Guest Post: Planning a Wedding on a Budget
Photo Credit: Aesthetic Life Studio
Guest Post by Amy at Belles on a Budget
Seven quick tips that will help you plan the wedding of your dreams without breaking the bank.
1. Plan ahead. Giving yourself plenty of time to plan the wedding will end up saving you so much money! Planning in advance will let you take advantage of the sales and deals over several months, giving you more control over your budget. This way, you’ll be able to hold out for an awesome coupon code for your invitations, wait for a clearance sale for your bridesmaid dresses, or jump on a major deal for your honeymoon.
By planning in advance, my husband and I were able to grab the perfect honeymoon cottage in Hawaii before the price of a weekly rental went up by $250- and before it was booked for the entire summer!
2. Use Your Coupons! As Hip2Save readers, we all know the amazing value of coupons, but you may be surprised how often those coupons can come into play with your wedding planning. From manufacturer’s coupons helping you score free items for Out of Town Bags to craft store coupons helping you save 40-50% off anything from paper to vases to place cards, clipping coupons can have a big impact on overall wedding costs.
With coupons, the Out of Town Bag above was put together for less than $1! (The price breakdown: Sobe waters- free at Target, candy- $0.05 total at CVS, granola bars- $0.10 each at Safeway, popcorn- $0.06 at Giant, Nut Clusters- free at Safeway, gum- free at Giant, and gift bag- $.50 at Oriental Trading.)
3. Prioritize. Discuss with your fiancé what the most important aspects of your wedding are, and keep them in mind during the planning process. Want breathtaking pictures that will make you swoon for years to come? Then spend a little more to get that photographer of your dreams and skip the pocketfold invitations. Will that gorgeous historic mansion make your day? Book it, but opt for a lunch reception or heavy hors d’oeuvres instead of a plated dinner.
One friend of mine went for the beautiful custom-made invitations she had always wanted, and then scored her perfect wedding dress at Nordstrom for only $150! She stayed within her budget and got that detail that brought everything together for her.
4. Communicate! When you are venue shopping and meeting with vendors, don’t be afraid to talk about being on a budget. Ask about their ideas on how to minimize costs or creative ways to achieve the overall effect you want while sticking to your budget. Not only will this give you some great ideas, it will show you how willing these vendors are to work with your budget before you book with them!
Photo Credit: Richard Prenger
One of my family members, for example, expressed her budget concerns to a photographer that she loved, but who was out of her price range. He told her of an upcoming promotion that ended up saving her 10% off the package price- making it within her budget!
5. Look Out for Hidden Costs. Hidden fees can appear in several aspects of wedding planning- the trick is to know about them and ask about them! When venue shopping, make sure to ask about cake cutting costs, penalties for bringing in outside food, and corkage fees. Many venues are willing to negotiate on (or even eliminate!) these fees, so bring them up before you sign a contract and see what they will do for you. Also research fees when ordering printed items like save the dates or invitations. Know about set-up charges, color ink fees, and shipping costs before buying and make sure to factor mailing costs (based on shape, size, and weight) into your bottom line!
For her event, a friend asked about corkage fees only to find they were $30 a bottle!! She negotiated the fee to $8 a bottle- a huge difference! She still came out ahead by providing her own wine and paying the lower corkage fee, rather than buying the wine directly from the hotel.
6. Use your friends…in a good way!! You know those moms/sisters/friends that are incredibly detail-oriented and love planning parties? Let them help! They will love it and it will be a major help to you, and could end up saving you tons of money. The key is to give specific, concrete tasks and only relinquish as much control as you are comfortable with! Some tasks that work well: making dessert for the cookie bar, accompanying you with shopping trips so you can use more coupons, assembling programs or favors, and putting together Out of Town Bags.
I asked my immediate family, aunts, and future in-laws to each contribute their specialty cookie to my cookie buffet, and then labeled each one. Not only did this make the cookie bar more meaningful, I ended up being able to put the whole thing together for only a few dollars- the cost of some serving dishes and platters at a yard sale.
7. Be creative. One of my favorite ways to save when planning events it to think outside the box! As much as you can, stay away from items with that expensive “wedding” label on them—that will make the price much higher! Instead, look at “raw materials” and envision how they can be combined to create something beautiful, affordable, and uniquely you.
My husband and I, for example, were inspired by photo booth strips and decided to take our own photo strip Save the Date magnets: my sister took the pictures, we formatted them in a Word document, and then printed them on magnet paper from a craft store. The final cost of the entire project came out to be under $25!
