we only have two thousand dollars to spend on a wedding. Any suggestion on what we should do?

Question

We only have two thousand dollars to spend on our wedding.any suggestions on location,food etc would be appreciated

Answer 1

elope

Answer 2

Our local community clubhouse rents for $30 a day and has a full kitchen. Maybe you have something like that in your area.

Outdoors in someones back yard isn't a bad idea, especially for a small wedding, but renting tents, tables, chairs etc is very costly.

Ask friends and family what you could borrow to use for a wedding. People have nice linens, serving pieces, dishes and decor just laying in a drawer and would love to see it used for a special occasion. Everything doesn't have to match.

You already have good advice on finding a dress. If you have attendants, they can wear their own, or it is customary that they purchase their own

The best way to control cost is to control the guest list. Obviously it will cost more to have 150 people than it would to have 50.

For food you also have some good suggestions. The best one is to have the ceremony early in the afternoon. Then just serve light snacks and cake and punch. It is not necessary to have alcohol, and many people do not.

Photography. Well, if I only had one splurge, I would try to find a professional for at least the ceremony and a few formals. If you have a truly talented shutterbug in your family that is certainly an option. You could try craigslist, there are talented photogs there who work cheap to build a portfolio. Ask to see their work first, though. At the least, you can ask all your friends and family to snap away, then build an album from their combined best efforts. Do not depend on distributing disposable cameras for your wedding photography. The result is always disappointing.

My best friend's daughter got married last summer. Her mother had just died a few weeks before. The wedding was planned and executed in a little over 6 weeks. We held it in my back yard, with the reception at the $30 community club. We served a meal for 75 people. She got her gown from ebay. I did her photography and made the prints as her wedding gift. She had 3 attendants who wore their own clothes, but in coordinating colors. We bought flowers at the supermarket and made our own bouquets and supplemented with wild flowers. Borrowed linens and serving dishes and plants. Borrowed a classic limo for her getaway car. Shopped at the dollar stores and thrift shops. A friend made her cake. We spent almost $800, not counting their rings. So it can be done for two thousand!

My daughter got married in 1998 for slightly under two thousand., and it was elegant and pretty, but it took a fair amount of work!

So shop carefully and don't get distracted by the big white wedding industry telling you what you "must" have to make your special day. You day will be special because of the two of you, not because you had fancy frufru everywherre! Good luck!

Answer 3

You can do it, it's possible. I'm getting married on August 18 (in about two weeks.). Our budget is a little more than yours (but not by much), but we decided we did not want to go into huge debt for this one day. So, I had to figure out a way to do it (with elegance) and not a lot of $$$.

My adivce: 1) First decide what things are really, really important to you. If, for example, having friends and family present is really important, then blowing the money on a trip to Vegas is probably not the best idea. For locations, check with local or national parks or museums in your area. Many will allow weddings or other events for a very small fee.
2) Flowers: If you want real flowers, go to a flower wholesale company. You will make your own arrangements. (How hard is that??) and save more than 50%.
3) Food: If you don't have family or friends who can do the food for you, think of planning the wedding at a time when you don't have to really serve a meal.
4) Cake: This is usually a big expense, depending on how many people you're inviting. Check with your local supermarkets. Sometimes they have decent cakes that are not really expensive. (Ask to taste, however. You do not want to serve cardboard)
5) Photographer: You can save a little here by asking for discounts or limiting the amount of time the photographer is there. It's not a good idea to ask Uncle Dave to be your photographer for a number of reasons. (He may forget, he may get drunk and not get the shots you wanted, etc.)
6) Dress: Designers have sales. You can also think about a bridesmaid's dress in an ivory or champagne color. (Mine was on sale for $99.)

These are just a few ideas. I found a really great website that has many, many cost and time-saving ideas. I've listed it below.

With a little time and effort on your part, you can plan the wedding you want and not be eating franks and beans for the next year. Best of luck.

