We're planing on getting married in October 2009. And we're looking for ways to cut costs down. I want to have a nice wedding but don't want to go into debt paying for it. We'll both be almost done with our degrees and want to make sure we don't spend our first years as a married couple trying to get out of debt from a wedding, especially since we'll just be getting out of college. We've put a rough guest list together and are looking at 100-125 tops. Here are some things we're thinking of:
~ Having a mid day wedding/reception
~ Making our own favors (chocolate suckers molded in wedding themes, found inexpensive molds and can get good deal on bulk melting chocolate)
~ silk vs real flowers (any one know which are ctually cheaper?)
I found a site for the reception and it looks like it will be nice and relatively inexpensive.
Anything else to cut costs down? Or any fun ideas? Thanks! :)
Where to cut costs?
You're in the same situation I was in when planning my Oct. 2007 wedding. My advice would be to determine what elements of the wedding are the MOST important to you (some people want their dream dress, some need gourmet food, others want top-of-the-line decorations, etc) and don't skimp on that, but keep everything else as inexpensive as you can. It can be tough if you feel like you have to settle on every element of the wedding. One thing I would not recommend cutting is a professional photographer. The pictures are one of the few things that will be around after the big day is over.
Here are some of the ways I cut costs:
1. I borrowed some of the decorations and bought the rest on sale. Instead of flowers for table centerpieces, I used little decorative statues on top of a cloth napkin(sounds weird, but it's hard to describe--the type you use to decorate a bookshelf or porch or something). Silk flowers are cheaper than fresh if you don't get really high-quality silks, but to me they look cheap so I used only a few here and there.
2. We had hors doeuvres and cake instead of a full meal, which will work great for you since your reception is in the middle of the day.
3. Our reception was outdoors in a city park, which cost very little to rent--way, way less than a reception hall. Even after paying to rent the tables and chairs, it came out cheaper than the reception halls I checked into.
4. I bought my invitations online after scouring the internet for the best deal. Even though they will eventually just be thrown away, I still wanted one with a nice design that didn't look cheap, and I managed to find just that for about the same price as stationary for making them at home.
5. We didn't, but I've heard of some couples just making a playlist on their Pods instead of hiring a DJ or band. If you have access to a decent speaker system and good music, and don't mind finding a friend to help MC (announce toasts and cake-cutting, etc) this can save a lot of money.
Hope something in there helps, and congratulations!
Reply:here's a cool resource from REAL brides!
http://kvetch.indiebride.com/index.php?t...
Reply:Cut down the # of people you invite as much as you can...the less amount of people, the less amount of EVERYTHING you have to buy.
Reply:in order to cut costs I am doing a dessert only wedding, having cakes a choclate fountain and a bunch of dipping stuff for it. Also, you can rent a hall pretty cheap. Ask around to your friends in college and see if anyone has a DJ business and would help you out and give you a smoking deal, also find a few friends that like photgraphy offer to pay for film and devleoping, this can still be expensive but if you dont have to actually pay them that may help. flowers die, quickly go for the silk and cut back on how many you have,
Reply:* If you want to have real flowers, look up the Florists who are wholesalers in your yellow pages. They do JUST as great of a job and the flowers are real.
* If you want cheap favors, check out this website:
www.favorwarehouse.com
* Buy your dress from overseas:
www.sheshopping.com
* Ask your friends if they know of a good DJ, you'll get a better price
* Ask your friends as well about a good photographer. My fiance's friend does it on the side, and he's only charging us $900 for EVERYTHING.
Good luck!
:)
Reply:Mid-day reception is good because you can skip a full meal. Just have cake, punch, and coffee/tea service.
Skip the favors altogether. Nobody will miss them, I promise.
Order your flowers from somewhere like Amazonia - they have a "wedding in a box" where you get a box of flowers that you arrange yourself (or have a talented, creative friend do it) for a fraction of the cost of the usual. https://amazoniaflowers.3dcartstores.com...
For your cake, get a smaller one than you would need for all the guests, but supplement with plain white sheet cakes, which will be much less expensive.
Do DIY invitations (I know someone who used Wilton http://www.wilton.com/printyourown/index... ) which can be cheaper than the mail-ordered invites.
Keep your attendant numbers to a bare minimum - the more attendants, the more expensive. If you can, go with just one honor attendant on each side.
Congratulations!
Reply:Buy your flowers wholesale, make the bouquets, boutonnieres,
corsages yourselves, it's easy to do.
Or buy the flowers at a grocery store the night before, some stores have beautiful flowers.
Cut down on your guest list, forget your fourth cousin once removed, unless you're close.
