wedding planning tips!?

Question

My guy and I are planning to get engaged in January and have our wedding in late March/early April. We are not engaged now b/c he is in Iraq until January but we he already said he will "pop the question" when he gets back. We are both ok with eloping, but my sister did that and my family would be heartbroken for me to not have a wedding. So I guess we will be having a wedding, but want to keep it small. I would like some advice on how to keep it small, cheap, and unstressful in such short time. All the planning will happen between Jan-March. What are good refreshments to have? I dont want to plan a whole meal. Any ideas are helpful on things I can be preparing for now! thanks!

Answer 1

Hi and congratulations on your upcoming engagement!

Here are my ideas.....you already know you want it small, so that decision is a good one!! If I were you, even though you are not "formally" engaged, I would starting looking around and deciding some things.

The first thing to decide is venue:
~ Do you want to be married in a church?
~ Do you want to be married outside?
If you want to be married outside, check out parks, pavilions, beaches, gardens, etc. If you choose to be married outside, simply call the city where your chosen venue is located to find out fees and policies. Other options for a small wedding include a small inn or bed and breakfast. Many small inns and B&B's do this now. They are very elegant and can usually handle a small reception. Another option is a small hotel.
Some art galleries and museums even allow weddings! Just check things out in your local area.

~ Once the venue for the ceremony has been chosen, then the reception venue needs to be decided upon. You won't have much time if you wait until January to try to book something for March or April....but that's not to say it can't be done! I don't know where you live or where your wedding will be, but if you are in a city, you may have difficulty booking something unless you want to go with an off day like a Thursday or Friday. If you live in a rural area, it may not be a problem.

~ If you are having a church ceremony, most churches have a fellowship hall where you could have your reception immediately following.

~ An idea would be to have a 2 p.m. wedding with a small reception following. You already know you don't want a meal, so this would be easy! Have a 2 p.m. wedding, and then at your reception you could serve finger sandwiches, assorted cheeses and crackers, fruit tray, nuts, cake, coffee and punch. OR....you could simply have a dessert reception. Serve a variety of desserts (maybe with some fruit) along with coffee and punch.

~ Another easy and stress free solution is to keep your wedding party small - 1 or 2 attendants each.

~ Everything is cheaper if you are willing to look around and go "outside the box" so to speak.....

~ Your dress: look at consignment shops, second hand stores, or, even buy one off the rack. Most bridal stores have "clearance dresses" - go to that rack! Ebay is another option with beautiful "vintage" dresses -- i just love those ones!

~ Invites: Save by printing them yourself. Go to Target, Michael's, or Walmart and buy a boxed set. You can get a box of 50 for about $30 - maybe even cheaper. I was at Target today and noticed they have some nice ones on clearance. A 50-count package for $12!!!! Get to Target!!!

~ Cake: Get your cake from your local grocery store - NOT a bakery. If you live by a Walmart or Costco - they have nice ones! And they are good too!!! Yum...

~ Have a beautiful, simple and elegant bouquet for you and your attendants. I think simplicity is elegant. A few well chosen flowers (roses?) wrapped in a silk ribbon are much more elegant (and cheaper) than a big huge bouquet.

~ I would definitely hire a professional photographer! You will probably only need him/her for a few hours, so the price should not be too expensive.

~ Table centerpieces: A small bowl or vase with a floating candle is ALWAYS elegant and never goes out of style. OR, a small bud vase with a few flowers and greens -- simple and elegant whatever the season is.

~ Say NO to favors -- a waste!

~ Say NO to table cameras -- another waste. People just take goofy pictures with those.

There are soooo many ways to save. Look on other sites for low cost wedding ideas. And remember, a "budget" wedding is NOT a "cheap" wedding. There is a difference! You CAN have an elegant wedding on a budget!

Good luck and I hope you have a beautiful wedding!

Answer 2

You could just have a small intimate wedding inviting only close friends and family and therefore the cots will be down as the number of guests would be smaller. Or you could chose to have a buffet reception rather than a three course wedding breakfast as this can save money as well as providing more choice for guests over food. Another way to save money would be to hold only one party - i.e a reception that lasts all night instead of having two venues. So if you were to have a late wedding you could just hold the wedding reception and the after party at the same venue. You can also save money by buying bridesmaid dresses from normal clothing stores instead of buying actual bridesmaid dresses form bridal stores as these can be more expensive. As for flowers keeping centrepieces small and simple will undoubtedly save money. Good luck.

