Weddingbee boards

For trusted vendors, I paid cash in exchange for no tax and and some percent discount.  For my $4000 flowers, 10% discount is $400 and tax would've been few hundred more.  I did the same thing with my photographer.  Just make sure when dealing with cash, that the vendors have a REALLY good reputation, otherwise, it can turn out badly.

My best money saving tip has simply been negotiating so far ~ I was able to negotiate my day of coordinator down by 50% her original offer; I've also talked my photographer into extra hours but for the smaller hour fee, and I talked the caterer into a 4 course sit down meal vs. a 3 course sit down meal and only paying the 3 course fee.  I saved with the coordinator (and used that extra money toward my dream dress) but I guess the other negotiations are just more bang for my buck.  Works for me! :)

i am also doing a saturday DAY wedding which cut my per person cost from $230 to $135 at my venue.  At first, I felt weird throwing a reception in the afternoon (will ppl actually dance, ceremony will start before noon, will ppl drink, etc).  But now i'm embracing it.  My venue actually looks BETTER during the day due to natural lighting.  And everyone assured me that ppl do in fact like afternoon weddings.

For my dress, I went to the designer's sample sale and saved $3000 off my dress.  So i was able to have the dress of my dreams!

I am doing DIY save the dates, invitations, placecards, basically all the paper stuff.  I love love love letterpress but then I thought about how many ppl actually save wedding invitations and thought that 2 mins of "wow" was not worth $1000+.

I fired my wedding planner. Seriously. She was suggesting too many expensive decorative things she adds on to brides. So I let her keep part of the deposit and requested a refund for the other part. I saved nearly $1000 because I let her go. We had too many different ideas & hers were more expensive.

We're getting married on the beach- no location fee, no church donation, only a payment to the minister (100 I think). We just have to get the permit (100) and rent chairs (200). And I'm making the decorations myself (100) & having friends set them up for me. By firing the planner and doing this, I saved over $700.
We are having our reception at a Holiday Inn on the beach, this way, we don't have to pay for transportation from hotel to ceremony to reception to hotel... And the Holiday Inn is throwing a room in for free so we don't have to pay for the room night before or of the wedding.

Ebay and clearance sales. I bought a Jcrew wedding dress for $35 with shipping and another dress from Lane Bryant for $15... so I bought three in case one didn't fit b/c ya'll know sizing on  wedding dresses is crazy. I got charger plates from target on clearance for 50% off for 3.50 for a pack of 4 so I bought 22 boxes (.75 each charger- cheaper than renting) then they went 75% the next day. I loaded up all 22 boxes of 4 in my car, went to the customer service and told them I would like to return them, then re-buy them for the 75% off. Which I did and saved $50. So now my 88 chargers were 32.5 cents each- 38 dollars versus 80... Way cheaper than renting. Persistence pays off. I bought my FH's khaki suit at the Banana Republic outlet on clearance. Granted, I bought his suit before I even had a dress, but it was a steal and they had his size. I got it for 160 for the jacket and pants. I just need a shirt (he already owns a white one) and tie- which I haven't found just yet.
I'm paying $400 for a DJ b/c I put an ad on craigslist, myspace and facebook detailing exactly what I wanted and what I didn't and said that was my price, whoever could match it, contact me. It worked.
We chose a small venue- forced limited guest list. We can't accomodate more than 80 guests. Period.
I'm having a girlfriend that sells Mary Kay makeup do my makeup &  another girlfriend that does hair do my hair.
My aunt used to do silk florals for weddings and she offered to gift me my bouquet, MOH bouquet, bouts and corsages. 500 dollars saved if I'd had a florist do it, 200 saved if I would have done it. I like real flowers, but honestly, I like free better.
I'm baking my own cake. I figured that I can call on betty crocker for my wedding, as she makes annual visits for birthdays! Saved over $400.
I'm making my own centerpieces. I'm ordering the flowers online and I've already bought the vessels from pottery barn on clearance. There isn't much money saving here because the vessels are kind of expensive, but I figure since I'm doing them instead of a florist, I'm at least saving something! I think that's it!
GOSH I DIDN'T REALIZE ALL THE STUFF I WAS PLANNING ON DIY UNTIL I WROTE THIS!!! OMG!