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Oh yes! Money is tight right now and with Christmas and my son's b-day around the corner it's just gonna get worse! The little things add uP!

Yep certainly am. Although the venue and cake have been paid we still have accomodation to organise, flights to kansas which is like $200 each then we need to hire a vehicle still need to pay the photog and the make up artist and havent been able to sort out bouquets or anything because money is so tight. Yesterday the lawyer tells us she wants another 900 to finish our visa process so we have to figure out how to do it all ourselves because it has to be filed within the next two months. My husband is the same itll all work out baby dont worry LOL so yes I agree the stress is overwhelming sometimes

You are not alone! It is not easy! I am trying to find ways to cut and save as well, but it is not as easy as some brides make it sound! We booked our ceremony/reception site for 09/2011 and a 20% deposit was required within a week!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 week, c'mon, they could have given us a little extra time to save some more money, but we manged to scrimp up every penny we had (literally we were rolling coins) and make our deposit!

So I am totally with you!!

ME ME ME

I was blessed with a small loan.. half of it had to go to bills though.. i gotta come up with 4K in less than 3 months to pay for everything. That lil loan helped me put down the deposit on things thoug

I totally understand! What's worse is that I got laid off last spring from my career job and am now working part time making about 1/2 of what I was a year ago. I am making enough to keep the house and pay bills, but nothing is going into savings. FH is in a similar situation. I am hoping my first job will return this spring, but nothing is for sure. Mon & Dad gave us some $$, which was enough to put down deposits, pay for my dress and for marrige prep classes.

We do have a worst case scenario. If now finanicial relief by february...we will forfiet the deposits and just do a simple ceremony and dinner at a restaurant. I just REALLY hope the economy gets better!!! Hoping to get some seasonal employment for the holiday too.

i have been spending all my discretionary money on wedding stuff. i am doing a lot of DIY but my problem is i have champagne taste and beer budget so even with doing things myself, some of my items are splurges. my dad asked me how we are doing financially and said he would see what he could do to help us out. it will be nice whatever (if anything) he's able to contribute. FH tells me not to worry - that the money will be there. And I'm taking him at his word and planning the wedding I want to have.

As ladylee mentioned, you can try to save money by doing alot of DIY projects. Just be careful not to underestimate the cost and the time needed to complete the project. Another recommendation would be to look for Budget Friendly Vendors. Some vendors have either created a Budget Friendly Package or have decreased their prices to accommodate brides such as yourself. Also, search sites such as Craig's List for new vendors that are willing to exchange services for advertising. Just make sure you are not missing out on the quality of the service because the price offered will fit into your budget. Good Luck!

chrigslist has been wonderful lol and ebay!! i found my photog for 500 and someone to tape it for 250 got such a good deal there. cant find anywhere for after the wedding thought about a state park we could rent an area for 35 but have to pay per car(still not a lot) and ding a cook out. my wedding will be at a waterfall that i fould at a local school and they only charge 100 but for our small income thats a lot. im not used to being this broke i used to have a great job and brought in lots of extra cash then my EX told me i needed to spend more time at home with him and my son so i got a diff job then went no job cause EX made enough well less then a year later its divorce time so i went back to my last job that does not pay crap grrrr........ it was fine when i was at home and my parents were helping by buying my son clothes here and there and paying for his school. now its all on me and FH and im gonna go crazy lol

i believe you can have a nice wedding on ANY budget. just keep in mind the most important thing is marrying your special guy and beginning your lives together. if not for the distance i would love to get married right in my dad's back yard where i grew up.

Oh yes!!! Money stress is all I have. I started out attempting to plan a small wedding and somehow ended up with a large wedding and tons of bills to be paid. Winning the lottery would come in real handy right about now ;) Good Luck ladies, we can do it!

