I would like to plan my own wedding…its in August.
Thank you so much ladies! (You make it really for me to vote best answer though)
I am in this situation right now. 
I've learned a couple of things that might help you, too:
* Try to find a low-cost place to hold the wedding & reception at. For example, I'm having my wedding and reception at my grandparent's church. It will only cost $200.00 for all of this. If you don't want to have a wedding at a church, maybe an outdoor wedding would work if a family member or friend has an extra large yard.
* Try to print your own invitations. Craft stores and places like Wal-Mart and Target sell invitation kits you can buy relatively inexpensively.
* See what talents your friends and family members have that you can borrow on! For example, my aunt is great with colors, so she is helping create my floral arrangements. Another family member of mine loves to bake, so she's going to make sheet cakes for the reception.
* Browse discount magazines like Oriental Trading or take advantage of store coupons to pick up necessary things like tableware.
Hope this helps! Best of luck and congrats on your wedding!!!
January 3rd, 2009 at 5:51 am
What we did - we decorated the church ourselves and a friend played the organ for us.
We didn't care about gifts we just wanted a celebration - so we rented the VFW hall - decorated it ourselves and the reception was pot luck.
My Maid of Honor kept track of who was bringing what so we didn't have 15 salads and no entree, the invitations were worded - in lieu of a gift - please bring a dish that is enough to feed your family plus a couple more.
We had a local dj and we had a blast - extremely low budget and some people did give us gifts anyway but it was a great party.
References :
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 am
I am in this situation right now.
I've learned a couple of things that might help you, too:
* Try to find a low-cost place to hold the wedding & reception at. For example, I'm having my wedding and reception at my grandparent's church. It will only cost $200.00 for all of this. If you don't want to have a wedding at a church, maybe an outdoor wedding would work if a family member or friend has an extra large yard.
* Try to print your own invitations. Craft stores and places like Wal-Mart and Target sell invitation kits you can buy relatively inexpensively.
* See what talents your friends and family members have that you can borrow on! For example, my aunt is great with colors, so she is helping create my floral arrangements. Another family member of mine loves to bake, so she's going to make sheet cakes for the reception.
* Browse discount magazines like Oriental Trading or take advantage of store coupons to pick up necessary things like tableware.
Hope this helps! Best of luck and congrats on your wedding!!!
References :
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:06 am
decorate the hall yourself… my family and I did it the night before after the rehearsal dinner
make your own bouquets- use fake flowers and go to cappels or a local craft store and you can buy all the supplies to do it yourself and it was easy
make your own table decor- find a candle or glass factory in your local area and buy a bunch and come up with your own little thing
a friend of mine owns a restrsaunt so we used him to order our food for us which got us a good discount and then we set up our own little buffet
References :
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:48 am
We are getting married in October 2009 and I can tell you some of the things that we (and our wonderful families) are doing to save money!
1) We are getting married on a Sunday so that the venue is cheaper. It will be on a three day weekend, so I don't think it will prevent anyone from traveling to the wedding.
2) My florist is doing the bouquets and corsages, but we are doing the centerpieces ourselves. We are ordering roses from Sam's Club in bulk and just doing very very simple centerpieces.
3) We are doing a buffet instead of a plated dinner - saves us over $1k!
4) We took our photographer's basic package and chopped the heck out of it. We don't need a proof book AND a photo DVD AND all the pics posted online. We don't need an engagement shoot. We don't need a wedding video. After chopping things off - it saved us another $750. You could also go with a local art student who's pictures you like, etc.
5) My fiance's mother knew that we couldn't afford to serve alcohol at our wedding. So, instead of wedding, shower, etc. gifts - she's going to pay for us to have wine/beer (only) at our wedding.
6) My fiance's sister is following suit and instead of buying wedding, shower, etc. gifts - she's paying for our DJ!
7) I bought my gorgeous Maggie Sottero off of craigslist for $140. It's used, but it's perfect. I really really love it!
Ok - that's all I can think of right now! There are tons of ways to save! See if your family would forego gifts and help you out (only if you are cool enough to ask without seeming like you are being impolite). Our families volunteered and it was great! And I have no problem at all getting less stuff off of my registry in exchange for having a less stress free wedding!
References :
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:36 am
If you would like to have a night time wedding, or just create some extra ambiance, right now is an awesome time to get white lights to string, they are all on sale at least 50% off from Christmas. They are RIDICULOUSLY expensive if you try to get them any other time of the year. Also, I don't know where you live if you have one, but the Sam's Club website has awesome deals on fresh flowers, for making bouquets yourself. I also HIGHLY recommend the Martha Stewart website for weddings. They have awesome ideas. You might also be surprised to find that a local grocery store will have a selection of nice wedding cakes at about 1/3 the price of hiring a cake decorator. Also, some of the stuff on the Oriental Trading website is cheesy, but if you can go on a treasure hunt there are some nice things in there, too. I enjoy the personalized napkins and personalized votive holders for candles. Check out these links!
