I need a cheap but nice wedding?

Question

I need ideas on where to have a nice but cheap in price wedding and reception. My budget is $4k. I need help

Answer 1

Don't cut your budget on things like your dress and the bridal party. Cut more with like the caterer - make the food yourself (wiht help of course) just do hand food. Do you know anybody who can do your flowers? Instead of a DJ get some good speakers and make CDs and play them instead (or just don't have dancing if you prefer) There are lots of ways to cut a budget. I would sit down with your fiance and parents and go over things like th invitations the big expenses and discuss how to cut back. Make your own invitations, and programs. Cut down on the guest list as mush as possible. Our caterer was about 3500 for 250 people, if that helps at all. Good luck and if you need more specifics email me at [e-mail], and I will be glad to help you out.

Answer 2

1: invite only imediate family.

2: have a maid of honor and a best man and that's it for the wedding party.

3: have a friend take pictures for you

4: have family cater the reception

5: use a church that you or your parents are members at so there isn't a big fee to use the church or get married outside or at home.

6: A small cake won't cost too much.

7: choose flowers that are in season so they will be cheap. try carrying a few nice stems instead of a huge bouquet.

8: for music either hire a cheap DJ for a few hours or make mixed cds of music that you can just let run.

9: for your dress buy something off the rack if you want formal or just buy a pretty white sundress if you want to o super casual.

10: look on the internet for bulk items for favors or decorations. that can be cheaper.

11: Forget the tux and just have the groom wear a nice suit if you're going casual... or shop around for tux prices.

Answer 3

Call in favors. Ask your friends and family to donate their help and special skills in lieu of gifts. My aunt made the cake, a friend did the flower arrangements, etc. Does someone close to you have a nice house or garden they could let you use? Does you grandmother or aunt have an heirloom you can borrow? Does a friend know about flower arrangements or photography? It makes for a great and memorable wedding, because everyone gets to participate in his/her own special way, plus it's full of symbols that you and your loved ones will bond over for a lifetime.

Answer 4

first of all, get the interest "low-cost" out of your head. in case you imagine low-cost that's going to look low-cost. there's a lot of techniques in this web site besides as others to furnish you with large techniques. low-cost suggestions: Venue: a public park or a own living house is low-cost food: A fish fry with coated dish plants: Wildflowers from a community park or one unmarried rose invites: Do them yourselfmost outside parks both are loose or value little or no to receive a allow. have one in all of your people or kinfolk receive amarriage licesnse on line and officaite the marriage. itll be intimate and some thing particular rather of having someone you dont know and that doesnt kow you and your fiance do it. if its a small wedding ceremony, recruit each of the female on your household to help make pastas, least puzzling to make for distinct people, or a bbq because your outdoors. as for music...have someone make a bunch of cds or employ scholars from a community college band to play. as for images, purchase some the disposable cameras and enable your travellers seize the day for you! no remember the position you're, as long as you're with kin and acquaintances, youll have a blast. good success!

Answer 5

$4000 is my budget and this is how I did it:



1) $120 Reserved a pavillion at a county park by a river. I'm going to have the reception at the pavillion. They have picnic tables so I only have to rent tables for the caterer and the wedding party.

2) $650 Photographer (get the smallest package as far as prints go, the photographer will always have the negatives and you can order more when you can afford them) Don't skimp on the photographer because your wedding photos will be your keepsakes forever.

3) Kept my guest list at 100 "expected" guests. I actually invited 150, but I have relatives overseas and I knew they couldn't make it. My estimates look very accurate according to my response cards. The very best way to cut back on your expenses is to cut your guest list. I cut a lot of people, but now I wish I had cut more. You really won't remember everyone who is there, your focus will be on each other. You may as well only have very special people there.

4) $700 Appetizer reception-catered (I actually did the math and I could not cut back at all by having family do the food, so it is also less work for everyone) Caterer decorates her own tables and brings plates and utinsils.

5) My mom paid for my dress (so it didn't come out of my budget)

6) $145 Bought my invitations at Invitations by Dawn, online. They are the cheapest I have found anywhere.

