Cutting costs...

Falling4U2013 · November 2013

I'm months into planning the wedding. I've found a church and a hall that I've fallen in love with, but with the amount of people we need to invite and our location our costs have gotten a little out of hand. We have done wonders staying grossly under budget but when we add in the cost of food that the hall is requiring to cater it tosses our budget thousands of dollars over what was intended. I am doing a lot of DIY projects and have recently been out of work for multiple surgeries. My fiance and I can't afford what people are expecting and we can't ask our families for help....

What can we do that allows us to keep the church we love that is located halfway between our families?

OliveOilsMom · November 2013

Falling4U2013 said:

I'm months into planning the wedding. I've found a church and a hall that I've fallen in love with, but with the amount of people we need to invite and our location our costs have gotten a little out of hand. We have done wonders staying grossly under budget but when we add in the cost of food that the hall is requiring to cater it tosses our budget thousands of dollars over what was intended. I am doing a lot of DIY projects and have recently been out of work for multiple surgeries. My fiance and I can't afford what people are expecting and we can't ask our families for help....

What can we do that allows us to keep the church we love that is located halfway between our families?

Have your tried to work with the catering portion of the hall. Tell them our food budget is x, can you work with me on that? See what they say. Otherwise, you will need to find a new reception venue.

If you can have your ceremony in an off time, you won't have to serve a full meal. For example, if your ceremony is at 2 pm, you can go right into a reception of desserts and appetizers. You can still have a DJ with dancing, but the reception will probably end around 5 pm. You can also have a later ceremony start at 8 pm, then have just a dessert reception.

Also, think about limiting alcohol to beer & wine only or have a dry reception. That will help you stretch your food budget too.

HisGirlFriday13 · November 2013

Take a good, long hard look at the people you 'need' to invite. See if you can cut the guest list in any way.

If you're inviting people to make your or his parents happy and they're not paying, then axe them.

AddieCake · November 2013

Ditto PPs. And what do you mean "what people are expecting"?

Senecaf · November 2013

The church is not connected to the hall correct? If so try to get any money back and find a new hall. And this time around make sure you get realistic food and beverage estimates from the venue before booking with them. If that isnt an option, cut you guest list or change time of day.

As PPs mentioned. Don't do what people expect, do what you can afford

misssunshine17 · November 2013

Eat your deposit and plan something cheaper. Coffee and cake at 2:00pm is a classy affair.

SP29 · November 2013

Agree with the above.

1) Work with the current caterer and ask what they can do for X budget.

2) Cut your guest list.

3) Plan the reception at another time- either in the afternoon, have a lunch reception or a "cocktail" reception later in the afternoon- or later in the evening, either a "cocktail" or desert reception.

4) Find a new reception hall that you can afford.

It can be a difficult realization when you discover how much it actually costs to host the number of people you want. Many brides and grooms have had to make hard decisions, which result in decreasing what you "wanted" and/or the guest list. Good luck!

crunchymamaof2 · November 2013

First, there is truly no one you "need" to invite. If you're paying for the wedding you get to control the guest list. So downsizing that would help with costs, but this will only work if you haven't sent STDs, Invites, or verbally invited the people you'd cut.

Second, how on earth did you not figure out the food and beverage portion before booking your venue?

There are a few must haves for any wedding. An appropriate amount of food needs to be served for the time of day, guests shouldn't have to open their wallets whatsoever (so no cash bar, skip alcohol entirely if you have to), and the environment should be comfortable (IE seating for everyone and heating/ac/etc when necessary). Everything else can be skipped or skimped on to save. You don't need flowers, fancy décor (even DIY stuff if it starts adding up), use an iPod instead of a DJ, change your day/time/month, don't have lots of bridal party members, have a sheetcake, etc etc.

Everyone else has given great suggestions. It seems like you started backwards so you may need to start fresh if the caterers aren't willing or can't accommodate your budget.

[Deleted User] · November 2013

DIY will help save your money on many things, try to keep things simple. I think there is something to be said for simple & classic.

