Wedding fo less than $8,000 US Dollars? MICHIGAN?

Question

Is going to be in the Fall or Winter.2008
My fiancee and I are paying for wedding
My party (the brides) is coming from Mexico
We live near Detroit metro area.
Any wedding planner's ideas would be really helpful.
Please only serious replies. Offensive answers will be reported.
Thanks so much!

I am talking abouth both ceremony and reception.

Answer 1

It's possible. Just watch what you spend and budget, budget, budget. I got married over here in Battle Creek, MI and I think all told it ended up being around $7500??? So it is definitely possible. Just realize with a budget of $8000 you probably can't pay for everyone’s hotel room or anything like that. Also, you need to keep your guest list SMALL. I had about 125 people.

Step one. Decide what's REALLY important.
Step two. Think of everyone you know. Who is crafty?
I think my budget ended up looking something like this.

Dress & Accessories $1,000. - You can probably do better than this. Try the David's Bridal $99 sale. If one doesn't quite fit you off the rack I recommend getting it tailored someplace else. David's Bridal charges 4 times for this service that it will probably cost you elsewhere.
Hair and Makeup - I found a salon that when I brought in my bridal party they paid about $30/each to get their hair done, and I got my hair done free. Makeup cost $20 to have it done professionally.

Ceremony (had wedding at arboretum under gazebo)
Location - $150
Chairs - $100
Music - Brought boom box (it had batteries), made own music CD, had cousin cue/stop music, spoke clearly (no one had a problem hearing us)
Officiant - uncle is minister he performed the ceremony for free
Programs - printed off from home computer
Decoration - didn't really add a whole lot, nature is decoration after all. maybe $10

Photographer - $1,150 (I admit it I splurged here, I figure when all is said and done, this is what I will have to remember the day) - photographer gave me $1000 off. He was trying to finish up booking his year. Look for deals like this. Also, he just gave me a CD with all of my pictures on it in color & B&W for me to develop on my own. I recommend Kodak Gallery. If you want really nice 5x7s & 8x10s & 11x14s I recommend looking for a photographer that works with Pictage.com or a similar site. These ones cost a little more, but for the display photos I wanted really nice ones. MAKE SURE PHOTOGRAPHER GIVES YOU THE NEGATIVES AND/OR RIGHTS TO YOUR PHOTOS.

Videographer - skipped this one. I never watch family vids, so to me it was a waste of time. If you really want one I would have a relative tape it for you.

Transportation - Didn't worry about a fancy car. If your friend has one you can borrow (think classic or convertible) go for it, otherwise renting one can get expensive.

Reception -
Location - ask friends, look around. Prices can vary A LOT. I ended up having my reception at a senior community place (it's NOT as bad as it sounds). It was a very nice place that holds events all the time. It raises money to help operate the place. The room I was in had lots of windows (think not some dirty basement somewhere), a beautiful ceiling, and a great deal. Room was $290 (yes I did say $290, fits maximum 175 people). Most other places were at least $500-$750 & up and they had crappy tables. The only catch was I had to use their catering.
Food - negotiate. Go with a theme. On the list buffets started at $16/person. I got mine for $10/person. I went with a theme. I served Chinese food, chicken lo mein, beef lo mein, egg rolls, fried rice, rolls, butter, fortune cookies. Pick something a couple of things that mostly use common ingredients (i.e. Mexican food, tacos, Chinese, Italian, etc...) ($1250)
Drinks - The place I picked did not serve alcohol, but you could bring in your own. They supplied coffee, water, ice. We got a keg of beer. Then we made Killer Kool-Aid (Kool-Aid Mix, Water, and Vodka). It was cheap. We put some non-alcoholic Kool-Aid by the water. It is actually tastier than it sounds and it does indeed pack a punch. If this doesn't appeal to you, pick some other theme drink. Or if the place has alcohol, have a cash bar (let guests know this ahead of time, spread the word, so people know to have cash on hand). (Groom’s parents bought keg and vodka)
Cake - I made my own cakes. I made mini-angel food cakes. I had cakes that were red velvet, devils food, and angel food. I glazed them with a raspberry vanilla glaze. (Note - it did take me almost a whole day to make these cakes). We then made a stand to stick these cakes on, put the cake on a table under an arbor. I attached a link below to a picture my mom took of the display. You could do cupcakes instead. Or have a relative make your cake. ($50 maybe)
Decorations - we made fabric squares for the center of the table placed boxes made out of scrap wood (father of the groom has a woodshop) on top, placed candles, rocks, and flowers in the box. Made runners for head tables (I had 2, so couples could sit together). Grandparents and Great Aunt helped with these. We also bought some paper lanterns and hung a couple of those up. All told ($200 maybe).
DJ - About $500 (I think)
Guest Book. I wanted a photo guest book. So I went to the store bought a small 8x8 scrapbook. Added as many pages as I thought I would need. I bought paper that went with my colors. Got some funky pens. Handed a friend a camera. She went around to tables. Couples, friends, etc. had their picture taken together. Whoever was in the picture signed the same page. I then developed the photos. and stuck them to the page with photo corners. ($25-$50)

Flowers - $550. My bouquet was a little more elaborate. Bridesmaids had one big flower, some smaller flowers, and some greenage. Got extra lilies and orchids for center pieces/cake display. Uncomplicated flowers for the guys. They had a white rose. Groom had a light purple rose.

