mу fiance аחԁ i һаνе contacts tһаt саח provide music аחԁ tһе cake ѕο tһаt ѕһουƖԁ חοt bе a problem, even іf аѕ i wаѕ looking аt websites tһеrе′re lots οf expenses wе need tο cover.
mу wedding іѕ until sept. 2008 ѕο tһеrе’s time fοr plans аחԁ tο save up money.
i dont рƖοt a һυɡе wedding bυt חοt a small one еіtһеr. i want аח mean reception аחԁ a church ceremony. i dont рƖοt οח having bridemaids. wе рƖοt οח inviting חο more tһаח 200 ppl.
Tags: church ceremony, fiance, money, music, ppl
Here are a few thoughts:
1. Have the wedding and the reception at the same location (1 rental price)
2. Have a cash or no bar
3. Get one limo and have it pick up only you or have a member of the family or a friend of the family organise the cars for the day and have that person ensure the cars are clean and on time.
4. Get your flowers from Safeway (honest they do excellent work I used them and got a gorgeous bouquet) Keep the flowers to a minimum. Buy bulk ribbon and have the men decorate the pews with the bows you make by twisting wire around the focal top of bows.
5. Rent a place that provides tablecloths and candles so that you can avoid having to decorate a hall. It can really cost more to do it yourself. The cleanup alone can take hours and most people jam out at the last small leaving the wedding couple with a huge headache.
If you are doing it yourself have a pot luck and have everyone bring their favourite dish. Have one person organise who is bringing what so you don’t end up with 10 bean cassaroles.
Then everyone brings their own dishes home. For the sake of the occassion you can question friends to bring excellent dishes and they can work out how to get 250 plates etc to the hall.
6. Have a garden wedding and rent chairs, fold down tables and a huge open tent. Have the ceremony AND the luncheon in the same place. The food can come out of the kitchen of the home with the garden you are using.
7. I would suggest if you do not have any bridesmaids or matrons you will have to enlist the goodwill of friends to do the work. Both of you will be busy with the dress etc
8. Buy your dress 6 months ahead MINIMUM. Look in stores for clearances and buy in winter before the new spring lines come out and after the winter ones have been ordered. If you are a sample size you can save hundreds, even thousands.
Believe it or not, I saw a evening gown at Sears of all places, all beaded up and gorgeous and it could be special ordered in white (only 185) be creative and shop in other than marriage stores start looking for the dress EARLY
9.Save Save and SAVE
10. Question guests to donate rather than give gifts and take your honeymoon with the money given. Also make preparations for a weekend in a wonderful hotel. Most have romantic or wedding weekend packages that include meals, spa etc.
11. The cheapest way to do it is to elope to a carribean all inclusive vacation spot. Most let you marry after 48 hours, 24 if you pay a small extra. Come back and send announcements and invite everyone you were going to have at the wedding to your home or the home of parents or a friend with a large house. Buy deli, cheese, fruit, dessert trays and get lots of pop, coffee and tea. Question everyone to come and share in your joy. If the family is religious, say your vows with the priest or pastor aptly there in the livingroom in front of everyone. If done correctly, it can be a wonderfully romantic and surprise way to do it. Conversely, you could tell everyone you need them at the house and that they should expect the unexpected. Then do the ceremony just like I described with the deli trays and all. Just reverse the order and take off on your honeymoon.
Although it lacks the sparkle and pomp of most weddings the like and warmth such an occassion has far outweighs the headaches of the 10 to 50 k fairy tale turned nightmare. Heck buy a car or house instead. The best weddings are the ones where people who like each other gather to celebrate that like. One does not need a lot of money for such a declaration. Reckon outside the box and save.
11. Take only one night after wedding but coordinate holidays on your first anniversary and head to the Sun or Europe!
I hope these thoughts help. Congratulations
The most successful way to save Money for any thing is to pay yourself for your work. The government takes a percentage of your income for tax, benefits, etc. The church wants 10% of your income for tithes; so why not pay yourself 10% of your income and place it in a savings account and leave it there???
I reckon it is all the small "extras" that add up to a chance at the end of the day, so question every small extra (i.e., preparations on tables, gifts for guests, etc.). It is a plus that you are not having bridesmaids (altho bridesmaids are supposed to pay for their own gowns, shoes, etc.) you would have to supply flowers. Shop around for limos, if you don’t need a limo or limos better yet (try to plot everything accurate by). Set a budget, stick to it and be realistic.
