Getting married on a shoestring..ideas wanted! - Page 4

[TinyFrog]

I did my own flowers using fake flowers, also all of the corsages etc for family.I did my own centerpieces, some had pansies and some had little trees. I planted everything and still have the trees in my yard. My mom and aunt helped with the food. Most of it came from Costco. My husband burned some CD's and my brother was the DJ.

[rere]

I used apples and lemons in big bowls as centerpieces and then we ate them later.Still use the bowls.

I made our invites out of paper that I made from grocery bags and shredded bills.Paper making is super easy if you haven't tried it.

I don't know if anyone answered this but ..yes,you can buy cake stands cheaply.You can buy cardboard ones at the craft stores that can be dressed up with doillies.Plenty of those around after Valentines Day.Or I see glass cake stands at the thrift store from time to time.

Buying stuff from Ikea can be cheaper than renting it(like silverware and glasses).You can donate it to a shelter afterwards.

[allgirls]

craft stores..yes! And you can get fancy cupcake papers at craft stores can't you? I am going shopping immediately after valentines day..lol.

I have gotten so many ideas from you guys...thanks for taking the time!

I am so excited about my rings! I have a gold ring with a cubic zirconia that I am going to have reset with a lab-created ruby of the same size! It's going to cost $25!

and we can get 2 gold bands that match for less than $200 for our wedding rings and that includes taxes, shipping and engraving! So I think we will go with that!

I think that's pretty reasonable and will be so pretty! I am ordering the stone tomorrow. I am hoping to have it set and complete by Valentines day! Jeweller says he can do it!

Getting excited :

[redhotmama]

check out the local thrift/resale/Salvation Army for candles. I do all my candle shopping there, it's soooo much cheaper and there are some nice eclectic (i.e. not matching) finds

[allgirls]

Originally Posted by redhotmama

check out the local thrift/resale/Salvation Army for candles. I do all my candle shopping there, it's soooo much cheaper and there are some nice eclectic (i.e. not matching) finds

absolutely! Great idea..haven't been to a thrift store that wasn't completely for kid's stuff in so long. I know there are bpth Salvation Army and Goodwill stores nearby..and several second hand stores, one here in our little town even. Should check that out as well

Maybe I will luck out on a dress. I have a dress that I love picked out at Sears for $150 that I will only get if I can get everything else on our budget. How is that for incentive to shop around uh?

[MommyErin]

You guys are so awesome! I'm one of those idiots who had a HUGE (invited 450, 350 showed) wedding and spent $$$$$$$ of mine, now DHs and my parents' money. While it was GORGEOUS and SPECIAL and AMAZING, it was EXPENSIVE.

You guys have made it known that you can have a beautiful and gorgeous and special day without the EXPENSIVE part.

Good luck with your planning!

[soygurl]

Here is a great site for buying crafty stuff (for centerpieces, or whatever)
Save-On-Crafts

[allgirls]

Thanks for the craft link.

I think I want pizza for the reception instead of finger foods. It's so us..and easy, casual and cheap for about 50 people...pizza, beer, wine, & cake.

I think that would be so fun!

[AaronsMommy]

Wow, you have gotten a ton of advice. I don't have time to read all the responses, so this may have already been mentionned. My dh and I got married in his parents backyard and our biggest savings was getting our flowers from the local farmers market.

[WNB]

Originally Posted by allgirls

Great ideas. I think we will do shrimp rings with seafood sauce, sandwiches, veggie trays, fruit trays, cheese and cracker trays..etc. Nothing hot. Nothing to mess with.

Do you think this would work. What if right after the ceremony I assign a couple people to drive back to the house to tidy up and lay out the food, set up the bar, arrange things etc. Because we will get ready at the house, drive to the ceremony we won't have time to fix things up etc. So a couple people could come back and set up the wedding cake and make sure bathrooms are tidy for guests stuff like that. Also we many rearrange the furniture.

I think one thing I will suggest is that guests bring their own chairs(folding lawn chairs if they have them to the reception. We will have lots for the ceremony at the site(which I am 99% sure of doing after pricing out rentals and stuff it's actually cheaper)

I cannot believe the help I recieved here! You guys are amazing!

