Wedding on a Budget?

Question

How do I decide what I want to spend more money on?

Answer 1

the same as all the other answers, decide what is important. i'm not sure when you're getting married, but everyday, every chance you get, use the internet. i'm not sure where you live but there are 1000s or resources out there so you can get everything you want.
-coupons
-i recommend ebay or craigslist
-use silk flowers instead of real
-check with small down home cooking places, or smaller family owned restaurants, some cater, others might and they are usually cheaper
-get the basic bridesmaid dresses, have them jazz it up with their own personality (jewelry, hair, etc)
-make your own favors (look on ebay, you can make what they sell)
-if you are part of any organization, see if they have a hall or your local armories
-there are FREE videographers out there....just have to hunt
-use sites to place classifieds for cakes, flower arrangements....see who is cheap, yet good quality

my husband and i paid $5000 for a gorgeous wedding, you just have to hunt. Good LUuck

Answer 2

I am budgeting my doing most of the things myself. I am making my own invitations and doing all the decorations. The only thing I am not going cheap on is the catering. I did find a great caterer that will include the cake with the price of the catering service. You can find bargains my going to hobby shops that carry wedding supplies or visit www.orientaltrading.com I bought some things off of their website. I am calling around now trying to get a photographer to give me a great deal but if not I have a friend that takes really good pictures and I will pay her to do it. My husband knows a guy that does the DJ thing. Ask around you might know somebody that might no somebody that can give you a deal. Check out some store's websites sometimes they offer better deals on there then they do in the store. Try to find your dress at like Macy's or Dillard's instead of a bridal store that will charge you way more! I have looked at those websites and they have beautiful dresses! Hope this helped a little bit!! Good luck!!

Answer 3

I always advise my brides and grooms to seperately make lists of the top 2-3 things that are the most important to them when it comes to the wedding. Most brides put the dress, flowers, etc. Most grooms put the food and music. Put these things first on your list of priorities.

Also, I always advise couples to NOT skimp on photos. Because after the wedding all you will be left with is a dress hanging in the closet and photos. So, make them a priority! Either get a few really good ones or a lot of pretty good ones!

Also, there are things I tell my couples to NEVER spend a lot on. Invitations, programs, bubbles, favors. These things should not be top priority for budgets! The invites will go in the trash. Most people do not even take a program or a favor!

Answer 4

A budget is hard thing to arrange, but even harder to stick too. I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but I am speaking from experience. Have a very small wedding. Your budget and future bank accounts will greatly appreciate it.

Here is my experience. Yes, I am divorced and remarried.

First wedding, $8,000 diamond engagement ring, a year of planning, small midwestern town, over 400 guests, a $800 bridal gown, 6 groomsmen and 6 bridesmaids, flower girl and ring bearer. A year and half later. I was still paying off the $15,000 tab and what was left of the ring since i was paying for all this other stuff, and was divorce from the woman.

Second wedding. $4500 engagement ring, $55 for license and judge costs. Married at the courthouse, in 15 minutes, in a suit I already owned and dress she bought ($80) for the occassion, and $500 for a dinner and drinks with family and friend afterwards. 3 years later, marriage is as strong as ever, we have a beautiful baby girl and the rings and wedding have been paid for, for 2 and half years.

Courthouse weddings although not as classy as a big formal church wedding are perfect. Let me explain why.......

Your wedding is one of the most exciting and happy times in your life. So keep it simple. Don't go extravagant because all that will do is cause more things for you arrange and keep track of (STRESS OUT ABOUT). After you are married and the bills roll in for all of the things and you have kept receipts for the paid in advance items, you will wish you had gone to the court house. Starting out your new lives together $10,000 or more in debt is a huge and unneeded stress on a new marriage.

Keep it small, your budget will be able to handle it and your future won't be hurt by it either. You will be much happier not having all of the debt. Although the day is important, keep focus on why you are getting married. It isn't about the flowers or how much your dress costs or how many invitations you sent out, it is about you and your spouse starting your new lives as one.

The reception and your honeymoon is where your budget should be spent. Have a nice dinner and a dance with your family and friends, but limit the number of people you invite to the wedding. You will remember the reception much longer than you will remember the ceremony, and you will have a much better time, since you won't be stress out that something went wrong.

