My honey and I plan on getting married some time next year. We don't want to spend a whole bundle of money. He would like a church ceremony (thats not really the costly thing), We would like a decent reception (Sunday afternoon around Lunch time) but everywhere I have looked so far is going to cost a fortune. I was wondering if anyone can give me any ideas that will help save money, but will be beautiful and fun for not only us but for everyone else as well. I would be expecting around 50 to 60 people to attend (mostly my family). Thanks.
2007-01-02 13:27:15 · 10 answers · asked by Easter Bunny 4 in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
Don't know where you live but my husband and I got married in the fall on the side of a dirt road in Vermont. It was beautiful and we had a friend take the photos which were awesome. Then we went back to a friends ski chalet and had a wedding "reception" . It was basically catered by us. We did all the prep work with some help by his family and the friends. The friends also let us stay at the ski house for our honeymoon. It was a very inexpensive, intimate yet wonderful wedding. All that mattered was that we were together with our family and a few friends. Plus our children from previous marriages. PS. We had both had those huge weddings forced on us in the first marriages and frankly it was all a blur and can't remember them. This wedding day was less stress and will always be remembered because we did it our way. Whatever you decide have a great day and a wonderful life.
2007-01-02 13:42:32 · answer #1 · answered by It's been awhile 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Have a picnic party in a park or friend's garden, I have even heard of people that have asked their guests to bring their own picnic food with them, instead of a wedding gift. Or you could ask them to make 5 cupcakes each and bring those instead of a gift and you could stack them up as your cake. How about an afternoon tea party? Elegant finger sandwiches, little cakes etc, that would work on a lovely Sunday afternoon. I saw a comment further up that suggested a luau, that is a really good idea, you can have a BBQ, everyone loves a BBQ!! Bowls of floating candles look really pretty, put some glass pebbles in the bottom of the bowl, and if there are trees in the garden then decorate them with tea light candles in clean, washed jam jars (baby food jars work better). You just need to wrap some wire around the top and make it into a hook or handle shape to hang from the trees, you could even paint the jars with glass paints. Or just use strings of paper lanterns, look on Ebay, you can get those fairly cheaply, and now Christmas is over you could have a look and see if any stores have fairy lights at a discounted price.
2007-01-03 03:12:46 · answer #2 · answered by sparkleythings_4you 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would suggest a park or a backyard of a family member? I think you could dress it up with a planted garden and/or trees. I think you could use string lights. Have the family help you make sandwiches, cheese trays and other things. You can go to Sams and buy bulk. I think small intimate weddings are awesome. I am having one for 150 people, mostly my family and then we will do a huge reception. We are trying not to be too traditional. I think a park would be so relaxing but yet intimate. Let us know what you do! Good luck and happy planning!
2007-01-02 21:44:23 · answer #3 · answered by Peek A Boo 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Start looking in thrift stores for decorations. All types of pretty candles all over ther reception hall/backyard would be pretty and wouldn't have to all match.
Have a luau after the ceremony. That way you can grill hot dogs, hamburgers and have fun doing the limbo, you cna also have a friend be the music DJ instead of hiring one.
2007-01-02 21:31:51 · answer #4 · answered by chieko 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Take all of the help you can get! My father-in-law is a photographer, so we had him take all of our wedding pictures, with his digital camera no less, so we got to see all of our pictures at once and print out only the ones we wanted afterwards.
Also, my husband's brother put together a CD for us that we played on a boombox on a continuous loop at the reception, so we didn't really have to pay for a DJ or a band. We got to pick out the songs!
I got my wedding dress at a bridal shop that was going out of business. We waited until one of the last possible days before going in to see what they had. My dress was originally retailing for $800, and we got it for $180. You can probably also find some nice ones at local thrift stores. I found an even nicer dress than the one I had at a thrift store, but by then I had already made my decision!
Instead of a traditional tiered wedding cake, we got cupcakes. I think they were cheaper than your traditional wedding cake, and more "fun" too, and still just as pretty. Our colors were emerald green and white, so we looked on the internet and found some emerald green cupcake papers and bought some and delivered them to the bakery. They were frosted in white and had really pretty white roses all over them.
The day before our reception, we went and picked up everything (flowers--which were also bare bones minimum) and the cupcakes and dropped off the CD and boombox at our reception place (which was a less expensive local restaurant's conference room). We set up everything ourselves and it all turned out fine! We laid out the cupcakes on the cake stand and decorated it ourselves with some ferns and doilies and it turned out very nice. My Mother in law, who is usually very picky and high-class said that she wasn't expecting it to turn out as nice as it was.
Oh, and we had a big clump of green and white balloons near the ceiling that was fairly inexpensive.
Lastly, we Honeymooned in Washington DC, where a lot of the attractions are either free or low cost...museums, monuments, national parks, that sort of thing, but we're nerds who like that sort of stuff.
Have fun, and be creative, it's YOUR day to shine and don't let anyone ruin it for you!
2007-01-02 21:49:32 · answer #5 · answered by Nancy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Have the ceremony right after church. Ask one of the family that has a big enough home and yard if you could have it their - but do it about 2:00pm or otherwise you have to feed them lunch. At 2pm you could get by with just cake and punch. Good Luck! Oh! and if you do want to do lunch do it buffet style and use Sam's large servings of foods.
2007-01-02 22:00:39 · answer #6 · answered by flash 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you go with an Saturday afternoon wedding, or a Friday evening wedding, the reception halls should be cheaper. Good Luck- and congrats
2007-01-02 21:30:47 · answer #7 · answered by Rairia 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The most expensive part of my wedding was the alchohol, we did an open bar for the duration of the reception. It was very expensive b/c we couldn't bring our own alchohol. I would suggest either not doing any alchohol, doing only beer and wine, or finding a place that will let you bring your own. I think for my wedding which was around 250 people, it was around 15-17 thousand dollars.
2007-01-02 21:34:57 · answer #8 · answered by yhwhlivesinme 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i suggest you will scan a lot of pictures for decorating/designs/details and do it yourself or your close friend, dont hire a professional to do those stuff, this will save you big money and also for the reception you can do it in your home or his home just add lots of flowers in your place that were arranged by your family or friends.
2007-01-03 11:03:49 · answer #9 · answered by blue violet 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a wedding on the beach would be beautiful :)
2007-01-02 21:30:19 · answer #10 · answered by missambitions 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