trying 2 plan a budget wedding any suggestions,I'm the mother of the bride,and am going crazy!?

Question

I found a wedding dress(Vera Wang) she wanted on ebay that is gorgeous,so she didnt mind that it was preused,I just would like 2 give her elegance at a decent price,any ideas would be very helpful!

Answer 1

I myself think simple is elegant. Where the money goes is mainly towards catering and flowers. We are from the south so big sit down dinners are not the norm. We just did fruit and veggies and croissant sandwiches. Most people just want the cake anyway. Also we did the very minimum with decorations. We chose a B&B that is an old victorian style house built in 1898. This way we didn't need any decorations on the inside. The ceremony was outside so it was already beautiful on it's own. This kept our decorating and flower budget way down. I thought it turned out to be very elegant and romantic setting. I think when people go overboard, you loose the meaning of the why you are there in the first place but that is just my opinion. If you would like to see pictures, e-mail me at [e-mail]
We also saved money by printed our own invitations. We bought 150 invitations for $60.00 at Target. Everyone thought they were professional and very expensive!

Answer 2

Only have a Maid of Honor and a Best Man or NO attendants

Small bouquets

Single flower bouquets and corsages

Use only carnations or mums or seasonal flowers

Avoid buying (or renting) alot of "decorative items' like archways or centerpieces or pew bows or guestbooks or feather pens or ring bearer pillows

No table favors

Have a breakfast or brunch, breakfast is always less costly than lunch and lunch is always less expensive than dinner. Except for toasting the Bride and Groom there is no need to have a bar or liquor at a breakfast or brunch.

Do not serve liquor or only serve a limited amount (red and white white)

Gentlemen all wear dark suits instead of tuxedos

Have the ceremony and/or reception in a park (community park, city park, or state park). The fees are extremely reasonable and many of them have covered pavilions.

Get married on a Friday evening or Sunday afternoon, many venues will give a room or food discount if the wedding is not held on a Saturday (prime time).

Get married in January or February or March. Many venues will give a discount for "off season" events

Do NOT buy wedding invitations or underwear or shoes or jewelry or other types of accessories at bridal shops. You will always pay 20 - 50% more (you are paying for the convenience)

Do NOT get your gowns altered at the store where you purchased it. You will always pay 20 - 50% more. Look in the yellow pages for someone who does "gown alterations" or a seamstress or a dressmaker.

Have the ceremony and the reception at the same location.

Have the ceremony and the reception at a Bed and Breakfast that has a "garden."

Have the ceremony and the reception in your backyard or someone's elses backyard (or living room).

Hire a "B List" DJ (an apprentice or someone that has limited experience)

Answered by: A Certified wedding specialist / A Professional bridal consultant / A Wedding ceremony officiant

Answer 3

If you have a vo-tech school in your area, they will usually make your bouquets and such at cost(learning experience), same thing with a cake. Make your own centerpieces, carnations are cheaper and come in so many colors. Choose a favor that won't get thrown in the trash (what a waste of money) we are doing personalized shot glasses at about .61 each they are very inexpensive but something almost everyone can use. Skip the catering and do a buffet of finger foods, meat & cheese trays, veggies, fruits, desserts. Don't go overboard on the alcohol (if you are having). An outside wedding in a park is a beautiful and inexpensive place to have the ceremony and even reception in some cases.
Remember, the longer the reception the more expensive the D.J. and photographer wil be. We have a friend who does excellent amatuer photos to do all our pictures for less than $300.

Answer 4

I, too, am the MOB, and I completely understand where you're coming from!

I recommend two things...First of all, spend a lot of time with your daughter "window shopping"...Look at all of the things that are out there, and have a good understanding of what costs what, and what your daughter wants for her wedding.

Then, with that understanding, make a budget! Don't make the budget based on the specific costs of the things she wants, but instead based on what you truly can afford. Then break it up into the parts & pieces that are needed. With your daughter and her fiance, decide what items are the most important. For example, if she doesn't care what food is served, but absolutely MUST have the wedding at a particular church, you can plan for this. At some point, it's very likely that the bride & groom will have to decide to reduce spending on one item in order to accommodate the costs for another item, but since it's their wedding, you should do what you can to let them make that choice.

