Hello all!
My fiance and I (like the title states) are both college students and thus on an extremely tight budget. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or advice on how to make this work. We are shooting for June 1st. I am already handmaking what stuff I can (like the basket for the flower girls and pillow for the ring bearer) but I could really use some advice on other things that are not so easy to come by. For one thing - I have NO idea who will marry us. I want it to be an ordained minister rather than a clerk or justice of the peace but a lot of ministers wont do it because we are of different beliefs. Ive thought about asking a friend if they might want to become ordained and do it but I don't really know anyone who would want to. Any ideas? Also the location is a big hurdle for us. I would like to have it somewhere where we can have the ceremony and reception in the same place and have a pitch-in type reception. We plan on probably having just a one-night-getaway at a hotel for our honeymoon for now. I just dont know where would be cheap and where would allow that. He suggested the little park by his house but I don't know how or if a place like that can even be reserved. (We live in central Indiana in case anyone needs to know or has a suggestion for that area) Thanks for your help in advance all!
Re: Marrying on a college budget.. Advice?
Not sure how it would go over having a pitch in for a reception. You might want to think about having your wedding around 2 and in that way, you could do a cake and punch reception which will be a huge savings.
Most churches have reception halls so you might want to think about trying that out. We got married in my church and had the reception there as well to keep the costs down. However we were fortunate in having friends that prepared the dinner for us. We just paid for the food. As for keeping costs down, think about what is important to you and go with experts for those but for everything else, DIY projects. As for another location possiblity, I was in Brownsburg for a symposium and found out they do weddings/receptions in the Crowne Room at the Strong Building. It is a nice place to have a reception. Another place you could try is in Greenfield called Heartland Resort. It isn't fancy but has two banquet halls for $600 and $700: http://www.heartlandresort.com/
As for an officiant, check out www.heartlandcelebrations.com Katherine use to be an associate pastor for our church. Or you can try www.aonespiritwedding.com
Hope that helps.
http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/DPR/Amenities/Documents/Facility%20Room%20Rentals%202012.pdf
I hope this helps.
The Inn at Forest Park in Noblesville is supposed to be very reasonable. I'm not sure if they let you do a pitch-in type of meal or not but the building has been remodelled and is supposed to be really nice.
Forest Park has two beautiful buildings that are really reasonable and overlook the golf course. There is "The Lodge" and "The Inn" at Forest Park. Both have a kitchen and it doesn't sound like you have to use any certain caterer unless you plan on serving alcohol. I'm sure you could work out the "resident" issue for cheaper rates (email me at bsteele25@comcast.net). Probably the best view and the best pricing around. If you look at the deck it would make a lovely ceremony site at "The Lodge", depending on how big your wedding is going to be. Here is the link:
http://www.cityofnoblesville.org
Go to "City Services", then "parks and recreation", then "The Lodge" or "The Inn at Forest Park"
Just a thought....