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I am buying as much used stuff as I can, and then I will resell anything that is still in good condition after the wedding!
We DIYed our own invites.
We'll also DIY our favours and favour boxes.
We didn't send out RSVP cards so that everyone could chose the way that they wanted to RSVP (phone, post or email).
I bought my dress from an "unwedding" store (ie, just a normal clothing store) which saved loads.
We found a reception venue that doesn't charge a room fee, just a minimum fee on food and drink (which saves so much!)
My sister and our close friend will be doing our photography
I'm DIYing my own makeup
We have a honeymoon registry
All in all we're saving a lot of money but we're also spending a lot where it counts for us. Like wedding bands and the deposits for the honeymoon.
-Also doing mason jars for centerpieces (yeah gocubbies!)
-Mom is making invitations
-FIL is making escort cards, table numbers, and reception signs out of scraps in his woodshop or out of branches fromt the woods
-Borrowing a vintage truck for our getaway vehicle from a family friend
-Reception in in-laws backyard
-DIYing floral centerpieces (ordering wholesale flowers)
-Using a brand new local cake baker - she cut us a deal since she's trying to get her name out
- Our venue was a steal at $550 (it's a beautiful historic mill).
- I'm making our invitations myself, I got a Yudu for Christmas and my Cricut for my birthday.
- Centrepieces I'm buying old silver teapots (for the flowers) and candlestick holders from local thrift shops, typically about $4-5 each. Monday is a 50% off day though so I'm really excited! I'm also going to take small glass tealight holders (maybe Ikea or dollar store?) and wrap them in lace to put on the tables.
- Favours are homemade jam and forget me not seeds (Alzheimers society supplies seeds for wedding donation)
- hopefully a good friend of my FI is supplying us with tables, dishware, glassware and cutlery from his banquet hall. Keep your fingers crossed for that one!
We're DIYing our own invites, using silk flowers, not having alcohol, no decor needed for ceremony, no favors, and doing our own centerpieces.
GETTING MARRIED ON A FRIDAY! It dropped the cost from about 119-139/person to 75-85/person. :-)
Wow, @wendylynn! CONGRATS! I hope everything goes well for you.
Thank you for all the great ideas.. My dad is a wonderful woodworker, so @bakerella, I am going to borrow your ideas for wooden table numbers! Do you have an idea of how all the escort cards, etc are going to look? They sound like they are gonna be really awesome.
Also, check out SAM'S CLUB for wholesale flowers! I saw some really good deals on there.
@Nlmiele, good idea about buying used and reselling. I am buying many, many things used as well.
Thanks, Ladies!
1) I am making my own pocket-style invites.
2) We are renting a community center for the weekend, and focusing our budget on lighting and draping instead of flowers. The whole package is about $600, which is roughly the price of 6-12 florist centerpieces.
3) Making our own favors.
4) No formal centerpieces. We are doing a tapas event and lounge seating, which breaks even after not having to rent as many little things for a seated dinner. Instead, we have a mixture of visual interest, and no florist created centerpieces.
5) Bringing our own alcohol and bartender (seriously, savings in the range of $2000).
6) Negotiating. I'm not taking anyone's $h!t. Turns out, if you flat out tell a vendor that as awesome as their chairs are, there is no way you are spending $5 a piece, they can magically turn into $3 chairs. I also knocked about $3000 off the price of my dress, a 40% discout (yeah, dress was a splurge as is).
We are DIY-ing all of our paper products.
My dress is an ivory prom dress that cost $150
We are collecting vintage mismatched glass vases for centerpieces (avg. about 50 cents each, probably 3-4 at a table)
We're doing the music on our iPods
Buying the alcohol ourselves
We're so far in the begining that there really isn't anything much yet: 
Simple Reception Ideas by MrsJellybean on Polyvore.com" title="div" />
That is real wood (Free- that is until we plant another one for momma earth)
Pinecones (free!)
