how can i plan my wedding with a very tight budget? around $5000.?

Question

i would like to know how to do my own invites and print them out etc

Answer 1

Congrats to you and your fiancee!!! YAY!!! :)



Well the main thing is to do what you can yourself... invites, flowers, favors, decorations, etc... those little things can add mucho dollars when you have someone else do it!



I have a budget myself of $4000-5000 (hopefully closer to the $4000!) and I'm having about 125-150 guests.



The biggest expense is the meal/bar bill, which is usually about half of your budget. Having a buffet might be a little cheaper than having dinner per plate, I think mine's gonna be about $10-12 per guest for dinner. As for the bar bill... I'm going to pay for soda, get a keg (or perhaps a half keg? I'm not certain yet lol) of beer and if anyone wants mixed drinks they will have to pay for them. (Some people may think it's tacky, but I am actually putting on the invites -- in small print at the bottom -- that a cash bar will be available all night, so they come prepared, cuz I know a lot of people won't bring money with them if they think *everything* is complimentary.) Mixed drinks are what really hikes up your bar bill!



You can get a lot of ideas just watching those bridal shows on TV. I've also gotten a lot of ideas just reading people's questions and answers on HERE.



My cake... I actually was lucky enough to come across a girl on Myspace that lives in my town that does beautiful cakes out of her home for relatively inexpensive. BUT you must watch that, only cuz a lot of reception sites require a licensed baker or to use their own on-site baker, plus there might be a cutting fee which can range from $1-5 per slice (or even more!!! Make sure you read the fine print before you commit!) :) Also don't look past going to Walmart's bakery or your local grocery store's bakery... I've seen some great cakes come out of those places too, and you would have never known it!!



I am making my own flowers. I actually hit Hobby Lobby when they were having a 50% off sale on all of their flowers, so I got $100 worth of flowers for $50! You and your bridesmaids could have a flower making party (or a favor making party as well!)



As for my favors, I'm doing a couple different things. Of course I'm having bubbles! I got plain bubble bottles at Dollar Tree for $1/dozen (CHEAP!) and I actually found a girl on ebay that prints up labels for very cheap! this is a link to the seller http://stores.ebay.com/Beautiful-Favors-Fast_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

As for my other favors, I saw a cute one on a website for sale that was called a spoonful of kisses, and it's a plastic spoon with a few hershey kisses, wrapped in tulle and on the tag it says "A spoonful of kisses from the Mr. and Mrs." with our names and wedding date. I also am having programs which I am printing myself.



Also printing up myself are the invites! I didn't need paper that was real fancy so I went to Office Max and got some fall themed paper (cuz I'm having a fall wedding) and some envelopes and some postcards for the reply/save the date cards. (I'm only sending save the date cards to people that live out of the area that will have to make travel arrangements) Cuz I couldn't see spending a fortune on invites that most people keep until the wedding and throw away!







Also, here are some websites that I am using to curb my costs:



http://www.bridalonlinestore.com/ <---AWESOME dresses at a fraction of the cost of traditional bridal shops, excellent customer service and the dresses are JUST beautiful, and are guaranteed for satisfaction!!! They also have bridesmaid dresses as well and other accessories (veils, headbands, hair clips, gloves, guest books, etc.... you get the idea!) :)



http://www.orientaltrading.com/ <---sign up to receive their wedding ideas book in the mail (it's free!) and there is awesome ideas in it and on the website for favors, decor, etc. I'm having a fall wedding and I'm getting leaves to scatter on the tables from here (those are under the fall section rather than the wedding section though) everything is relatively cheap and if you order over a certain dollar amt you get free shipping.



http://www.tullesource.com/ This is awesome for inexpensive tulle and they have such a wide variety of colors. My wedding colors are apricot and sage and they actually have my colors in tulle, which is great cuz I need tulle for one of my favors and for my centerpieces.



http://www.confetti.com/ another great one for confetti (hence the name lol) and other decor. very reasonable prices!



http://www.michaels.com/ yeah... awesome wedding stuff for not too much! I love going to Michael's! (Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree are my friends too!) :)





Other great sites to check out:

http://www.blissweddings.com/

http://www.brides.com/

http://www.ewedding.com/

http://offbeatbride.com/

http://www.theknot.com/

http://www.ultimatewedding.com/

http://www.weddingchannel.com/

http://www.annsbridalbargains.com/

http://www.efavormart.com/

http://www.favorideas.com/

http://www.getmarried.com/





There ya go, that should get you started!!! :)



Good luck!!!