Have a round wedding cake made just for the two of you to cut at the reception, have a sheet cake made for everyone else, it's less expensive.
Have a CD player with alot of CDs-your favs and what guests would like to hear.
Have a friend or family member ordained (online) as a minister,
Rent your dress and tuxedo, or borrow a dress from a friend or relative (something borrowed)
Don't rent limos, unless you someone that has one, use your own vehicles, wash and wax, that's we did and we knew someone with a limo, cost us $100,
Reply:Since you're more than a year out, make a note on your calendar to remind yourself to hit the party and craft stores for clearance stuff from late October to end of November. If you can get stuff at 50% off right after Halloween and right after Thanksgiving, you'll be ahead of the game.
Silks and real flowers are pretty comparable in price. The more exotic you get, the pricier it gets, so go with "normal" flowers as much as possible, people don't notice teh flowers as much as you'd think anyway. Use candles where you can and look for cheap ones at dollar stores, etc.
Sounds like you're doing a great job of having a great party but not breaking the bank!
Reply:1. I would probably just leave out the favors all together. Little things might add up with those and you can save yourself a few hundred dollars by not doing them.
2. Print your own invitations. Target sells great boxed sets for around $25 and they're beautiful. You can also try AC Moore and use the 40% coupon that they put in weekly circulars.
3. Buy your veil from a place like Michael's. They are EXACTLY the same as those sold in the bridal stores but are at least $90 less
4. Try to go for an all inclusive venue. Don't have your wedding at a place where you need to pay for each plate, fork, chair and table... it WILL add up!
5. You can do silk flowers (I'm not totally sure what IS cheaper) but maybe go to your local florist and ask them what flowers will be in season and if you can get a discount for using them. If you shop around with florists, you can usually get a good deal...and for the most part, it DOES look nicer than silk flowers.
6. Shop around for your wedding dress. You can find GREAT stuff for a lot less than most bridal shops. Try David's Bridal (we're going for cost conscious here... if I had an unlimited budget, they would NOT be my first choice...) BUT they give great discounts on dresses for the entire bridal party. Look into local bridal boutiques...some will offer bridesmaid and Mother of the bride/groom discounts.
Reply:Hi and congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
You are off on the right track....that is for sure. You are to be commended for your ideas and realistic expectations. I totally agree with you for NOT wanting to go into debt for a wedding, which unfortunately, is only ONE DAY!
I love all your ideas.
~ A mid-day wedding/reception will cut down on alcohol consumption, if you even plan on having alcohol. With it being mid-day, you DON'T have to have alcohol if you don't want. Punch, tea and soft drinks would be fine.
~ Another idea: Keep your wedding party SMALL. A few on each side and a flower girl/ring bearer if you want. The problem with large wedding parties: (1) stess!; (2) more people to serve at the rehearsal dinner; (3) more attendant gifts to purchase.
~ Price out whatever kind of silks you want versus real flowers. Personally, I LOVE real flowers. I have given this idea to many brides: Simply have a few roses (real) tied with a silk ribbon. I don't mind silks if they are of high quality, but the high quality silks, unfortunately, are the same price as a real flowers! Look at this picture....it's titled "pink roses to carry." It's about 2/3 of the way down on this link and is on the left hand side. They are light pink roses.....but it's just an idea...you can go with any color or flower:
http://www.atkinsfarms.com/wedfloalbum.h...
~ Invitations: Buy the boxed sets of invitations from places like Target, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc. You get 50 in a box for around $25 or $30. Bring them home and print them on your computer! This is a huge savings. There are so many nice ones to choose from. OR....if you are really crafty, make your own from plain cardstock and some ribbon! Remember, that these get quickly looked at and tossed! Don't spend lots of money on the invitations.
~ Cake: Look at bakeries that are in grocery stores. They will be lots cheaper than a regular bakery. If you have a Walmart or Costco near you....their cakes are yummy!!
Reply:My sisters both got married on a Friday, and had a buffet dinner for about 250 guests - Fridays tend to be cheaper than Saturday afternoon, and about 1/3 - 1/2 the cost of a Saturday evening.
We made their favors - One sister had grapevine hearts that we hot glued little silk roses on, and tied ribbon matching her colors to it. The other sister had a scroll with a nice poem and tied with matching ribbon - printed on the home PC on nice scrapbook type paper. Neither was too elaborate - because most people don't keep the favors anyway.
They both had silk flowers for their entire wedding party - which was great, because they both have their bouquets on display next to their wedding photos, and the flowers still look beautiful. The cost of the silk flowers was about the cost of what the bridal bouquet would've been had they gone with real flowers.
