Huge wedding,tiny budget! Advice?

Question

A friend of mine wants to have 150 people at her wedding, but has to pay it herself so there really isn't much money. She's disappointed, I'm making her be realistic and not so sentimental about it all, but nonetheless - When you really want to have wedding with 150 people involved, then what would you do to chop costs down to bare minimum? She's making her own wedding gown, and there are several people willing to make things.

What are some inexpensive ideas you've seen done that help make a low-budget wedding not look cheap? Anything that we should avoid doing, that seem way too tacky?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Crafting the decorations & flowers is a good start.
Make it a pot luck, instead of bring gifts, see if relatives or some friends could each bring a food item, or drink or table setting supplies. Hold the reception at a firehouse, instead of an expensive reception hall. Make it a BYOB & just have mixers. Many differnt ways to cut back, but maybe a few less people too????

Answer 2

I didn't have that many people (final guest list about about eighty-five), but I had a budget wedding that didn't look it.

First off, pick the priorities. Don't worry about what others will think of those priorities. These are your immutables. This is where you will put the lion's share of your budget. The bride and groom should each pick one or two - NO MORE. If you can find ways to cut back on the pricetag on these, great, but don't compromise on them. Just look for deals.

Second, start agressively looking for ways to cut back on the costs for everything else. Favors and personalized ribbons, napkins, matchbooks, etc. are a great place to cut costs. These are things that most people don't notice but they add up quickly.

If invitations aren't that big a deal to you, this is another place where you can cut the costs in a big way. Pick something in a standard-sized envelope and do minimal inserts. Too much weight, or a size that doesn't fit in the postal machines will cost you a fortune in extra postage. Also, few guests will make these the beloved keepsakes that we wish they would. Oh, and there are some great cardstocks available at your local stationary store that you can print out on your home computer. Big savings, no discernable difference in quality to most people's eyes.

If flowers aren't your sacred cow, they're another place it's fairly easy to cut the costs. If you marry outside or someplace that's already prettily decorated, you can cut way back on the flower arrangements. And if you want fairly simple bouquets, etc. you can easily learn to make them yourself. In general, silk flowers cost less than real blooms. Also, some areas have florist's supply warehouses open to the public. That's what I used. Between the fact I was getting married in a redwood grove, the fact I was doing very simple bouquets, the fact that I was willing to take pretty much whatever flowers I found that looked nice together and had long stems, and the fact that I had a couple friends bringing goodies from their own gardens, I spent a grand total of $35 on my flowers. That includes the ribbon, florist's tape, and decorative pins for the corsages.

If your site allows it and you have a couple decent cooks in your circle, consider self-catering. Good cooks or a local Costco will be your friend here. Also, if the wedding is held at a time when people are not expecting a full meal, you can serve appetizers, cake, and punch and save a fair amount of money. But if you're having dancing and such, I wouldn't do it this way.

Do you know any musicians? Is there a college with a music department nearby? If so, you may be able to come up with live music for less. Also, it's quite possible to set up an iPod and use that for your wedding music, so long as you have the electrical capacity on site.

Talk to friends. Almost everybody loves to help out with a wedding, and most of us have a secret talent or some useful item hanging around that would be gratefully accepted by a bride trying to cut costs. Does Aunt Edna bake like a dream? Maybe you could sweet talk her into baking the cake. One of your co-workers is noted for her beautiful soprano voice? Perhaps she'd be willing to do a solo. Grandma Mary would be hurt if you didn't use her cut-glass punchbowl? Wouldn't want to hurt Grandma's feelings, would we?

The idea is to keep flexible, be creative, and be relentless in your search for bargains. Look for sales, eliminate the unnecessary, and do as much as you can yourselves. You'll be astonished what you can accomplish on a tight budget if you keep your eyes open, your ear to the ground, and your hands busy.

Answer 3

Make the bouquets. My sister in law made her bouquets from fake flowers and they are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen! She bought the most realistic looking flowers while they were on clearance and then made the bouquets herself. She still has the bouquets after 3 years and they are beautiful. Then my mother in law planted all kinds of flowers so they didn't have to buy flowers for the table arrangements. For the reception it would be easy to make up mini sandwiches and display them nicely. It could also make a fun get together to have family and friends help make some of the food and decorations plus make it more personal. Have a party and have friends and family over to assist with making different items, they might even have new ideas. You could see everyone's creative side and make it fun! Don't be afraid to ask for help from friends & family but make it fun for them too.
Don't buy the 1 time use cameras! They don't take good pictures and cost too much for what they are. If you can't afford a photographer, ask friends & family with nice cameras to bring them. But let them know that you don't expect anything more than snapshots(anything more could ruin friendships) If you have several taking pictures there will inevitably be some good ones to keep. Also you could hire a photographer for only the ceremony or posed shots or even get prebridals done in a studio.
Biggest advice, make sure that the officiant knows to be there very early, mine was getting Alzheimers and nobody knew. He showed up at the end of the ceremony, luckily my soloist had just been ordained.
Focus on the love the 2 share, not the things and everyone will go away feeling that it was a beautiful wedding!

