Share your saving tips *No Spam/Promos Of Any Kind*

[EarlyBird]

I thought this might be a good place to discuss where we each saved money, cut corners and cheap ideas (not only with diy)
I was on another thread and we were talking about how we actually found the favors for HALF the price of normal on ebay and bought in bulk.

Also, (its not only to cut corners, i like the idea and i dont like flowers much) but girls are carrying candles instead of flowers down the aisle. The will place them in a holder at the "alter" and each candle will be tied with a ribbon at the bottom with the name of a passed away loved one..

post your ideas too!

[tbay2005]

You can also get diposable cameras on eBay for cheap. Some people like to have one one each table, or at least the closer tables, so that guests can take pictures with them and then leave them on the tables for you to collect and have developed.

[EarlyBird]

quick and funny- i dont know if i will have those. its a joke in my family that somehow every wedding my mom winds up with one of those in her purse. It just happens. she doesnt mean to.. so we have like 20 pictures of random peole we may not even know and we have to MAIL these pictures back to the bride and be like SORRY hahah !!!

[Diamend]

Oo I have lots!!!
1. we went with Hardee's fried chicken for food ($1/piece of chicken) and are putting them in fancy buffet trays so they don't look tacky!
2. we are making our own sald bar!
3. a lady in our church is making all the wedding cakes (they are center pieces for the tables...oo #4... no money on center pieces) I only had to pay for the ingredients and cake pans!
4. each BM is holding a single rose (cut costs on flowers... but that wasnt the reason for it)
5. bought invites.... but made own RSVP and direction cards
6. took own engage pics and made own save the dates
7. making own programs and wedding newsletters

Thats all I can think of for now.... I'll be back with more! :)

[BriansBride07]

I am using glass centerpieces that hold candles instead of flowers.

I can't decorate the walls or ceilings at the reception hall. So my FFIL built me a arch to use behind the HT. Free to us it was a gift.

I bought mini choc. bars by the bulk and went on e-bay and ordered some labels for favors.

We are using all the bouquets to dress up the HT, the flowers will sit in holders.

Just a few that are not DIY .

[Panthers Bride]

Ways we're saving money:

1) We're holding our ceremony and reception at the same place. We've narrowed it down to 2, but since they're both nice hotels, no real decoration is needed. They're providing the centerpieces, linens, china, etc.

2) Use silk flowers -- our flowers are free since my aunt owns a flowershop. She's gonna do them as her designers have time and then ship them to me from Iowa to North Carolina.

3) Have your wedding on a day other than Saturday. We're having a Sunday late morning/early afternoon reception.

4)Talk to your caterer about maybe some non traditional menu items. We're having like bbq chicken or ribs, burgers, brats, baked beans, etc. With tax, gratuity, "decorations," sound system, etc (everything but the officiant, cake, photographer, and dj), our cost will be about $30 per person.

5) We're not serving liquor AT ALL. We're going to use sparkling white grape juice for the toasts. (although, both hotels have bars right next to the reception sites, so if somebody absolutely HAS to have a drink they can buy one -- without the tackiness of having an open bar).

6) Because of the type of wedding we're having, we're not going to have a DJ. We'll have a CD for the ceremony stuff and then maybe have some music playing during the reception. One of the hotels has music playing, so they can make sure it's piped in if we want.

7)We bought my e-ring from a pawn shop. It is beautiful, and nobody knows it's not from a "real" jewelry store (plus, I don't have the guilt that I bought a blood diamond, and am perpetuation slave labor).

Some of our ideas.

[kevinsbride2B]

Ooooooooooooh Sweety I'm so on your way of thinking!!! Kevin and I are cutting corners on pretty much EVERYTHING!!!
We've hired a student photographer who has experience and it's only costing us $300. She won't be doing the printing for us, however she will be with us ALL DAY and doing a bunch of e-pics too.
I really wanted a limo, that was something I couldn't just say "sorry not in the budget" to. But we've found a company that normally does airport pick ups but does weddings too and we didn't have to get a rediculous priced package. Also with out company it was cheaper to get black then it was to get white. Plus it's a 2006 not a 2007 and it was cheaper that way.
We're going to hire a student to play piano before the reception and during dinner and it's costing $100 opposed to the DJ who would charge $200-$300 just to play at dinner alone.
We're making jam for our favours. Buying in bulk and away we go!
All the printing that needs to be done we'll be doing ourself. This includes our invitations.
For our STD's we didn't need to send many and they were relatives over seas who got them so we made an attachment and e-mailed them.
And our biggest way of cutting corners is our reception. We're having the whole wedding (ceremony included) at a former hotel that is now a college residence. Everyone working at our wedding is a student and there mostly being graded so they're working for that as opposed to the normal salary.
Kevin and I are trying to save money on EVERYTHING!

[hummingbird521]

We were married last spring and saved a ton of money by doing almost everything ourselves.

Since this was not either of ours first marriage we didn't buy tuxes or a wedding dress. we both wanted something we could wear again. and our wedding was not really formal at all. so we bought my wedding dress at penney's on sale and it was one i could wear over and over again. my husband wore a pair of khaki's, blue shirt and tie. the fg, rb and moh were our children. we bought them coordinating dresses and for the ring bearer he matched his father.

we used the piano player from church to play the wedding songs. played cd's in the background that i burned onto one cd. done the same for the reception.

i made all of our wedding invitations, wedding programs, RSVP cards myself. The paper didn't even cost me anything as i had some lovely paper gave to me about a month before hand.

i used a silk bouquet and silk bouquets for the girls.

we made our own food for the reception. made our own punch as well. we bought flowers from walmart that were minature tiger lilies mixed with carnations and made the centerpieces for the reception. the church provided the bud vases as well. they also provided for us the lovely flowers on either side of the pulpit.

my BIL videotaped the ceremony. and we had family take the pictures.

i think we spent about $1500 or a little more and had a lovely wedding.

[4424]

1. i got a lot of things off ebay: favors, garters, place card holders, jewlery, etc
2. i got my dress which was pricey in the stores for $400 less on the internet
3. we're getting married on a sat morning (11am-5pm) which had a discount
4. we didn't do save the dates
5. i did my own invitations (message in the bottles)
6. i'm doing my own programs (fan blade programs)
7. i'm having a friend who worked with a florist do my flowers (she's saving me a fortune

i did not cut corners with a photographer or the music. those are 2 things i personally valued and while i didn't spend a lot on them, i also didn't go for the cheapest like i could've.

those were just my opinions on what i wanted to spend money on and what i could cut corners with

[tbay2005]

To save some $$$ you can ask around to see if there are private photographers that will do your pictures. We had one for our wedding, she took both b/w and color pictures, she left between the photo session and the reception, came back with some pics developed already to show us what we were getting. She gave us all the pictures, negatives, a video, and a set on cd for the computer. Same would have cost us thousands to go with a pro photographer and most pro photographers will not give the negatives to you.

[vegasbride07]

this is how I have saved money so far
Invitations: dollar tree $16.00
Dress: bridalonlinestore $300.00
Veil: making my own (it's really easy) $15.00
Shoes: payless shoe source $15.00
Tiara: wal-mart $15.00
Flower girl dresses: burlington coat factory 3 @ $30.00 each
Cake: makeing our own $60.00
Reception: having at our house total cost around $700.00

I think there should be a budget brides section on this site just for money saving ideas, anyone else with me on this?

[shawnsgirl]

One of the ways we saved money was to really sit down and price compare and see what was included with our reception halls. We had the choices narrowed down to two. We found in the small details of the contract that you needed to pay $10/hr for a bar tender and security guard plus gratuity. On top of that we needed to purchase our own alcohol!!! That would been an extra 100 dollars and then some. Plus, we would have to do all the setting up ourselves and cleaning up of the next day. The other place where we ended up deciding on had the alcohol included in the per person costs and they include set up and clean up. This not only was a big money saver but it also is a load off of my shoulders!!


The other thing we did is we have a lot of friends of the family and even a few friends from high school that are in the wedding business. We utilized these people as much as possible. My phtographer was an award winning photographer in high school and college and isn't charging an arm and a leg for our wedidng. The person making our cake and our DJ works with my mom. They are also giving us a huge discount! My florist is a friend of our family and is doing our flowers at whole sale. The only two things we splurged on was the limo and videographer. We were are very fortunate to know so many talented people. It has been a huge help to us and our planning!

[jeni740]

We are cutting corners by first getting married on a Sunday, our cake is super cheap but tastes and looks great. My flowers along with the girls are silk, I got my shoes on ebay, my tiarra on ebay, we made our own invites, We are spending more than expected but we are still doing pretty good on our budget.

[EarlyBird]

whoever said it before, i totally agree with hving a budget planning spot on this site. im 2 yrs from my wedding and i would loooove to see something like that on this site to help :)

[ger]

I agree with a cost cutting spot on here. I have gotten some pretty terrific ideas from these ladies. I think to have it all in one place would be great.

[tllucy]

I'm a major tightwad, so I've cut just about every corner that I can without making the wedding look tacky. This sounds completely insane, but rather than using real flowers, I'm using cheap silks from Hobby Lobby. I went and bought the fake calla lilies (ranging from $.99-$3.99) and I have already hand made all of the bm's bouquets, the buttonieres, the corsages, and all of the decor. If you watch, all of this stuff will be on a fifty percent off sale at hobby lobby, and you can get it really cheap. So, I'm using calla lilies that look amazingly real, the only difference is that w/ a little elbow grease I saved about $800!!!! Also, I got some cheap wine glass votives, and used pink and black (my colors) aquarium rocks to fill them and set a tea light candle in the center of the top. They look really cute, and they only cost about $2.00 apiece!! I'm making my own unity candle also, with a mixture of ideas I found by googling. Also, the biggest tip that I have is BORROW, BORROW, BORROW! People will be more than willing to let you use their stuff that's collecting dust in their attic, all you have to do is ask! Also, if your cake uses fondant icing, it can get expensive, because that's so popular right now. But, a lot of middle aged women know how to do that, and it's really cheap to order the icing offline. You can get instructions, and all the ideas in the world. I just found a lady at my church this morning who is going to make our cake for the cost of the ingredients! We're also using a family friend as a photographer, and my dad is the pastor. So, my wedding is going to end up costing me about $2000, including the dress!!! (Bought one that was "last season" so it was $500 rather than $2500) check local mom and pop dress shops!!

[CHWedding]

I cut so many corners, where do I begin...

1. destination wedding cut down the number of guest to 50
2. destination wedding resorts package cost $1,500 for everything including ceremony, reception, cake, DJ, my flowers, live music, 3 course meal and alcohol for 50 guest.
3. order all my wedding favors on orientialtrading.com saved a lot
4. saved on alteration by using a stay at home mom
5. made my own veil
6. lived at the dollar store
7. made my own wedding invites (thanks Office Depot)
8. made my own STD for free (thanks vistaprint.com)
9. found a lot of items on craigslist.org
10. found everything on sale (Macys and Michaels)
11. found videographer and photographer for free on criagslist (offered them a free trip to Bahamas in exchange for services and negative)
12. having my friends aunt make the cake to eat (resort will provide the cake to cut)
13. doing a lot of DIY (thanks google and the brides of onewed.com)
14. shopping around and finding the best deals
15. willing to be flexible and staying under the budget helped the most

Check out my wedding journal for pictures
Charles Hunter Wedding Freeport Bahamas August 16, 2007

[woohoo2me]

i am making my own cake a little one that looks pretty for us to cut and making bigger slabs of cake and pre slicing for everyone else. i have a huge deep freezer that is going to be full of hundreds of wedding desserts lol
my arch is a gift and the tree branches im putting on it are from the ground and to sand it i got alot of sample from a wood store, the light i got for it were a gift
my invatations were a gift. only costing me printer ink
i got my dress from ebay ($ 100 including shipping an handling)
ceromony and reception hall are at the same place. a local gym (cost is 650)
dj will do stag and doe half price so it will be a total of 650 for him but should be getting money back because of stag and doe
having disposable cameras two at each table.this is it for now i will be sure to let you know more later.

[George'sgirl]

A great way to save on do-it-yourself projects is the Micheals 40% off coupons that con in the flyer. The trick is if you don't get the flyer every week you just aren't in the right zip/postal code. Walk into the store and tell them you don't get the flyer and they will give you 40% percent off. All you have to do is give them your name and postal code. You can do this one a day every day per person! The cashier at Micheals was the one who told me about this when I asked her what paper I had to suscribe to to get the flyer!! Happy shopping!

[samantha01]

ebay ebay ebay
I have bought a lot of things off ebay and saved a fortune.
I'm doing my own reception food, which is a nice buffett style reception.
I didn't do save the date cards
I am doing my own programs
I am doing my own centerpieces (pumpkins with mums)
Same dress I found at a boutique I found at Davids Bridal for $300 and waiting until the $99 bridal sale and got the BM dresses for $60 a piece.
No limo
Basically anything you can get family or friends to do is helpful.

[shelbyoliver]

7)We bought my e-ring from a pawn shop. It is beautiful, and nobody knows it's not from a "real" jewelry store (plus, I don't have the guilt that I bought a blood diamond, and am perpetuation slave labor).

Some of our ideas.
Unless its an antique its actually more likely that its a blood diamond if it was mined previous to the mid nineties.(I completely forget which year, it could be closer to 2000 could be slightly before) They put protective measures in that keep track of a diamonds origins. Now the estimate is 2% of the market is blood diamonds, where as previous to that it was as much as 15-20%. They still sneak diamonds over country lines. Sorry, jewelry business owner just had to make sure you knew. Dont freak out though if your ring is not an antique. 80% is still a very high likelyhood that you did not get one. Also by buying used you are not perpetuating the circle by getting a new stone.