PolarBearFitz · November 2013

Things we did to cut costs:

We cut the DJ and are doing a timed iPod playlist. I have read the proper ways to do this and we also conveniently have a PA system we can use. Obviously we have the added free bonus with the PA but you can rent system's like this for cheap! Always have a backup plan though and test the equipment. This saved us thousands!
Bought favor boxes on sale at Michael's. Instead of 30 some odd dollars we paid 18 per boxset of 50. I am individually writing our names on the labels instead of printing to save money on toner for later. Seems silly but toner is pretty expensive.
We are sticking to a number of guests we can afford to have. Unfortunately this is the big one. When you have sit down dinner the guest count can drive up your cost quickly. Close friends and family for us only.
We found a venue that includes food and location instead of catering to another venue we liked.

Not sure if this will all help but it may get your mind flowing with ideas? I would advise as some PPs have to do an early afternoon wedding and then do hors d'oeuvres or have a morning wedding then punch and cake?

hoffse · November 2013

Think about doing brunch instead - get married in the morning, let people come to the hall for brunch for a few hours, and then be on your merry way. Perks:

1) "Off-peak" weddings usually have lower rental fees

2) Brunch food is less expensive than dinner food

3) At brunch, nobody would expect alcohol. Even those who like mimosas wouldn't expect mimosas to be available. That will save you a ton. And if you find that once your numbers are in, you can spring for champagne, then mimosa it up

4) You won't be completely, utterly, 100% exhausted and ready to just sleep by the end of it

5) People like it - brunch weddings are becoming increasingly popular in my circle and there is something so classy and dignified about them. Most people I know who have been to one actually prefer it over an evening wedding because it doesn't kill their entire day. As important as your wedding is to you, I would rather go out with my H alone any given evening than attend a wedding, KWIM?

6) If you are leaving for the honeymoon the next day, you have an afternoon/evening to pack and decompress before that adventure starts. This means you aren't spending the first day of your honeymoon sleeping the wedding off in the hotel.

So yeah. Brunch wedding totally has my vote. And in fact, if we could go back and do it again, this is probably what I would have chosen to do.

krizzo17 · November 2013

1. Skip the limo. Rent a town car to get you there if you'll already be in your gown, or drive yourself and get dressed at the church. Drive off in the groom's car. You don't need a limo for the bridal party, parents, etc.

2. Downsize flowers. Get yourself a bridesmaids bouquet, get any bridesmaids a single flower with a spray of baby's breath. On your bouquet alone, you'll likely save over $100. Make non-floral centerpieces, or look for some on craigslist.

3. Skip favors all together, the reception is all you need to thank your guests for their presence at your ceremony (though you'll still need to write thank-you cards for gifts)

4. Buy plain white thank you cards at the dollar store or Michaels.

Anaelsea · November 2013

Budget European wedding i went to recently: 250 guests is a church at 1pm, the reception in the church annex with champagne, mini cheesecakes, chocolate truffles and a walking violinist, two long tables with tiny appetizers, two large floral arrangements, everyone mingles and it was great. No five course meal, to them a huge wedding seemed silly (it was in Paris).This type of wedding is hugely unpopular on The Knot boards, so no backlash please, keep in mind in europe they dont do engagement rings or huge weddings like we do. Im just trying to help by suggesting this type of wedding as a budget friendly option. And since it was in the afternoon, noone asked about dinner, and the appetizers were great. No backlash please.

krizzo17 · November 2013

Anaelsea said:

Budget European wedding i went to recently: 250 guests is a church at 1pm, the reception in the church annex with champagne, mini cheesecakes, chocolate truffles and a walking violinist, two long tables with tiny appetizers, two large floral arrangements, everyone mingles and it was great. No five course meal, to them a huge wedding seemed silly (it was in Paris).This type of wedding is hugely unpopular on The Knot boards, so no backlash please, keep in mind in europe they dont do engagement rings or huge weddings like we do. Im just trying to help by suggesting this type of wedding as a budget friendly option. And since it was in the afternoon, noone asked about dinner, and the appetizers were great. No backlash please.

There isn't going to be backlash against this - it's only when there are receptions like that at a meal time that more is expected! With a 1pm ceremony, I'd eat an early lunch and expect snacks at the reception unless otherwise noted on the invitation. This is exactly what everyone is suggesting for this bride!

KeptInStitches · November 2013

@anaelsea, that sounds like a lovely wedding!

short+sassy · November 2013

@anaelsea, I am slobbering all over my keyboard at the thought of a light Parisian reception with elegant French desserts and appetizers, lol. Awesome!

Domestic1inDE · December 2013

aefitz29:
Any insight as to where you read up on using a timed ipod??

Thanks!

Cutting costs...

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