Answer 4

Honestly, the best way to pull this off would be to make it a casual event. Book a park or a beach, and have a caterer bring in food. Alternately, if there are enough people ready to help, it would be not too difficult to pick up some food items at Costco and have a few moms & aunts bring them to the reception.

As a point of reference...Often, you can book an outdoor location through the local Parks & Rec Department for under $500 for the day. Many indoor reception sites will cost upward of $2000 for just a few hours. Additionally, if you get your food from the reception site, it can easily be $50 per person. Through an individual caterer, this can be as low as $25 per person.

Often, your local grocery store can put together a very nice cake for a more reasonable price than another bakery...I know that the Safeway here in town does wedding cakes, and their prices were easily $200 - $400 less than our local bakeries, and they actually do a very good job.

Make your own bouquets. You aught to be able to find a floral wholesaler nearby who can not only sell you the flowers for a reasonable price, but who will also have the foundation items you'll need to put them together, such as floral tape, etc. The wholesaler near me sells roses for $14.95 for two dozen...A bouquet with the same flowers put together by a florist will cost upward of $120.

Best advice is to research every option...Call lots of vendors, and compare prices wherever you go.

Answer 5

Skip doing wedding favors. They're always tacky and useless anyway, and no one will notice that you don't have them anyway.

Instead of a dj or a band, put all the music you want on an Ipod, and ask a friend to "be in charge of it" in case it starts looping or something.

My cousin had a pizza buffet for dinner at her reception. The response was great, because everyone got to pick what they wanted (and who doesn't love pizza). Leftovers were left out for those who got the munchies later in the evening and the wedding party got to take the remainder home and served them at the gift opening the next day.

Don't waste money on a cake cutter. Get a simple cake and ask 2 friends cut it later in the evening (while people are dancing). Put pieces on a table so you don't have to pay for waitstaff to stick around to pass them out.

Gather up a bunch of different vases (can decorate with matching ribbon) and have the wedding party put their bouquets in these and use as the centerpieces. All tables do not require centerpieces. They usually get in the way of all the dishes and food on the table anyway.

For the bridal shower, ask guests to give the bride and groom a bottle of their favorite wine. Serve these at the rehersal dinner.

Answer 6

My best friend had over 150 people at her wedding and it cost her just under $5,000. She knows someone whose parents own a party shop, so she got all the decorations at cost. She made her own invitations and did her own bouquets. She had a friend do her hair and make-up and another friend did their photography as a gift (he charged for the prints but not his time). They also had a buffet instead of a plated meal. There are lots of ways to cut costs!

There's a great book called "Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot: How To Plan A Church Wedding For Less Than $5,000." You can buy it from amazon.com or chapters.ca. Even if you aren't having a church wedding (my friend didn't), the information is still relevant.

Answer 7

Rent a historic house that can support a period concept. See where non-profit groups hold functions for leads on these type venues.

Make it Pot Luck and encourage folks to wear costumes.

Hire a band that local folks who do social dancing enjoy and visit them, ask if some of the dancers would be willing to come and teach a little lesson.

Keep alcohol out, period.

Make the wedding party inclusive. Focus on couple but have as many involved with party as possible in pictures and sharing of being a participant.

Answer 8

Have a buffet dinner, but don't skimp on the full open bar. Professional photography is expensive, go with someone in the family or a friend. Don't rent limos.
Avoid having a money dance at the wedding, don't ask for cash or gift cards instead of gifts -- those are the tacky bits.

Answer 9

To help cut the cost of the wedding she should hire a friend or family member to DJ the wedding & reception, friend or family member to take pictures (there are some real good digital cameras), can order real flowers for a low price at sam'sclub.com or fiftyflowers.com. She can also cut the number of people coming to just family and real close friends. Also, Wal-Mart has some good wedding favor boxes for a low cost. Hope some of this helped.

Answer 10

You've probably already throught of this but for favors buy pink nets and some of those candy almonds and wrap them up with some ribbons. Inexpensive and cute.

Instead of spending tons of money on hair getting done, go to a local cosmotology school and ask the students to do it for you. It'll cost $10 a person. Make sure you look at some of the stuff they've done before...you don't want a bad student messing up good hair!.

For a photographer get one that has a flat rate and will be there for a certain number of hours and will develop the picturse himself. Should cost arounf $400.

Decorate the room yourself with balloons and rent a helium tank.