FYI for anyone that doesnt have their ring. When buying a diamond DEMAND documentation of the diamonds origins. If they cant supply it dont buy. Most diamond certificates now have the diamonds origins right on the paper. Also if you can get your diamond laser inscribed so if its ever stolen it can be identified. In panthers case its likely she didnt get documentation, but in the case you are buying new make sure you get proof of the origin, plus its cool to know where in the world your diamond came from. By demanding the diamonds origins your preventing the many innocent lives taken by the money the blood diamonds provide. Just one small thing you can do to make the world a better place.

Also, Dont forget to make sure your homeowners insurance covers the cost of your ring. Most home owners insurance only covers upto 1K in jewelry.

[Nekochanpurr]

Erm.. couple of tips from the cheapskate (aka, me!)

~I'm using costco sheet cakes instead of a wedding cake. Theres no way your getting over $100 out of me for a cake! lol

~Not going to have alcohol... Not gunna pay for my friends (and some family!) to get blitzed.

~No limo. I'm trying to get it all in the same place, actually.. If not though, our cars are fine.

~Try for earlier morning/afternoon wedding/receiptions. Even if they don't have it on the menu, they may just make adjustments which could save a LOT!

I'd like to thank everyone else on this thread.. Your a life saver! O-O**

[The future Mrs. Monroe]

1. We are making our own save the dates, invites, and programs
2. We will be using our laptop as our dj- we are pre-recording announcements in a comical way for cake cutting, first dance, etc...
3. Also, using laptop to do a slideshow of pix which we created
4. My mom and I are making the flower girl dresses,
5. The flower arrangements,
6. and the centerpieces
7. For favors- we are giving CD's of music, my FH designed a label and cover for them
8. My FMIL is catering everything but the cake- she insisted! She is an amazing cook!
9. A friend of my sister's is starting a photography studio and using my wedding as examples of what she can do- charging us $250 AND we get ALL the pictures!
10. (And I don't tell anyone THIS part) My FH bought my diamond on ebay for $99. We took it to get apraised- it's real and worth $4000! He designed the rest of my ring at a jeweler which cost like another $1000. But saved a ton on the actual rock!


That's all I can remember......

Love you all!!!

[Emerald]

Hmm, I don't think I've saved that much money yet...

1. I have 2 small elephants I once bought in a store and I'm using these for the rings instead of buying a ring pillow. (The elephants were just standing around in my house for decorations so I thought why not?)
2. I'm not going to buy jewelry. I already have a necklace I once bought at Claire's that can do the job. I also bought earrings at a sale that matches the necklace perfectly. No one will guess how much I paid for it unless they are an expert.
3. I will be making my own invitations so I (HOPE) that it will save us money.

[Cappuccino]

There are some excellent tips here. I can't write this stuff down fast enough!

[LILBOBO1980]

I guess that the biggest thing is shopping around and doing allot of searching online!!!


****Candy Bar... probably my biggest saver :)

I really wanted to have a candy bar but did not want the expense.... it is allot of money to buy all that candy and only use the colors you want. SOooooo
I have been shopping around and I am a big coupon queen and love CVS. Well CVS had the Valentine M&M's on sale this past week...B1G1 FREE and then you also get 3.00 extra care bucks back. So I only paid .25 a bag...and sometimes I pad nothing because I had other coupons too.

So basically I saved about 120.00 on candy. I bought 36 bags and seperated the red out of the pink and white : )

Also.. I now have all but two of the glass jars I will be using for the candy buffet and they did not cost me more then 20.00 for all of them... when it would have cost me at least 50.00 - 60.00. I got a bunch of them from the flea market for like .50 to 1.00 I was sooo happy because some of them were like 10.00 glass containers. Also I have been finding good deals on them at Ross ... where they are marked down.


****Catering

Instead of paying over 1,300.00 to cater my wedding I will be having friends and family do it. We are just going to buy the big pans of lasanga and each person will cook two of them and bring them to the reception where we have a warming oven to put them all in. I would say that to feed 100 - 150 people the way I have planned will not cost more the 500.00.

I am borrowing four very large chaffing dishes from my future mother in law... so that is free. I have been collecting nice trays and dishes throughout the year and not paying more then 2.00 for them.

I spent 30.00 on a fountain punch bowl that lights up... I figured it would be pretty for the wedding... I am going to put pink punch in it... I also have another glass punch bowl that we will use.

***** Ceremony and Reception site
It took me what seemed like forever to find the right location. I wanted something nice...and clean ...but also cheap where I could provide my own catering. I found one at a park in Jacksonville... it is a community center. The building is only about three years old and it is nice. They provide round tables and chairs and can seat up to 225 people. It is only 250.00 for the first 3 hours and 50.00 each additional hour. I did find a few places that were cheaper but they were not big enough and were dirty looking.


****Bridesmaid dresses
Again...just alot of searching for cheap dresses. I found many that I loved that were 70.00 or less on ebay. They were the ones you purchase from China and you pay 80.00 - 100.00 in shipping but if you look...most of them offer 20% discount when you order 5 or more dresses. The ones I have picked out will be 76.00 and that is including the shipping.

****Flowers
DIY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also look for deals on theses. After Christmas Michaels had a coupon for 20% off you're entire purchase and the flowers were all 40% off. SOoooo I bought allot of flowers for 60% less. I bout 320.00 worth of flowers and paid 128.00 for them!!!! Of course I continue to buy flowers but I always wait until they are on sale.

Also...as I change my mind about the type of flowers I want to use... I just exchange what I have already bought for what I want now...no cost.

****DIY invitations
I did not want to purchase the plain white invites but did not want to spend an arm and a leg ....Soooo I made my own. I am almost done with putting them together...finally got my envelopes in yesterday.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL82/6411734/12471121/288530595.jpg


I have only spent 80.00 on materials for 300 invites!!!


***** Chair covers
I am covering my tables and chairs.. I have been looking for a long time and have found someone that will supply the chair covers and sash for 1.75 a chair. The table covers are expensive so we are going to make them ourselves and they should cost abotu 60.00

This is one thing I decided to splurge on for my wedding. I want my wedding to look really nice but not cost a fortune and this is one way to get that effect. I will spend about 300.00 on covering everything.

****Photographer
Again...just searched and searched... I found someone that will cost only 450.00 which includes editing... a few pictures... and full rights to the CD... which is exactly what I was looking for.

**** The biggest money saver for me is DIY projects on almost everything for the wedding


I guess thats about it : )

[katrina7875]

I really lucked out because the theme of my wedding is Christmas. I hit the stores after Christmas and bought everything on sale. I got 2 artificial, white, prelit trees for $6.50 each. I also got jingle bells to attach to table number cards - 80 bells for $3.00. But my best deal by far were the favors. I found awesome mini velvet stockings for $0.25 each!

I'm also doing my own centerpieces - small glass ivy bowls filled with small red and silver round glass ornaments. Since I won't be decorating with real flowers, this is saving me a lot.

I am doing my own invitations and programs. I am an avid scrapbooker so I already have the major tools needed to make this go smoothly - 12" straight trimmer, rubber stamps, ink, embossing powder, heat tool, eyelet setter, etc.

[ChicagoJim]

In lieu of a DJ for dancing at the reception, we are spending $100 for a local distributor of Juke boxes to drop-off one at the banquet hall.

We're mailing him our own CD mix (I already verified that it will play in his euipment as well as tested the sound quality) to add to his standard collection of songs. Juke boxes have plenty of volume for the typical dancing at the typical reception.

All we'll have to do is punch in what we want to hear in the order we want to hear it (whether it is our CD or not).

Typically, there is someone locally who owns the juke boxes and delivers or maintains them at various bowling alleys, bars, etc.

To find a jukebox distributor, visit some bowling alleys, bars, etc near you and ask who supplies or maintains their juke box (or look for a label on it that says "For service call _____".

As for dinner music during the meal, we're supplying a different CD of dining music for the reception hall to play over their ceiling speakers (I already tested the sound quality and the ability of the CD player to read my home-mix CDs).

[PGDesigns]

Let's see if I can remember everything we are doing to cut costs...

DIY Projects
--Invitations (we're also eliminating RSVP cards to reduce paper--guests will RSVP online or by phone)
--Programs
--Flowers
--Cardholder
--Cupcake stand
--iPod instead of a DJ (Friends are in a band and supplying speakers, mic, etc, and can do announcements)
--Centerpieces



Other Misc.
--Cupcakes instead of traditional cake (and the baker is a friend!)
--Found a knockoff version of my dress at Bridal Online Store and saved over $500
--Ordering BM dresses online from House of Brides (saving ~$80 per dress)
--Having ceremony and reception in the same place
--Jahmal's family is catering most of the food
--Most of the food will be bought in bulk from Sam's Club, too!
--Friend is wanting to start up her own photography biz so she's shooting our wedding for free

[IDoTwo]

Some ways we have saved money...
First we are having the ceremony in our church to which we are members, so there is no charge.
We went with a host hotel that has free shuttle service. They will take all the guests to the reception, the dance, and back to the hotel free of charge. We need only tip them. That eliminates a lot of expenses, the biggest being, no need for a limo!
DIY programs & menus.
Doing the decorating ourselves and have been getting great deals on all the decorations.
My cousin is a photographer and is doing our wedding for $375

That's about it. :)

[EarlyBird]

Jeez, I started this a real long time ago didnt i ?!!?

Well now that im more into the planning i guess i can say some cost cutting things. . . . . . .

DIY chair decor for ceremony- I was going to buy 20 of those bow.. they are real nice and all but they were 18 of them for 39.00---- SOOOO i liked the flower idea, went to the dollar tree, got some "black magic" Fake roses, big ivory roses and babies breath--- Got 5 bundles of each rose and 1 of the babies breath. I cut them short and cut added some floral wire to attach to the chairs-- For like 15.00 or LESS i had about 20-25 -- i attached 2-3 roses to each one. I also had some berries left over from a different project and used those for some of the fillers so they dont all look the same. -

** Brining me to my next point--- when doing a DIY i NEVER thorw anything out- no extras or anything.. perfect example, a couple months ago i did mock bouquts for the wedding cuz i thought i would do them myself but then i never looked at the again- I took them apart for this project and used the roses, i also had a litle floral wire and tape left that helped :)

*Bought my dress on ebay- I found a couple dresses i Loved on ebay and then went to the bridal stores to try them on that night. I did a buy it now for 250.00 and the dress was band new (sample sale-- look them up, ebay has tons) it had no marks, it was gorgeous and so nice... original price tag-- 1990.00

* Flower girl dress is from TARGET-- found it originally at walmart during holiday and they sold out, then target had it on sale for 10.00. it is gorgeous with lace and crinoline and a jacket etc etc--- no need for an expensive 150.00 flower girl dress this is just as cute, if not cuter.. My colors are darker, more winter colors, but you can look at easter time and everything too-

* Places that offer free grooms tuxes. You need 4 people at our place to get a free grooms tux. We have 13 people renting tuxes-- 9 groomsmen, 2 dads, and uncle and my best friend (an usher) ---- they are giving us 3 free tuxes including groom and 2 dads (we have to purchase 12 so i asked my two other friends to rent from there since they planned on purchasing tuxes anyway and that way my dad can get his free since he IS paying for the wedding, he should get a free tux right??

Also search around at bridal shows (not the "contests" or "winnings" but alot will give free limos etc etc)

[Danielle9608]

I defiantly agree with looking at clearance holiday items. I found these really nice baskets that usually sell for $15.00 for only $2.50. They were painted gold which didn't really work for me, so I painted them white.

[Nekochanpurr]

In lieu of a DJ for dancing at the reception, we are spending $100 for a local distributor of Juke boxes to drop-off one at the banquet hall.

We're mailing him our own CD mix (I already verified that it will play in his euipment as well as tested the sound quality) to add to his standard collection of songs. Juke boxes have plenty of volume for the typical dancing at the typical reception.

All we'll have to do is punch in what we want to hear in the order we want to hear it (whether it is our CD or not).

Typically, there is someone locally who owns the juke boxes and delivers or maintains them at various bowling alleys, bars, etc.

To find a jukebox distributor, visit some bowling alleys, bars, etc near you and ask who supplies or maintains their juke box (or look for a label on it that says "For service call _____".

As for dinner music during the meal, we're supplying a different CD of dining music for the reception hall to play over their ceiling speakers (I already tested the sound quality and the ability of the CD player to read my home-mix CDs).


THAT IS SO COOL! =D

[lizardbnorton]

So far we have a few things
1. I'm wearing the same shoes I wore to my senior prom. They are silver and they are comfortable there fore they will work.
2. I am not buying jewelry. I got an amazing necklace from my mom for Christmas that I am going to wear. I am going to take the charms that I normally wear (star, old ring, and ball) and put them on a bracelet to wear for the day.
3. We are not doing Save the Dates
4. I am making the programs and invitations
5. Our RSVPs are postcards so the stamps should be cheaper
6. We're making cds for favors. They should cost about 50 cents each.
7. I hit up the Christmas sale for decorations. I got lights and candles super cheap
8. I shopped at the dollar store for centerpieces. I found some pretty cool plates that we are going to use for candles and bells.
9. We got 2 free tux rentals for attending a bridal show.
10. My mom has a friend that use to be a florist that is going to do all the flowers.


That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure more will come up.

[jswilliams75]

I recently bought bubbles and some silly items for my wedding party at recycleyourwedding (website). It does not seem to be as commercial as Ebay and it's new so you don't have as much competition!

Jenn:panda:

[FranksBride2Be]

I just started planning... but these are a few ways I plan on saving money.

1) We're having the ceremony in Disney World, so that part isn't going to be cheap, but then we are having the ceremony at home, (most likely a tent in my parents backyard).

2) I'm DIY-ing the invitations and centerpieces.

3) I'm making all the food myself. I have a small catering company, so I will enjoy this part the most.

4) We will have a photographer and videography for the ceremony, but I'm thinking of disposable cameras for the post-wedding party.

Everything I'm doing is mostly DIY. I'm sure I forgot lots of things!

