Wedding on a tight budget...

Events & Event Planning Weddings
1

Hello!

I am looking for any ideas on what I could do to keep my wedding beautiful but on a very very small budget. Also looking for places that would help us out to give us a good deal on like cakes..bride and groom...tables, maybe even small catering. Just all the basics. I do not need a dj - a friend has that covered for me. But I am one of the owners of Harmony Photography and funny enough, we need a photographer for our wedding. Someone to only take the pictures. We will do the editing to help keep the cost down on that. I need ideas about everything...help... We may have this as soon as July or as late as February..just depends on what kind of budget we will have to have. If you have any ideas it would be most appreciated! Tell me what kind of things you have seen at other weddings that you thought ..well that was a cute idea...

Thank you,
Jennifer T

2

Congratulations on your wedding! You should look into a wedding site - often times they will include the cake, tables, and some decorations in the pricing. Additionally, if you have a light dinner or appetizers, the price is less expensive than say a sit down dinner. I would stay away from additional flowers (other than flowers for your bouquet and the Groom). Use candles - it's much more romantic and less expensive.

Also, I would try to find a photographer to trade services with. For that matter, you may even be able to trade your services for a location, flowers and/or a cake if the above doesn't work for you. I'm sure there are a lot of vendors that could use updated photography to show of their products.

We were married at Maple Manor (Dallas) and the price included the cake, table settings and table toppers. I'm not sure what your budget is, but it was a beautiful location.

Good luck!

3

I'm not sure where you are getting married. We got married in our church and the lady that does the flowers for the church did ours for the wedding. It was on about $500 for all the flowers. We also had our reception and the Oasis Marina on Joe Pool Lake. The rental for the room was $100 and then the food was $20 a head. My sister had her reception at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bedford. It was nice and you could use your own caterer. I think she used Babes, which turned out to be around $10 a head and everybody enjoyed it.

I understand where you are. I had to get our wedding together on a tight budget as well, but I still wanted it to be a day to remember. I went to Garden Ridge and got stuff for my center pieces for the tables. I just got the little $1 bowls, put some rocks in the bottom, added water and food die, put a ribbon around the bowl and put a candle in. They were very simple, but at least added something to the center. I think I bought some flower pedals and put a little around each bowl as well. All together it was probably around $25.

Good luck and just remember it isn't about the wedding, but about the marriage and spending he rest of your life with the person you love.

4

I would be happy to talk to you about a wedding cake. I also have a great referral for a photographer. Thanks

5

Hi Jennifer,

I am planning our wedding as well and trying to get the best pricing available. I check ebay for items I am looking for, I signed up for the wedding catalog on orientaltrading.com. They have some things not too expensive that I was looking for. Also, you might want to check where you are having your wedding and reception to see if they have decorations you can use. The Church we are going to has decorations they will allow us to use and the reception has the table linens, punch bowl and tabletop mirrors that we can use. I am buying the centerpiece items but the reception place is going to issue credit on my final bill to keep the centerpieces I purchased so they can use them in the future. I would maybe see if that is an option for you. Also, I believe Party City had their wedding items on sale for 25% off. You might want to check there, Hobby Lobby and Michaels. I check all three often to see if they have sales. If I can think of anything else I will let you know.

6

This is where my hubby and I got married. We were able to make payments on it and they did it all. Cakes, Flowers, food, etc. The only thing we did was the photographer.

http://www.rockwallchapel.com/

7

We just had our first anniversary on April 25th. I planned about 90 percent of everything myself and we had a beautiful ceremony AND honeymoon for about $9000... That included the price of my wedding dress! Here are some of the things I did. Get whatever you can get for free! A friend of the family made our wedding cake as a gift. It wasn't anything fancy, but it looked nice and tasted good. We got married on a Friday evening at the Sheraton in Arlington. There was about a $2500 savings over having it on Saturday. It was a sit down dinner that included one main course meat (I chose round of beef, you know the big side of beef that they slice), appetizers (lamb chops and pork medallions) mashed potatoes, a salad, dinner rolls. It also included kind of like an snack they provided between the ceremony and reception, I picked fresh fruit with a chocolate fondue. They provided champagne, the center pieces, cake cutting service, set up and breakdown. If you want to add your own special touches you can have some people come and help with the decorations. I also spent about $100 and purchased fresh roses at Sams Club, looked up how to make a bouquet at about.com and had the bridesmaids make the bouquets, they turned out beautifully with crystal looking beads, ribbon and tulle that I purchased at Michael's and online. That's another thing, order as much as you can online. OrientalTrading.com has some personalized champagne glasses with the names and dates for like $13 for the pair. You can also find party favors and can get other champagne glasses for the wedding party (not personalized) for like $5. I have a good friend take photos that turned out great! She does this as a hobby and did it as a wedding present. I purchased my wedding dress at Alfred Angelo for like $450 and got the alterations done there for about $150 so the dress cost me about $600 total. Check out their clearance rack for veils, they're dirt cheap. I also got the perfect shoes (I had in mind what style I wanted and thought I'd have to spend at least $75 for them), found them at DSW in hurst on the clearance rack for about $20. Email me directly if you want any ideas, I'd be glad to help. I also make wedding cakes at a good price. Nothing super intricate, but they taste great (if I say so myself)! My email is [email protected]. Oh, we went on a Carnival cruise leaving out of Galveston (we drove down from Ft Worth) for $600 per person for a 7 day cruise that we went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

