ugh! can u really have a nice wedding with this budget?

Question

10,000 not including rings or dress or invites just for the ceremony and reception..is it possible to have a nice but small weddingn??? i cant believe how expensive everything is now.. :( how did u girls do it??

Answer 1

OK, not knowing where you live, (cause that will play a big part) also, not knowing when you're getting married) I would say yes! I'm getting married in August and I've only spent about half that.

So, firstly, when you have the wedding plays a part in it because there are certain times that are very popular. The summer being one of them. However, if you plan for a summer wedding, you can get an outside venue for cheap. Flowers can be cheap, if you buy them and get with some of your girlfriends to put together bouquets. Invites, you can just buy the paper and go to kinko's and have them print them for you for very cheap. Pick up some wedding plannig books. Sharon Naylor wrote how to have a gorgeous wedding for under $10,000. It will help a lot.



Good luck!

Answer 2

I'm doing my wedding for about $10,600 and it includes the cost of Everything! Honeymoon included.



This is how we are doing it:



Found a venue (www.hawkinn.com) where we can have ceremony and reception in the same venue. It includes tables, chairs, tent, linens, etc.

cost: $3000



Venue is catering, and we chose the cheapest option but with a little upgrade

Cost for 100 people: $3000



Honeymoon: we went through a travel agent and saved 20%. Going to Disneyworld for a week. Also saved money because we are going off peak season. Staying at a moderate priced resort, not luxury, but not value priced either.

Cost including flights and food: $2500



My dress: I put a $500 cap on my dress choices, didn't even look at more expensive dresses.

Cost: $400



Pictures: Found two photogs just starting out on Craigslist. Price includes full day of coverage, 2 cameras, 50 5x7 prints, and high resolution cd of every image taken.

Cost: $500



Justice of the Peace

Cost $50



DJ is a family friend giving a very discounted price

Cost: not sure, gift from mom :)



Cake will be made by FH's mom. She makes gorgeous cakes, Just need to pay for square pans (she only has round)

Cost: $40



Flowers: Ordering them from Costco. Simple arrangement in glass bowls I bought at the dollar store. Making bouquets ourselves (one BM used to be a florist)

Cost: $100



Invites: I'm a graphic designer so I designed my own, and I am assembling them myself as well

Cost for materials: $100



Rings: We have been engaged for 2 years, so we scouted the sales. My ring was originally $400, got it for $120. His ring was originally $850, got it for $400.

Total Cost for rings (both have diamonds on them): $520



And some misc. stuff like gifts for the wedding party and favors.



It is totally possible to have a nice wedding on a budget!

Answer 3

Wow, to me, $10,000 seems like a LOT of money for a wedding budget. We're spending just under $5000 total on our wedding this September, and that includes rings, passports for our honeymoon, attire, and a full dinner reception for just over 100 people. So yes, I do believe you can have a beautiful wedding for a whole lot less than $10,000. It's all about thinking outside the box, calling in favors from talented friends who can help with music, photography, etc., and also doing away with all the unimportant things that nobody really cares about, like fancy wedding favors and lots of floral decoration.



Another tip I have for you is to try to avoid anything that includes the word "bridal" or "wedding" in the title. For example, at my local hair salon, a regular makeup job is $50, but if you ask for the "bridal" makeup application, which is virtually the same thing, suddenly the price jumps to $75. Why? Because they know that most brides have never been married before and they can trick them into thinking that they have to have the "bridal" version of whatever they're selling. So steer clear of anyone offering "special pricing" for "wedding" things.

Answer 4

You can do a wedding for $10,000 here are some recommendations to save money.



1. Make your own favors, centerpieces and anything else you can think of.

2. Instead of renting a limo just drive with friends to the ceremony site. Then if the ceremony site is different then the reception venue have your husband drive over and you take his car to the reception hall.

