Frugal Wedding ideas...Post em here!

[sg784]

We're getting married!

We want a intimate ceremony with only DP and I and our kids. And maybe somone to take pictures. Afterwards, either that day or next day, we'd like to just have a giant party. Either at a state park or right herein our backyard. It will be end of May.

Hit me up with all your best frugal wedding/reception tips! We're thinking bbq/cook our own food,(no catering fees) have music from an ipod (no dj)...and eh...thats about all we can come up with!

Ideas for favors (are they even necessary?), decorations, what else?

[zinemama]

Enlist a friend to be your official photographer.

We didn't have favors on the tables, but we put disposable cameras on each table and told the guests to go wild.

[MaterBum]

Congratulations!

What we did for flowers/favors at our frugal wedding was get tulip bulbs that had sprouted up, but the flowers weren't open yet. We planted a bulb per pretty, but cheap, container. The containers were all different, and sitting around to decorate. Then, each guest got to choose one and take it home. Each had a note tied to it that read something like, "Thank you for sharing our day and helping us to grow and blossom as a couple with your love and support." We still hear people talk about our wedding tulips blooming in their yards each year. It really did look pretty, and I think each bulb with planter and dirt was only about $2.00 each. We got the planters at different places (Big Lots, Good Will, wherever we saw a few that caught our eye). I thought the different shapes, sizes, colors was really festive! You go do whatever bulb/flower you thought was pretty. Hyacinths & tulips are very plentiful during spring.

We didn't do a traditional wedding cake (those are really expensive!). Instead, we had a local restaurant make fancy little dishes of tarimasu and creme brulee and cherries jubilee. It cost less than a cake, and gave folks options, and their arrangement on the table looked stunning in their fancy little bowls and saucers.


Good luck planning your big day!

[sg784]

Originally Posted by zinemama

Enlist a friend to be your official photographer.

We didn't have favors on the tables, but we put disposable cameras on each table and told the guests to go wild.

Dp's Sister has a great camera. We'll more than likely ask her. I love the idea of disp cameras!!

[BetsyS]

We didn't do favors.

My favorite flower is zinnias, so we used potted zinnias for the tables.

Instead of a wedding cake, we had 5 different layer cakes from the best bakery in town (it was a small wedding--5 was more than enough). The table was gorgeous with the different colors of cakes, it was delicious, and it was much cheaper than a "real" cake.

We did splurge on a photographer, but she was just starting out, so cheaper than someone experienced would be. I've looked at her prices lately (10 years later), and no way could we afford her now. So look at someone new to the business, but with a good eye for pictures.

I wore a dress I bought at Rich's (Macy's). Didn't even need altering. I think I paid $40 for it. My dh wore a family kilt, so no money there, either.

I had some flowers done for the wedding (a bouquet for me, some bouittineres, a few corsages, a big arrangement for the church/same one used for the reception). We used someone local that incorporated "yard flowers" into her arrangements. I'm not sure that it was that much cheaper, but it was very sentimental. We used a family silver loving cup thing for the arrangement, and the flowers had rosemary (for rememberence), some other herbs, and some flowers that were growing locally during my wedding. I loved my flowers. If you are at all crafty, you could do something similar yourself.

[momct]

You can get a big sheet cake from Costco for about $20.00.Yellow cake with cheesecake filling and white frosting is delicious. They do one that is all white frosting with white roses and lattice work decoration.

[nameisrio]

I actually thought the disposable cameras we put out at my wedding were a huge waste of $. They didn't take very good pictures, esp. after dark. A lot of the shots were just drunk people playing with the camera and some people even took them home and never returned them! So many people have good digital cameras now - maybe you could put the word out for them to take pictures and share them later. You could even create a collective spot for people to download them - I think you can do that on Shutterfly or one of those sites.

I'd also say don't waste your time/$ on favors. Most people don't go to a wedding in hopes of walking away with something. They are just there to have fun and honor you!

Congrats!

[PenelopeJune]

My disposable pictures didn't bring any good pictures, either.


Plant a flower garden in your yard this year. Then you have pretty flowers for the wedding ceremony, to decorate the backyard for the party, and to enjoy all year long.

I wrangled friends/family into doing a lot for my wedding. My mom's a cosmetologist, so she did my hair and makeup, my aunt is a wonderful gardener so she did my flowers from her yard, a friend is a professional wedding photographer so she did my pictures, etc.

Skip the favors.

Maybe do snack foods instead of bbq, unless you have a friend/relative who will man the grill for you. I'd hate for you or your DP to have to stand at the grill the whole party.

[skreader]

DH and I got married at the registry w/ our friends and family attending on a Saturday morning.

He wore his good suit and I wore my good dress. I did buy new shoes for it.

We celebrated w/ a combination house-warming party and wedding celebration that evening. That way people who couldn't make it to the Registry came to celebrate.