8

To cut costs on your wedding, you have to be willing to do a LOT of the work yourself. We did all our own flowers (including arrangements, bouquets & boutonniers)...you can get pretty good deals at Costco or Sams and I think they will do special orders for you. We ended up having it catered by a restaurant because it was a lot less expensive than an actual "caterer". And we picked up a veggie tray and a cheese/lunch meat tray & crackers from Costco for the appetizers (you can arrange these onto your own serving pieces for a prettier look). For the gifts to our guests, my MIL backed Mexican Wedding Cookies that we then placed in cellophane bags. We did all the decorating of the reception site and used a TON of white Christmas lights for decor (we bought these on clearance after Christmas...so this would work if you go for the Feb wedding)
Also, check out this blog for TONS of great ideas...www.stylemepretty.com You can look under "real weddings" and there is a budget beautiful section.
Good luck...it's a LOT of work to have a wedding on a small budget, but it can definitely be done!

9

In stead of a photographer why don't you just buy a ton of those disposable camera's and put them by the door and let everyone know that they will be your wedding photographer to leave the camera's in a different basket before they leave. Walmart does wedding cakes too, and if you don't mind a 2nd hand dress go to the thrift shop; sometimes they have wedding dresses. Have a taco buffet, it's cheap and easy to do. Most importantly just remember it's not the wedding that counts it's the marriage. Congratulations!

10

Jennifer, Here is Someone who is not only a great photographer but a wonderful person. Give him a call or visit him online. Tell him Cheryl (his room mate)sent you.
To schedule an appointment

call 214-491-8296 or email:

[email protected]

11

Hi Jennifer! My cousin got married about 2 years ago in Hurst. She was on a budget too and found this cute little chapel. They did a lot for her, including her cake. Here is their website...
www.cornerweddingchapel.com
Congrats on the wedding!
Corrie

12

Hello Jennifer,

Congratulations! I understand what you mean. I have been married almost 5 years, and our wedding was simple yet elegant best of all REALLY affordable. I spent about $2500 on everything. SORRY THIS IS KIND OF LONG. :)

The chapel we were married in was White Chapel on Pricinct Line. Very cute, the husband is the minister and the wife the wedding planner. We had our "cake reception" there with a mimosa fountain, and just had music piped in.

The reception itself was out our then new house. Most of our friends and family had not seen our then new home so it work out perfect. We rented tables and chairs from Fox Rental. They were very affordable, delivered and picked up the next day. We had a caterer come in, and serve the food. (this was just a big party)

I actually bought my dress, my daughter's dress, neice's dress, and sister's dress at Group USA (?) in Grapevine Mills. We had looked so many different places and couldn't find "the dress", and that store was kind of last resort. I just new when I found it. They are always having sales, and they do alterations in the store. I made my own veil....really simple. But, that is all I wanted...simple. I just got the items to make it from Michaels and made it the night before.

We made the bouquet's ourselves. We ordered the flowers from Sam's (very affordable), and just made them. (It looks like someone gave you a good resource on how to do that). You just have to make sure that you have some where to keep them refrigerated. I did not use fresh flowers for the chapel. I let them decorate the pews.

I got my cake from Sweet Memories in Keller. Excellent cake, so many different flavors and styles to choose from.

As for a photographer, my husband's cousin took the pictures. She's a professional photographer that wanted to do it, we just bought her plane ticket and supplies. So, I can't help you there.

I hope this helps! I wanted to do most of it myself. I know how special everyone wants their wedding to be. I just could not justify spending so much money on things that I knew my family and I could do ourselves.

13

My husband and I were married last June (6/7/08 to be exact) and we were also on a budget. The people I am recommending were individuals that we used for our wedding that were WONDERFUL and the best price that I could find while still keeping in mind that I wanted a beautiful (not cheap and tacky looking) wedding. FYI - I am a very picky person and always research several locations before making up my mind.

Ballroom Dance Classes – LMRA for group classes are reasonably priced and we had a great time there. If you would prefer one-on-one classes Maghen Garret is a good teacher #817-551-3954; she charges $35/hour for private lessons

Cake designer - Whitney Couch with Calling all Cakes
http://callingallcakes.com/default.aspx

Caterer - Melody Bradley, owner of Simply You Cafe
http://www.simplyyoucafe.com/index.html

Hair/make-up - Darrah Walters #817-881-0902 I would highly recommend her; everyone loved her!

Plates/silverware/drink ware - Dannel Rolle with An Elegant Setting #682-438-0030

Videographer/Photographer – Jenny Langston with Picture Perfect Weddings #972-768-2605

Honeymoon travel – Liberty Travel
http://ww2.libertytravel.com/

Miscellaneous stuff - I purchased the majority of the remaining goodies (favors, decorations, etc) through EBay and saved a ton!

