Where are you cutting in YOUR budget wedding?

wellnow · February 2016

I assure you only family that offered will be working (mainly because that's what they do for a living and they enjoy it and includes 3 family members). My FI and I will be making the bulk of it. Our small catering company is well equipped to handle this.

glasgowtolondon · February 2016

wellnow said:

I assure you only family that offered will be working (mainly because that's what they do for a living and they enjoy it and includes 3 family members). My FI and I will be making the bulk of it. Our small catering company is well equipped to handle this.

Lucky them.

I get it, you want to save $$'s, but don't you want your loved ones to enjoy celebrating with you and not having to work? Just because someone offers doesn't automatically mean you have to accept. I mean you're spending more on photos that you are on treating your guests well! That's all kinds of wrong.

wellnow · February 2016

Actually they do consider it lucky them. You shouldn't make presumptions about how my family feels about it. They specifically offered to make a specialty dish they know my FI and I absolutely love. It's one of the many ways they are choosing to show us how much they love and care for us. And my FI and I are making the bulk of the food, which are dishes our family and friends love. We're highly trained and capable of cooking for large crowds. Just because we can do it for such a low cost, doesn't mean it wouldn't cost much more if we hired it out. Typically we'd have to charge $3500 for the food being provided. That's the beauty of being able to DIY out of your own catering business.

But of course, you're entitled to your opinion glasgowtolondon. May you have health and happiness.

[Deleted User] · February 2016

wellnow said:

Actually they do consider it lucky them. You shouldn't make presumptions about how my family feels about it. They specifically offered to make a specialty dish they know my FI and I absolutely love. It's one of the many ways they are choosing to show us how much they love and care for us. And my FI and I are making the bulk of the food, which are dishes our family and friends love. We're highly trained and capable of cooking for large crowds. Just because we can do it for such a low cost, doesn't mean it wouldn't cost much more if we hired it out. Typically we'd have to charge $3500 for the food being provided. That's the beauty of being able to DIY out of your own catering business.
But of course, you're entitled to your opinion glasgowtolondon. May you have health and happiness.

I think she just gave you a Bless Your Heart, glasgowtolondon. Bless her heart.

glasgowtolondon · February 2016

Sure put me in my place! Good luck with your wedding, hope the unpaid help enjoy themselves.

[Deleted User] · February 2016

we're probably going to have to cut our photographer which makes me incredibly sad since i am a photographer..but we just can't afford it..i'm trying to be chill about it..but it's really depressing...food is more important to us and we're already over budget...god..reality checks are bummers..lol

[Deleted User] · February 2016

Our wedding wasn't really a "budget" wedding (about 15k), but we found many ways to save. We live in a large and expensive urban centre.

Guest List - had a smaller wedding (just under 60 guests). since we didn't skimp on food and alcohol, this is definitely where we saved most of the money - it would have been much more expensive to invite everyone on the first draft of the guest list

Dress - bought off the rack and required minimal alterations (the salon cut more than 50% off the dress because i bought it off the rack)

Makeup, Hair, Nails... - did my own makeup and nails, my mom offered to do my hair

Photography, Venue, and Flowers - got married in the winter so we got a $2500 photography package for $1000, the venue cut the $1000 rental fee, and our florist cut the cost by 60%

Flowers - limited to one small arrangement per table and bouquets. didn't specify flowers - gave florist a budget, some pictures for inspiration, and let her do her thing (they were gorgeous!)

Decorations - chose a venue that was already beautiful so didn't have to decorate much (small flower arrangements on tables and then candles everywhere… it was an evening winter wedding so we were going for a cozy and romantic feeling). did our own table arrangement display (stained wood thing from michaels, string, clips, and high quality paper), used a friend's old birdcage for cards...

Invitations - designed and printed them at home (simple typographic style, very high quality paper (minor splurge!)) (we have a high quality printer at home for work)

Alcohol - unlimited wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, but no liquor

Honeymoon - drove to NYC for two nights

Rings - husband negotiated a simple gold band to be included in price of engagement ring (which was also not insanely expensive), new local jeweller (artisan) offered a great deal on husband's wedding band

Didn't have - special dessert, DJ (iPod and venue's sound system!), transportation

Splurges - excellent photographer, delicious food

VanessaCharlotte · February 2016

The main things we are cutting in our budget is stuff like flowers, decorations, hair, nails, and my dress.

With flowers, we are only having a basic boutonniere for him, and a simple bouquet for me that I am putting together myself. (I love to DIY, and I want simple flowers I can easily press to have preserved afterward). The budget for this is $50.

No decorations whatsoever as it's a simple elopement with only a few guests in a cute garden. No expensive venue fee, it's pretty cheap.