[mtigercat]

*i sent out for a ton of catalogs to give me ideas i could do myself
*ollies bargain outlet for invitations. 120 for under$10 printing myself with ideas from catalogs
*live in PA having reception at Fort roberdeau. they have hall for rent...thurs-sun $100
*no dj, we going to play games instead
*got dress at DEB shop $135 not traditional, but still really pretty
*cousin got married last year borrowing things she has
*discount stores, dollar stores, clearance
*coupons in sale ads at michaels and joann fabrics for 40% off one regular priced item
*www.orientaltrading.com and www.annsbridalbargains.com (http://www.annsbridalbargains.com)
*once i had a general idea for colors and things started buying things i can right away. guest book, pen, decorations, invitations, game pcs
*since my colors are red and silver and heart theme i shopped the valentines day sales before and after holiday.
*went to as many bridal shows as i could. got ideas, connected with vendors, entered for prize drawings at each one
*candles and fake flowers
*sort of homemade favors---candles n personalized matchbooks, personalized napkins, plastic spoons with hershey kisses wrapped in tulle with note "kisses from mister and mrs"
*a friend offered to take pictures for our gift. not professional, but takes beautiful wildlife pictures. for extra pics going to get cameras for all of the tables.
*keeping guest list to the people we really want there. no one that we hardly know or just because we work with them. strictly close friends and family members keeps our guest list small for an informal party that everyone can have fun.
*simple ceremony with friend who is able to marry us
*keeping it simple and realistic. I know what i can afford to spend so i have realistic ideas and do what i can to find the cheapest way to do the nicer things i see. if i can't afford it i try to come up with a different idea or alternative that i can afford.
*combining ceremony at reception, wedding shower all into one "party"
*remember to have fun because "we're getting married"!!!

all of these helps me to maintain low stress and not turn into bridezilla. I remember to inlcude him in all decisions. And most important i remember it is our day and i am having fun planning our day so that we can have fun and make great memories with our family.

[NOTKT]

Great ideas!! We are using www.annsbridalbargins.com for our invites!

[EarlyBird]

Recently, we used vista print for some stuff. We got some nice personalized cards for our reader. They have her name on them, they are very pretty and they were free. Sign up with vista print..they are the best.

we also decided not to do FAVORS per say.. we are going to do a bunch of little things around... Matchbooks, Mints, Pencils (or pens) etc - getting it all on ebay and its soo chaeap. comes out to about 10 cents per person.

We wanted to get our groomsmen gifts so i emailed the people at one of the ebay stores and said "i need 11 pair, you have them listed for 1.00 each with 5.00 shipping each, i want them all for 3.00 including shipping.. he did it :) ) sometimes you just have to ask.

with my girls gifts i am getting them all 5.00 throws at walmart and i will be having my cousin embroider them. she has the machine. it will take her 5 minutes to do each one.. check and see if your machines have that setting.. you can learn how to do it and buy something so cute and just embroider an initial.. I love the throws they have.. they are like 4.97 and they are large and fluffy :)

[Mrs. Pantoja]

We saved alot of money by making our own tablecloths and overlays. We borrowed the long white tablecloths from our church and then picked out pink satin fabric and sheer patterned fabric from Wal-Mart and just made the tablecloths and overlays. We also borrowed the full place settings from our church. Instead of renting a chocolate fountain, I just bought two from Target. I did alot of shopping online. If you go to a retail store and see something you like, you can always go online and find it cheaper. Instead of having a full sit down dinner, we are just having a buffet (fajitas with all of the fixin's). My fiance own a recording studio so we are able to make a playlist on our laptop and just run it through the speakers. He also has club lights that we are going to use. I think everyone knows this by now, but the best way to save money is def DIY!!

[blue sunrise]

Okay, let me count the ways...

1. I'm planning on just doing a champagne and desserts reception...I'm buying a cake and miniature canolis (sp?) from a local bakery that's actually quite inexpensive, and I'll be making petit fours and cream puffs myself, and purchasing some candies. I found the champagne on sale at WineChateau.com for only $64/per case and my mom is a graphic designer and she's going to make customized labels with our names for the bottles, which brings me back to my next point....
2. Mom is (I feel so lucky about now!!) a graphic designer, and she's doing all the invitations, RSVPs, STDs, everything for about $70...I'm sooo psyched lol
3. DF's good friend owns a local bed and breakfast where we will have the reception, and he'll give us a good deal
4. My church allows members to marry for free in the sanctuary, providing we leave our flowers...
5. A good friend is a seamstress, so that will save on any alterations, etc.
6. I work part time at michaels and have a 20 percent discount
7. TWO of our good friends are professional photographers, so they'll both be taking pictures for just the price of film/developing, and that way they can both take breaks and relax...
8. DF's mom enjoys floral arranging as a hobby, and will do all of our larger pieces.
9. We have multiple musically inclined friends, so music will be NO worry!!
:o

[RosieAngel]

1. I kept the wedding SMALL. It's easy to have a really nice wedding with an open bar on a tight budget when there are only 27 adults and 3 kiddie faces to feed!

2. I had a buffet instead of a plated dinner, which everyone liked better because it gave them more control over what they got!

3. I had my wedding on a Friday night, and got a lot of discounts, my first choice of the cheapest vendors, and also... well, I noticed that people were a lot less pushy to get me to overspend when my wedding was an add-on than the main Saturday attraction.

4. I chose a pretty enough place to not need loads of decorations. It had a nice atmosphere and came with white linens, ivory tablecloths, and silver napkin rings. While this was initially more expensive than grabbing a cheap meeting hall, I ended up saving a lot more money than I would have if I was dealing with custom linens, table chair covers, and drapes of fabric to cover bleak walls.

5. I decided to forego expensive floral decorations in favor of cheap candles with scattered rose petals for romance:

http://gallery.mac.com/kanedijkman/100144/122_080926_163003/web.jpg

This cost me about $8 per table instead of the $45+ per table that the florist wanted to charge for these tiny little floral arrangements. Everyone said that they were just lovely, and they all fought over the candles at the end of the evening.

6. On the topic of flowers, I also stuck to common, easy-to-find flowers for bouquets and bouts: Pink Titanic Roses (the common pink ones), Grizzly Gerbs, and Venice Gerbs. The end result was both cute and cheap!

http://gallery.mac.com/kanedijkman/100144/057_080926_154513/web.jpg

http://gallery.mac.com/kanedijkman/100144/052_080926_154223/web.jpg

7. I shopped a lot of sales, focusing on discontinued merchandise.

8. We had friends do our ceremony music and an iPod take care of reception music!

[LadyDante]

So far, these are just ideas:
1. Not ordering flowers, Hello Costco
2. No open bar
3. Either a cheap band, or going to make mixed CD's and ask someone in bridal party to act as MC
4. Centerpieces: $1 small vases, $1.49 floating candles, and some marbles, placed on silver thingie that you normally put udner cases, $2.99 per 12. All turns out to be pretty cheap.
5. For Scott, I'm trying to talk him into wearing a shirt and a vest that he wore to friend's wedding in which I think he looked very handsome.
6. Food will be BBQ buffet

[Scrwballsgrl]

To cut cost for our wedding we are:

#1 Making our own centerpieces totals out to $64 for 24 centerpieces.
#2 My Uncle is going to do our wedding photography, for free!
#3 Fh family (either his Uncle or his Mom & Dad) will provide the music & CD's for free!
#4 We are renting a city owned facility for about $1000 less than the average wedding venue around here.
#5 We are making our own favors,
#6 we are not having alcohol

Im sure there will be more ways we think to cut cost as we get closer to the big day:)

[ChristineLS]

We don't really have too much set in stone. But this is what we are thinking:

1. We're having the reception at a county park, in a lodge. (Central New York is notoriously unpredictable weather wise, August or not)

2. My future brother in law, who is a very good gardener who gets lovely results, is growing the flowers for us. I'm going to do the arranging, I used to work as a florist. We are going to use azaleas from the local farmer's market to fill in whatever needs to be. $7 gets you a bunch, and you can spread them out and about.

3. Our friend is going to do the photography gratis.

4. Depending on the cost, we are probably going to the court house the Friday before to get married, and then Sunday have the reception. This depends on if it is less expensive in the locality to have the officiant come to it or not. My fiance likes this because he doesn't like the performance aspect of weddings.

5. We're making our wedding cake - it's going to be tiers of carrot cake cupcakes using a FANTASTIC recipe of my mother in law's. And she's going to help us. It was great to see her eyes light up when we asked if we could borrow the recipe.

6. Likely will wear my mother's dress if it fits, but my Mom was about four inches taller and thirty pounds lighter than me when she was my age, hah. I'll wear a summer dress if it doesn't (but that's not an option I suspect most people would like - I am uncomfortable in really formal attire).

7. I live near the Niagara wine regions of Western New York and Canada and the local wineries here make great wine, let you mix and match cases, give you a discount on those cases, and personalize the bottles for free. Its baseline is not terribly expensive because these are wineries just starting out. It will be less than $150.

8. We'll be making our own food with the help of family and friends.

Though, our wedding is more of a party to celebrate that we are married than a formal wedding.

[JJsWifey08]

I used Ebay alottt and Craigslist for some stuff. i also went around to walmart to pick up stuff so i can DIY on some things.

[wannabeNurse2]

I am making my own centerpieces. I got satin table runners from http://efavormart.com They start out at $3.99 but the more you buy the cheaper they get per piece. I ended up getting mine for $3.13 each. I bought heart shaped candy dishes from a bride for $20. I bought heart shaped tea light holders, tealights, floating rose candles, and ribbon from Walmart. Here's the result minus the silk rose petals! It looks much better in person.:(http://i33.tinypic.com/svian6.jpg
My venue I am so proud of if we spend $2000 on food and beverage we don't have to pay the $1000 rental fee. This is an awesome deal since the cheapest place we found was $750 to rent, and we are having no problem spending 2k on food and booze with 150 guests. The venue includes table linens, set up, restocking the buffet, tear down of buffet, bartender, door person, table clearing, discounted DJ for $80 an hour, and it's only $11.25 per person for a buffet with three different kinds of meat!

I saved 20% on my wedding dress by buying it during a trunk sale. I'm not wearing a veil. I bought my jewelry at an antique shop for $7.50! I got my shoes on sale for $10 at Younkers 75% of sale! I'm not wearing a garter. I'm wearing hair jewel twists from Walmart $2 a pack. I got my purse on Ebay for $22!

We are having the ceremony at a local park pavilion that we rented for $55. My best friend will be marrying us for whatever we feel like paying him. I'm DIYing the ceremony chair decorations. I'm making all of the paper products myself.

The cake and flowers I got through our local grocery store. I am having a small display cake, and sheet cake will be cut in the back room. For flowers I am having a dozen roses with 6 mini calla lilies. My girls are each carrying 6 roses. If you buy big, full flowers you don't have to use as many.

I'm making my own labels for mini hershey bars as favors. I bought linen napkins at efavormart.com for cheaper than renting them. I can resell them after the wedding. I can't think of anything else right now.

[inspiredevents]

Since everyone is on-line these days... I have seen many couples cut out the costs of printing response cards & postage. Instead, they create a free wedding website (which includes all the important details: times, location, where you're registered, area interests and even your love story) and have guests RSVP on the website or to their personal email.

This is non-traditional -but it works and it saves money!

[TileArt]

If anyone lives near a college or community college the students there are great resources. There is usually a bulletin board of some sort. If you place something up there for a photographer you can usually narrow it down to a couple of prospects fairly quickly. While they may not have wedding photography to show you all of them will have some sort of portfolio and many will include portrait photography.
The thing about college students (I know, I was one :o) is that they are easily bargained with. You can usually find one that will do an outstanding job for 100-200 dollars if you're willing to let them keep copies of the files for their portfolio and print them yourself.
For the printing you can upload all the files online at several places (most use the same printers regardless of what they charge) and get copies of all the files. You can then choose the ones you want blown up to 8x10's or larger and order them at the same place. That saves time and money, too. You don't have to go over proofs, pay for extras you don't want, etc. Walmart is actually one of the cheapest I've found and the photos are top quality.
This is assuming everything is digital, of course. Another benefit is that you can back everything up online and never have to worry about losing them. My uncle lost all his wedding photos (as well as childhood photos, etc.) in a house fire a while back and he has no way of ever getting them back.
Feed a starving student and save yourself some money. :)

[bride2beuk]

We have saved money by buying our invitations online and then doing the printing on our computer. we got a good deal and a nice choice wit this website for wedding invitations (http://www.bw-wedding-invitations.co.uk)

[Docsgirl]

Well....let's see here:

*We're already legally married from a JOP service, so we can really have anyone marry us during our wedding ceremony.

*My mom is making our cake.

*A photographer friend is doing our photography allll day for $500.

*I found my dress which is valued at $1,300 on a wedding dress classifieds site and spent $500 on it w/shipping included. Brand new, with tags still attached.

*We're making most of the stuff we need for it ourselves. The save the dates, programs, invitations, centerpieces, bouquets, etc.

*We booked our reception place for half off the regular rental rate. June is the start of the wedding season for our area, and since we're having our big celebration on May 30th, they still considered us "off-season". They also provide red and white linens for us and we can do a very cool lighting scheme since we're holding it in a dinner theatre. The place comes with lots of perks.

*The guys will all be wearing their military uniforms, so there are no tuxes needed besides the ones for my brothers.

*eBay! I got my shoes for $16 brand new and I absolutely love them!

I'm sure there are more, but this is all I can think of for now.

[latanyak85]

I will be doing the same thing. They have the pack of I think 15 disposable cameras for about $10.00, I think I saw it online on David's Bridal. I also saw it at our local Party City store. They were cute because some had little pictures of wedding bells, wedding cakes or some were just solid ivory, white or pink. I will purchaches a pack when it gets closer to the wedding. I will have one on each table.

[Tarin]

I love that idea!

