planning a wedding?

Question

I am in the mist of planning a wedding, I have been engaged to my hunny bunny for 5 years (kids came along so we put it off)..well I want to get married and don't know how long it takes for me to plan it I am on a budget (not a millionaire) and want to know how long it takes to plan a wedding MYSELF (can't afford a planner) I don't want flowers (except the ones people will be wearing) I don't want a photograher ( I'm going to use throw away camera and let everyone take their own pics:: like on FRIENDS) I just don't know how long it takes there will be at least 70 people there, the most important part where i will spend the money is food and entertainment...I'm not a real high mantaince girly girl..a live in Texas and want to know if anyone has cool ideas..I love pink, candles, lights, my hubby ( yes I want his likes included) loves cars, and outdoor type stuff...I also have a 2 year old boy and a 5 year old daughter to work in with everything....HELP PLEASE ANY IDEAS???

Answer 1

I am helping a friend right now plan a wedding. It is in April and we have nothing planned. I suggest to go to different hotels in your area and see about renting out the banquet rooms that hold however many people you are wanting to have. Normally those rooms go for $400+. You get normally all day and they provide the tables and linen. All you will have to do is get like the decorations which can be super easy. Rent an arch to get married under b/c you can have the ceremony and the reception at the same place. As centerpieces on the table, get some sort of glass piece, like a fish bowl, etc and put water in it with the floater candles and sprinkle confetti on the tables. Just call around for prices of them rooms and go look at them and see which one you like. As far as catering, they normally do it. I would suggest to do the light foods like sandwiches, meatballs, deviled eggs, fruit trays, veggie trays, cheese trays, and stuff like that. For your husband, get his groom cake made with either outdoor stuff or cars. This is basically what we are doing but we are getting backdrops and stuff like that. We are renting all the decorations and if you want to pay a little bit more for that, you can turn it into a really nice wedding for a simple price. Good luck! Hope this helps!
And invitations.....you can go to Walmart and they have all the Wilton stuff I think in the arts and craft section and you can make your own and they come out really good. To get the verses, just to go like the wedding invitation websites and see what verse you like and just use that.

Answer 2

A wedding plan can happen as quickly or as slowly as you want it. Here are some ideas to help, I hope.
Try having a wedding outdoors at a park or a nice outdoor area. There you will have the beauty of nature and not be spending a ton on decor.
Figure out a budget and then think of how you would like the reception to be. Do you want a buffet or a sit down dinner? Would you like your wedding to be in a reception/ banquet hall or outside in like a tent? Once you know what you are looking for, then it will come easy. Just call around and get pricing. Write it all down and compare. See who is going to give you what you would like for a fair price.

Answer 3

Depending on how formal or informal you want the reception to be, it could take 2 months to a year. If you are organized, than plan about 2-3 months. The main reason people plan weddings so far out is that reception halls and churches, etc, get booked so quickly for weekends. If you are willing to get married on a weekday, than places are a lot easier to book. Think about having the reception at a park or in someones backyard. Decorate with pink candle centerpieces and twinkle lights in the trees, etc. Good Luck

Answer 4

Well, he's right: Usually guys don't care about the wedding planning. But however much of the wedding they care about, I'm not to say. Some may only care about the little details, while others don't care at all. Apparently, that's the category your fiance falls under. My fiance, on the other hand, seems to only care about the big details--the location, venue, guest list, dinner menu, colors, and entertainment source (band, orchestra, DJ, dancers, singers, etc.). Small things like the centerpieces and flower bouquets don't intrigue him. Anyway, if your fiance doesn't like something about the wedding, he should speak up. You two have a real live marriage coming up soon and if he's "shy" around you, obviously he's not ready for marriage. So just continue planning your wedding and stop pushing him to say something--if he wants to say something, he will. It's obvious he truly doesn't care.

Answer 5

I can suggest watching the TV show "Who;s wedding is it anyway" and watch the planner names Linnyette. She is the queen of doing the classy and beautiful wedding on the cheap. She has great ideas. She also has books out and a website
http://www.theweddingdiva.com/

I do want to warn you about one thing you wrote and maybe you will rethink your decision. Do get a photographer. The pictures people will take might be good or bad, there is no guarantee and alot of times people dont think to pick them up and use them. If you hire a photographer, even for 2 hours (and they will work hourly) he/she will capture special moments and they will be in focus! I really strongly suggest that you consider hiring a professional, it will be money very well spent on your memories of your wedding day. Also, you dont have to get a whole book put together and stuff, thats where you really start to spend money. Alot of photographers now a days offer packages where you either get the hard proofs or the proofs on disk and you own the copyright so you can print them out yourself. Its worth looking into.

