Archive for the ‘wedding planning on a budget’ Category

So I do not know the first thing about planning a wedding. I do not have close friends as they have all shifted away over the years and we have lost contact. Im a full time Mum and have trouble making friends so I dont have any brides maids or anything. I am not close with my family and they arnt interested in my wedding (my mothers more of the boozing type then the mothering type) and my fiance is a typical man who isnt interested in the planning….. so that leaves me all on my own to plan a low budget wedding and I am so overwhelmed by it all I dont even no where to start! it will be tiny, just us and the kides pretty much but I still want it to be nice. Any advice on wedding planning is appreciated, or any info on costs, what I will and wont need, how to find a dress etc etc.

I live in New Zealand

First of, ignore all the marketing. I don’t know about New Zealand but here in the US the marketing, the whole wedding industry, is just outrageous. If you don’t have this dress, you are a failure. If you don’t have 20 attendants, you are a failure. If you don’t buy this invitation and match it with this silverware and the flowers at the wedding, you will jinx your marriage. It is just a bunch of nonsense.

Since it is just you, your fiancee, the kids and a few friends, you don’t really need to rent a church or a banquet hall for a reception. Have something small and intimate at a park or on the beach at sunset. If your oldest child is a girl, have her be your maid of honor. Depending on how many kids you have, a son can be the best man or he can give you away. A younger daughter, if she can walk, can be a flower girl. If you have a dog, bring him also. He can carry the rings around his neck.

As for the dress, look around at consignment shops or second hand stores or in the classifieds. You would be suprised how many people sell their wedding dresses. And I bet you can find a really nice suit and dresse from your kids there.Your fiance doesn’t have to buy a tux. He can rent it.

So, first thing first, pick a date. Second thing, sit your fiance down, and tell him, that if he doesn’t talk to you about the wedding, then if he is left wearing pink, it is his own fault. He doesn’t have to plan every detail with you, just ask him what kind of place he would like to be married in ie a Church, park, beach etc. Then when you know, pick and book your venue. If it is a church or a hall, you might have to book it months in advance. If it is outside, call the parks department and ask if there is a permit you have to get. There is a park nearby here that has a gazebo and people get married there all the time. And if it is a park, you can have a picnic/reception right there.

Then find your minister or official who can marry you. You don’t always have to be married in an actual church to have a minister marry you. There may or may not be a charge. It will depend on the Church but it is customary to give a donation.

Go get your marriage license. This is one of those things your fiance will have to do with you.

Really, other than the assorted fees, there isn’t a lot to pay for and you can get married on a tight budget. I don’t know how to convert this into your currency but if I had to take a guess in US dollars, I would guess that you can do it in less than 500 dollars.

Dena

P.S. If you live by a university, look there for an art student who might want to do your invitations in calligraphy or an aspiring florist or photographer. Trust me, they will be a lot cheaper than a professional plus they will jump at the chance to have a real job on their resume.

Hope you have a wonderful wedding and an even more beautiful marriage!

Technorati Tags: Banquet Hall, Best Man, Brides Maids, Budget Wedding, Close Friends, Consignment Shops, Dresse, Fiance, Fiancee, Flower Girl, Jinx, Kides, Low Budget, Maid Of Honor, Planning A Wedding, Typical Man, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Industry, Wedding Planning, Younger Daughter

location is md and the date is april 23 2010

I went to a wedding that had a 1500 dollar budget, so it is very doable. Rent cars and get friends and family to drive them instead of hiring limos with drivers etc, this is far cheaper. Hopefully you have friends and family who are photographers or cake makers etc and see if they can do you photos/make you cake/make centrepieces etc as your wedding present. And make as much as you can yourself. These tissue paper decorations are gorgeous:

http://www.goodthingsweddingfavors.com/images/D/Camellia-Tissue-Paper-Pom-Pom-Kit-details.jpg

Easy to make and cheap:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4490230_tissue-paper-flowers-party-decorations.html

When ordering flowers etc never mention wedding, the price automatically goes up.

If you know a dressmaker, get your dress made, if not there are alot of online bridal shops that have very cheap dresses, and if its not a perfect fit it may still be cheaper to buy it and get it altered than buy from a store.

