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Over budget wedding!

michelle5234michelle5234
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in Nebraska-Omaha
Ok, so i'm new to this whole board's thing but really need help so here it goes.  When we started planning our wedding we had our budget planned out but then were told that it's your first wedding and in your twenty's and should invite almost everyone you know or knew.  Great in theory except that my fiancé and I are paying for our wedding on our own neither family is help financially and were both still in school and working full time.  Our small intimate wedding of a near 200 has grown to a 500 person guest list and seems to grow each day.  There's no one we can really cut out at this point but I need inexpensive ideas or DIY.  I'm not the most crafty person but to save money i'm willing.  I also don't want it to look cheap.  We really need to find way's to get back closer to our budget.  Are there any ideas from save the dates to center pieces or even invitations that anyone has??  Even great vendors in the area would be amazing!  Anything else is GREATLY appreciated as well!!  PLEASE!?!?!
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Re: Over budget wedding!

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    Chasity08Chasity08 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm sorry...but if you have a 500 person guest list...then I'm sure there are people you can cut. When you are on a budget that you have to stick with then there will be sacrifices that have to be made. And if that means that you can't invite your 2nd cousin twice removed, and that girl from your hometown that you went to that concert with that one time but haven't talked to in 10 years....then that's what you'll have to do. There are no rules stating "you have to invite every single person you know to your wedding." Your wedding should be shared by your closest friends and family.

    Also, I'm confused as to what you mean by "it's your FIRST wedding and in your 20's"...are you planning on having another wedding? I know I'm sure not. I plan on marrying my husband and staying with him for the rest of our lives. But if you don't then hey! To each their own.

    There are lots of great ideas on the DIY board and Budget Wedding boards, but in order to take advantage of those ideas you have to be able to realize what your budget actually is, and what it means to have a budget.

    Good luck.
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    michelle5234michelle5234
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    edited December 2011

    There are people we could cut we just haven't started yet.  And there is also a large portion of the list who are out of town and older relatives who wont attend it's just out of kindness to send them and invite.

    And absolutely NOT...it's is my one and only wedding and marriage.  When we first started figuring the wedding and guest list there was an etiquette book that said a first marriage done in your 20's should have someone from every part of your life.  Realisticly that can't happen unless we have a millionare godmother paying for the wedding and I think were just now realizing that. 

    Thanks!

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    vballbabe17vballbabe17 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I cut mine by asking could they pick me or FI out of a line-up? If not, then they don't need to be there.
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    Chasity08Chasity08 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nebraska-omaha_over-budget-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:79Discussion:1a7f780c-9a26-4793-a997-4e2568249150Post:46d152e3-c140-4437-924d-575694693cf9">Re: Over budget wedding!</a>:
    [QUOTE]I cut mine by asking could they pick me or FI out of a line-up? If not, then they don't need to be there.
    Posted by vballbabe17[/QUOTE]

    Hahaha. Nice =]
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    ayoung22ayoung22 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nebraska-omaha_over-budget-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:79Discussion:1a7f780c-9a26-4793-a997-4e2568249150Post:c556045e-345f-498b-9a51-df830978e4d9">Re: Over budget wedding!</a>:
    [QUOTE]There are people we could cut we just haven't started yet.  <strong>And there is also a large portion of the list who are out of town and older relatives who wont attend it's just out of kindness to send them and invite</strong>. And absolutely NOT...it's is my one and only wedding and marriage.  When we first started figuring the wedding and guest list there was an etiquette book that said a first marriage done in your 20's should have someone from every part of your life.  Realisticly that can't happen unless we have a millionare godmother paying for the wedding and I think were just now realizing that.  Thanks!
    Posted by michelle5234[/QUOTE]

    We thought the exact same thing when we made our guest list.  My in-laws, especially, had a large number of people who they swore wouldn't come because of distance, age, etc.  To everyone's surprise, most of them ended up coming.

    We found the easiest way to lower the price tag was to cut people from the guest list.  Not only is it fewer people to feed, you can get a smaller venue, purchase fewer centerpieces, etc.  We started our guest list with pretty much everyone we could think of inviting and cut it down to a number reasonable for our budget.

    Good luck! 
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    Chasity08Chasity08 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nebraska-omaha_over-budget-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:79Discussion:1a7f780c-9a26-4793-a997-4e2568249150Post:1a13a499-07aa-40e0-8920-d29a38d28274">Over budget wedding!</a>:
    [QUOTE]<strong>There's no one we can really cut out at this point</strong> but I need inexpensive ideas or DIY.
    Posted by michelle5234[/QUOTE]

    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nebraska-omaha_over-budget-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:79Discussion:1a7f780c-9a26-4793-a997-4e2568249150Post:c556045e-345f-498b-9a51-df830978e4d9">Re: Over budget wedding!</a>:
    [QUOTE]<strong>There are people we could cut</strong> we just haven't started yet. 
    Posted by michelle5234[/QUOTE]

