My fiance and I are getting married next year and short on money, any ideas on how to make it nice?

Question

No JP. My pastor is going to marry us outside. I mean money saving ideas for reception.

Answer 1

if you have family, depend on them for some help. as in food. my husband and i got married for under $2000. all my close family made the food. we bought a big ham and had the meat dept. in the grocery store slice it thin for us. most will do it for free. we got all our decorations at a liquidator store. also, oriental trading company has some great stuff really cheap. I'm not sure how to get a catalog but I'm sure you can find them on line.

Answer 2

First, sit down with your fiance, and talk about the things that are most important to you in a wedding. Make a list of them. I mean things like, the dress, the food, the dj, the flowers, whatever is most important to you. And start with the top of that list.

Next, ask everyone for help. The biggest decision you can make about a reception in my opinion, is to decide if you can possibly not hire a caterer - that will depend on the size of your reception and if you know anyone who is a good enough cook.

It also helps to do a lot of research. Ask people on local message boards at theknot.com or yahoo.com, ask people here, if they have any local tips, know any bakers, djs, anyone. The best deal my husband and I got was this woman who bakes cakes in her converted garage. It was the best cake I've had in my life and I never would have found her without help.

When you meet with vendors, shamelessly ask for discounts. Ask them how you can cut costs and then seriously consider everything they say. Consider not serving a meal. Consider having somewhere cheap but good (think your local Chinese restaurant or something) do the catering. Consider hand-making the centerpieces or favors - and then ask your friends to help you with them.

I'm sure in the end you'll find lots of ways to save money. Good luck!

Answer 3

We had 110 guests and spent $6,500. Keep your guest list small. Get family and friends to help you with everything. You can make a lot of things that will save you money. Don't go overboard on flowers, find them cheap at a flea market or do something different for centerpieces (like floating candles). And you could even put together your own bouquets for cheaper. For pictures, a good idea that I've seen on here is to take the bridal party to Glamour Shots before the ceremony, it's a lot cheaper. And then just have someone take pics of the ceremony and the reception with a good digital camera. You could also get a friend to videotape it and make that their gift to you. Find a reception hall that allows you to come up with food and alcohol yourselves. If they provide it all, it can be really expensive. But, look around, you may even find a place that includes that stuff for a reasonable price. Or have the reception at someone's house, maybe you know someone that has a nice house or a nice backyard. For food, go with a buffet. This will be your most costly thing. Get some quotes from caterers, tell them your budget and they'll tell you what foods they can serve for that price. If it's still out of your price change, get party platters from restaurants. You could do stuff like wings, eggrolls, chicken fingers, ribs, mashed potatoes, salad, or even Italian. They'll supply you with huge servings of whatever food you want. You would still want to hire some servers to clean up and set up the food. You don't want to worry about that on the big day. And if you're serving alcohol, get a bartender. Letting guests serve themselves can cause a big mess. Buy your alcohol and sodas when they're on sale (if your caterer is not providing these). Get your cake from Publix, they're reasonable and it's good. For wedding favors, check out Ebay. They have the same stuff as other websites, but for less money, usually. Good luck!

Answer 4

Ever been to a wedding, in which everyone got to dance with the bride for $5 or more? One of my cousins did that at her wedding, once. Out door reception is a perfect idea, espeicially if it's a pot luck. Better idea, yet, is have the whole thing outside- not just the reception, but the wedding, too! TO save money, no djs, no cateering, no professional photographer (just have friends take the photos, for you.), no church service, no reception room rent. That all translates into out door wedding and potluck reception. That's how I want to do my wedding, when the time comes. Here's another tip, missy- be a good girl for your husband, do everything he says and wants you to.

Answer 5

I did not have a fancy marriage but it was as pretty as can be. We got married at the courthouse, this courthouse was over 100 years old remodeled with a dome ceiling and awsome art in it. For a reception we had a pot luck. We did our own music and bought pretty fake flower and candles at a dollar store. Everyone thought we hired people to do it! It was great. All costing under 300 dollars. It can be done, just get creative and like I said pot lucks are a gift from God...lol...Congrats!!!!

Answer 6

When I got married we rented a cheap hall and the entire wedding party decorated it the night before the wedding. We served a buffet dinner. You could always ask a few friends to make dishes for the buffet to lower the cost.

Answer 7

There are hundresd upon hundreds of books that have ideas.
Go to the library and get some. Also get online. Once you know what you want, you shouldn't have a hard time finding it.
If you (or any family memebers you're close to) are handy, you can do alot of the work yourself.

Answer 8

Oh you are getting married again, wow I guess it wasn't important enough to tell your "best friend". Oh well!!

Answer 9

backyard bbq