Small Wedding Planning(50 Guest and under)

@Kelli - Thanks for the input. Something to think about. I definitely want amazing pictures and somebody that knows what they are doing(that's a given lol). Gah it's just so frustrating how much it cost.

We had 45 guests and were married in a historic chapel. Our reception was held in a private room of an upscale restaurant. This allowed for three entree choices, choice of salad, side, and dessert. We did have an open bar. The room had a minimum charge, but it included everything. They also allowed for our florist and baker to come in early and set up.

For the reception we hired a 3-piece jazz band. It was perfect (cheaper than a DJ). This allowed for us to enjoy a first dance/father daughter dance. They played as guests arrived, throughout dinner, and till the end of the reception.

We had a 3-tier cake for show/cut, but all our guests received their own individually wrapped slices in a personalized box to take home (this was their favor).

Bridal party consisted of a reader, MOH, and FG. We didn't skip STD's or formal invitations. We did do our rehearsal invitations online using Paperless Post (our invitations came from Paper by Paperless Post).

No tips on saving money. Our wedding was roughly 15k. We did find a fantastic photographer for $1800 which was a steal for our area. She'd been featured in Brides of North Texas, Wedding Chicks, and others so we knew we struck gold. So my only advice is to shop around, look at portfolios, read reviews, etc.

@Kaegurl Thanks for your post. It's so nice hearing from all the small wedding brides. I like your idea for having a 3 piece jazz band playing throughout the wedding. We are having a harpist play for our ceremony and cocktail hour. For dinner we are using playlist as background music to the conversations and good times.

I like how your cake did double duty as favours. Great tip for us brides on a budget.

I wanted to talk flowers and decor everyone. We are looking for flowers and decor ideas that can do double duty. The flowers for the outdoor ceremony(Bride Bouquet, MOH Bouquet and some flowers by arch) We want to be the sweetheart table decor. The centerpieces we will have for the four tables will not incorporate flowers. Instead we want it to be something that can be repurposed into a home. I wanted to keep one, my MOH keep one, my mother and my mother in law. I was thinking lanterns with candles. Is anyone else working towards repurposing flowers and decor to save money and also not be wasteful? Do you have any ideas?

We had our reception after the ceremony (for a dozen people) in the private dining room of a restaurant, which meant they took care of everything from the background music to the food and alcohol. We didn't have dancing, and the cake (slices, not a "wedding cake") was supplied by the restaurant. The only cost for "venue rental" was the 2% surcharge on the food for use of the private dining room. This definitely simplified planning!

We also made up a CD with all of our ceremony music. And all RSVPs were online.

@2d Bride Wow! I like the simplicity of having it at a private dining room in a restaurant. Originally in the early stages of our planning this was something we were going to do. Definitely love that wedding style. DIY music seems to be common in small weddings, great way to save and these days everyone has mastered the art of making a CD LOVE the convenience of doing RSVP's online. Early today I was planning to create an email for quest to RSVP but now having become familiar with the WW tool I am VERY set on using that. It's perfect!

About decorations that you can use after wedding- we're using Mason jars with baby's breath in them for center pieces which we're going to use for decoration in our house after the wedding. We also got a cool guest book alternative that we plan to hang on the wall afterwards. I will try to post a picture of the guest book alternative.

@Asena O. - Very cool! Love it! Did you make this or have it made? So what will your guest use to sign the wood? Sharpie markers? What colours? Do tell

We are also doing a cool guest book alternative. We are planning a fall wedding. I bought a large white craft pumpkin from Michaels. I will make the top of the pumpkin gold with gold glitter and then write on the front of it -Please sign our Pumpkin guest book- with a brown sharpie. Then everyone can sign and then every year we decorate our home for fall/thanksgiving we can incorporate a piece of our wedding! I got the idea from pinterest Super easy Super cheap. The large white craft pumpkin was marked down more than half price and i already have glitter and sharpies. Below is the inspiration picture.