And Above All—Have fun!! This is such an incredibly special time and you should absolutely enjoy it! Congratulations on your wedding!
Want more tips and specific ideas? Check out Belles on a Budget for details on how to save on nearly every aspect of wedding (and honeymoon!) planning.
Awesome post!!! I’m a bride to be and this post is very helpful! 🙂
This is really great information! I have read other frugal wedding ideas but some of these are new to me. Thanks Collin for posting this. I hope to be able to use this in the near near future lol. And to share with my best friend who will be getting married next year.
This is a great post! I was recently married and I can agree that you need to plan ahead to get a lot of the best deals. One thing that I found useful was wedding websites- while they can be overwhelming they can be a great inspiration and a good source for frugal ideas. Without seeing it on a wedding website, I would never have considered ordering flowers wholesale online and making my own centerpieces which saved me a fortune on red roses!
Great post! Hopefully my boyfriend will soon pop the question and I can start using some of these tips!!! 🙂
Hoping the same here lol! 🙂
We saved TONS by printing our own invites & programs, using Michael’s 40% off coupons. It is amazing how good you can make them look with all the fancy computer programs out there.
I have to hold in my gasps when my friends tell me they spent hundreds. Ouch!
Thank You…this is great!
This is so cool! I love hearing about new ideas for saving for my wedding- it can be so ridiculously expensive! Thanks Collin!
Great Post. What a super useful site not just for weddings but all parties!!!
Great post!
My husband and I got married last year and wanted to not spend a lot on our wedding since we were buying our first home. Plus, weddings go by in what seems like seconds, why spend so much? At least that’s how I view it. We managed to keep it to the basics and stay way under budget too which was $10,000. It seems like many spend that on there dress alone these days. It was great spending a lot less than that on the whole event! We did a small wedding of only close friends and family. No sense in inviting mom’s friends’ friend if we don’t know them so well. This helps keep the cost down and it makes it more personal. Everyone also liked spending that time with family that flew in and reuniting. More comfortable atmosphere; I say. We also didn’t do wedding favors. Majority of people leave the favors at the weddings I have been too and my friends/family members have then been stuck with favors that they don’t know what to do with. It just seems like an extra expense and trust me, no one at our wedding asked nor complained about not getting any favors. The less you do the less you have to worry. 🙂 Borrow items from friends and family that have gotten married (it could be your something borrowed item). I borrowed my cuz’s tiara and veil. I also borrowed her little purse/sack for collecting our gift cards. We didn’t do save the date cards since it was only family and friends we just told them when the wedding was in our chats and then just sent them the invites which we printed at home. There are many great print at home invitation kits that look great and you can get them on clearance many times at Walmart, Target, and such. I was lucky enough to find my invites on clearance and spent only $7 on them. They didn’t look cheap either. Also, it helps to call around to compare prices. When it comes to pictures, yes I did want good ones and got them, but I asked for the cd of pictures and saved myself $200 by not getting a proof album. It would have just been a regular album of 4×6 pictures. I have been able to print out all of our pictures free or supper cheap with all of the good pictures deals out there for less than $200. I also made great photo collages and enlargements as gifts for our parents and other family members. We had a great time at our wedding and everyone also mentioned how much fun they had. Too bad it’s over. I hope these tips help.
Thank you for the post Collin, I think it was what I needed. My boyfried/fiance and I were just discussing having a JP wedding because we just have so much other stuff going on. But your post has gotten me back in the wedding planning spirit. I have faith I can plan a cheap yet memorable wedding. : )
I was just married a little over a year ago and we did it on a budget of course! some things that really helped me out were my family!!!
my mother-in-law and i made all of the decorations (table decorations) and it saved a lot of money.
i also combined two 8ft. tables together to make a really wide table, it seated a little less than having them solo but it was a different look and i really liked the way it turned out.
we also shopped around and i was able to get my cake, clothes, chair covers and drapes really cheap.
to add a little something to the tables my mom and i rented extra chair bows and used them as table runners!
I was also not one to go out and ask for sponsors but once my family heard i was getting married they pitched in no questions asked, also all the food was done by family so that cut out a lot and it was delish!
lastly, i made all of the table favors! i got cute ideas from magazines and made them myself, they took time but it paid off in the end big time!!
i know it may sound like a lot but i got married at 21 years old, taking 18 college hours, working PT, and in the middle of the semester….you can do it too!!!
