Wedding Planning

My husband and I planned our wedding in a 6-month period and payed for it by ourselves as well. It ended up costing about $8,000 – and that was really low budget (we had about 100 to 150 guests at our wedding).

If you really want to "do it right", then save up until you have enough money to give yourself the wedding you really want. If you want to have the husband and wife title then get married at the courthouse now, and then have a real wedding later when you have more money. Or just throw a reception at a later time (since the ceremony part is usually the least expensive and to most people, the most boring part of the wedding – everyone wants to get the reception!).

You can save money by having your wedding at a free location – like someone’s backyard. You can rent decorations, tables, etc. to save costs – but sometimes you can buy it cheaper than you can rent them.

Do a lot of stuff yourself – from making invitations, to RSVP cards, to favors, to decorations.

Good luck!
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By Everett's Valentine on Oct 23, 2009

1. Keep the wedding party down to only your closest friends/family.
2. Keep the guest list down to only those who mean the most to you.
3. Don’t buy a REAL expensive dress.
4. As far as flowers go, don’t decorate the whole church, just have flowers you and your bridesmaids are holding.
5. Don’t plan a sit down meal reception…serve finger food.
6. You can buy a kit at Walmart to print your own wedding invites.
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By Dog Owner of 2 on Oct 23, 2009

you could get a dress from a second hand shop. Or maybe ask your parents if they could help out just a bit.
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By Leslie on Oct 23, 2009

Best tip: DIY

They sell kits to make your own invitations that look really nice if you take your time. Hire someone you know that has a good camera and likes to take pictures as your photographer. Try to find an inexpensive reception site like an American Legion Hall or church social hall and have it catered rather than doing it at a fancy restauratant. Go with a free keg or two and have a cash liquor bar.

The more people you have to pay to provide services, the more your wedding will cost, so maybe ask people to help out with the big day in lieu of a cash contribution. Good luck!
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By Kyle on Oct 23, 2009

We spent less than $500 on our wedding by going to a chapel that did everything. We set an appointment and the lady went down a list asking us what we wanted. We passed on flowers so there was no need to look at that book. We picked out candle libras. She asked which music we would like. If we would like to use their pastor and/or their photographer. They also are willing to help your guests sign in. And they did wedding receptions as well. I’d recommend finding a place like this. It should be fairly easy to find since I’ve heard of other couples doing similar at different places. Let someone else do the work. You just pay then show up when you’re supposed to.
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By nmtowns on Oct 23, 2009

ok so what we are doing is having candles instead of flowers you can get candles at the cheap shop and put ribbon on them and they look nice and flowers are hard to see over anyway and then we are getting balloons to put on the wedding favours that way we can have them as a decoration and people have to take them home and we got wedding camera’s instead of a photographer let the guests be the photographers and people always brinmg digital cameras anyway and often send pics to you. I got a box of 25 wedding cameras with table cards for 95 dollars au all up i think I have spent 2000 dollars on the wedding and we have my dress the 3 flower girls dresses and bridesmaids and groomsmen are buying their own. good luck and congrats and if worst comes to worst make your own decos and it will be nice anyway oh sorry forgot to mention that our wedding reception is going to be at a bowling club so it is 18 dollars a head for an adult and 7 for a child thats pretty good for dinner cups of tea and coffee a dinner roll and a desert
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getting married in 6 weeks

By mum to 3 precious little girls!! on Oct 23, 2009

Two thoughts on this:
1) Have a very small — VERY SMALL wedding – you – him – your parents- his parents -your siblings and his siblings and your closest friend- no more than 12 friends- that should take up a small chappel – then have a larger reception- get friends to help with that. Let them do everything from DJ- to providing food– ever heard of pot luck ?