[WebLady]

I love that idea!
What idea are you referring to?

[Tarin]

What idea are you referring to?

Sorry, a quote from a previous brides idea.

"Also, (its not only to cut corners, i like the idea and i dont like flowers much) but girls are carrying candles instead of flowers down the aisle. The will place them in a holder at the "alter" and each candle will be tied with a ribbon at the bottom with the name of a passed away loved one.."

[WebLady]

Sorry, a quote from a previous brides idea.

"Also, (its not only to cut corners, i like the idea and i dont like flowers much) but girls are carrying candles instead of flowers down the aisle. The will place them in a holder at the "alter" and each candle will be tied with a ribbon at the bottom with the name of a passed away loved one.."
OIC; I was confused ;)

The candle thing could be a nice touch :)

[FutureKelley]

So far we have cut costs by...

#1- Ebay, ebay, ebay!
#2- FH is making our wedding cake (he attended culinary school).
#3- We are making our own chocolate favors.
#4- I'm renting the vases for our centerpieces from the florist instead of buying.
#5- I designed all of our STD's, invitations and response cards. I also had them printed at a print shop where I used to work, so the girls gave me an awesome deal. What would have cost me upwards of $500 (for design and printing) only cost me about $230, including postage.
#6- We are having our ceremony at the church my grandparents attend, so we do not have to pay any fee to use it!
#7- FH's old boss, who is a pastor, is marrying us free of charge!

[NOTKT]

Great deals everyone! I think that providing beer and champagne punch helped cut down the costs for us. Also we used the catering that came with the reception hall.

[rockchalkchick]

Let's see, what all have we saved money with??

1) My dress was a sample - $212 including alterations (although that was mostly luck - I tried on about 2 dozen dresses and liked this one best... THEN it turned out it was a sample!)

2) We're holding both ceremony and reception at the same location - the county fairgrounds. 2 big buildings including a pro kitchen for $200... for a WEEK!

3) BM dresses - off-the-rack and a half-price sale - $40 each.

4) DIY food/drink - we're doing a hog roast, along with a turkey dish and chicken/noodles. Homestyle food, but delicious and wonderful. A family friend makes amazing cakes and will be making our cake as her gift. My brothers are making 50 gallons of homebrew beer, and dad's got 2 15-gallon batches of wine on the way. Understandably, not necessarily everyone's idea of "wedding food" but it's appropriate for us and the laid-back setting we want.

5) DIY flowers/centerpieces - ordering bulk daffodils and tulips online for bouquets/bouts, and collecting blue depression-glass jars as a base for a candle-and-flower centerpiece.

6) A minister friend/groomsman will be performing the ceremony.

7) No limo, no honeymoon, no hairdresser/makeup artist, etc - none of the obligate "wedding" expenses that aren't appropriate for us.

8) Lots of decorations and such that aren't "wedding" labeled - bought a ton of plain white christmas lights at 75% off clearance, including some neat premade "swags" and such (stuff that would be double the normal price as "wedding lights"). I also cleaned out the local Hobby Lobby of their yellow pinwheels yesterday - $1.50 each normally and 50% off! (I've been toying with making pinwheels for favors or programs - but these are cheaper than I ever could have made!)

And I'm sure there are tons more - it's a matter of thinking beyond the "wedding" standard!

[Kari&Jeremy]

I love this thread!

#1--My FH is a graphic designer, so he's designing the invitations, programs, and thank you notes. :)

#2--Our reception is going to be fairly informal. We're doing finger foods and making the food ourselves and/or using trays from Sam's/Wal-mart. We found a fantastic deal by renting a hall in our local park (hardly anyone even knew it was available!) for only $250, and our ceremony is going to be held in the park for free.

#3--A church friend is doing our photographs for a great deal, and FH will do the editing. We get all the original files, and we will just print what we need.

#4--We hit up the after-Christmas sales for ribbon (silver is one of my colors) and FMIL is making the chair bows

#5--FMIL and a family friend are making our corsages/boutenniere's for free.

#5--Instead of doing a seated reception, we're putting the food on tables in the center and putting chairs out. It encourages mingling and saves on tables, linen, and centerpieces. One of my BM's sisters did this, and it worked out great!

#6--I bought my flower girl baskets, toasting goblets, and Bible pillow in Hobby Lobby's bridal section for 50% off!

I'm sure I'll have more ideas later on. :)

[f77g4]

I've saved lots of money by using ebay especially with things like my veil, tiara, etc.

I've also gotten a lot of things from kijiji - white lights, invitations, programs, etc which are saving me a fortune.

Used vista print for the save the dates.

[DennissBride]

Well, i have been able to save a fortune so far. First I decided to have a country/western themed wedding. So "rustic" is the word!!!
1. Ceremony at a local public park, the only cost incurred, is the rentals, which isn't much!
2. Reception will be held at a local barn, which is behind a museum. I was able to rent it for $350, and that includes all the tables and chairs.
3. Found a caterer who will provide a BBQ menu of good 'ol home cookin', all the linens and sheet cake. And the amazing thing is, that I am getting all that for $23.00 per person!!! Wow!
4. I fell in love with this stationary collection that I found on a popular invitation website, but couldn't bring myself to spend $987.00. I consider myself a graphic designer, so I recreated the entire collection using both Photoshop and Corel Draw, and added my own spin on them. I purchased paper and envelopes for $30.00. ** That is a saving of $957 alone** (I could design some for you too!)
5. I made sure that the invites that I created wouldn't incur any additional postage, up and over a standard $0.42 stamp, taking into consideration size of envelope, wieght of envelope and made sure that I didn't have anything in the envelope that would cause bumps. Oh, and I printed the map on the back of the invitations, no need for extra paper in the envelope.
6. I made my RSVP's a post card which will only require a $0.27 each.
7. I found forever stamps on ebay for $0.36 a stamp, keeping in mind that stamps are $0.42 right now.
8. I have been shopping resale shops for a variety of centerpieces. Picking up Galvanized buckets, Old oil lanterns, Cowboy boots, Galvanized watering cans etc.
9. I chose Daisies for the wedding flowers, keeping it inexpensive. Then I also decided to DIY all my own Bouquets and centerpieces. I found a fantastic deal on silks at www.save-on-crafts.com (http://www.save-on-crafts.com). I found 288 daisies (baby blue, yellow and white) for $140.
10. I found my bubbles at a awesome price at http://store.weddingsolutions.com
11. I found a wholesale website that I was able to get our small cowbells and the alum. horseshoes, the two ringbearers will be carrying, at a better price then I could find anywhere else. www.partycelebration.com
12. Flower girl will be carrying a galvanized bucket from the resale shop.
13. The bridesmaids will be wearing a dress from Target...$30.00 each.
14. I found my photographer on myspace...I loved his work displayed on myspace and his photography website, I had to call him. He will provide us with 6 hours of photography, a complete album, and full rights to all photos, for $600.00.
15. I got MY gown from one of those chinese places that will duplicate a designer gown for you, at a discounted rate. I got mine for $120.00. (I do NOT recommend this method) They skimped every which way they possibly could on a very simple (all chiffon) dress. My dress didn't require any bells and whistles either. :-(

[mnickerson23]

One way that i am saving money on my wedding is the venue. I decided to have a destination wedding on block island, Rhode Island. The place I chose does not have a ceremony fee or a fee to rent out the venue. All i have to pay for is the food and gratuity for the servers! So search around and you can find places like this, inexpensive and fun!:o

[Gertie]

Saving money can vary in lots of ways, depending on what your vision is. Some examples:

Venue:
some relative or friend's landscaped back yard could be a free location for an outdoor wedding. If it were small enough, their covered porch/living room/some other might work in case of rain.

Some community parks have large covered areas available to residents free or low cost.

Same deal for a wedding on a South Padre beach, you just have to pull the free permit in person I believe it's no later than 3 days beforehand. Of course, where would everyone sit? Like most beaches, chairs can be rented....or maybe relatives and friends will bring their own, or you have enough for the amount of people you'll be bringing

if you prefer something indoors, some places will give a flat rate on everything vs having to rent things like tables, chairs, linens, tableware, pa systems, etc and it can be not only a considerable cost savings but also a considerable savings in time and worry

Some all inclusive vacation spots will give you cake, champagne, and food free and provide the officiate if you and your wedding group stay at the place at least x days. As an example, I believe Sandals asks bridal couple to stay 7 nights and wedding guests at least 5 nights, or that's what I think I read on their site.

Food:

maybe someone in your family is good with food for groups and can throw together an excellent buffet in a trice

Maybe you'd rather have cupcakes than generally more expensive cake...with the added plus no one has to stand around serving cake, and then there is no need for a thank you gift to the relative/friend you would have roped into serving either.

Maybe just do a cake and punch wedding.

Flowers and decorations:

craft stores often have free or low cost classes, there are lots of internet how tos, you could do your own

Maybe someone would like to give you their services decorating/doing floral as a gift

Another possibility...maybe you have a talent you could exchange with someone? I recently made fruit bouquets for the wedding of a friend's daughter who exchanged her floral expertise with another friend who'd daughter was also getting married for the friend's abilities with the computer to make all the various papers like save the dates, invites, thank yous, maps, rsvp cards, shower invites, programs, monogram decorations, etc.

[ChristineLS]

I've saved lots of money by using ebay especially with things like my veil, tiara, etc.

I've also gotten a lot of things from kijiji - white lights, invitations, programs, etc which are saving me a fortune.

Used vista print for the save the dates.

How is using Kijiji? Is it any more difficult than Craig's List?

[f77g4]

How is using Kijiji? Is it any more difficult than Craig's List?

I'm not familiar with Craigslist as its not really popular in New Brunswick at least. I find kijiji as simple as checking my email....you go on the site, you can browse all categories or search specific things just like on ebay (since they are affiliated)....then here at least when you view an ad there is an option to reply by filling out your email address and writing them a message....a lot of ads sometimes have phone numbers as well....we usually just email them, they'll reply, we arrange a date/time/place and we go and get the item.....I've even found something on the kijiji site from 2 hours away and they shipped it to me and I paid via paypal.

[lilmsjess]

i'm doing my best to cut the budget for us and our families...i am going to rent a vacation here in houston, so that our families don't have to get hotels, and we don't need a venue!

1.home rental for 3 nights, that will sleep 10 people on an acre with gorgeous trees and such-$1300
2.we're havin a "mafia don" style wedding, so DF is buying a zoot suit for less than $100
3.since we're doing an italian kind of thing, we're serving salads, pastas, and breads, and of course deserts. so we figure about $100 for 50 people!
4. we're only having 40 people max, so rather than an outlandish cake, i'm simply getting HEB(a local grocery store w/a FANTASTIC icing!), to take a normal sheet cake, and put another on top. and i'm buying hair jewels from claires for deco's!
5.my aunt in florida will do my floral, and i'm again, buying hair stuff from claires and adding it to simple green flowers!(flowers will be a gift!)
6.rather than a unity candle, we're going to do a sand ceremony, because we're including my fiance's 2 children so we're doing the family ceremony.

there's waaaaay more.....but i'll add later!

[KristinGriffin]

There were actually a couple of articles on Boston.com the other day about this topic:

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/weddings/articles/2008/08/19/frugally_wed/

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/weddings/gallery/cheap_wedding/

My favorite idea from the second article was to open a credit card and charge all of your wedding items to it. Then you can rack up the miles and get your honeymoon flights for free!

As a photographer, though, I'd be remiss if I didn't warn you all and say "no, no, no" don't "hire" your friends and family to do the photography (unless this is what they do for a living) to save money. I've run into SO many couples who wish they had spent some extra $ on the photography, since that's all they have for memories and the "photographer" missed some important shot! There are reasonably priced photographers out there, who can still save you $ and let your friends and family enjoy the wedding as guests, not hired help... Just be sure the one you pick has a portfolio, style and recommendations you are comfortable with.

When you are looking at your budget, rank the things/vendors you need by importance to you. Spend the bulk of your budget on the things at the top of your list, and when you have to cut (or DIY) you will know your priorities.

Good luck with your wedding planning!

[KRobeson]

I read this article about a really cost-effective wedding--court house! The author said hers cost $123. She pointed out that you could do the ceremony in the courthouse and hold a reception after. You can bring friends and family to most courts. Not a bad idea.

[Katie-ryn]

I read this article about a really cost-effective wedding--court house! The author said hers cost $123. She pointed out that you could do the ceremony in the courthouse and hold a reception after. You can bring friends and family to most courts. Not a bad idea.

I could never get married for only $123! In Ontario a wedding license costs between $125-$150 (plus GST I'm pretty sure) all depending on which town you buy it from. And then you need someone to marry you!

And since I'm not religiously affiliated I don't have a pastor/priest/minister who could do it for free... Getting married at the courthouse in the city I'm getting married in costs $300 itself.

So a courthouse wedding for me would be around $450 (not including taxes) and that's just the ceremony legal stuff.

[ChristineLS]

I could never get married for only $123! In Ontario a wedding license costs between $125-$150 (plus GST I'm pretty sure) all depending on which town you buy it from. And then you need someone to marry you!

And since I'm not religiously affiliated I don't have a pastor/priest/minister who could do it for free... Getting married at the courthouse in the city I'm getting married in costs $300 itself.

So a courthouse wedding for me would be around $450 (not including taxes) and that's just the ceremony legal stuff.

:bbeek:

I'm assuming you're writing from Canada? I think that may be a Canadian thing, it's a lot cheaper in New York.

[Katie-ryn]

:bbeek:

I'm assuming you're writing from Canada? I think that may be a Canadian thing, it's a lot cheaper in New York.

I'm pretty sure it is a Canadian thing. Frustrating. You see people talking about picking up their licenses and they're under $50. I have no idea why it's so much more expensive here.

