I need cost cutting suggestions?

Question

We are planning a summer wedding and need some ideas on cutting costs.

Answer 1

Find a family member to make the cake, WAY expensive. Artificial flowers. Print out invitations or engagement announcments on card stock. Choose a family member to take pictures.

Answer 2

Hobby Lobby and Party City have some great invitations that you can make yourself.
You can print your own wedding program and add ribbons.
For a reception, the 'Club House' at an Apartment is really nice, esp if you find a nice one.
Start networking for pastry chef and photographer, you will be amazed at what you will find.
Depending on your taste in food (will depend on the cost), but BBQ is always the cheapest when you want it catered.
Right now Davids Bridal have a $99 sale for wedding gowns.
Wedding favors can also be bought at Party City or Hobby Lobby.
I am planning my wedding for June 2007, the most expensive item is my dress and food, that's it. I saved and took care of that already, everything else is clearanced price or bulk items.
Michael's and Garden Ridge also have nice items for decoratios.

Answer 3

Congratulations!! My main advice: Do as much as you can yourselves. My husband and I got married this past August and we made our own invitations (we bought handmade paper and vellum and printed on a laser printer and attached them together with ribbon and tiny jewels from a craft store) and centerpieces, (glass cylinders wrapped with ribbon, with glass jewels and floating candles inside) and did all the flower arranging ourselves. If you're able to do your own arranging, don't go with artificial flowers--they're expensive and don't smell or look as nice. We bought our flowers from a website (freshroses.com) and they were just beautiful--it was quite a bit of work and mess to do all the arranging, but it was totally worth it--we saved A TON of money, and my bouquet and all our other arrangements were so beautiful--everyone asked who our florist was. I also bought a bunch of white lights right about this time last year, when all the Xmas stuff was 75% off, and we used those for our cake table and gift table. Plus, when you do things yourselves, you get it exactly it how you want it, which is great. Also, don't go overboard with hors d'oevres--simple stuff is good because people don't really need that much food and it's a waste. I bought my tiara and jewelry at Claire's in the mall--they were gorgeous and sparkly and cost about $30 total--way cheaper than a bridal store. We were really careful about how much we spent, and our wedding was just perfect and I wouldn't change a thing! Do some research--find the best deals on EVERYTHING--(eBay is wonderful for wedding stuff) it's worth the extra effort. Whatever you do, do NOT scrimp on photography: don't have a family member/friend take pictures, unless he or she is a professional photographer. You want someone who knows what he/she is doing---your pictures are so important and you don't want them to turn out badly. Research, research, research, and you can find a good photographer for a decent price. Good luck! :)

Answer 4

Hire the officiant and have a tiny, family-only ceremony at someone's house, during the day. Go out to eat lunch and then have a casual reception for friends and family either at the house or a park if you live in a nice climate, or rent a hall if there isn't room at someone's house. Your friends will really appreciate that they get to actually celebrate with you instead of having to decide what to wear and sit through a sermon.

We didn't mess with flowers, bought our invitations and Thank You notes at Target. Printed the invites at home.

I was lucky in that I was able to borrow my wedding dress from my aunt. It fit and was sentimental. If you can't do that, think SIMPLE. Don't go to a bridal store to get it. Just get a simple dress. He can wear a suit. Then he'll have a suit for interviews, work, whatever.

My husband and I had a BBQ at my dad's farm and everyone wore jeans. We had dominoes and football and stuff like that. It actually felt like a celebration. No drama, no bridezilla, low stress. My guests had fun. Most of my friends are from the city, so a lot of the time was spent with me laughing while they went, "Oooo, cows!"

Rings--We went titanium. Fairly cheap. Steel doesn't react with anything and, being so strong, we thought it a great metaphor for marriage--better than gold or platinum, which can break or corrode. I personally don't like diamonds (and hate blood diamonds), so that right there was a HUGE money saver.

