Planning a wedding on a small budget in 3 months…?
March 6th, 2010 | 
Author: Ok, so my fiance and I decided that we want to get married before our baby is born in February and before he goes into the army. So we picked December. We are on a tight budget though.
I want to know… Is the bride responsible for buying the bridesmaid and maid of honor dresses or just picking them out? Any suggestions on ways to save money on food? Do the bride and groom buy/rent the dress and tux for the flower girl and ring barer?
You do not have to pay for the adults in the wedding, but can pay for the kids. For my wedding we had it at 7, no dinner and just served apps at 10 
Get someone to throw you an Immense jack and Jill.
Posted in wedding planning on a budget | 
Tags: Adults, Apps, Army, Baby Born, Bride And Groom, bridesmaid, Fiance, Flower Girl, Jack And Jill, Maid Of Honor, Maid Of Honor Dresses, Planning A Wedding, Planning A Wedding On A Small Budget, Planning Wedding, Ring Barer, Tight Budget, Tux, Ways To Save Money, wedding budget
12 Responses to “Planning a wedding on a small budget in 3 months…?”
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If your budget is that tight then cut back on bridesmaids as you really should be buying the dresses, if you really want bridesmaids then look on ebay for dresses cheaply or look for nices dresses in the sales which would ‘pass’ as bridesmaid dresses.
My friend got married in September last year and she was on a budget so she just choose to have buffet type food instead of a sit down meal. You could also make your own wedding cake too if you are any good at baking. Im no chef but i managed to do a lovely 2 tier cake.
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Congratulations on getting married! No you are not required to buy the girls dresses, however you do wanna be reasonable in the dresses you pick if you are having them pay for the dress. The parents of the flower girl and ring bearer are usually the ones to pay for their outfits. As for food, I am trying to cut costs on that for my wedding as well. Try to have your reception during a time that is not "meal time". That way your guests will not be expecting a full meal. You could serve small appetizers that are DIY. My mom and I are going to have veggie trays, cheese trays, cracker trays, fruit salad, lunch meat and maybe some rolls to make it a little more substantial. Just pick food geared for december, and also keep it simple so whoever is in charge of the table can replenish quickly!! good luck! Oh one more thing I thought of, i recently went to a wedding where they did a potluck reception and they asked everyone to bring one dish and bring the recipe as well. It saved tons of money and also built a nice recipe book for the couple!
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You do not have to pay for the adults in the wedding, but can pay for the kids. For my wedding we had it at 7, no dinner and just served apps at 10
Get someone to throw you an Immense jack and Jill.
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All of your wedding party buys there own dresses/tuxes. I just got married and this is what we did. To save money on the food…I would call around to different barbecue restaurants in your area and get prices on how much it would be per person if you picked up the food the day of the wedding. Its always much cheaper to pick up the food and set it up your self rather then having the restaurant cater or deliver and barbecue seems to always be cheaper. Since its Christmas time maybe you could just do sliced turkey and sliced brisket. That would be cute. We called a place here in Texas called Pokejoes barbecue and they were going to do sliced turkey and sliced brisket with three sides for 6.89/pp if we picked it up. Don’t settle with just anybody call around to everyone to make sure you can’t find it cheaper somewhere else. Good luck and congratulations.
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If you want to have a wedding with several people at a Church or somewhere else, it will cost some money,but you can work around some things. I think that the bride chooses the dresses and the participants pay for them. The flower girl can just wear a pretty little dress that she has or her parents buy that is the same color as bridesmaids. As for the food-maybe someone you know makes cakes and they can make the cake as your gift, or you can pay a smaller fee for that. You could also have some people make the appetizers for example, tortillias and dip ( hamburger, cheese, or sasuage), little pizzas, little sandwiches etc, as well as mints, or little sweets, rather than having it catered, and have the reception at someones house as opposed to paying for somewhere.
You could also get married at the courthouse or somewhere with just you two, a preacher, and 2 witnesses, and then have a simple reception at someones home or a special place.
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Hi and congratulations!
NO, the bride is not responsible for paying for the maid of honor and bridesmaid’s dresses. It is up to those that you ask to purchase their own dress.
The same thing with the flower girl and ring bearer. Usually, the parents of those children pay for their outfits. Now, if you know that the parents are strapped for money, then you may want to forgo even having a flower girl and ring bearer. It is NOT mandatory to have one. The same with a maid of honor, bridesmaids, groomsmen, best man. These positions are totally optional.
The first thing you need to do before worrying about dresses, is to secure a location where you will be married and where you want to have your reception. There are many options including someone’s home; a church/church fellowship hall; a private room of a restaurant; or a banquet facility. But, since you said you are on a budget, you probably don’t want to look into a banquet facility.
If you live where the weather is still nice in early December, then you can plan something outdoors even. I would suggest that you try to do something in very early December as people get busy with all the holiday things closer to Christmas.
Food: Depends on where this is going to be (venue) and how many you are wanting to serve and what your budget is.
If you are making your own food, you can go with:
~ baked chicken or a baked ham or both!
~ potatoes
~ vegetable
~ rolls
~ maybe a cold pasta salad also
OR…another option:
~ lasagna or baked ziti
~ tossed salad or antipasti salad
~ garlic bread
If you want, you don’t even HAVE to serve a full meal! Have your wedding/reception at a non-meal time (2 p.m.) and then serve some snacks (finger food type of things) and some cake, punch and coffee! That is perfectly fine.