[EarlyBird]

well, i know i started this sooo long ago, but i have more stuff to add. im only 12 or so days away so most of my spending is done.. have a couple more items... but still

the main thing i always do is keep 40 and 50% off coupons that are offered at ALL my crafts stores in my wedding binder.. even if an item is 3.99, i use a coupon.. WHY NOT?!?!

I also MADE all my girls gifts
i had 7 girls so i knew i needed something cost effective. i made these really great wine glasses. Cost about 7.00 for all the paint (of course it would have been more if not for my coupons) and 1.00 a glass. I bought really big goblets at the dollar tree but i saw a set of 4 at marshalls for like 2.00$ but they were smaller white wine glasses. So it cost me about 2.00 a glass and i hand painted them with names and designs.. big hit.. Also i made each girl 3 barretts with crystals on them.. Bought 2packages of flat backed crystals (about 3.00 for both) and a package of the barrettes.. it was 1.00 for about 50 barretts and jewel glue (2.00 or so) so for 6.00 i made those.. less then 1.00 a girl. I also ordered shirts from vista print when i ordered my stuff there. it usually cost about an extra 1.00 for the girls shirts each time i ordered one
Jewlery cases for the girls barretts - bought little wooden jewelry boxes (39 cents each on sale, painted them with paint i had)
pearl and swaroski crystal earrings for each girl.. bought the earrings- 1.00 for 6 pair (on sale) so i bought 2.00 worth.. and i buoght the strand of pearls (2.00 or so on sale) and the crystal packages(2 packages totalled 5.00).. i used 1 crystal in each since they were most costly and 2 pearls in each.
so 9.00 for those.. a little over 1.00 for each girl
and i put a "wine" coaster in each bag to go with the wine theme of their party and their glasses.. set of 8 was 1.00

so total for each girl was under 10.00 and they got like 4 or so gifts..
and i ddint do all gifts at once.. did them slowly so that it didnt cost much at once...

Made programs... waiting for a GREAT sale at joanns (dafodill sale) and got all the cardstock and such and cut every piece.. cost me 6.00 for all cardstock and i had the cutter etc at home... paid 1.00 (with coupon) for each thing of double sided tape... bought 2 of those... under 10.00 for all programs and they are awesome

favors- i bought my favors at a website but before i did i called and asked them if they had any discount codes.. they gave it to me.. saved 20 bucks with their code and then found another code online that saved me 10.00
yay :)


invitations- i did a couple things to cut costs... it was impotrant to everyone involved to have an awesome invitation.. we found the invitations i wanted but i wanted the added elegance of lace belly bands.. the lace belly bands alone were over 1.00 a piece... so my mom and i found lace online and bought 20 yards and cut them into 13 inch pieces and SEWED each piece.. we each agreed to 10-20 a day and wihtin a week it was done.. didnt take long and honestly, did it while watching tv, didnt matter.the lace was only about 10.00 or so - much difference compared to 1.00 a piece
also with the invitations, the rsvps were very expensive.. about another 60.00. so i ordered premium bus. cards off vista print that would match.. [aid 3.50 for shipping and the bus. cards were free. then office depot did all the mats for me for the backing. they considered it only 8 cuts since they were able to put the whole stack of paper together... it came out to about 4.00.. RSVPS for about 7.50 and paid another 10.00 for 100 3.5x 5 envelopes online.. compared to the 60 they wanted.. my 17.50 as pretty good..
and of course, i got a coupon for my invitations and that 200 went to 160.00 with free shipping easily. I also bought prem. free business cards for 3.50 from vista print and we got directional cards to match our rsvp :) and for the rsvps we used clear labels..

[EarlyBird]

Floral... It was also impotrant to my dad to have high centerpieces.. i went into a florist and said "listen, i want full tall centerpieces and i cant spend a fortune, but i know you have to make a living... how can we do this" at first she said "buy your own vases, i will provide the flowers a little above cost" I knew i wanted hydrengas and we live close to a port, so for a stem its about 2.50- I needed 4-5 stems in each and she agreed for 20.00 each she would put them on my tall vases with tiger grass and lilly grass around it.. then i found these great clear, tall vases that were like pvc but much nicer and they were about 8.00 a piece but i knew she could reuse them.. i asked if she had them, she said no but she didnt know about them and now that she did she would be getting some.. i asked if she bought them could i rent them.. So she agreed for to adding an extra 4.00 to each centerpiece cost and it would be 24.00 and i would have 32 inch centerepices.. (i assume wholesale she probably didnt pay that 8.00 but more like 4.00 so we both win)
Then she said "what about something dangling since they are sooo tall, i decided crystals.. but then realized the cost.. i Found online these really cool "like crystals" they had the same glow, sheen etc and i found a package for liek 1.50 of 16 of them.. i needed 3 packages, had all my clear sewing thread and got to work.. so each of my centerpieces will cost about 25.00 IF THAT and they will look like they cost over 150.00!!!!

[malastep]

Do you have a picture of these centerpieces yet? I would love to see them.

[f77g4]

I'm pretty sure it is a Canadian thing. Frustrating. You see people talking about picking up their licenses and they're under $50. I have no idea why it's so much more expensive here.

Maybe depending on where you are in Canada. Up until April in my province marriage licenses were free. Now they are $100. Churches and officiants in my area also don't charge a fee either. Just simply say that most couples make a donation to the church.

[lilmsjess]

Do you have a picture of these centerpieces yet? I would love to see them.


HERE, HERE!

I MADE MY "BULLET VASES" TODAY, AND I'M THINKING OF PUTTING THOSE CHEAPIE FLAT BACK RHINESTONES IN ALSO, TO ADD PRETTY-NESS TO ALL THAT BRASS, lol


OOOPS, sorry for screaming! but thats alot to retype when the bebe is hollering lol

[Stacey777]

When I got married, I saved a lot of money by having my reception on a holiday. It was a Monday, and everyone was off already. The hall gave me a price at 60% off the regular price. It was completely worth it for us.

I found this tip in a free document that I found on the web in another forum. It has so many great tips and secrets to save money.

http://www.designstoremember.com/weddingfavorstobridalgowns.pdf

I also saved money by buying my wedding rings at a flea market. I know this sounds crazy but in Levittown, NY there is a flea market that has an entire 3rd floor jewelry level. You can find some great deals. They even let us get the diamond appraised by an independent jeweler.

Hope these tips help. Good luck everyone! file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Rich/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msohtmlclip1/03/clip_image001.gif

[Stacey777]

When I got married, I saved a lot of money by having my reception on a holiday. It was a Monday, and everyone was off already. The hall gave me a price at 60% off the regular price. It was completely worth it for us.

I found this tip in a free document that I found on the web in another forum. It has so many great tips and secrets to save money.

http://www.designstoremember.com/weddingfavorstobridalgowns.pdf

I also saved money by buying my wedding rings at a flea market. I know this sounds crazy but in Levittown, NY there is a flea market that has an entire 3rd floor jewelry level. You can find some great deals. They even let us get the diamond appraised by an independent jeweler.

Hope these tips help. Good luck everyone!

[EarlyBird]

Do you have a picture of these centerpieces yet? I would love to see them.


Im not sure if you were talking to me but here ill post what i have of these for now :)

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j277/vanamarieG/Wedding/unity.jpg the pieces behind me are the same as my centerpieces, Its funny cuz during the ceremony i noticed that blank spot, and the florist luckily had thought ahead and left about 5 hydrengas, so that spot was filled in :)

there it is next to dh too
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j277/vanamarieG/Wedding/groom.jpg

[EarlyBird]

Since they are in the picture,i guess i will talk about how i saved on my ceremony decor BESIDES THE CENTERPIECES/ALTER PIECES

My unity candle. I bought the two tapers at the dollar tree along with the crystal holders- 4.00 there - also bought the rhinestone pieces. they were 1.50 or 2.00 on black friday (little stretchy thumb rings) and then Bought the pillar candle on sale at JOANNS and a coupon on seniors day or something- luckily grandma was willing to help out :) it was on sale for like 3.50 then on seniors day they can use coupons on already discounted stuff!!!!! got it for about 2.00 if that !!! so total cost for a cool set of unity candles was under 10 bucks!! and the best part is. the candles are allover my house cuz i love candles.. dual purposes!

the pillars! i didnt think of these so two days before leaving for the wedding, my dad did. I didnt want to be bothered but it was important to him. so i armed him with 2 coupons and sent him and my mom. the pillars and usually 14.00 so he got them for like 7.50 or so each. Not a bad steal considering how they were PERFECT!!! then we called the hall and asked if they wanted them for decor (my dad said it was worth his money not to have to load them up and bring them home) - In return she didnt charge us for the extra 3 people we had at the last minute - pretty good considering how 15.00 pillars saved us 240.00 in people/food !!!!

[PartyIdeaPros]

Hi! First, I am new here, and am quite impressed, especially with the lack of spam. You all are friendly, helpful, and very knowledgeable. Not sure how much I can add, but I will try.

Cost cutting tricks of the trade:
Invitations:
Recently we created a custom designed 6 piece invitation which included the main invitation to the ceremony, a more limited invitation to the reception, a special invitation for out of towners to join them for dinner Friday night and brunch Sunday morning, and 3 different response cards corresponding to the different invitations. We created the entire package for under $220.00 including envelopes. ribbon, and gems. (Postage not included) How? We used postcards! 100 double sided 4x6 glossy postcards custom designed cost a mere $29.00 plus shipping and handling. We spiced up each card by adding a few colored gems and tied the pieces together with coordinating ribbon. Since the response cards were actual postcards, no envelope was needed. And the postcard company's online design program was intuitive and easy to use. It took about 3 hours to perfect it all and was delivered by the end of the week.

Photographer
We put together 3 very similar celebration ceremonies for the same family at the same venue (so we had as comparable a side by side comparison of photos as possible). At the first event we used a very prominent, respected, and expensive professional photographer. At the second ceremony, we skimped on this element and hired a photography student from the local community college. And at the third event, a family member acted as the photographer. Truthfully, the quality of the resulting photographs were not significantly different. Admittedly, I needed to spend more time with the student to get the photos edited just right and had to research finding a professional photo album, but the cost difference was well worth the time. I preferred the student to the family member because I was less worried that pictures were actually being taken and that I would someday get my hands on them. Too often family members get busy after the celebration and never get around to downloading, let alone editing the photos.

Centerpieces
Although not as inexpensive as DIY, twice now we have used a company which creates beautiful favor bouquet centerpieces. They cost about $50.00 each with 10 favors (you can fill them yourselves and skip the personalized ribbon to save some money) which is less than most traditional floral centerpieces and includes the party favor. After the wedding, you can keep the bases and reuse them later for your 1st, 10th or even 50th anniversary party. We particularly recommend these centerpieces for the busy bride who doesn't have either the time, energy, or talent to make her own. They are also great for destination weddings because they travel well. My sister especially liked the fact that they arrived at her house a month in advance -- at least there was one thing she could cross off her list of things to do.

Food
Buffets or stations are always less expensive than a served meal. However, talk your caterer into having a plated salad/first course without charging you more. Argue that if they include the salad on the buffet, they will need twice the amount and much of it will go to waste. They do not need to serve it, just have it plated and ready at each place setting when your guests enter the dining room. The salad will add warmth and color to your tables and more importantly, since everyone eats at a different pace, it will relieve the main problem with buffets -- a roomful of hungry guests rushing to the food at once.

Best of luck and congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

[2dBride]

The biggest cost-saving decision we made was to use a venue that was not a traditional reception venue, and would let us bring in whatever we wanted--food, decorations, lighting, etc. That way, we could hire a friend to buy food at BJ's for much less than the cost of a caterer, buy linens wholesale for less than the cost of renting them, and generally get whatever bargains we could find.

We used a consignment store for our wedding gowns. Not only did this save us money, but we were able to try on the exact gowns (instead of trying to guess sizes from a sample), and were able to walk out with them the same day. We then used an independent seamstress for our alterations. With two brides, lowering the costs of gowns and alterations was a big deal!

We negotiated with our photographer to reduce the cost by getting only a disk of our images. That way, we could create our own prints and albums for much less than a photographer would charge. We are also having the professional photographer only for the ceremony. Candids at the receptions will be done by friends and family members.

We skipped engagement rings. Neither of us really wanted one. For our wedding rings, my FI is giving me a plain gold band she inherited from her grandmother. I'm giving her a pretty much identical band I bought on eBay.

And all of this is in addition to our various DIY projects, including the chuppah (wedding canopy (http://sites.google.com/site/2dbride/ceremony/chuppah)) and the DIY "photobooth (http://sites.google.com/site/2dbride/photography/diy-photobooth)."

[louhauna]

I own my own business, and have been approached by many brides (and friends of the bride) in search for a cheap, but customizable gift to give.

I do cuff links and necklaces for weddings.

[Cherry4weddingdress]

To save some $$$ you can ask around to see if there are private photographers that will do your pictures. We had one for our wedding, she took both b/w and color pictures, she left between the photo session and the reception, came back with some pics developed already to show us what we were getting. She gave us all the pictures, negatives, a video, and a set on cd for the computer. Same would have cost us thousands to go with a pro photographer and most pro photographers will not give the negatives to you.
i have a way to cutting the money saving tips . buy the items what needs on the wedding day online. of course the most important thing is that choosing a available website to place.