3. Buy a tiara or headpiece at walmart instead of at a bridal shop.

4. Instead of doing silver for your cake cutter and server buy stainless steel (I got my at the dollar store, $2)

5. Check out ebay for anything and everything you can think of for the wedding including veils.

6. Talk to your friends and family to see if they can lend your or give you shoes, veils, slips, etc.

7. Buy a guest book or photo album at your local thrift store or good will (I got my guest book at a thrift store for $4)

8. Definitely try buying all that you can over time to help you burden the cost and you don't have as much of a price shock

9. See if you can have a friend DJ for cheap or free.



There are a lot of ways to save money just ask friends and family. I am sure you will find it more fun when family really gets involved to help because you will start to feel great because so many people are out there to help as well as you will save some definite money. Finally, remember something OLD, NEW, BORROWED and BLUE because those four things could definitely help you out in many different ways. Congratulations and good luck!

Answer 5

I am in the North East where its very pricey, and I did it for slightly more 11k and 2k honeymoon counting everything and had open bar (not top shelf) and 150 people.



Where I cut corners:

dress 399 no alterations, shoes 25, made the veil



flowers, bought a bunch that morning from a grocery store for 30 dollars and made 3 small bouquets by tying inexpensive ribbon around it.



dj-had a friend do it for 250



centerpieces-sister did them



my invites were .88cents ea.



rings were plain gold 60 ea. so 120



bridesmaid gifts 25 ea (only 2)



did hair, makeup, nails myself



no limo



You can cut cake costs, get a sheet cake, or fake cake, you don't have to give wedding favors, you can have cash bar, no hors d'voers, look for a student photographer to cut costs



mine was at a firehall



In my area, you are hard pressed to pull off a wedding for 10k and have more than 100 guests

Answer 6

THE DRESS- Check out davids bridal for dresses they have 99.99 sales for beautiful simple dresses. Bridesmaid dresses for under $100 too. Many bridal salons have end of the season or trunk sales which can mean a designer dress for a much more affordable price. Nordstrom, J. Crew and Anne Taylor loft have beautiful white gowns. Check out ebay and take the dress to a tailor.



FLOWERS- I’ve helped some friends create centerpieces by buying bulk flowers over the internet, and through trader joes to make centerpieces. The great thing about trader joes flowers are that they are organic too! We bought 3.99 rose bouquets and placed them in 99 cent vases and wrapped them in silk ribbon also from the 99 cent store.



Reception hall- RH’s offer greats deals for Friday nights and Sundays. Avoid Saturday nights. If a reception hall is out of the budget go to a restaurant with a private room. Many restaurants have prices half that of a reception hall and serve better quality food.



Invitations- Print them yourself. Use kinko’s and create modern invitations with a little imagination and hot glue =). Michaels has tons and tons of printable invitations some on sale for half price. Check out Martha stewart’s art collection for all the supplies you would need from craft scissors to pearl accents for invitations.



Favors- most of the time these are the least used items by guests. You could give to a charity in the name of your guests. You choose how much you want to donate. Favors can be purchased on ebay for much much less than “wedding factories”.



Music- hire musician friends to play ceremony or reception music. A big thing in NY is IPOD music receptions. It’s a great way to play the music you like without comprising with the DJ.



Cake- Don’t tell the bakery it’s a wedding! Go simple. Or if someone in your family is willing to bake the cake anything is possible. Last year I went to a wedding and the bride made a delicious 3 tiered strawberry shortcake HERSELF. These are the small details people actually remember!



Photography- hire a photographer and buy the proofs. Then create your own photo book online. Snapfish is great for this. post on craigslist.com for a photographer for a set price and make sure you get those proofs! Make sure you see sample work too.



Make A, B, & C guest lists keep it intimate.



Don’t get all caught up in other people’s opinions about how big a wedding should be.

Remember at the end of it all Its just you and your fabulous hubby.



Get your girls together and make everything. Go get inspired at A.C. Moore or Michaels. If your buying off online stores shop around! Big wedding websites have higher prices than other mom and pop shops and ebay.



Congrats on your engagement!! Good luck with the planning

Answer 7

YES!!! Sorry about the length, but this is a GREAT question....



First: Consider all the items that never get used again...ring bearer pillow, pen set for guest book, renting linens, limo ride to and from....all of these details REALLY add up. Make a list of MUST and WANT so that you can see more clearly where the money should be spent and what things you need to creatively replace or cut all together



Second: Have you considered something like this....