Awesome! I’m getting married in the middle of my 3rd year of law school (out of 4… going part time b/c I also work full time). Glad to know others have been in the same boat!!! 🙂
My husband and I got married in law school and so did another friend of ours 🙂 We got married in a spiritual center at our campus and it saved us a lot of money vs. other options in town.
oh yes! lol i got married my 3rd year (out of 4 1/2) of school too! we tied the knot the week before spring break so we kinda had a little break but he had to work the next monday 🙁 btw i’m married to a cop lol it goes with the lifestyle haha!
How do you send Collin an email on here??
collin @ hip2save . com (remove the spaces) 🙂
Dawn looked all the way down at the bottom of the page there’s a link that says “contact me”.
We got married on a Sunday and that saved us 50% on our venue. Also, there is a wedding season!! Get married outside of that season and you will save a lot!!
I spent less than $300 on my dress. It was actually a “bridesmaid” dress that they offered in off white and white. I also bought it on a tax-free weekend and since it was a clothing item, I got it tax-free! I did my own flowers (SO EASY TO DO). We also got our venue for FREE! It was a restaurant/bar that overlooked a lake and had an awesome patio. We asked if we could get married on their patio under a gazebo and they said yes. We did an afternoon wedding, because they didn’t get a crowd until evening. For a wedding with 25 guests and food, we spent less than $1000 total!!!
I used to work at a bridal store and Erin is so very right..all the bridesmaids dresses come in white or ivory..the store just doesn’t really mention that, because how many brides choose that color for their wedding party to wear.
Also, dont be afraid to ask about any discounts or upcoming sales…most bridal consultants work on commission and will actually be willing to try and get you a discount, if they think it is gonna make the sale.
also, while printing your own invites can be a pain, it is so worth it..I did for my wedding and it saved a ton of money.
I got my flowers and cake from Publix…so awesome. And i also did my own favors, little tins from Michael’s filled with m&m’s…people loved them and they didnt cost all that much.
My husband and I just got married a few months ago and had a $10k budget for about 120 guests. We managed to come in at $7.5k – $2500 under our originally low budget!
We had wonderful food, a great DJ, I had my dream dress, and everyone had a blast. We saved a lot by having our wedding on a non-traditional day. Friday nights are becoming more and more popular and we did ours on a Sunday (mid-afternoon to give everyone enough time to get out of church and grab a quick bite). We had the perfect venue for both the ceremony and the reception which saved us a lot of money. We happen to have a beautiful, brand new City Events Complex in our city hall and it is in the middle of a beautiful park. We were able to get it for about $1k! We also saved on Photography by having it on a Sunday and by taking the prints and albums out of our package. And we still managed to have a really good photographer.
I kept it simple on the flowers and only had them for my bouquet, the bridemaids bouquets, and the boutonnieres. I designed, printed, and put together the invitations myself, which saved us tons!
We also did all of the decorations ourselves and it looked very nice and put together (I splurged a little on my linens but we made our own overlays with Fabric bought in a discount fabric store. We bought large but cheap vases at Ikea and my neighbor let me cut off tons of branches off of her corkscrew willow that we spray-painted with bronze metallic paint). We did a buffet-style dinner and had Sticky Fingers (barbecue and grilled chicken) cater and did not serve alcohol since more than 60% of our guests don’t usually drink. For the cake, I had a coworker make it (she has a cake business on the side) and we saved a good $100-200 on that one. We decided to do favors though they are not necessary and we had a large candy bar (bought little blue chinese takeout boxes online as well as the candy from candywarehouse.com and got some cheap cylinder vases in all heights and sizes at TJ Maxx or Ross.
I did splurge on the dress but it was worth it :o) Keep in mind that the honeymoon was not included in this budget. The rehearsal dinner, rings, groomsmen’s ties (we did black suits, white shirts, and matching ties), and most of the bridesmaids’ dresses were included in that budget. For their dresses, we found these super cute chocolate chiffon ones at TJ Maxx (same line, different necklines) but they only had a few in random sizes. I Googled the brand and Overstock.com had a bunch of them, all under $40! I got my pearl jewelry on http://www.freejewelry.com for less than $10!
Sorry for the long post, I just LOVED planning a wedding on a budget!
