My fiance and I are trying to save some money and looking for a cheap way to have a simple but nice wedding in order to invite our close family of about 80 people. Any ideas?
2006-10-27 13:49:08 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
One idea for a cheap wedding would be to use a Justice of the Peace to marry you, they don't "charge" although, a "donation" is much appreciated.
You can then have all your immediate family members prepare dishes for the meal at the reception.
Have the marriage and reception in a hall of some sort. Decorate it yourself with the help of friends and family by purchasing cheap (but not cheap looking) decorations at party stores or even dollar stores.
Make your own veil and purchase a Bride's Maid Dress instead of a "Wedding Gown" and have some extra beadings or other accessories added to your suit your own taste. Purchase shoes and under garments at local department stores instead of specialty shops.
Grow your own flowers, or get some from a friends garden, or even make special boquets from fake flowers- that looks so real now-a-days, and will last forever!
Have your cake made by someone other then a wedding cake specialty store. There are alot of "at home" cake makers that do beautifully decorated, wonderful tasting cakes!
2006-10-27 14:17:01 · answer #1 · answered by purpleskym1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Congratulations on your pending nuptials
Eloping is cheapest but 80 friends and family wont travel
Most suggestions here are good and you can cut costs everywhere except with photos-your memories will be haunting if they are not right. Depending upon where you live local kiwanis and the like wont let you bring in food. Look for a community center-the ceremony & reception can be held there. Also think about non traditional places. local malls have meeting rooms that may work and there is plenty of parking.An oh yeah there are schools most schools have administration buildings that are available for rent. local parks charge so make sure you call the city or county/parrish before you get booted by an officer
dress-go online to jcpenney. they offer dresses for cheap but local dress shops may have a good dress for 2-500 on a clearance rack. also bridal resale shops are good
food-depending upon time of day-mid day wedding will allow you to serve finger foods and slash the cost no matter who is cooking Dont try to serve folks a meal; cost skyrocket when you do
no wedding party-expenses and time go up-keep it simple. If you want music grab some of your favorite cds or ask guest to bring theirs and throw them on a cd player at the venue-no dj needed and you will get a variety of free music
flowers you amy have a crafty friend who can do this if you pay for materials-fake flowers are always on clearance somewhere and should be made ahead of time
dollar stores are great for centerpieces/decorations/party favors and the like
God Bless and good luck
2006-10-28 00:01:29 · answer #2 · answered by msijg 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure of what you consider cheap, but I suggest that you rent a nice church with a reception hall inside.
Supply the food and have a friend do the catering. If that is too much work then hire a caterer to feed your 80 guest at about $20 a head that should cost you ~1600
Borrow your wedding dress, make your own flower arrangements, buy a cake from local bakery in supermarket, and use a friends camcorder instead of a photographer.
2006-10-27 21:17:06 · answer #3 · answered by Bubbles 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wrote the book on how to cut corners on a wedding! My wedding was maybe $500.
dress- I borrowed it from a sis in law, there was no cost and I didn't have to worry about what to have to do with it, or how to store it after the wedding.
reception- it was a gift from one of my soon to be sister in laws. A friend of mine for her reception instead of a huge cake made and decorated cupcakes.
hair and nails- again a gift from another soon to be sis in law
the pics- all the family took pics through out the rehearsal, ceremony and reception. They then just gave up the pics once they had developed them, (expect for my mom, but we won't go there)
flowers- my mom found a book how to make bouquets and she went and bought the silks and made all the flowers
minister- my father-in-law is one and he married us
church- my mother in law worked at a church at the time and so the cost of the wedding was waived. The church also had what they called a "walk-in" wedding, you rehearsed and had the ceremony on the same day.
You can also probably have the wedding at a park, not sure about prices you'd have to call the Parks and Rec. office in your area.
Hope this all made sense and helps. Congrats!
2006-10-27 23:06:32 · answer #4 · answered by Kitikat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A nice wedding does not have to be "cheap", any more than saying a "cheap" wedding cannot be nice.
