RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
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By Poeticsoulsta (Guest Post)
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I am trying to plan a budget for around $3000 here in Portland OR and I agree that the most expensive thing I have found so far is the location. I am making my own centerpieces for the tables using limes and blue ribbon instead of flowers as my wedding colors are blue green and white. I found the idea on martha stewart. There was a big glass vase thing filed with yellow lemons and ribbon and it looked really pretty.
I am also not wedding a traditioinal white dress because all brides are starting to look the same and one white dress seems to look like every other. I am going to wear a light blue or tiffany blue dress. I am also avoiding bridal shops for my dress and looking in prom dress shops instead. You can find a dress for way under half the cost of a wedding dress. If you are set on a white dress try craigslist.com in your area. A lot of brides sell their dresses on there after their wedding day. All in all its you special day and you can do whatever you want. To make sure people remember your day, make it as unique as possible. That is why I have chosen not to blue.
Posted on 02/19/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
The biggest expense for my wedding seems to be the site. Many places charge for a site to wed and additional charge for the reception. Because about 50 guests are coming from out of state, we saved big money by renting out a lodge that has accommodations. After guests pay their lodging, our cost will be around $500, as it's a beautiful place with room for both events. It took a lot of searching to find a place that was the right price, size and style. I also learned the moment you mention wedding, the price takes a huge hike. Because this is our second wedding, we are looking at an affair more like a family reunion and the price for that is much less.
Agree with the ebay idea for the dress... keep looking and one you love will pop up for a fraction of the cost you'd expect to pay.
Posted on 02/13/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
I would suggest doing most of the work yourself. If you don't know the computer I'm sure you have a family member or friends that can make your invitations/response card/programs for you. Instead of a big cake, try purchasing a Cake tower or cupcake tower and just put one small cake on the top tier and have someone to make you some cupcakes and fill in the other tiers. It would look really nice if you could have someone to put a little drop flower on each cupcake that would match your wedding colors.
Centerpices--I think that candles would be your cheapest option. You could purchase the 24 Inch long taper candles for each table and you could purchase like an 8 inch candle and wrap it in cellophane then tie it with a piece ribbon that matches your color and give that as the wedding favor. Accent it with a little card with your names and wedding date.
Another option--buy terra cotta pots and spray paint them white and put styrofoam in the bottom. Then put a small candle holder in the middle with a small candle. Next place about 4-5 little roses around the candle holder. Once you light it up, it is beautiful!
Candy apples are a good favor to give out and cheap. You can cut out double hearts and write the guest name on it and slide it down over the apple stick and make it into a name plate. You then end up with a plate setting and a favor.
Another favor would be making a bookmarker. This is very inexpensive.
Rental facilities---you should check with your county because they have rental facilities. In my location in maryland we have mansions, recreation rooms, community centers, school cafeterias, country clubs and you may have friends who live in places that rent out party rooms.
I wished you lived closer because i have a lot of things that i could give you to help you out. I once did weddings for a while and I have a lot of things left over. Just ask and if i have it i will surely mail it to you as long as you pay for the shipping.
Posted on 01/06/2008 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
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By Alabama girl (Guest Post)
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My sister had a small wedding which was held in our Victorian home. It was a bit crowded, but lots of fun. We borrowed chairs from the church down the street, and had more flowers than the typical church wedding! Where did the flowers come from? Well, a few days before the wedding my sisters and I called several funeral homes to ask if they might have bouquets that had been left over from viewings/funerals. Most said Yes! So on the day before and the morning of the wedding, my mom and sisters drove around and collected all these gorgeous bouquets! No one needed to know that all the flowers were free! :) Otherwise they would have been thrown away!
Posted on 12/29/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Skip the cake. Much of it goes to waste and nobody will miss it if they're having fun. Make sure there is dancing and music of some sort. Go with a buffet rather than a sit-down dinner. Wear an unusual dress, doesn't have to be a traditional wedding dress, as long as it's tasteful, pretty and flattering. Carry a simple but elegant bouquet. It can be a single stem rose even, very elegant. The fewer attendants the fewer flowers needed and less expense all around. Most people would rather be a guest than an attendant anyhow! The guys can wear nice suits. Do your own hair & makeup -- c'mon you know how!
