Help figuring out wedding budget

I'm not really sure how to save up for a wedding if I have no idea how much I need. Anyone here an expert that can help me out?

Anyone here have simple outdoor weddings and can tell me how much you spent on what you did?

For us, we want it to be outdoors. In the winter when it's least humid and hot in Florida. We're wanting some kind of white arch that can be moved around, white fold out chairs for the guests (around 50 people), tables, cheap catering enough for the amount of people coming. And still deciding on the open bar, seeing as the mother of the groom is a major major alcoholic. Might go with just a handful of bottles of champagne or wine.

We'd probably buy decorations and possibly make some by getting materials from Michaels. And make playlists on an iPod for music. As for space, it should be big enough to have the reception directly after the wedding and just have the guests move to the tables after the ceremony. And maybe get tents to cover where the tables are in case it rains.

 

Also plan to have a photographer friend do the pictures. I'll offer to pay her but I doubt she'll accept it

 

My words of advice are cut back on the wedding budget where you can, so you can have $ for the honeymoon budget, which is a separate financial budget, because that's where lots of special memories are made.


Ask for receipts for wedding gifts, return what is redundant for $, the guests should understand if they call you on it in the future about where the item they gave you is; given that we're still climbing out of a recession and all.

 

Keep it simple it means more that way

 

That's a good idea. That's why we want to have the ceremony at a park or somewhere public rather than at an expensive resort. And I doubt we're even going to get any wedding gifts, but I'll keep that in mind.

That was the plan

 

You should start out by doing lots of research. For example, many parks, or other public locations, require permits for weddings and such. The cost depends on where you are (permits where I am range from $20-150 depending on the location). Do you have a friend or family member that would let you use their back yard?

If you are having a small ceremony, and want to save money...ask your wedding guests to bring their own chairs. (It will shock you how costly they are to rent.) If you are a member of a church, they will often loan you tables and chairs. Again, research your options. Many times family members or friends have contacts that would be beneficial. I have been to many weddings that used straw bales for seating. Bales are pretty cheap, or can be borrowed if you can find them...especially after Halloween. (If you buy them, they are great for mulch in flowerbeds after the ceremony)

Craigslist is a great place to find help, be it cheap decor, or locations. Remember, when it comes to weddings nothing tends to be free! Even if a minister does not charge for the ceremony, a tip is considered appropriate. Wedding photos cost money, even if you have a friend taking the pictures for free, rarely do they pay for the prints (many online sites offer great deals). Speaking of online, again...research!! There are many sites that offer free/cheap stuff for brides to be.

You can make your own invitations, which will save a lot of money IF you are careful and keep them simple. Envelopes and paper are often cheaper at online auction sites than in the store. Decorations can be as simple as jars filled with sand (couple of inches of sand) and tea lights, or other simple things. Thrift stores are a great resource for cheap bottles, glasses, decor items etc. Cheap flat sheets are often cheaper than table cloths, and work just fine.

Close the bar!!!! Open bars are great, for the guests...and hell on your pocketbook! For an open bar, you would need to pay for the liquor and the bartender (and server if any) and also have to worry about guests having one too many drinks. Some places also require a party permit if you have an open bar in a public location, or do not allow them at all. Keep it simple, soda, tea, water, etc with a champagne toast is acceptable.

Food costs can add up quick! It is perfectly acceptable to have a meat/cheese and fruit/veggie trays. If you have a wedding later in the day, dinner is often expected...and can be extremely costly. If you do a sit down service, you will either need to pay for servers (a costly option) or have friends/family help out. A simple buffet of meats, cheeses, fruit and veggies is easier on you and your checkbook. You could ask close friends to help with the food in lieu of a wedding gift if you feel comfortable doing so.

If you are willing to spend the time researching, it will pay off in the end. There are countless websites designed to show you how to have a beautiful wedding that won't leave you in debt. You just have to be willing to put in the time and effort....and this is where friends and family come in handy. Ask for help, but always remember to be appreciative when you get it. (No bridezilla!!)

Another option, if you dont have to have a wedding ceremony, would be getting married at the courthouse and having a reception with friends and family.

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.

 

LOTS of great advice, thank you! I'm definitely thinking of asking some of the groom's family to provide food. I suppose it's possible to use one of their houses for the reception which would bypass the need for the tables. I doubt that all of the people on our list will be able to make it to the wedding.

I just have a major dislike of asking people for help with something as big as this. Hopefully I'll get over it. I'll have to if I want to actually get married, because money is always tight. We've been engaged for almost a year already!

As much as I would love that, that would be insanely expensive lol

 

Well, ours was going to be outdoors, but we had to move it inside because it decided to rain all morning and then give us wind gusts of 40-50 MPH. All in all, we probably spent less than $1,000. I myself spent about $650 give or take a bit.

There are a lot of different meals you can make in large amounts for fairly cheap, but you need to keep in mind your dress and how comfortable you are eating certain foods in it. We had hamburgers, baked beans, and a variety of chips at my wedding and my in-laws took care of it, but I'd guess they spent less than $300. My maid of honor is an angel and bought all the sodas (if you go that route, try to make sure there are at least 2-3 sodas for each person and at least a bottle of water for everyone) and she had so many left over at the end, she took them home and sold them at work, lol.

We had our reception indoors and that cost me $200 (I got $75 of that back after we cleaned up), but they had tables and chairs there, so I didn't have to worry about finding those. Ask around, oftentimes churches or city halls have extra chairs they'd be more than happy to let you borrow.

You should keep in mind how decorative you want it to be. I got my archway at Hobby Lobby for $15 during a half off sale of their wedding stuff (seriously, check them out often if possible, they put that stuff on sale all the time and I got so lucky and ended up there during one of the sales). It's kind of flimsy, not the most sturdy thing in the world, and it's huge (7+ feet), but it's light so it moves easily.

