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indyprincipessa
Joined: 27 Dec 2007
Posts: 31
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 Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:34 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| My fiance and I are soon to be 21 years old and will soon be celebrating our 3 year anavercery together. We are not planning on setting a date until after we buy our home and have our finances situated. (He just started a new VERY WELL paying job as an aviation mechanic). We will be taking a long vacation in May, and when we get back we will begin the looking process (his mom is a real estate agent, we've got a good down payment saved up, and we've been pre-approved for a good deal on a fixed rate)ANYWAYS The cost of our wedding will mostly be taken care of by us, with little to no help from family. At the same time, I've got a HUGE family. At least 100 people will be at this wedding. What are some ways of cutting down wedding costs? What are some non-expensive but memorable ideas (favors, decorations, etc...) Thanks! |
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Indigo
Joined: 19 Jun 2007
Posts: 24
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:21 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| You can get married on a Sunday or on a Friday since venues usually cost less. You can also use candle centerpieces or something wiht not as many flowers. Another option is using a photographer that gives you all rights to your picutres and a CD so that way you can print out the pictures whenever you have a chance. Another way to save money is to do as much DIY as you can. HTH |
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Inettyjoymn
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 32
Location: Malaysia
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:08 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| first off- shop after holiday clearance sales at craft stores, michaels and acmoore, and places like walmart, target and kmart. i got things on christmas clearance for 75-95% off- votive candles in glass holders for $.40 each! i can set you up with a great lady who is making my invites. she does package deals and a la carte - you will save tons with her. rings- shop jc pennys when they have sales, look for couponsor ebay and craigslisttransportation- use a relatives nice auto- or just rent an suv for the day- don't really need a limoflowers- you can shop local flower stores or grocery store floral dpts (make your own if you like) bring pics of what you want to guide your florist. or silks from afloral.com look great. that's who i went thru for minecenterpieces- i like the tall vases with topiary style arrangements on them. i love gerberas so i think using them is a great way to punch up color and keep your budget downfood- shop around for a site that does in house catering or a caterer that has a great rep and great menulocation- i'm all for outdoor weddings. i think being surrounded by nature is just beautiful and makes for awesome picturescake- shop bakeries but also shop grocery stores. most do wedding cakes and are rather tasty cakes. you might not get all the flavor choices of a bakery but most ppl go with white or choch anyway. favors- you can do organza bags filled with candies. shop ebay for the best prices, seller ideabus, has the best prices and selectionphotographer- look on craigslist for your area, under services, type in photography and see the results. i found a great gal for mine $300 for 6 hrs. some places charge wayyyy more but you should be able to find a good one for under 1kyou might be able to do the same for dj services. or just call around for a good rate from someone with referralsour wedding for about 100 ppl will run us about 2500k, his family is doing our food so that helps. most important thing about a wedding, budget- STICK TO IToh join your local yahoo group freecycle and post what you are looking for. i got lots of wedding things for free. post on craigslist for your area too. and search for wedding things too. many ppl have left overs they want to unload after their weddings and sell at below lowest cost! |
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InfernalMoose
Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 23
Location: Uzbekistan
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:55 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| elope and when you get back through a big party at a hall.offer bar and meat trays, dessert.....it is too difficult to include everyone into a wedding when you have a large family. you can't omit anyone or their feelings get hurt.Take a short vacation somewhere warm, get married and have your honeymoon then come back home and have a party....that way eveyone can attend |
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inepeTibeJimi
Joined: 05 Sep 2007
Posts: 34
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:42 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| i know most people say the dollar store isnt nice, but go to the dollar store they have wall to wall of wedding stuff and for a dollar who cant go wrong, you can also buy invantaions and print them out yourself instead of paying all that money to have them made, instead of using real flowers use silk flowers it will last a lifetime and still look beautiful.... i hope this helps. |
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Incarappy
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 25
Location: Marshall Islands
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:29 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| It bothers me whenever someone justifies not getting married with money matters. It is one thing if you are totally broke and can't buy groceries, but another when you are talking about buying a house instead of renting.I'm not going to go into a long speech about the whole house buying, debt, recession, etc... speech. The state of the USA economy right now should be evidence enough that banks and lenders and real estate agents have sold the public a phony bill of goods.If you are using this as an excuse to not get married, then there will always be an excuse to not move on to the next stage in life. |
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Incarappy
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 25
Location: Marshall Islands
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:16 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| ask your guests to do things for the wedding rather than buy you presents e.g if someone has a nice car they could drive you to the church. Others may be able to help with arrangements or catering. Someone may be a really good photographer my sister-in-law even made my wedding cake you'd be surprised some of the hidden talents people have ask them what they are good at. If you've got anyone good at flower arranging utilise their skills to. If some people really want to buy presents ask for them to pay towards your honey moon. |
