How to have a wedding on a budget?

Question

ok so i know i posted a question about my wedding already but this is different even though im still think about the order of my life (i have a deffinet idea about how i want to go about it) I still need some help no matter what we do we are going to be on a tight budget so any sites or magazines, articals anything that you could send me a like or something to on how to have a wedding on a small budget would be great thanks! right now we are trying for nothing over 12 thousand dollars which is still a lot. Any help is welcome !

ok so i didnt really relaize that, that was a lot of money im not even planing on buying a lot, guess i always just look at money for less then what it is. Im trying to get away with not spending all of it I dont want to I want to have some left over so that it can help go towards the house sorry i sould have said that in the first place

Answer 1

I know how you feel, we're working on a tight budget as well! The best way to keep within a small budget is to plan alot of do-it-yourself projects! Instead of ordering invitations from a manufacturer (which would have costed us $300 dollars) we decided to make them ourselves using Gartner Studios. You print the invites and assemble them with ribbons, pretty charms, etc. They came out absolutely stunning for only $45! They have dozens of invites to choose from and the end result will shock you. No one would know the difference between a homemade or a manufactured one!

I would also enlist the help of your bridal party to help you with your centerpieces. Think of a way to create wonderful centerpieces yourself! I always go to places such as Michael's, The Rag Shop, or A.C. Moore and buy craft items. With the newspaper insert coupons that are 40-50% off, you can buy tons of supplies for half the prices of buying pre-made centerpieces! Then, have yourself a get-together and everyone can give you a hand putting the centerpieces together. It's a fun way to bond with everyone and save yourself tons of money!

My last bit of advice is to go to the Bridal Shows you hear about in your area. Not only can you hear DJ's perform and talk to all different vendors personally, but they almost ALWAYS give out coupons and percentages off just for going! The DJ company we may be going with gave us $250 off the price just for attending the Bridal Showcase!

Good Luck, I hope some of this helps you out! ;)

Answer 2

Hi Sweetie You can stay in your budget by cutting numbers in the guest list and like a previous comment their there to celebrate your wedding not to eat up your food. Stick to finger food like meatballs , wing dings, salad, bread, store potatoe salad and others so you can place money in other areas now if food is what you want the most than go with that and cut other area like print your own invitation buy your gown off last year clearance at david's or Demetrio's make your flowers from the craft store or use 1 rose for your bridemaids. Lunch time is the best even better during the week at night. Picture can be cut by having a photographer there for the wedding only and have someone take pictures at the recession. Just have a nice digital camara on hand and the best thing is to get help from your family people you can count let their wedding gift be something they can help you with in the wedding . Good Luck and may God Bless the days of your Marriage

Answer 3

Wow 12,000 is a really sizeable budget. You can do quite a lot on that I don't really think you need to worry.

Keep an eye on your guest list, that is what can get pricey. If you have a medium sized wedding around 150 guests, you will have room for the things you want.

The main expenses are food, and photography, next comes the hall and the DJ, not to mention the wedding gown.

www.theknot.com and www.weddingchannel.com are good sites I am sure there are more out there.

I sure wish I had that budget when I was married, I had 130 people and did it for less thant $4000.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Depending on where you live that could be a lot or a little. You are going to have to do your homework on your local vendors.

The first thing you must book is the location for ceremony & reception (at least 9 months to a year in advance). Depending on your area you may have obvious choices like banquet halls/event centers, or maybe there are more unusual venues (many weddings are held here at a garden conservatory in a "live greenhouse"). If you really want it outdoors you will spend extra to have a back up plan or rent a tent.

The more you want to try to "do it yourself" at your house or a field somewhere or something - it will cost more to rent and have delivered everything you would need (chairs, tables, all the diningware, food, drink, etc), than to use most event centers, etc.

Consider not having the wedding on a Saturday night, always the most expensive time (high demand) for any vendor. There are only so many Saturday nights for all these places and people. There will be deals for Fridays, Sundays, or other days. You can also save money by not doing a dinner reception. You can have appetizers in the afternoon, or a later evening dessert only reception. If you can bring in your own alcohol you can get it at a wholesale club like Sam's Club and return unopened bottles.

Aside from catering, your photographer will likely cost you the most. Check out their websites, and opt for photographers with simple packages who aren't selling you a ton of stuff up front. Pick a few with comfortable prices and decent work and interview them. You want to be able to make your own copies so make sure they give you the rights to all photos.

You don't have to spend a ton on flowers (just bouquets, boutineeres and corsages) or cake. Ask for recommendations from friends and then tell these vendors that you were referred, that can get you a discount.

Being referred or not, you'll have to not be afraid to ask "is this your best price?"

