What are you doing to cut back wedding expenses?

Oh! Also SMALL wedding party!

Friday night weddings are a life saver.

View Quoted Comment That’s what we’re doing! Unfortunately the price is the same no matter the day or time of year, but luckily we’re under $100 PP

After much research, we chose a more inclusive venue. The per person rate includes open bar, food, champagne toast, tables and all of that..even centerpieces and cake.. The dj is reasonably priced. I did the save the dates and will also be doing the invitations myself. We're not having a photographer at all. I'm making the bouquets and boutonnieres, any signage we choose to use and other decorations. It's still more than I wanted to spend but FH really felt strongly about having it somewhere were we didn't have to worry too much about set up and clean up. All we need to do it put decorations where we want them and take them home when it's over.

Like a lot of you, we don't want to break the bank either. We don't really have a 'budget' so to say, but I have had to be realistic. When I say we don't have a budget I don't mean we have endless funds, but I mean that we don't have a specific number written down to stick too. One thing that has truly helped me was not rushing things. I know what I want, and in order to have the type of wedding that I want it was going to take us a little longer to make it happen COMFORTABLY. I have given plenty of time for me to research (and I am still researching), I gave myself plenty of time to find myself a dress that I felt was a reasonable price for ME (I paid $1900 and it was exactly what I wanted). We got engaged in May 2018 and we are getting married June 2020. This time has given us the opportunity to book the things we truly want (within reason because we are NOT rich- or even close LOL) in advance and pay them off little by little. Don't be afraid to wait a few months more than you would like to in order to get what you truly want.

-No favors, programs, or escort cards

-No champagne toast

-Having friends help with music and photos. (Before anyone freaks, they're legit).

-No videographer

-Keeping guest list down and not adding a B-list

-Ordering flat invitations with the website printed on them

-Small cutting cake with supplemental sheet cakes

-Flowerless centerpieces and only doing fresh flowers for wedding party

-DIY as much as I could haha

-Limited décor thanks to an already decorated venue for the holidays

-No extras: photobooth, transportation, lighting, HAMU, dessert bars, extra serving stations, etc

-Shop everything on sale!

Florals were a big thing for me!!! I couldn't imagine spending a ton of money on flowers that were just going to die. Especially when majority of flowers are for the ceremony which isn't even that long. So my FMIL and I went to Hobby Lobby and Michael's and got some of the fake Fall florals, because FH and I's wedding is in mid September next year, and we're making bouquets out of them for all bridesmaids and myself and boutonnières for the groomsmen/grandparents/parents etc. We just went this past week and Fall florals are 40% off. We plan to go after Fall too to score some once they're discounted even more but figured we would get the majority right now because if we wait who knows if we would get everything we needed. I also am going to plant some sunflowers myself this next Summer and probably use for the center pieces. The Sunflower seeds to plant I think I spent $5 in total for at least over 100 seeds. I inserted some pictures of my maid of honor's bouquet my FMIL threw together. They are with burgundy and navy dresses also because we were looking at them with the 2 different colors comparing to see what they looked like. 😁

-no programs or excess signs
-dress was $180, don't need alterations
-no videographer
-no dj
-no wedding cake, will eat cake that's provided as dessert
-no venue fee if have a minimum of 50 guests
-only flowers for wedding party
-spending under $200 for decorations

My fiancé and I are cutting back on:
1. DIYing many things such as decorations and lighting
2. Borrowing tables and chairs from family members
3. Not having a photographer because many of or friends are photographers (as well as family members) who are willing to do it for free!
4. No videographer
5. No DJ, we are setting up a playlist on Spotify and just buying a subscription for that month for ad free
6. No Save The Dates, everyone knows about our wedding and we don’t feel like ordering both STDs and invites.
7. We are getting married at my in-laws house, so we don’t need to pay for a venue!

We’re doing:

1. mostly DIY projects instead of buying it ready made
2. I’m making cupcakes instead of ordering an expensive cake
3. Not hiring an officiant. We will either officiate our own wedding or asking a friend to do it
4. Downloadable invitation outlines instead of ordering invitations from a specific place
5. Having the wedding on a Sunday morning Instead of a Saturday
6. Considering only serving mimosas for alcohol, or no alcohol at all
7. Keeping dress alterations (hopefully) to a minimum
8. Choosing a lower priced catering option
9. The only favor will be a wand handmade by me (it’s a Harry Potter themed wedding)
10. We’re considering renting speakers and playing music off of a playlist instead of hiring a DJ

Flowers... if I had an unlimited budget I would have walls and walls of flowers like Kim and Kanye’s wedding... instead I’m going to bulk order from sams club and put together my own bouquets and centerpieces.

1) we are purchasing flowers from farmers Market and vases at IKEA
2) purchased a clearance dress at a fancy bridal shop ( don’t be afraid to ask for the clearance section) $650.
3) guest list at 55
4) no videographer
5) my sister will be my day of coordinator
6) shutter fly 50% off invitation and STD

We are doing:
1. Sunday wedding
2. DIY flowers ordering from Raley's
3. Greenery and wood cut centerpieces are coming from a tree at my dads
4. Not hiring a caterer! This is saving tons! We originally hired a caterer and he turned out to be a horrible and unprofessional person so we fired him and having my dads coworkers do the food. They're firefighters and make killer BBQ and amazing side dishes.
5. Buffet style
6. Bought cutlery and plates off Amazon
7. Small wedding of 96 guests

No engagement photos
No bridal shower party
No bridesmaids
We decided to invest in our backyard and make it really nice istead of renting a venue
Im doing most decorations
We are doing taco and quesadilla bar
We are having a table with alcohol so the guest can ger whatever they want
Im constantly looking for besta deals
We are keeping the list to about 50 people
We aren't using tons of flowers but the decorations are coming out nice.
Im using silk flowers
We weren't going to have phtography or videography but after months of looking i food a good deal.
We are going to spend about 5,600 for every thing without counting the remodeling of our backyard since we were going to do anyways.

- no save the dates, online rsvp only, and our invites were from paperculture.com which were 20% off +had a Groupon. They print on recycled paper and plant a tree with every order highly rec.
- cheap dj and videographer as those were not as important to us as having good photos and good food/open bar
- reception at a restaurant made planning a lot easier and no big venue fee. it’s fully decorated so no extras needed
- small cake for cutting and donuts for guests. We are also providing midnight snack bags for guests to bring the donuts home
- no champagne toast
-limited flowers
- 80 person guest list and small wedding party

You can make a guest book for really cheap. I know someone who used a poleroid camera and had there guests take a picture and write a message. Then they saved them all and made a scrap book later when they had money to put towards it

Also, we are looking in the clearance sections of bridal shops for my dress (like David bridal has a $200 and lower section that's fairly large).

Instead of going with a DJ we are making our own playlist for free.

We are providing 2 main dishes and then having a lot luck for side dishes and desserts (other than the wedding cake)

We also got our invites for cheap from Walmart too (photo booth place)

My dress was 250
no florist
no video
no program
DIY signs
DIY seating chart
5 hours for whole wedding

View Quoted Comment That’s the way to go ,I’m planning to do that.