I was married a year and a half ago. I spent $5,500 and it looked at least twice that expensive. Saving and planning ahead does pay off! I bought my dress online at Nordstrom for $150. They have amazing customer service. I ordered two sizes, but both were too big. I called customer service and they said there was one in a store across the country and had it sent straight to me. It ended up fitting! Plus I had free shipping since the order was over $200 and returns are $6 a box.
My invitations were from the Brides line at Michael’s. They have 40% coupons quite often and sometimes 50% off. I bought a box and my mom bought my box. 80 complete invites cost me $50 after tax and ink. Postage adds up as well, but I can’t remember how much that cost.
Check out your local art museums and historical societies as possible venues. We were married at a local art museum and it cost us $950, of which $250 was a security deposit we got back after the honeymoon. 🙂 Since it was already decorated, we only spent about $70 on decorations.
I was married about 3 years ago in April and total out of pocket was about $2000 or so. I am blessed to be a member of my church who let us use the building for FREE, as well as have the ceremony for FREE 🙂 My dress was the most expensive at around $500, other than that I got clearance do-it-yourself invites that were totally cute from Walmart. I love Hearts and the red, white and blue color scheme so I bought plates and all that on clearance after the 4th of july and valentines day, I saved a TON doing it that way and it all pulled together nicely. A few members from my church helped me with the food for free and that was a huge help. I LOVE tacos so we did a taco bar buffet… Yummy! It was something i enjoy eating pretty easy to put together and I had NEVER seen it done before for a wedding so I figured why not. We don’t drink so saved a ton by not serving alcohol, and I knew people from church who were able to make my cake, and do the pictures for a very reasonable fee.
All in all it was awesome, sure a few things could’ve gone better or smoother (my cake decorators son accidently dropped my cake topper and it broke in two, I got it from a store going out of business and had never seen an identical one. Instead of gettine mad I said “that’s what kids are for :)” And really relieved my cake decorator. I could’ve gotten upset and thrown a fit but what would it have helped? My husbnand had made it safely home from Iraq for his two weeks of R&R so a cake topper breaking is NOT a big deal. )
In the end ALL that matters when planning a wedding is that YOU will be getting MARRIED to the ONE. That’s it the dress, flowers, weather, food etc at the end of the day DONT matter so why stress?
I hope everyone planning a wedding has a beautiful one and everything goes perfect, and you save a ton of money without it looking like it 🙂 Good luck and enjoy YOUR special day.
My wedding was four years ago next month and I can tell you there are so many ways to cut back on expense and still have the classy wedding. We had a budget of $15,000 and we only spent about $12,500 and my dress and accessories were over $2,000! I probably could have saved a lot more if I knew then what I know now!! You just have to think outside the box and be creative!
My wedding back in 2004 cost about $2500. My BFF’s wedding a couple years earlier was a “budget wedding” at 10K, so even 6 years ago, that little spent on a nice wedding was unheard of. We found a small church that had a very affordable venue fee, price included tables and chairs. My mom cut a deal with the florist. First she went with flowers that were my colors but were flowers that were going to be in season. Second, she rented the table cloths and table skirts through the florist, so she was able to save alot with a package deal. My husband’s art teacher from high school offered to make our cake for us for free (and it was GORGEOUS!). I got a special rate from someone who worked in promotions/alumni relations at the college I graduated from – she did weddings part time and did a great job and was happy to give me an amazing price – she also gave me all the hi-res pics on cd, and I ordered my own prints myself. I ordered my wedding dress on ebay and had it altered at a local place (it cost me about $100 total and it was exactly what I wanted). We made our invations out of large plain index cards/card stock, some ribbon, and an edge punch, and were able to find find plain envelopes that fit nicely. Instead of a fancy dinner, we had the wedding earlier in the day and had a luncheon for the receptions with finger foods, sandwiches and salads. Instead of a band/DJ, I burned a CD that played in the background. If you think out of the box, you can save ALOT of money and have a beautiful wedding.
I spent less than $300 on my dress that I found at a cute little mom and pop boutique. After my first child was born, I found a lady, for $35, who made it into a Christening gown. Both of my sons were Christened in that gown. The baby I am carrying will also be using it. That gown brings back so many happy memories!
We got married in Las Vegas (by plan, not accident!) 13 years ago & spent about $800 total for wedding ceremony, pictures, flowers, 2 nights hotel, video, room service bkfst, a nice dinner, goblets & champagne, etc. (I’m sure it’s more now). Our parents flew out with us; it was nice & simple.
