Time to start cutting things - Unfortunately

abilifyme

So we got the official word today that FI's company is downsizing which equals him being laid off in June.  Such sucky news for 2 individuals who are trying to fund a wedding!!!  My parents and his have offered to help out with the expenses, but it's inevitable that we will have to start cutting things to help decrease our wedding budget.  Any suggestions?  We talked with our planner about doing the following below, but I am trying to see where else we might be able to save:

1) Scratch the tent uplighting and stick with lots of candles
2) Have my friend who works for Smashbox do our makeup (she has offered to gift this to us in the past).
3) Stick withe plan of having my cousin (who is a NESOP alum) shoot the wedding photos.
4) Scratch the wedding videography.
5)Have my aunt alter my gown (though she struggles with Rheumatoid Arthritis a lot, she did offer)
6) Play the wedding music via iPod.
7) Cut out the wedding cake and switch to cupcakes (not sure if this any cheaper).
8) FIL's have offered to pay for flowers, catering, and host rehearsal dinner.
9) Parents have offered to cover our bar expenses and after wedding brunch.

Anything else we could be doing?

killian09

sorry to hear about this!  hope everything works out in the end.

just wanted to say that cupcakes are usually cheaper, so that is a good idea.

make sure you have access to a sound system for the ipod music, microphone, and someone who can MC the event as necessary (maybe a guest/friend?).

if you switch to non-floral or smaller centerpieces, that can save a lot.

good luck!

kedoo

oh bummer-- sooo sorry to hear about this!
I don't have any advice to offer- I just wanted to say "sorry"   That is never good news for anyone...

opalsky007

I just wanted to say sorry, and ditto everything killian said.

Cupcakes are nearly always cheaper than Boston cake prices--even if you go to my favorite shop, Kickass Cupcakes, they're $2.75 apiece (maybe even cheaper for a large order), which beats the pants off the price of a serving of cake.

You really do need to be very organized about your reception music, and have someone designated to be in charge of it, make announcements, etc. My single biggest regret from my wedding was not being organized about this. We walked into our cocktail hour and it was dead silent because the best man couldn't figure out how to start the music!

Nonfloral CPs, and even nonfloral bouquets and bouts can save you a lot. For CPs, think about things like lanterns and candles that you can purcase inexpensively. For bouquets and bouts, check out etsy for cloth, feather, and other creative designs.

Last, start trimming the extras--keep your paper products to a minimum by cutting out or DIY-ing programs, menus, escort cards, etc. Cut favors and OOT bags, or find a way to do them inexpensively. Don't get bogged down in decor, most venues really don't need much, and IMO, simpler is always better.

FutureMrsJRoberts

Oh, this is a bummer, maybe he will be able to find something by June - fingers crossed for you both. I'm kind of in a similar situation at the moment and our plans are a little up in the air so this is something close to my heart too. I've been reading a lot about how to cut costs so I'll comment here (because I'm bored in work too

1) Scratch the tent uplighting and stick with lots of candles
Christmas Tree does little tealights and holders for incredibly low prices. Also what about ropes of Christmas lights? You can totally do atmospheric lighting on yoru own. Maybe make sure you have a couple of groomsmen scheduled to decorate so you're not freaking out.

2) Have my friend who works for Smashbox do our makeup (she has offered to gift this to us in the past).
Great plan! Make sure you do a trial and take pictures. some department stores will also let you make appts and do wedding make up (essentially free, just maybe buy the lipstick or an eyeshadow)


3) Stick withe plan of having my cousin (who is a NESOP alum) shoot the wedding photos.
Has he/she photographed a wedding before? I'd almost be tempted to see if parents/FILs would switch their financial support from the day after brunch to photography. But if your cousin has experience then sounds great. Would he/she have back up equipment?

4) Scratch the wedding videography.
Yup - we're going to do this. So many people have good HD cameras now. Maybe pay a college student to watch a video on a tripod just so you have the vows?