Remember - a wedding is a huge party for one day and marriage is supposed to be for a lifetime.
see if you can use a lay away plot
Set a budget is one way and save
Another way is for you and yr fiancee to open a separate account and both of you deposit say $25.00 each week to help cover expenses.
Soon adds up.
Wedding paid for
Plot to have the wedding at a time of day when the reception following the ceremony will be in the afternoon. You are not expected to supply a full meal or full buffet at this time of day. You can have a dessert reception. ALL DESSERTS. It’s fantastic. Simple can be gorgeous. You have time to find a wedding gown at very low cost. Get on the internet! Bouquets are gorgeous, but sometimes a single rose or lily can be very romatic. I have also seen brides carry family bibles to the altar. Some churches have reception rooms and you really to need to reserve the church and reception area as soon as possible. Depending on your location, September is not too late in the year for an outdoor reception. Some parks have lovely areas for receptions - who needs a hall? Lakesides are gorgeous as long as young family are watched wisely. Question your friends to be in your houseparty. You should designate the head of the house party and clarify to her that you are not having bridesmaids but really appreciate it if she would be the head of your houseparty. Most freinds are glad to help. I cannot stress enough that simplicity can be gorgeous. People tend to overdue and stress over details that make no difference at all. LESS IS BEST! Sometimes it pays to hire a consultant except you have confidence in a friend to oversee the plans. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE IN CHARGE OF YOUR WEDDING. YOU NEED TO ENJOY IT. You tell the consultant or friend what you want and trust that they will do the best they can to get it that way - and if they don’t - so what nobody will die and your wedding will be gorgeous anyway. Excellent luck.
Hi - weddings can really stress you out if you are not careful. Mine cost me less that $1000 and it was gorgeous.
We found a lovely small church and spoke to the minister. He chose to preform the ceremony for as small as a $100 donation. Then catered our own food. Set it out as a buffet style. We hired a local hall and did the decorations ourselves. We also borrowed extra microwaves from Friends etc to reheat some food and our parent and family all chipped in to reheat etc
We made sure the local hall had tables, crockery, cutlery etc which most do for an extra charge. We paid a $500 bond on the hall which was returned when we cleaned up and handed back the keys.
We had a fantastic day and everyone really loved the atmosphere. We were delayed in leaving for our honeymoon because we stayed back and helped to clean up but it was worth it as we saved loads and had a fantastic time.
Excellent luck for your future and at least you have time to plot we did it all in two months.
Get married in Vegas, have god diner with accurate family, ALL will hurt less later when you divorce.
The largest expense is the hall, so really shop around. I got my flowers at Jewel, and they were really gorgeous and lasted more than a day!! Just save as much as you can and expect small things to add up. Excellent luck, it sounds like you’re really on top of this–you’ll do fantastic!
It may sound like a lot of work but make things yourself. It can be a fun experience for you and you soon to be husband. Make the food, decor, flower arrrangements, if you’re excellent at sewing make you dress or part of it. A very simple, plain dress tends to be less expensive, if you’re handy with a needle you can sew on special adornments to make it fancier.
do it yourself crafts!!
My best friend and i are having the best time making nearly everything we can from the invites (which were GORGEOUS btw) to the favours, the decorations etc etc… The wedding is in 2 months and i am beyond excited to see it all come together. My best friend and i get to spend fun time together crafting and everything is CHEAP (to make, not looking b/c trust me people will be impressed!!)
The various Dollar stores are perfect for supplies or Michaels craft store has $1 bins that hooked us up with TONS of thoughts!
I am very proud of the creativeness i have learned…i can’t wait to show it off…and what a better way than the wedding when everyone is already impressed with me
Start saving now! Im the preparation administer too and we started a savings account this past January and add the same amount every payday. We have enough for a few deposits.
You can start with a joint savings account and place money away each pay period, look around and compare prices. Try to book vendors early and try to get 2006 or 2007 proces since many things go up at least $1000 each year. We are getting married on June 21, 2008 and have started looking for venues, we even have one hotel wedding cordinator offer us 2006 prices that will help us save. Honestly, I lied to some people so that I can get venue prices because at first when I told them my date, they didnt even want to give me a price. I say check prices so that you can know what you are expecting and realize it will be more when it is accurate to your date.