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=active&um=1&sa=1&q=rustic+weddings+ideas&btnG=Search+Images&aq=f&oq=



Rustic can be done in a back yard, or in a winery. Stunning, chic, creative, laid back glam AND INEXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



OR

check out a destination wedding. from my research, it is actually not expensive to wed in the Caribbean. My personal favorite though is Hawaii, check out this website...

http://www.hawaiiweddings.com/

They are the best I've found as far as pricing and great pictures. Beautiful!!!!! It will cost you between 6k-8k for the wedding, the pics, the rehearsal/reception, plane, hotel, etcetera. THAN when you get back, have a back yard luau reception for those loved ones whom could not join you. = )



Third: Guest count is the most important aspect of saving money!!! You can either have a very ho-hum wedding for 100+ OR you can have the wedding of your dreams with guest count at 80 or less. (closer to 50 is optimum)



Finally, sell your wedding items on...www.bravobride.com

Check it out, it's a great way to make some of that money back!!!!



Here's another question like yours...

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20090526074216AAGEPqX



Hope that helped, Best Wishes;)

- Lovin29

Answer 8

our budget is $12,000 and we'll probably use money we get from the wedding for the honeymoon. It is crazy how expensive, and we're in Boston, where things are even a little more pricey. We plan on around 125 people. Ya, sure we could have just immediate family there and have about 40, but we've both always wanted ALL our family and friends there. I've just been emailing every place around I can find, any sort of venue, seeing their packages, to figure what's best for us. My MIL offered to buy my dress, but everything else will be up to us. I plan on making my own paper products(invites, menu cards, programs), centerpieces, and bouquets to save money . I'm very artsy, so it won't look bad. Its possible, you just need enough time to search for the best of everything at the best prices. We're getting married fall 2010 and I'm allready knee deep in planning!

Answer 9

My budget is $15000 and that's with everything(dress, invites, rings) EVERYTHING! We are coming in about $4000 under budget and we are having around 150 guests. There are many ways to save money. Doing your flowers yourself is a HUGE savings. The florists in my are are charging aroudn $1500 for everything. I decided to look around and found that through sam's club you can order bulk flowers. Instead of spending $12/stem, we are now spending $1.05/stem. HUGE CUT!



Look for a reception hall that is all inclusive. Ours includes the table linens, china, dinner, open bar, cake, and champagne.



Talk to your friends and family and see if they have any connections... Whether it be to a limo service, photographer, DJ, ect. A lot of people are loking for ways to make money right now and they normally will discount if you just ask.



Hope this helps!

Answer 10

Yes you can! My finacee & I are getting married in September and our budget is under $10,000 and we are having a very nice wedding. The ceremony & reception are being held in the same place, and the reception included the cake (which we tried a sample and it's YUMMY!).

Answer 11

Are you kidding!! holy cow yeah you could have a nice wedding. My wedding didn't cost anywhere near that not even over 2K, we pulled everything off our selves, the most expensive thing was his ring and my dress. My dress was 950.00 and his ring was 600.



Family made the food



Old neighbor owned a bakery years ago made our cake, I printed up the picture of the cake I liked and asked him to try and work his magic, I swear it was better looking that the picture, breath taking. Most people spend like 600 on a cake I spent 100 on the supplies.(plus where are you gonna get funfetti) Gorgeous.



Music- 16 year old cousin, computer and speakers which all were in his garage. Cost pack of DVD-R's lol what like 5.00.



Wedding was in the park which was beautiful because it was spring and the flowers were in bloom and there were cherry blossom trees all around which helped with the color them of the wedding, cost was only for the priest. 50.00



Didn't do a hunny moon. Only because we have a child and didn't want to leave him so we settled for a weekend home alone. Even though we went to my dads everyday to see him lol.



Decorations were made by me, my cousin, and her crafty friend. Dollar store and walmart, craft stores, ect. We found silk red and white roses, glass vases, and used that stuff that hardens to look like water. Also used floating candles. Got many people wanting to take one home lol. Except we didn't let them, someone took one :-(. I think we spent about a 100.00 on that maybe a little more, her friend got the vases off ebay like 20 for 10.00.



Shoes I bought at payless, except I wore them down the aisle and took them things off, damn they hurt. My mom drove to walmart and got us all a pair of white flipflops we were so happy to see those lol.