Congratulations on your engagement. Just try to keep things simple.

Answer 5

Figure out what's important to the two of you. For us, it was food, an open bar and a good DJ. The bulk of our budget is going there. Clothes were not so important (my dress was $98, my shoes $12.50, my tiara $16...). A limo is not at all important, so we're not getting one. We want to have a fun wedding, so our favors reflected that, but are inexpensive. Neither of us cares for posed photos, so we're hiring a photographer for just an hour at ceremony time and right after. The other photos will be taken by friends. We know they won't be professional-quality, and we're really fine with that. Guests notice the food, drink and the general look of the venue. Be festive, but don't go overboard on expensive details. Don't believe the wedding industry that you "need" expensive gee-gaws. You can save tons of money by doing things yourself, and by being open to things that are less "wedding-y". Decorations and favors that don't come from the bridal section are much less expensive. Start early so you don't feel rushed or pressured. Ask yourself what the item adds to the day before spending money on it.

Answer 6

Think of what is important to you and your fiancee. Is it a really good reception or the dress? I got my dress on sale at david's bridal for $300, my food and decorations for around $1500, our rings for $300, and our wedding/reception site for $2800. We rented a beach house and were able to have the wedding on the beach with my dad as the officiant, the reception at the house with my mom doing all of the food. We made our own cake and had cupcakes for the rest of the guests to ice and decorate as they saw fit(a huge hit). My husband and his party wore dress shirts and khakis and all of my bridesmaids outfits were less than $100 a piece. my bouquet was less than $30, made by my bridesmaids with flowers we found at a local grocery store. So we estimated we spent less than $5000 for our wedding, with the biggest cost being the house for a week. That was our most important thing to us to have. Just decide on what is important to you as a couple and the rest will come together! Also, remember that you can find really neat ideas for your wedding at little cost to you if you look in the right places. Good luck!

Answer 7

Weddings do not have to be expensive, that's just social pressure.
You can have a quiet chapel ceremony with a few friends.
Your dress, the music, & the flowers are the main items.
The reception is the single biggest cost area.
First, limit the numbers that are to be invited.
You can book a local restaurant that you like.
Or you can have it your parent's garden.
Family & friends can supply the food.
Don't go for the big cake, use several small ones.
There are lots of ways to save on expense & still have fun.
Real friends will understand, maybe even enjoy more.

Answer 8

Make a list of the things that are most important to you & rank them.
You can cut costs by making your own invitations, having a friend make the cake and/or food, you can buy a bunch of disposable cameras and let your friends/family take the pics. Reception/union halls are very inexpensive places to have receptions. You don't really need to use many decorations at the church, maybe just some bows on the pews. You can do a TON of stuff to save money. I'd say buy the dress you fall in love with, but do a LOT of comparison shopping though. I bought mine on the internet for less than half what it would have cost in a store. I had a friend do the alterations & everything worked out just fine.

Answer 9

You need to decide what the most important things in the wedding to you are. Those are the things that you will spend extra on. (EXP...If you cannot live without real flowers but don't have to have live music)Then you need to find the other items as inexpensively as possible.

There are a lot of great resources out there that will help you stay within your budget. Ebay is an awesome thing.

Answer 10

For our wedding we used nearly 3k ... I made my own invitation ... I bought my dress on sale and only paid 150 bucks for the dress (it was on sale) 75 for the shoes, and the rest was fixing the hem ... Total $450 ... I kept the wedding dress to pass it down to my daughter if she wants it ... A relative made the flowers for me, my hubby, Best man and my maid of honor ( I didn't have bridesmaid or groomsmen ) She says that was a gift for us ... That was helpful ... 2 relatives offered to make food for the buffet for our reception ... We gave them money to purchase food ... It was about $1k ... We shopped around for the cheapest wedding cake and found one for 350 bucks ... The rest of the money went to chapel, marriage license, limo and drinks! We even purchased disposiable cameras and placed around the house (our reception was at my parents' house) Made a note, Please take pictures of us and our friends / family ... If you bought ur own camera, please kindly give us your pictures via email and we'll take care of the rest ... That really worked!

We only had about 50 people at our wedding ... Cuz most of them live so far away and my mother in law had another reception at her house right after Christmas ...

I know you can do the same ... The more you shop around the better deals you get ...

Good Luck!