Very Much On A Budget...

beronicab · February 2010

My Fiance & I are paying for our own wedding. We would like to hopefully have our wedding for $2000 and under. The problem is when we wrote down all the necessary essentials for our wedding, the total price was quite overwhelming. The Venue, the dress, the invitations! I am very stressed at this moment. If any of you bride to be's have any websites or stores that have amazing deals, please let us know.

Thanks,
Bankrupt.

bkbadger · February 2010

Hey,

I am in the same boat, fiance and I are paying for our wedding on our own and it seems rather ridiculous how expensive things can be. We are using as many friends of ours as we can to help cut costs..A baker friend is making our cake, a couple friends of mine are going to be our photographers, etc. The more planning I get into ill send you any budget ideas i come across.

weddings are expensive...you are not alone in being stressed!!

Lady Circa · February 2010

You could rent out a pavilion in a park maybe for a location? Or there are places you can rent for events up in certain canyons here in utah. Also, I plan to diy alot of things, I was thinking about growing my own flowers and having them potted on tables etc instead of cut. I am also photoshopping my invites and such and will have them printed at a family friend's print shop on nice paper. Also for a wedding dress, if you aren't stuck on the idea of a real one, there are alot of beautiful gowns and cocktail dresses that you can find in white for 1,000$ or less. Also look up wedding classifieds and on craigslist, ebay, and etsy.

OpieSLC · February 2010

A $2,000 wedding budget sounds unrealistic unless you want to elope. Most weddings cost $20,000 with $5,000 being the minimum. The venue, dress, and invites are just the tip of the ice berg.

Venue - $1,000+
Dress - $300+
Flowers - $500+
Cake - $300+
Music - $300+
Food - $1,000+
Photography - $1,000+
Bridesmaid Dresses - ?
Gifts - ?
Transportation - ?

You can easy spend $2,000 on any one of these items.

Jigs1114 · February 2010

With 2K, you are not going to have a super fancy wedding, that's just how it is. But there is nothing wrong with that, you just need to figure out what is important to you to have and try to budget with what you have. Your going to have to get creative on just about everything to keep costs down. Buy a used dress, keep flowers to a minimum, bake your own cupcakes, make your own food, DIY invites...Its do-able, but you have to think small and simple.

carliejean85 · February 2010

The important thing is that you are getting married. $2000 is not unrealistic. You can throw a nice little party for that to celebrate, which is just what you are doing.
Anyone that tells you what you should spend on things either has ulterior motives (they want to sell you something) or they are caught in the materialistic mindset of thinking that you need all the trappings of a "traditional" wedding to prove your love and commitment.
I wouldn't worry about trying to make it look fancier than what you can afford. Just focus on what is important to you. The people that love you want to see you just being happy.
Being a gracious hostess and caring about the guests at your party are more important than hiring the right photographer or wearing a designer dress.

bkbadger · February 2010

i definitely agree with carliejean85. What i have found that really helps is for you both to make a list of what is most important about your wedding and not worry so much about the little details that can add up and cost you a fortune. What should be important is that you are starting your life with the one that you love and money shouldnt be the center of that. You can easily have a nice and unforgettable wedding for a fraction of the price of what is "standard wedding price" there are millions of ways to cut costs for wedding. Being with those you love is what is most important

lyndsy81 · February 2010

The biggest thing you can do to cut your wedding costs would be to cut your guest list. I have been planning for the past 9 months or so and here are a few of the tips I have come across during my planning:

Weekday weddings are much cheaper than weekend weddings
The Pierre Lasonde House at Fort Douglas is small but is only $500 to rent for the entire day. The larger Commander's House is $1000 for the whole day.

For Centerpieces, the biggest thing is to cut down the amount of flowers you are using. Have you checked out submersed flower centerpieces? Google it and see what you think. I bought 12" vases at the dollar store, clear stones at Michael's for $1.99 on sale, and submersible LED tealights for the bottom for $2.19 each @:
http://www.100candles.com. Then you just buy a few flower stems for each and you're done. They were uplit from the LED underneath and then you can put a floating candle on top.

For catering, breakfast is the cheapest meal to serve. I went to a breakfust/brunch wedding at Memorial House a few months ago and it was a very nice change!

If you are going for a dinner meal, Good Day Catering had the most reasonable prices and their food is absolutely delicious! Their website is www.gooddaycatering.com

For a wedding dress, I lucked out at David's Bridal. I went in just to look one day and the very first dress I tried on I fell in love with but it had a price tag of $1000. The consultant then told me it was on sale for $199! Score! I think if you go and really spend some time searching you'll come across a good deal too. KSL.com's classified also has TONS of wedding dresses for sale at a discounted price.