I am getting my hair professionally trimmed, but I will be dying it myself as I always do. My pampering before the wedding will also be stuff I do at home (Lush Fresh Face mask for $7? Yes please.)

Make-up though? I am going to a pro make up artist as I wanna look super great for my photos! I'm paranoid that my everyday makeup I do myself might not look good under professional photo lenses..

And my dress is only $175, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Plus I actually truly do prefer my cheap gown to more expensive stuff on BHLDN and other higher up sites.

We are on a super limited income. I'm even taking a part-time job just to save up for the honeymoon and photography because the honeymoon and photograper are the things I refuse to cheap out on

RomanceManaged · February 2016

We haven't had to cut too much out, as we are very blessed to know people with businesses in the wedding field. One of my sisters friends owns a bakery, and offerred to do our cake for the cost of supplies, FI's best mans mom is a DJ, and I made friends with the photographer who did a shoot for me not too long ago. I gave them a great review and as a thank you they are only charging me $100 per hour with a free video shoot, photobooth, and a print package.

Our catering includes all food, tables, chairs, ect. Almost everything but alcohol and what we are wearing the day of for $1900, and FI's parents are paying that as a wedding gift. Our biggest expense has been the alcohol, honeymoon, and invitations.

The invites were supposed to save us money ($15 template from Etsy), and my goal was to print them at home or Staples, but I couldn't find the correct paper measurements, so I had to have them done professionally.

lovesclimbing · February 2016

Invitations - went with Wedding Paper Divas. A simple flat invitation and went with standard envelopes and paper. They had a sale so we saved $30 and ended up spending just $211 for 130 invitations. We enclosed a photo, which we had printed at Shutterfly. At the time (and I think they still have it) they had a deal for 50 free 4x6 prints for new customers, so we ended up getting 130 prints for $20!!

Clothing - ordered online from Simply Bridal and spent less than $300, including alterations. Shoes were inexpensive but cute from Amazon. Bought H dress pants, tie and vest set and shoes for pretty cheap at Sears. My mom made the wedding party attire, so it was much cheaper to buy the material and a pattern than if we had bought it ready-made. I don't remember how much it cost.

Decor - borrowed a bunch of cut glass bowls from my aunt, floated a tealight and rose petals in each. Also had those glass pebbles in our colors on the tables and plain white pillar candles that we wrapped ourselves with ribbon in our colors. For the ceremony space, we rented some candelabra and an arch and had two large bouquets at the front of the church. Also, used ribbon to make bows for all the pew ends.

Photography - used my cousin who was still building up her photography business and was beginning to expand into weddings, so it was pretty inexpensive.

Food - cake and punch, no bar.

Venue - it was my grandparents church, so the fee was drastically less than it would have been.

Music - iPod. No dancing allowed in the church.

Makeup and hair - everyone did their own and we helped each other with it.

[Deleted User] · February 2016

I work at a museum that's known for a big 1920s mansion on the property. Normally for the rental fee it's 10k for the gardens, museum, ballroom, and house. Doing a Friday night instead of a Saturday, along with my staff discount saves 5k. Liquor is at wholesale cost. Bar staff is way discounted. Tables and chairs inside are free (but we had to rent outdoor chairs.) that's the biggest expense other than catering. We got a 25% discount on that since the museum does so much with this company. Still around 9k, but for cocktail apps and family style service with two entrees and glassware and linens it's not that bad for 160ppl.

dress was $250 on clearance from DB. My FI's suit was $199 from Macy's on clearance.

Doing the the flowers and decor myself. Centerpieces only have substantial flowers for half--half are spray painted branches with tissue paper cherry blossoms in floral foam in a DIY mercury glass vase with greenery filler. The other half are vintage math and history text books from eBay for $2-7 each, with a Mercury glass vase and ivory and coral roses with seeded eucalyptus. For all the flowers and decor I prob would have spent $3-4k to go through a florist and get decor from caterer , instead for all the 18 centerpieces and all flowers I'm spending about 1k (decor also includes chalkboards, candles, table numbers, potted tall branches with tiny fairy lights to line the hallway and a million other things.)

photography was discounted about 25% since we used a friend of a friend. Included engagement/wedding with 2nd shooter for 10 hours/photo booth/follow up session or bridal session for $1600. Still pricey but overall a better deal than some I've seen.

DJ: we splurged and got the 2nd best DJ in ATL. That's what my fiancé wants since the music is most important to her. He's doing lighting too. The first choice wasn't available...not sure how much he cost but it was a lot.

Cakes: doing 7 small cakes versus one big one. Total was $400 for enough to feed 160ppl.

Favors: $2 each. 3oz jars of local honey.

no rental cars. We live nearby so we are getting an Uber to the venue and to our hotel.