Posted on 12/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
There are so many things, you can do to have that perfect wedding, let me give you just one of my, ideas.
go to the bread outlet in your area, buy loaves of white bread, cut off the crust, dip a round cookie cutter in water, and cut a circle, in each pcs, spread soften cream cheese on each circle, add three pcs of a julienne carrot and pinch one end of circle, this should form a eatable flower to look like a cala lily. These look great and taste great, Good luck and Congrats on your Wedding.
Posted on 12/04/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Well I too am getting married and our budget is around $2500. So far I have saved money by making my invitations. I used colored card stock found at Walmart for $6 for enough for 120 invitations. Also I discovered at like Joanns they have invites that you print yourself pretty cheap, 100 for $25, if you want more traditional looking ones. I also made my favor boxes. I made my guest book. A scrap book with mini envelopes and tags that the guest gives us wedding advice on or maybe just write a quick note, can't wait to see what people will write to us, I also am lucky enough to have a sister who always wanted to be a designer a fashion one that is, she's making our dresses for us, so far beautiful. and for the pictures. well disposable cameras on tables, His brother takes pictures as a hobby so he is gonna take them at the wedding then close family members will also have their cameras, of course no real fees there besides prints. Also to save money my family and I are making the cake and all the food. The men are wearing the classic black pants with white dress shirts and ties. For flowers I have saved bundles on them by using silk and going to the dollar store, I also have found many decorations there, including the garter belt the knife and cake server set, it's Dollar Tree they have been great if I wanted to order larger quantities also, A LIFE SAVER or at least a Wedding saver, And yes our wedding will be too many people and we are still able to do lit with a small budget. MY advise is just be creative if you spend some time and do some research you can make your dream wedding come true.
Posted on 11/24/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
For great buys on wedding dresses Davids bridal has clearance sales several times a year, and look at the sales rack.I purchased my daughters dress for 375.00 was reg. 850.00. Have someone make your cake or if you purchase one from a bakery purchase a small one and have a aunt, friend etc. make white sheet cakes to serve as part of your wedding cake. Also, if you have a hobby lobby, craft store close make your own flowers. Hobby lobby has wedding supplies 1/2 off as well as flowers.greenery is cheap and a great fill in as are candles.get married in the mid-afternoon and you avoid lunch and dinner expense. Have a friend video tape it and find a photographer who is just starting out (check colleges) look at their work and hire them. I hired a local husband/wife team and they charged only film & processing. I got 575 photos for 300.00! Walmart can blow them up to bigger sizes very cheap and will save you a ton of money.
Posted on 11/14/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
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By Kimberlee (Guest Post)
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I just photographed a low budget wedding on Nov. 3rd, and if you would like to look at that album on-line to see what they were able to do to make it so nice, go to www.MyTimelessPhotography.com. It is in the Fall Into Love album, and the other 2 wedding albums were low budget as well.
Good luck!
Posted on 11/13/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
It is nice to know that I am not the only one who had that size of budget. My wedding cost about $2500.
Keep it simple. Try to find a venue that is naturally beautiful. Does anyone have a garden, is there a beach or park nearby that you could use? If inside don't try to cover the whole area with flowers or bows or ribbons as cheaps as they can be they all add up in price. Consider having one main decorated area.
Can someone make your cake? My mother in law made a mud cake and decorated it for us. A simple cake design can look beautiful and elegant.
Use and reuse. If you have flowers for the ceremony area transfer them to the reception area. We used our flowers to lay on the table we signed the marriage licence on instead of having another lot of flowers for that.
Make your own invitations... be creative when looking at paper sources. Our wedding was on the beach so I went for natural recycled paper to give it that look. While most sheets of paper were $1 each I found a pad of recylced paper for around $5 for 50 sheets. Print photos on paper not card as this will cut down the price.