And the tulle is cheap and I'm hoping to do a bunch of those and fill the ceiling with them it'll fit our snow inspirartion. (YAY)
DIY my mantilla style viel
DIY card box, made by his grandma
DIY flowers (silk) by a woman who was a florist for yrs (we traded this service for ours, dj)
We're using our equipment to DJ and having a friend make the announcements
Borrowing everything we can (my aunt saved things from my cousin's weddings- plus being in the wedding business we've made really good friends with lots of ppl)
Traded our services for hair and makeup for me,my mom,my grandma, his mom, his sister, his grandma his niece, my 6 bridesmaids on our wedding day
Hitting up the Dollar Tree - i suspect for our square tables we'll use 2 sorts of centerpieces on on each end and a different sort in the middle
Church is free
Venue already had tables (even though they're not the type I wanted) and chairs
Skipping chair covers, although they're cool looking and if I had the money to spend I would do it, I figure since It's winter everyone will cover them up anyway with coats
And we're doing spiked punch instead of lots of types of beer, champagne, etc
Wow, you ladies are all so thrifty! Nice work!
My only few thrifty purchases came from after Xmas sales, when I was able to buy a lot of lights for very very cheap! Plus, champagne the day or two before NYE gets very cheap, so we bought cases of that!
@gocubbies, your venue and decor sound so pretty, exactly how I want my wedding to look as well!
I'm definitly not as thrifty as some of you girls.. but we are still trying to keep expenses low.
We are having around 40 guests at our wedding. Only inviting the people that matter most.
We have decided to have a mini-destination wedding (2.5 hours from home) because we were able to get a private venue without a minimum for a Saturday night in the summer. Completely unaffordable in our home area!
I have done all my wedding related shopping online and almost always with coupons. I bought my dress for $370 ($200 off store price) online.. my e-ring was a bargain on sale at $570. I have used gift cards, credit card reward points, and coupon codes for all my purchases and have saved tons of money this way.
I created a wedding website (with a coupon!) to save money on paper... I will still send out invitations but will not include RSVP cards or other inserts.
My save the dates were $26 on vistaprint with a coupon and look fantastic!
I will buy my own flowers from a farmer's market. I want the handpicked flower look anyway since my wedding is in a garden.
FH is getting his suit tailor made in Vietnam while we are vacationing there next month.
We are not going on a honeymoon (we travel frequently anyway!) so we will probably stay at a B&B a few hours up north.
Our honeymoon suite is free for the night since our guests are renting out all the rooms at our venue.
We are saving money on photography by only having 6 hours of coverage (our ceremony & reception are at the same place)
We are buying all our own booze
Craigslist! We scored 40+ mismatched vases for $15 for our centerpieces, I got my dress during a David's Bridal sale, and we're making all our own stationary. We also hired this really incredible photographer that's just starting her own business, so she was really open to negotiation and way too cheap...we feel like we're ripping her off! iPod music, rental house on the beach for the whole shindig, and me making all the bouts/bouquets really rounds us out. And we're still planning more thriftiness!
Okay here are mine...
I did my fascinator (here is mine) $11.25
here is the store 119, sure mine doesn't have as much bling but for um 108 bucks cheaper your girl did well :D
I will be diy'g my invites using a hybrid ofinvites i saw in a magazine, on line, and by an etsy seller. I cannot wait to complete my mockup of them some time this week :D
my best thrifty idea by far is my THURSDAY MORNING WEDDING (sounds crazy until you think about the fact that we're getting married the day before NYE and no one really has work anyway the next day :D)
our STDs were $0.00 we sent out STD emails
buying my dress from a former bride (score!! i will save between 500-800 depending on where the dress is!!)