Invites via zazzle. Free shipping, and I only ordered when they were 50-60% off.

BM dresses were $59 from DB. Doing my own makeup. Friend doing hair.

I know there are tons of DIY bride as that say "im gonna make it and sell it after the wedding and get my money back" but sometimes that does work, especially if goodwill is your BFF and you have an eye for estate sale rejects.

The big table for the 24 ppl in the wedding party/plus ones is decorated with silver, pewter, and glass candlestick holders that I fetched at goodwill for $3 or less. One as it turns out is Tiffany, and sells on eBay for $60-80. A Bombay silver candle holder retails for $60, paid $3. So I'll sell that later. Bombay silver teapot and Adams silver teapots (about $50-75 each) were $4. Art Deco ceramic coffee and tea canisters run about $40 each on collector sites for this style, but I paid $4 each. Those will be the vases for our bouquets. Im loaning a bunch of stuff to a gal pal for her wedding a week after mine. After that I'll do a massive FB yard sale and if I get a hundred bucks for the vases and candles and potted fairy light trees, I'll be happy. Im not expecting to break even, just make a dent. I expect it'll take a while to sell the collectibles and that's ok.

Ill probablh sell the books, unless we make something out of them. My partner teaches math, so the math books are a surprise!

OurWildKingdom · February 2016

chateaubradfield said:

I know there are tons of DIY bride as that say "im gonna make it and sell it after the wedding and get my money back" but sometimes that does work, especially if goodwill is your BFF and you have an eye for estate sale rejects.

The big table for the 24 ppl in the wedding party/plus ones is decorated with silver, pewter, and glass candlestick holders that I fetched at goodwill for $3 or less. One as it turns out is Tiffany, and sells on eBay for $60-80. A Bombay silver candle holder retails for $60, paid $3. So I'll sell that later. Bombay silver teapot and Adams silver teapots (about $50-75 each) were $4. Art Deco ceramic coffee and tea canisters run about $40 each on collector sites for this style, but I paid $4 each. Those will be the vases for our bouquets. Im loaning a bunch of stuff to a gal pal for her wedding a week after mine. After that I'll do a massive FB yard sale and if I get a hundred bucks for the vases and candles and potted fairy light trees, I'll be happy. Im not expecting to break even, just make a dent. I expect it'll take a while to sell the collectibles and that's ok.

Ill probablh sell the books, unless we make something out of them. My partner teaches math, so the math books are a surprise!

I need to go thrifting with you, @chateaubradfield! Your centerpieces sound awesome too!

[Deleted User] · February 2016

OurWildKingdom said:

chateaubradfield said:

I know there are tons of DIY bride as that say "im gonna make it and sell it after the wedding and get my money back" but sometimes that does work, especially if goodwill is your BFF and you have an eye for estate sale rejects.

The big table for the 24 ppl in the wedding party/plus ones is decorated with silver, pewter, and glass candlestick holders that I fetched at goodwill for $3 or less. One as it turns out is Tiffany, and sells on eBay for $60-80. A Bombay silver candle holder retails for $60, paid $3. So I'll sell that later. Bombay silver teapot and Adams silver teapots (about $50-75 each) were $4. Art Deco ceramic coffee and tea canisters run about $40 each on collector sites for this style, but I paid $4 each. Those will be the vases for our bouquets. Im loaning a bunch of stuff to a gal pal for her wedding a week after mine. After that I'll do a massive FB yard sale and if I get a hundred bucks for the vases and candles and potted fairy light trees, I'll be happy. Im not expecting to break even, just make a dent. I expect it'll take a while to sell the collectibles and that's ok.

Ill probablh sell the books, unless we make something out of them. My partner teaches math, so the math books are a surprise!

I need to go thrifting with you, @chateaubradfield! Your centerpieces sound awesome too!

Find the wealthy part of town and hit that goodwill! Buckhead (the north part of Atlanta) has two good ones, and another is near my apt that seems to have some good things pop up. It helps that we live near Georgia tech ($$$ parents) and SCAD ($$$ parents too!) so the kids dump stuff at goodwill versus packing it up when they graduate. We also shamelessly dumpster dive. And by "dive" I mean I get things that have been left on the street--like a practically brand new IKEA dresser that retails for $250. And lamps!

scrunchythief · February 2016

chateaubradfield said:

OurWildKingdom said:

chateaubradfield said:

I know there are tons of DIY bride as that say "im gonna make it and sell it after the wedding and get my money back" but sometimes that does work, especially if goodwill is your BFF and you have an eye for estate sale rejects.

