How to throw a classy wedding with out spending alot of money?

Question

I was going with the banquet hall and the whole thing but that cost too much.

Answer 1

The key to having a "classy wedding" with out spending a lot of money is . .

Go "someplace else" also known as a destination wedding.
And it does not have to be a thousand miles away. There may be several great places just fifty or one hundred miles away from your front door.

Resorts . . country inns . . and bed and breakfasts offer garden ceremonies . . chapel ceremonies . . hilltop ceremonies . . in front of a roaring fireplace ceremonies . . beach ceremonies . . and beautiful background ceremonies, and that's far superior to any banquet hall.

Innkeepers and resort managers love weddings! Your romantic weekend away can range from just the two of you to several family members and close friends. And here's the best part many of these innkeepers and managers know officiants, wedding cake bakers, and photographers in that area. They may even be able to arrange a romantic dinner for you at their facility or suggest someplace nearby.

Do a search on weddings - country inns or bed and breakfasts and you will be amazed at the selection. Treat yourself to a beautiful, romantic weekend filled with great memories. And many of these places have ceremony and lodging packages that are quite affordable. You want class . . this is class!

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

Answer 2

The reception actually is the priciest part of the wedding. There are a few things you can do to cut down on your costs, and still have a classy wedding:

1.) Get out the black marker and cut down your guest list. When you figure that for a sit-down dinner a "cheap" price is $80 a head, just cutting 10 people off the guest list is saving you $800!

2.) Try a different time of day. How about a late evening wedding/reception? You can get away with a cocktail reception instead of the full dinner. That's very classy, and less costly.

An earlier reception can be brunch or a luncheon depending on the time of day. Or a reception tea in the early afternoon is a nice idea as well.

3.) Nix the open bar. Or choose a "cut-off" option, such as Open Bar until the tab reaches 'x' amount, and then it switches to cash bar. Of have Open Bar for the first hour, cash bar thereafter. You can also consider having beer & wine open, cash for mixed/call drinks.

4.) Try a day other than Saturday. Friday and Sunday rates are generally cheaper than a Saturday event.

5.) Forgo favors. Favors aren't a neccessity. Most people I know who do catering throw away tons of favors at the end of a reception while they're bussing the tables. If favors are a must, consider something homemade, like cookies or chocolates.

6.) DIY. Do as much as you can yourself. For instance, you can buy kits to do the invitation, instead of sending away to a printer. Try googling for "do it yourself wedding" or "wedding crafts" and see what you come up with. There are gorgeous centerpieces you can make yourself in a snap that look like a professional made them. See what you can do, and what you feel comfortable with doing.

7.) Consider less "conventional" places for cakes and flowers. Head to your local "chain" grocery store. Hit the floral department and the bakery for samples of their wedding arrangements and cakes. Often times people at the reception won't know the difference between boutique and grocery store.

8.) Remember that you're only going to wear your dress once. Try checking consignment shops for wedding dresses. Most are in excellent condition, because they've only been worn for 8 or less hours, and they're a fraction of the cost of a "new" dress at a bridal store.

9.) Check out your local dollar store. The Dollar Tree in our town has a whole wedding section full of packets of tulle, confetti, bubbles, etc.

10.) Set a budget, stick to it, and plan plan plan. Being well organized will be one of the keys to keeping your wedding budget (and your bank account) on track. Not to mention your sanity!

Answer 3

the reality is a wedding cost you two things time and money the more time you have the less money you spend and the more money you have the less time you spend.
A very good way is with the guest list but that list can only cut so far with out hurting feelings. centerpieces can be expensive make your own for my mother we found the most beautiful paper wrapped boxes with some thing solid inside put a beautiful satin and sheer ribbon and a bell on it everyone talked about them it was Christmas and we put Christmas trees on the out side.for my aunt we made candles cost a lot less than buying and we had fun we had wine and cake a good time. Have a cocktail party you spend a lot less money on food. For favors give away something personal but inexpensive like your favorite flower seed ask them to grow it. there are a lot of things you can do your self and save money and the Internet is a good place to start the key is planing doing every thing in a timely way and knowing what to do yourself and what is for the pros. i.e the cake your photos the wedding is one day but the photos last for ever. you dress i would not play with my dress. I hope i was helpful and i wish you all the best in you new life!
PS
Take a makeup class instead of paying for makeup the day of you wedding they mostly cost the same and you always know how to get the look

Answer 4

We had a classy wedding without spending a lot of cash. The trick is to make it personal. We rented a lovely hall but served a low key buffet (sandwiches and such). My mother, who used to make cakes for a living, made our wedding cake. My mother also made our wedding favors for us. I'm a writer, so half were inkwells; my husband is an artist, so the rest were artist easels (there were the place card holders).