You can also DIY a lot and it will save you $. Question for help from family and friends, have sponsors or padrinos (Hispanics and Asians have this custom) pretty much family helps.
We are preparation to pay the venue ourselves which is the most expensive part of the wedding, but we will be asking for help from our families. We are in L.A. and the wedding packages are pricey! We are preparation for a small more than 200 people, and so far we have seen $45 plates per person which I dont reckon we are doing, other caterers are cheaper.
Sorry for the long answer, but just look and compare, goodluck!
elope
have the wedding at a relatives house and try to make ur own food,and go with really small shops that no one has heard it is normally cheaper and get any thing u can at walmart and kroger
congratulations on your date!
I’m getting married too, and like you, want a decent wedding without paying over the odds for it. After trawling owing to some websites I came across a few thoughts which you may find useful too:
photographer: we’re having him shoot the whole day and eve and he’ll give us all the photos on cd so we can make up our own album and not have to pay extra for prints etc (neither will our guests for that matter!)
plants: you don’t need them on the tables, just get lovely storm vases with candles or even just tealights. they look so pretty with all the glassware and make an atmosphere. As for the church, does it really need wedding flowers if there are already general flowers there anyway?
dress: try the sample sales… I bought mine and my one bridesmaid’s dress in a sample sale. Full prices, the total would’ve been £950, but I paid £300.
Shoes: Just bought a lovely, groundbreaking new satin pair on e-bay! am waiting for them to arrive, if they don’t fit I’ll just resell them.
Cars: don’t spend masses on cars, you’re only in it for a small while anyway… we’ve booked black cabs instead.
Favours: what are they all about?? such a waste of money, don’t bother!
Another thing you could reckon about is exchanging services. Could you provide a service to the potential supplier in exchange for them supplying you that specific part of the wedding? For instance, if you’re a graphic designer, you could do a deal with the florist that they provide you with your bouquet and a pedestal for the church in exchange for you designing them a mini marketing leaflet??
best of luck with everything!
Check out the Marriage Outlets, like David’s Marriage or some other ones, they have gorgeous, modern and inexpensive prices for some expensive gowns. The headpiece can be bought there also or have someone make one for you. A wreath of flowers and baby’s breath with a small veiling attached is always nice. Rent a nice tux for hubby to be and don’t try and pick the exclusive ones. Have family or friends decorate your reception and church, go to a party outlet for anything you may need there. You may still have to rent the candleabras or a few extra pieces but you can shop around for those also. A huge expense would be the wedding album and photo album or videography. I would not try to get family or friends to this except they are profiecent in photography. You don’t want to end up with poor pictures or nothing to show in the years to come. The reception can be just o’herves or finger foods. If you have any family or friends that are fantastic cooks there ya go for that expense also. Of couse, you still should make preparations for payment for the reception. They might just say it is your wedding bestow or just to pay for the food only. Stick with a plainer invitation and standard writing as not to boost the expense on those. If you are not getting married until 2008, start aptly now by putting your gown, headpiece and accessories such as bra, slip, shoes, stockings and jewelry on layaway as you go.
There are a lot of ways to save on your wedding. Do the decorations yourself, party favors (buy in bulk online), get family members or volunteers to set up the reception, decorate the church, print your own invitations or programs. One of the largest expenses is catering. Check around, compare prices…do you know of anyone that does this kind of affair you can cash in a favor or get a discount? Dont allow the catering to provide alchohol/champagne..they will charge you an arm and leg..buy it yourself bulk. Get one person to bartend. You can rent table linens etc. Do your own floral preparations or instead of having flowers at the reception use trees decorated with illumination, tulle, fabric and use other things on the table centerpieces such as floating candles..for a romantic feel..instead of flowers. Or just place rose petals scattered on the tables.
Make a budget. You can start buying NOW. Especially things on sale like decorations, etc. If you wait until the last small to buy stuff, it could place a hurting on your budget and become expensive in the long run. So spread out your money and buy things on sale throughout the year and keep it in storage.
btw, try not to use the W word. They will jack up the prices.
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