The big table for the 24 ppl in the wedding party/plus ones is decorated with silver, pewter, and glass candlestick holders that I fetched at goodwill for $3 or less. One as it turns out is Tiffany, and sells on eBay for $60-80. A Bombay silver candle holder retails for $60, paid $3. So I'll sell that later. Bombay silver teapot and Adams silver teapots (about $50-75 each) were $4. Art Deco ceramic coffee and tea canisters run about $40 each on collector sites for this style, but I paid $4 each. Those will be the vases for our bouquets. Im loaning a bunch of stuff to a gal pal for her wedding a week after mine. After that I'll do a massive FB yard sale and if I get a hundred bucks for the vases and candles and potted fairy light trees, I'll be happy. Im not expecting to break even, just make a dent. I expect it'll take a while to sell the collectibles and that's ok.

Ill probablh sell the books, unless we make something out of them. My partner teaches math, so the math books are a surprise!

I need to go thrifting with you, @chateaubradfield! Your centerpieces sound awesome too!

Find the wealthy part of town and hit that goodwill! Buckhead (the north part of Atlanta) has two good ones, and another is near my apt that seems to have some good things pop up. It helps that we live near Georgia tech ($$$ parents) and SCAD ($$$ parents too!) so the kids dump stuff at goodwill versus packing it up when they graduate. We also shamelessly dumpster dive. And by "dive" I mean I get things that have been left on the street--like a practically brand new IKEA dresser that retails for $250. And lamps!

Yay lamps! They're also really easy, normally, to rewire, especially floor lamps. So even if it doesn't work, it's usually an easy fix.

And we also live near a college, so if we need furniture, we hit up goodwill, dumpsters and sidewalks around move out time:)

Pinksatin91016 · March 2016

Good topic!

Dress: Was going to go with a cropped lace top I already have and just buy a tulle skirt on etsy but I decided I'd miss having a real wedding gown. I looked at David's Bridal. Didn't love anything. Found a floofy tulle ball gown that is what I dreamed of for $300 on eBay. Cheaper than anything I even half liked at David's.

Venue: My aunt is graciously hosting the wedding at her house on a lake in the country. There is a parking lot next door for fishermen that guests can use. We have to rent a tent and tables and porta potties and everything but I still think we will save. I think I need to give her a few hundred dollars as thanks for her trouble even though she offered and isn't expecting to be paid.

Invites: Save the dates were done via phone call (so free with my plan). Invites are so far $65 for Cards of Wood remnant wood veneer paper including the shipping, envelopes are $31 including shipping from envelopes.com (no discount code for either since I didn't know any

). Printing and trimming I expect to be about $40 or less. I am going to a local printer I've used for other projects and they have the best prices in town. I am designing it myself since I am a freelance graphic designer when I have the time (almost never honestly). I think after postage it should be about $200 which doesn't sound cheap to me, but they will be pretty cool cards.

food: I don't actually think it's cheap. It's about $25/person. It's a family member of a family member (like my aunt's brother in law, not related to me). It's catered buffet-picnic. Like Italian sausages, meatball sandwiches, grilled chicken, mac and cheese, etc. Cake um... Idk. I don't really care or want one. If my mom wants one she can buy it herself. I'd just serve cookies or something.

drink: Beer and wine only. Probably we'll buy it at Sam's Club.

Decor: Using white christmas lights my mom, family members and I have collected from our own homes. I didn't make centerpieces or anything yet since it's 6 months out but i think floating candles sound cute and cheap. We've been saving pickle and jam jars just incase too! We will make a Chuppah but I think the supplies are at least $75 for birch branches and pots for cement and all that. I'll just use my tallis from my bat mitzvah for the top.

Music: We want to buy a karaoke machine and have that instead of dancing. I haven't decided on a machine yet but it looks like nice ones are only like $150.

Hair and makeup: Definitely DIY. I love makeup! I am pretty good at it too if I don't say so myself! I want my mom to braid my hair in a crown/wreath /milkmaid braid. She's good at braids. SO are some of my cousins if I don't like how she does it. I am less adept at hair. I will paint my nails myself. The only thing is I will get a couple facials in the months leading up to the wedding. Just because I love them, haven't had one in a while and it's a nice treat and good excuse for a pampering!

Officiant: He will be $650 which is a splurge but I think it's worth it since it's honestly the most important thing. We were going to have a family member do it to save money but decided it was too important and I would regret not having a jewish wedding with a rabbi.

Honeymoon: skipping that. It's not important.

Photography: Disposable cameras. Maybe a formal portrait after the fact from a local photographer. Like not-the-same-day after the fact. Didn't do engagement photos. Not planning on any.

No rehearsal dinner or wedding party. No vehicles being rented.