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InCharmsWay
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:03 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| get married or have the reception at a fire hall or rec center usally you can rent them for like 200.00 for all day and most have tables there. Food you could get catered and pay an arm and leg if you can afford it it's worth it but if not go to costco and buy food in balk and have family or friends man the food table that is a major way to cut costs if you favors you could have jelly bellys in your wedding colors very cheep and you can go to michaels to get the little bags to put them in sometimes michaels have 40% off cupons so go once a week when coupons come out. You can also do M&M with you names on them but I'm not sure of the costs. centerpieces you can again get them at michaels like the big vase looking things I think there called hurricane and put a candle in each than some prettu stones that match your colors. Lets see what else flowers can be expencive but I would reccoment getting the boquet for you and if you have a maid of honor thats it and the grooms bootineer other bridesmaids don't ned flowers and a flowerfirl can use silk flower petals in a basket to tass out. It is not necessary to have the grooms father have a bootineer or your father mother its nice to do that but will in no way take away from the wedding really those are details people don't really notice and a good way to spend money you need for other things. Now for a photographer that can run you at a cheep cost around 1300 for about 5 hours. If you have the money It is well worth it that was my big purchase. If not The joy of digital camera's these days get 2 people you trust and designate them as your main photographers between both someone is bound to get a few good pics ut either way buy the disposable one for the tables have the two people give the nemory chip to there camera or put the pic on a disk or have them upload to kodak easyshare really that is the best and easyist way for you cause the work is done and you can just pic the pics you want online and and have them printed from kodak. You could have ballons in your colors you can have some fake flowers michaels arts and crafts does that to they designed the flowers for over my arch it cost like 50.00 usally there is a place where you can rent tablecloths that doesn't cost to much also you could just buy paper tablecloths from the party store. Also don't forget the napkins with your names and date of wedding this is really cheep and really cute. the guest book cake cutters etc look at michaels they have a buch so start now getting things with coupons hopefully you even have these places. One other thing if you want alchol you can get a keg it sounds redneck but it really isn't just a chep way to keep everyone happy and get a good dj. Hope this helps a bit my fingers are tires so that all i got. |
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infinasura
Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Posts: 25
Location: World
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| First . . . read the budget brides biohttp://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=BudgetBridesBioYour gown? Consider borrowing a gown from a friend or relative. Check out the local consignment shops. I've also heard of folks getting good deals on EBay. And David's has $99 sales. Target and JCPenney also offer gowns at reasonable prices.Flowers? Check out this site:http://www.thebridesbouquet.com/?gclid=CJ-z642dw48CFShsGgodC0TEJAOr many brides try DIY when it comes to flowers:http://www.save-on-crafts.com/gifandpac.htmlInvitations? Dawn offers invitations for as low as $42 per hundred. http://www.invitationsbydawn.com/If you can DIY for less, then go for it.Families can help in ways other than financial. Be thankful for the huge family. Accept any help they offer. If aunt wants to bake the wedding cake, that's great. If cousin is studying photography and wants to take photos, that's terrific. If brother-in-law wants to be bartender, let him! As for food? If you've got a big family and they are willing to help with the food . . . well, you've just saved a bundle on catering. If trying to save money, skip the favors. They are not necessary, and usually no one remembers them anyway!As for decorations, consider marrying in a place that is already beautiful . . . and requires no additional decoration. Garden or park? Beautiful inn or historic manor? I've had two different friends marry at Christmas. They used venues that were already decorated for Christmas. One friend added nothing to the already-decorated venue. The other pal added a few poinsettias.Good luck to you. |
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Ingececycle
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
Posts: 24
Location: MA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| flowers ,just have yours and the girls and the guys .don't buy for the church and the hall.do you know anybody that can help take pictures or do the music? kc |
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Inettyjoymn
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 32
Location: Malaysia
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:24 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| Outdoor, park, firehalls are the1st place to start. Then researchlocal caterers, dj's, photographers,florists etc. You and MOH godress shopping 1st , find a fewand then have everyone help decide. Good Luckinvitations: http://www.ibkstationery.com |
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Inferno13
Joined: 31 Jan 2008
Posts: 33
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InCharmsWay
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: Cutting wedding costs? |
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| Have an informal afternoon wedding with finger foods and cake at the reception. Have a non-alcoholic reception. Food and alcohol are the two most expensive items at a reception. You could even have the reception at your new home and have a caterer take care of the finger foods, set up and tear down. Use flowers that are in season. The further out of season the flowers are the more expensive they are. I hand painted the fabric that went under our centerpieces. We did white and silver candles with flowers on navy blue hand painted fabric. For our cake table, we had silver stars scattered around the base of the cake. For our main favor, we had our guests send us their favorite recipe in an SASE and put together a cook book. We used the graphic from our invitation for the cover and titled it Cooking Under the Stars. Starry Night was our theme and navy blue and silver were our colors. We also did three chocolate stars in a white box with a label that had our names in silver and our graphic. We printed those. We did save the date magnets with the same graphic that we made ourselves. I made my wedding dress. There are all kinds of ways to cut costs. Just think outside the box. |
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