5)Have my aunt alter my gown (though she struggles with Rheumatoid Arthritis a lot, she did offer) - cool!

6) Play the wedding music via iPod.
Agree with others - you'd totally have to have someone operate it and maybe have back up system? How would you make announcements?

7) Cut out the wedding cake and switch to cupcakes (not sure if this any cheaper). Agree - who eats wedding cake anyway!

8) FIL's have offered to pay for flowers, catering, and host rehearsal dinner.
9) Parents have offered to cover our bar expenses and after wedding brunch.
How lovely - you could also do a very low key RD and brunch?

I would skip favors and all the little junk things that are at so many weddings and they're nice but you don't need them, You could make a small donation to a fav charity (good for your taxes) and place a little note in a frame.

Good luck!!!

CCBelle

You are definitely on the right track!  And personally I chose to do cupcakes because I prefer them (and the price difference was an added bonus).  I think they are fabulous!

You can skip favors and fancy transportation.  I had my dad drive us to the church and DH drove us to the reception site.

You can limit the bar to beer/wine only.

Keep flowers to a minimum.  Reuse ceremony florals at the reception site.

Please be careful with your budget cutting techniques for photography and music.  I think those two aspects are critical.  But that being said, a good DJ is usually  affordable.  And you can pipe in Ipod music for the cocktail hour.

GL!!!

EKobrenski

That really stinks, I'm sorry to hear that!  Ditto everything pp said, but I also wanted to add that I comparison shopped everywhere for votives, and the cheapest I could find was on cudge.net.  Def check it out! 

abilifyme

Hi Ladies...thanks so much for the tips!  I had not even considered what we'd do for an MC if we did go the iPod route.

As for the photography, my cousin is an apprentice to an established wedding photographer and has done several weddings already.  Mine would be the first one she's done on her own, but I am happy with all of the work I've seen her do up to this point.

We will definitely be skipping favors and menus, etc.  I havent got the energy to pine over that sort of thing.

Also, I am blessed to have such an outpouring of support from my family, who have so graciously offered to help out with different wedding areas.

I've decided not to let any of this stress me.  We are going to get married no matter what anyway. 

jsychien

I'm really really sorry to hear the news.  But I think that you are taking a great attitude about everything.  At the end of it all, the most important thing is that you will be married.

All of your ideas and suggestions have been great.  I do have one suggestion that might not be doable for you, but it's worth thinking about.  If possible, you might want to trim your guest list.  At $50-$100 per head, the savings would add up quickly.  Also, you might want to not give your guests and option of bringing a +1.  

I hope everything works out for you.  June is still a few months off; hopefully he'll be able to find another job soon.

blinkeysgirl

Some things I am doing to cut costs is:

1- one of my BM's friends decorates cakes as a hobby and she is doing mine for 1 dollar a slice. Ask around and see if your friends know anyone

2- For the alter, I went and bought the plant stands at christmas tree shop for 13 dollars each and will go to a flower farm, there is one in Newburyport that I know of and just buy some sort of plant with loads of flowers on it. you could just get hanging plants and put then in a nice pot.

3- placecards and invitations I did myself bought the cardstock.

some florists will let you buy your own vase which can cuts costs. I am just using Stop and Shop flowers because I have an extremely low budget the total cost is like 700 dollars
mine:150, each bridesmaid is 40, the groom and groomsmen are 8 dollars each, the mothers are 16 each. I was able to pick like 8 different flowers as well

i've shopped around for alot of DJs and found some to be really reasonable around 500 dollars, maybe alittle more. If you don't mind putting a bit of work into, i know some DJs that only really have oldies, but also will only charge like 250 dollars. If you dont mind researching and making all the CDs for them to play. That way you'll still have them to make all the annoucments and the proper speaker system.

Maybe you can asks the parents how much they are able to give you, so then you can budget accordingly.

jacquikev

scratch the videoographer. my family all have them and have never watched them in their lives.