I think that's mostly it!!!

scrunchythief · March 2016

Pinksatin91016 said:

Venue: My aunt is graciously hosting the wedding at her house on a lake in the country. There is a parking lot next door for fishermen that guests can use. We have to rent a tent and tables and porta potties and everything but I still think we will save. I think I need to give her a few hundred dollars as thanks for her trouble even though she offered and isn't expecting to be paid.

Music: We want to buy a karaoke machine and have that instead of dancing. I haven't decided on a machine yet but it looks like nice ones are only like $150.

(Quote cut down for length)

@Pinksatin91016, I just had a few tips, to hopefully save you even more money:)

For the venue, definitely price out how much renting a tent, tables and porta potties, linens, table service, glasses, etc will cost. We rented a Knights of Columbus hall for about half of what renting a tent alone would cost in our area. Also, I bought our linens from Smarty had a Party, because it was actually cheaper than renting them for us, and then we can reuse them.

For the karaoke machine, you can sometimes rent them too! My dad rented one for my 16th birthday party for about $50. But if it's something you'd like to keep, I say go for it. I kind of want to buy a karaoke machine myself now:)

Good luck!

OurWildKingdom · March 2016

Take two:

- FW is having her dress made, but I'm buying either a dress or a suit that I can wear again (dressy enough but not over the top)
- Afternoon ceremony and reception, with sandwiches, crudités, fruit, cheese, maybe some pizza, and cake
- No alcohol or soda, but plenty of water, coffee, iced tea, lemonade, and punch
- Ceremony and reception in same location
- Making our own Save the Dates, invitations, and programs
- Decorations either DIY or from thrift stores or Craigslist
- No DJ; I created playlists and will upload them to FW's iPad
- DIY flowers

I offered to pay our officiant, but she insisted that her services are her gift to us (she is a good friend of FW)

Gwendolyn1986 · March 2016

I'm trying to stick to a budget of about 6000 with around 75 guests, here is where I'm at so far:

Venue: 1500, includes tables and almost enough chairs, we will have to rent 30. The venue is so gorgeous though that I will barely have to do any decorating - its in a 100 year old historical masonic lodge with great lighting, hardwood floors, chandeliers, lounge area, etc.

Food: Planning on a mexican buffet (his fam is mexican) and it looks like it will only be around $15 per person!

rings: ordered his online for $150, I have an engagement ring from my great grandma and my wedding ring was custom made to fit around it for $200 (i got a discount because we used my dad's wedding ring [divorced] for the gold).

dress: i bought an on-sale reception dress from bhldn for $500, not the cheapest but I love it!

shoes: tradesy, used gold pumps for $50, cost $260 new

photographer: super lucky here, my brother volunteered to take photos as his wedding gift, he's a professional photographer who does amazing work

decor: the space doesn't need much, I think I'm just going to dip the bottoms of multi sized pillar candles in gold paint, arrange them in the center maybe with rose petals around or something.

alcohol: we are paying for a bartender but can provide our own alcohol, so I think we will get a keg or two of beer, wine, and maybe only offer two alcoholic mixed drinks to guests

no limo, just going to use our car or take a cab to a hotel

invitations: my FI does graphic design and is going to design them himself, he's super excited about it

hair/makeup: getting a free trial for makeup at the nordies counter

veil: I saw an awesome birdcage veil on bhldn for $200 bucks, I bought the fabric online and made one for $20 instead! and I still have tons of extra fabric!

lnixon8 · March 2016

Gwendolyn1986 said:

I'm trying to stick to a budget of about 6000 with around 75 guests, here is where I'm at so far:

Venue: 1500, includes tables and almost enough chairs, we will have to rent 30. The venue is so gorgeous though that I will barely have to do any decorating - its in a 100 year old historical masonic lodge with great lighting, hardwood floors, chandeliers, lounge area, etc.

Food: Planning on a mexican buffet (his fam is mexican) and it looks like it will only be around $15 per person!

rings: ordered his online for $150, I have an engagement ring from my great grandma and my wedding ring was custom made to fit around it for $200 (i got a discount because we used my dad's wedding ring [divorced] for the gold).

dress: i bought an on-sale reception dress from bhldn for $500, not the cheapest but I love it!

shoes: tradesy, used gold pumps for $50, cost $260 new

photographer: super lucky here, my brother volunteered to take photos as his wedding gift, he's a professional photographer who does amazing work

decor: the space doesn't need much, I think I'm just going to dip the bottoms of multi sized pillar candles in gold paint, arrange them in the center maybe with rose petals around or something.

alcohol: we are paying for a bartender but can provide our own alcohol, so I think we will get a keg or two of beer, wine, and maybe only offer two alcoholic mixed drinks to guests

no limo, just going to use our car or take a cab to a hotel

invitations: my FI does graphic design and is going to design them himself, he's super excited about it

hair/makeup: getting a free trial for makeup at the nordies counter

veil: I saw an awesome birdcage veil on bhldn for $200 bucks, I bought the fabric online and made one for $20 instead! and I still have tons of extra fabric!