Good luck!
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You dont buy bridesmaid dresses or maid of honor.
As far as foos goes. Have family cater it for you. MY aunts make great food so they make the food for all the family functions. Also you could hvae a potluck. Plus it was waaay cheaper to have wedding locations and caterers on sundays.
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You’re not responsible for paying for the bridesmaids dresses or the flower girl and ring barer.
However, if you’re planning a small wedding, it might be a good idea to nix those all together. Not only will it be cheaper in the long run (little costs add up–like bridal bouquets and corsages and ring barer’s pillow and flower girl’s basket with flower petals–you’re easily over $200 with that stuff alone), but your friends will appreciate not being rushed or coming up with money last minute.
Food can be saved on by doing a buffet… Do an afternoon wedding with light foods or buffet trays. You can feed 25 people for about $150 with a finger food buffet like sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad that you buy from a wholesale store like Costco or BJs or Sam’s Club. Even cheaper if you make it yourself.
Good luck! And congratulations.
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Just have them purchase their own dress on one color. Mine was red. they came from 3 ROSS stores, on halter back, one strapless and one with short sleeves one with skinny strap but they were all almost the same color and all the same "tea" lenght. If he has a suit he can wear that or buy a suit for less than renting a tux. Any one in the wedding should be willing to buy their own. Use silk flowers for your wedding party to save money and have the guest bring a dish to reception area or have the reception after he has joined the army so you will have access to the venues on base and he can wear his uniform. So going to the jp for now is also an option.
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http://www.debs-silks.com
Oh my be prepared for the stress. Im in the process of the exact same thing. My fiance will be leaving in November and we decided in July to get married before he leaves. Its rough. We are also on a strict budget of 1500 dollars i dont know how much you want to spend but thats what were working with and here is my advice.
-Go to a craft store get silk/fake flowers and make your own bouquets and boutonnieres.
-Get a small wedding cake for your bridal party and maybe your parents and his parents and get either 1 or 2 (depending on how many people are coming) sheet cakes just simple to match the wedding cake. It will save you alot of money.
-You do not have to pay for your bridesmaids dresses. Keep the number of bridesmaids low it will help you on costs of flowers and such. I have 1 bridesmaid and one maid of honor. And i dont care what all the horror stories are davids bridal is good for dresses for them. They have a large selection of their 99 dollar sale dresses even for you if you look online you can order there or go in store. They have a long of brides dresses online from like 60 dollars to like 6000 dollars lol. Or you could take a day and take your girls to Dillards or Jc Penny they sell formal dresses that are very nice and theyre relatively cheap just make sure whoever is going to be a bridesmaid is there to get them all at once so you dont miss a chance for the right size for them or whatever.
-See if family friends will do photos. Just tell them you want them to take all the photos they can bc you aren’t having a photographer and have them email them to you. There are pretty high chances you will get a ton of good ones this way.
-Have family members aunts uncles mom grandma help cook things. That’s what we’re doing and just having a buffet thing for food. We’re doing chicken. potatoes, rigatoni and meatballs, veggies, fruit, and cookies and stuff. Then you don’t have to have a caterer.
-Get your plates cups napkins and such at a GFS market place if you have one near you or even dollar tree they have alot of that stuff.
-For wedding bands go to zales or walmart. When shopping for ours we found that they are the two cheapest places. He got his at walmart for 59 dollars and mine at zales for 149 dollars.
-Tux’s can add up quick so youll have to do some shopping around for a tux rental. We ended up paying almost 200 for my grooms but we wanted something rare. Or see if a friend or a parent has a tux he can borrow. Or he doesnt even have to wear one he could wear just a suit.
-Since your looking at a wedding in december that would be after thanksgiving and halloween so look at fall like colors because then you can get things like table cloths and such that are halloween or thanksgiving colors on sale since it will be after the holiday.
Thats all i can think of right now and my fingers are starting to hurt from typing all this haha. But if you need anything else or any advice or help just send me an email (ashleymarie1789@neo.rr.com) id be more than happy to help you and give you advice on how to save money!! =) Congrats by the way and i wish you all the best.
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Double congratulations
You can have a wedding on a budget / a small personal wedding Just say to your maid of honor that you would welcome if she could buy her own/ Then you could always go back to your mothers house or your own for a buffet if its u.k Marks and Spencer sell nice wedding cakes
You should be able to hire outfits for they guys
The flower girl could have a little dress from Debehams and check on the link as you can hire a Maternity Wedding Dress,
Hope you find this of help
Do your own thing as its your day and enjoy
References :
http://www.debenhams.com
http://www.marksandspencer.com/Wedding-Cakes
http://www.maternityexchange.co.uk
As Im helping my daughter arrange her Wedding for November 09 as she is expecting her first baby next March
All the best
It’s terrible how expensive planning a wedding can be. I always thought your girls were responsible for paying for their own dress. They can certainly be there when they pick them out and making sure they match nicely with your dress and all, but you shouldn’t have to purchase the dress for them. Many of the tuxedos and suits for the men can be rented, but you can also consider, if the guys have their own suits, with hopes they all match, to wear those for the wedding rather then renting them. Again, it’s the groomsmen who are responsible for renting/buying the suit not you.
As far as favors, and bridal party gifts, I suggest you check out, http://www.planningpad.com/ They have a really great selection of affordable favors of all sorts you want want to consider.
Hope these suggestions help and best of luck with the planning!
Best wishes too!
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