Chief expense was one case of champagne. We also had soft drinks and juice.

I made most of the snacks,with some friends helping (tomato/mozarella/fresh basil; hummous, etc.) and we also had fruit and cakes and some chips and stuff. We bought 1 cake ) not a traditional wedding cake) and some of DH's friends brought another cake. It was a good party - maybe 50 people came?

Different people took photos which they shared.

We all had a blast and I still remember it fondly.

[springbride]

For our centerpieces we used vases that I accumulated at the dollar store and thrift stores for cheap and then filled them 1/4 way with colored rocks or sand, and then had swimming goldfish in them. The kids got to take them home as the favor.

[BetsyS]

I wanted to add... I'm really quite a sentimental sap. So, for me, I liked having plenty of simple elements in my wedding that I could be sure to run into throughout the years, reminding me of that day, if that makes sense.

My mom decorated 2 grapevine wreaths for the front doors of the chapel where we got married. Later on, I took those wreaths home, took off the white tulle, and I use them to decorate my own house. Which makes me smile.

We chose a cheapish destination for our honeymoon (the outer Banks of North Carolina), because we knew that we would be able to return to it over the years. We've been back twice now, and each time is sweet and romantic, because of the memories. If we'd chosen a once-in-a-lifetime type honeymoon, that wouldn't have happened, and that wouldn't be true to my sappy self. LOL

We got money for our wedding, and I resisted the urge to pay bills/buy wedding related stuff. I splurged and bought the most beautiful bedding set I'd ever seen in all my life. I still use it, 9 years later, and I've never seen anything as lovely to replace it with. It was totally worth it, felt like a huge splurge (it was), and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We also registered for dishes that we liked. We didn't get the whole set, but a good start, and again, they make me smile, and remind me of our wedding every day.

So, if you have some sentimental bones in you, just think about the things that will make you smile through the years.

[lovebug]

if you want to do favors, what we did was put a basket of pear with little tags saying Steve and Kelly the perfect pair. everyone loved the idea. you could also use apples and say He was the apple of my eye and the other saying she was the apple of my eye, together in a basket.

the camera thing also did not work for us. we had more pictures of the floor then we did of the guests.

me, my mom, my sister and other crafty women got together and made treats for the 'big' day. we did a bride and groom table. we rented a choc fountain for the big day and that was a hit!

i made all my own flowers. my mom helped and she is awesome at that stuff!

the thing i kept telling myself is everyone will love whatever you do. its your day so make sure to stick to what you like!

[russsk]

We did the no-dj thing, and it worked well. I would suggest a laptop rather than an ipod, because the ipod does have a delay between songs that is awkward if people are dancing. If it's just background no one will likely notice.

For dessert we did cookies.

[lakeruby]

Congrats! I think this is a wonderful idea-- that's what I would do, too!

I think one way to make an area festive is to use lots of bunting! You can make them out of fabric (search flickr or online for pictures) or just use those colorful, festive paper chains that kids make! Another option is prayer flags, or those mexican buntings you can find at party stores. I think having things hanging from trees or ceilings really makes the atmosphere feel like a party. Same thing with having lots of soft lights-- either strings of electric lights, or candles in glass jars.

I really like the idea of having a photo booth type of setup for your guests-- I think you could do this for pretty cheap. Here is a fun example, but you could also just hang up a large vintage sheet or piece of fabric and have guests stand in front of it:
http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/20...oto-booth.html

For favors, how about handing out seed packets? You could make your own with printed labels and little envelopes, and buy wildflower seeds in bulk to fill them.

I like your idea of cooking everything yourself-- I hope it works out and isn't too stressful. I remember that Molly, of Orangette, baked 20 or so cakes for her wedding, and the recipe she used allowed her to freeze them all ahead of time, so she baked them all during the months leading up to her wedding and didn't have to do it the day before:
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2004/0...ame-forth.html

good luck, and have fun!

[caiesmommy]

I haven't read the pp but our wedding cost us around 2000 including my dress and a suit for dh

-my dress was custom made for the cost of the fabric. If you have a talented friend see if they are willing to sew one up as your gift
-my bridesmaid made our cake as our gift
-hire a photography student-I was lucky and a friend was trying to get into the wedding game so he did ours for free and we allowed him to use our pics.
-we had a pot luck, we told everyone that it was ds's first bday party/housewarming party then surprise we got married. We did have food. We ordered a TON of indian, and the cost was minimum
-dh picked wild flowers the morning of/my maid of honours mom brought flowers from her garden/we went to a rose farm bought seconds. I had a beautiful bouquet and 4 bridesmaids bouquets for under $40
-keg is cheapest way to go for beer lol...

