Low cost wedding?

Question

My Fiancé has a much larger family then I do, so we're trying to cut down on cost. Do any one have any good ideas as to how to go about doing that?

Answer 1

Keep your options open as fas as places for the wedding and ceremony. Its cheaper to have them both at the same place. Try local Lodges (We had had ours at an Elks Lodge - only $300 and the bartender was free) or gardens or even friends who have lareg backyards. Flowers are pretty but can get expensive keep it simple and get only what you need and ask the flower shop if they have flower arrangements you can rent - or make your own. Favors are great too but many people leave the wedding without taking theirs - we had over half of the favors left over at our wedding. As far as food: buffet and hor dours are going to be the best option to keep costs down. Make your own invites. I planned a wedding in 2 months with a budget of $3,000 and our wedding was prefect. Just do your research and make a list of things you REALLY want and a list of optional things.. that way if you have room in your budget after you have the things you really want then you can start adding things for your optional list.

Answer 2

Have a small wedding, inviting only the closest family and friends; if you try to invite everyone and their brother, it's going to be expensive no matter what you do. Figure out which traditions are "a must", and which you can do without. Technically, you only have to have the bride and groom, two witnesses, an officiant and a marriage license; everything else is optional. You don't have to spend money on flowers, you don't need a fancy "wedding party". It's all up to you as to what you want to have - but everything you add to your list of the "must-haves" will necessarily add to the cost.

Answer 3

Does any of them have a large enough home and/or yardage to have a wedding?

First set a budget and work within that parameter. You & your finace then must decide what you HAVE to have to make it 'yours'.

If you do alot of the leg-work yourself and recruit family & friends to help, you can have a pretty decent wedding.

Here are a few places to start.

http://www.wedcraft.com/

http://www.save-on-crafts.com/weddingcra...

http://www.allcrafts.net/wedding.htm......

To find an officiant type into Yahoo your city, state & wedding officiant (no 's' on the end) You will have a few to choose from, usually on the 2nd page. The larger bridal sites seem to get top billing. If you do go to the bridal sites, please visit the site of someone you think you might like. Those bridal sites make vendors & officiants pay for your contact info so you may not hear back from someone you'd hoped.

If you're anywhere near Cincinnati, give me a shout; here or from my site
http://www.weddingvowsandpromises.com...

Ps. A wedding usually goes over budget by about 15%

Answer 4

Well you could just cut your guest list to only very close family members and best friends. And have a buffet style meal, minus the open bar and just serve punch and tea/coffee, and just serve champagne during the toasting. Look for discounts everywhere for: your dress, flowers, decorations, transportation. Some formal attire shops offer the groom a free tux rental when groomsmen purchase theirs. Have a skillful friend/family member to style your hair. And you could probably get someone to prepare the wedding dinner for you. You could with help, make your own bouquets and table arrangements, and other decorations. Make a budget and live by it. Instead of a wedding planner have family member to coordinate wedding ceremony and reception. Or you could have an early afternoon wedding and instead of having to serve a dinner you could just have refreshments and punch and the wedding cake to serve guests. Also you could have a close friend to make your wedding cake- at my cousins wedding instead of a cake she had cupcakes arranged on a three tier leveled plate. Instead of a hall you could have the reception at your home or a very willing family member's home.

Answer 5

You have some very good ideas here. If you want to still have a "traditional" ceremony, check to see if any family or friends may be able to actually perform your ceremony for free. Someone may have forgotten that ol' cousin Joe is a Minister. You could have the ceremony for free in a local park or your backyard. If you are a member of a church, they will often do it for little money if not free. If you are religious, start looking for a church now.

Some ideas for a "bare budget" wedding:

Use the natural scenery, or use flowers you have grown yourself in the garden. Places like Home Depot also have cheap potted plants that look nice. Or don't tell the florist the flowers are for a wedding. That increses their price. Say it is for a "party".

