Any ideas on how to save on weddings?

Question

I'm getting married next February and I want to make sure we don't put ourselves in debt paying for a nice wedding. We are not looking to pay more than $10,000. We are getting married in Palm Springs and have not yet even found a venue. Any suggestions??

Answer 1

Check with your County Courthouse regarding a civil ceremony.

Call local VFW halls for your reception. An alternative would be if you know anyone that has a large enough house/yard to hold all of your guests. You could also make the food yourself or ask friends and family members to help (ie: potluck). http://allrecipes.com/

Check out Dreams by Renee. They have some absolutely gorgeous dresses PLUS they can do custom work based on a drawing/picture at extremely reasonable prices. http://dreamsbyreneebridal.com

Are you (or do you know someone willing to help that is) crafty? Check out Michaels for decorations, floral, favors, etc. It will help with your budget if you can do as much as possible yourself. I used to be an Instructor/Event Coordinator for them and we had alot of classes for wedding related items. Plus at this time of year, they are discounting the spring and summer florals to get ready for the fall and winter florals! http://www.michaels.com

As for invitations, I'm a rep for Regency Thermographics. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. http://aphroditescreations.regency.ac

Good luck!

Answer 2

I know from experience on how to cut costs. Here are some really good ideas:

1.) Make your bridesmaid dresses. Between fabric and accessories they can be as little as $50/dress
2.) Make your own decorations and favors. Go when the stores have their sales. You can do a candle decoration with a mirror for about $2.00 each. My favors were purchased off from Oriental Trading.com. They have a lot of ideas.
3.) Check out local places for the wedding reception to be held at. Look at your local American Legion. They are cheap and can get you a good caterer for a VERY reasonable price. Plus, the food is usually AWESOME!!
4.) Check out http://www.theknot.com for more ideas

You could also make your own bouquets and bouteniers. Anything you can make yourself will help cut on the costs.

Answer 3

EBAY !! EBAY !! EBAY !!
Take it from me (I have been married 2 years!) and oue wedding was really beautiful, elegant and REASONABLE!
Ebay has tons of wedding stuff (New and Used) for great prices. You can find anything and everything on there. Honestly, I planned our entire wedding from my computer. I bought things like: Unity Candle, Sign in book, Favors, Ribbons, Hair pieces, Tiara, Veil, Toasting Glasses, Pew bows, Asile Runner, Photo Album, Centerpieces, Invites ect.... I am telling you there are plenty of ways you can make a wonderful wedding on a budget. You can also post questions on www.theknot.com that is a great website (Just brides talking to other brides). Also, if you make your wedding on a Friday or Sunday you can save money as well. Another option, is (I am not sure what is your religious background if any) but you can have the Cermony in the hall- That way you can kill two birds with one stone and also save the church fees (Which can add up too). Another option is to have a friend or family member take the video for you with a personal camcorder (Believe me it is a big $$ saver!!) You can also purchase (Ebay sells them in bulk or by singles) Camera---This way you save money on the photographer and you can put one disposable camera at every table and have your family and friends take photos of your wedding and at the end of the night they will leave the camera at their tables and you guys can develop them (at your convience) this is a fun way to see your wedding through the eyes of your guests. Well hope this helps!!
Just remember this is your day and your future husbands day.....So have FUN and just take it easy. REGARDLESS YOU WILL HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME !!!!!!
:-)

Answer 4

My fiance and I are investigating ways of having something elegant but not over-the-top expensive. I think that $10K is PLENTY to have a great wedding. I think the suggestion to look outside of Palm Springs is a great one. You may skip the expense of the ceremony site if you got married on the beach. Our key is limiting the number of guests. And my dress is beautiful but it's a bridesmaid dress. And since it's small, we're going to skip the wedding cake.

Good luck and let ME know if you get any good tips! :-)

Answer 5

Get one (or more) of the Miss Manners' Guides on etiquette. I'm pretty sure she has one book devoted exclusively to weddings. Unlike florists, dressmakers, magazine publishers, etc, Miss Manners has no motive to sell you things. Rather, she will urge you to skip needless frivolities like 'favors' for each guest. Some of her oh-so-proper yet money-saving ideas that I used were (1) hand-written invitiations, rather than commercially printed, with RSVP my e-mail or phone (instead of putting postage on all those return envelopes) (2) asking close friends 'to pour', that is to staff the coffee station, the bar, the CD player, etc.

You can trust Miss Manners to tell you what is REALLY necessary, and not try to sell you silly whatnots you can do without.

Answer 6

For the reception party instead of having a DJ, rent the equipment and ask one of your family members or close friends to DJ for you. Also when it is time to eat, get a caterer that will have a buffet instead of bringing the food to the tables that will save u $100's of dollars.

Answer 7

Have wedding and reception at a non-meal time of day so you can serve just canapes, or just dessert and champagne, instead of a full meal. Use an Ipod instead of a DJ. Decide which design elements really matter to you and which don't, and eliminate what doesn't matter to you.

Answer 8

Palm Spring is nice, but expensive. Choose another locations, have a small church service (or courthouse), skip all the folderole (fancy dress, engraved invitations, lavish reception), and elope.

Answer 9

Get married in a court or church. Don't waste even the $10,000. Put it to some good use.

Answer 10

First of all get married on a Friday or Sunday. Most wedding vendors aren't booked so it's usually cheaper. Second, prices aren't set in stone...negotiate...Third, all that frilly stuff like napkins with your name on them and crap like that is just that...crap. Keep it simple. Focus on food, venue and entertainment.