My fiance and I are trying to plan a wedding under $4000 dollars is this possible?

Question

We both have student loan debt and are saving to buy a home. Instead of spendng a fortune on our wedding we wouldrather pay down our student loan debt. Therefore, we would like to have a elegant wedding at the least possible expense. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

My husband and I got married for just under $2000! And our wedding was beautiful!
Here are some things that we did.
We held our wedding and reception in the same building. That way we only had to pay for one place.
We had it at the local community center; it was a very nice place and was far less expensive than any of the other venues we looked at. After we got our deposit back it only ended up costing us $700. Plus, when you use a place like that they do not require you to use a caterer.
We had a potluck reception. When I sent out invitations included the traditional RSVP card but I added a little blurb about the reception being a potluck and I left space for people to write in what they were brining... that way I could call people and ask them to bring something else if there were any people planning on bringing the same thing.
I made my own invitations.... you can get paper and envelopes for very good prices at paper supply companies and you can come up with some very creative and cute invites with simple and inexpensive PC software.
I did my own flower arrangements... actually, I had my mom and brides maids help with this. You can get flowers wholesale and just have a flower arranging party. We did it at our rehearsal dinner, which we had at a friend’s house in here back yard (we bbq'd).

I burned a bunch of CD's and put them on continuous play (brought my own stereo and hooked it into the halls sound system) rather than hiring a Dj.
Have toe brides maids and groomsmen pay for their own dresses and tuxedos. People worry that this is rude, but it is really common now and no one in my wedding party cared.
I made all of the dress including my own... I don't recommend that though... it was a bit much when all was said and done, but you can find inexpensive options. You just have to look.
I got creative with the decorating. I use every strand of white Christmas lights that my family has (we remarked them with tape to make sue that they made it back to their rightful owners). I went to a craft store and got little flower pots and painted them and decorated them with ribbon and bought inexistence little plants in my wedding colors at the local garden supply store and used them for center pieces. I also found some really inexpensive tea light candle holders on eBay...
I got paper tablecloths in my colors (and napkins and plates) at a party supply store.
WE made out own cake and decorated it with edible flowers. as well... it is a lot of work though... Costco has really good prices for cakes.
We had a friend that is an armature photographer do our wedding pictures and we did ask our parents/grandparents to help with a few things. My husband’s parent paid for the kegs of beer and my grandmother helped me with he fabric for my dress.
Our friend that owns a bar served the drinks as a gift to us.
Ask around! People love to help with stuff like this.
I got a lot of items. Like decorations, candles, holders... gifts for the wedding party, all on eBay at excellent prices!
You just have to be creative, but it is possible to have a nice wedding and not go into horrible debt!
I hope this helped, congratulations and good luck!

Answer 2

Of course you can do a wedding for $4000 and I really applaud you on knowing what is most important...it's the marriage, not the day. The ceremony won't cost much-the majority of cost goes to decorations which can be two simple flower arrangements at the front and you can get tule or ribbon from a local home decore store to run along the isle.

The reception is where the bulk of the money goes. You can either limit the guest list to like 50-70 people and rent out a nice restaurant's party room with a set menu. Or, you can do a simple reception that is like a "Cake and Punch" thing and hire a DJ. You can get a friend to videotape and hire a photographer(or vice versa). Just remember that the best way to save money is buy and create the decorations yourself...more work, but saves on cost.

Wedding sites like www.weddingchannel.com also have good ideas on how to have an elegant wedding for less....

http://www.weddingchannel.com/ui/buildArticle.action?assetUID=42705&c=42705&s=84&t=71&p=56447355&l=97160

Answer 3

The biggest expense is the reception. I have had the most memorable times at the low cost weddings. People spend so much on what they believe is important and symbolic but if it were not there no one would know. If you could find a hall and a DJ, have the food catered. Leave a disposable camera at every table and invite your guests to take pictures at will. You will be amused at the results. Borrow your moms dress and save a couple thousand, besides it would be more sentimental and have more meaning. Churches now are in it for the money. I know of 2 roman catholic churches that set up a debit account to your checking account to make sure you are an active parishioner before they will marry you. So get a judge or find a cute little church that would gladly marry you for a small donation. In most cases you can get permission from the hierarchy in your faith to sanction the marriage if it were held in another faith church. Last, have a distant wedding and invite everyone at their own expense. 90 % won't go and you will still come back married. Keep in mind that a marriage is the rest of your life and not one day. If that $4000 would make your family stronger then elope.

Answer 4

I had a huge very nice wedding for about $3000 that was 8 years ago though. My mom did my flowers, so we only had to pay for the supplies. One of my ex employers did the cake so we got a huge discount $260. We served the food for the reception and did not have it catered. We had a great church and a big reception hall $500 total. I asked almost all couples to be in our wedding, it just happened to work that way, it wasn't planned. I paid for the girls dresses and the guys paid for the tuxes. We shopped around for prices on beer and pop. A lady my dad works for did the photography which cost us $300. The wedding dress is usually the most expensive thing. I used a friends dress that was just gorgeous. You can buy your own but don't go crazy. You are more than likely never going to wear the dress again. Just shop around and wait for deals. The more flexible you are the more likely you are going to get a good deal. Good Luck!

