I am getting married next year, and trying to cut costs as much as possible, so I am not hiring a wedding planner and am trying to plan it all by myself on a limited budget. I own my own consulting business and I work a full time desk job, so I don't have a whole lot of time to sit down and spend on this wedding. Any ideas on how to make it cheap and simple for me?
2007-05-16 08:41:38 · 50 answers · asked by muzikjunkie00 1 in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
See... the thing is my consulting business takes up most of my weekends and evenings. I have control of my hours, but the more hours I cut, the less money I have to use for the wedding.
2007-05-17 02:08:56 · update #1
Oh... and I would love to elope and just send everyone a postcard with our photo... LOL. But he's the first born, first married of his siblings and it's a big thing to him for his family to be there with us to watch us get married, and they can't afford to take a trip to whatever destination we chose to watch us get married there.
2007-05-17 02:10:40 · update #2
no hard you just have to be dedicated and not make your husband go nuts because you have turned into a terror over the wedding
2007-05-16 08:43:42 · answer #1 · answered by The H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all CONGRATS!!! I just got married 8 months ago and I started with a very limited budget so I couldn't afford a wedding planner. By the time everything was said and done my family and friends and I had spent almost $5000.00 and I swear we did everything the cheapest way I know how. Lots of little things start to add up after a while lol. If my husband and I would have just paid the $2500.00 to the wedding planner we talked to to begin with we would have came out alot cheaper but I wouldn't change it now even if I could. I had the best time of my life planning that wedding.
2007-05-16 08:59:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First decide what kind of wedding you want to have. It depends (unfortunately) on what kind of family pressure exists. Do you want everything that everyone else will expect or do you want to plan YOUR (and your fiancees) day. Some of the hotels will provide the hall for free if you are using their catering. They will charge you per head at a range of prices. All you have to get after that is music and decorations. If your family is down to earth, you can rent a community hall and have the families bring food. Like a pot luck. Get everyone to help with decor. There is so much to tell. A wedding planner will sometimes work on commision but that will mean they aren't too concerned about your costs. Good luck and whatever you do don't over extend. Your perfect day is one day. The debt shouldn't make your first year of marriage a burden for the two of you.
2007-05-16 08:52:42 · answer #3 · answered by nvr10pts 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you should make your own decorations and barrow stuff from other people. Since I don't know where your from, I cant tell you any cheap dress shops. You can also go to Deb or a department store. There is also a website, since your at a desk all day, that you can go to and the prices are really cheap compared to a seamstress or having a dress made. The site has everything from wedding dresses to flower girl dresses to mother of the bride/groom dresses. The website is keepmeinstiches.com. As for where to have the reception, have it at a friends house or your house, anywhere cheap. Ohhh! And the cake. When my friend got married, she had her little sister make the cake. It turned out really good. She only had taken a couple cake decorating courses but if you cant find someone like that, you good just order the cake or go to a supermarket that makes wedding cakes. Any more troubles, just google it!
2007-05-16 08:50:12 · answer #4 · answered by Sarah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you give yourself enough time, a year or so, it should be fairly easy. I did mine without a wedding planner and I was working full time and didn't even live in the same state where I was getting married. You'll need to block out a couple of weekends to look at reception halls and try on bridesmaid dresses and such, but other than that it will be breeze. Just make all your phone calls on your lunch break. Get yourself a book on wedding planning and it will take you through it.
2007-05-16 08:44:55 · answer #5 · answered by leaptad 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It should be relatively easy for you to plan your own wedding as, after all, you know exactly what you want. You could do a search on an internet search engine such as google or yahoo and see if there are any ideas thet you like, or you could buy wedding magazines or books as these can be quite useful. If you want to keep it cheap then you could just have a small intimate wedding only inviting close friends and family.
It might be useful for you to think of some themes or colour schemes that you may be interested in and what kind of ceremony you want and then look for similar ideas on the internet. Also, you could search for wedding venues in your area and request brochures which will enable you to work out the cost in your own time.
Best of luck.
2007-05-16 09:00:25 · answer #6 · answered by princess_terri_woo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a wedding planner book from Bride's Magazine. It's a great help. It takes you step by step for the whole year of planning. It is based on a 1 year engagement. It gives you what to do at every point of the planning.
It's really not that hard. Shop clearance racks if you can. Wal-Mart is starting to put things on clearance for inventory.
I managed to keep my wedding at $2000, plus the dress was $350.
My reception was a cake and ice cream reception. that kept costs WAY down. We're talking about $500 tops for the reception, including the cake.
Just make your priorities and have fun.
2007-05-16 08:58:10 · answer #7 · answered by Deb G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! It is very exciting to put it together.
Your wedding can certainly be accomplished without the help of a wedding planner and on a limited budget as well. The first step is to make a list of guests. With this information in hand, you will be able to assess the costs of each element you think of for your wedding such as reception (if you have one) or tables and chairs rentals (if you hold it at home).
Other things that you have to set are the wedding style,
colors, number of bridesmaids and best men, etc...
From there you will proceed to select settings, inviations, bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, etc...
I highly recommend you to keep at least a notebook with all details so as to not lose track of anything. You may want to have sections for receptions, rental places (for accessories), bridal shops, etc... and write down everything you learn at each place and any detail. This will later serve you to do comparison in case you change strategies for the wedding, and keep phone numbers and names handy.
You may want to watch wedding movies to get ideas. Some examples are: That Old Feeling, The Princess Bride, How To Marry a MIllionaire, Best Men, etc.....
Planning for your wedding is not a difficult task, it only takes organization to put it all together. You may enlist the help of mom, sisters, closes friends or sister. Good Luck!
2007-05-16 08:57:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have heard planers are a waste of money anyways they are only for convenience. And not everyone can afford convenience right?!?! Well... two of y Friends are getting married and have done EVERYTHING without much help from mom's or anything. One is doing it last minute with only 2 months to plan. So with you having a year and a full time desk job it may cost you alot of weekend time but it will help keep the wallet fat. I think you can do it just make up a schedule of everything you have to do and the time limit you have to do them some websites have great planning sheets...
2007-05-16 08:54:04 · answer #9 · answered by Small Town 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to take the time to plan things - its the only way to plan them right. Hiring a wedding planner, in my opinion, is a waste of time. Its your wedding and you should have the reins on what is happening.
If I were you, take your time and look at your options and see what you want to do. If you want something cheap, go to city hall, if you want something better than cheap, plan a small reception with an outdoor wedding.
If you want to spend a little bit more money and still have a beautiful wedding, fly to Vegas and get married at one of the hotels.
I did the Vegas thing with 50 friends and family in attendance.
2007-05-16 09:45:21 · answer #10 · answered by Scarlett 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keeping it small will help. You sound like an organized person so should have no trouble making arrangements. I found that as soon as the word wedding comes up, dollar signs and also a certain degree of superior 'Oh here we go dealing with a bridezilla" happens. So sometimes you can say Im having a party depending on who the vendor is, and have less stress. Even for wedding dress, sometimes a white prom dress works and is less expensive! Happy Wedding
2007-05-16 08:54:31 · answer #11 · answered by barthebear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