7) $200 fabric for 3 bridesmaid dresses

8) $180 rentals from party supply store: punch bowl, water pitchers, 100cup coffee maker, tablecloths

9) $100 bought pre-printed favor/placecard boxes and napkins with matching theme at Invitations by Dawn, filled boxes with Dark Chocolate Dove Promises (because they are wrapped in burgundy foil, and that is one of my colors)

10) $80 Bought a plain wedding cake, my bridesmaid is going to put fresh roses on it.

11) $60 on postage (some was overseas postage). I saved a lot of money on postage by taking out the "inner envelope" of my invitations. This made them under 1 oz and I could use a 37 cent stamp. It would have been 63 cents per envelope if I had kept the inner envelope.

12) Went to a bridal show where The Men's Warehouse had a deal that if you signed up there you would get all the groomsmen's tuxes for $59 and the groom's tux is free. The groomsmen paid for their own tuxes. Many of them have had to dish out up to $125 for tux rentals for weddings they were in before so they were happy to only have to pay $59.

13) $60 attendants' gifts

14) $350 bridal package at salon, includes 3 bridesmaids hairdos, 2 mothers' hairdos, my hair and makeup, consultation 3 weeks before to try out hairstyles, brow wax. The bridesmaids are reimbursing me $25 each for their hair.

15) $225 Used a 50% off coupon for Michaels Crafts store (got it out of a bridal magazine) used it to get silk flowers for flower arrangements and bridesmaids bouquets.

16) His parents are paying for my bouquet.

17) $150 for rental of my pettycoat, jewelry, headpiece and veil.

18) $40 Costco for cups, plates and utinsils for cake. (The food plates and utinsils are included in the catering)

19) borrowed chairs from church

20) my friend is my wedding coordinator on the day-of so I don't have to follow all the details. I just made a list of who is doing what and she is in charge. She also has the payments for the caterer and the photographer.

21) My fiance's friend is our DJ and our playlist is on his laptop attached to an amp and speakers. My fiance has the amp and speakers, but I could have borrowed it from church.

22) Free cake cutters from Macys for signing up with their gift registry

23) Borrowed toasting flutes from friends.

24) His parents are paying for the rehearsal dinner.

25) $20 Thankyou cards (my wedding is still 2 months away and I'm already getting gifts)

26) $300 His ring

27) He paid for my ring

28) He is paying for our honeymoon, his parents gave us the plane tickets and 2 weeks in their Trend West time-share for our honeymoon as a gift.

29) $15 card-stock for invitation inserts, programs, etc

30) $150 wholesale flowers for decorations and cake. (you can get bigger packages, check out all wholesale flower sites online, I listed one below)

* That is only about $3525, I am still under budget, but last-minute expenses always come up. I still have 2 months to go.



Best wishes on your wedding. It will be beautiful even if you don't break the bank. Talk to your fiance's parents about pitching in. Be specific. Tell them that you'll talk about it but traditionally there are some expenses that fall to the groom's family. You can also register for your honeymoon expenses to save money there. I have also heard of people registering for their wedding expenses if they are low on cash. But I think you can do just fine with the budget you have.

Answer 6

Sweet! I did my whole wedding on that too! I had a FABULOUS wedding for 200 guests on that budget!



Photographer: The way to do it is find a photographer who is just starting out. ASK TO SEE PICTURES FIRST!!!! The beginning photographer will charge MUCH less (I got my whole wedding weekend done complete with all negatives, hard copy prints, digital cd of EVERY picture taken, AND a pre-done wedding album for $500. That same photographer did her next wedding for $1000 and now charges $2000 per wedding just for the ceremony and reception)



Flowers: Buy in bulk and find someone you know to arrange them. I got my aunt to do them and they were GORGEOUS! Go to 2Groses.com, they have good prices for great flowers. Buy hardware somewhere else though, like Michael's or Joann's crafts, it'll be cheaper. Choose just a few types of flowers, it'll be cheep er and very elegant. (I chose bridal white roses and Orchids with a few stephanotis for select people)



Dress: This was important to me, so I bought retail and paid retail price, but if it's not as important to you, try sample sales (be prepared for alteration charges... :(), have it made, make it yourself, borrow one from your friends who have gotten married, use your mom's or an assortment of other things. WHATEVER YOU DO! DON'T USE DAVID'S BRIDAL!!!!!! They are pushy sales people and there are hoards of horror stories that come from them including dresses that were the wrong size and were totally unusable for the wedding. DON'T RISK IT! (Their alterations are WAY too expensive too.)