Answer 2

I did it last September on just under 5000. Did all the decorating myself, found a friends mom who does awesome cakes and she gave me a deal. We found a cute hall that we could have our ceremony under their trellis (that we decorated) in their beautiful garden and then the reception was inside the same location. We found a great local photographer that gave us 10% off if we paid in full before the wedding. Our DJ was also a local independent guy who came as a referral from a friend of my SIL who got married a month before me and he was inexpensive.

We also had a small wedding--about 60 guests. And I did make my own invites--had a 40% off coupon from JoAnne Fabrics and got a kit for only $18 and followed the instructions included to print them. I printed matching mailing labels too.

Kept the flowers simple--only the boquettes and boutenierres--they were absolutely beautiful, but I did candles, mirrors, crystals, beads, etc for center pieces. I did my own favors--got silver frames (also with a coupon from Joanne's) and printed a "thank you" with our names and the date and put it in each frame.

Tuxes from President tuxedo--groom's is free rental when the other guys rented theirs.

Dress and accessories from David's Bridal--15% discount when you open a credit card there. It has no interest for 6 months, and I just made sure I paid it off in 6 months.

Also, found a nondenominal minister online and the cost was lower and he did a great job.

It's a lot of work, but if you do most of it yourself and ask everyone you know for referrals, it can be done. Our wedding was so beautiful--everyone absolutely loved it and it didn't look cheap at all. Good luck!

Answer 3

OK. I printed a one page invitation on some aged paper that I bought at Kinkos. I found what I wanted on the internet. Cut and pasted what I liked. Then I messed around with the script a bit, printed a one page invitation on my computer.....and Voila.. 25 invitations for $10.00. This included the paper, envelopes, and postage.



Location: Choose one that is free or low cost

Reception: Have it in the same place as the ceremony.

Attire: Shop around. Buy EVERYTHING on sale. IF you want a veil. You can make a veil for just a few dollars.

Flowers: If your going to use real flowers. buy ones that are inexpensive, and in season.

Favors: Honestly most guests just throw them away. Unless it's something you can use on a daily basis, I wouldn't bother with this.

Music: Hire a student to play a classical guitar. Burn a CD and put it into an iPod. Hire a DJ just getting started, and needs the work.





I hope this helps. good luck. :)

Answer 4

well, target.com has really pretty invites. They have online templates that will help you design them. You can download free, pretty fonts. Any craft store has invitation kits too. The best thing to do to save money is to have a smaller guest list. Less food, drinks, favors, etc will help a lot. doing your own flowers can be cheaper than hiring a florist if you do it right., You can buy really nice silk flowers from any craft store...if you wait, they have 1/2 off sales ALL the time! ebay has vases for CHEAP! bridesmaids dresses can be bought on sale after prom or homecoming. I have seen $200 dresses for $20! Check out macy's. penny's and dillards after special dances are over. also, if you can find a reception site thats a full service package. Mine includes food, bar, room rental, china, linens, silver, napkins, waiters, gratuity, everything for $20 per person. Call around before you settle on a place. Talk to already married friends and family to see where they got married. Instead of hiring a pro photographer for hundreds to thousands, see if you have a friend or relative thats really into photography. many people these days are having an I-POD setup instead of a deejay because it cuts costs and puts you completely in charge of what songs are played. to cut cost on the bar, have a signature drink instead of a full bar or just have soda, tea, punch, and coffee and no alcohol. For favors, I bought my favor boxes from target.com 75 boxes for $20!! Im decorating the boxes with ribbon and stamps and filling them with home made fudge! cheap and gorgeous!! go to a beauty school, for your hair, nails and makeup, they charge way less than a salon and do a great job! check out the knot.com, getmarried.com, orientaltradingcompany.com, rexcraft.com for ideas. If you have a long time before you get married, the key is to get really creative and do many things yourself (or with the help of god friends and family). my wedding is in the fall so I am growing tiny pumkins to use as votive holders. The pumpkins are about $3 each or $2 for a bag of seeds....if you live near old time pottery or garden ridge, they have great deals on candles. Also, the dollar store does wholesale, so you can find many vases and other things there. Oriental trading co has a wedding catalogue. Some of the stuff is really cheesy but a lot of it is nice!! good luck, and congrats!!!!

Answer 5

thats my budget so I have two ideas for you



just the two fo you-do a weddingmoon with Sandals. You stay 6+ nights and they give you a free wedding. You can ahve some family go if they can. http://www.sandals.com/general/wedding-packages.cfm



the other thing, and what we are doing- having a ceremony at a local park. Its a small permit fee. The guest list is at the most 60 people. Then the reception at a local resturant after. The menu is great and food will be at most $2000. You can do brunch too if you want to do a morning ceremony. that can run cheaper! Good luck!

