Tips on keeping a wedding from being really expensive?

Question

I'm looking for things you've done or heard of to keep a wedding from being really expensive but still nice.

Answer 1

Sit down with your fiance and figure out what's important to you and the kind of feeling you want your wedding to have. I made my now husband do that shortly after we got engaged and it made all our decisions so much easier. We both knew immediately when something wasn't right for us or when the price was too high for something we didn't care much about. You're a much better consumer of the wedding industry when you know exactly what you're looking for.

For example, we chose beautiful church and reception locations. We didn't use any flowers in the church and only sprinkled rose petals on the tables at the reception. We saved hundreds of dollars on flowers!

Also, if you know anyone who's getting married around the time you are, or they got married recently, ask them if they have anything left over that they don't want or wouldn't mind loaning you. My friend got married 2 months before me, and she gave me her pew bows to use. Again, saving money!

Answer 2

we had a small reception at the church with a choice of a few dishes. Being at the church we did a type of lunch we didn't invite a lot of people and there was no alcohol, after the church reception we had a big reception in our back yard, if you don't have access to a yard rent a hall such as K/C. We did a type of pot luck dinner were all of the family chipped in a brought food. We bought beer and wine to the party, so we didn't have to pay for an open bar. This may not sound like a great way to do it, but it really was great, because we were able to invite a massive amount of people and didn't spend much. If you cant get the family to help with the food find get a caterer to come in, you should be able to do this for within 10 to 15 dollars a head. Don't worry about being seen as cheap, because by not going nuts with a wedding we were able to buy a house sooner than if we went all out. Honestly I never regretted doing it this way, it was the happiest day of my life

Answer 3

We had a nice wedding, very elegant, and we shaved a lot of costs. This is what we did:
No expensive floral arrangements. My boquet and the bridesmaids were simple hand-ties roses. I had 12, the bridesmaids had 6, with some greens. They were lovely. We saved a lot doing this. For ALL of my flowers the total bill was $300. (includes a vase of flowers on the alter in memory of deceased relatives)

No wedding cake. We had a nice sit-down, several course meal. Last course was cheesecake. No need for a wedding cake. NO ONE noticed that we skipped the cake.

Wedding dress was a "sample". I wore a Maggie Sottero original that was a sample at the bridal shop. It cost me $300.

No favors. NO ONE wants them. No matter how you do it, favors are really some tacky item with your name and wedding date on them. They are not needed and they end up in someone's junk drawer. Instead, we donated some money to the American Cancer Society and placed a nice note at each table that said "Instead of favors we have made a donation to the American Cancer Society. Thank you for sharing our special day with us"

I printed my own invitations. They turned out beautifully and no one knew I printed them myself.

other ideas to make your wedding less costly is to consider a Friday evening affair. Saturday will be the most expensive for a venue, you often can get a deal if you chose a Friday evening.

have a great wedding.

Answer 4

There are many things that you can do. I would say the first is to always be on the lookout for bargains. I am constantly looking in clearance aisles, dollar stores, etc. for any good deals. So far I have spend $4 on 200 place cards, (dollar store) $68 on invitations (+1 color cartridge) (AC Moore), $12.50 on a champagne flute & cake cutting set (AC Moore), $10 on flowers to decorate the cake (which is being made for free by a family friend) (AC Moore). Another great place to look for decorations and stuff is EBAY, which has tons of wedding stuff. We bought our guestbook on ebay (I forget how much $) but it came out really nice and we saved a ton. I also plan to get my veil at AC Moore or Michaels because they range from $15-75 instead of hundreds of dollars. We also used craigslist to find a videographer and photographer. We are having both for about $1200 and it includes an album and 5 DVDs. Craigslist was great because potential suppliers hunted us down instead of us chasing them. Our biggest expense is definately going to be the catering and attire but we could have avoided those by having our families bring dishes or buy borrowing or purchasing used attire. It takes time and patience but there are definately some great deals.

Answer 5

Keep it simple, really. Make or have a seamstress make your own dress. This takes a lot of time, if it's done right, so start early. Have a friend play the organ, or piano, whatever, at the wedding, so you wont have to pay out a lot for a player. Have family members make the food items, instead of paying for a caterer. If it's summer, have your wedding outside in your yard, if you have one. This is a bit tricky, because you dont know it might rain or not.

Answer 6

Hm, some friends of mine celebrated their wedding at home and had a catering service. They borrowed a coach from a farmer with four white horses. All in all it was quite few expensive and it was really really great. If you don´t have such a big house, you maybe should ask a farmer, to celebrate on his land. Outside weddings are very beautiful.

Answer 7

The big budget breakers:

Location: choose a county park, your church, VFW
Food: stay away from dinner time (anything after 6pm) try a brunch, luncheon or dessert only reception (starts 8pm and later)
Music: have a friend who can play DJ?
Limo: drive your own car. Does dad have a vintage car?
Photography: book a photographer for the ceremony only. Have disposable cameras at the reception and have your guests take the pictures
Cake: hire someone who bakes from their home. Some nice old lady your mom knows who bakes all the time

Answer 8

Always shop around for items such as flowers, caterers, etc. We are having a wedding next weekend and we found (at a garage sale) a large number of glasses with etching and we are using those for table decorations by putting greenery and flowers in them, along with candles here and there. Because I had a daughter married in October I purchased all the linens as it was cheaper than renting for 2 weddings. We found lots of items we wanted t use for aisle deco and made it ourselves. Ask friends to borrow or purchase veils. My oldest daughter bought a friends veil for $50.00 instead of paying 250.00 for one. Matched the dress perfectly. Florists can order your flowers in bulk and save tons of money. Just a few suggestions that we found helpful and more cost effective.

Answer 9

Well we used silk rose petals to cover the aisle and also put them in little bags for our guests to toss at us as we left. Shop around for invitations, we got a great deal on ours at www.weddingsolutions.com. Figure out what's most important and splurge on those things (dress, cake, photos, etc). Good Luck and Congrats on the wedding!

Answer 10

I like your idea Heart, but what you have to decide and agree on is that you are GOING TO BE DIFFERENT AND UNCONVENTIONAL in order to cut wedding costs.

And some people will think and call you cheap, but you know, spending thousands of dollars on a wedding just really ain't a smart idea.