By the way, both sisters got married 10 and 12 years ago, and I don't think they spent much more than $4 or $5k.
Good luck, and Congratulations!
Reply:Hey there comp. in love! I am getting married in May, 2009 and I have found a great wedding planner who does catering also, I told her our situation and she is going to help me do all that I need to do and only charing me labor on the catering! She can also get deals on wholesale stuff because she is a business to help cut costs.
I thought flowers would be way out of my budget except the wedding party flowers, and she has shown me we can use real flowers from online places for very inexpensive and then we are going to do the arranging! My MOH lives in NV and I live in CA. so she is coming down for the whole week to help get ready tieing up any loose ends like the flowers and also since I am buying bulk paper we will use that same paper for save the date cards. invites, menus and the program and and the thank you's as well! I looked around in the yellow pages and called all the dj's and found 3 that will do the day for like 600. that is the ceremony and music all night and only a 100 dep. As far as location the one I choose is a hall with a gazebo and garden area with a fountain. it is old but very romantic feeling and I can already imagine what it will look like once we decorate! and the hall is available from 9am to 12 or 1am. there is a full kitchen for my caterer and they have tables chairs and the podium oh yeah and they have the latice to sit behind the cake table! The hall is 950 and the deposite is 400 or 450 and they take the security charge out of your deposite! I am again doing almost all of the work myself as the less people you have to hire to help get your day offf the ground the better, labor charges will really wrack up your bill! If you need more ideas go ahead and email me I would be glad to help another BRIDE ON A BUDGET! Best of luck and I hope you have the day of your dreams!
Reply:Hi,
There are a lot of ways to cut costs...
1) Dresses, can be made cheaper than bought, unless you go to a discount house like David's Bridal.
2) Invitations are cheaper done yourself than printed, and in this day and age, computers make it easier.
3) Reception, can be cake and punch, does not have to have a lot of food items.
4) Flowers... in the shop I work in, silk is more expensive. However, do you know someone, that works in a floral shop? He/she might do the flowers for you on the side. Or someone that knows how to work with silks? They could do bouquets if they do. Also, silk can be done way in advance.
Also, no matter - silk or real - bridesmaids can wear corsages, or a hairpiece rather than carry a bouquet to cut costs, this is a trend I have seen in the floral industry.
5) Reception - could be in someones back yard, and decorating would be easy
Bottom line, it is YOUR wedding... so do it YOUR Way.
Good luck
Deb
http://www.glocalgeneration.com/business...
Reply:Off/Season - Off Day
Non -floral centerpieces.
Eliminating Dates for single guests - but make a rule across the board I'm not a fan of only engaged couples just because someone isn't engaged doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to bring a significant other to the wedding. Some people don't believe in marriage and that's not fair to those people.
DIY projects but be careful b/c I've heard some ppl say this backfired and they ended up spending more $ on DIY.
Paper products in general.
Buffet is not always less expensive then a sit down meal so consider all options.
Dress - buy a sample or a dress off EBay. Borrow Jewelry veil %26amp; other accesories if possible.
Smaller wedding party (less $ on gifts)
Good Luck!
Reply:I'm getting married in 2 weeks and have found a few ways to cut cost during my planning.
-Order flowers in bulk (rosesource.com) and make bouquets yourself with a bridemaids bouquet making get together. It's so easy and you can watch instructional videos at theknot.com.
-Hire a Bartender not through your caterer but post an ad to hire one on Craigslist.com and name your own price per hour.
-Buy all your own alcohol in bulk at Sam's or Costco and just pay the bartender to serve.
-Don't go crazy over party favors. People really don't care.
-If you are having an afternoon reception have a buffet instead of a sit down lunch/dinner. Much cheaper per person.
-Get all your centerpiece vases at a craft store like Michales or Joann fabrics. (if you plan on making your own center pieces.
Hope some of these ideas help.
Good luck and best wishes on your marriage.
Shelly
Reply:Non-floral centerpieces or decorations. You can do lots with a fall theme - pumpkins, gourds, fall leaves - without paying an arm and a leg for floral decorations.
Use your iPod or CD player for music instead of a DJ. That will save.
Have reception %26amp; ceremony at same location and drive yourselves - - this will save on having to rent a limo or car to drive from service to reception.
Skip the videographer - photos are a great memory.
For your wedding gown, go to eBay and order from China. I paid only $219 for mine :) and it fits like a glove. No alterations needed! (feel free to e-mail me if you would like to know the seller I used, I will gladly "plug" them - I was very happy.).