Do you mean two types of signature cocktails or guests are only allowed 2 mixed drinks throughout your entire reception? If the latter I would suggest against this. You can make a tasty sangria from inexpensive wine and brandy and let people drink whatver they want all night.

Gwendolyn1986 · March 2016

@lnixon8 Two types of drinks! so I only have to have two kinds of hard alcohol instead of stocking a full bar instead of wondering how many people are whiskey drinkers and how many like vodka. No doubt the people attending will have more like 6-12 mixed drinks lol

Pinksatin91016 · March 2016

Gwendolyn1986 said:

@lnixon8 Two types of drinks! so I only have to have two kinds of hard alcohol instead of stocking a full bar instead of wondering how many people are whiskey drinkers and how many like vodka. No doubt the people attending will have more like 6-12 mixed drinks lol

I'm thinking of doing the same thing now too but with beer, wine, and one sig. cocktail.

scrunchythief · March 2016

Pinksatin91016 said:

Gwendolyn1986 said:

@lnixon8 Two types of drinks! so I only have to have two kinds of hard alcohol instead of stocking a full bar instead of wondering how many people are whiskey drinkers and how many like vodka. No doubt the people attending will have more like 6-12 mixed drinks lol

I'm thinking of doing the same thing now too but with beer, wine, and one sig. cocktail.

I kind of wish we'd done this. We did the full bar, and it didn't get used that much, which was weird for my family. There was a longer line for cake than the bar. But, then I wouldn't have had my bourbon, neat, so:)

Cheermom84 · March 2016

We got to sit down with my mom and MOH over the weekend and so far this is what we are planning.

Dress- My mom is very good at sewing she offered to make and pay for the material for my daughters dresses. She also offered to make my dress and pay for half the material costs of mine. She is guessing that will be about $300 for my dress so I will spend about $150. We are going material shopping this summer with FMIL, myself and my mom so I will know the final cost then.

Flowers- My mom is a bookkeeper for a flower chain in her city and when she told her boss I was getting married he offered a bigger discount then the normal employee discount since she has worked there for years and he knows us as our wedding gift. We will order bouquets and flower hair wearthes for my daughters made there and single stems for the tables and bouts. We will make the bouts (FI wants shotgun shell bouts) and will be using wild flowers that are in season.

Ceremony- we will have an 11am ceremony followed by a brunch reception. We will also be having a dry reception and no dj/dancing. We plan on having yard games set up outside and just a radio inside to play some background music. This is the first we know of for our area to do this but FMIL and my mom are on board for the idea as well so they can socialize with family without having to shout over a DJ.

Officiant- My church one will do it for free and he is also out next door neighbor. We plan on getting him and his wife a gift certificate to go out to dinner and a movie.

Photography- My cousin's wife use to have a photography business and now only does it for family. She offered us engagement pictures and our wedding pictures for just the cost of the prints. We are planning on giving her and my cousin a gift certificate for dinner and a movie and offer to babysit their kids the night they chose to use it.

Food- we are doing brunch buffet and will be making most of it ourself with the help of his aunts and my aunt's who offered. We will also be hiring my daughters cheer team to work the day of and giving the money to their team as a fundraiser to either pay more mats for practice or use towards their competitions.

Venue- I am suppose to call today to find out the cost and set up a time to go see it. We live in a very rural small town so it won't be a lot compared to the city to use. It is an old church that the town now owns and they have turned the old classrooms in it into sleeping areas, they mostly use it for family reunions but it can be used for weddings as well. so we will also be offering that for out of town guests to use for the weekend. Since it will be free to them to use FMIL wants us to ask if the people who stay there to help us with set up and clean up in exchange for staying for free. Not counting on this though.

Centerpieces- we will use mason jars with single stems in them. After the wedding we will be giving the jars to ladies in the area that can.

Invitations- we will get STD from shutterfly and will be making our own invitations. We will also print out our own programs. No seating chart we will have it open for people to pick for themselves and just a menu board up near the buffet.

Groom attire- we are going for casual, we will be buying him new jeans and a new button up white collar shirt. No tuxes.

We want to be able to have more guests, it's important to us to invite all our families and friends so the biggest cost savers for us so far is my dress and daughters dresses, no dj or dancing and no alcohol and serving brunch food over dinner.

lnixon8 · March 2016

Cheermom84 said:

We got to sit down with my mom and MOH over the weekend and so far this is what we are planning.