Since you're renting the chairs, why not have someone with a good knack for herding cats suggest that everyone fold up their chair from the ceremony, take it over to an agreeable guest's pickup truck, and move the chairs to your home for the reception. Then just have the rental company pick them up from there instead of from the ceremony site.

[DreamsInDigital]

I just got married December 1st and we could have saved a lot of money in ways I'd never thought of.

Don't splurge on expensive flowers. Nobody really notices the flowers and honestly, you take them home and they shrivel up within hours. Total waste of money. Go to your local grocery store, you can buy a bunch of wildflowers for $10 or so.

Have a friend or family member do your hair and makeup, if you wish to have them done. I paid a ridiculous amount of money to have my hair professionally styled and afterwards my sisters and I realized we could have done it ourselves.

Don't serve booze. We bought some champagne and had a nice little toast but other than that we served no alcohol. Instead we bought some cans of soda and some bottles of sparkling juice and everyone was happy. You mentioned wine and beer, that's totally the way to go. Serving mixed drinks is crazy expensive.

You can buy a couple of plain sheet cakes at Costco and call it your wedding cake. Trust me, no one will care at all what it looks like.

Borrow anything you can.

Don't waste money on decorations. If you want a tasteful decoration, head to the Dollar store and get some votive candles and some big glasses or candle holders. I decorated like crazy for my bridal shower and spent all of $10 on decorations.

We bought our wedding rings for $20 each off eBay. It sounds cheesy but we are SO happy with what we ended up getting. Bought in a regular store, there is no way we could have gotten the rings we ended up with.

Good luck and congratulations!

[allgirls]

WNB...we won't be renting out chairs..the place where the ceremony would be held has chairs already and the place costs less than if I rented chairs and had the ceremony at home. So we just need a few extras for when people come back to the house. We have a lot, just not enough so we might suggest people bring their own. If they need them, great, if not..no big deal right.

DID~I saw a few of your pics! Congratulations! You had a beautiful wedding.

I like all your ideas.

So far here is the plan.

Ceremony at the mill with the officiant $350
licence $80-120(one municipality 37 minutes drive is $80, the other 2 cities that are about a 20 min drive are $110 and $120~so I may drive a bit further and get the cheap licence, particularly if we are out that way anyway)

Dress..dunno..trying to stay under $100

Everybody elses clothes...kids will wear whatever dress they will be wearing to their grandpa's 80th birthday party in July...most likely something my MIL brings back from Florida. Big girls will wear their prom dresses..I think they will be excited to get them early and wear them twice.

DH and his best man..black shirts and plain ties. Probably to match my flowers. No tuxes/dress pants and shoes. I want them to be comfortable and look nice. If it's cooler they can wear their jackets.

Flowers...grocery store arranged with elastic bands and strems wrapped with ribbons. Little girls might carry a bride and groom teddy bear each. Big girls, maybe a single flower.

wedding bands...$215 bucks engraved from eBay,

My engagement ring...ordered a lab-created ruby to be set in an existing setting~$25

Flowers/decorating. Buying flowers from the garden centre, cheap pots, tying some ribbon or tulle around them and voila, they will later be planted in my garden. We will take them all home to the house for the open house in the afternoon as well. Lots of candle holders and candles as well. Again, they will be moved from the first location to the second.

Reception..open house style..food will be, get this..pizza!!!. May have veggies and dip and fruit and dip as well. I will order it the day before and we will pick it up, local place down the street. YUM!

Cake...one solid cake with our pics on it. Cupcakes. Some with our pics, some plain, arranged on a tiered stand as a cupcake wedding cake. I am doing it myself with help. I bake.

Wine glasses and beer glasses with a ribbon and a name tag on them..thank you on one side of the tag and they can write their name on the other side so they know whose glass it is.

I can kind of tell from my guest list who will have beer and who will have wine. plastic wine glasses for the kids decorated as well. They will drink a fruit punch. The glasses will go home with them as favours! Someone will be in charge of the beer/wine and making sure everybody writes their name, pours the beer etc.

There will not be a lot of alcohol. In fact I will be hiding some away...since it's an open house type deal I don't want to run out and the late-comers not get any.

I will use all my own linens, possibly rent some cloth napkins and forks and plates for the cake and pizza but that's about it. I have lots of table clothes that are white and such. I don't want to do disposable but I may have to if we run out of money of course.



