Thus be a nightmare; anyone whom is or has should know.Its my second time round at this and Im determained to make it perfect.
My fiancee' comes from a wealthy family, yet small and out of the area, and myself come from a family where the finest of things could not just be handed to us.
Therefor my partner and I have decided to go this alone.And pay for everything.
I have thought about a pot luck pig roast for my reception. Is that too cheesy?
With the dj cost, the hall, the photographer, dress's for my children and all the other wedding cost ; I feel at the end of my rope. Seems like more of a nightmare than a joy.
The first time I married we were young and pressured therefor I never had a chance to have big and beautiful things. We married JP and had a backyard bbq , I dont want to have to resort to that again just because emotions get carried away when I think of our budget. How can I have a beautiful wedding and reception at min cost?! Help !
Sincerly
Breakdown Bride total guest list 212 and still trying to shrink it. My wedding dress was a gift, therefor thats taken care of.
As for my wedding date, We have decided to move it to 5-16-09. But with the advice given I am checking in to a thursday wedding ;hall price,church avail, etc.
Thank you all so much for your amazing support and ideas. They are very appriciated.
Did I forget to mention that his family is scattered in FL and NJ , the most important people his mother and oldest brother comming from Miami FL. Where will they stay? Is that my responcibility?
And another note, My father and I are not all that close, is it out of the norm for a bride to walk herself down the isle; when her birth father is still living? Mrs. Nguyen's advice is good -- lots of definite money savers, esp. buying flowers at a wholesaler. You can make a simple centerpiece by using floral tape to tape together a bouquet and then put it in a fishbowl with water. Or you could skip flowers and make centerpieces with floating candles or the like. One bride said she was buying potted plants -- this can be a lot cheaper too, and then the guests can take them home at the end of the night.
Also, you can definitely save some money by choosing a night other than Friday or Saturday. I had mine on a Sunday & definitely saved money in some areas as a result (venue, photographer, DJ). I did have to pay extra for the cake & hairdresser because those businesses were not normally open on Sundays but it was comparitively little.
Dinner is a big cost, and the potluck idea is good. But another suggestion I can offer you is to get ethnic food. Mexican or Indian food can come in a LOT cheaper! I don't know what your budget is, but you can try calling around.
Good luck!
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Adding:
As to your out-of-town family, generally they would pay for their own flight, hotel, etc. That's not your responsibility. You should check around to see if you can get some group rates or discounts at some local hotels. Usually if you say you're having a wedding, they'll give you a deal. How small is small?
It really depends also on your guest list. My daughter is having a wedding with 70 guests, sit down served meal with 3 choices, a DJ, photographer that will provide her with digital photos only, cake, for under $5000.00. We did the invites ourselves and shopped around for the favors. We also made the centerpieces and all of the flowers. Do most of the work ur self and plan really well Check into "out of season dates" and days other than Saturday to get married and have a reception. Many venues have a lower minimum for the number of guests on these days. Also, check into hotels in your area. When I started looking, I literally did a google search for "reception venues in city, state". There were some that didn't charge for the space rental or the table, chairs, linens, etc if you spent a certain amount on food.
The other thing you can think about is considering and very small wedding ceremony with close family.friends, and then a larger celebration for the reception for affordability-unless you can combine the two into one venue.
I was able to find a place that sounds like it costs a lot of money, but they will accommodate my wedding, reception, catering, tables, chairs, linens, DJ, bar tending, etc. I still need to take care of floral, officiant, hair, make-up, attire, photographer, and a friend is doing our cake (but they offered to do that too).
Congrats and good luck. It will work out... Oh boy do I know where you are coming from.
You don't say how much time you have, but here's my two cents. I thought of the reception as the biggest party I have ever had. So the wedding part I wanted perfect and the party was just a party. I did have the wedding and reception in the same place. I think that was cheaper. If you want to roast a pig, that sounds okay.
I just had finger food. I bought my cake at the grocery for $100 (3 tier). bought the flowers there too for $40 and made my own bouquets and boutonnieres. Got a friend to do DJ and family did photos Had about 50 people spent about $2500.
Take it easy. Try to have fun and ask for help when you need it. Congrats Looking for places to cut costs?
A good place to start is the guest list.
You may need to face up to the reality of having a so-so wedding with everyone and his brother invited, or the wedding you really want with fewer guests. Close friends and family are usually shoo-ins, but do you really need to invite all of your dad麓s fraternity brothers from varsity?
