With the onslaught of celebrity weddings publicized every which way you turn, it is easy to believe you have to spend millions to have the wedding of your dreams. It is simply not true.
Our wedding costs $3,000. No, it wasn’t at the Justice of the Peace's office or in Las Vegas. It was a church wedding followed by a complete dreamy reception at an area historic hall.
I don’t remember the details about what costs what, but I do remember my mom setting the budget at $3,000 and us staying under that. I do remember where we cut costs and I thought I would share some advice on how to stay under budget and still have an amazing wedding.
Be creative
Our biggest discount came from my husband’s grandparents, who were florists. It is probably highly unlikely that your relatives are florists, but there are ways to cut costs. Choose flowers that are in season and easily accessible locally to the florists. Costs add up if they have to get them shipped in.
Next, look for a church that already has a nice ambiance. We also saved money at the reception by finding a place where the cost included tables, linens and chairs.
Don’t be afraid to shop the dollar store. We bought glass bowls from the dollar store and floating candles. These became the centerpieces on the tables. We took petals from the extra flowers and spread them around the floating candle centerpiece. I think we maybe spent $30 on decorations at the reception.
Candles are cheap and add that extra romantic feel. You can also borrow the leftover candles from someone who recently just got married. I kept all of mine because I did not want to just throw them out and would have been more than willing to share with a friend.
Look to college students
We were in college when we got married. It sounds cheesy, but there are a lot of talented people in college on the verge of graduating and doing what they do best. They are always looking for money and unaware of what they should really be paid. Our organist and pianist was a local college student. We paid him $50.
But our best deal was our photographer. I do suggest always asking to look at portfolios before hiring since your wedding is such a big deal, but college students can do an awesome job and even the professionals mess up sometimes.
Case in point, my brother’s wedding was photographed by the area’s top photographer, who happened to be pregnant at the time. By the time the wedding came, she was having labor pains and messed up completely. The only pictures they have are ones that relatives took.
We used a friend of ours from college. She charged us $300 and we got all of the prints and negatives so that we could get the sizes that we needed. Plus, she was a friend so she was willing to take extra time and do fun poses as well as the traditional. And she wasn’t nearly as frustrated with crazy family members.
Look for sales on dresses
Several wedding dress stores have major sales twice a year or more depending on where you live. We lived in a small state and really one store had the market on wedding dresses. Twice a year they had a half price sale. My advice is: even if your wedding is far away, start checking out these sales. Call ahead when you know a sale is coming up and schedule an appointment for that day. It is crazy enough with the extra mass of girls. Make sure you are a priority to the sales ladies and they will do whatever it takes. I paid $800 for a $1600 dress. If you live in a large city, $800 is probably even too much.
Also, when it comes to alterations, stay away from chains or big businesses. A woman who did sewing out of her house did my dress. It was great because we didn’t ever have to worry about being there before she closed or anything. Plus it was a lot cheaper. I have heard people say they spent more on alterations than on the dress. Look for a new dress if you have to alter it that much.
Wait tables
My husband and I both worked at the restaurant that catered our food at the reception. The manager gave us a huge discount. I think we paid $3 a person. It was awesome food! However, we were able to get away with just doing appetizers such as fried ravioli, etc. because of the timing of our wedding. My advice is not to do the big dinner, spend that money on the honeymoon.
Have a Dollar Dance
I always thought these were tacky until my wedding day. We made a killing. If you have not heard of these, people pay a $1 to dance with the bride or groom (no one just pays a $1, either). It was excellent.
Go with bubbles
Bubbles are cheaper and less time consuming than rice or birdseed. Plus, it makes adorable pictures. I saw wedding bubbles today in Target at a $1 a pack. You can’t beat that. They also had little bachelorette hats for $1. I can’t stress enough go to discount stores.
Save on invitations
There are a ton of sites available online which allow you to do your own invitations. If you have a friend who is good at computer graphics, solicit help. Target even sells wedding invitation paper. There is no need to waste money. Write addresses yourself or assemble them. Our invitations were these kind that had a ribbon tied through the front that you had to untie to see the invitation. My husband and I had some good quality time doing these invitations together. Plus if you write your own addresses, it adds a more personal touch.
Get a friend to video
Please, what more can a professional video person do. With today’s technology high school kids can throw together professional looking videos. And if you are like us, technology changes so fast that chances are before too long you won’t even have the capability to watch your own wedding.
Don’t sweat the money part of the wedding. It is ok to cut costs. It happens all so fast and it is hard to even remember most of what happened between the nerves and scheduling. Besides, the only people who remember the details are you and your husband anyway. Everyone else is too busy eating cake, socializing and having fun.