Answer 12

Yes, it's possible, but it will be difficult if you are envisioning the 150 guest, passed apps, sit down dinner, white plate type wedding, you know? BUT - alas, it is possible.



You are just going to have to cut out the unnecessary things and cut back on things where you can. For instance, you can cut back on the dress - you can get a dress for $300 at places instead of $2,000 at others! Also, flowers! Flowers are a huge expense and people don't realize it. Instead of having flowers as your centerpieces use fruit, or sand and shells (if it's a beach theme) or leaves/candles for fall, you know. Me and my fiance will be making our center pieces - white candles and beach shells.



You may have the reception at a restaurant in a function room instead of a big hotel/country club etc.



People have done it for far less than $10,000 - just keep that in mind and cut where you can. Good luck!

Answer 13

Yes you can. Of course that depends of your area. North East and California are typically very expensive and that budget would not take you long. Mid west and southern states you can throw a fabulous wedding with that.



The best advice is for you to :



-Cut down the guest list big time to save money. A party of 50-75 people is medium size and affordable.



-Do without things that are NOT necesary and that will eat a big chick out of your wedding budget: No garter, no guest book, no unity cancdle, no pew decorations, no bubbles or petals, no programs, no chair covers, no menu cards.



-Small wedding party, no ring bearer and no flower girls, no tiara, no personalized anything, simple center pieces.



Good luck

Answer 14

not really! well im sure its possible as yahoo answers people tend to be on the cheaper side. In reality... the average wedding cost $25000 (which is way to expensive). Our budget is 15 000 and I dont want a super fancy wedding..just a nice average fun wedding. Im having a REALLY hard time staying on that budget! no idea how people can do it for cheaper. 10 000 is doable but you just gotta make sure u have a small guest list and realize you wont get everythng you want for that budget but it will still end up your special day and you and your hubby will live happily ever after lol. good luck

Answer 15

yes its possible , my budget is 6,000 and my wedding is going to be great. we are doing it at a restaurant, using their sound system and my ipod. my moms friend is a photographer and she is doing the photos. my dress is maggie sottero and under900. to hire a justice of the peace is under 300. a friend is doing the flowers altogether 350. a buffet dinner cuts cost. im ordering decorations online. my bms are carrying either fans decorated or parasols. im doing my own make up and hair cost 50 im ordering my cake topper for 20 . its due able we have to do a cash bar but we aren't big drinkers any way.





its do able and your wedding well be great

Answer 16

You can have a nice wedding for far less than that. The things that are expensive are generally the least important, you don't need favours, personalised napkins, grooms cake etc...Just go for simple yet fabulous with good food (which certainly doesn't have to be posh to be enjoyed), relaxed and perfect.

Answer 17

I think thats plenty! Cut back on flowers, don't spend more than $400 on a cake, don't pick a venue where it's $50 a head with 200 guests!!! That's crazy.

You can definitely do it. No problem.



Theknot.com has a really helpful budget tool. :)

Answer 18

It's really hard. Remember that you'll probably get at least the money for the food reimbursed from your guest's gifts. Have chicken instead of steak, and have in season veggies as your sides. Get your flowers from Stop and Shop instead of a florist and use flowers that are grown locally and will be in season. For your cake instead of having a 4 tiered cake you can have a small pretty cake for the cake cutting and have sheetcakes made with the same cake in the back. Most places charge you per person to cut the cake if you get a formal wedding cake, but they usually wave the fee if you use sheetcakes. There is plenty more you can save on you just have to research it. Try knot.com

Answer 19

I could if I cut my guestlist down.

My fiance & I have huge families and we are close to many of them and that is really what made our budget go much higher.



You can start by cutting alcohol from your reception - then by cutting kids & far-flung relatives you never see. Then see where you stand and cut some more until you are within budget.

Answer 20

Read tons of "wedding on a budget" ideas from http://mareeyah.com/weddings/2009/05/16/wedding-on-a-budget/

Answer 21

OH good lord! You may have to have a small wedding but yes you certainly can. Maybe get married and have the reception at the same place.