Unless your parents are footing the entire bill, try to keep guests to the 麓must-haves麓. First bit of advice, you don't need a DJ. If you or someone you know has a laptop or an Ipod you can rent a PA and do it yourself. Put your music into labeled folders, write down when you want each folder played, and con a friend into pushing the buttons. Make sure to practice the execution at your rehearsal. If the place is small enough you could even use a bass amp. Write me if you want more on that.
Second, make everything you can. I made invites, flower arrangements, bouquets, boutineers, and corsages. Bought all the flowers at Wal-Mart. They were gorgeous too! Also bought the cake at Wal-Mart and it was stunning!
Third, use your wonderful friends to you advantage! I know you want to go this alone, but it seems to be ruining the experience for you. If you have a friend who is good at styling hair or taking pictures then ask them! Ask for help with the reception too. Even if you just delegated the side dishes that would take some stress off you.
I hope this helped. I also recommend checking out theknot.com for more tips, that helped me a great deal. Best of luck! First of all, breath. Just remember the" happy ever after" part of this. Now, if you have not already gotten dresses for your kids, be sure to check out thrift shops.(I know you are making faces at me right now) But it can pay off. People use the dress one time, it hangs around in the closet, and then they clean the closet and it ends up at good will. Even three or four the same. Trust me! I have done this. Also, My daughter in law got a new,(unused) wedding gown for$60.00 at a thrift store. A $900.00 dolor Davids Bridal Tag was still hanging on it. No one will know unless you tell them. And most seamstress shops are very low cost for alterations. My daughters brides maids dresses came off a clearance rack of prom dresses in the Deb shop at the Mall and no one was the wiser. The girls were glad for the cut in cost and happy not to tell. You can get a teared cake for allot les if you don't call it a wedding cake. Add the topper yourself. (The price really does go up just because they know it is a wedding.)and silk flowers are less than real and last forever.Good Luck to you both. My biggest budget saver has been getting married on a Thursday. Even though it is unconventional, everyone has been able to come and we are actually making a whole weekend out of it. There will be a welcome brunch, the wedding, and then on Saturday we are having a large lunch with enyone who can come. It has given us more time to spend with friends and family and I would really recommend it. It has also saved us money on our vendors. Normally our dj would have been over 2k, but is doing the Thursday event for $895. We also got the photographer (usually over $3500) for $1295. Our venue (usually $5000 for a Saturday) is also only $1600!
REMEMBER- Everything is negotiable! Here are a few tips I picked up, hopefully some can be useful to you.
Rather than serving dinner, serve or'douves.. Have your wedding at like 1 and the reception from 2-5... that way it is right after lunch and right before dinner. Have some meats, cheeses, crackers maybe a chocolate fondue fountain with fruits... that way people can be munching but you aren't paying $15+ a head...
For flowers, look up wholesale florists in your area. They are MUCH cheaper because they buy flowers direct from the growers. The flowers are usually more fresh as a result...
For cake, get a small simple cake, and buy sheet cake from Costco, which will save a lot. Or you could do a cupcake thing like this http://www.cakethat.com.au/sallysteve556...
if you have some artistic baker friends...
For a dress, try on dresses you like, then look to see if there is the dress in your size on Criaglist or Ebay... There is nothing wrong with buying a used dress, especially since it's only been worn once... and if you pay $300 rather than $1000, then hey! It's worth it!
Look into your local community center and library... Sometimes they have beautiful meeting rooms that will serve as a great reception location, and it's much cheaper (but still beautiful) than a hotel banquet room.
For invitations, look into printing them yourself. I got my invitations from Target's ClubWed... save MUCHO dollars and everyone complimented me on how cute the invites were...
Rather than paying for a DJ, if you have an ipod, put a wedding playlist together and that way you'll have all the songs you want being played in the order you want! (Or you could have it on shuffle, still all the songs you want played)
The photographer is the one thing worth spending money on. This is because once all is done and over, your pictures are what's left. We have some friends that are photographers, so we are using them, and paying about $500 (for 3 photographers!) Shop around, and try to see what you can find.
For your kids clothes, get some cute matching outfits at JC Penny or some place like that. If yougo through a bridal store, you will spend and arm and a leg.
Hopefully this helps. I have much more ideas, so feel free to email me! I hope you have fun with this, it should be a special day for you and your family!
katiafoster@yahoo.com |