Favors - 1/2 pint take out box with purple crinkle paper stuffed inside along with a fortune cookie. I printed a clear label and stuck it to the box and place a pair of plain wooden chopsticks on top. Cost all told probably about $200.

Bridal Party Gifts - gave parents/grandparents engraved frame with wedding photo ($200 Total). Gave bridesmaids jewelry from wholesaler found on internet. Husband gave maglites to his groomsmen (I don't understand it either, but he insisted). Probably another $75-$100.

Hotel for wedding night - $70.

Photo developing/albums - $250 or so (I ended up with almost 900 pictures x 2 for second set in B&W). I found really nice albums on ebay. They were bound and had fabric covers. I paid some lady to make them for me. $110 total. Plus got a couple of albums for wedding gifts.

Invitations - I made them myself they were quite involved actually. Probably around $200 counting postage.

Tips to save money.
1. Do it yourself if you have time. (You have until 2008 so this should be possible)
2. See if a friend/relative can do it. Maybe make it your wedding gift?
3. Shop around. Don't buy stuff from wedding websites on the internet. Look elsewhere on the internet. Example Chinese take out boxes - wedding website $0.50 plus/each. Go to food service/party supply website (www.papermart.com) and you can get them for $0.09/each.
4. Good site to buy stuff for invites (www.paperandmore.com).
5. Ebay is a wonderful place to find stuff.
6. Go to your local craft/fabric stores. Look for stuff on sale/clearance. I bought fabric for my wedding in the clearance section. Most items were only a $1 or 2/yard instead of $5, $10, $15 plus/yard.
7. You have until 2008, so take your time. Once you find something you like, keep your eye out for one on sale. Really look around on the internet.
8. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.
9. Keep a binder to keep track of your spending, contracts, ideas, etc...

Good Luck!

Answer 2

We got married this past July and we spent less than that. We had a beautiful outdoor ceremony and the reception was held at a VFW Hall, but ut was very nice. We live in GR.

There is a huge Bridal Show on September 22 & 23 in Downtown Grand Rapids. There will be over 140 vendors offering great deals on all sorts of stuff. Some vendors will even be giving away hotel vouchers good for all over the US. Get more details at www.customweedingsolutions.com.

Also, www.customweddingsolutions.com is a great place to buy accessories, tiaras, rose petals, decorations, invites,ect..... CHeck 'em out!

A good place for flowers is idobouquets.com. My entire package cost $150

Answer 3

I got married in Michigan---for under $5000. I had my reception at the Georgian Inn on Gratiot and 13 Mile road in Roseville. It was a beautiful ballroom with a fireplace, great food, table linens, centerpieces included. Plus the guests can rent rooms so they don't have to drive home at night. You can get married pool-side if you are not having a church wedding.

Answer 4

I had a budget around there for my wedding which was in May of this year. I highly recommend using http://www.theknot.com to help you budget your spending on your wedding. I found that by making the flower arrangements and boutineers myself saved me around $150. The more you make the less you spend. You can also look on Ebay for items that are for sale, wait until the last day of the auction and bid on stuff you like that is at a reasonable price.

Good luck! If you need help I would be more then happy to help you look for items at good prices. Our budget was $8,000 and we ended up spending $7500 and $4000 of it was for the honeymoon.

Answer 5

My husband & I paid for our wedding ourselves, it can be done for a reasonable price also. We just made sure we watched our budget & asked friends & family for input on photographers, cake decorators, & florists. Check with your local bakery or grocery store for price lists. Try the yellow pages for photgraphers & florists if no one has any suggestions. We planned a wedding in 2 months & we only paid a total of $2,500. It was so nice to know that we hadn't spent an arm & leg, yet we still had the perfect wedding.
Good luck on everything!!!!

Answer 6

have the wedding in the early fall and plan it in one of Michigan's beautiful parks ! Rather than spending too much on one thing you'll save a lot by selecting the right location ( near water )! A beach wedding is really cool and super cheap !

Answer 7

Didn't have the money so we didn't spend it. Here in Canada you usually pay the Minister about $200 - 300 and maybe the same for an organist, church hall rental or church janitor for a total of about $400. All the rest is secular spending, a meal for friends and enough spent on them so you don't feel bad accepting the wedding gifts.

Answer 8

It is WAY too early to start wedding planning for Fall 2008 now (except to start saving your money). Prices change, reception halls CHANGE OWNERS (yes, imagine that type of disaster), dresses are discontinued, etc.

12-14 months lead time is PLENTY.

Put this planning off and re-start about a year from now. I am not saying it to be rude, so don't mistake my tone. I'm just being honest with my advice!

Answer 9

My husband and i paid for our own wedding and we saved money by not getting a wedding planner.. i made all my own centerpieces and decorated myself with the brides maids still ended up costing us over 15,000 with the dress church reception flowers decorations. and all that good stuff.

Answer 10

you could aim for a friday wedding. its an uncommon wedding day, so things tend to run a little cheaper.

Answer 11

Are you talking about the wedding or the reception?