Ann neglected to mention that in addition to the cost and time to do DIY, you need space (and plenty of it) to do the projects and store them until the wedding. Always have a backup prepared in case it doesn't turn out the way you envisioned, too. Many are crafty, but some projects need "Martha's" skill level.

oh yes! I'm feeling your pain!
but what has helped me is some major shopping around.
These vendors think we're rich! lol
and save your money!
you'd be suprised at how fast it adds up.
Don't go out to eat anymore and use that money for the wedding.
The sacrifices will totally make up for it on your big day!
good luck

i dont go out to eat much anymore and if i do its something fast and cheap (and FH is not there lol he eats too much to be cheap LOL) i have tried to cut back everywhere and its still hard and i am doing a lot of DIY projects i think the only thing im not doing is my dress the grooms outfit and the bubbles lol the rest i have bought here and there and just putting it together

definitally not alone.. FH's income only doesn't work for us with child support coming out it's very hard.. and just going to be getting harder. I can't work, in the process for tryin to get disability so until then we have to make due. We're living with my parents for a few months which we have to make it on our own by April, they are moving out of state. I haven't bought one thing for our wedding yet... and even though everyone tells me it's so far away and all it'll be here before we know it. I want to be able to have deposits at the year mark at least. Then things should go smoothly but not really counting on that.. I have every detailed planned out just a matter of being able to get those set in stone.
It will work out slowly don't try to do everything at once. Try to look around at your bills to see what you can cut just to save a few dollars..
Good luck and being like your fh said, it will be ok..

I'll add my two cents even though when people gave me this same advice BEFORE my wedding, I didn't listen. Having gone through the entire process and we stretched ourselves to the breaking point to pull of the wedding that we wanted; I would NEVER do what we did if I had to start over. We would've invited only the absolutely closest people to us but instead we invited based on not offending and trying to include as much family as we could. I would've just invited the closest ppl and I would've gone cheaper on the venue and just everything. Like it is not worth the stress that it puts on your relationship and starting off your marriage in the hole. It just creates a tension that doesn't have to be there. Do what you can comfortably afford. If that happens to be nothing; I'd just have a simple ceremony and wait until you're in a better place and do an anniversary party or something. When everyone eats and goes home you're left with the bills and stress instead of just being happy.

Oh, I forgot to include, PLEASE don't count on recouping any money from gifts unless you KNOW for SURE you have the type of family tradition that everyone knows and is expected to give big at weddings. Our family is NOT like that. I know you don't do a wedding for gifts and it's more important to actually have people there to celebrate your love and union; however, I was still completely stunned by some of my gifts or lack there of. So, REALLY consider everything. I know we dream of how we want our day to be but the marriage is so much more important than the wedding day and if I can save anyone from the stress that my husband and I faced after our wedding, that's what I'd like to do.

I think most lay people like ourselves are feeling the money pinch. Not only because we're planning a wedding but in general. This is one of the worst economic times to do anything but pay bills and try to survive. However, if we do that will we really be 'living'?!?

Just try to be realistic with what you can & can not do, cut corners where you can, and make the day special no matter what. It's about LOVE, not so much worrying about what people are gonna say about your wedding. As long as you & your baby loved how you celebrated your day, it's all that really matters.

no we will not get any gifts everyone is broke lol thats why its so tight on us cause we have to get everything for everyone in the bridal party other then one guy im thinking we might have to do the honeymoon later on down the road if we want it to be nice. that would save a lot and we could save up longer for it i have also had issues of being away from my son so...... well we will see how that works lol

Yes! FH lives in the UK so were in an international long distance relationship on top of everything :) However, for the exact reasons AJ J is cautioning we have decided to have an intimate civil ceremony and then have our dream wedding a year later! I swear once we decided to do this it was like a tremendous load had been lifted off our shoulders!

AJJ, I'm in the same place you were and it's too late to turn back now. I was warned by family and friends and of course didn't listen. My FH and I wanted to make everyone comfortable and happy so we allowed our wedding list to grow and grow, we even expanded and got a larger room to accommodate our growing guest list which of course means more $$. I understand completely what you are cautioning about and sometimes wish I can turn back time and start over but I will make the best of it and enjoy the wedding my fh and I have created in hopes to not be too far in a hole when all is said and done.