Our brunch foods probably saved about 15-30 pp
My veil, I'm getting a great Eaton/Garcia inspired veil (normally 600 and up) made by an etsy seller for around 200 and we're talking about all sorts of crebre-couture things going on lol!!!
eta we're doing all garden roses from fiftyflowers.com for the price of the flowers because I'm diy'g everything :D
research research research. if you see anything on line definitely google how to diy it and or come on here and ask and someone will inevitably be able to give you pointers or a cheaper place to get it.
I designed and will have created all of our wedding paper products myself (well, I had the magnet printed somewhere, but I had a coupon!) and that includes STDS, rehearsal invites, wedding invite suite (invite, rsvp, directions, reception card), and day after brunch invite.
I got my custom made for me dress on sale on etsy.
I got my shoes (well, maybe they'll be my shoes...) on clearance with free shipping for $8 from Target. Woot!
I bought all my centerpieces in bulk on ebay for WAY cheaper then anywhere else AND they came with tons and tons of floating candles!
We're providing all our own plates (bought in bulk from an online discount place!), silverware (bought at Sam's club for 1/4 of the rental price!), and glasses (still pending...).
We are having our local organic food co-op cater our wedding and we negotiated a super low price with them ($1,500 for 120 guests, which includes cocktail hour menu and a full buffet dinner with vegan and beef options).
A good friend who is a professional photographer let me negotiate him down to a ridiculously tiny price ($350) (although i will also note that another friend of mine is also a wedding photographer and she wouldn't budge a cent on her $2,000+ costs, which is cool, but you can see why I went with the friend who was willing to work with my complete lack of money!). Also, my sister (who is also friends with our photographer) thinks he might end up gifting up all the photography for the full day.
I have spent a full year (so far) hunting down deal and bargains across the web and in stores.
So many fabulous ideas... My head is swimming, I love it!!
I love your fascinator! It's way better than the store's!
Table runners: $13
Chair sashes that are slightly skinnier but look like runners: $2.50 :)
I DIY'd our invites and our calligraphy, we put together our centerpieces and the BMs are carrying fans and the groomsmen are having pocket squares instead of bouts.
1) DIY Invites from a Michael'ssale- $12/50 invites and response cards!
2) Dress was 40% off and it's still lovely!
3) DIY flowers - tin can vases, we are borrowing votives from a friend who has a ton left over from her wedding, and we got manzanita branches free!
4) Our wedding is outside so my FI is making an arbor for us to stand under
5) My mom is making the flower girl dresses and table runners
We're trying to cut corners where possible because we spurged on our venue. :-/
Here are a few of the DIY Projects/cost saving tactics, I am doing:
Overall, really hoping it will be a unique experience for our guest and one that they will enjoy and remember - i know we will for sure! We are also on a shoe string budget and this stuff is definitely keeping costs down!
congrats on sucks a great venue deal! Sounds like it is going to be wonderful!
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I am on a tight budget but want an unforgettable event... Here's what I'm doing so far to save some cash:
Found a venue for $350 WITH tables and chairs, we will have ceremony + reception there (That was LUCKY! I am still in shock)
I am growing my own flowers.
Centerpieces will be lots and lots of jars! Mason jars, jelly jars...Some with flowers, some with votive candles.
Instead of linens, we are covering the tables with Kraft paper (my invitations are done in kraft paper as well). Jars with crayons will be on the tables for the kids (and adults alike) to draw on.
Hog Roast... This was my fiance's idea... Love it! Such a celebratory custom, it seems fitting for our laid back event.
Favors are tiny glass jars (30 cents each) filled with spices and my "famous" gumbo recipe attached.
Other decorations include family Christmas lights strung all over the barn and tin cans (any cans.. we are saving our canned veggie, fruit, coffe cans, etc).. poking holes through those, stringing with twine and hanging from rafters in the barn.
Ceremony will have very minimal decorations.
DIYing my own invites, programs, and wedding website.
RSVP will be done online on our website (I am a "semi-web-designer") to save on postage
Invitations will be sized to fit in a #10 business envelope to save on postage (standard invitation sizes are more expensive to mail)