Pictures..to be determined. I will not be hiring a professional. I have a friend. If she comes she will do some good, guaranteed to come out pics. She's a photojournalist.

Video..someone with a digital video cam will do this. Nothing formal.

Am I missing anything...lots of details to be worked out of course but I think it suits us.

I have called the officiant who was on a cruise and will behome next week. Ihope he can do this. In that location on that day.

The indiebride website as been a wonderful source of ideas and inspiration

Hair and make up...will do my own. I want to look like myself. My daughter is studying cosmetology in highschool if I decide to do a bit of an updo I can get her to do it. She will do her sister's hair. I will give her a bit of cash to do it.

So what am I missing ladies...anything I should keep in mind?

This is a rough idea. My dh has no idea as he's away..he might want something completely different. Who knows. I was reading on Indie bride that many of the things the girls wanted do differently their non-traditional guys were adamant must be done..like not see each other the night before and some wanted flowers and stuff.

[wonderwahine]

for your dress, keep an eye out for the davids bridal $99 sales, you can pick up a bridesmaid dress for less than $99 around that time, and those look just as good if not better than some wedding dresses.

[Rev1053]

I think it sounds beautiful!

I know my dp was really picky about the cake. But everything else he didn't care about.

I can't think of a thing your missing.

It really sounds like a beautiful and special day for your family.

[1happymom]

I did not read everyone else's posts yet. I may get to that but wanted to reply in case I don't have time to read everything.

I think the very first thing to do is to decide what is most important to you and spend the most on that. We did our wedding on the cheap but if I had it to do again I"d do it differently. Maybe still spend the same amount of money but put the money. One reason we did the wedding cheaply is that we did a

FABULOUS EXTENSIVE HONEYMOON AND IT RRRRROOOOCCCCKKKEEEDDD!!!!

[krisnic]

I want pizza for my reception too!

My dp wants say in some things, but he's not too picky. I like it that he wants to be part of it though, every single friend of mine to get married has completely ignored what their husbands have wanted, and I don't think that's right. It's their wedding too.

[1happymom]

Originally Posted by rere

Buying stuff from Ikea can be cheaper than renting it(like silverware and glasses).You can donate it to a shelter afterwards.

wow!!! what an incredible idea!! I love it!

[DreamsInDigital]

It sounds like you've got a pretty good plan so far. Do you have an idea for ceremony music? We walked down the aisle to Canon in D. That song is so moving for me and it's always been meaningful. Now it's even more so.

[allgirls]

Originally Posted by krisnic

I want pizza for my reception too!

My dp wants say in some things, but he's not too picky. I like it that he wants to be part of it though, every single friend of mine to get married has completely ignored what their husbands have wanted, and I don't think that's right. It's their wedding too.

I absolutely want him to have some say..however..if he wants anything that is more work than what I have decided..for example if he wants a hot/sit down meal he will have to make the arrangements for everything for that and get caterers because I am not cooking, I am not having my guests cook, I am not having him cook so it will cost more money. Plus we will have to get a hall for the reception which means he will have to arrange all of that.

I don't just want cheap, I want easy..

I want a beautiful, just right for us ceremony and a party after, something casual and fun. So a bit of everything.

I think we will be on the same page with most of this.

I think the pizza will drive his mother nuts...which is another plus

[allgirls]

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital

It sounds like you've got a pretty good plan so far. Do you have an idea for ceremony music? We walked down the aisle to Canon in D. That song is so moving for me and it's always been meaningful. Now it's even more so.

I have lots of ideas but nothing definite.

We are both from eastern Canada so we love Celtic music, thinking maybe some beautiful Scottish Aire's(sp?) and a Stan Rogers song we love (45 Years) will be part of our day. We have a singer cousin and hope she can sing something during the signing of the register..I like "When You Say You Love Me" but we'll discuss that further. I'd love for my oldest dd to do a reading and her sister to sing but they may be too shy. Maybe they can do a reading together.

I am not familiar with Canon inD off-hand...i should see if I can find it and put it on my ipod..I may know it, just not know what it's called.

Can't wait for Dh to get back so we can discuss this a bit more.