Hope this helps and happy planning :)

14

I am the owner and photographer for www.MomAndMePhotography.com.
I provide all my watermark free digital images on CD and you own the rights to edit, print, do what you want with. If you are wanting to do all your own editing we could figure out a price that would work in your budget. Let me know if you are interested.
[email protected]
www.MomAndMePhotography.com

15

We got married 3 years ago. We had our wedding in June at the Venetian Terrace in Las Colinas. You get the venue for the day which is a small outdoor courtyard and an indoor reception area on the canals. They do all the food and make the cakes to your specifications. We also got a room at the Omni to get dressed and to stay for the night before we left for our honeymoon the next day.

http://www.venetianterrace.com

I went to the bridal show to get percentage off on my flowers. I think I spent $300 on flowers including petals down the walk which was a waste in June since they wilted before I walked down the aisle.

I made my centerpieces which you can see in my pictures.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2id51t77.9c9o180j&x=0&y=-63xzx2&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_album

I folded fortune squares for my place cards and can give you that if you have photoshop. I just folded them and connected them together with paper clips so they would stand up. Each guest had a packet at their seat with the menu to select which meal they wanted: chicken, steak, or fish, and a card to write a special note to us which they then placed in the box by the gift table.

I bought the rice hearts at michael's with the 50% off coupons in the news paper each week. I bought the bags for those off of ebay really cheap. You can get any color you like.

My photographer is a great guy who will give you the digital images. His name is Colby Nate: [email protected]. He is a personal friend of mine since we worked together in the web industry where he is a graphic artist/web designer. He has done professional photography since he was very young because his father does the photography for extreme sports like cliff skiing. Colby is very reasonable and does great work!

If you need anything else, just give me a shout. I know this is lengthy, but we did our wedding around $2500 for 75 people reception. That does not include the hotel.

Congrats and Good Luck! :)

16

When we got married, we spent only $2,500!! I am so proud of that because our wedding turned out beautifully. I got my dress at David's Bridal, we went to Creme De La Creme for our cakes. She did them out of her house and they were delicious and beautiful!! We did our own catering. We went to Sams and bought Potato Rolls for the sandwich breading, cut them in half. We also got all of our meats, cheese, vegetables, and dressings there. We had a group of 4 or 5 to help us make the platters and it turned out great! For decorations I used fake Ficus trees and wrapped them in white lights. I cut the 40% coupons out from Michael's adds and had family and friends go with me to purchase one at a time for each of us. This really cut the cost down. I also bought decorative votives for the tables, and then bought some inexspensive photo album sets for the bridesmaids since they all liked photos and scrapbooking. After the wedding the bridesmaids were given the votives and the Ficus trees as well. Many of them still have them today. I used the decorations as gifts and found ways to incorporate multiple functions for everything. We bought fake flowers and made the corsages for the men and the boquets for the bridesmaids and myself. I rented candleabras for the isle and the stage. It turned out beautifully! Use some imagination and you can do it on the cheap end! Good luck!

17

One word, BARTER. You offer wedding photography or portrait packages in return for services you need. Churches with halls that you can have the reception at work out much less expensive. Find some professional networking websites and you should be able to find people who will trade services. Good luck.

18

not sure if anyone has said these ideas yet...
1. consider having your wedding on a weeknight evening...generally locations are less then than on weekends
2. silk flowers instead of real. my MIL did mine and they were beautiful, plus I will have them forever....
3. barter where possible
4. instead of a bakery I found a friend of a friend who USED to work at a bakery and she did my cake from her home kitchen for less than half!!
good luck :-)

19

http://www.etsy.com/storque/search/title/weddings/

http://vintageglamblog.com/

http://www.oncewed.com/

I love these sites for giving lots of really great ideas that you can do yourself, or find suppliers too. I did my own wedding 5 years ago and then ther weren't a lot of wedding diy sites like there are now. I have also done decorating/flowers for some friend's weddings and even design a lot of wedding and bridal party jewelry. I could work with you on prices even for jewelry.

You can look at my designs here:

http://www.JeweledAmbrosia.etsy.com

and my sold items here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop_sold.php?user_id=5572779

20

look into recreation and community centers. we had our reception at lockheed martin recreation association (LMRA) on Bryan Irvin. we decorated it ourselves using supplies i spent months combing the cleareance and sales racks for. (yes i used the xmas lights idea too.) we use blue bonnet bakery on camp bowie blvd., but hubby picked the cake up himself to save on delivery costs. i got silk flowers and other supplies off of ebay and other online auctions. (real flowers would have wilted in august heat.) the real splurge was my dress, but we compromised by having no limo. we got the photography and videography at minimal packages. (no bridal shots and no video of the reception) we married at the church we were a member at, but a family friend/priest married us. other stuff too, but it's been 7 years ago almost. at the time, including the 1 week of honeymoon of a cabin for 2 days and 4 days in new orleans, the total was $7,000. rings were a bit more. i thouroughly impressed people with a semi formal wedding for 75 invited guests (40 showed).