Have people bring their digital cameras and e-mail you the photos. Or hire a photographer with the money you save doing everything else simply.

Pass out CDs of your favorite love songs as a favor.

If you have a wedding party, let them wear what they want, within guidelines.

Weddings in this country are out-of-control. My husband and I spent $300 on wedding and rings combined (my aunt spent $200 taking us out to eat; my dad spent about $300 on BBQ and that was it) and we are just as married as anyone else who spent more.

Spend the money on something else! Like a honeymoon! Or a house!

Answer 5

Have you set a date yet? I know that sounds insane, but the place I'm getting married actually charges DOUBLE to even rent or cater between May & August, just because it's a peek season. If you have someone with a nice backyard, you could always hold the wedding & reception there.

My best advice is the research. I thought it'd be cheaper to do flowers myself, but once I went to added up the cost for centerpieces alone it was actually cheaper to have a florist do a fresh cut pieces. Pick out what you'd like, add it up, then call a florist to see if your price is better. If it's cheaper not only do you save some money, but the time of making them yourself. Trust me, you always need extra time with wedding planning.

Check online for things, usually alot cheaper online than in stores. Also check around on different sites, I found some are twice as expensive as others.

Don't be scared to make things. I did have my invites printed for me, but making them is super easy & they can turn out very well. Same thing if you want place cards or even menu cards for dinner if you chose to serve one. I wanted napkin rings because I'm obsessive about things looking right. I checked prices & they were way too high. I ended up making my own out of felt & ribbon. Sounds odd, but they look like I bought them.

As for food, you can always buy in bulk & have help preparing it. You can also check out party catering info from local restraunts if you don't want to make the food, some come fairly cheap. Or have your wedding earlier in the day. That way you don't have dinner, you can just have more like snack items since it's earlier in the day.

Hit sales. Again, research. Alot of bridal stores have sales on dresses from the previous season. Davids Bridal (if you have that in your area) always have $99 dresses. You can always have a fairly informal wedding, you can have a simple dress, the groom in nice pants & a button down shirt or something along those lines.

Alot of craft stores & discount stores have wedding sections. Wal Mart sells basically all the main things you need for a wedding, from guest books to cake toppers. Heck, they even do wedding cakes.

Good luck!

Answer 6

I had the same issue. I went to chapel at the park in Gatlinburgh TN and got married there. I bet you I had a 10 thousand dollar wedding for two grand. I have pictures of it on my yahoo 360 page. go to the web site at www.chapelatthepark.com. It's the only five star chapel there. They also let you pick your flowers, photos, reception, you name it. It's in all the bridial magazienes. Also do your own invitations. Saves a tone of cash.

Answer 7

It might sound tacky but I had a friend who had a potluck wedding. Instead of a gift everyone brought a food dish, enough to serve 20 people. Single people brought wine or beer and the couple supplied grilled chicken and the cake for desert. They had it outside and it was picnic casual. They had baseball, volleyball, flag football and water balloons, karaoke. It was one of the best times I ever had at a wedding. Because they didn't have to spend alot of money, they could have everyone they wanted. Nobody was left out. Weddings are about friends, family and love. Not about where you had it or how much you spent on the food.

Answer 8

Ask a friend to take photographs.
Ask a friend to do the driving. No limos.
Get married at City Hall.
Cut down on the flowers.
Her wedding gown and accessories.

Answer 9

Elope. If this doesn't work for you barter. We gave music lessons for a cake, invited the photographer to party at the reception and got extra pictures, do a BBQ rehearsal dinner, do an outdoor in the park reception, use wildflowers instead of roses, print your own invites, have a relative make the centerpieces as their gift to you, be creative...my hubby and I did it on our own - and we're teachers!

Answer 10

buy a little bit at a time, go to Dollar Stores for decorations,-no one will notice- have a family member or friend make your cake, make your own bouquettes,(sp?) Call around, for the best deals

congrats on ur upcoming wedding!