Answer 6

A 5k wedding can be done very easily... but can be a lot of work. Do not get a decorator, a professional planner, and make a lot of the centerpieces yourself.



For invites....try one of your office supply stores. I bought mine at OfficeMax for about $35 (it included the envelope, card, and nameplate) You just buy the kit (which there are several different kinds and colors) and design/ print your own. Mine looked great and very professional.



The key is to do everything yourself. Go to JoAnn Fabrics, or Michaels and find the stuff you need. Have your good friends and family help you. I am sure everything will look wonderful!



Congrats and Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

For all of your guests who have e-mail access, you can use a basic e-card as an invitation. Some free ones are available at:

http://www.123greetings.com/invitations/wedding/



If you must print a card, with folding directions etc, you can use a free template from

http://www.ivyjoy.com/printcards/



Otherwise I'm not too sure on what other options are available for invites. For other money saving considerations, think about hiring a college student for photography, have your reception catered by a newly established restaurant, have the after-party at either your own or a relatives' home in backyard (provide own music and the like) and use rental services for dress etc. You may even want to think about not having such "standard" wedding costs like catering.



Good luck with your special day. May God bless the union for eternity.

Answer 8

My wedding budget is pretty close to yours and here's some of the things that I'm doing, so perhaps we can help one another come up with more ideas,



As for invitations, Wilton.com also has some great printable ones. You can also purchase them from Wal-mart, sometimes for cheaper than what is offered on the Wilton website.



I WAS going to do that, then I found a seller on ebay that will design and print the invitations, reply cards, receptions cards with save the date sticker, AND thank you cards. I could get 100 of each for $100. I'm doing a winter wedding, and they have a beautiful, elegant snowflake design. They have about 25 different designs I think, and it was just a little more expensive than making them myself, with NONE of the hassle. AND they also doing programs and bookmark favors together in a package for super cheap. If you'd like to check them out to see if it might be something you could do, here's the link. It's to the set I'm getting, but you can click on their ebay store and see all the packages they offer.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190221774648&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=009



Okay, saving #2. I'm trying on my dresses and finding the one that I love, then I'm having it made from weddingo.net. It's a company in China that reproduces designer dresses, where the most expensive one is still under $300. It's a risk, but it's worth it. Plus, you can pay through paypal and have some security for a refund. I've spoken with several brides that have gotten their dresses from there and have seen pictures of them, and they are gorgeous! No designer label of course, but I'm not concerned about the name in my dress, just how it looks. That could be an option, too.



We are making my centerpieces for the tables. Both Wal-Mart AND Michael's have supplies for really cheap. And i'm using lots and LOTS of candles. They are super inexpensive and very romantic.



For favors i'm purchasing a chocolate melter from Wal-Mart for $18.00 and I'm going to dip different items in teh chocolate. (pretzel sticks, marshmallows, etc.) Since it's a winter wedding, we are also going to purchase small spoons and dip them into the chocolate to make stirring spoons for coffee and hot chocolate. Very VERY cheap favors that everyone will actually use instead of something that will get tossed in a drawer somewhere.



OH!! And my favorite deal so far! I'm getting a birdcage veil made with a fascinator that can be detached. Both pieces plus shipping will be under $60. The girl that's doing it for me is very VERY talented and super sweet. I found her on etsy. Here is her blog if you'd like to check her out. She also makes boutennirs, corsages, and other items. Very VERY reasonably priced and unique.



http://twigsandhoney.blogspot.com/



I think that's enough to overwhelm you with for now. Sorry about that. I know how difficult it can be to plan a wedding on a tight budget, but it can be done!! :)



Good luck! It will all be beautiful! Feel free to email me anytime to talk if you'd like.

Answer 9

If you have a computer, go to Microsoft Works where you will find Templates to make all your invitations etc for your wedding & it wont cost you much except time & some card!!

Answer 10

See budget tips here:

http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=BudgetBridesBio



Dawn does invitations for as low as $42 per hundred.

http://www.invitationsbydawn.com/

If you can do-it-yourself for less, then go for it. By the time you count up costs of all the ink, paper, etc . . . $42 per hundred is a price that is hard to beat.



Self-catering tips here:

http://lotsofinfo.tripod.com/weddinghelp.html



And check out verseit.com for wording your invitations:

http://verseit.com/

Answer 11

I planned mine with around the same budget and with limited amount of time. If you live in Southern CA (The Valley) I can give you all sorts of tips. :)

Answer 12

Go to www.weddingsuppliesunlimited.com for great wedding supplies and reasonable prices.

Answer 13

Get married in Vegas and spend the $5000 on the honeymoon!