To DIY Invitations, http://www.cardsandpockets.com/ has great specials and prices. I bought my pocketfolds and envelopes there and found them to be the most reasonable. I am having a friend with Adobe Illustrator design the invitations and printing them myself.

The biggest thing though that has really helped was planning a year in advance. This has made it so my fiance and I have been able to spread out the cost. We put down our deposit on our reception venue first and then the other half isn't due until the wedding. Then a few months later we booked our photographer, and then the caterer, putting down half and then paying the rest before the wedding. We've been able to pay for everything in cash using this method and it has been much less of a financial drain on us.

Firehouse Floral is also a gem in Salt Lake City. They do not have a website or anything but they are very reasonable for flowers and do beautiful work! OH! And if you need table linen http://www.tableclothsfactory.com/ is also very reasonable.

Good Luck!

carliejean85 · February 2010

Breakfast sounds so great! Those were amazing ideas Lyndsy.
Also, what about not doing actual flowers for a centerpiece. There are lots of ideas that could be cheaper, like fruit in a container.

Anne1387 · February 2010

Look for a fairly cheap venue. :-) The Spruces campground is lovely, but I think only $200 or so? I'm not positive on that pricing. Look at weekdays, they are cheaper.

Choose your top priorities, and choose what you are willing to skimp on. I didn't have an enormous budget - definitely nowhere near the supposed "20,000" brides are spending. I knew I wanted a great photographer and nice pictures. I knew I wanted some good food. I prioritized my budget that way, so I felt really satisfied with the things that were most important to me.

Good luck!

keirimonkey128 · March 2010

I'm trying to stay under $2,000 too, and what is helping me is knowing a lot of people who can do things for me. My brother-in-law is a photographer, a friends mom makes wedding cakes, and things like that.

I am also making many things myself, or with help, like the invitations and favors.

Also I went to a second hand store for my wedding dress and was able to find a really nice one that fit's me perfectly for less than $200. Most people only ever wear a wedding dress once, so a second hand store can be a good place to find one in good condition for a small price, you just have to hope you can get lucky and find something great!

My last piece of advice is just to do a lot of research before you buy something so you know you are getting a good deal. I was surprised at how reasonably priced the craft store Michael's is for Wedding things. some things I could have gotten for about the same price online, but getting it at the store cut out the shipping charges.

futuremrsthing2 · April 2010

wow those are some great ideas. i'm on a very low budget to and this really helps alot!

NiikaNZ · April 2010

I love the idea of getting people you know to help you.

You can get friends to do things like flowers, cakes, DIY invitations, sewing, photographs, hair & makeup (even someone that isnt trained but you might admire their makeup often!), the list goes on...

I've been to the weddings of friends who have been on small budgets, and the most common thing I found was that they held a simple dessert&dance later in the evening for their reception (at about 7pm - just make sure your guests are aware that its not a sit down dinner, you dont want them to turn up disappointed cos theyre hungry!). That way, you're not worrying about paying for meal courses and you dont even have to hire a DJ, you could do the music yourself by getting an iPod playlist together to last the duration of your celebration.
In between the ceremony and reception, the bride and groom had organized a dinner at a family members home for the close family (about 20 or so). This doesnt have to be extravagant either!

happy planning!

saltcakecity · May 2010

I got into caking because I had seen so many wedding cakes gone bad (which is why cakewrecks is such a huge hit). I would suggest trying not to skimp on the cake. The cutting of the wedding cake tradition is one that almost everyone does so letting a friend or relative make the cake usually isn't the best idea. Because I know how expensive weddings are, I keep everything affordable at Salt Cake City. Delivery is kept at a minimum and pick up is free. Cake base "rentals" are free, and there are no extra charges for multiple flavors or fondant (which is made out of marshmallows so that it actually tastes great). Feel free to contact me with any questions because I try really hard to work with my brides on a budget to make sure they get a great cake for their perfect day without spending too much. You can check out www.saltcakecity.com for more information as well. Good luck!

2trumpets · July 2010

I would suggest renting a gown to anyone and everyone. I got my dress at Gowns by Pamela (they have locations in Provo and Salt Lake, and will ship a dress where you need it to go if necessary) for $400. That 400 dollars includes EVERYTHING - alterations, cleaning, petticoat, veil, and some other things. Renting is just cheaper all around: you don't have to pay to have it preserved properly and you can still get a phenominal look without the associated price tag. Good luck with planning!

HopeLovesTravis · December 2010

I'm on a slightly larger budget but not by too much. I just wanted to say that if you take some time to relax and breathe and just pray it will help! I am just asking God to help me be happy with the look of the wedding but to please help me be happy and focus on the most important stuff. I want something beautiful even though I am not super materialistic. I think He understands that and will take care of us budget brides so we get the best of both worlds. Good luck!

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