    It looks as though you're confused. I think you need to sit down with your FI, decide what your budget is, and then decide how many people you can accomodate with that budget. Once you have that number, go through your guestlist and pick your friends/family/whoever that you couldn't imagine not being there with you on that day and start tallying it up (for lack of better words). There will always be hard decisions, and if you have a very strict budget then there will most likely be people that you wish you could accomodate but just can't. Good luck.
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    HuskerfanzHuskerfanz member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    200 people is not small or intimate, under 30 maybe.  Whoever pays, gets the say so don't worry about your parent's lists.  You can cut that guest list down.  We cut ours by establishing rules.  For example, only church people that we saw outside of church and not the whole church.  You definitely do not need to invite people from all parts of your life.  I would think it would be strange if I got a invite from someone I went to middle school with. 


    I'd sit down with your FI and establish a budget first and then decide how many people you can afford.  As exciting as a wedding is, it is really only a big party and what is most important is that you are starting a marriage so don't overspend and go into debt for one day.

    Once you get your list cut, you can look into options like Friday weddings or a afternoon/late evening cake and punch reception.  DIY flowers and invites saved me money.   Cut out things like save the dates that aren't necessary.  Thing about things that are unique for centerpieces to save money (flowers=usually expensive) so do candles or fruit or lanturns or something.   Once you know what you can spend, this board can help more with vendor suggestions. 

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    dimondsandlacedimondsandlace
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It is so do-able.  My husband and I had to cut a 600+ person guest list to under 250 since we moved our location from a civilian church to a military base.  Don't invite the entire family--unless you are close to the kids as well.  Don't invite someone you only talk to on Facebook.  Don't invite someone you have never met in person (parent's friends)
    I promise you can do it--it is hard but it is possible.

    As far as other saving money tips, use Craigslist.  It sounds cheap, but we pulled off our wedding using Craigslist and I've had multiple people tell me it was the most elegant wedding they have ever been to.  You can buy your dress on there for half of what you would have spent in the store.
    We bought our centerpieces off of Craigslist.--we used vases and water marbles with candles.  It was very simple but incredibly elegant.

    Get creative and be willing to cut in areas you might not think of.  We used fake flowers instead of real ones, we didn't serve a meal and did an early wedding so we wouldn't need to serve alcohol.  It's your day, have fun with it--you only do this once!
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    tgirl06tgirl06
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    Some money saving tips: Get your dress at Nebraska Bridal in Wahoo. All their dresses are under $300. My future sister-in-law actually just bought her dress at Goodwill. It sounds weird, but I just saw it and it's beautiful.

    I'm not crafty at all, but we made our own invitations and programs using lots of coupons from Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Silk flowers are also DIY-able if you are willing to put in the time. I also got champagne flutes and vases from area thrift stores, so that cut a big chunk of money.

    And remember to ask yourself if your guests will notice and/or care about all the little things people shell out big bucks for. If not, you can do without.

    Good luck!
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    JJWillis3JJWillis3
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm kind of in the same situation. Our budget has grown from us wanting 15,000 to now it being about a 25,000 wedding. We are paying for it all on our own and it's hard for us to make cuts. We have a 300 person guest list and I think we might have to cut back in that area. We are doing DIY invites. You can go to www.cardsandpockets.com to check them out if you'd like. There are other sites like this as well. Tons of info on these boards under the invites boards and DIY. We are going to try to purchase white cloth napkins and dye them on our own instead of renting them from our vendor (if it ends up cheaper). We might have to scale down our centerpieces too.

    There are small things that we really don't want to give up though. Like we are paying $500 for a shuttle so that our guests don't have to drive if they don't want to. But we don't want to cut that out because our venue is kind of out in the country and far from our town.

    We also have round paper lanterns that we are going to string acrossed the floor. They are charging us $350 for them. I'm not sure why they are so much so we are going to look into DIY on those or even cutting them. I really love them though. That's where it gets hard... making these cuts.
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    snh23snh23
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    As far as your guest list is concerned, make an A-list and a B-list. All the As are MUST HAVE PEOPLE, like immediate family, aunts and uncles who you have seen in the last year, and friends who you can't go a long time without talking to. B-list are the ones you could afford to cut. Trust me, if you planned on having 200, and are at 500, you are going to spend THOUSANDS more than anticipated even if you DIY on certain things. Also not that many places hold that many people (unless you go with the Qwest or MAC). Don't invite people just to invite them b/c you feel obligated to; that's when you run into trouble. Figure out what is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of your wedding that you absolutely refuse to cut out (like a great photographer, or a great videographer) and cut out the useless stuff (like spending a junk load on invitations). I know hobby lobby has a huge sale on their bridal items every once in a while so check with them on purchasing things from there. Also, check craigslist or on here for things for sale. Remember, its about YOU and YOUR FIANCE, not throwing a huge party for people you haven't seen in years :-) Good luck!!
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