[Usually Curious]

My dd is getting married in June and she has decided to have two cupcake tables instead of a wedding cake. She'll have a kid's table and an adult's table. White cupcakes w/buttercream frosting w/various toppings. The adults will have shaved chocolate, nuts, fancy stuff. The kids will sprinkles, etc. I think it will be much cheaper and a whole lot more fun/memorable than a traditional cake.

Also, she'll be getting married outside so she wants to buy sandalwood fans for favors.

She ordered a bridesmaid dress in ivory so it was a lot cheaper than a bridal gown, but still more than I would have paid, but it's her wedding!

Her friends are going to pitch in and do the food that we will purchase at Sam's Club. They'll bake the cupcakes, too.

I like the goldfish idea for the tables. That would also be fun for the kids. All of our friends/family have lots of kids so she wants to make it fun for them. Ooh, maybe paper table cloths and crayons at the tables.

[just_lily]

We are planning a backyard reception as well!

For decorations we are going to spruce up our garden (it definitely needs sprucing!) and use a lot of tulle and christmas lights. We are planning on eating in our garage (we have a 2..5 car detached) and I will use the tulle and lights to try to make it look less like a garage. Micheals sells tulle by the bolt, and I plan to use their 40% off cupouns to but them over time. The Christmas lights I am just going to borrow from friends.

We are blessed with having a family that can cook. My brother is a professional chef, and my MIL is a great cook in her own right. My brother doesn't live close enough to help with the prep, but my MIL is great with that. My brother has agreed to bbq steaks for me on the day though. He'll be able to simultaneously cook 30 steaks to order - a talent most of the rest of us don't have.

Steak is expensive, but for me, the food is one of the most important parts of the wedding. To cut costs we will be buying full beef tenderloins at Costco and cutting it into steaks ourselves. I was going to rent a big BBQ, but I think we will just borrow a few from friends and have a bunch on the go at the same time.

For alcohol I am planning on offering beer and wine, and enough champagne just for toasting. I am giving serious consideration to just buying wine in boxes - not sure how many sensibilities I will offend with that. Maybe I can find some nice carafes or something to transfer the boxed wine into instead.

Not sure what we are going to do about clothes. I might get a dress from consignment, or maybe ebay or something. No idea about what to do with DF. My MIL will be making my daughter's flower girl dress. We aren't having a wedding party, so that makes things way less complicated.

I haven't made a decision about photos yet either. My FIL fancies himself a photographer, but he is really hit and miss (sorry FIL!!). Some of his pictures are great, and sometimes they are really off the mark. I do know a couple of other amature photogs, and I may ask one to come and then just provide us with digital images and the rights to the photos - and then we can do our own printing at Costco. Prints are very expensive when you get them through a professional photographer. I had considered the disposable cameras as well, but everyone has digital now, so I think it would just be a waste.

So that is about where we are at with planning. Congrats to you, OP!

[EricaDoula]

Instead of cake, you could do cupcakes. For my sisters wedding, 4 of my Mom's friends all make about 30 or so cupcakes and decorated them. So, they were all different, but had the same color scheme, it came out awesome! Then we got a big cupcake "tree" it was really pretty!

[momtoS]

I had daisies as flowers (pretty and cheap).

For favours I gave a metal daisy cookie cutter with a handmade paper (the kind with seeds in it) saying thanks for sharing our day.

[deditus]

My brother and I made all of the food for my weeding. We did appetizer type stuff that could generally be done ahead of time. We made 15 lbs of meatballs one night and froze them!

We had a keg in a huge tub of ice (actually a new horse trough-it was cheaper than renting a keg cooler) and a few bottles of liquor and mixers, pop, bottled water, juice boxes for kids, etc. Coffee pot.

No dj, music played through our rocking sound system (dh plays guitar) and a friend's band played for a while. We weren't going for dancing though.

We rented a tent/tables/chairs, but used our own lights, extension cords, etc. I did rent linens for the tables and chairs as I wanted that look.

We bought lots of stuff like vases, serving platters, bowls and by shopping sales it was cheaper than it would have been to rent those items.

I am a floral designer but no longer in that line of work so I used my tax id to purchase wholesale cut flowers delivered to my house and I did all of my flowers. Since a was a floral designer my flowers were very important to me and would never, never be able to afford what I had if I paid for someone else to do it.

I made my dress, it was a pretty simple Edwardian style empire waist dress in gold silk. I also made my maid of honor's dress in the same pattern out of chocolate brown silk. I ran out of time and my flower girls had sundresses from Walmart

Of course I made the pillow for the ring (from a hanky that was my g-ma's and fabric scraps from the dress) and decorated little baskets for the girls.

A friend did our photos.

I made the invitations on the computer.

I purchased beeswax tealights online and put them in votives I got on sale at Joann's.

Pansy's would be sweet decorations for a spring wedding! We decorated with mums since it was fall.