References :
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/search.do?action=search&searchtype=simple&simplesearchfor=floral&simpleitemtype=0&location=store&dimId=1000605
http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/shared/sharedFlowController.goToBrowseController.do?requestURI=viewEndecaCategory&categoryId=377344&tabId=PartySupplies
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:51 am
I'm having a low cost wedding and here are some of my ideas:
* Go for a low cost space for the ceremony. We're having ours at our church for free. Many churches will not charge you too much. If you're not religious, try a garden or city park. These can be absolutely gorgeous and you can decorate them yourself. It might also be considered to have the reception next to the ceremony site. Rent a big canopy tent or something and hang up twinkle lights.
* Instead of using a dj, try using an iPod with a wedding play list. You can ask a friend to MC and control the iPod. Renting speakers is so much cheaper than paying a DJ.
*Make your own invites. It isn't very hard to do and it gives the wedding a personal touch. Home-made invitations can look however you want them to.
* Consider getting a gown from a store such as David's Bridal. They have every style and very helpful staff. Getting a dress from those kinds of bridal stores will really cut prices. Also, hunt for sales. You can get some really good deals out there.
* Make your own bouquets. Get the amount of flowers from the florist and ribbon/other bouquet essentials from places such as Wal-Mart and assemble them yourself.
*Get married on a slow season such as November or February. If that doesn't suit you, try to go for the off days such as Sunday or other weekdays such as a Wednesday.
*Keep a shorter guest list. Remember, the more guests, the higher the cost.
*Keep in mind that seated and served dinners tend to be more expensive. Consider h'orderves, buffet, or potluck.
Good luck!
References :
Planning my own wedding on a low budget
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:24 am
I've heard that if you hire a wedding planner and tell them your budget, they can work with it and plan a wedding you can afford. However, I am a "do-it-yourself-er". For bouquets instead of going to a florist, make them yourself using in season flowers. Silk flowers work as well, in photos you can't tell they're fake and they're less stressful since you can put them together weeks or even months before your wedding date. Michael's and Hobby Lobby have aisle just for wedding related paraphanalia and both stores often provide coupons for discounts or even just have really great sales on things that you can or will use.
Shop around for the best prices!!! Oh and make your own invitations. I did that and I've received tons of compliments on how pretty they are. It adds a real personal touch. Buy envelopes for them online (just google envelopes). You can get 100 of them for under $15.
Keep your guests list short, choose foods that are inexpensive. Doing o'rduerves sounds inexpensive but can cost more than a meal since they can be more labor intensive.
References :
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
My wife and I were able to do our entire wedding on about 5 g's. That includes the rings, wardrobes, wedding, and reception.
We were able to enlist the help of some of our friends and family. There was a florist in the family who had connections with doing the invitations as well (huge gifts from him). Everybody in the wedding party helped decorate along with the parents.
We held our wedding/reception at my wife's work, a local 4* hotel, and got a great discount since they also did the catering. The cake was made by a lady who works out of her home….we found her through asking other people who they had used and it really paid off.
One of our biggest discounts was that since we decided to have our wedding on a Sunday, when everything is usually available and cheaper, we got free time from our DJ. He had nothing else booked and gave us 1.5 hrs of free dinner music.
When it was time to pay for the preacher, my dad paid a fair donation of $100. Don't be ashamed to have other people assist, especially if they offer.
My wife was able to find her dress at a discount wedding dress store, and my tux was free with the rental of 5 others which were paid for by each individual.
The rings were the most, well hers was at least. Mine was $250 and hers was, um, more. But, when they were purchased I purchased both of them during a big holiday sale and held them until it was time to get on one knee.
If you are having a meal catered, consider a lunch instead of a dinner. The lunch menu is usually around $2.00 cheaper per meal, sometimes a little more.
These are the tips we used when we got married, granted it was around 10 yrs ago, but they should still work. The best of luck to you and congrats!
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January 3rd, 2009 at 9:40 am
Get out there and find as many after-holiday sales decorations! My gf's and I hit target the day after christmas to fit my gold theme.
Otherwise, ask any of your newly-married friends if they have any leftover decorations.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 am
I would say find a Cheap Dj but if you wanna go cheap.
Asking friends and family to help out is always best.
If I was related to you. I would Dj for Free
References :
http://www.twitter.com/weddingdj