bab Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Well, I got engaged about 3 weeks ago, and have just started the process of planning. I must say I'm floored! I want to have a beautiful day, but I don't want to start a marriage by increasing my debt! Yikes!!! Between the 2 of us, our family, just including through first cousins and their children is around 90 people. So, it seems likes having a small wedding isn't much of an option. Does anyone have any pointers? I'm just starting and I'm already feeling overwhelmed. I need to find a balance between having all the frills and my budget. We haven't set a budget yet, but I would like to get EVERYTHING done for under $7000, (including honeymoon), is it even possible? Link to post Share on other sites
Kat Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Do you live together? If you are already set up, ask for money gifts into a 'wishing well', all anonymous instead of gifts invite people YOU want there, not Aunt Gladis because if you don't your mum will never hear the end of it. Link to post Share on other sites
binturong Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Make as much as you can. We saved a ton of money by making our own invitations and favors. See if you have a large paper warehouse near you. They'll let your special order paper and have it cut to your specifications for a cost that's 1/10 of what it would cost to get invites made. If you or someone you know can't do floral arrangements, get as few flowers as you can get away with. We only got flowers for bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages (for the parents and siblings) and altar pieces for the church. We used silk flowers to make our own pew decorations, which were later used at the reception hall to hold table settings. Got the silk flowers on sale at 75% off. Scour Ebay for deals on other things, like tulle, cake service, a dress, accessories. Look at bridesmaid dresses instead of wedding dresses. It really depends on what kind of wedding you want though...if you want a sit down dinner, church wedding, photographer, videographer, etc., I don't think you can get a wedding and honeymoon for $7000. If you want something more casual, it might be do-able. I got married in CA and it cost about $20K. And that's with me making my wedding dress and evening gown, the invitations, the favors, the pew decorations. Our photographer was free because it was my uncle and he also gave us the pictures and album for free. We had to pay $2K for the church, officiant, and organist. A sit down filet mignon dinner for 100 people with an open bar was $8K. The videographer was $1500. Then you have the limo, the cake, the flowers, hair and makeup, etc...it all adds up quickly. And that price doesn't even include the honeymoon. Link to post Share on other sites
SoleMate Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 YES!!!! You can have a very nice wedding and honeymoon for $7000, even with 90 guests. You just have to make sure to do a few things: DON'T go with a big hotel or big fancy caterer - have an inexpensive, local, low-cost caterer, or talk your friends and family into helping you pull together a simple meal based on prepared foods, etc. DON'T have a highly formal event - think more like lovely backyard garden party DON'T get a brand new formal gown - go less formal, buy used, borrow a gown (much easier to do than you might think), or buy a lovely, dressy dress off the rack at your favorite department store (like I did) DON'T buy ANYTHING from a business that has set itself up to cater to brides - they rip you off like there have no fear of hell DON'T take any advice from bridal magazines or wealthy friends about what you HAVE to do. All you really have to do is get married, serve at least cake and punch or tea, ask your friends and family to be thee with you, have chairs available for the elderly guests, and remember why you are having this event DO choose a honeymoon destination that is fun and special, but close to home (Montana, Taos or Key Largo rather than Aruba) etc. $7000 is actually quite a reasonable budget unless you have visions of grandeur and being a princess for a day. Best Wishes! Link to post Share on other sites
Author bab Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Wow. Thanks for all your great advice. I'm thinking about having a BBQ place cater the wedding. They will also bartend if we provide the alcohol, which will bring the cost of food and drinks to $3000. Of course this is a good portion of my budget. I've got two different friends that dabble in photography that I will ask to be the photographers, but I know I'll still have to pay for prints. I haven't started looking for a dress yet, but I like the idea of looking at bridesmaids dresses. The only dress I found online that I've liked was a wedding dress but it was labeled as informal. I think that is probably a good sign. I also really like the idea of making my own invitations. I've seen kits at stores, but they didn't seem exceptionally cheap. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to assemble the pieces of the kit myself! The limo isn't an issue, my Dad built a '57 Chevy and we'll be using that instead. I didn't realize that a church and officiant could cost so much! I'm looking into a couple different locations for the reception that, while not very formal, shouldn't be that expensive. Maybe $400. I wouldn't mind having it in a backyard, except nobody I'm close with has a backyard that could accomodate so many people. I already called the local garden, but unless I want to wait over a year (which I don't), there aren't any openings. Any more tidbits are more than appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
tiki Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 I got married in Hawaii for less than $450.00. That included the 'photography' too. Link to post Share on other sites
Stone Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 There are tons of books out for affordable weddings, weddings under 3K ect. check out EBAy. Maby you can server beer and wine at the bar and have a cash bar for hard liquor. The best thing to do is shop around, and I love the 57 chevy idea For my wedding we made all the centerpeices ourselvs from fake flowers and little glass bowls and floating candles it was beautiful and affordable. Old Time Pottery & jo Ann Fabrics have this stuff cheap ( don't know if you have that where you live) Link to post Share on other sites
Teag Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 My wedding cost about $800. My mother in law lives on the lake which is where we had the wedding & reception. My husbands aunt is a florist so we got all our flower at cost. My best Friends mom offered to make my wedding dress as a gift & it only cost about $150 for all the material, lace & beads & I couldn't have had a prettier dress. My aunt & my H's step grandmother made all our food & the same aunt offered to pay for my wedding cake as a wedding gift & that only cost $125 & it was a 3 teir heart shaped cake. We made our own wedding invitations on the computer, & made our own wedding music CD's. My H's uncle married us & we had almost 200 people show up for our wedding. We had 3 of my H.'s uncle take pictures which I think they did as good of a job as any professional. It was a great day. Link to post Share on other sites
HokeyReligions Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 E L O P E Link to post Share on other sites
moimeme Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 The cool thing is that if you get folks involved to help, it can be that much more fun. The night before my wedding, many of the friends who had travelled showed up at our place to visit. We put them to work cutting and boxing the 'cake to sleep on' and doing other stuff. It turned into a great party before the Big Day! In fact, there ya go - a trend of your own; 'wedding planning parties'. Have your pals over, feed them, and all work on stuff together. That way it's not a show you put on for an audience but rather a community effort that'll mean a lot to everyone who contributes. Link to post Share on other sites
Scott S Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Congratulations to you both! Like any other large purchase, doing your homework will pay big dividends. Gina & I did extensive research & shopping, & found a number of "packages." We had a the reception at a local hotel ballroom, wherin the deal included the honeymoon suite, among other things. One pleasant surprise was with the flowers. The floral shops wanted upwards of $1000 (in 1996) or more. A floral department at a local supermarket did a fabulous job for about $300. We were married at the church that we were both members of. As such, we weren't gouged for use of the facility, and the honoraia to the officiant (the pastor) and the musician were reasonable. One area where you do not want to try pinching pennies is the photographer. Quality work is well worth the fees, as the photos will be the things you will be looking at through your life together, & what your family & guests will be perusing at your 50th anniversary party. Link to post Share on other sites
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