A few weeks later we had a reception/dance with our family & friends. It was less stressful because it was all we had to do that day. We found a Catholic School that rented out its cafeteria/crew for special events like this and we payed only $7/head for beef tips while my BFF had a hotel reception 2 months earlier @ $17/head for ham.
We used wine goblets with floating candles for centerpieces — and then had goblets afterwards!
I got married last year and my husband and I spent around $7,000 on the wedding, including our honeymoon. We had just turned 21 and were still in college and my parents were not able to help us fund the wedding.
We designed and printed all the invitations and programs ourselves, with a total cost of $150 for 100 invitations (before stamps). They were an elegant design that had a pocket on the side for the RSVP card, return envelope and more information. I went to Michaels/AC Moore and Joanns multiple times a week but saved so much money with 40% off coupons. I also got bubbles, vases and favor bags for our candy bar all at a discounted cost. We ordered save the dates from Vistaprint.com and basically paid for postage and that was it! We had an afternoon wedding and just had light h’or d’oeuvres.
I was able to get a steal on my bridesmaids’ dress through J.Crew around Christmas when they had a huge sale. $250 dresses (a piece before taxes and shipping!!) were shipped for under $90 a piece which is well below the cost of average bridesmaids dresses.
My mom and I ordered the roses and hydrangeas through Sam’s Club and put them together ourselves on Thursday (the wedding was on Saturday). We saved a lot of money doing this and used the leftover flowers for centerpieces at the reception. We were blessed to win a photography contest so that allowed us to have that paid for us. My husband’s friend loves electronics and had DJ equipment so he provided that to us as our wedding gift.
We ordered our guestbook as a photography book with our engagement photos using a free code off Shutterfly and we got free shipping too so it came at no cost to us! There are so many ways to have a beautiful wedding at a minimal cost! Congratulations to everyone and best wishes planning your special day!
when we got married about 10 years ago, we chose to have a brunch instead of a formal dinner reception. Depending on where you go, this could save some money. Also, we got married at Christmas time…..this saved money on floral arrangements, since the church and reception hall were already decorated for the holidays!
I guess I was super frugal. My wedding cost us $40, the cost of our marriage license. I even “took” a BS religious course which brought it down from $60 to $40. Neither of us wanted a traditional wedding, and all that money was saved for things that were a heck of a lot more fun!
Oops, I actually meant it brought it down from $100 to $40, course cost us $20 and was emailed as a PDF!
My husband and I just went to the court house and got married. We agreed to save for and have a wedding that I wanted on our ten year anniversary. We hear so many people get married and they take so long to pay it off that it effects their first years of marriage due to finances and it sometimes leads to divorces or they do not have the wedding they wanted to avoid that type of risk. We decided to not worry about it and just have a judge marry us for free on our lunch break – we got our rings at a pawn shop – and that was it.
I do not regret it and when we do have the wedding – it will definatly be something to celebrate. A nice, fun, wedding with family invited, us renewing our vows and no having to give up something I wanted because we did it on a short term budget.
Not something for everyone, but I look at it like I did not marry my husband for the wedding, As long as I can still have one, it didn’t matter to me when we have it.
And, yes – I will be planning ahead so I can still do it while saving money!! I love the whole saving on the honeymoon idea! Book ahead of time and save! I will use timeshare to get the best room at economy prices!
For goodness sakes, get married on a Friday or a Sunday. You can save THOUSANDS on all of your vendors because these days are less popular than Saturdays.
Not necessarily. Friday is becoming very popular due to people wanting to save money. I know when I got married in August 08, the day (Fri, Sat, Sun) all cost the same at my venue.
Our venue only offers a $750 discount for booking a non-Saturday.
Thanks for posting this Collin! There are so many great tips. I can’t wait to check out the site for more.
I ordered my wedding invitations from costco.com. They were gorgeous and inexpensive plus they have tons of choices! You can also order wedding floral packages and bulk flowers from them. I didn’t get my flowers from there, but it seems like a pretty good deal.
I don’t feel like we gave up anything, but I agree that prioritizing is the most important thing. Our wedding had sort of a nature/fall/tree theme (October), so we had it in a pavilion at a county park, which was supported by large tree trunks. It was perfect and only $100 to rent for the day! And since it was naturally beautiful, all we did was put up candle-lit paper lanterns, few flowers, and an aisle runner that was actually just a ream of burlap.