Answer 5

Outdoor weddings can get very expensive. You'll have to rent a tent (which will cost you around 3grand) You'll have to rent tables and chairs, and dance floor. All these things add up, plus you'll probably have to pay to rent the "space." Then on top of all that you have your DJ, Catering, Cake, Flowers, photography........ If your heart is set on an outdoor wedding, if someone in your family has a room at their house to do a wedding you'll save on the "space rental" or at a local park that has a pavillion you can use instead of a tent. To cut your catering costs find a caterer that is just starting out, sometimes their prices are a little less than the established guys. If your are crafty you might be able to do your bouquets and boutonnieres your self. Martha Stewert has great videos on her website showing you how to do it. For you cake, have a smaller tiered cake and the rest of it be sheet cake or you could do cupcakes. Don't go over board on your centerpieces. A few candles can go along way and make a place look very elegant and classy. Ebay is a great place to buy candles if you need a lot. Skip the favors, people only throw them away anyway. A photographer is not an area to skimp on, however, check out your local colleges for photography students. They charge less (if at all) and it will give them a chance to build their portfolios.

Answer 6

If you have decided on the city, town, or village you want try to stay local. Decorations can be really cheap if you decorate yourself. Depending on the season you can get things pretty cheap. My sister-in-law got married in October and used pumpkins, gourds ,and christmas lights to decortate for her wedding. Try and outside wedding maybe in someones backyard? Or a park? Dont have the food catered, do it yourself or pay some friends or family members. The food is what is giong to cost you the most with a wedding. How many people are you looking to invite? Remember if you have a catered wedding and you have 100 people, and you do $20 per person for food, that is $2000 already. So make ur own food and cake!

Do a search on the internet for some money saving ideas in wedding planning. GOod luck and have fun!!

Answer 7

Finally a couple that isn't all big on a wedding that they waist their money for a one day event and use it wisely and buy a house. Congrats on that. Congrats on ur upcoming wedding. You can do a beautiful wedding for under 4G's. If you look at EBay they have a lot of wedding stuff for decorations, etc. Oriental Trading has a lot of stuff. www.bulkpartysupplies.com has some neat stuff for cheap prices, www.partysecret.com has some stuff, You can also check ur local salvation, goodwill stores to see if they have like some reception stuff you can use. Use some fake flowers from a craft store. Craft stores have a lot of stuff for fairly cheap. Use your imagination. Get on-line and look up how to make things. Depending on the weather or time frame of ur wedding u can do an outdoors wedding by a lake or beach for little to nothing then rent a hall that already has tables, chairs, etc. Saves you there. Go to local bars that have DJ's come in and find one u like to have one DJ for ur reception. That's what I did and he was only 200$ which is fairly cheap and was awesome with lots of stuff. Just check around and see what you can find. You can make it happen. It's not impossible! Good luck!

Answer 8

Imagine, college and smarts. Congratulations.

It's possible if you do the leg-work. As with anything, the parts aren't nearly as expensive as the labor.
If you have friends & family willing to join in, you can have a great wedding.
Diane Warner has a book called "How to have a big wedding on a small budget." Retails for $15. See if you can get it at the library, half.com or some other halfprice bookstore.

The costliest part of the wedding is the reception.
You need to decide what you & your fiance HAVE to have & work from there.
If you want, email me. I have a planning list I offer my brides. It's a jumping off place.

Answer 9

yes I got married for a lot less than that. Find a place that will let you do the wedding for free. We got married at a non profit family center. They had a chapel and rooms that we could use for a reception with a kitcehn and everything. Thyey also let us use there sound system. There are many things you can do. You can have someone make your dress or buy a dress from a Salavation army. If you are part of a church many churches will do weddings for free. You can have fake flowers made like places like hobby lobby. You can have a family member or friend make food. You can make your own decorations. You can rent things instead of buying. There are so many things you can do that is real cheap.

Answer 10

My sister had a beautiful wedding for less than 5000$. She got married in October (off wedding season), and on a Friday night b/c friday was cheaper. SHe found a restaurant/hall that gave her a free bridal shower if the rehearsal dinner and the reception were all at this place. She had about 80 guests, and served appetizers buffet style as the meal. nobody went hungry, we all had plenty to eat. She bought her wedding dress at David's bridal. You may have better luck at other dress shops by looking at their sale racks, though. She made her favors (chocolates), and had small flower boquets. Her other bridesmaids and I paid for her limo b/c we didn't have to pay for a shower. She found a DJ that was cheap, although i have known other people who just brought their own stereo system and made CD's ahead of time to play at the reception. Hope you have a great time at your wedding!

Answer 11

I had a wedding for about $5000. The key is to make your own EVERYTHING!! Invitations, favors, programs, do your own flowers (buy from a wholesaler). We also had cupcakes as our wedding cake and for the cake top we bought a small round cake from Vons.
Look for cheaper venues, and don't have your heart set on having a huge fancy reception. We had ours at a club room at someone's condo and had a champagne toast, no dancing, music playing in the background, and people had a GREAT time!!
Think outside of the box! Don't listen too much to wedding websites, they tend to persuade you to spend spend spend. Just be creative and original.
It will be MUCH more affordable and MUCH more memorable that way!