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wedding on a TIGHT budget?

Codie - posted on 01/19/2011 ( 3 moms have responded )

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i'm planning a wedding in aug of this year. my parents and his are both giving us $1000 to help pay for it but i want to leave as little as possible for us to be responsible for. i plan to use the $2000 from our parents for the big things: booking the church, reception facility, food, alcohol, dj, and hopefully the cake and invites. i got my dress a few months back and we aren't figuring that into the budget. we sat down and estimated that we're at $2750 for things i mentioned previously, which leaves us paying for the wedding bands, license, bouquets, all decorations, wedding favors and gifts for the bridal party, and the photographer. i thought about doing either the ceremy or reception or both outside but since aug is the hottest month of the year here in indiana and i don't like flies or mosquitos, that doesnt seem like a good idea. i have yet to decide on ceremony and receptions venues for fear that i'd later find something cheaper.

i need to be sure that mine and fiance's part is as little as possible bc he just received word that he got a job requiring us to travel often. which means he looses his company vehicle at his current job and we'd have to rent an apartment near the job site. so we'll have to buy a $1500 junker car for him to back and forth to work instead of putting tons of miles on our 09 impala, and we'd also still be responsible for our house payment here in our home town. we got the first time home buyers tax credit and rules say we can't sell or rent the house out for the first 3 years or we have to pay the federal government $8100 back.

we're in a real pickle here and any thought and advice on how to make a CHEAP wedding look like a million bucks are greatly needed! thanks so much :)

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Carolyn - posted on 01/21/2011

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i had a big, wonderful wedding for under 5000 $

things I did were :

Have the ceremony in your reception hall. Usually you can find someone who will come to you just gotta shop around for someone who can perform the ceremony you are choosing.

if you have the ceremony in the hall, you can do it later in the evening, avoiding having to provide a full meal. You can then just offer hors d'oeuvres / late lunch.

Print your own invitations.

Look on things like craig's list and ebay for wedding decorations. I made all of my own while working night shifts at work. bouteneers, bouquets, flower arangements, bows, center peices you name it. I obviously didnt have fresh flowers but it was beautiful none the less. I ordered them off ebay dirt cheap for a boat load of them so i was able to make a tonne of decorations.

Buy string lights at garage sales. Head to a fabric store for sheer fabric to drape from the ceiling with a balloon center peice/ pendants.

We also did our own food for the late lunch ( i have a big family and im pretty ambitious so it worked for us)

Do you know anyone with a nice camera that is good with it ? I had my cousin do my wedding shots, allthough not a professional he did a great job. It was nice too i got my pictures right away on a disc, and could pic and edit the ones i wanted to print and order the prints from walmart. this was his wedding gift to me. You can also find alot of photography students or hobbiests that will offer services dirt cheap, and can usually offer a sample of their images so your not flying blind. Some new to business might also do it on the cheap just to be able to use some of your pics in their portfolio to advertise for new business.

Now this is just an idea, depends on how you feel about it. You can buy inexpensive bands now, and replace them with the real deal later on ;) but some people are big on having the ring you performed the ceremony with and some arent. up to you ! to me its the symbolism of the ring and not the ring itself, so I had no problem, and we were able to save that money to put towards my husbands immigration fees. Im still searching for my perfect diamond LOL

wedding favors, I had these little bells, that had a nice saying attached to them with a pretty ribbon. they were also what we used instead of tinking glasses with cutlery for the whole kissing deal.

or some candy hearts wrapped in organza is good to.

Dont go overboard with your cake either, alot of people dont eat it, leave before you cut it etc. Only get one big enough to serve the amount of guests you are expecting.

Codie - posted on 01/19/2011

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thanks for the advice but i live in indiana and no one would travel to a beach to see me get married...i spent $450 on my dress so i want to get my money's worth and make sure as many people as possible see me in it lol. and with indiana weather, i'm way too scared to have an outdoor wedding though they are beautiful! thank you so much though :)

Rachel - posted on 01/19/2011

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have a beach wedding or a garden wedding they always look fancy then u dont have to decorate much

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