However this can be very time consuming so if it is not what you value consider low cost printing on simple but elegant paper.
DON'T TRY ON DRESSES OUTSIDE YOUR PRICE RANGE. All this will do will make you discontented with what you can afford and tempt you to spend much more than you can afford on you dress. My beautiful dress I got for $270 with alterations added as it was very simple (no lace train or sequins to add to the price). If you do dream of the princess dress see if you could hire or borrow it from someone else who has lately gotten married.
Consider getting married at alternative times. We got married on the beach at 9 oclock in the morning to avoid the rush of people. This also meant we could have a bbq lunch and avoided having a big dinner meal. We also used the cake with fruit as the dessert instead of adding alternative deserts (Who has seen the cake being refused because people are so full with the rest of dessert!?!) We bought meat for the bbq when it was on special and Some of my family were happy to provide the drinks. You could also have had a morning tea.
If your wedding is not formal then consider not having suits. Black pants and nice shirts cost much less then full suits and are a lot more pleasant for the guys in the heat of summer. Waistcosts can also be worn.
Keep it simple. Your day will be so much more relaxed and you can enjoy the day much more. If you don't have all the details they can't possibly go wrong.
I am so happy to say we have started marriage with no debt from our wedding.
Posted on 11/12/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Lots of great ideas! I have helped with a lot of weddings and was also a church wedding coordinator . You've been given a treasure trove of info. As to flower decorations for a summer wedding, here's an idea that won't cause a problem with the florist who is doing the wedding party flowers. Ours had had bad experiences with the guest tables and buffet tables done by "volunteers", looking tacky, and felt they reflected back on them, so part of the contract was not allow "outside" flowers. After we told them our plan they permitted us to go ahead. What you do is fill round globe bowls (cheap at all the prior mentioned locations) of all sizes some even elevated on serving tables, etc. with greens. You gather a group of willing friends to set out and cut, trim any shrub, tree or whatever with green leaves, all shades and shapes, lots of it! Take garbage bags. Then you set out a long work table with vases, snippers, etc. and fill all the vases really full. This can be done the day or two before since you are not working with flowers that will wilt. Keep cool tho....It was a smashing success and the florist was thrilled that nothing competed with their beautiful flowers. They actually stood out more. Just be sure to really make them lush and mixed.
Posted on 11/10/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
start with the phonebook check out all the discount and outlet stores, such as candle outlets for table centerpieces,formal rental they rent dresses now or thrift, consingnment shops, ask the ladies of your local church if they would cater your reception and the money would go to the church, or go to a local collage culinary class, for flowers make silk boquets, and one live to toss, rent a shelter at your local park and have the whole wedding there.
Posted on 11/09/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Okay, I have a few thoughts.
1. How small is small? You need to make sure your ideas are clearly defined. To me, small was 50 people. To my BFF, small was 15 people.
2. Don't just investigate what's in your backdoor. Most people will travel a bit to see you. Check out suburbs, beach resorts, hotels and other non-traditional places for weddings and receptions. I got married on Mackinac Island in Michigan for 1/8 of the cost of Chicago.
3. Check with the Park District and Historical Society. My DH and I were married in a historical church that we rented from the Park District for a fraction of the cost of a practicing church.
4. Hold the line on photography. Don't get three photographers for a small wedding. Have your relatives and friends take over parts - your aunts and uncles can do this. Better yet, if you can hire a family member, you'd save a lot over a "senior" photographer. My uncle is a gifted amateur and we were able to hire him for $300 instead of $3000 for a professional.
If you must have a professional, ask to see the rates on each level of professional in their firm. A lot of times you can save a bundle by going with a junior photographer instead of a senior.
5. Work hard to find a new way of getting a DJ. Hire a family member. Use an iPod. Burn your own CDs. Truck in your own sound equipment. My brother had a ton of speakers when I was married and we set him up with our laptop full of mp3s and gave him $200 for his trouble and it worked out great!