[kikidoom]

I'm Having:
A Friend Bartend
Buying Minimal Liqour
Hooking Up An Ipod To Speakers And Renting A Mic - That My Bridesmaids And His Groomsmen Will Use To Announce Certain Things Like " First Dance", "Cake Cutting" E.t.c..
Doing It At The Ramada Downtown Instead Of A Place That's 3-7,000 Food And Drink Minimum + Rental Costs ( They Charge 350 For The Reception Hall, 150 For The Space Where The Ceremony Will Take Place _ DEFINIETLY Look Into The Ramada If you Want A Cozy, Warm Feeling!
Ramada's Catering For A Full Meal And ALL Drinks? 20/ Per Person - I Was Amazed! For A Buffet ( Downfall Here Is $75 Extra To Serve Alcohol ) :)
( I Know I Sound Like I'm Talking Them Up - Sorry!)
There's A Shop Here Called " Blue Moon Florist ", They Charge $16 For 2 Dozen Roses On Off Season - So , Were Buying The Flowers For the Bouquets, Making Homemade Centerpieces From The Flowers And Glass Vases .... A Lil Extra Work But - Everything Will Have A Cozy, Homey Feel ( What I'm Going For ) And Everything Will Look Classy Too!
Making Favors At Home With Tulle And Chocolate Candies.
Making Invitations Ourselves, Having My Grammar Addicted Perfect Handwriting Maid Of Honor Do The Writing On The Envelopes.
Having Everyone RSVP Via E-mail And Telephone, Saved Me About 75-100 Dollars.
Keeping It Simple - Its About Us And Our Love, Everyone Is There To Support Us And Share Our Special Day!
Having My Friend Do The Ceremony And Get Registered As A Minister. ( Also, Having Your Churches Pastor / Religious Authority Do The Ceremony Can Save You Anywhere From 50-200 Dollars)
Cut Down On Guests ( Our List Went From 100 to 60 By Eliminating People We Know Wouldn't Be Able To Make It , And People Who We Don't Feel Close To.


Hope I Helped!

[conversed]

One of the things I was most stressed about was the limo for the wedding. I mean, it's your big day, so you don't want to skimp on important things like transportation, but at the same time, that is definitely a cost to consider.

I thought about not getting a limo, because I spent months looking and everywhere I found was EXPENSIVE. But all the looking finally paid off when I found the limo service that I will be using. They are called Premier transportation and they are here in Texas, but they have affiliates all over, so I bet if you live somewhere else that you can contact them and they can help you with a quality service for a really great deal.

That has definitely been one of the biggest ways I have been able to save on my wedding.

[Erika Limpin]

To save a lot of money, my fiance and I are making all of our centerpieces, bouquets, etc with origami flowers! It's really time consuming, but we're saving a ton of money and they're gorgeous :) You can also save money by finding a wholesale flower place. We saved money by finding a ceremony/reception site that is free with the food purchase. I know of a friend who is saving by helping to set up the chairs and such at his wedding.

[shinta]

Here's how I plan to save on my wedding:
1. Food - the kids will have a separate place. I think I'll expect around 35% kids there. Their food costs a lot cheaper and they will enjoy it more.
2. Music - I have a two cousins who both love to sing and other plays the piano. I automatically have a live music - free!
3. Renting - There are lots which I can rent than buy. A lot of things will only be used once so I think this is the best way to save instantly.
4. Reception at night - People eat fewer at night!
5. Invitations - I am actually a purchaser by profession. It is really surprising when you take some time and get at least 3 quotations from supplier from different places. (same places will just quote you almost same prices)

[2dBride]

Do compare the costs of renting versus buying. Some items are cheaper to rent than to buy, but others are not. For example, table linens are often about the same price to rent or buy--and may be even less to buy if you get them used from another bride. Simple uplighting is almost always cheaper to buy than to rent. Also, most standard wedding decor items are quite easy to resell afterward, so even if the initial cost of renting is less, buying may be cheaper after taking into account the possibility of resale.

Some more tips we used:

1. Finding our hair and make-up artists on Craigslist. For the ceremony in Boston, the person was $50 per person total for hair and make-up. For the reception in DC, the person was $35 per person for hair, $15 per person for make-up (and did a free trial).

2. Making our own centerpieces. They were really simple candle centerpieces (see picture). I saw kits to make them, but those would have been $411.55 for the two dozen we wanted. By buying the components separately, we got them down to $180.63.

3. Doing our own lighting. We ended up with 127 paper lanterns, eight uplights, and various backlit menus and signs. We were able to sell the uplighting for as much as we paid for it, and we got most of our money back on the paper lanterns and lighting supplies. If a professional had done all of that, it would have cost thousands of dollars.

4. Making our own chuppah (wedding canopy). I made a gorgeous one (if I do say so myself!), which is shown in my icon. The price for renting one locally was $450 plus decorations. Mine was $162.02 for materials, including the decorations. I ended up selling it for $200.

5. Limiting flowers. Both of us had bouquets, the MOH had a bouquet, and the dude of honor had a bout. No other flowers were used at the ceremony. Instead, we decorated with the chuppah, pew bows, and gold sashes. At the reception, the only flowers were freeze-dried rose petals scattered on the tables and cake.

http://sites.google.com/site/2dbride/decor/centerpieces/CenterpieceTest.jpg?height=400&width=238 (http://sites.google.com/site/2dbride/decor/centerpieces/CenterpieceTest.jpg)
Here's how I plan to save on my wedding:
1. Food - the kids will have a separate place. I think I'll expect around 35% kids there. Their food costs a lot cheaper and they will enjoy it more.
2. Music - I have a two cousins who both love to sing and other plays the piano. I automatically have a live music - free!
3. Renting - There are lots which I can rent than buy. A lot of things will only be used once so I think this is the best way to save instantly.
4. Reception at night - People eat fewer at night!
5. Invitations - I am actually a purchaser by profession. It is really surprising when you take some time and get at least 3 quotations from supplier from different places. (same places will just quote you almost same prices)

[CtPryncess]

I guess that the biggest thing is shopping around and doing allot of searching online!!!


****Candy Bar... probably my biggest saver :)

I really wanted to have a candy bar but did not want the expense.... it is allot of money to buy all that candy and only use the colors you want. SOooooo
I have been shopping around and I am a big coupon queen and love CVS. Well CVS had the Valentine M&M's on sale this past week...B1G1 FREE and then you also get 3.00 extra care bucks back. So I only paid .25 a bag...and sometimes I pad nothing because I had other coupons too.

So basically I saved about 120.00 on candy. I bought 36 bags and seperated the red out of the pink and white : )

Also.. I now have all but two of the glass jars I will be using for the candy buffet and they did not cost me more then 20.00 for all of them... when it would have cost me at least 50.00 - 60.00. I got a bunch of them from the flea market for like .50 to 1.00 I was sooo happy because some of them were like 10.00 glass containers. Also I have been finding good deals on them at Ross ... where they are marked down.


****Catering

Instead of paying over 1,300.00 to cater my wedding I will be having friends and family do it. We are just going to buy the big pans of lasanga and each person will cook two of them and bring them to the reception where we have a warming oven to put them all in. I would say that to feed 100 - 150 people the way I have planned will not cost more the 500.00.

I am borrowing four very large chaffing dishes from my future mother in law... so that is free. I have been collecting nice trays and dishes throughout the year and not paying more then 2.00 for them.

I spent 30.00 on a fountain punch bowl that lights up... I figured it would be pretty for the wedding... I am going to put pink punch in it... I also have another glass punch bowl that we will use.

***** Ceremony and Reception site
It took me what seemed like forever to find the right location. I wanted something nice...and clean ...but also cheap where I could provide my own catering. I found one at a park in Jacksonville... it is a community center. The building is only about three years old and it is nice. They provide round tables and chairs and can seat up to 225 people. It is only 250.00 for the first 3 hours and 50.00 each additional hour. I did find a few places that were cheaper but they were not big enough and were dirty looking.


****Bridesmaid dresses
Again...just alot of searching for cheap dresses. I found many that I loved that were 70.00 or less on ebay. They were the ones you purchase from China and you pay 80.00 - 100.00 in shipping but if you look...most of them offer 20% discount when you order 5 or more dresses. The ones I have picked out will be 76.00 and that is including the shipping.

****Flowers
DIY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also look for deals on theses. After Christmas Michaels had a coupon for 20% off you're entire purchase and the flowers were all 40% off. SOoooo I bought allot of flowers for 60% less. I bout 320.00 worth of flowers and paid 128.00 for them!!!! Of course I continue to buy flowers but I always wait until they are on sale.

Also...as I change my mind about the type of flowers I want to use... I just exchange what I have already bought for what I want now...no cost.

****DIY invitations
I did not want to purchase the plain white invites but did not want to spend an arm and a leg ....Soooo I made my own. I am almost done with putting them together...finally got my envelopes in yesterday.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL82/6411734/12471121/288530595.jpg


I have only spent 80.00 on materials for 300 invites!!!


***** Chair covers
I am covering my tables and chairs.. I have been looking for a long time and have found someone that will supply the chair covers and sash for 1.75 a chair. The table covers are expensive so we are going to make them ourselves and they should cost abotu 60.00

This is one thing I decided to splurge on for my wedding. I want my wedding to look really nice but not cost a fortune and this is one way to get that effect. I will spend about 300.00 on covering everything.

****Photographer
Again...just searched and searched... I found someone that will cost only 450.00 which includes editing... a few pictures... and full rights to the CD... which is exactly what I was looking for.

**** The biggest money saver for me is DIY projects on almost everything for the wedding


I guess thats about it : )

I luv that invitation idea... I was thinking of printing my own but my printer uses a lot of ink but if I print it in black then it's cheaper.

[janabm81]

DIY:
Flowers: Micheal's/Hobby Lobby was having a great sale on silk flowers...total cost for Bride & 3 bridesmaids: $67.00
Invitations/RSVP: Office Depot supplies & Microsoft Publisher...Total cost: $31.00
Photos: We already had a great digital professional camera at work so we're borrowing it and my brother is taking the pics. Total cost: $0.00
Music: Reception Hall is letting us use their music system with a CD/Ipod and a friend will make announcements. Total cost: $0.00

Other:
Bought my dress at clearance prices because they we discontinuing the style..Total cost with shipping: $400.00

Was able to do a trade out with a client at work to do the cake decorations...total cost: One hour of my time off the clock...Do it during my lunch hour= $0.00

Getting flower girl dress either online or at Burlington Coat Factory: $20-40

[Sasha Newberry]

I think the key to saving money on your wedding is to do your shopping online. I am trying to find my venue online looking at prices but i found my photographer that way.

[heather2010]

Our venue is the yacht club my parents belong to, which turned out to be the cheapest rental I found at only $150! It is $500 in total after the special occasion licence, wages for the bartenders and organizer, kitchen and cleaning fees etc. We are having both ceremony and reception there. They have weekly dinners for up to 100, so they have all the tables, chairs, linens, kitchen, serving dishes and BBQ which we can use.

We are doing our own food, with lots of help of course, a buffet of skewers of chicken and beef, different types of salads, dinner buns, and BBQ salmon that will be free from a fisherman friend of ours.

For dessert I will be baking cookies and freezing them ahead of time, fruit salad and a cake, a huge slab decorated to look like the ocean with a 2 ft tall lighthouse on it for $220.

I have a friend who is an interior decorator who will be doing the set up and decorating for free.

Flowers are coming from a local grower and part of a local garden club that I googled and emailed, haven't been given the final cost for that yet.

All the decorations and supplies I have gotten so far have been from Michael's, using 50% off coupons, each time I buy something I get another 50% off coupon on the receipt, so I buy things one at a time! I don't need to do much decorating since we are having a nautical theme and the yacht club is already decked out in nautical stuff, and my colours are navy, bright yellow, white and silver and guess what the yacht clubs colours happen to be? Yep, navy and bright yellow!

My photographer is a member of the yacht club and a semi retired wedding photographer who put in 20+ years doing wedding photography in Maui, she came at a bargain or $700, all photos on dvd, which is exactly what I wanted.

Our DJ is a good friend of ours who happens to be a professional dj with all the equipment, and he comes at the best price of free!

My dress is a gorgeous Maggie Sottero, and I got it at a botique that sells consignment, so it was second hand, but no one will notice, except me when I looked at the price tag, $600 including taxes and alterations, which I don't need since it fits me like a glove (hopefully still will)!

I am doing the invitations myself, I designed them using microsoft word, I bought 100 sheets of card stock for $5, and will print them and buy the envelopes.

Brides Maids dresses will come from somewhere like le chateau or Sears, they will just be light summer dresses.

My next idea is getting hershey kisses for favours (to wrap with the bolt of tulle I got at Michael's for 1/2 price) once the valentine's candy goes on clearance (I will check expiry dates, but I would think that kisses would last from now to august in a cool dark place?)

My tips, research, google and email anyone and anything that could save you some $, save coupons and use them, use in season locally grown flowers, and hit the dollar store looking for deals!

[Jennywe]

What an awesome lot of ideas, I want to keep my costs down so appreciate these.
J x

[snugglebunny74]

were getting married on the 4th of july. So were having a evening wedding with fireworks and BBQ. Everyone is bringing a lil something(potato salad, Baked beans...) which will help with the meal and we are having Dancing and firework show. Idea is new hubby wont forget anniversary and we plan on visiting a new state each year to watch firework show there.:laugh2:

[dodgercpkl]

were getting married on the 4th of july. So were having a evening wedding with fireworks and BBQ. Everyone is bringing a lil something(potato salad, Baked beans...) which will help with the meal and we are having Dancing and firework show. Idea is new hubby wont forget anniversary and we plan on visiting a new state each year to watch firework show there.:laugh2:

Oh I like that plan!! :) That sounds like a fun time for years to come too! :)

[sue robinson]

You girls have wonderful ideas! I'd like to hear more about the former hotel that is now a college residence. Where is this? Students helping for grades is brilliant!

[Lozzy]

Can I just say... great thread!! I'll have a good read of this and take down some notes! thanks :D

Lozzy

[sue robinson]

Also, when looking for premium flowers, keep in mind that there are some great wholesalers online that originate in Ecuador and Columbia (they actually own the flower farms) and now specialize in wedding packages that include bouquets, centerpiece arrangements, groom's flowers, and thousands of decorative petals for around 75% off retail prices. I did a bridal show last week and used one of these resources and the flowers were exquisite (royal blue and purple) and the petals arrived ultra-fresh in bags and made beautiful table trim. I also put some petals in crystal vases with water, then some more water and floating candles! Pretty and pretty cheap! (Oh, and crystal swarovski picks in the center of the blooms that I found online for 50% less than floral arrangers charge!)