Dress- My mom is very good at sewing she offered to make and pay for the material for my daughters dresses. She also offered to make my dress and pay for half the material costs of mine. She is guessing that will be about $300 for my dress so I will spend about $150. We are going material shopping this summer with FMIL, myself and my mom so I will know the final cost then.

Flowers- My mom is a bookkeeper for a flower chain in her city and when she told her boss I was getting married he offered a bigger discount then the normal employee discount since she has worked there for years and he knows us as our wedding gift. We will order bouquets and flower hair wearthes for my daughters made there and single stems for the tables and bouts. We will make the bouts (FI wants shotgun shell bouts) and will be using wild flowers that are in season.

Ceremony- we will have an 11am ceremony followed by a brunch reception. We will also be having a dry reception and no dj/dancing. We plan on having yard games set up outside and just a radio inside to play some background music. This is the first we know of for our area to do this but FMIL and my mom are on board for the idea as well so they can socialize with family without having to shout over a DJ.

Officiant- My church one will do it for free and he is also out next door neighbor. We plan on getting him and his wife a gift certificate to go out to dinner and a movie.

Photography- My cousin's wife use to have a photography business and now only does it for family. She offered us engagement pictures and our wedding pictures for just the cost of the prints. We are planning on giving her and my cousin a gift certificate for dinner and a movie and offer to babysit their kids the night they chose to use it.

Food- we are doing brunch buffet and will be making most of it ourself with the help of his aunts and my aunt's who offered. We will also be hiring my daughters cheer team to work the day of and giving the money to their team as a fundraiser to either pay more mats for practice or use towards their competitions.

Venue- I am suppose to call today to find out the cost and set up a time to go see it. We live in a very rural small town so it won't be a lot compared to the city to use. It is an old church that the town now owns and they have turned the old classrooms in it into sleeping areas, they mostly use it for family reunions but it can be used for weddings as well. so we will also be offering that for out of town guests to use for the weekend. Since it will be free to them to use FMIL wants us to ask if the people who stay there to help us with set up and clean up in exchange for staying for free. Not counting on this though.

Centerpieces- we will use mason jars with single stems in them. After the wedding we will be giving the jars to ladies in the area that can.

Invitations- we will get STD from shutterfly and will be making our own invitations. We will also print out our own programs. No seating chart we will have it open for people to pick for themselves and just a menu board up near the buffet.

Groom attire- we are going for casual, we will be buying him new jeans and a new button up white collar shirt. No tuxes.

We want to be able to have more guests, it's important to us to invite all our families and friends so the biggest cost savers for us so far is my dress and daughters dresses, no dj or dancing and no alcohol and serving brunch food over dinner.

How old are the cheerleaders? Can you just pay them to stay longer and clean up? I'd rather pay for a hotel than stay in an old classroom and be expected to clean up after everyone.

Cheermom84 · March 2016

lnixon8 said:

Cheermom84 said:

We got to sit down with my mom and MOH over the weekend and so far this is what we are planning.

Dress- My mom is very good at sewing she offered to make and pay for the material for my daughters dresses. She also offered to make my dress and pay for half the material costs of mine. She is guessing that will be about $300 for my dress so I will spend about $150. We are going material shopping this summer with FMIL, myself and my mom so I will know the final cost then.

Flowers- My mom is a bookkeeper for a flower chain in her city and when she told her boss I was getting married he offered a bigger discount then the normal employee discount since she has worked there for years and he knows us as our wedding gift. We will order bouquets and flower hair wearthes for my daughters made there and single stems for the tables and bouts. We will make the bouts (FI wants shotgun shell bouts) and will be using wild flowers that are in season.

Ceremony- we will have an 11am ceremony followed by a brunch reception. We will also be having a dry reception and no dj/dancing. We plan on having yard games set up outside and just a radio inside to play some background music. This is the first we know of for our area to do this but FMIL and my mom are on board for the idea as well so they can socialize with family without having to shout over a DJ.

Officiant- My church one will do it for free and he is also out next door neighbor. We plan on getting him and his wife a gift certificate to go out to dinner and a movie.

Photography- My cousin's wife use to have a photography business and now only does it for family. She offered us engagement pictures and our wedding pictures for just the cost of the prints. We are planning on giving her and my cousin a gift certificate for dinner and a movie and offer to babysit their kids the night they chose to use it.

Food- we are doing brunch buffet and will be making most of it ourself with the help of his aunts and my aunt's who offered. We will also be hiring my daughters cheer team to work the day of and giving the money to their team as a fundraiser to either pay more mats for practice or use towards their competitions.