Obviously, keep the number of guests to a minimum and have a 2 course meal instead of a 3 course meal. Hopefully you can make your own beautiful centrepieces, a gorgeous, easy and cheap centrepiece idea is getting large fishbowls from a junk store, buy 3 fake orchids for each bowl and place them completely in:

http://www.banksiagroveflorist.com/attachments/Image/Table_centre_Orchids_and_Dodder_in_round_bowl.jpg

You could also give the centrepieces to your bridesmaids as their gifts.

Also choose an easy colour scheme eg black and white. Black bridesmaids dresses are easy to find and there are lots of beautiful decorations in that colour so they will be cheaper. It is also elegant and simple so easy to minimise decorations thus costs.

Hope this helps!

Technorati Tags: Bridal Shops, Bridesmaids Dresses, Budget Location, Cake Makers, Camellia, Cheap Dresses, Colour Scheme, Dodder, Dollar Budget, Dressmaker, Fishbowls, Junk Store, Kit Details, Limos, Number Of Guests, Orchids, Ordering Flowers, Paper Decorations, Party Decorations, Tissue Paper Flowers

I plan on having a beautiful wedding on a small budget… way less than $10,000 dollars. I plan on having 100 or so people. So do you think I can pull it off? I truly think it’s very possible! I want to prove to the wedding industry that I can do this! Here is the website that inspired me to have a not so stressful wedding on a budget: http://2000dollarwedding.com/

I’ve already found a wedding reception hall that is way under $1,000 and the place is beautiful. The reception hall will provide us with tables and chairs. I might have to rent chair covers and table cloths. (Which I don’t mind.) The reception hall will also provide us with plates and few other kitchen items.

I think I’m going to recruit a lot of my family members and friends to help me out with the wedding. I want a family oriented wedding where my friends can feel as if their apart of my family. I don’t want a huge expensive show. That’s why I’m choosing to have a DIY wedding reception that looks expensive. Everyone I know is pretty creative. I’m a very crafty person so I plan on making all the wedding favors, wedding programs, boutonnieres, decorations, wedding invites, wedding pillow, etc. I found a beautiful scrapbook in my room that I plan on using for my wedding as a guestbook. The cost: Free! I’ve got beautiful picture frames in my room of my fiance and I. Those pictures will be used at my reception. I even might have my finance and I grow our own flowers for the wedding. The more things that I can make by hand for our wedding, the more money my fiance and I will be saving. Which I believe to be true!

I found a restaurant that caters on great budget. I don’t plan on getting a fancy wedding cake from a bakery. I might just get myself a store bought wedding cake. My moms friend owns a dress shop and she can get me a great deal on a simple wedding dress. I might hire my aunt who takes professional looking pictures in her spare time to be my photographer for the wedding. I also know other people who too are good at photography. I will hire a DJ because my fiance and I love music so much. I think that I will be buying my own liquor for the wedding and having a family member of mine who doesn’t much like to dance be a bartender.

I’m so excited to be planning my wedding with my fiance. I think he’s going to be excited too. Were both crafty people. So we plan on using our imagination for this wedding. I love my fiance so much and I can’t wait for our special day that will occur sometime next summer. Wedding planning for me has been very exciting because I don’t feel so stressed out. My wedding is just one day and it’s day that I want to remember but I also want my family and friends to remember the day as well. When I first started doing wedding research I felt overwhelmed. Now I don’t feel that way thanks to the 2000 wedding budget website!!

So what do you all think of my ideas? Can I pull this off? I think it’s possible to have a beautiful wedding on a small budget. I hope to inspire others also when they plan their wedding. So I want your input?

My wedding budget is 5,000, with a 2,000 honeymoon included. So girl, I KNOW you can do this!!

Have fun, be creative, and don’t stress if everything doesn’t go as planned.

Also, Try sam’s club for flowers if you don’t wind up growing them.

And a plain cake, for 150 people should only cost 150 or so, then YOU get to decorate it. I am putting preserved flowers, and fresh edible petals on mine.

