Under $1,000 wedding, what's your advice?

Just look for sales.look at dollar stores,discount stores,hobby lobby,flower factory,michaels..look during sales.check out etsy,ebay,overstock..get religious with all this stuff...I got my shoes...the prettiest shoes ive ever owned for $10!!! at the payless in the mall.during a sale.Everyones advice here is awesome!Its a bit rough stay in a small budget..but ya just dive in pull together with friends and family..and it can be done! OH..and we only sent real invites to family...the rest we made a private facebook invite..some said no..tacky...but it was free and our friends didnt mind a bit!

Honestly I will tell you to skip all of the traditional stuff and just to go the courthouse then out to dinner if you're only wanting to spend $1000 for 100 people. You're out of your ever loving mind.

ETA- PLEASE do not use a friend for your photographs. I can't even count how many people get screwed over when they use friends as vendors.

I also want to add this, please correct me if I'm wrong, it seems like you're having family pay for the majority of your wedding. Why is that? I hope you're prepared to have to take their opnions into more consideration since they're paying for your wedding. If you paid for it yourself you wouldn't have to listen to Great Aunt Betty who wants to invite 12 of her closest friends.

Well a lot of us on here don't have family who can help with paying so we have/had budgets that are considerably higher. Do not skimp on a DJ. Single most important part that makes or breaks a reception next to alcohol. An iPod can't direct the flow of events, make introductions or read a crowd. Don't skimp on alcohol either. Helps people relax and dance and enjoy themselves.

Wow 1000 and you have all that left to do!

what about flowers? rentals? (table clothes, plates, napkins,)

marriage licence?

sounds like you have alot left

And i wouldnt claim that your doing it for under 1000 bucks cause you have ppl helping

Again, didn't claim anything. I just said those with that actual wedding budget to give some advice. I just said I'm paying $1,000 (or trying to) for everything else. Also, my family helps with all events really, not just mine. I told them what kind of food, they were okay with it. I told them what dress, they are just giving me the money and I'll go with my BM's to purchase it. It's a christian wedding so um, no alcohol. No dancing, that is a personal choice so no I do not want a DJ. I think an I pod will do. I do have a lot left, but I'm just talking about the actual decorations and whatnot.. not so much the marriage licence. lol Thank you for your advice ladies. No matter what your motives were.

The problem is that advice from any bride who was really having a $1,000 wedding would not help you. For example, a bride with a $1,000 wedding might tell you to have just a cake and punch reception, because there is no way you could afford to serve a meal for that many people with only $1,000 to spend. But that advice wouldn't help you, because your food is already taken care of.

People are not trying to be mean by telling you that your budget is really much more than $1,000. It's just that if you want advice targeted to your budget, you have to specify what your real budget--not just that portion of it that you are paying for--is.

Well said 2d bride

thats exactly the point

Alondra, I am not doing favors! I haven't really seen anything that I like and I don't really care for them personally. However I decided that I would instead give each one of my guest a handwritten letter from David & I. A Little scroll on vintage paper tied with a bow. Addressed to each person differently and personally.

Telling them what they mean to me, and how grateful that I am to have them share the day with me. etc.

Yes, this is time consuming however I think it would mean alot to my guest.

It'll also make me realize how special the people in my life really are.

I know that it would mean the world to me if I were them.

That's FREE!

Just an idea..

Well, I've already purchase my favors from Michaels. It wasn't much really, 100 boxes for $20 bucks I think. That is a sweet idea though, way to go!

@ 2nd bride, I'm not being offended or hurt by anyones advice. I know my wedding is more than $1,000, I know I got lucky by getting the church for free and having a family who is used to cooking for so many people (we have a lot of family gatherings) I just wanted to get some pointers to save on other parts of the wedding. Like the decorations for the reception isnt more that $300 because the church has tables/chairs/lenens in a storage room (for up to 100 guest). I guess I'll just see how it goes. Thanks for all the advice ladies! I will keep in mind a lot of what you have said and in a couple months I'll be back to tell you if I pulled it off or not.

I was just going to say you should really make a donation to the church as well. just cause its FREE, which is awesome, you still need to...well you SHOULD make a donation as a thank you. Also, for what you have left, dont stress the decoarations.... you got tables for everyone to sit at already? and linens? then go ahead and just do some votive candles, it gives a nice glow and that's fine. ppl with a $1000 budget for JUST the decorations can help.. but those with just a $1000, cant really help ya, cause like 2D said, they skipped the food, nice dress, etc...you can totally do it, you'll have to be frugal. You can do the iPod like ya said...esp if its more a laid back wedding. ya know?!

Here's a few random tips:

Invitations: try vistaprint.com - they offer discounted invitations all the time. Plus free return address labels (which will save you time). They offer tons of freebies on their site which is great for an added touch. I think the big thing right now is having business cards with a free photo-sharing website.