Venue- I am suppose to call today to find out the cost and set up a time to go see it. We live in a very rural small town so it won't be a lot compared to the city to use. It is an old church that the town now owns and they have turned the old classrooms in it into sleeping areas, they mostly use it for family reunions but it can be used for weddings as well. so we will also be offering that for out of town guests to use for the weekend. Since it will be free to them to use FMIL wants us to ask if the people who stay there to help us with set up and clean up in exchange for staying for free. Not counting on this though.

Centerpieces- we will use mason jars with single stems in them. After the wedding we will be giving the jars to ladies in the area that can.

Invitations- we will get STD from shutterfly and will be making our own invitations. We will also print out our own programs. No seating chart we will have it open for people to pick for themselves and just a menu board up near the buffet.

Groom attire- we are going for casual, we will be buying him new jeans and a new button up white collar shirt. No tuxes.

We want to be able to have more guests, it's important to us to invite all our families and friends so the biggest cost savers for us so far is my dress and daughters dresses, no dj or dancing and no alcohol and serving brunch food over dinner.

How old are the cheerleaders? Can you just pay them to stay longer and clean up? I'd rather pay for a hotel than stay in an old classroom and be expected to clean up after everyone.

They will be high school age, I guess I didn't make it clear my not counting on this was because I was going to look into other options since this wasn't my idea. Not because I would tell people "instead of getting a hotel which the nearest ones are about an hour away you can stay at the venue for free but you have to work." I was going to make an accommodations card with the offer to stay at the venue and hotel recommendations and their distance from us. Even if no one stays at the venue I am not going to complain we are going to pay $400 to have it Friday-Sunday and it includes tables and chairs.

MWVD · March 2016

We have not finished planning and won't be getting married for a year but frankly we have saved a bunch of money already! I found a photographer who has decent pictures and was running a special so we are getting engagement and all day photos for $800. I bought my dress for $500 and it is actually a "prom" dress but is solid white and beaded. It looks like many of the wedding dresses I had my eye on. Our reception venue is a new and smaller place but it's only $800 and the owner will help with some of the day of wedding coordinating without extra charge.
So far the total is $2,300 including the church rental fee. but not including my engagement ring.
We will also being doing cupcakes from the grocery store for $100
and probably flowers there as well so budgeting another $50.

Hny65 · March 2016

@wellnow : Some people don't understand that some families and friends strongly desire to help if they can and sometimes you can't stop them, lol. Mine helped and they're awesome and know they were appreciated.
-
Our guestbook is a nice looking journal from Barnes and Noble. Not everything has to look "wedding-y"

indigo26 · March 2016

We're getting married in July so we've pretty much got everything ready by now - we've got a budget of 6,000 for 86 people.

Dress - got on clearance from David's Bridal and it needs minimal alterations. Bought the long-line bra and petticoat off ebay. Total cost - $400

Venue - includes tables and chairs and setup. $800

Caterer - includes tablecloths, setup, serving, and cleanup as well as all non-alcoholic drinks. Caterer is bringing a bartender and we are providing beer and wine. (first splurge) Total cost $2800

Favors - Koozies (I know they're not popular here, but our crowd loves them) $77

Flowers and centerpieces - getting flowers from Hobby Lobby half off. Centerpieces are thrift shop vases, starfish, and seashells (mostly donated from friends/family, some were bought at end of season sale last year). Total cost $200

Paper - invites, STDs, and escort cards from Vistaprint with a coupon. $100

Cake - our second splurge. Found a baker who will do gluten-free so we're getting two cakes so everyone can enjoy. Total cost plus delivery $400

Photographer - friend of a friend for about four hours day of. $500

Those are the major expenses. Stuff like the cake cutting set we bought from a thrift store. Our guest "book" is actually two wooden anchors we're painting and having everyone sign - they'll hang in our hallway after the wedding. We just figured out what was most important to us (good food, drinks, and cake) and budgeted more for them. We don't care about dancing so there'll be background music and people can mingle or enjoy the lake.

Nienna · August 2016

Everything. Guests will be his mother and mine, possibly one of my aunts. It's my second wedding (I'm a widow) his first, so both he and his mother are insisting on me wearing a wedding dress. He was my childhood sweetheart but we weren't officially allowed to date at the time. Everybody knew we wanted to be together. His mother didn't like me back then. Eventually they moved away and told me that he was dead. I married someone else, who had an essentially terminal case of lupus. During my marriage I reconnected with my current fiance, and as my husband already knew that he would die early he was fine with that, he just wanted me to be loved. He even asked the guy to marry me. When I lost my husband I lost everything essentially. We're both really poor.

So basically it's Justice of the Peace, dress limit of less than $200.

Viczaesar · August 2016

@Nienna, please don't bump old threads.

Where are you cutting in YOUR budget wedding?

Re: Where are you cutting in YOUR budget wedding?

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