If you utilize local Thrift Stores and Yard Sales, you can have a very nice wedding, with very basic cost.
You decide on your theme and then you hit these places and look for things that would fit in with your theme and you get them. If you enlist family and friends also to look for things in your theme style hen they go to these places, you can get all your things alot sooner too.
Plan on making alot of your stuff, either yoursrlf, or with the help of family and friends. Ask them...most of the time they will be tickled pink that you asked them!!!
Decide what is important to you and utilize it as your biggest expense (your cake, or your dress perhaps) and make up for it with your other things (decorations,favors,etc.)
Good Luck!!!!
2006-10-27 22:36:00 · answer #5 · answered by lildragonlexi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Elope...or have a justice of the peace ceremony...costs about $50...then throw a BIG PARTY, potluck style, have everyone bring a side dish of some sort, and provide the main meal of like chicken or something like that. Use white christmas lights and home make your flower arrangements and decorations...cheap and easy. You can do a wedding on literally $300 this way.
2006-10-27 21:38:47 · answer #6 · answered by Bee 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
check out www.theknot.com for more ideas but here are some of the ones I plan to utilize...
1) Use silk flowers instead of real ones and do the arrangements yourself. My hunnie's mom and aunt do flower arrangements.
2) Prepare as much of the meal as you can on your own or with help from your family. Buy beef or turkey or chicken from a near by farmer and a 50 pound bag of potatoes from a farmer as well. Have family prepare this and other items for your reception. Prepare the deserts yourself and have a friend or family member that bakes wedding cakes to do your cake as their wedding present (my aunt and cousin both bake cakes).
3) Have your wedding officiated by your future father in law and his son in law. I'm doing this as both men are Pentecostal Preachers.
4) Have your dress hand made by a seamstress or someone who has experience in making dresses. My hunnie's aunt makes wedding dresses!
5) Have a budget set in mind on how much you would like to pay for things and do your best to stick to it. Also, it is not a crime for your parents and the grooms parents to help in the cost of the wedding. My parents have already told us that they are going to pay for my dance...Rental of the hall and DJ services.
And just to note, wedding photos can cost as much as $800-$1300 CF (Canadian Funds) if not more. And catering fees can be as much as you are willing to spend depending on what you serve and for how many but based on 80 people you could be looking at atleast $1500 CF in total and a cake will run you about $350 CF
Hope this helps.
2006-10-27 23:30:30 · answer #7 · answered by kyles_aunt_jenny_age_24 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can make your own bouquets for starters. Thats what I did. go to a craft store and just get the flowers that go with the colors of your wedding. If your having a small wedding make your own invitations. If you know anyone who makes cakes have them do it. There are lots of ways to and a nice but cheep wedding.
2006-10-28 14:34:11 · answer #8 · answered by Teri M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas weddings at a church are great, they already have all the beautiful decorations up. We rented a seperate room, a hall at the church and had our wedding food catered. I went to MIchaels crafts where I found an employee who did weddings on her own time, so for 150.00 she brought lots of greenery, an arch and did all the bows and swags, my flowers and the maid of honors flowers too. The food from the caterer was the biggest expense of our wedding. My dress from JCPenneys, his tux rental, the deposit for the church and hall plus food and decorator all come to 2000.00.
2006-10-28 04:39:33 · answer #9 · answered by greeneyegirl8 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what i did for my wedding i brought almost everything on ebay. My mom brought me a wedding dress that was 400.00 the real price was 1200. I talked the lady down. Everyone on his side of the family took care of the cooking so it was a buffet style type thing. one of his aunts brought the wedding cake. I did my own decorations, I did my own music, hubbys uncle had a karoke machine we hooked that sucker up and i had all the music for dinner, dance, kids, etc. we had a blast. It all came out awesome. if you want any more info you can hit me up on yahoo instant messenger ill be glad to help ya out. Everything was cheap but looked elegant.
2006-10-27 22:07:59 · answer #10 · answered by shyhonney 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