6. Borrow as much of the decorations as you can. Don't be ashamed to ask around. Most of my decorations came from friends who had already married and had bough artificial flowers they weren't using anymore.
7. Shop around as much as you can. The internet is great for this! I had my heart set on bubbles instead of birdseed. The bottles were $10 a dozen at my local craft store, but by saving 40% coupons and shopping various other craft stores I was able to get all of them for under $6.
8. Be open to alternative sources for your dress, and watch sales. Check Goodwill, Salvation Army, hospital shops, funeral homes, estate sales and garage sales as well as David's Bridal and other places. My dress was $400 but it was regularly $750 because I snagged it at a yearly sale.
9. For the food, try as many options as you can. I had mine catered by a small resort that we were staying at, but customized my own package rather than going with what the hotel had set up. Some ideas if you are going catered: fresh fruit, pretzels, chips, vegetable and fruit salads, chicken and fish dishes (not overall seafood). Things to avoid: high end items like shrimp, procuitto wrapped melons, seafoods like lobster, oyster or mussels, steaks, high end meats, etc. Anything that the caterer is going to spend less labor on is going to net you a discount.
My reception had - chips, pretzels, fruit, chicken and crab, whitefish, and normal side dishes and we spend well under $2k for it and I had 60 people attend.
My other friends have had moms and dads make brunch style foods, hired the local ladies society, hired the Jaycees, the Knights of Columbus, etc. - all for a fraction of the cost of hiring a caterer.
10. Don't be afraid to ask everyone you know what they might have a connection to. Lots of people have come down the same road and can give you local advice on where to do X thing.
11. Cake. Consider places like Costco or Dairy Queen or other non-traditional sites. My wedding featured a chocolate mousse cake and a white cake with cheesecake flavored filling. We priced both out at a bakery and found it was going to be well over $1000. We bought the two cakes, extremely well customized and decorated, at Costco for $14.99 each.
Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to message me! I'd be glad to help out. My wedding total was $3600, so I spent just a little more than what you want to do.
Posted on 11/08/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
will the ladies at the church cater a simple fancy sandwiches and tea type of reception? After all as long as you feed the people and they have some fun you will be married even without the fancy roast beef dinner at the posh hotel. People like to talk and mingle, they like to hear speeches and see photos about when you were kids. All this can be done in the church basement. My sister even got married during the morning worship service instead of on Saturday and people are still talking about it. She wore my old gown and no wine was necessary at the reception since it was at "fellowship hour" This solved a problem she would have had with some alcoholic relatives too! She paid the ladies to cater - they gave the money to charity or to some church project. it was very economical and she is still happily married 12 years later! Go for it. Think outside the box that society is trying to stuff us into!
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
get the gowns on ebay!
I bought mine for less than $200 and it was 1200 at davids. They have a bigger selection too.
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
My husband and I were married 9 years ago in a church ceremony for 300 that cost about $3,000. Instead of a meal reception for all in attendance (my husband was a church pastor and I a chaplain at an elderly care facility, so we had to invite hundreds of folks!)we held a simple cake and punch reception. The small tiered cake (for pictures) was homemade, and we had sheet cakes (of various flavors) that were homemade. That way, our guests had a choice, without it breaking our bank.
Friends hosted the reception for us as a wedding present. They set up, served and cleaned up.
Later that evening (our wedding was at 2 p.m.) we had our close friends and family return for a simple dinner at a church hall.
(The rehearsal dinner was at the church hall the night before and we had a great time. The main course was 6' long sub sandwiches.)
We made our own invitations -- using fancy stationery from a printing company, printing the words on our computer printer, then embossed a design on the bottom of the page.
(This is very easy, using a stamp pad, stamp of choice, embossing powder and heat gun!!)
My dress was simple, from a catalog -- $180, and my husband wore a suit rather than rent a tux. The groomsmen wore suits; the bridesmaids wore simple street length dresses ordered from a catalog and black pumps of their choice.
We hired a florist, but requested simple arrangements and simple bouquets and boutonnieres. They were beautiful!
