin Cites Under $10,000 Weddings

  • edited December 2011
    We did ours for right around $8,000.  We had a small wedding (invited 51, had 39 attend). Held our reception at a restaurant in their private dining room. Hired a fabulous photographer for just a few hours rather than all day coverage. Re-used pew flowers as centerpieces at the reception. Honestly, it was a gorgeous wedding. Nothing about our wedding day said "budget." If we had tried to do it with 150 people, things would have been skimpy. We wanted a small, intimate celebration and we did it very well. I still bought my dream dress at Monique Lhullier and DH got the four course meal with wine pairings he wanted at the reception.
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  • edited December 2011
    Some good money saving tips include having your wedding in the off season (Generally Nov-Mar), and having a Friday or Sunday wedding. Try to find as many people you know that you are personally connected with for vendors or people that can help out with certain aspects of your wedding (someone good with flowers, or planning/organizing events for a DOC, if you know anyone really talented with photography or videography, etc). Usually when you have a personal connection with someone, you are able to get a better deal.

    Also, negotiate! Most vendors are willing to cut prices a little if you do a little bargaining.
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  • hippoloverhippolover member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    We are having an off season wedding (January).  I got a used dress at a consignment shop.  We have also used all vendors that have been recommended by these wonderful ladies.  They have saved me a ton of money and a headach with bad vendors.  Also keeping the guest list down is important too.  We are having about 100 people. and of course DIY. I think almost everything I have gotten for the wedding has been on sale.  The budget board is great for posting sales. :)

    HTH!
  • jennipea382jennipea382 member
    1000 Comments Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    I'm hoping to do mine for under $10,000 too! I've been budgeting everything and right now I'm at almost $12,000 for the budget. I'm hoping to be able to cut money from each category when it comes time to buy it.

    Ways I'm going to (hopefully) save a lot:
    -FI is looking at a titanium ring, many of which he likes are $99.
    -DIYing a LOT! My sister is amazing with designing things and I have lots of friends that want to help. So everything I can do myself, I will!
    -No real flowers (or at least as few as possible if I do get some). They're expensive and just die anyways. I'm planning on doing alternative centerpieces (candles, fake flowers, etc), bouquets out of either created flowers (fabric, paper) or fake ones, stuff like that.
    -Possibly doing heavy appetizers instead of a plated meal. I priced out a sit down meal, buffet, and a variety of apps (mini sandwiches, chicken strips, crab cakes, sweet potato fries, and some other things) and it's cheaper to do the apps. And I'm not skimping on food at all!
    -At my reception venue they don't allow cash bars (this will save you money!). However, we are planning on providing beer and wine. Buying it on our own instead of from the venue is going to save us a TON! Also, a local bar owner offered to bartend for free (obviously we will pay him, but at least he won't be overpriced!).
    -Skipping favors. Ok, we might not skip them because my mom wants them and said she'd pay for them. But if she weren't, we wouldn't do them.
    -At our venue, cup cakes are cheaper than even a sheet cake. Check out your options!
    -Off season! We are doing a Saturday in March because it's way cheaper than June (what I really wanted). Fridays/Sundays are even cheaper but the more I thought about it, the more I want a Saturday!

    Hope that helps some! We haven't actually booked anything yet but we're in the process of booking our reception hall. So hopefully things work out the way we hope!
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  • edited December 2011
    My wedding was around 8K in MPLS! It is completely doable. I had a bunch of bells and whistles too carriage ride, pent house suit for the wedding night, ceiling draping, chair covers and sashes, ... I have details on my blog in my sig.
  • SSaltzman87SSaltzman87 member
    2500 Comments Third Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I'm trying to keep mine under $10k as well and have basically been cutting every corner possible.

    This is what I'm doing:

    -Chose a venue that lets you bring in your own vendors, therefore no minimums and less restrictions (although that does depend on the venue)
    -Using almost all of my own personal connections, FI's cousin has his own DJ company so we'll be using him. Also, my main workplace is in the same complex as a BBQ caterer and a gourmet chocolate place so I plan to use them for catering, favors etc.
    -Almost all of my paper goods will be made on Vistaprint using free deals.
    -My dress I got at DB for $99 and got my slip from a bride on Craigslist.
    -My shoes I got for $15 off the clearance rack at DSW.
    -My jewelry I got at wholesale pricing from a fine jeweler my work has bought merchandise from.
    -Thanks to my work, I also have access to a wholesale floral supply store and will be getting the supplies for my centerpieces from there.
    -Instead of real flowers (I'm not a fan of them anyway), I'm using fake flowers made from birchwood shavings. My bouquet is made out of them, and I bought several loose flowers to make my centerpieces. My bouquet was $60 including the shipping and insurance from the Philippines, a real flower bouquet can cost as much as $150 for just one.
    -My BMs won't have bouquets, I haven't decided what they'll carry yet or if they'll wear corsages.
    -Cut the guest list WAY back to just close friends and immediate family, much to my parents' chagrin.
    -I will get my hair professionally done, but will do my own makeup. I hope to spring for my BMs' hair or at least part of it.
    -We won't have a RD.
    -My invites will be a Vistaprint creation as well. I've seen WAY too many nice looking invitations get ruined by the post office, and I'd be pissed if that happened to something I spent good money and time on. My cousin's baby shower invite pretty much got massacred by the post office and barely got to me in one piece, and from what I could make of it- it was something she or my aunt spent a lot of money on down to the linen envelope.