You can make your own invitations and make some pretty good product with help from Kinko's (take them your wording as jpeg file and they can print it on cardstock - very inexpensive) and RSVP postcards, Save the Date cards and other items from zazzle.com.

I "DJ'd" at a wedding - only to announce the wedding party and the bride and groom...the rest of the time their compliation CDs of music choices played. Or use your mp3 player. Just push play!

A wedding planner can be a good investment...they usually have tiered pricing plans in which they do all the work for/with you (highest cost), help you a lot with planning (moderate) or just coordinate your rehearsal and wedding day (least expensive). If you are at a loss for any wedding vendor or idea, you can ask them for recommendations. Not only will you hopefully get an affordable recommendation, but it will be someone the planner has worked with and trusts to do a good job.

It is said you should choose a few things that are most important to you and concentrate on those things. If you want an expensive dress, then money has to come from some other item to go toward that dress (tho great dresses can be had easily from David's Bridal, ebay and your local bridal shops for very reasonable prices).

Remember that anything with the term "wedding" in front of it will automatically cost a lot more. "Wedding shoes" versus wedding shoes..."wedding jewelry" versus jewelry...big difference. Veils are ridiculous as far as cost, you can make your own, hit the fabric store, or skip it.

I've picked a lot of this up in the bridal magazines...check out their websites or get cards out of the ones on the magazine rack for cheap subscriptions. They cost a fortune at the store and I've wasted more than I care to think about on the magazines, which are a few helpful articles and mostly ads for dresses. There are handy internet links in the back for favor websites and stuff.

For favors for the guests, I chose customized M&Ms and tins from favorstudio.com:
http://favorstudio.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=56

cudge.net also has inexpensive glass votives, candles and other stuff.

Don't underestimate the appeal of a room of white tableclothes and candles flickering - less is more.

Answer 5

Look honey, $12000 is alot of money, I got married and it only cost me $2500. Find people who will help you in your family and have things made. My husband and I had an afternoon wedding were the only food at the reception was finger food. This cut the cost from $25.00 per head to $5 per head. Keep your guest list to people you love and trust and your closest friends. You mightn't know any of the others and might feel uncomfortable. You arrange the whole day and can still turn out wonderful. Have a great day.

Answer 6

You should be able to do that pretty easily cause I'm doing mine for about 10000 for 250 guests so.. you just have to be savoy and remember you cant always buy the nicest thing that you want on a budget. Do as much as you can by yourself and ask family and friends for help. That helps i saved a ton even though i bought my dress for 950 i only payed a friends mom 100 dollars to change the back from a zipper to lace up alter and bustle my dress that saved me hundrends right there

Answer 7

There are dozens of articles out there on how to save $$ on a wedding, you can literally pick up any bridal magazine and they'll have the latest article on money saving tips. Here's one I found online.
http://www.theknot.com/ch_article.html?Object=A51122164348

Basically, there are simply 2 ways to save $$...
1. invite fewer people
2. do it yourself (or have a friend do it for your gift)

The fewer guests you have, the smaller space you have to rent, the fewer tables, chairs, centerpieces, etc., you have to rent/buy, the less FOOD you have to buy, and on and on and on.

If you or a close friend has a skill that can be useful in the wedding, ask if they will do it in lieu of giving you a gift. For example, if a friend arranges flowers (even just as a hobby), ask if she can handle bouquets, bouttenierres, etc. If your uncle is a pretty darned good chef, ask if he would mind baking the wedding cake. If your cousin Joey takes good photographs, and has good equipment, ask him to take the pictures. If you sew, sew your dress.

Another easy tip for saving $$ on a wedding is to cut the alcohol, that's usually one of the bigger expenses as well. You don't have to have a full, open bar, you can have beer, wine and soda, or none at all. It's amazing how much you can save simply by eliminating alcohol.

Hope this helped you out some! Good luck planning your wedding!

Answer 8

I can tell you from my wedding (Which total cost was under $10,000) that they best way to save money is the location. Have it at a place where you can cater food in and you just have to rent the hall. You save a lot of money that way!!! Try local fairgrounds or places that do that sort of thing. I rented my hall for $500 and paid $2000 for food. So my total cost was $2500 for hall and food which you can't beat considering most banquet halls charge upwards of $50 per plate.

Answer 9

12000.00???????????
You are spending too much already!!!!!!!!!
Cut corners Dear. It's Just a Wedding!!!!
Get friends and family involved to help with the food, music,
photos, decorations, and so on.
You decide what goes. Be creative. But don't stress about it. Focus on you and your future spouce. Not on impressing everybody else. You don't need to do a dinner for alot of people. Just serve refreshments at the reception.
Those are some ideas. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

My wedding is in 8 days after when all is said and done my wedding will cost $6000, this is with 200 guests. If you need more help you can contact me.