Answer 22

Schedule it for a time of day when you don't need to serve a full meal -serve appetizers only, have cake as your only desert, invite less people, see if they'll let you bring your own wine and find someone who bottles wine to make it for you at cost, shop around for photographers- see if you can find one who gives you a DVD of the photos and have prints made as you need them

Answer 23

1

Answer 24

I did it on $5000. It was really nice. Simple but nice.

Answer 25

We had a wedding on maybe 2500.00 and it turned out great.

I did TONS of bargain shopping from:



Dollar trees(everything's a dollar) and alot of the stuff there I found at walmart for double, triple the price.. I got blue(they had pink, green and yellow too) favor boxes that were 8 in a pack for a dollar, so I got plenty of those... And our centerpieces came from dollar tree as well. they were large blue vases and little "lamp" looking tea light holders. We put peach accent gems in the bottom of the vase, then put irridescent foil shreds in, filled them with water and added a floating cande.



Our lights were on clearance after Christmas, they wre blue and white.



I ebayed peach organza pouches and put cookies and cream kisses(wrapped in blue) in them with 5 little candy doeves that were 5.00 a bag and you got like 700 peices. They substituted the (traditional) jordan almonds, I was NOT going to pay 20.00 a bag lol, so the doves worked fine.



I shopped from www.orientaltrading.com for bridal party flute glasses and groomsman,flower girl and ring bearer gifts.



I got the pillow and flower basket from Walmart including the invitations we printed out.



Our programs we did ourselves with cardstock from Walmart., we printed out a precious moments picture on the front with our names and the occasion and everything else on the inside.(the picture on front was of the boy lifting the veil of the girl.) We then put another precious moments picture(the boy's holding the girl like he's carrying her over the threshold) with special thanks to all of our friends and family for being there with us..



The reception hall was 150.00 to rent. It wasn't a 5 star hotel room, but we made it pretty and look decent, everybody loved it..



My shoes I got for 32.00 on sale from shoe sensation. They were originally 37...



I ebayed and paid for My Maid of honor and matron of honor's dresses. One was like 35.00, the other was 65.00 Alterations just cost them maybe 8-10 dollars to have the bust taken in a bit...



My Dress was 99.00 but my mom bought it for me and wouldn't let me pay her back LoL(I think it was a tradition thing to her:)



Our food all together may have cost 500.00, we bought it all from walmart(chicken bites from teh freezer section, the deli charged too much) and did a buffet type thing(it's very common in the area/family, we're down to earth people) My FIL paid for most of that though...



Our pastor didn't charg us for his services or the church, but we donated 50.00 anyway to say thanks.



Rehearsal dinners aren't common in this area, but since we had a rehearsal, we just ordered a big pizza and treated everybody to that and some pop/chips. We had a few kids there, and we're young ourselves, so pizza was good..



Our cake for 70 servings cots us 60.00 and my husband's surprise groomscake cost 25.00. They turned out great, except she forgot to make the design on our cake peach and didn't to as much detail as preferred, but it was still pretty and our baker did a great job on the groomscake(he's into computers and his favorite movie is the matrix. I made the topper myself. I ebayed a miniature computer set and bought a topper from walmart). Everybody still loved the cakes and thought they were awesome. They tasted GREAT too.



Our DJ was 100.00 fro four hours and they did a great job with everything.



I got my bouquet from ebay. I wanted to keep my bouquet so I found it for 22.00 and loved it.



We also got all the kiddie table items(mini playdough, coloring books and crayons) from dollar tree.

Our personalized glass oil unity set was 32.00 off of ebay.

Our cake topper was 10.00 off of ebay



I think the tuxes wre 118.00 to rent, but we paid the deposit and the guys only had to pay like 94.00 for them.. It's alot better than thed 207.00 my husband had to shell out once because he was asked to be the best man, but required to pay for the honor...



We went to a rent to own and rented a video camera and fell in love with it.. We had a luagh when we opened the gift bad from my dad to find the exact same kind LoL. We weren't going to keep the video camera because at R2O's that stuff is like quadruple the amount. The camera awas 300.00 at walmart, but R2O sold it for nearly 700.00. we just needed it for a day anyway...



We had like 8 people taking pictures and my SIL has a really nice one, so we didn't really get a photographer.. We have over 500 pictures anyway LoL. Proffessional Pictures are SO expesive, so we just went the more affordable(and in my opinion, money wise) route.