Technorati Tags: Bakery, Chair Covers, Crafty Person, Dress Shop, Family Members, Fancy Wedding, Fiance, Picture Frames, Planning A Wedding, Scrapbook, Spare Time, Table Cloths, Tables And Chairs, Wedding Cake, wedding dress, Wedding Industry, Wedding On A Budget, Wedding Pillow, Wedding Programs, Wedding Reception Hall

I’m getting engaged soon and I’m already planning the wedding!! LOL How much was spent on your wedding? I don’t want anything over the top but I know some people go wild with their wedding budget and I just wanted to know what others have spent. I’m keeping my dress simple, spending more on flowers and the reception. I also really want to have live music at the wedding and not a recording….Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated too! Thanks

I am getting married on April 17th, 2009, so we don’t know 100% yet how much our wedding will cost. So far, we are expecting to spend about $27,000 on a wedding for 80 people in the NYC metro area, including $7,000 on air+hotel for a 2 week honeymoon in Hawaii and Mexico (we are not factoring in what we expect to spend while we’re actually there into the wedding budget). Like boom said, the cost of your wedding will vary greatly depending on the geographical area you are from. In and around NYC, $100 per person catering hall is a bargain (although that includes open bar), whereas somewhere closer to the middle of the country you can find a hall that’s just as nice for $40pp. We decided on a smaller, intimate wedding, in order to be able to afford a better quality wedding. The best way to save on your wedding is to cut the guest list, because that way you can still afford to have the wedding of your dreams with the same budget you would have spread out on a larger quantity of guests.
We are very fortunate to have my parents paying for the majority of the wedding, I think we are only spending about $10,000 ourselves. Just to give you an idea, our photographer is costing $2,500, DJ: $1,200, flowers: $1,300, and my dress + veil + shoes is about $1,200. All in all though, the best advice I can give you is that a smaller guest list will result in fewer overall expenses and a better quality wedding. You will save not only on food and per person prices at the catering hall you choose, but on flowers, favors, invitations, etc, as well. Also, if you are on a budget, try to keep your bridal party small: between the bridal party gifts and paying for their bouquets and boutonnieres, those costs add up as well.

Good luck and congratulations on getting engaged soon! =)

Technorati Tags: Air Hotel, Bargain, Boom, Catering Hall, Dj, Dreams, Flowers, Geographical Area, Honeymoon In Hawaii, Intimate Wedding, Live Music, Music Wedding, Nyc Metro Area, Parents, Photographer, Quality Wedding, Shoes, Veil, wedding budget, Wedding People

How stressful was/is it for you & your fiance? Was/is your fiance making things seems impossible because of money being limited? Please let me know if any of you are experiencing this. Cause I am! I’m so stressed and frustrated! I only have 2 more months and we’ve been planning since the beginning of the year but the budget is killing me softly. AHhhhh!!

It does make me angry that the wedding industry has become such a money making business that everyone has their hands in the bride’s pockets. And so many of the details are completely unnecessary, but people make brides think they are essential.

My best suggestion involves having someone who has some spare time and is dependable to do some legwork for the bride. This person can look at venues, florists, photographers, etc and get lots of time consuming running around taken care of. Then make a list and let the bride look at the 3-5 best choices and make a decision after speaking to the vendors she’s interested in.

It’s hard to not get so excited that you’ll order things that aren’t necessary, waste time on projects that won’t make a difference. I spoke to a young bride today who decided "to heck" with the fancy invitations. She and her fiance make beautiful invitations themselves. They are charming, show the personality of the couple and are true keepsakes. And they cost less than $1 each, plus postage.

By the time many brides get into the planning, they realize the money is running low because of things people talked them into early on. And that is what is so aggravating for people who’ve "been there, done that."

But please try to relax and enjoy the time until the wedding. Ask yourself "is this necessary" next time someone wants your money. You have to look out for you own budget. Vendors won’t help you. They’re looking out for themselves, at your expense.

I wish you the very best!!!

Technorati Tags: Amp, Brides, Fiance, Florists, Heck, Invitations, Keepsakes, Killing Me Softly, Legwork, Personality, Photographers, Planning A Wedding, Planning A Wedding On A Budget, Pockets, Spare Time, Time Consuming, Waste Time, Wedding Industry, Wedding On A Budget, Young Bride