Cheap weddings?

Question

My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 12 years. We have two beautiful children together. We haven't got married yet because every penny we make goes towards bills or our children. How can we have a nice but cheap wedding. Also do you get more back on your taxes when you are married?

Neither of us have been married before. We have been together since we were 16 years old. I wanted something beautiful since it is our first time. But yet something cheap since we really dont have alot of money. We haven't got married yet because we want it special. Since we dont plan on doing it ever again.

Answer 1

As far as the tax question goes, it used to be like that, that you'd get more back if you were married. However, I think Clinton helped change that during his administration because it discriminates against gay couples who can't legally marry.

Nice, but cheap, wedding? Well, you need to spend something. Keep the guest list small. Make your own decorations. Have your family help with catering the food. A wedding doesn't need to cost tens of thousands of dollars. If you really had that much to spend, wouldn't it be better to put it towards your children or your home? I think so.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I am getting married on Saturday, and I'm not sure what you would consider to be cheap... but our wedding costed us about $3000 for everything and it will be a nice formal affair. We found everyway we could to go the cheap route, and we still have a lot of decorations and guests (we have about 60 invited for the ceremony, and 80 for the dance). I would suggest looking around at venues that you can have both the ceremony and reception at cause that will save you money and you can just move the decorations from the ceremony over to the reception. We bought flowers just for us and the attendants, and all the other flowers are made out of silk that we bought on Ebay (we got over 200 red and white roses for $20!!). The food is being provided by the venue site, which will come out to be about $12 per head for a good amount of food. If you live in a smaller city, you will be able to find better deals than in a big city where a lot of clients have minimuns on the costs! You have to remember also that if you have been together for a long time already and have your own place, that most people will give you cash as a present so you can use that for the bills or debts that you incure for the wedding. You might also want to ask your families to help out, since it is tradition for the bride's and groom's families to help in certain areas.

Best of luck!

Answer 3

Have a small ceremony at your home, then have a bbq for your reception. Keep the decorations simple, and the guest list small, and that will keep your costs really low. Instead of paying for a bouquet, go to a local grocery store that sells fresh flowers, pick out some in your favorite color, tie them off with a ribbon, and you've got a bouquet for under $20. Find a nice dress at a department store- you can get some really cute ones on clearance this time of year. Make your own invites. If you do have a wedding ceremony somewhere, you'll still have to pay the judge, and I think most of them are at least $100 if they have to come to you. Most don't charge anything if you go to the courthouse for the wedding though. You could always do that, then still have the bbq as your reception.

Answer 4

Go on cheapskates.com you could get good ideas Congratulations for lasting so long in your relationship.
You could have a simple buffet lunch or dinner at a hall you can get married outside and have a garden wedding and have pasta salad bread and a cake they even do small to medium weddings out side and they are beautiful and special you can have finger sandwhices, cake and horderves which are appetizers Have you thought about renting a home with a large property and having a large cook out it could be as simple has hamburgers hot dogs chicken and salad or or a little fancier with steak and potatoes. Could you marry in a church fellowship hall and have people bring food and have a put luck dinner those are nice as for the taxes we never got money until we filed married but at a single rate on our taxes. I am proud of you for wanting to have an affordable wedding Best wishes to you and have fun planning:)

Answer 5

Hi!

Well, my head is spinning with ideas for you! First of all, YES, you CAN have a beautiful, meaningful wedding/reception on a "budget." I tell everyone to remember....a wedding on a budget is not a "cheap" wedding....there is a difference!

That said....just start surfing the net for ideas!

Here are mine:

~ Do you belong to a church and want a church wedding?
If so, simply call up your minister/priest/pastor to inquire. If you belong to a church, there is no "fee" to use the church. The "fee" comes in payment to the minister and payment to the organist (if used). Call him/her up to inquire.

~ Not the "church type"....fine also! Do YOU have a big enough house/backyard where something could be held? If not, what about your parent's home, grandparent's home, aunt/uncle's home? Many, many, many brides on here are going back to this. Having a home wedding and reception, that is. This was done back in the 1940s and 1950s and, I think, is making a comeback because of the price of things!

~ OK....now if no church, no house/backyard is available...what about a local park, pavillion, lake. Simply call the city where the park is located to inquire. Usually, there is a small fee (or it maybe free)....but this would be nice also.

~ Why not get a nice dress for you, a tux/suit for your groom (if you want). Definitely incorporate your children into the wedding, not only by having them "stand" with you, but also in the vows themselves. Look online for examples. Many are doing this.

~ Reception:
If you are a member of a church, you can have a simple reception following in the church fellowship hall.

A backyard/home reception can also be simple.....have a bbq, OR...do you have family that would like to help? What about a potluck?

If you want to do everything yourself it can still be inexpensive. Serve finger sandwiches, assorted cheeses and crackers, pasta salads, fruit and veggie trays, cake, punch and coffee.

OR....Italian! Bake up some lasagne, spaghetti, garlic bread and serve with salad!! Easy and everyone loves it!

~ Don't serve alcohol. Maybe have a bottle or two of champagne, but keep it at that.

~ Limit the number of guests....unless you have lots of people willing to help you and contribute. This is the biggest savings!