Reply:Cut out "and date" to reduce your guest list. It sucks-- but for my wedding-- if you weren't in the bridal party or engaged then you didn't get a date (it helped that we were also up against a fire code so I didn't just look cheap, but literally wasn't allowed to have anymore people)
No open bar (obviously reduces cost)
See if you can do you own catering (with family friends) especially if you are doing midday and don't need to have a sit down meal--go to a bulk discount store and make your own veggie trays and other finger food type things. Then just have paper (or those nicer looking clear plastic-- still cheaper than renting plates) and napkins around the food.
try to minimize tables-- the fewer tables you have-- the fewer linens you have to buy and linens are expensive-- see if you can have free standing seating.
go online to look for invites-- (much cheaper than ordering from a card shop) or print your own-- ditto for your program.
Not everyone eats cake-- Order for about half the people you are inviting. If this really freaks you out-- then get back up sheet cake that can still feed people cake-- but is much less expensive then a larger fancy "wedding cake"
I agree about non-floral decorations-- I used candles and come of thos colored stones around the bases.
Check out what you can get bulk at outlet stores or places like oriental trading. (we got our bags for favors there).
Ask around, ask your friends if they know about anything that can help.
I found there were plenty of people who were willing to help and could offer a service too either at a reduced price or as 'their gift". If you are just graduating then you are sure to know people in all sorts of different fields.
hope that helps.
Reply:Cut down your guest list. That's the #1 way of cutting down costs. You get a smaller venue and a smaller menu.
Other ways are around the meal. Get the least expensive dish. Usually you'll get a menu with four different kinds of cooked chicken. Chicken is chicken regardless of its $15 a plate or $50 a plate.
Making your own centerpieces really helps. Also, using sites like Davids Bridal helps because they have cheap wedding dresses/bridesmaid dresses.
Reply:well silk you can buy in advace and real tend to wilter on flowers unless u want two or three roses or lillys i say go silk.
have a wedding on a week day you can get a 5 star reception for a 3 star price. we did that for our cousins wedding she would have paid 40.00 a head and only paid 23.50 big diffrence for the same food.
if you can make it do it
dont hire a cordanator do it yourself
go to oriental trading they have tons of things there super cheep vs department or local craft store prices.
good luck
Reply:*Choose the things that are important to you and spend money on that and less money on other things. Food was super important to us, so we were willing to put more of our budget towards that and tried to cut corners on other stuff like favors.
*If you can cut down your guest list any more, do so--the less people it is, the more money you save.
*Shop for your dress at David's Bridal or at Filene's Basement or sample sales.
*Choose a Friday evening or Sunday. Also choose a date that is closer to the end of October--believe it or not, the wedding season is getting longer and sometimes catering prices can still be high at the beginning of October.
*Skip the limos and have someone drive you or rent a luxury car for a fraction of the cost of a limo and drive yourselves.
*Personally, I would choose real flowers over silk because silk can sometimes be just as pricey. Go to a wholesaler--either where you are or on-line--and make bouquets yourselves. Choose flowers in season or just roses, which are inexpensive.
*Skip the favors--people will not miss it. If you want to do favors, do something really simple.
*Instead of a dj, get an iPod and fill it up with your dream playlist and play that during the reception.
*DON'T skimp on photography because I think that's important. To save some money though, try to find a student photographer who takes the same pictures for a fraction of the cost and asks that they use some of the pictures from your wedding as part of their portfolio.
*Consider your menu options. If you have a buffet dinner, it'll be a lot less expensive than a sit down, multi-course dinner.
*Get a small cutting cake for cake cutting and sheet cakes for serving--this is way less money than getting a whole big cake.
And remember to NEGOTIATE everything. Because you are planning a wedding, vendors will charge more because people are usually willing to pay more. If you don't at least try to ask, they won't lower their prices for you.
Good luck and congrats!
Reply:Have your wedding on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon. This will cut down your reception cost by almost half (at least in Southern California it will)
Also - you can get a great deal on real flowers at a whole-seller. You'll have to put the arrangements together yourself, but it will save you a bundle in the process.
Good Luck!
Reply:One thing that you can get rid of is the favors. You don't need to give people anythingg. There favor is that you are feeding them.
Silk is usually cheaper.
Reply:There is not much you can do. I would go to davidsbridal.com
---or---
budgetbridalgowns.com
*those r the best*
also, you should probably get fake flowers...i know that sounds lame...but it will last you longer...plus there are more varietys with fake flowers
oh........by the way... you should totally check out:
www.cheap-chic-weddings.com
congrats!!!!
anymore questions?
e-mail me at: ask_anna_justice@yahoo.com
i will reply very promptly
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