[wedadviser]

If you wear a 6, 8, or 10, check out sample sales, which generally happen once a year. It's a great opportunity to get a designer dress at rock-bottom prices. You can also look on eBay, Craigslist and other websites for deals on used wedding dresses. Remember that cleaning the delicate fabric of a wedding dress may cost up to $250, so avoid the cheap dress with the filthy hem. And many towns have a shop where you can rent a wedding dress, saving you hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

[2dBride]

If you wear a 6, 8, or 10, check out sample sales, which generally happen once a year. It's a great opportunity to get a designer dress at rock-bottom prices. You can also look on eBay, Craigslist and other websites for deals on used wedding dresses. Remember that cleaning the delicate fabric of a wedding dress may cost up to $250, so avoid the cheap dress with the filthy hem. And many towns have a shop where you can rent a wedding dress, saving you hundreds and hundreds of dollars.If the dress is not silk, you may be able to save by cleaning it yourself. See instructions at this link (http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/cleaning-a-wedding-dress-yourself).

[foreverblueskies]

I've been a lurker on here and had my wedding on last May 29, 2010. I had a budget wedding too for around 150 guests & a lunch reception...

My mother and sister hemmed and altered my dress for me. I made all the invites myself. My bridesmaids ordered their dresses from Kohls and the dress was only $34 on sale! My sisters created all the floral arrangements and table decorations themselves. My older sister has a sellers permit so was able to buy flowers at a wholesale place. I made all the wedding favors myself. My family cooked all the food and we had a buffet line. For my cake we had a small 3 tier wedding cake and then a flat sheet from Costco. My older brother was the wedding photographer and the pictures turned out wonderful. My brother in law is in a band and so he provided all the sound equipment and had one of his friends handle the sound system. My husband's friends played cannon in D on guitar while we walked down the aisle...

[wed01]

The main things I did: I used coupons from Micheal craft store, went to after holiday sale, had lunch instead of dinner, made my flowers myself. I found a photographer that worked out his home. I used a cake baker from my mother's local mall. I kept it simple with buttercream and royal icing.

[NoKnowsWeddings]

At your wedding reception, consider serving just beer and wine verses a fully stocked bar. As a slight enhancement, have a specialty drink passed upon your guests arrival. Personalize the specialty drink by serving a Long Island Iced Tea in honor of your home town, or a Flaming Volcano in preparation for your honeymoon to Hawaii. This is fun and will cut cost on your bar tab dramatically.

[OnceABride]

Try finding a local grower, maybe at a farmer's market and incorporating wildflowers (picked from locations where you have permission). Then have a house party to make wonderful arrangements for the event. We did this for our wedding and it turned out beautifully.

[czrocks]

1. I love the idea of the no-alcohol reception! I held my reception at the church, which did not allow alcohol to be served. No problem -- we saved a bundle and avoided any drunken incidents from relatives.

2. Ask about catering from some higher end chain restaurants. We used Boston Chicken -- great deal, and they served and set up. Sweet!

3. Rethink the whole traditional diamond engagement or wedding ring.

4. A simple cocktail dress instead of a full wedding regalia gown.

[A Family Event]

I have been a wedding planner for about 5 years now and I may not be 'seasoned' like many out there but I still have a few tricks and tips! The way I help a couple save is by attending appointments with them and knowing the right questions to ask. If you are not working with a planner, here are some tips to remember:
Ask your cake maker if they are willing to do the bottom tiers in styrofoam and the top layer that you cut real, of course. There can be a simple sheet cake in the kitchen that can be cut and served to the guests. That will save you tons if they are willing to do so.
Make sure you get flowers that are in season and that does not have to be shipped overseas.
If you are working with a caterer, ask them if it is at all possible to go through their wholesale florist. Some say yes and some say no, but its worth asking!
Definitely have a buffet style dinner instead of sit down. Also, you may think it will be cheaper to have a heavy hors doeuvre's reception but ask and compare before deciding. You will be surprised how fast those scrumptious lil' guys add up.
Hire a DJ instead of a band.
If you like candid pictures, ask a friend or family member if they would do the honors of taking pictures. Make sure it is someone reliable, you do not want to miss anything.
Do it yourself invitations, there are so many beautiful invites that you can do yourself. You just need a printer.
If you decide that you want favors for your guests, then maybe see if mom will help bake cookies. You can wrap them and tag them with a 'Thank You' note.These are just a few ideas. If you do DIY projects to cut cost please seek family members and friends to help. The last thing a bride needs to be is stressed! Planning a wedding should be enjoyable and filled with good memories. Good luck and congratulations!

[Jaiheena]

After pricing and cake tasting I have decided to get my cake from wal-mart. I will order a birthday cake instead of wedding cake, a sheet cakes and 2 or 3 tier cake.

[Jaiheena]

I have been a wedding planner for about 5 years now and I may not be 'seasoned' like many out there but I still have a few tricks and tips! The way I help a couple save is by attending appointments with them and knowing the right questions to ask. If you are not working with a planner, here are some tips to remember:

Ask your cake maker if they are willing to do the bottom tiers in styrofoam and the top layer that you cut real, of course. There can be a simple sheet cake in the kitchen that can be cut and served to the guests. That will save you tons if they are willing to do so.
Make sure you get flowers that are in season and that does not have to be shipped overseas.
If you are working with a caterer, ask them if it is at all possible to go through their wholesale florist. Some say yes and some say no, but its worth asking!


Definitely have a buffet style dinner instead of sit down. Also, you may think it will be cheaper to have a heavy hors doeuvre's reception but ask and compare before deciding. You will be surprised how fast those scrumptious lil' guys add up.
Hire a DJ instead of a band.
If you like candid pictures, ask a friend or family member if they would do the honors of taking pictures. Make sure it is someone reliable, you do not want to miss anything.
Do it yourself invitations, there are so many beautiful invites that you can do yourself. You just need a printer.
If you decide that you want favors for your guests, then maybe see if mom will help bake cookies. You can wrap them and tag them with a 'Thank You' note.These are just a few ideas. If you do DIY projects to cut cost please seek family members and friends to help. The last thing a bride needs to be is stressed! Planning a wedding should be enjoyable and filled with good memories. Good luck and congratulations!

Great ideas. I love the favor tip!

[kschiewe]

After pricing and cake tasting I have decided to get my cake from wal-mart. I will order a birthday cake instead of wedding cake, a sheet cakes and 2 or 3 tier cake.
Great idea! Love it!

[OnceABride]

Have a friend perform the service! Legal credential are readily available online free or at small cost and having a friend do it is a blast.

[MarilynsKeepsakes]

There really are so many ways to trim the fat from your budget. Obviously, having your wedding on a Friday or Sunday will save you lots of money on the venue. Having just one signature drink can cut down bar costs. Buffets will save you dough as opposed to formal sit downs. My favorite aspect of the money saving process has to be the DIY decor. This is the part that really makes the wedding, the things your guests will really marvel at and maybe wonder "did she, or didn't she actually make this?"

[Jaiheena]

:hi:Have a friend perform the service! Legal credential are readily available online free or at small cost and having a friend do it is a blast.



Thanks for the suggestion we have preachers in our families that would galdy officate the ceremony for nothing. Just seeing the two of us unite in marriage is payment enough!!

[Jaiheena]

There really are so many ways to trim the fat from your budget. Obviously, having your wedding on a Friday or Sunday will save you lots of money on the venue. Having just one signature drink can cut down bar costs. Buffets will save you dough as opposed to formal sit downs. My favorite aspect of the money saving process has to be the DIY decor. This is the part that really makes the wedding, the things your guests will really marvel at and maybe wonder "did she, or didn't she actually make this?"


I like the concept of a DIY wedding. They can be so beautiful and can have the same effect and feel of costly wedding.

[ladyvincenza]

I have lots of ideas. I am using a state park for the ceremony/reception, which isn't without drawbacks, but costs nearly nothing compared to traditional places.
I am not one for traditional wedding stuff, so I'm having a simple but elegant dress made by a friend. OK, not everyone has a friend like John, but if your tastes run simple, you or a friend might be able to make your dress. Also, I don't want a veil. No wedding party, either. It's just not me:)
Flowers need not be expensive. For example, I'm getting mine at BJs and just putting them in vases on site. I got the vases (galvanized metal buckets, to go with a rustic setting) on eBay for about $1/per.
Neither my fiance nor I care about expensive gourmet food. We're getting pan-Asian food from a regular restaurant that caters.
I'm making my cake and got the pans and plate on eBay. Not everyone will have the time to make their own cake, but I made my best friend's wedding cake and so I know I can do it. http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Cakes-You-Can-Make/dp/076455719X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282843497&sr=8-1
Don't forget student caterers, musicians, photographers.
I think the ripoffs in the wedding industry are shameless and we should all be skeptical of them. 10 grand for a photographer? Please! I only want a few photos, for Pete's sake! I hired a student for $200.
A wonderful book I read on budget weddings and wariness of ripoffs is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Bridal-Bargains-Throwing-Fantastic-Realistic/dp/1889392294/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282843542&sr=1-1
Whether you're on a budget or not, I recommend it.
One more point: I think one of the best gifts you can ask for is money for the honeymoon, which I did. This way, you won't foot the bill for the honeymoon.
http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/andycnsaraht
Do you really need or want punch bowls and truffle beaters? A wonderful honeymoon will last a lifetime!

[ladyvincenza]

Just one more thing: since my wedding site is dry, I save lots on alcohol. A mixed blessing.

[ladyvincenza]

To save a lot of money, my fiance and I are making all of our centerpieces, bouquets, etc with origami flowers! It's really time consuming, but we're saving a ton of money and they're gorgeous :) You can also save money by finding a wholesale flower place. We saved money by finding a ceremony/reception site that is free with the food purchase. I know of a friend who is saving by helping to set up the chairs and such at his wedding.
Can I just say the origami idea is a great one! Very creative and beautiful-sounding. Personally, I'm a sucker for fresh flowers, but I bet you inspired other people with your idea!

[OnceABride]

Lady Vincenza is on the right track all right. Lots of ways to save money. Pick wild flowers for the arrangements - swipe them from friends' gardens (with permission of course!). Hire those students. We had DJ, 'bar tender', clean up crew, etc - all students and all happy to do the gig, get a free meal and a modest check. Buy things like vases and decorations at dollar stores. Get creative! Lots of ways to save money. If providing soft drinks watch sales and stock up for months beforehand. Spread the cost that way too. Venues like back yards, parks, college campuses are great and either free or very low cost. Ask friends to lend a hand as their wedding gift to you. Keep thinking and brainstorming and those ideas will come. Email invites are great too. Check out my book Wedding Planning On The Cheap for even more suggestions and experiences.

[katrinamay]

I'm thinking about cutting costs by being craftsy for favors, centerpieces, and invitations. A friend of mine got married last year and he's a hobby pilot, so he and his wife decided to hand-decorate little wooden toy airplanes and turn them into Christmas tree ornaments. I thought that was a really cute way to give people simple, cheap favors that were really personal.

Centerpieces...I would LOVE to have a lavish centerpiece of arranged flowers and tea lights and whatnot, but money is a bit tight, so we were thinking of hand-making some kind of photo tree - we'll just grab some sticks, bundle them together and hang our favorite photos from the branches with ribbons and other little touches.

Invitations are the one thing we have figured out. We didn't want to pay tons of cash for what is essentially just paper, but I still wanted them to be customized. I thought about using a photo card site like Shutterfly or Snapfish, but I couldn't find just the right theme. I Googled around a little and came across Mixbook, which is also a photo card (and photo book) site, but they let me change EVERYTHING! I started off with a template I liked, but I could move/delete/add anything and everything on the card which was super exciting, and the best part, it's SO much cheaper.

[OnceABride]

You've got some great ideas KatrinaMay. Keep up that creative thinking.

[weddingbutterfly]

has anyone mentioned the magazine and online store: Oriental Trading? they offer a bridal addition as well as two other regular versions. I just got mine and they have a crazy amount of random little things, such as for accessorizing, themes, etc. I love they give you a free magazine for shopping.

[xxeverafterx3]

Couple ideas that we are doing include :

1 - getting married at a car dealership ... Ok this sounds cheesy but cars play a big part in our relationship, our friends, and our life (and it's the car dealership that he proposed at) - They aren't charging us anything, they just want to be able to call the press

2 - We are renting a banquet hall at a hotel, but calling in our own caterer -- a friend of ours does catering and is going to do it for fairly cheap

3 - I want fairly simple bouquets, so I'm buying my own flowers and making my bouquets instead of paying an expensive florist to do them

4 - I'm making my own centerpieces - buying things in bulk, going to do three candles (different heights) on a mirror surrounded by (fake) crystals

5 - our favors are going to be personalized m&ms wrapped in tulle - m&ms and tulle will be our wedding colors

6 - our photographer offers a package where he just gives us a DVD of our wedding rather than giving us prints too - saves us about 750 dollars

these are just a few things we've started with to save money

[cncfusion]

So far, this is what I have:

1. 40% off coupons at Michaels, Joann's, ACMoore

2. Find a local person specializing in alterations (saves you from going to David's Bridal alteration dpt) -- Lots of people originating from China or India do this for a living and have great equipment and do a really nice job.

3. I'm thinking of doing electronic STDs and sending them out via email/social networking sites

4. DIY own veil and own cardbox

5. Ebay for undergarments

6. Macy's sale for jewelry (I don't think people can differentiate from you buying $25 or $800 necklace, it's just as sparkly)

7. Bridesmaid loves cooking/baking, so we're going to do our own DIY cookies, cut them up with a cookie cutter, cellophane bag and ribbon it up with a Thank You note!