Be firm with what you can spend, and allow for overages, because there will always be some! Also, read all of the contracts carefully...Some may automatically add tax and tip, some may not include these, but you'll still need to budget for it.

Best wishes! Don't forget to enjoy the event when it comes!

Answer 5

You can make the invitations your self a craft store or a walmart have kites and all you need is a computer and printer and they look very nice(14.99-29.99 for up to 150invites) If you have time most craft stores have classes in floral arrangement and cake decorating. Center pieces can also be made by hand candles in holder and mirrors look nice small glass bowls and glass stones and a floating candle can be gotten at a craft tore and can be out together for about 4 to 10 dollars a center piece.The knot is a good web site they have a ton of ideals and blogs you can read.Very helpful they have a budget work sheet. Also a wedding planning book might help you by getting a ideal when thing need to be done and in what order.

Answer 6

Awe....you're a sweet mom. First you have to decide how big you want this thing and how much money you have to work with. If you keep it to 100 or less guests, you can have a very nice meal individually served in a private room at a restaurant with linens and candles that includes coffee, tea, soft drinks, cutting and serving the cake. Then, you can supply whatever level of alchol you can afford (from champagne toast to wine and beer only). If you price it out, a private room in a restaurant is much cheaper than a hall or a back yard shin-dig in the rain. Unless your daughter needs dancing. Then, you'll have to do it at a hall, which means you'll pay more per plate, plus you'll be paying more for booze. The most reasonably priced halls are VFW halls and reception rooms at hotel chains similar to Comfort Inn. If you know someone who lives in a trailer park or condo association, sometimes there is a reception room to be rented, which would be next to being free. Then you could consider catering. Good luck.

Answer 7

Utilize your local library. They have books like "How to plan a wedding under $5,000" and a lot of other ideas. Since you are planning on a strict budget you will be doing a lot of projects yourself so recruit some friends. Have a little get together and start making decorations. Check out my website at www.Whimsical-Weddings.com and look at the Knot party pictures. There are rectangular candles in one picture that I made by wrapping tissue paper around flower vases from Walmart. Then I used papers from hobby lobby and placed it under the votive for more decoration.

Also, lighting is a great option to add to your wedding. You can add a lot of color and design with a lighting company than you can with flowers which can be expensive and you will need a lot more to get the same effect.

Answer 8

Ebay and the newspaper is a great place to find great deals! Also, if you're able to do a lot of it yourself, you'll save a bundle! Try Michael's for do it your self projects on bouquets and centerpieces...they have wedding pamphlets that give you craft ideas...complete with do it your self instructions and material lists...or they also have their own floral designer who will make the bouquet for you out of high quality silk flowers that look absolutely gorgeous...and are a little more than making it yourself, but a lot less expensive than having a florist to it! I helped my friend find a huge bridal bouquet made by a designer at Michael's for $78 and the same bouqet using fresh flowers was going to cost her almost double at the florist...and she wouldn't have even been able to keep it. You can also check with the ceremony and reception site to see if they have linens or candelabras that will allow you to use and include them in the site rental! Also, if you or someone in your family sews, you can find discount material and have many of the linens made!

Answer 9

Congratulations.

First you have to know how much money you are willing to spend. Stick to it and go after that.

Book the venue and church first. Most venues accept reservations one year in advance, so if you have yoru heart set on a particular date, do not wait until the last minute.

Shop around for dj's and florists.

Do not go cheap on photography. You will regret it.

Concentrate on good food and drinks, rather than centerpieces.

Do not waste your money on useless trinkets for favors. Edibles are your best bet.

People never remeber the color schemes, centerpieces or matching napkins...but they will remember how bad the food was.

Please, do not do money dances or nothing of that bature.

Good luck

Answer 10

Good luck to you. My wedding dress was $80. It wasn't Vera Wang though. I can't understand spending all that money on something to wear one time. Even if you divorce and re-marry, chances are you wouldn't wear the same thing. Good find on ebay though!

My entire wedding was under $3000. I made the invitations, the decorations and the favors myself...so materials was all I needed. I had everything for the favors...I cross-stitches bookmarks with our names and wedding date for everyone...yep, I made 100 of them. For centerpieces, I had clay pots with fake flower arrangements. They were beautiful...every one of them went home with someone.

Good luck to you!