Best wishes to you!

Answer 6

well, as far as food goes, my husband and I had a potluck. That's right everyone brought a unique dish because that is what the invitation said. We provided the drinks and everyone else brought the food, and it was all so delicious. There wasn't one dish like the other. We had chicken wings, pasta salad, sandwiches from public, pinwheels, fruit salad, veggie tray, chips and dip, KFC LOL. It was fantastic.

Everyone told us how beautiful everything was, and that a potluck was the greatest idea. They said they wished they would have thought of it for their wedding because food can be so expensive. Even the food can be unique, special and yummy at the same time

Answer 7

I completely agree with Kate....Do get some sort of photographer. Either pony up and hire a professional for a couple of hours, or ask your friend or family member with the best photo skills and a decent camera to take pictures for you. You can still place the disposables for use by guests, just don't depend on getting very many good shots from them. BTW, use Kodaks or Fujis with flash, and not the cheapie ones, the quality is better.

I am a photo lab manager, and see lots of table cameras from weddings. Believe me, you do NOT want to count on that for your entire wedding pictures!! About 2 or 3 pics from a roll are usable, the rest are junk, like kids playing with the camera, people shooting their finger, tops of heads cut off, flash pics from 30 feet away, etc etc etc. Of course, you may have oodles of talented friends who will take well composed and lit pictures of the event from every aspect, but in reality, that won't happen. You really REALLY need to plan for someone to do the photography!

Now that my rant is through :-)

Try www.indiebrides.com for good inexpensive ideas.

I planned and executed my best friend's daughter's wedding last August. We ended up under $800 for the wedding and reception. 70 guests. Ceremony in my back yard. Reception at local community clubhouse. "Heavy" finger foods. Here is a breakdown of sorts:
Started planning wedding first week of July for mid-August. Then her mother died following minor surgery, but she decided to go on with it, so we did.
Brides dress ordered from eBay, non -traditional lilac gown.
Groom wore khakis and new white shirt.
Bridesmaids wore their own clothes in purple and green.
Ushers bought green shirts and wore khakis.
Flower girls wore their own dresses and we put little wings on them. Ring bearers wore own clothes.
I did photography and proofs for my wedding gift to them.
Bought flowers from grocery store. made our own bouquets, bought ribbon from WalMart.
Bought food from Sam's Club and the grocery store. Had some friends donate their time and effort to fix and serve at the reception.
Served punch at reception, with only enough bubbly for the toast. Also had iced tub of beer, but not enough for everyone to get drunk!
Bride's uncle is gifted guitarist, played for outdoor ceremony.
Uncle's band played for reception!
Friend baked cake at cost. Topper from eBay.
Another friend donated use of classic Caddy limo for getaway ride to the reception. Just filled with gas and car wash.
Same friend collects antiques and Christmas antiques. We borrowed some candlesticks and other things, reworked an old Christmas candelabra in our wedding colors and put in purple bulbs, stunning! Same friend had Christmas archway we used in my yard for the ceremony. We swagged in tulle and magnolia, it was beautiful! We also borrowed some big potted plants and ferns for the ceremony and reception.
We had 4 children involved, including the bride's 3 yo daughter. I cut butterflies in our color from foam sheets. The children decorated them with sequins and glitter. Then we displayed them behind the cake cutting area. Also the little flower girls wore wings and their dresses had butterflies on them.
Bought tulle from WalMart (it's cheap!) and wrapped in Christmas lights and draped and swagged, also used on buffet table. Used free greenery from outdoors, ivy and magnolia.
Borrowed tableclothes and serving pieces from friends and family. One friend even had tableclothes in the green and purple we were using! Everything didn't match, but it looked gorgeous!

ASK your friends and family what they have that you could borrow and use for a wedding. Many people have nice tableclothes, linens, silver, fancy candlesticks, punchbowls, etc etc stashed away in a drawer, and would be happy to see their nice things used for an event! If we had to pay to rent or buy all the beautiful things we used, it would have cost HUNDREDS of dollars!

It was hard work, especially since my bride lives 4 hours away and we did much of it long distance! It took us about 6 weeks from start to finish. I admit, it would have been less stressful to have more time!

You can do it! Ask friends and family for help! The love you and want to be involved in your special day. Don't be shy in using their help.

Good luck!