Tiara, Veil, Jewelry: Make your veil. A monkey could do it and you'll save at LEAST 60-100 bucks. I made my own exactly the way I wanted it for less than $3. Tiara, go online. I bought a $125 tiara for $11 on Ebay. Same with the gloves, I got a $20 pair of gloves for $8. (be sure when you're buying online to include the shipping as part of your cost.) Jewelry buy the same way as a tiara, or shop Claires. No one will care or notice that it's not "real".



Cake: She did my co-ordinating and baked my cake for me. You may not be as lucky to find someone to bake your cake, but go to your local grocery store. They can make beautiful cakes for small prices. I designed my own cake with lily-of-the-valley motifs around the edge, if you don't like the designs they have, ask if they can re-create a design you have made.



Reception food: Go to Costco. I had a sit down reception that I was able to pull off because a lady from my dad's work offered to help. I bought most of my supplies there. It remained fairly cheap and still had food left over at the end of the day. I did pasta with Alfredo sauce (the sauce I ordered from a restaurant for the best flavor). If you keep things vegetarian, it's SOOOO much cheaper, and it won't kill anyone either. Find friends of friends who are willing to fill in as cooks and setting up the reception.



Decorations: If you have lots of time (I had a year and 6 months but you wouldn't need THAT much time) collect bargains from passed holidays. I got my white silk flower petals for my flower girl from a valentines day sale in march at 75% off. The more time you have, the better deals you can get. I got pew bows for practically nothing after Easter, and they looked SO much better than the ones you can buy at craft stores for that purpose.



Music: Do you have musically talented friends? Ask them to play for you! I had my friend play solo violin for my bridal march, it was beautiful. I used CD music for the attendants and the seating of the grandparents and the candle-lighting. It all worked just fine.



Video: If you know people who know how to handle a video camera WELL, have them do it. If not, set up three video cameras on tripods. One doing a long shot of you, groom, attendants, and officiant. One does a shot of you and your attendants, the third does a shot of your groom and his attendants. I was fortunate and was able to get access to editing software and I am editing my wedding myself. If you are not so fortunate, you can see if you can contact a local college that has a media department. There are students that need to do projects, assignments and who just want experience. (I know this because that is my major and I'm editing my cousin's wedding for my senior project.)



Favors: Frankly, who needs them? I never really liked going to a wedding and taking home a little trinket that would just collect dust. If you really want to do them though, try candles, a donation to a charity (I know St. Judes does this), or if you're really crazy (this was our plan, but we didn't do it, wish we had for a laugh) make cardboard buttons attached with safety pins that say something like "I survived ______and______'s wedding" with the wedding date underneath it. My mom didn't like that idea at all but I thought it was funny.



Venue: Outdoor weddings are pretty cheap. Also, if you belong to a church, you can sometimes get to use your home church for free. My church even loaned me tableclothes for the reception. Some public and all national parks are free as long as you notify the powers that be where you'll be and when and how many people.





People seem to be willing to help a lot, especially when they know you're paying for the wedding yourself and have a small budget. I had people I didn't even KNOW offering to help out with my wedding. Start asking around through your connections, people will start getting really excited about making your day special.



One last story. I really wanted blue Hydrageas at my reception in little bowls, but they were about $5 per bloom. I had told my maid of honor (my younger cousin) how much I wanted them, but that I had decided to put candles in the bowls instead. She was driving around town with my dad and they drove past a house that had the perfect Hydrengias in the front yard. She asked if she could pick some for her cousin's wedding and they let her! I couldn't believe what I saw when I walked into the reception hall!



My point is, you may not have much money, but if you ask around you can have the most beautiful wedding that has ever been. Even total strangers may be able to help you.



Have a FABULOUS wedding! If you want more information, let me know and I'd be HAPPY to help you!