Our wedding was on a Friday night, so discounts for nearly everything. We recruited family and friends- my mom made the cake, photographer uncle took the pictures, my dad made the favors. We used small logs sliced to the size of hockey pucks and a hole drilled into them to hold a tealight. They not only decorated the tables (along with big natural flower & berry arrangements as the centerpiece) but guests took them home at the end of the night.
The groomsmen set up the ceremony, the bridesmaids and moms set up the reception, and our aunts cut the cake so we did not have to pay the country club’s cutting fee.
I made the bouquets and boutonnieres (Hobby Lobby 50% wedding section + 90% Hobby Lobby, Michael’s and Joanne’s fall flowers and leaves, which was perfect for our fall wedding). I also designed and printed our invitations, cardbox and guest book. And snagged a dress for around $150.
We stayed under budget and still had a 6 hour reception, full buffet dinner for 200 guests, alcohol, musicians at the wedding, amazing DJ at the reception, king suite for the girls to get ready in before the wedding, all jewelry, etc. We came in at $7,200.
I spend 3,000 on mine and I wasn’t couponing back then. Now that I’m couponing I think I spend to much money jaja!. I would not have spend that much now! lol
My advice keep everything on a budget but allow yourself to splurge in ONE thing. That can be dress or photos or honeymoon.
Keep your invites LESS then 100 people more then that is way to many. Forget about that family (far away cousin) memeber who you haven’t seen in your life.
Forget about those tini tiny details nobody will notice and you won’t remember neither. Like glueing feathers and fake pearls to a plastic cup, that is going to be thrown in the garbage.
The less your family knows about the details of your wedding the BETTER, people tend to be very noisy and opinionated when it comes to wedding.
When trying dresses please don’t take the dog and the cat to the fittings. Take ONLY one or two your mom or grandma or dad your sister or best friend is more then enough.
Wear a COMFORTABLE dress and shoes forget those 6 inch stiletos and press tight corset for other ocassions. If you can put on sneakers way better :).
ENJOY your own party! 🙂
Good advice all around. Wish I had this site when I got married!
For our wedding we had 6 groomsmen, and our best man told us the cost of a tux was out of his range since he had a new baby. I called the tux store that everyone would be renting from and told them that I had a 6 groomsmen, a groom, and 2 fathers who needed tuxes. I promised to send them all to this certain location if they would give us the groom and the best man tux free, and they agreed! We saved $300 right there and our best man was so glad to still be a part of our ceremony!
Also, for party favors I ordered small organza bags in bulk online. I got 300 of them for $25 and we went to Costco and bought a 5 pound bag of hersheys kisses. We filled the bags with kisses and our party favors were done with a cost of about $30. Plus we had extra bags and kisses left over so they were perfect for housing ornaments we gave away at Christmas. ( Our wedding was a December wedding.)
Men’s Warehouse or MW Tux (same place) has this deal, except it is groom’s tux free and 20% the rest of the party for renting 5 or more tuxes. It doesn’t have to be at the same location, just the same party. That’s what it was last year at least- it worked nicely for us!
Thanks Collin for posting thiis — so much good, useful info! Amy, I went to your webite and there are so many clever ideas …and I love how your suggestions provide ways to save money. Weddings can be so expensive and I’m all for saving money which can then be used for the honeymoon!!
We decided not to have a bridal party, becasue we didn’t want to deal w/ the headaches/ planning that goes along with it. Just had a maid of honor & best man. I have to say it saved a lot of hassle and a lot of money. It made the pictures much easier and we had time to actually attend our cocktail hour and HAVE FUN with our guests (priceless!!).
Maid of honor bought a dress off the rack. We didn’t need to buy flowers for a bridal party.We didn’t need multiple limousines. My friends didn’t have to buy dresses/ shoes they would never wear again. It made the rehearsal dinner much more intmate. If you don’t really care about having a bridal party… then go for it!!!