Bridal gifts : etsy.com has tons of personalized and handmade things that you can look through. Most of the vendors there are super sweet and respond very quickly.

Cake : What about buying a smaller "designed" cake, then getting a larger sheet cake that sits in the back. For a lot of people, you could save money there. OR cupcakes!

Does that $1k include you buying your dress? If so, I would look into sites like recycledbride.com and oncewed.com for used wedding dresses, also it never hurts to keep an eye out on craigslist and ebay for used wedding dresses. Go with good quality silk flowers instead of real, and either go to a nice restraunt or do food on your own. We are working with a max of $3k, I am tyring my best to make it more like $2.5k for our budget. We have spent a little over $300 and I have enough decorations made for about 50-70 people as well as my bouquet and my girls bouquets. Just shop shop shop around for deals, keep an eye out for when Michael's runs sales on craft supplies, especially their floral sales and you will save a ton, sign up for Michael's and Hobby Lobby's email thing so you can get coupons from them. If you want to use river rocks and vases, Dollar Tree (as weird as it sounds) is your friend, as well as thrift stores and yard sales too!

@Sabrina, I'll be tiping my pastor for his service and will include a thank you card. He really is great for letting me use the church, so I wouldn't just take and not give back.

@ Nicole, I actually found a vendor on WW (King Design) who will work with me on invites. She is making them for less that $40 (I only need 30 invites w/o RSVP cards) but there is a problem I have VistaPrint in mind I've actually bought stuff from Etsy already. Love that site! & I probably won't skim on the cake. Since my family is doing the food, I think they derve good cake.

@ Countrybride, in my culture your godparents purchase the dress so it's not coming from my pocket. I'm buying it at davids bridal. Baby's breath bouquets will be the centerpieces and i've purchased all the vases for them already. (Baby's breath are very inexpensive) and if you google them you'll see that they look very nice as a centerpiece.

Alondra,

My friends and family helped me out with the majority of my wedding. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes that comes with more input from them, or different results than you expected - but sometimes it works out. My husband's close friend is a REALLY good photographer and he did our wedding pictures. They're STUNNING and I don't regret it one bit! It seems like you're happy with your choices so far so I don't see why people are trying to talk you out of them.

Our budget was around $3,500 and that was including the ways friends/family helped us out. So maybe, realistically, that's closer to you budget. Either way, you're just looking for tips and I'll try to help you out here since I consider my wedding a budget-friendly one.

@ Jaimie, thank you very much. You gave me a little hope there. I am greatful that my family & friends are willing to help but really all the advice made me see how I should show them just how greatful I am. I will give them a generous tip (pastor/photgrapher) and will not skim on all the small things like the cake and presents for the bridal party. I think after getting engaged my mom mentioned me having a make up artist and I said no the reason being I could do my own. Now I've been searching for a vendor all morning Lol I don't think the ladies were trying to talk me out of much. They made me see how great and supportive everyone is and how I should give back so I appreciate all advice! Thank you again!

What type of wedding are you imagining? Formal or less formal? Perhaps a suit would be better for how much you're looking to spend. If you buy it, it may be more now - but he'd have a tux for in the future and that's a good investment. Renting is just throwing money away.

Cake - you don't have to skimp on it, but if you're trying to impress people, stir away from the fondant. A lot of people don't like it. Plus, buttercream is around 3x less expensive! Talk about a deal. Also, think of what's more important - either height or design.

Bridal party gifts - I'm a big fan of the gift baskets/purses/totes. Look at target's $1 section, they usually have hair accessories, fingernail polish. There are a lot of directions for how to make cheap small purses. Etsy also has some. You can buy cheap totes at Hobby Lobby or any craft store and decorate them yourself.

That's true! Definitely thank them.

I did my own makeup and I think it turned out amazing(but then again, I'm biased. lol)

We got our wedding bands on etsy and they were only $300 together. What gown accessories are you looking for? If you could go Black Friday shopping, you might get good deals on jewelry. My brother got me a pearl set(necklace, earrings, bracelet) one time for $50.

Don't forget all the little things that add up like the serving set for the cake, the cake topper, jewelry, guest book, toasting glasses, garter, shoes, the gifts for the bm, gm and parents. Also, have you ordered your flowers? Also remember to tip the officiant and other vendors (friends) performing services to you. You will also have to remember that you will have to send out thank you's which add up and purchase your pictures wedding pictures. Are you doing a rehearsal dinner because that can add to the price of food as well.

As for the cake, check out your local grocery store, to my surprise my Giant grocers does really good wedding cake for a lot cheaper then any bakery!! Hope this helps!

I can't imagine a smaller wedding than what we are having and my parents are thankfully paying for it--but its going to be 30K --- DIY projects really help though--- DIY STDs =)