What are some ways to cut corners (money wise) with my wedding?

Question

We are paying for the whole thing ourselves and need tips!

Answer 1

Have it somewhere no one can go like Hawaii. Maybe people will send you the money for the Wedding/Honeymoon?

Answer 2

go to theknot.com, they have great ideas.
do you have an friends who are talented photographers? have them do your pics, or contact art school about their photography students, and see if they can show you a portfolio and would like the work.
DON'T hire a DJ...they make cheesey remarks between songs and at best many will say they will try but won't guarantee to play your requests for first dance, parents dance, etc. hundreds of bucks and they MAY deign to play what you want? ridiculous!
you could find a spot in nature that you love, and have an outside wedding, rather than paying to rent a venue.
you could have a pot luck picnic after the ceremony, or just serve champagne and dessert.
your dress doesn't have to be some huge, white, fussy, expensive indulgence, just anything that you feel beautiful wearing. in whatever color pleases and suits you.
bottom line, all a beautiful, memorable wedding needs is the person you love, an officiant, those closest to you to share it with, and a romantic setting.
what's not romantic is burdening your new lives together with crippling debt brought about by some silly notion of what a wedding "needs".

Answer 3

If you don't tell the florist that the flowers are for a wedding -- but for a party or something like that -- you will get them at the normal price. Places normally up the price of bouquets and such when working with a wedding.

Don't higher a wedding planner -- do it yourself

If you have a family friend thta DJs, have them do it instead of a DJ for higher. That could save you up to 3 or 4K...depending on who you were going to get. If you don't know anybody, the cheaper route can be a band. I book bands at my school -- good ones -- and they are sometimes only $500 for the whole night.

Buy your dress when places are having sales, you can save up to 50%

It is cheaper to have a wedding on a Saturday than a Sunday (though probably more of an inconvenience for you.)

Hope that helps...

Answer 4

First you have to prioritize.

Your food needs to be good, agreed, so don't skimp on a caterer.
Your DJ will entertain your guests for upwards of 8 hours as well as keep you and your guests having fun and making memories so don't skimp on a DJ

(-There are non professional DJs out there, for sure but it's YOUR job to determine that and not hire one...you will get what you pay for)

For some brides the dress is the most important thing so if that's you, then get the dress you want

SILK flowers
NO WEDDING PLANNER
move flowers from ceremony location to reception (family friend is great for this and will love to be involved)
Have real cake for top layer only
Consider late night wine and cheese reception
make your own invitations, adds a personal touch too!
make your own centerpieces, adds a personal touch too!

Well, I hope some of that helps...you and your fiance need to determine what IS and what IS NOT important to each of you and go from there.

Answer 5

Big, expensive weddings make me want to vomit, there's nothing whatsoever intimate about them, they are just all show and seem to engulf the whole meaning of marriage. Our wedding in 1999 cost around £200.00, that included my dress, wedding rings and ceremony cost. We invited only 2 guests which all our friends understood. It was the most perfect day of our lives and if we were doing it again there isn't one thing about it that we would change. I had the most amazing straight, very fitted, long gold lace dress with a black under petticoat, I wore a wonderful gold scarf with long black fringes that I had bought years before, this was secured in place with the deepest red rose buds. It looked really stunning. In the night we borrowed a 2 man dome tent and camped on the top of a mountain, my new husband built a campfire and cooked us a lovely meal, which we eat under a full moonlit sky. It was so amazing and most importantly it was our day.

Answer 6

You could get married in a park- the cost is very minimal
My friend did that. she had the reception like a big cook out.
you could borrow a wedding dress or buy a preowned. Borrow shoes. Have a friend do your hair.
Do you have any musical friends? they could provide that for you-it could be their gift to you.
We had a florist who asked how much we wanted to spend, then tailored our flowers to fit the budget.
make your own name cards, invites and party favors. easy with the computer!
Buy your cake from sam's club or the like- I did that and the cost is way less than getting it from a wedding cake place!(though those places will let you samples for free:) )
Thats all the tips I can think of for now... Oprah published a book with low cost tips for weddings. I checked it out of my local library.
oh- and don't do the wedding dress preservation if you buy it- the oprah book told me that is usually the biggest rip off (you can't break the seal or it won't be preserved, therefore you can never checkand see if it was cleaned and stored properly)

Answer 7

I had a very fun wedding...and was not at all costly.

My husband and I had both been married before, and we both had had white weddings. White weddings which had ended in divorce, so we did not want any part of that, but we did want all our family and friends there, so we had a potluck wedding.

We had T-shirts made which said Bride, Groom, Mother Of The Bride, Ring bearer, etc, etc...one for all attendants. The ladies had white t-shirts with gold lettering, and the men had black T-shirts with white lettering. The women in the wedding party wore blue denim skirts, and the men wore black jeans.

We requested all the guests to dress casual much as they would to a real potluck.

And it was a real potluck, Instead of a wedding gift, we asked that guests bring a covered dish for the dinner.

What else...oh we had the usual events held at a wedding ala garter and bouquet toss, but I also included things to do for the children. I had a pinata for them and a teddy bear toss. I bought enough teddy bears for all the children attending, and we had a teddy bear tosser toss the bears. The kid events are among my favorite pictures.

Whatever you do with your wedding, have fun and do not let the stress turn you into a bridezilla.

Oh, and if any mothers of the groom are reading this, be nice to your daughter-in-law because she will be the mother of your grandkids and if there is a divorce you will get more grandkid time if your daughter-in-law likes you....so many mother-in-laws do not seem to grasp this simple concept.

Answer 8

*Have the wedding/reception at a friend or family members house.

*Rent your dress, or buy on that is no more than $200.( I bought my wedding dress at a small bridal shop. It was off white and only cost me $180) You don't have to spend $1000 on a wedding dress.

*Have a buffet style meal at your reception, have your family and friends and your fiances family and friends pitch in. Its easy and it makes your reception very affordable.

* Make your invites,& thank you cards.

* Keep your guest list as short as possible, the more people you invite the more money you will spend. Close family and good friends only.

* Find someone in your town/city who bakes cakes out of their home. It will be lots cheaper than going to a bakery. (Your cake will probably taste better and be much prettier.)

Congratulations!

Answer 9

You could rent your dress instead of buying it, have your wedding in a nice backyard, ask people to make the food for you. How much do you want to spend? You can make your own center pieces for tables, with my wedding the big expense for us was the location because we fell in love with this big beautiful garden so then we planned on just doing cake and punch instead of a whole meal for guests and the only flowers we bought were boutineres for the men and my bouquet and corsages for the women.

Answer 10

Get a bridesmaid's gown in white or ivory instead of a bridal gown. No one will know the difference.

Have a friend DJ using an Ipod or laptop computer.

Give bridesmaids small wrist corsages instead of bouquets.

If your ceremony and reception are planned for a non-meal time of day, then it's perfectly legit to have a non-meal reception-- just cheese and fruit platter, or just cookies and punch, or just cake and champagne, or just tea and scones...

Answer 11

A professional photographer costs way too much for what you get - maybe you have someone in your family or friends who could do this. Also, flowers can cost a heck of a lot for what you may or may not get. Don't splurge on an expensive wedding dress - it's simply not worth it.