My daughter got married in May. She had a huge wedding – 374 guests and we spent a little over $5000 for everything! She had a beautiful wedding with a huge buffet that the grooms aunts prepared (they are professional caterers), his grandmother made the cake (retired professional). We had a DJ and everyone enjoyed dancing. We had beer and soft drinks.The church was my former home parish and they rented the activity center to us for the member charge. We bought the dresses at David’s. We got the bridesmaids dresses (4) for $59 each as they were being discontinued and we got a discount of $20 off each one because we brought the gown there. The groom got the tuxes for $47 each – the shop orginally wanted $95 each and he talked them down. The table decorations were wine glasses (75% off after Christmas at Target) with votive candles (Hobby Lobby 40% off coupons) inside setting on a mirror tile and matching colors of ribbon tied on the stems and a scattering of tealights and votives down the cafeteria style tables. My sister-in-law works for a lumber yard and was able to get the mirror tile for cost – it was actually wall mirror tile – much cheaper than the squares you buy at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. We rented table cloths from a local college for $3.25 each. Check around as one college wanted $5 each – quite a difference when you have 50 tables! We kept flowers to a minimum – bridal bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets as the church was beautiful and they had nice green plants all around. On the pews, we used matching fake flowers in a silver scone. The scones were made of paintable, embrossed wallpaper that I got at Lowes for $10 and we painted them a dull silver. They looked like the real thing and eveyone thought they were antique metal. You can make tons of them from a roll of the wallpaper – I have over half a roll left and we had 14 scones.
Watch for sales on everything. We didn’t have anything that we did not get on sale or with a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby or Michaels. We had over a year to plan and my daughter was willing to change her mind on what she wanted to keep expenses down.
We had our wedding for under $7,000. We had the wedding and reception at my parents garden which was naturally beautiful. My neighbor made 2 benches for the Mom’s to sit while everyone stood for the 10 minute ceremony. We did rent tables, chairs and tents for the yard. We also had a caterer for under $10 per person and they supplied linens, plates and silverware. A friend did all the arrangements with the flowers we picked from a local farm. I knew suppliers for wine and beer so got that cheap. Also had a friend who was a DJ who only charged $100. Had a celloist from the local college play for the wedding. Husband bought a suit, I bought a simple wedding dress. Only thing I didn’t skimjp on was the pictures. Also my uncle married us as a gift.
By looking outside the box and bringing in natural beauty weddings can be beautiful
Love the post.. makes me feel like I’m on the right track. My faince and I are getting married next May and I’ve already started planning. We found an outdoor venue which will decorate and set up for us and will give us a tremendous discount for not serving alcohol (Neither of us drink, so this is a huge cost benefit.) We are going to cater our own stuff, so I am saving my mycokerewards and recycle bank points to buy all the pops… Ebay is good for small things (groomsmen ties, garder, etc.) Also going to Hawaii or the honeymoon and already booked it a litle less than a year in advance…anyone know if Hawaii accepts all coupons? Ha. (Tip, at least with our trip, Orbitz was MUCH cheaper than travelocity, about half price for a better hotel and with a rental car which travelocity didn’t include. Plus ebates gave us back a large little sum for clicking through them first)
I don’t know if there is an Entertainment book for Hawaii … but that would be a good thing to think about if you plan on dining out while you are there. They come out in November for the following year and are generally pretty discounted by February/March timeframe so you could get one for pretty cheap.
These are such great ideas! I’m getting married in May and I will definitely keep these ideas in mind. I can’t believe you can make out of town gift bags for such little money! I love the blog on the Belles site too! Amy does the bargain hunting and then posts ideas that are really useful. 🙂
WOW have you checked out the website yet? Its really great!! As a potential future bride to be this a great resource! I never even thought I could get out of town bags for so cheap! I hope I will be able to score these deals for my future wedding!
I have been wanting to do guest bags so bad, but with our budget going to “more important” things I didn’t think I could. I love that idea!!!! Thanks!!
Also, visit your city’s visitor’s center and stock up on maps and “things to do” brochures. Tie a few together with raffia or a nice ribbon and put with 2 bottles of water, a candy bar, and a hand written note and that’s all you need for them to feel extra special!
I agree- this will help a lot in the wedding planning. It’s good to hear I’m not the only one with a budget! Thank you for sharing Collin and everyone for your ideas.
When my hubby and I got married, it was the 2nd time for both of us, so we didn’t want to do a big church wedding. We did it in our back yard. We got our cake and flowers from Costco. 2 of their big cakes were $15 each, and I used boxes and a tablecloth underneath them to create a look of having layers. We got two bunches of roses from Costco also and created all of the floral arrangements myself. And since we saved so much on everything else, we splurged for a nice bride and groom snowglobe engraved with our names and wedding date to use as a cake topper.
I attended a beautiful wedding reception recently where the bride had 20 women (friends of the mom) make a cake. Their were beautiful cake stands all over with an awesome display of cakes. It was beautiful and edible!!! You can’t get off much cheaper than other people providing the food!!
Thanks for all the great feedback and ideas! I’m so glad to hear some of you will find Belles on a Budget helpful!! Congratulations to all the brides-to-be out there!!