    <a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Money Saving Tips"><img src="http://global.thenest.com/tickers/tt17ce82.aspx" alt="Anniversary" border="0"  /></a>

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  • graysquirrelgraysquirrel member
    2500 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    There is TONS of stuff that you can do. We did our wedding for about that. Here are some things that we did to save money.


    -- Stop listening to "the industry". It will tell you things that are not true and try to get you to buy things that you don't need. Go by what you like, not by what some magazine or tv show says.

    -- Find a venue that lets you pick your vendors. Pre-packaged things are easy but come with a price. We saved a TON by selecting our own caterer, for example. We used K&J and had an awesome buffet for $17/pp. We also supplied our own alcohol which was a big saver. We also had the wedding on a Sun and saved a grand.

    -- DIY what you can. This will almost always save you money. I did my own: flowers (literally saved thousands by doing this considering what we ended up with), invitations/programs (Michaels kits), favors, photo booth,BM jewelry, makeup, table numbers, etc. It takes effort, but it was worth it for us to save the money and I had a blast doing it

    -- Start looking for wedding stuff when you shop and utilize the dollar store & coupons. We bought our own plates on clearance at BB&B, for example, and paid less than it would have been to rent. The dollar store is great for vases, picture frames, etc.

    -- You don't have to spend a ton on fancy bridal salons for dresses or jewelry. I got mine on sale at Kolhs for like $12. I also got my veil on valueveil.com for around $8 and my slip on ebay. I got my name brand dress at Unique Bridal in Blaine for half off retail.

    -- Good photography doesn't always have to be expensive. There are lots of newer photogs trying to build portfolios. Check around with other knotties or try craigslist or art schools. We had ours done with full rights&epics for $500 from a friend who is new to the biz.
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  • jennipea382jennipea382 member
    1000 Comments Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    Oh.. I have some photographer recommendations as well. I'm not sure on pricing, but they are some friends that are newish to the business so are probably way cheaper. Here are their Facebook pages if you're interested:

    https://www.facebook.com/ZeeJayPhotography?sk=wall
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alyssa-Rei-Photography/137347334798
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Goodrie-Photography/130713395810
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  • Hey I found this late, but I too am attempting to plan a wedding for under $10,000.  I just got a proposal back from my dream venue and it was way more than my entire wedding budget.  Anyone have ideas of where affordable indoor venues would be in Minneapolis/St Paul area?  My fiance and I are planning a January wedding and would like ceremony and reception at the same place, so inside is a must.

    Any ideas??
  • What kinds of things are you looking for in a venue and how many people are you thinking?

  • I'm going to have about 200 people, maybe less.  I'm not even sure if I can do 200 people under $10,000.  I'm really wanting something classy and elegant on a budget.  All of a sudden, January 2015 feels like it is coming very quickly!
  • Hate to tell you but that is pretty quick!! The beauty of that is January 2 is a Friday so it'll be cheaper at ECC...One of their caterers is Classic Catering that at $15 pp for a buffet is very reasonable...Their beverage company is a bit more spendy but depending on what you're thinking for beverages/alcohol, it can be very reasonable.  They've got floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room so that definitely can help with decor costs, oh and Classic catering offers some pieces for decorations (votives, glass globes, mirrors and a few other things).  Depending on what you do for flowers or other centerpiece decor it can be very inexpensive and look good as well.  Personally, I'm doing silk flowers and spending about $500 for my flowers, girls, guys and decor flowers...It's a very doable venue for your budget though definitely depends on how you envision your wedding!  let me know if you need more ideas!
  • It's all in what you bring to the day that determines the classy & elegant.  $10,000 is actually a reasonable budget as long as you're smart about your pennies and regardless of your venue, you can still have what you want.  Consider a simpler venue but "dressing it up" a little or visa versa in choosing a nicer venue but going simpler on other details. 

    The church hall is the most underutilized reasonable reception site out there.  Since you're working with a Friday, there are a lot of options.  Best Western MOA was great to work with for a meet we had there.  Hudson House Grand Hotel was a great for my daughter's First Communion and they have rooms for larger groups available.  Wildwood Lodge in Woodbury is another option since there's hotel there too.  If you're up front with your vendors on what your top window for a budget is, they WILL work with you to pull it off.  Regardless of the vendor - I know from talking with the gal I use for flowers, if you're open, honest, and up front about your budget designing something that fits your image is SO much easier and reasonable!  Sam' Club is also a possibility for wedding flowers which I was surprised at how awesomely reasonable they are.  Same goes for cake, the more flex I've given to my baker friends the greater the final results have been (had a b-day cake made by Denny's 5th Ave. Bakery that I still can't get over how great of a job they did and for less than the budget I gave them to work with no less!).  If you're willing to delegate details and let vendors do what they do best, you can pull off an over the top amazing wedding!!

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