Weddingbee boards

I agree with the researching.  I have been working on the reception side of things a lot lately and found a great website for catering stuff, such as places, napkins, and so forth.  I have yet to find another place where I can get over 1000 napkins for less than $30.  And they send free samples of anything that fits in a flat env. or saples of other stuff for a shipping fee.. the site is:

http://www.cateringsupplies.com/

Good luck planning ladies!

Good posts- I wasn't sure where to start, either. We're trying to keep it on the low-low, too. Keep us updated!

Oh my isn't is so painful having such a low-budget! I had originally hoped for 5k, but that's not happening.

If you included rings and honeymoon, it's over 2k...

But he bought my ring and put it on credit and it s $2700. But when I buy his wedding band, I don't plan on paying much.

honestly it comes down to not being able to ask people to help. My grandma is making my cake, my sis in law owns her own photography business, my mom's friend does hair, my brother offered to pay for our flowers, we might have the wedding in my sister's church (where her husband is the pastor!), and a family friend/pastor is doing the ceremony... Plus I have several friends willing to help with things like making invitations (store bought paper and making a date of making them with your bridesmaids is a special time together!), dress shopping, and basically anything I ask of them!

I couldn't ask for a better support system... my daddy, even though he just got a pay cut at work, also offered to pay for part of my dream dress so that it would fit my budget...aww!!

@Anj, so you have a thrift store near you - like a salvation army or goodwill? I have found some awesome tablecloths and lace there. I plan to use bolts of lace for my tablecloths, sticking to my theme of vintage and DIY-inspired.

What DIY projects are you planning on doing?! I love sharing things like this!

My budget is like yours... but unfortunately my parents weren't able to contribute. Stupid economy :(

I know we are all thrifty wedding planners just wondering if anyone has purchased their wedding dress from bravobride?

@sweetnote, no I bought my dress on consignment though!

@sept2610-I guess I should check out some of the smaller bridal stores around town. Everytime I think about dress shopping I get nervous though. :) Just nervous I will break under pressure and blow my budget that I set for my dress. I am hoping to stay under 150. Sometimes when people hear that they dont necessarily want to help you plus I have been thinking I want more of a knee length dress now.

@greenleafmountain- I definitely love the $2000 blog too. It was obvious they put a lot of work into it.

my budget is very close, its 3k, but i do agree that research is the way to go! there's this place in denver, called stonebrook manor, that's doing this thing called nearly free tuedays reception. all i had to pay was 750 for the non refundable deposit, which basically pays the people that work there for the night. yes, its on a tuesday, but that is worth 4k, can't turn down something that kickass. i did upgrades, like the cake, and tons of other stuff, which is costing me 2k, and then i have 1k left to pay for a photographer, flowers, anything that isn't included in the package at my location, but its still really hard to stay at this budget, especially when 99% of the money is coming from my pocket. the only thing that isn't is my dress, thank god, cause in the end, that dress is like 2500....which is most of my own budget, i would have ended up with something i settled for, but my mom bought my dress.

I'm trying to stay as close to $2K as I can as well. I have no money saved up and no family can contribute. I decided to have under 75 people, with no wedding party and only cake and non- alcoholic drinks! I hope I can do it! The only thing so far for me that is tough it the Photography, the ones I have come across so far are all about $1K. Ugh, my wedding won't even be that long, so I just need to keep searching. I hope you all keep updating here. I think it will help alot!

I was trying for $2000, but I think it will be closer to $2300-2500.  We're doing hors d'ourves, dessert, and drinks rather than a sit-down dinner, and will probably use small potted plants instead of floral arrangements at the reception.  And we've limited the bridal party to my sister and his best friend, both of whom will just wear whatever they want to.  It also helps that we're getting married on a Thursday!  A friend has very nicely agreed to do the photography, and we're following the advice of many bees and going with an ipod instead of a DJ. 

@sweetnote--I had the same problem dress shopping!  At first my dress budget was $400, and I found a couple in that range that were nice, but not really me.  So in the 2nd store I went to, I told the owner (who was the only person there that day) that I was looking for something relatively simple and asked if they had any bridesmaid dresses in white.  She looked horrified.  I was pointing to the giant rack of cute looking (to me, at least) bridesmaid dresses, and she said, "OH NO!!!  You know who wears those dresses?  Girls graduating from private high schools!"  I did not go to a private high school, so I'm not sure what she meant by that, but I thought it was a snooty comment either way.  So I tried on a bunch of others she made me try on, and didn't like any, and was about to leave  when she brought out 2 last dresses, which she called "destination wedding dresses."  I liked one of them a lot, and by this point I had decided that I really wanted a tea length dress (I have never, ever, looked good in long dresses, so it finally occurred to me that I should probably not feel obligated to wear one to my wedding).  She said it could be altered to tea length.  And it turns out it was only $164!   Before agreeing to buy it, I went home and looked up the maker online, and guess what?  It was a bridesmaid dress!  (That line doesn't even include wedding dresses.)  I felt totally vindicated :)  The best part is that when I went in the next day, I pretended not to realize it was  a bridemaid dress, and she still acted like it was a "real" wedding gown (not a private-high-school-esque dress), so she only charged a 50% deposit (I would have had to pay for a "bridesmaid" dress in full).  Hooray!! 

One option you might consider is getting married at a scenic B&B (this is what we are doing). If you have family members who are willing to rent out a room, you can have the whole place to yourself--You have the ceremony outside and have a picnic catered and then spend the evening visiting with everyone and eat breakfast together the next morning. It's a nice inexpensive way to extend your wedding without having to have a reception.

$2,000 is hard and you're going to have to be really creative to make it happen.

@weebirdy- What a great save! I am also wanting to get a tea-length wedding dress. I have really been focusing on researching and have found 5 dresses that I love but they are all online. :) My FI doesnt think that we will be able to stay at the budget that I set. However, I am one of those brides that just cant see herself spending a large amount of money when we have a child. I am still researching like crazy right now. I have an idea on everything I want to do the only thing I am worried about right now is the caterer. I know the reception is a big chunk of the finances. :(

i also want to know how you got the bm dresses for so cheap! I paid 50 for each of my girls dresses (they can't get off their asses to get their own dresses, so i went and bought them myself. so i know they are what i want and they are paying me back for the dresses)

@gocubbies

Oh My Gosh! That idea with the kraft paper and crayons is awesome! It reminded me of the Italian restaurant Tomato Street! I absolutely love going there to color on the tables! haha It's a brilliant idea! I think I will end up doing that. So much more fun then linens! and much cheaper.  :)