2nd way:
Borrow, second hand, and call in all outstanding personal favors!
Let some of your friends provide thier talensts and thier ‘stuff’ The most improtant thing about this is that it is Your wedding and you KNOW it’s gotta be done on the cheap-so get your head around that first. Remember that WEDDINGS are big business so don’t let all the hype and the supposed grandure get to you.Borrow a wedding dress or buy a second had one. Rent-a -Tux for the guys. Keep the wedding party small.Get friends and family to help make food
Let it be kind of free-flowing and fun. Set up a contest for the best wedding photo – your friends will have a blast trying to outdo each other.
If you have a computer, the invitations are as good as done- save postage- hand deliver them- especially to grandparents and aunts and uncles, cousins, ect. When people know your doing this on a tight budget, it;s amazing where the ‘gifts’ come from. I know a woman who had a tight budget and ended up having a reception in a luxury hotel, as a ‘gift’ from her godfather.
Be upfront about not having a lot of cash for this. It’s better to do that than try to hide the cash flow problem and get into big time debt. True friends will respect the honesty.
The one thing you can’t afford is Formal- that is too expensive and will set you back big time.
We’ve all seen and laughed at the RED-NECK weddings – but take some really close looks at what they are really doing– having a wedding on the cheap- getting everyone involved – not caring what the rest of the world thinks- and having a kick-ass time.
Your wedding can be classy, and fun and still not break the bank– just remember that anyone who is judging your wedding for it’s lack of fancy stuff is obviously not your real – true friend- so boot them out the door fisrt and kick back and enjoy your self.
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experience

By LBH on Oct 23, 2009

My fiance and i are planning our wedding in 3 months for 1500 dollars. Its stressful i will tell you lol. I got my wedding dress off ebay custom made out of china its beautiful it took about 8 weeks to get here but i only paid 129 for it. Rent the grooms tux. Most places if you have 4 people getting tux’s the grooms will be free so if you get 4 groomsman you future husband will not have to pay anything. Get a small wedding cake made for just the bridal party and get a sheet cake make for the other guests. Use artificial flowers instead of real for you and your girls. Keep your eyes open for wedding bands on sale. I just got mine today for 149 dollars from zales!
http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3299240&kpc=1
Have family members make food for the reception like a buffet. If you know someone who can operate a computer and do music do that for your reception…Thats about all i can think of right now. But i hope everything works out for you && Congrats!

I also made our invitation myself and printed them on cardstock paper and im doing the programs myself to. Out colors are mocha and cream so for favors were doing little baggies with a few Hershey kisses and a few caramels in them. Center pieces were doing glass globe vases with glitter dumped in the bottom and the candle colors will match our colors.
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By The Future Mrs. on Oct 23, 2009

my fiance’ and i had / have 5 months to plan… our budget is around 3K.. with 100 attendees…
here are some tips…
we are doing our wedding at our home… no venue expense
dj is a gift from our best man
cake is a gift from from his mother
wedding punch from his grandmother
flowers and my wedding dress are from my mom
wedding party has purchased their own clothes for the wedding
( i chose the color and length and they chose the dress… ).
student photographer… top of her class… came recommended
( quite a bit cheaper than a professional )
we chose our flowers according to the season ( october is great for gerber daisies… my favorite )
bartender is a friend of a friend.. she isn’t charging me and only wants to put out a tip jar… works fine with me….
instead of buying pre-made decorations, we made our own… huge savings… ex.. we have a plantation style home and wanted to drape the porch pillars with a garland… pre made… $27 each… we made ( and better i think ) them for $7.88 each… so we saved almost $80 dollars!! ( we have 4 pillars to drape )
good luck and you can do this!!!
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By Future Mrs. Washington on Oct 23, 2009

Have a "private" ceremony with immediate family.

At the conclusion of the ceremony,host a small wedding reception for your families and close friends

Get married early (12 Noon) and head to a restaurant for a wedding luncheon or brunch (more affordable than a dinner)

You can still have cake and champagne. The champagne might be free, as it is normally included on a brunch menu
(Sundays)

Good luck and Congrats
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By LJRobbie on Oct 23, 2009

You can have a BEAUTIFUL wedding in under 6 months time (and on a budget). (over all tip: It’s generally the food that is the most expensive thing at any wedding, so that is the primary thing to focus on.)

1. Cut way back on your guest list. Better to host 40 people with class than 100 that you can’t afford to feed.

2. Forgo the church and have your ceremony and reception in one location. Preferably outdoors–weather permitting. An outdoor setting will eliminate the need for more flowers. Just go with the beauty that Mother Nature has provided you.

3. Borrow the small things. Moe than likely you’ve had a friend who is recently wed. Borrow items like cake servers, ring bearer pillows, flower girl baskets, toasting glasses, etc.

4. Never underestimate the power of Craig’s List!

5. Consider an Ipod and a good set of speakers for your music.

6. Hold your wedding Monday thru Thursday. Many vendors will give you a price break on those days.

7. Grocery stores have beautiful inexpensive cakes and flowers that rival most florists and bakeries.

8. Tap into the time and talents of your friends and family.

By Maureen Thomson on Oct 25, 2009