Answer 3

You could scope out some inexpensive small halls for a small reception (like a fire house hall or church hall). You two could discuss who you would like to stand with you (best man, maid/matron of honor, groomsmen and bridesmaids) and discuss colors for the bridal part and whose church to be married in. You two could pick a date and time and you could schedule the church privately and ask that they not tell anyone yet as you've not announced it. Easy "finger foods" would be fruit and vegetable trays with those little hot dogs already in a bun and chicken fingers or nuggets and potatoe salad, pasta salad, chips & dips, and some beverages. And you could be tasting cakes at local bakeries to decide where to order your cake for the reception. and you can be checking out invitations at the local printers.
Then when the announcement is made just make sure you explain to everyone that you will be keeping it small (and set a number up front - this is something you could be thinking about for the next couple of months - small as is 20 or less or 50 or less or 100 or less - (each person's small is a little different). Good luck to you and God Bless your marriage.

Answer 4

why not talk to your friends and get them to help you ? I am sure they would be of great help to you . Have you thought about having a small reception in someones back yard ? You know get married in a civil service and have a nice backyard party . You know drinks and finger foods and have it in the afternoon that way you dont have to serve a whole meal type thing . Have plenty of refreshments and finger foods . ask your folks if they have tables if not then you will have to rent some tables and chairs ,depending on the number of ppl you have attending . I think the small party is much nicer than a big one . good luck and congrats on the wedding .

Answer 5

Start buying the little things now, those are the items that add up quickly. All weddings no matter the size need things like table covers, table decorations, get your silk flowers if you are going that route, obviously the dress, cake top, toasting flutes, serving set, balloons, napkins. As far as beverage. Once can never go wrong with traditional punch of hawiian punch/seven up/orange juice mixed together. bottles of water are also nice to have around for your guests. think about how you want your reception table to look and start buying all that stuff.

Answer 6

Here is one way to keep it simple...don't buy all of the little things that make a wedding stressesful. Just go with the bare minimums. To keep it small just invite parents and siblings and grandparents. Once you start adding aunts and uncles the list grows and grows. The more guests you have the more stress you have and the more expensive it will be.

Keep everything very simple. Have hors doeuvres and cake and punch served at a small reception afterward. Or to keep it really simple just make dinner reservations at one of your favorite restaurants if you are going to have a very small wedding.

Answer 7

first off, you need to look at WHERE you want to get married and you need to reserve it NOW. many places book up to a year in advance. even if its just a small wedding, it has to be somewhere, and usually you have to book that well in advance to make sure there is no issue with other people wanting that space.

if you dont want a whole meal you can always to buffet, or even a pic-nic type. refreshments can be simple, champange or wine, beer, and maybe your favorite cocktail, along with sodas, water and maybe coffee.

good luck hun. i wish you the best. just try to not get overwhelmed. i'm not getting married until may 2009 and i'm already overstressed!!!

Answer 8

Offer:

Finger foods:
Cold cut trays, cheese, crackers and pepperoni trays, fresh fruit trays, and vegetable with dip trays (Walmart or Sam's), Pretzels and chip trays with spinach dip. Little smookies and/or meatball trays and toothpicks.

Beverages:
Wedding punch, sodas and sparkling wine or champagne for toast. Maybe a keg of beer if having a lot of people.

Cake:
Buy it from a supermarket. They have nice wedding cakes thare and they are unexpensive. (almart, Costco etc.)

Buy your dress off the rack on Davis Bridal and have him wear his class blues or class A's.

DYI invites. Go to AC Moores, Hobbie Lobbie or Walmart for a DIY invitation kit. All you need is a printer.

Book a church or officiant and look around for florists, nenues, photographers and DJ's

Good luck and congrats

Answer 9

if you know you're gonna get married... without questions in march/april... why not just set the date now... and start planning now.

I'm sure you CAN plan a wedding in 3 months, its just easier to have more time. Just an option.

Answer 10

My opinion is , I would invite my immediate family and have the wedding at the court house and picnic food such as ham,bologna and cheese sandwich, party candies, chip, cracker,Danny-dish cookies, ginger-ale soda mix with sherbet ice-cream to drink,barbecue drum met,etc. and be merry and then go honeymoon.......