8. If you have a local dollar tree store or christmas tree store, you'll be surprised what you can find there for cheap.

9. i bought invitation kits from michael's, they were on final sale ($10). even if there isn't enough, who said everyone needs to get the same invitation? no one is going to know or expect people to have received different invites.

10. Going to do an engagement session with a professional, but not hiring photographer for the wedding, saving thousands on this.

[weddingbutterfly]

I love #3!! There is such great ideas for online invites!

I love the Dollar Tree also. Some stores get some nice bridal stuff. Plus just random themed items in general. And don't forget nice cake cutter knives too =)

I am just starting to think about holidays and saving $$ DYI is such a great way to go

[rachadunn]

I recently got married in August.. Just wanted to share some of the best ways we saved money:

-Made our own centerpieces: My bridesmaids and the groom and I all set one day aside to make the famous tissue pom-poms as centerpieces. Tissue paper can be bought in bulk from Hobby Lobby or online and it cost us about 0.50 per flower. We put three large ones in the center of each table in our colors: white, silver, and yellow. It really brightened up the room and everyone was fighting over them once the reception ended!

-Flowers: We arranged to donate and purchase the flowers through the church, which gets a huge discount from our local florist. We just told them the colors, they order them and then have the arrangements for the rest of the weekend!
We also arranged our own bouquets and made our own boutonnieres. We got our flowers from wal-mart (some have really nice selections) and our local grocery store. It saved us about 75% of what we would have paid to a florist.

-Favors: Instead of ordering hundreds of favors, we ordered a bunch of mini fruit tarts from our cake baker. It was inexpensive, but each guest got one to themselves.

-We kept it casual! The groomsmen only wore a vest, no jacket! Our wedding was in the morning and in Florida (hot!), but they looked really classy but still fun. It only cost $26 to rent a vest and tie from Men's Warehouse.

-Jewelry: Get to know your local jeweler! I'm not talking about Kay or Zales, I mean those tiny local shops that do special orders and antique jewelry. We borrowed all of the jewelry we wore, which was priced at upwards of $10,000. For free! :)

Hope this gives some new brides ideas!

[ProjectSaveTheDate]

One great way we saved money is to print Save the Dates and Thank You cards online. We got ours through a website vistaprint. The first batch was a cut slightly off (like 1-2 mm) but I emailed them and they sent me a new batch shipped that arrived in 2 days.

My sister is a graphic designer that designed it and we only had to upload the photo.

The best part is that you can google search on the internet for coupons. We used a 50% off coupon that I found online and the Save the Dates were very cheap. Full color too.

[smallvolume]

I think this should depend on a good plan about the wedding, and the dress of the bride is also the key point.

[AprilLove]

Here are ways that we have saved money throughout the planning process and/or plan to save money. We don't have to worry about cost, but both of us recognize that many expenses are wasteful regardless of whether or not money is an object.

1. We are combining our "bachelorette/bachelor" party into a large friend/family gathering that will take place jointly before we embark (we're having an intimate destination wedding without guests) so we can enjoy each other and all of the people we love during one occasion. Plus, neither of us like the idea of the traditional "bachelor/bachelorette" party.

2. I asked my fiance to not purchase me an engagement ring. We're getting married in six months and I felt it was unnecessary to wear a ring to represent engagement for such a short period of time. Everyone knows we're engaged, and when they ask "where the ring is" I simply tell them I felt it was an unnecessary expense. Most women don't agree with this though. I'm also wearing a wedding band once we're wed that does not have diamonds. I feel strongly against wearing diamond jewelery (unless it's conflict free) so my band will be rose gold/hand engraved. The cost is only $475.

3. We're getting married in a national park. This is a huge money-saver in terms of a venue. We're not having guests but even if we were, the park could still accommodate us. It's only $50 for a wedding space!

4. We're combining our wedding/honeymoon since we're getting married in Hawaii. That way we only have to pay the airfare once and we can reserve the room for our duration. We both feel it's more convenient and a great way to save on cost.

5. I bought my dress online. I know a lot of people are wary of this, but it can be a wonderful way to save! I am so happy with my dress, and while I am getting some alterations, it was far cheaper to buy online than to buy in a store.

There are others I will share later!

[britTANNY]

We are very lucky to live close to almost all our family! We just had a baby (4 months ago) and are young (21) so we really dont have a whole lot of money to work with. My fiance's mother is letting us use their land and house for the wedding, they live out in the country and have a wheat feild they are going to not plant on so we will have parking. Plus we are getting married in the end of May (in Oklahoma) so their other wheat will be surrounding the house and make for a really pretty background. Ceremony and reception in same place.
My fiance's grandmother is taking a dress that was given to us and adding fabric to it and making it fuller and look like one of my favorite dresses i saw online.
My aunt is a photographer and my grandfather is going to video the wedding and also we are having him and my brother take 2 video cameras and each record their own prespective of what is important in the reception and do little interveiw and good wishes.
We are making coffee filter flowers for the wedding, and doing a lot of DIY work! I am making my own cake. We are having a bbq buffet (my fiance's dad smokes an excellent brisket!!!!!) And we are only doing wine and beer, we got a great deal buying from a local nearby winery and buying in bulk.
We are renting the bm dresses i found some online for 175 that i liked and we can rent them for only 20 each for the whole weekend and they are wearing converse shoes (my style)
gm are wearing jeans and white pearl snaps and hats and boots (fiance's style)
I thought it would be cute for everyone to wear something they would be comfortable in and that they would already have, plus i like that we are two different people with our own styles and now coming together :) :hearts:
I am really easy-going and not too picky so it should be easy to avoid the really expensive things or find a cheaper alternative.

[prnicolev]

With just over 3 weeks to go until the BIG day, I’m realizing that I’ve learned quite a bit in my temporary role as a wedding planner.

I began this journey with big hopes and a wedding dream that could have easily cost me $20,000. But with a budget of $10,000 (or maybe a tiny bit more), I learned to prioritize and to also cut costs without sacrificing my dream of a beautiful wedding. Just because the average wedding costs around $20,000 doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice beauty or style to keep yours within your budget — even if that budget is a little less than average.

I was able to plan the wedding of my dreams at the budget that fit my life. You don’t have to cut corners to save money. You just have to be savvy about it. Here are a few things I did that you can do too…

1. Utilize your assets.

Did you know that Michael and I did not pay a penny for the following items?
• Cake
• DJ
• Invitations
• My shoes

How? You ask. Well, his mom bakes cakes. Our friend is a DJ at a local club. VistaPrint offered me free invitations in exchange for a product review on the Plunge Project (coming soon), and I partnered with Nina Shoes to offer a discount to my readers and thus they gave me a $175 pair of shoes for free… Ta da!

Keep in mind your own personal connections and use them when you’re planning your wedding. Is your cousin a graphic designer? Does your aunt bake cakes? Is your friend an awesome DJ? Often, people will be happy to donate their services (or give them in lieu of an actual wedding gift). All you have to do is ask!

2. Take advantage of deals.

My wedding dress is one of the things I splurged on. I fell in love, what can I say? BUT, I still didn’t pay full price for it. I ended up finding a $100 off coupon on Google in the company’s listing. You’d be amazed at what you can find if you look!

Michael’s tux is another great example. Because we have more than 4 groomsmen, the formal wear store offered to give Michael his tux for free.
Just think about all the things you need for the wedding — from a venue, to a dress, to hair and makeup services, to all the little things for DIY projects, etc., and everything in between. Websites like Retail Me Not offer a slew of online coupon codes, while places like Half Off Depot (affiliate link) have great local deals in cities across the US. Because I’m doing a lot of DIY, I also signed up for Jo-Ann coupons by mail and have gotten 40% off almost every item I’ve purchased from there ever since.

Basically, before you buy anything for the wedding, plan ahead and see what deals are out there. I probably ended up saving hundreds just by using coupons and taking advantage of special offers.

3. Shop around.

When I went to pick up my dress from the bridal shop before taking it to the seamstress, I did what most brides do — tried on jewelry, veils and other hair pieces until I found the style that fit perfectly with my gown. I ended up setting my heart on a gorgeous pearl and crystal headband and earrings, but the price tag on the set was a little hefty. $200 for a headband and $50 for earrings?! I think not! Instead, I took to Etsy and found almost the exact same headband for a mere $50 and matching earrings for $20! After shipping, that’s a savings of about $120!
When you see something you really like, I encourage you to take a photo of it and take to the internet to shop around. You’ll be amazed at what you can save.

4. Do it yourself.

I pretty much feel like I’ve become a DIY queen during the course of my wedding planning. From designing and assembling my invitations, to printing and binding my own programs, to creating cake stands, banners, my escort card display, guest book, and more, I cut a lot of costs by doing things myself.

Like I mentioned above, stores like Jo-Ann, Michael’s, etc. are more than willing to give you coupons to shop at their stores. And you’d be surprised by how cheap supplies are in comparison to paying someone else to do something. So if you’re confident you can do it yourself, do it! You’ll save tons of money in the process. Just don’t bite off more than you can chew.

5. Discover dollar stores.

I was never a big dollar store shopper before I started planning the wedding (although I did LOVE that place as a child). But upon first entering the Dollar Tree to shop for random wedding items, I was pretty impressed. From dishes for your candy bar, to picture frames, to snacks for welcome bags, and lots more, the dollar store can save you tons! After all, things are just $1 each. Hit up multiple locations frequently, and I guarantee you’ll find items you need that you may have otherwise paid much more for.

So there are my 5 tips for being a savvy bride. How else did you cut costs without sacrificing your wedding dreams?

[WebLady]

I saw this on the Savvy blog today and thought I'd share it here ...

3 Unique Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding Reception (http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop/category/budget-wedding-ideas/2010/12/02/3-unique-ways-save-money-your-wedding-reception/)

Special to OneWed by Bravo Bride (http://www.bravobride.com/)

If you’ve started planning your wedding (http://weddingpreparty.onewed.com/apps/social-wedding-planning/) you may have realized how quickly costs add up and how expensive your big day can be. With food, beverages, decorations and rental fees, the wedding reception (http://www.onewed.com/wedding-shopping/wedding-reception/65/) is typically the highest cost. But not too worry; we’ve got a lot of money saving tips to help you stay within your wedding budget (http://www.onewed.com/wedding-advice/category/budgets-checklists-timelines). When every little bit counts there are plenty of ways to cut costs without making it look like you cut corners.

Wedding Venue
Where you decide to have your reception can determine the whole theme of the wedding. There may be a venue (http://www.onewed.com/reviews/wedding-venues/) where you’ve always imagined getting married but that perfect place may come at a high price. It never hurts to ask for a discount. One easy way to do this is to get married on a weekday; weekends are almost always at a premium price. Another unique way to cut expenses is to ask for a cash discount. It costs merchants an average of 2% (or more) to process a credit card transaction, so pay cash for your reception and ask if they’ll accept a cash discount.

Wedding Decorations
Wedding decorations (http://www.onewed.com/wedding-shopping/wedding-reception/decorations/67/) can really add to the atmosphere of your wedding but they will also really add to your budget. Creating your own centerpieces (http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop/tags/diy-wedding-flower-arrangements/) can help stretch your wedding dollars. Consider buying gently used wedding decorations (http://www.bravobride.com/c/reception.html) online or search for inexpensive vases at outlet stores. Fill the vases with oversized feathers or find a wholesale flower site and have them shipped to you. Calla lilies (http://weddings.flowerpetal.com/wedding-flower-type/Lilies.html?ref=1415) are a great choice because they look beautiful and are very easy to arrange.

Food & Beverages
Sure, we’d all love to have filet mignon and lobster at our wedding but that’s not realistic for many couples. Consider serving appetizers with seafood or steak during cocktail hour and serve less expensive entrees during your reception like chicken or pasta. If you don’t want the bar bill to spiral out of control there are a few tricks to keep it within your budget. I love champagne but I didn’t love the $1500 extra additional cost our venue was going to charge for a champagne toast. So skip the champagne and let guests toast with what they are already drinking. Don’t announce a last call for drinks; this just encourages guests to go get one more even if they don’t need it. Lastly, if you can find a venue that allows you to bring in your own alcohol this can cut your beverage costs by at least half.

Have fun and remember that your wedding is about sharing your life with the one you love, not about how much money you spent on it.

[alinaluhii]

I just have $500,so i just plan to invite 20 closely friends to join our wedding . So i can save a lot of money!!!:yesnod:

[The Southside Bride]

Hey Everyone!

My tips are like a lot of the others on here, and really it boils down to how much time you have to plan the wedding. I always tell everyone to start a year in advanced so you can get all of the clearance deals throughout the season. A perfect example of this is for the bride who wants an outdoor illumated wedding can get super cheap white string lights after Christmas or a bride with a red color scheme can find all sorts of red tissue and decorations after Valentine's day.

Clearence and Amazon can be your best friends.

[themoment]

Thrift stores are a treasure for those on a budget. You can find containers, a cute dress(if you are open minded), plates, and dishes. You can spend hours with a creative mind, putting together something for your day.

[myweddingdress99]

I am really easy-going and not too picky so it should be easy to avoid the really expensive things or find a cheaper alternative.:toast:

[zeusd08]

Instead of hiring a photographer, we hired a videographer. I can't say that it saved money per se except that it's sort of a two-for-one deal because not only do we get a video, but we can take screenshots from the video and make photos out of them.

[ina1]

I'm planning a big wedding, I was not able to save a lots of money except for my wedding dress and cake. I don't know how to save money when i need nice restaurant, invitations, band, decorator etc. :bbredface:

[karaxandxmark]

i am actually doing my wedding at a campground, 7 bucks a night! we pay for all the alcohol and food and it is going to cost maybe 140 for renting the sites and stuff i thought it was a good way to save some money, im having a smaller wedding so it will be a little easier! im also doing my own invitations and save the date and thank you cards. they our honeymoon we are not leaving the state so no air fare i guess its something that is cheap and maybe helpful!

[Elena Iuliana]

A budget wedding seems to be the best idea in our difficult times...