@Bride2b that's awesome, I love your idea! Fall is my favorite time of year

I wish I would've made it myself, probably would've saved quite a bit of money, but I'm not crafty sadly. I had it made from this girl on FB, Katelyn's Custom Creations I think. We're going to have them use sharpies, probably black so it'll show up well, although I'd like to see if we can do fun colors too

@Asena O. - I'm actually not crafty either. I'm literally a DIY wannabe lol. I happen to know a handful of people that are close to me that are DIY queens. Lets just say they like to lightly encourage it when they can lol. I try.

We are having a very small wedding of about 35-40 guests, we just got a wedding package in Las Vegas that has everything already set up. So we don't have to worry to much about every little detail, our wedding is December 19, 2015 and we are having a cake and champagne in the our suite that was are staying in that was included in the package, it will hold about 45 people. We are very excited for our small wedding with just our families and a few close friends. We are just bring our Ipod and some speakers for music!

@Cecily2938 Sounds like a good time. Just reading about your wedding was relaxing!

Good morning small wedding brides! Has anyone gone to wedding shows or have you chosen to boycott them? I am going to another one on October 25th. I'm hoping to win something so help with my modest budget. Has anyone won anything at a wedding show?

@VMDIZZLE wow, a vacation house on a beach. Beautiful. My fiance and I had an early idea of renting a cottage on a lake.

The thing I like about small weddings is it can allow you to bring your dream wedding to reality without breaking the bank. The bank is not broken not because you were thrifty but because you chose to spend it with those absolutely closes to you and not everybody and their mother. Thanks for sharing =)

@VMDIZZLE & that is what it is all about, love it! =)

@bride2b - i think you will find photography the hardest to find on a budget. It's not impossible by any means, but it will be your biggest challenge for several reasons. Bottom line, most of the work for photographers isn't in the time they spend at your wedding, but the hours they spend editing your footage afterwards. Cutting down hours helps with that, but it's still a lot of work.

I think you mentioned it, but definitely try going to a local commercial art university or something and see if there are students looking do start a portfolio. You might be able to get a great eye for art for a great price because they need experience. It's a tad risky, but if you help them with a shot list and some suggestions of stuff you like, you may get exactly what you want since they already know what they are doing with a camera. Good luck to you!!! I love small weddings

@Ashley C. thanks for shedding light on the reality of what you're paying for...all the editing hours. I I I will keep looking for a little longer and then ill have to make a decision. Thanks for the advice Ashley C.!

I had a small backyard wedding (roughly 50 attended). Total spent was around $4k. My family helped out a lot (free tables, chairs & linens; cake made by my aunt; brother-in-law is a chef so he cooked & we bought food; best friend did all of my flower arrangements and I purchased the flowers & supplies for $100). I DIYed a few decorations and our invitations. I bought beautiful blank cards from target ($21 for 30!!), created a template in word and printed them on my home printer. I used the WW RSVP tool but most people just called or texted to let me know they were coming. The WW tool made it easy to check those people off my list though and track who I had and hadn't heard from. I bought some vintage china & my mom found a lot for me at a local free-cycle place. I bought votive holders and vases from a woman on craigslist who was getting rid of her left over wedding decor ($25 for more than I needed). I also got real silverware this way for $1 per place setting. I thought about buying a second hand dress but fell in love with a new one from DB. Planning to sell it to recoup some of the cost if I can. My photography was a gift from one of my aunts who is a professional photographer. I am sending her a massive thank you gift though. Feel free to connect with me if you want more details on my penny pinching wedding ideas.

@Hannah - loved all the ways you saved. You are so lucky to have so many talented helpful people around you. Unfortunately I do not have that. Thanks for sharing your wedding details =)

Another alternative if you want fresh flowers are to order them from Costco (no membership required) or Sam's Club (membership needed). I am going to pay less than $100 for decorating flowers.