You can make your own invitations on the computer, using stock paper. Buy that and envelopes in bulk from an office supply store. You can also include an email address (set up a free Hotmail account) for RSVP's so you do not have to spend on return postage for reply cards. Make sure to still include old fashioned reply cards or at the very least your phone number to those who do not use the internet, like your grandmother. The phone/email reply is not classy, no, but it IS cheap. If space is not an issue and you are doing your own cooking on site (i.e. your reception will be in a large backyard), then you may not want to worry about reply cards. It's not like you need to tell a caterer your exact head count. Your choice.

If you do go with a standard venue (hotel, etc.) then have your wedding in the off season (January-March), and have it on a Friday. You might be able to save big by doing so.

For the ceremony, individual programs are not needed, most look at them for 5 seconds and then focus their attention on waiting for the bride. If you really want a program, have a friend with nice calligraphy skills write up a large version and post it on an essel near the front. Or print your own off the computer.

Food wise for the reception: If you are having it in a backyard setting, etc, have a family "potluck". Ask every guest to bring a favorite family or personal dish to share with the happy couple. This could save you HUGE on food. Set up a buffet table. If you do this, you will need to have your recpetion first. Back in the day, the family always made the food for weddings, unless you were rich. Not a big deal.

At a hotel, look for plated service (buffet can cost more), and have a lunch instead of dinner. Much cheaper. Or have appetizers only. If you do decide on dinner, use wedding cake as dessert, instead of paying for cake twice for the same person.

Serve punch. If you want to serve wine, you can get deals if you buy it by the "flat". Most people also can't tell the difference if your wine is on the cheaper side. Either way, if money is an issue, they will understand. You can even make your own wine for very cheap. Some venues will not allow this, however. If you have a daytime reception, you will need less alcohol, and can even get by on no alcohol.

For your cake, go to a local grocery store bakery with a picture, and see what they can do for you. Or, find a friend with a Marth Stewart touch and make your own if you're up for it.

Once thing that is really common now (or at least I'm doing it), is to register at a local travel agency for your honeymoon instead of having a traditional store. Your guests can pay for bits and pieces of your trip, cutting down on costs for you.

Check dollar stores for decorations and favors. They often have very nice candle for next to nothing. Buying things online in bulk can also sometimes save money.

For transportation, drive your own cars. No need to hire a limo. Wash them and stick a bow on there!

See if any relatives can dj. Set up your computer/iPod on a playlist and let it go. Have them check in from time to time and add songs for people. Use your speakers from home or the hotel. Or look into bands from local high schools. They might play for free if they need practice for an upcoming competition!

For your hair/makeup, go to a beauty school. Do a trial run first to make sure you can get what you need. Most up and coming stylists in training work for next to nothing and can be just as good.

These are just some ideas, and there are many more. Just look, and it will come to you!

Good luck!

Answer 6

Look up Bed and Breakfest in your area. They can be around 5,000 for a garden wedding. Most places include food, cake and the weekend rooms for the couple. Bed and Breakfest places are usually cheaper because they have to compete with the local hotels.

Answer 7

We're getting married at the court house, and then afterwards we're having a gathering a friend's house with a large backyard for a potluck/bbq. Sure, its not the Plaza, but its people we love having a good time. Thats what matters.

Answer 8

Having the wedding date on an "off" day of the week like Thursday can be cheaper. It also cuts down on how many people can attend ;)

Answer 9

Get married @ the courthouse & wear a nice dress. Afterwards, everyone goes dutch for dinner at a nice restaurant. No problem! (This is what I did for my 3rd -- & hopefully last -- wedding. It was perfect! I should have done it that way from the very first wedding!). Good luck!

Answer 10

well what i did was,ask all my guests to pay for their meal instead of a present.It was so much easier and everyone agreed to do it.Also my bridesmaids paid for their own dress,most people do these things these days and its so much cheaper.Also i had two friends with digital cameras who took stacks of photos and then i just got them developed at a shop and got some blown up.
i had the most georgous garden wedding in my brothers back yard.Then had reception at our local club