I really wanted a professional photographer for family and wedding party photos, so I hired a photographer to come about an hour and a half before the ceremony to take just those photos. Since he wasn't committing his whole day and night to our wedding, he gave us a tremendous deal, and we were able to order prints at an inexpensive a la carte price rather than having to purchase a large package.
I hired a local student photography major to take pictures at the reception and dinner following, and my brother videotaped the wedding.
Our honeymoon was a gift of a week at a timeshare -- we were able to drive there, so it cost us very little.
We're still married, still happy, and not paying off a $25,000 loan to finance a wedding.
I wish you well.
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Check out the 99 cents stores. There is a huge store near Manhattan Mall (right behind it) they carry wedding supplies. If there is a dollar tree near you check those out too. You can find glass champagne glasses, simple invitations, souveniers to give to your guest (that you would pay rediculous amount of money in other stores) and decorations that do not look cheap. At the reception see instead of hiring a caterer have family cook.
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Use flowers that are in season on the tables. See if you have a friend that makes wedding cakes as a gift, or lower fee, www.rsvpbridalservices.com for wedding gown or use ebay.
Have family use their talents-we had cousin play the piano, friend sang for us, people made homemade cookies for us, party could be held at American Legion (Father was member)
and most of all, have fun and Congrats!
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
PS Can you shop at a discount store like Sam's, Price Warehouse or BJ's?
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
I noticed you said NY. Will prices be less in NJ?
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
My husband I married 1.5 years ago now and did ours for 1k. A friend made our cake as her gift to us. Her husband took my digital camera and his new camcorder and recored/photographed the wedding and some of the reception. A friend of my husband offered their home for the reception. (no kids, adults only, though kids did end up coming)
We had a later wedding so didn't serve dinner, but served snacks, cake and icecream. (I borrowed a chocolate fountain from someone and that was the biggest hit ever!)
I found a small chapel (looked like an old time church one room type building) that only held 60 people for 300$ and the minister came with the price. I found my dress and my bridesmaids/maid of honor at a mall for 100$ each and they are all ok for the girls to use for prom and my MOH to use for a formal dinner later. I made my own bouquets from silk flowers found at Steins (came out BEAUTIFUL and I am not good with colors or arranging). My son (9 at the time and ringbearer) was so excited to find his own ring pillow to use at the 1$ store! 6pks of bubbles can be found there as well and that went over well too. Just make sure the kids do it outside, as the soap can damage some materials. (like dresses and carpeting in the chapel) ;p Thankfully everything I had was colorfast but many people were really upset over the fact it COULD have damaged something) But for the kids, it keeps them occupied and the pictures are very cute having bubbles aournd you instead of the rice.
I bought a sheet cheesecake that my friend decorated, and she made a 3 layer cake that she decorated so we had cake coming out the wazoo! For the chocolate fountain we had, finger grahams, marchino cherries, pineapple, marshmellows, pound cake squares, banana, and a bunch of other snackies that went over very well. There was a bigger line/crowd of people around the fountain then there was around the cake!
Payless shoes is where we bought all the shoes too. I found mine on clearance for 5$! My son found some for 10$ and not sure how much my SD's were.None were over 20$ and the SD could wear hers for other occassions too. (I didn't make her stick with wedding colors since her dress was floor length anyways, not that I really cared about shoes anyways.)
Hope this helps.
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
Put disposable cameras on the tables at the reception, so that your guests can capture moments for you with no cost for a photographer. Also, if you enlist family/friends to make the "dinner" that will help with a ton of the cost. Hold you reception in someones backyard, the cost of decorations will be minimal compared to the price of a hall. Make your own CD's and put them on a CD disk changer so that you don't have to hire a DJ and you can have your favorite music for your day. Hope some of this helps you! Congratulations!
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
RE: Planning a Wedding for Under $3000
How many quests do you plan to have, and how much help from friends and relatives can you count on?
Posted on 11/07/2007 | Report Spam or Abuse
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