Need to plan a wedding for September of 2007! Help!!!?

Question

I'm getting married late September and do not have a church or reception location. Our money is very limited. Please help with ideas. This is becoming overwhelming. I'm just ready to get the ceremony over with and move on to spending life together. Justice of the peace is NOT an option. Thank you for any help you can offer!!

Thank you everyone for all of your helpful answers. BTW I'm in Indiana.

Answer 1

I'd have a wedding in your back yard (which is free) and get a pastor, priest or whatever from a local church and then get a cheap catering comany to do the food. But get a tent or two incase it rains.

Answer 2

What is "very limited"? I'd go for one location for the ceremony and reception. Now if you book a church, often they offer you the fellowship hall for free. They put stipulations like no alcohol though. An outdoor wedding would be ok as you wouldnt have to pay as much for the area (like beach, public park, public gardens, university) but you would have to rent all tables, chairs, etc, which can get pricey.

A friend considered getting married on a boat. Some of the larger lakes have a wedding package. Limited on the number of people (but since you haven't sent invites yet I'm guessing its a small wedding). But the captain can marry you, you take a dinner cruise and cake.

http://www.queenslanding.com/home.html

Something like that would be beautiful. Or you could ask a local minister to meet you at a lake or beautiful place to you. There is no reason why it needs to be a big deal. Just do what you envision as being the "perfect" wedding, then you can move on to your life together.

Answer 3

If you live in the US try gatheringguide.com OR the American Association of Wedding Officiants/AAWO for a nondenominational minister. Nondenominational ministers are flexible, caring, and understanding. Many of them will give you the opportunity to select a ceremony that you are comfortable with. Many of them can conduct a ceremony in their home office or a chapel that they are affiliated with or they can recommend a lovely setting that they are familiar with (park, garden, museum, courtyard, historical site, etc). The AAWO gives you the opportunity to "advertise"for an officiant by giving your names, Email address, ceremony location, and wedding date. Consider having your ceremony in a park and having the reception at one of your favorite restaurants. Also, a morning wedding is ALWAYS less expensive than an afternoon or evening wedding (a breakfast is the least expensive meal and you do not have to serve liquor except for a toast to the Bride and Groom).

You could also try a bed and breakfast or country inn. Innkeepers love weddings! And they may be able to find you a photographer, an officiant, a florist, etc in that area. Do a search on weddings country inn or bed and breakfast and you will be amazed at all of the choices.

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

Answer 4

Run off to Vegas!

Use your church as the wedding site and reception. If you have a Target in your town, usually their bakery does wedding cakes so it might be more cost-effective than going to a bakery. Go to Party City and buy decorations there for the church hall.

Call your local florist and see what flowers will be most available in Sept. and for the best prices. Go overboard with the flowers cause that'll make a nice statement. Do a buffet instead of sit-down dinner. Don't do the whole band thing as it just costs money for them and insurance.

Have the wedding at 11am. Do a sandwich style buffet with lots of fruit and veggies. Don't do alcohol if in the church. Use the church tables and chairs. Have your Party City do balloon arches to decorate the reception hall in your wedding colors. Don't have a ton of bridesmaids/groomsmen.

Answer 5

Try to get to have the church and reception at the same place. The ceromoney will each into an hour of your reception time, but if money is limited, it will save alot. Have your bridal party to pitch in alot of help, if they love you, they will understand your need for help. Have cocktail hour outside the hall in a nice area with flowers. This allows the brides men and woman to quickly convert the area from a church to reception.
Guest will sit on the same seats used in the church... so all the party has to do is set up tables and move chairs. Keep table scemes simple, a table cloth, napkins and silverware and well as a center piece. Have a buffet. Guest will have to get up to get their plates, so the bridal party wont have to worry about setting out plates.

Answer 6

Where in the country/world are you?
Places free and available: Beaches, Public parks, back yards, front yards, parking lots, national parks, subdivision pool/ grassy areas /soccer fields.

It also depends on how big your wedding is. It'd be better to keep it small so you can fit people some place FAST! Also, if you keep the ceremony short you can save on renting chairs. Just have people huddled in an area sharing the moment of unity!

Here's some more ideas to help do things fast and cheap:
**Have a Cake Decorating Party with some family members who each bring a one or two layer cake and decorate it for your wedding.

**Skip the overrated invitations and be personal: Call and invite people or e-mail a scan of a homemade card or something. Do it fast, do it personally, get it done!

**Target has sun dresses and gowns that can be shipped quickly that will cover her need for a dress for cheap.

**Wal*Mart has supplies like a runner, cake toppers, ring bearer pillows, and pedals. Don't have to skimp out the small details.

**You can get wholesale flowers online and skip the florist.

**Some restaurants may have an available banquet hall or space to seat your family for a reception. Call them now, it shouldn't take long. Or if it's a small wedding you can bring tables and chairs and have a caterer like Panera or your favorite restaurant!

AND REMEBER: All the "Fluff" of a wedding (big cake, big dress, fancy candles, huge bouquets, flower girls, dresses, tux, invitations, luxury.....) can be skipped if you want to or it's necessary! It'll STILL be a wedding if you're in jeans and a t-shirt outside the Kwik-E-Mart declaring your eternal love to one another!

PLUS: It's YOUR wedding (believe it or not!) and if someone doesn't like it being fast and having the corners cut they can go have their own wedding the way they want to.

Hope that helped.

Answer 7

Would you consider having it on a Friday evening or a Sunday? This saves you loads of $$$ and many dates are more readily available on those "off days" as opposed to a Saturday.

The very first thing you need to do is book those 2 venues - ceremony and reception. That's THE most important thing.

2nd thing - make up a list and send out invites! You need to give people enough notice. Send those out ASAP.

3rd thing - get your marriage license

Then there is everything else you have to order or arrange - all of which is technically optional:

Purchase your wedding bands
Book a honeymoon
Music
Food/drinks
Photography
Decor/flowers
Guestbook
Attire
Favors
Hair/make-up
Rehearsal dinner
Transportation

Answer 8

If you are having an intimate wedding then you could probably check with the restaurants or hotels in your area and see if they have an area where you can dress up. Then you could hire a minister and rent a few things like an arch, pillars, chairs, lots of balloons, tool and greenery to create the wedding of your dreams. I have transformed gyms, sections of a restaurant and a preschool into a decent ceremony site and with some help I changed the room around to party all night long.

Answer 9

You cant do a catholic church they make you do classes like 6 months before. You could try a different church, also we have a pavilion by our city hall, or in our parks they rent out, The lady at work got it for 100 dollars with chairs for i think 175 people. They rented it to her for the full day, you could even do pictures afterward.
Do a reception at a park, or in a club house or hotel you can rent, just get a cd player and lots of music.

Answer 10

You don't say where you are or what you want or what your budget is, just that the Justice of the Peace is not an option. However, depending on your budget a JP wedding might be what you're getting. Call the pastor of your church and talk to him.