My husband and I had a $10,000 budget from my dad,but anything we didn’t spend we got to keep, So, we had our wedding for $3,500. I bought my wedding dress used on Ebay for 300 two sizes too big, and then I had it altered at a dry cleaning place that I knew was great for 50, and then dry cleaned for another 50. My mother in law made our cake, since I wanted something simple. I found a historic building in our city that only cost 200 to rent out, I wanted a sit down dinner, so I had Panera cater it for 6 dollars a person, and everyone got a soup, salad, and sandwiches of their choice. We had only family to make it easier, so we had 75 people attend. Since we just had family we weren’t expecting a lot of gifts but still got more than we expected. I made all of my invitations and announcements myself. I decorated myself, and I even made my table runners myself. I had my reception in our church hall which saved me money, and I used the website the knot which was VERY helpful with planning on a budget, and they also have a book with LOTS of check lists and etiquette things that I never knew. My mother is German, and so I never knew some of the typical America Traditions, so my mother in law was also most helpful. My older sister is amazing at hair and make up and made both. My other sister wanted to give me a gift, so she made my jewelry for my wedding as well. The only thing my husband and I didn’t skimp on is pictures. Those were the things that were most important to us, so 1/2 of our budget went to the photographer, and I am SOOO glad I did. We also decided not to have bridesmaids and groomsmen. Mainly because we didn’t want to decided between siblings and friends, and some of the friends we might not know years from now either. Also, since pictures were important this meant that we had 2 hours of GREAT pictures of just family and my husband and I. Also, we didn’t have to pay for other tuxes and presents for them or arrangements for them. We had family stay with us or close friends rather than renting hotel rooms. We had flowers but mainly for family and my husband and I. We didn’t decorate the chapel very much, but I picked a beautiful building that didn’t need any work. We also had a friend video tape it since some people couldn’t make it to the wedding. Also, we couldn’t find a ring for my husband at any jeweler, so we ended up finding his was overstock.com which was 30 dollars so we bought 2 one in his size now and one a little bit bigger encase he needs a bigger size later. My ring was also very inexpensive, but I wanted a VERY large diamond and very good quality. I am very against blood diamonds,but with mined diamonds there are really no guarantees that someone didn’t die for it. So, I wanted something different. So, before the were big, we found http://www.diamondnexuslabs.com. They make the diamonds in a lab which are just as strong, 100% clear, and there is no way they are blood diamonds. They are Very Affordable, and considered Green. They made this year’s miss America crowns etc, and they more than just engagement rings. Anyway, my one carat princess cut Tiffany style ring with the wedding band was only 600 dollars. So, I got my dream ring, and we didn’t break the bank, and they also have a lifetime warranty if anything goes wrong, so no insurance. Anyway, they are more popular now, so their prices are a little bit more expensive now,but if you want other stuff they even do custom stuff.
Anyway, I would just sit down and figure out what things are important to you, and there are ways to invest in those like you want so you don’t have to compromise, and also then you can be cheaper on the things that you don’t care about as much. Also, this is YOUR wedding, and it is very hard for family members to not try and plan your wedding, so you need to graciously find ways to let them know that it is what you and your spouse wants rather than what your mother never had. Now, if they are paying for everything, then that might make it more difficult,but you can ALWAYS compromise if you talk through it.
This post is filled with so many useful ideas. I have checked out your website-bellesonabuget–and it is also loaded with great suggestions. Thanks, Amy!!
I was married almost ten years ago, and frugality was very important to me. We started off , saving by choosing an ‘off’ day for our wedding; Sun afternoon. Most venues charge significantly less by doing this.
I was also very much a ‘DIY’ bride, and that was before that phrase was even heard…lol. We made our own programs, wedding favors (CDs with our favorite songs & little tins filled with M&Ms in our colors for the adults; the kids received their own special favors; custom made bags filled with crayons, coloring sheets printed from Crayola.com, bubbles, etc), centerpieces and even bridesmaids bouquets & groomsmen boutonnieres (we bought the flowers wholesale from the place that made my bouquet. The owner kindly gave us some tips, and my MOD & I put them all together). My mom even got a girl from the hair salon to come over & do our hair & makeup FREE (my mom was getting her hair cut & talking to this gal who told her how much she loved weddings & would love to come do all of our hair & makeup!), although we did generously tip her. 🙂
I scoured the internet & magazines for months to get all the ideas we used, and it really paid off!