Cliche as it sounds, mason jars with ribbon tied around the top, about an inch of epsom salt in the bottom, and a tea light make really cute centerpieces for tables. I used Coke bottles ($1 a piece at the grocery store, look around, you could easily find small vases at Dollar Trees, craft stores, and thrift stores for around the same) as vases with a single spider daisy in each, and used bigger Coke bottles for daisy arrangements I bought for $3 at Dollar General. If you aren't set on fresh flowers, you can do a pretty nice set up with silk flowers for much less. My mother-in-law bought us a roll of tablecloth on orientaltrading.com (great place for all sorts of wedding stuff, go check it out) for about $15 and it was enough to cover all the guest tables and leave a little extra. You can get table cloths for the serving tables for $1 a piece at most dollar stores, in a variety of colors.

If you're going to have kids at your wedding, it's a great idea to spring for a few cheap packs of crayons (just dump them all out in a cheap basket), several coloring books, and bubbles! I did that for the kids at my wedding, probably spent far less than $25 to do it, and the 7 or 8 kids that were there were occupied the whole time and they were so good! I even got a couple of pictures to bring home and put on my fridge.

Neither of these things were worries for us because we didn't exactly go the traditional route, but if you're getting a marriage license and having a legal ceremony, then make sure to count those costs into your budget. Find out how much a license will cost in your state (I want to say they're about $65 here, didn't get one, so not sure, lol) and make sure you find out how much a preacher will cost. Some do it for free but it's generally a courtesy to give them a tip of at least $25 for taking the time out of their day.

If you haven't already taken care of the wedding party attire, think about what the feel of your wedding is and figure out what the cheapest route is to do what you'd like. These days bridesmaids often pay for their own dresses (and in return, it's good etiquette to give them small tokens of appreciation, I made mine little plaques with their initials on them in our wedding colors. Cost about $6 each and a few hours of my time), but it's nice to try to make it easy on them. There are lots of websites online with nice dresses for very affordable prices, you just have to look around. If you aren't feeling too fancy with your groom's party, you could always have them pick up some khakis and white button-ups for a beachy theme. Once again, groom's party these days also normally pays for their attire, but it's a good idea to thank them with gifts (flasks or monogrammed handkerchiefs are popular).

If you decide to do the cake yourself, it will be a lot cheaper, but keep in mind the amount of work it will be and make sure you allot yourself time. My maid of honor took me on a girl's afternoon when I was really supposed to be making cupcakes and we left them in my mom and grandma's hands and they turned out sooo ugly. Haha. Keep in mind, it's a good thing to have plenty, but you very well could have too much (everyone was eating cupcakes for daaaaays after), so don't stress out too bad if you don't think there will be enough. Chances are really good with a meal provided as well, there will be plenty whatever you choose to do. If you'd like it made, start asking around now. You might be surprised and find someone knows someone who can bake you a really nice cake for much cheaper than a bakery.

And also, unless you have your heart set on favors, don't even waste your money. People will forget them and even if everyone takes them home, they'll soon be collecting dust. No one will miss them if you leave them out.

If I think of anything else, I'll return, but those are the big pieces of advice I have for you now.

 

Lots of good tips, Ramona! Thanks. I agree about the favors. I wasn't planning on bothering with those. I'm thinking of just asking my maid of honor and my bridesmaid (only have two really good friends as of now) to wear a dress they already own of a certain color or something inexpensive, while the groom has his groomsmen wear suit jackets with a tie of the color he chooses. I still want the groomsmen and my bridesmaids to dress formal. As for the guests, obviously they can wear whatever they want as long as it's not jeans or shorts and t shirts.

I love the idea about the jars with tealights. That's one of the decorations that I definitely want. And as for the archway, I'm sure I could find something like that around here. My fiance's uncle had cupcakes at his wedding and I really didn't mind or miss the cake, so I thought it was a good idea too. Some friends can spend the day before the wedding making batches of cupcakes for the guests. I wouldn't even mind cooking some of the food for the reception myself (I love cooking if you can't tell lol). I'm glad to hear that a nice wedding can be done with under 1000 dollars. My aim in making this thread was for someone to give me a number so I have a ballpark amount that we should save before we even start thinking of planning. I liked the sound of your wedding (I saw some of the pics too on your profile) so I think your number is a good place to start. I really appreciate you taking the time to detail all of this for me :2thumbsup:

I definitely want to get favors for the groomsmen and the bridesmaids. Not for the whole party because I know from experience (and what Kinky Ramona said) that no one really cares about them. But I know my fiance's best man would love a flask with his initials in it. And maybe some sterling silver necklaces for my maid of honor and bridesmaid.

Well, we wanted to have the wedding in wintertime (not this year, maybe next year) but it's always warm here so there's always a good selection of flowers. Carnations are pretty cheap here.

 

Girl, I love telling people about my wedding and dishing out wedding advice, so if you have any questions you need to PM me over, feel free! My wedding was definitely not lavish or extravagant, but it was the best night of my life and everyone had a really good time, so I consider it a hit in my book.

 

I dont mean to be rude but isnt there magazines for this

 

lol Those magazines are NOT a place to get advice when you're on a limited budget.

 

Thanks Ramona. I definitely will hit you up if I have any questions

and Peaceful Libra, the magazines are good if you're looking to spare no expense. They don't show you where to get a non-name brand dress or how to save money. Shit, just buying one of those magazines is like 7 bucks. I'd rather interact with people who've had realistic weddings.

 

Lol, post.no. 12 is that a hip forums record? I had to scroll for like 3 hours

 

I've seen bigger.

 

Thats not the first time someone has said that to me

Edit: doh, replied before. I saw drumins post, now i sound like a parrot