~ Invitations: go to Michael's, Walmart, Target. A box of 50 invites is $25-$30.

Look around for EVERYTHING! Get flowers from a florist in a grocery store.....same thing for the cake!

Really, the best wedding I ever went to was put together in 2 weeks! She bought a dress off the rack, same for her sister who was the maid of honor. The groom, best man, and father of the bride wore a tux. She had a little bouquet and the groom a boutonniere. It was in a church around 3 p.m. with about 30 guests (family only). We then went to someone's home for a catered (Italian) meal. We had dinner, drinks, and cake. Everyone had fun and chatted because we were all family. It was my best wedding EVER!

~ Don't worry about everything the bridal industry tells you that you MUST have...that's crap! You don't need to have favors, table cameras, expensive centerpieces, invites, DJ, limos, etc!

I hope you have a beautiful "budget friendly" wedding! Good
luck!

Oh....I almost forgot....YES!!! You will get a considerable tax savings when you file MARRIED, FILING JOINTLY, instead of each of you filing as a single! There are tax advantages!

Answer 6

Well we just did my sister's wedding and they didn't have any money extra to spend on a huge wedding. So we got together and planned a small cheap wedding and reception. For the wedding we found a nice size church that did weddings for free and they let us decorate the church the night before the wedding. So what we did was went to like wal-mart and another cheaper place to find stuff for weddings. we got the fake flowers (which we loved) to make the bouquets out of. My sister had a friend make them and they turned out so pretty. Also we pick up some extra cause my Aunt had an arch that all of her kids got married under and so we used it and decorated it with some of the extra flowers that we had left over so it was in her colors, ALSO with the left over flowers we took them apart and made the flower pedals that the flower girl threw down. So with just buying all the flowers and greenery we had the bouquets, decorations for the church and arch and the flower pedals all done. Then we went to this party galazy place and but a huge about of bubbles, my sister borrowed her dress from a cousin in law, my dress was from a friend and then the other girls dresses they bought. They guys paid for their tuxes. And that's pretty much the actual wedding. FOR the reception, we have a pretty nice size family so we just asked a lot of aunts and the grandma's and such to make something for the reception, then we went to wal-mart and a few other places and priced how much a couple foot long subs and some fruit trays would be and went with the cheapest. So theirs the food. For decorations, we went and at the same party galazy place we got the bubbles, we bought some balloons in her colors and some that said just married and cute little sayings like that on them and just blew them up and put them in the middle of the dance floor, got some cheap plastic roll of table cloth in her color to put over the tables then I found some really cute little dishes that we put dyed (her colors) water in and the found some cute cheap floating candles and then sprinkled the tables with confetti and my mom bought some disposable camera's and put one on each table and then some of the left over bubbles. It was beautiful cheap and MY SISTER SAID IT WAS EVERYTHING SHE COULD HAVE DREAMED FOR!! I hope you find everything that you are looking for in your wedding cause you deserve it!!! Good luck and if you need any help or other ideas you can email me!! Oh and it is pretty stressful so try not to stress out too much over it!!!!! Peace and I'll be thinking about you!!!

Answer 7

My fiance and I are having a small, simple wedding. To help with costs, my mom is making the cake (she's made wedding cakes before), my grandma is making my dress (which will be very simple) and we're planning on having less than 100 guests. It will probably be done at a hotel banquet hall or at a fire hall. My mom has a friend who caters as well. Just see who you can find to help out with various things. Instead of getting wedding gifts, ask some of your cousins or siblings if they'd like to help pay for the wedding or help out as their wedding gift. My aunt and uncle got married at a state park. They paid $50 to rent a pavilion, the dress was casual, they had a friend come out and play guitar and everyone brought food and we had a picnic for the reception. It was very very simple but the best wedding I've ever been too.

Answer 8

All that is required for a wedding is a license. That ranges in price but is something like $50. Then ask a JOP to marry you. You'll need 2 witnesses.

So grand total of around $100. Your boyfriend saying he can't afford $100 in 12 years....have you considered he is a commitment phob that really doesn't want to get married?

All these other suggestions on how to have 100 people and a BBQ is exactly what is NOT necessary to get married. You don't need dress, flowers, droves of fans. What you need is a bride, a willing groom (this could be your problem), 2 witnesses and an officient. All these people sign the marriage license and you are married.

Yes when you file jointly you get more back on your taxes. Taxes are very confusing and a lot factors in (are you exempt, do you itemize, any businesses) but if you take the standard deduction, yes you'll usually get more back.

Answer 9

Do think cheap weddings exist but you could have a small get together after like a special meal somewhere say just 20 of you instead of inviting all the family

Answer 10

No problem...been there,,,ok...first of all....you have a friend or family member take pictures instead of hiring a photographer, you have friends and family member cook all the food instead of a caterer, you go to a craft store and you make all the flower arrangements, you can find beautiful gowns at any consignment store. You can get candles from wal mart and decorate them yourself form flower and ribbons you bought at the craft store. Look in magazines for wedding ideas and do it all yourself wioth the help of your friends ....you can have a beautiful wedding a very inexpensive. Good luck and congrats!! oh and dont forget, have your reception either at your house or back yard. Dont be afraid to have your family pitch in with drinks, etc. People will be glad to help make your day perfect for you.