Answer 4

Have you ever thought of an outside wedding, like in a park or friends back yard or your parents home , you can do the decorating yourself , by using an arbor for the setting where you and your husband and the whole bridal party stand s. draped in lace or flowers or both , then go to your local rental place and rent chairs or check with the local community center and seen if you could use them ,sometimes you can get them free of charge , divide it like you would see in a church with rows on both sides , and then drape the lace along the inside of the chairs with a single flower on every other chair on the inside ,where you will walk , and as far as the brides maids dresses try the local thrift centers or salvation army centers of dresses are their for nothing ,as for the food , make simple fingure foods , and peanuts or chips and punch , or if you want more than that ask a few friends to make their special dish and bring it ,, the invatations you can make yourself or find at retail ceneters pretty cheap . but same the money for your honeymoon and have a great wedding ..hope this gives you some ideas of things you can do to cut cost ...Good Luck

Answer 5

Keep the guestlist small. Have an afternoon reception in a free or inexpensive location like a park, backyard, or school gym. Have the ceremony and the reception in the same location. Serve lemonade and small bars or cookies. You could get a small cake to cut. Borrow a dress or find one on sale. Let your bridesmaids wear any dress in your chosen color or just have them dress up. Use fake flowers or only get a bouquet and boutoneirre for your husband to be. No matter what your budget, you can still have a wedding for $2,000 so don't let people say you can't. Costs depend on where you live. I had a large church wedding, serving 400 people at the reception in ND for under $8,000 easily.

Answer 6

Firstly, get rid of the only part of that sentence and think of this as an exciting challenge instead of a chore. My mum managed a wedding at a vine yard for not much more and my dad's about to get married on a shoe string too. (It'll be my turn one of these days). Okaydokey, well you can get people to buy dinner instead of presents, you can use a marquee at a cheap outdoor location, you could have a bonfire at a friends property, you could have a afternoon tea instead of a meal, you can buy some things second hand, even (gasp) the dress, you can get everyone to square dance instead of jumping up and down to dance music and save on the DJ PLUS everyone will remember the wedding for ever, you could get married at the beach, you could get a friend to do the photos and another to do the flowers, you could get married at home or at a relatives place.... the possibilities are endless...remember the whole idea is to celebrate your love NOT have a competition to see who can buy the most expensive dress. Your real friends will only care that you both have a wonderful day - don't be scared to ask for help.

Answer 7

I suggest find a family member or friend with a nice home and decent backyard. Fill it will white lights everywhere (wait till after christamas for the best deals). Go to costco and get lots of their frozen appetizer selections, they are great quality and a really good deal. Have your family and friends help you bake a cake (nothing to eleborate) and go to beverages and more and order a few kegs (about $70) they will deliver them to you. Get a case of wine or two and your pretty much set. You will have to try and rent some tables and soem chairs which shouldnt cost you more then a few hundred. Get an ipod and load it with your favorite songs (they rent our sound systems for about $70)

You can still have an elegant "cocktail reception" on a small budget.

Answer 8

Have it in the backyard. Get a celebrant to perform the ceremony. Give yourself another 6 months to save, put money away every week.
Cater for your own wedding. Just have finger food you make yourself, be creative. Get a book or check out the net. I am making sushi and vol au vonts and pinwheel sandwhiches, maybe you could have like an English High Tea???bake a cake or buy the cake from a supermarket....add a few bottles of champagne to toast your happiness and punch... It is possible to save a fortune if you are creative and do it all yourself. And it is fun!!!. Dont bother with photographers and stuff like that, get all your friends to take pics with a digital camera. buy a 2nd hand dress or borrow one or just wear a simple pretty cocktail dress.
Good luck

Answer 9

I see alot of people are saying do a backyard wedding. I would have to suggest against that only because I tried planning a back yard wedding on a budget. It gets so expensive. You have to rent the tables chairs, table cloths, napkins, dishes, forks, knives, everything. I am now having it in a local resturant with just family and my maid of honor and his best man. Nothing fancy no dj. Just a small dinner and a small wedding cake. Best of luck to you.