My dress was a beautiful but simple gown and was not a "wedding gown," which would have priced it over the moon. It was less than $200, including alterations. Bridal gown stores are fun for some people, but they were definitely not my thing. Especially since bridal gowns are notoriously sized up! Who wants to spend thousands of bucks on a size 10 gown if you really wear a 6!

Our invitations were made by a friend who is a graphic designer. They were one-of-a-kind and gorgeous. And much less expensive than if we'd ordered them.

I also decided on silk flowers rather than real. One of my bridesmaids was highly allergic to flowers, so it made sense to use silk. And it cut down on the cost from fresh considerably. I was able to pickout some beautiful styles that I may not have been able to had I wanted fresh. One of my bridesmaids still has her bouquet on display in her home five years later!

We've had many people tell us through the years how much they enjoyed our wedding. We did everything on our own terms and didn't let "what everyone else was doing" get in our way. Our wedding cost around $6,000 all told.

My advice is to go with what feels right. If there is something you really want to (and can) splurge on, go for it. But you don't have to go crazy for everything. $30,000+ weddings are not a necessity. A wedding is a celebration of you and the love of your life becoming husband and wife. Enjoy it!

Good luck!

Answer 5

Cutting your guest list is the easiest way to limit your spending. Fewer mouths to feed and water. Limit your list to only people you see every week. Or only people you expect to still be friends with 5 years from now. That way you'll make sure that only the people nearest you and your fiance end up shoveling in your food.

Other than that, cut back on decorations, centerpieces and linens. No one notices them anyway. Have a smaller wedding cake and sheet cakes served to most of your guests (they're much cheaper and taste the same!) Have a beer and wine bar instead of a full open bar. Look for inexpensive locations, like a local park, the beach or a big back yard.

DON'T skimp on your photography, the quality of your food (no one cares if it's lasagna as long as it is GOOD lasagna!)or your dress.

Answer 6

Set your budget first. Then you'll be able to figure out how much of your budget should go to what. Then figure out what items mean the most to you. If you could only have one great item what is it? I spent most of my money on the photographer. B/c flowers weren't very important to me, I saved a lot of money that way.

If you plan a year in advance, you can buy things on sale. I was able to buy nearly everything on sale. Use coupons to Michaels. Each week a coupon comes out but its one per purchase. I had neighbors giving me the coupon so that even though I had to go every week, everything I bought was 20% off.

Go with a morning wedding or early afternoon. You don't have to provide as much food, you don't have to provide alcohol, and it doesn't last as long so you don't have to worry about extra hours for your vendors.

Contact other brides for centerpieces. A bride usually ends up with 20 vases or flower pots for centerpieces that she can't return. See if you can borrow them or buy them for half price. Consider using large flowers for your centerpieces. A large sunflower floating in a bowl of water. You can grow your own. I ordered from the florist department at Sams Club. I got a multibloom flower like glads so that it took fewer stems to more flowers. Walmart sells their bunchs for about $4-5 each, but if you are ordering them direct, they give you a discount price.

You really have to know your budget first and we'd have to know what it is in order to give good tips. Look into public parks, consider having a cheaper food like BBQ instead of shrimp, consider doing punch and cake reception instead of food. Buy a tiered cake stand and you can buy or make cakes on your own to set on the stand (instead of paying a professional).

Look for a white prom or bridesmaid dress instead of a wedding gown. Just a white dress is much cheaper until they put "wedding" in front of it. Debs in the mall and JC Penny's had several this past year that I said looked like wedding dresses.

Ask people to chip in anyway they can as their wedding present to you. A relative could make the cake, another could donate the punch. But be aware--it's all about what you want. A wedding really can just be the cost of going to the courthouse.

Answer 7

You should also consider purchasing the book "Bridal Bargins" It's helping me with tips as i'm planning my April 08 wedding

Answer 8

you could do a weekday instead of the traditional saturday it is less expensive or if you don't have a large enough home maybe one of your friends does or speak to a local church some of them have halls that I am sure are much less or go to vegas and come home and have a nice house party

Answer 9

pick a theme...then depending on the month you can do it in someone's backyard and have family cook.

someone's house..
and just make sure you have all the details focusing on your theme

OR go away and have everyone pay their way and get married on the beach or where ever you like
have fun

Answer 10

The easiest way to cut costs is to cut the guest list. Also to have your reception at a nonmeal time, then you can get away with serving cake and punch or appetizers for your reception.