Answer 10

You can have a great wedding for $2,000. I believe another poster had said you should view this as a challenge, and not a bad thing. I'd rather spend $2,000 than $20,000 for one day!

A couple of things--you can do an outdoor wedding, but keep in mind you'll want to have a back-up plan for rain, and unless you have a local church or some other place you can borrow chairs and tables from, the rentals can get expensive. You may want to look into your local Elks/Moose/Etc. lodge. Last I checked you don't have to be a member, and the hall with tables, chairs, a kitchen to cook in, etc. runs betwen $200-$400.

If you decide to go with any type of hall, make sure you go with a package that has the most things included for a reasonable price. If you pay $800 for a hall, and then have to pay another $400-$500 to rent china and glassware, that's not reasonable for your budget.

Consider catering it yourself, or having a potluck. Try googling "self-catered wedding" or "cater own wedding reception" to get ideas and recipes. Depending on the time of day, you can drastically cut costs by having a brunch reception, hors devours reception, or just a cake & champagne/punch reception. If you don't mind the idea of no alcohol, you can cut out a huge expense by having a dry wedding. (And yes, even kegs can add up if doing it yourself).

Skip the favors, or if your heart is set on favors, grab a wedding cake shaped cookie cutter and get baking. Any type of diy favor is going to be cheaper than buying one premade. Just let your imagination run wild. Chocolate covered strawberries? Or just homemade chocolates? Its up to you.

Buy an invitation kit, and print them yourself. Depending on how much you pay for printing in your area, it may be cheaper to buy the kit, print one, and take the rest to Kinko's or Staples for printing. (You'll want to compare the cost of ink refills for your home printer versus the price to have them printed at an office store for the most savings.)

Order your cake from a grocery store bakery that you trust. Or if you want a "fancy" cake, get a small cake for cutting, and bake or buy sheet cakes in the same flavor to be cut "behind the scenes" for the guests. They don't need to know it didn't come from that pretty cake sitting on the cake table. As long as it tastes good, no worries!


Think outside-the-box in terms of your wedding gown. If time is on your side, hold off until homecoming or prom season and take a look at the white gowns they have on sale or in the catalogs at your local JC Penny's, Macy's, BonTon, etc. You can get a gorgeous gown that no one will know didn't come from the bridal section for a fraction of the cost. Also, don't forget your local consignment shop or thrift store. Wedding gowns are going to be "very" gently used, since they've only been worn for an average of 8 or less hours.

If you have an MP3 player or a CD Burner, a DJ isn't really necessary. Ask someone to volunteer to be the Master of Ceremonies--in other words, in charge of the CD player, and announcements. Burn off CDs of song mixes, and if you want it to be "fool-proof," put them in an order with first dance, etc. on a CD that's easily marked for your MC.

Don't forget the little expenses too, like the cost of your wedding license. In the end, I think the first thing you should do is sit down with your fiance and discuss what is the most important things about your wedding, and what you wouldn't mind cutting out or cutting back on. Then go over your wedding budget with those things in mind.

Answer 11

Call the judge, e-mail and phone calls for invitations, get your head-banging cousin to bring his stereo to play music, your creepy uncle can use his expensive camera to take pictures, invite your third cousin and his family because he has a pig roaster for the meat, your aunts will make salads, get a couple half barrels of old milwaukee, a couple bottles of cheap champagne, everyone brings their lawn chair, no need to rent porta potty because it's going to be only 125 people so they can use your bathroom, cheap decorations go a long way, and now send me a check for $50 because you don't need a wedding planner, honestly I have been to a wedding similiar and it was very memorable so don't think you need a ton of money to make your wedding special, it's all about being around people you love and who love you, good luck and congrats.