- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
Sounds like you've got most of the money saving stuff covered! I would say that other brides will be a good resource for cheap supplies for centerpieces, etc.
I think another good way to save $ is to either make the favors or skip them altogether...I don't think I've ever gotten a wedding favor that I really cared that much about, you know? Seems like such a waste of $ sometimes.
DIY definitely saves a lot of money, as long as you use less expensive supplies, etc. If you've got all of that done and have only spent $400 you are basically the master of planning a wedding on a budget! :)
Are you having a photographer? One of the things I did was put an ad on Craig's list for someone looking to build their portfolio...was hoping to negotiate someone cheap. I got a ton of responses, but decided not to go that route in the end. But that's an idea if you want to try to save $ on photography. I was also thinking of putting an ad up at Newhouse on the SU campus or something like that to see if I could hire a student to do some cheap photography for the day.
Good luck!
I've actually had a great time searching out deals so far.... the best one was the dress... a friend of a friend told me about a woman and her daughter who bought the contents of a bridal shop intending on opening their own, but they never could get it going... I got my $900 gown for $40... so cool....
as for favors... i thought about not having them... but i'm finding it hard to get past the traditional girlie stuff.... I am going to make Chocolate Spoons... how easy and inexpensive... the most expensive part of them is the ribbon to tie them... i could do cheaper ribbon, but i fell in love with it.....
The SU idea is great! I never thought of that.... maybe i will head up there this weekend... I was just goingto have disposables and hope for the best.... The food is actually my biggest concern... there isn't really a good way around it... I thoyght about culinary schools.... not sure if they do that kind of thing or if there is one around this area,,,, we are have the wedding late so as to avoid the dinner thing... maybe just food stations with hors'deovers (sp) .. but it still seems to be adding up and i would hate for friends or family to miss the party because they are "working"
another concern is table linens... expensive to rent.... expensive to buy.
Thanks for the input! I thought no one was going to respond...LOL
potted flowers for centerpieces! my friend did this and it looked fantastic. she repotted the plants in some cute aluminum pots.
i once helped host a graduation event with hors d'oeurves (sp?) all from costco and it worked out great. only thing is... it's a LOT of preparation. not sure if you want to do that the day/days before.
For the table linens... you could consider going to local thrift shops and getting mismathched printed bed sheets. I'm not sure if that is your style or not, but I saw that done by the woman who wrote Offbeat Bride. She said it only cost an average of $2 per sheet.
Here are her pictures from Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariel/66049296/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariel/66049899/in/set-1424934/
As far as food goes... I just catered a party for my job and it was about $900 for h'or deourves for 150 people. You should be able to find someone to cater for 70 for less than $1,000. What city are you in?
Also, we had an After Party where we had a cookout style kind of thing. We got all of the food from a Restaurant Supply store and we fed about 100 people for less than $500. You could probably make it a little classier than we did too. Like instead of grilling hotdogs, grill Italian sausage. Do meat kabobs instead of burgers, etc.
Hope that helps. GL :)
I am in Syracuse, NY.. so January probably won't have the best weather to host a BBQ type anything.....I'm actually keeping my fingers crossed that we don' t have any major snow fall on that weekend... But the facility DOES have a full kitchen and we have the place for 10 hours... so plenty of time to do some cookin' ahead of time... just have to pick cost effective food and then figure out how to keep everything clean and stocked.. with out imposing on my family too much... and i need a BARTENDER.... i don't think a self serve bar is a good idea...LOL... but the FH does.... crazy!
The sheets idea is good....( i can't see those pics... i will try to look at them when i get home)... i wonder if a twin sheet can fit a 5' round table......
I did think of the potted plants for centerpeices... but want to stay away from pointsettas... which is what will mostly be available in Jan.
Try getting your dress from ebay! You can go to a store and find one you like, then before you buy from the store, try looking on ebay. Also try to find a dress out of the new Isaac Mizrahi lineup at Target -- many are $100-200. Or do a non-white dress you can wear again.
BlushNot,
My wedding was in Syracuse too! How 'bout that? I'm from Utica, but my parents live in Syracuse now so we did it there.
What venue are you using?
Also, if you are going to go with potted plants/flowers... we got a mix of potted herbs and some flowers for $100 from a greenhouse in Phoenix, NY (near Baldwinsville) and it was enough for 18 tables plus some for the guest book table, gift table, etc.
I might actually know someone who does some cheap catering. Also, do you have a cake yet? Our cake was pretty cheap.
How cool!!
We are using Arrowhead Lodge.. very nice for a wintery theme....
No cake as of yet... actually considered not having one... but agian, hard to get past the traditional things in my head....
Would love the name of your cater or cake connections
I know the greenhouse you are talking about... wonder if they would have anything available near that time... if i buy them now i will kill them...not a very green thumb on this girl.
When was your wedding? enjoying married life???
Ooooh I loved Arrowhead Lodge. That was one of the places that we looked at, but it was a little too small for us. It will be absolutley gorgeous there in the winter. Good choice!
I can't remember the name of the greenhouse (it was just the owner's last name) because it was hard to pronounce. They might have stuff there during the winter other than pointsettas...I'm not sure. It might be worth checking. The man who owns it is REALLY nice and helpful.
We actually were referred to that greenhouse by our cake baker. Her name is Terry Lynn Schmidt. She works at the Ginger Snap bakery in Phoenix, but she also does her own stuff on the side... and actually I believe she does catering too. She doesn't have a website, but if you are interested I can give you her phone number.
Our wedding was in August at St. Matthew's in E. Syracuse and our reception was at the Wellington House (which SUCKED). I have yet to blog about our wedding day, but eventually I'll get around to it.
Wedding life if great so far!
p.s. Do you ever use the Upstate NY Knot message board? It can be pretty helpful sometimes, though I think most brides on there tend to more traditional than on Wedding Bee.
This is just a small tip but might be useful for some. If you plan on using rose petals as decor on tables or for a petal aisle, ask your florist if they'll throw in the petals for free. Some will, you're spending enough money with them as it is and they will only give you petals from roses they were unable to sell anyway, so it's not as though it's costing them a profit.
Our florist said she would let us have the roses for petals at 25% off, so we (politely) told her to go fly a kite. Buy your garbage at 75% of retail price? No thank you.
My mom is going to hit up a few local grocery stores starting 5 or 6 days before the wedding and collect rose petals from roses they can't sell. We should be able to get enough to use for a petal aisle AND sprinkled on all the tables. All for free! Just make sure you check ahead of time if this can be done; it works best if you have been frequenting the same grocer for a long time and they know you.
I am trying to be cost effective with my wedding.
I thought of a better idea for the cake centerpieces!
Before going with our caterer, we entertained the idea of getting stuff at Sam's Club and paying a friend to get everything heated up and organized (as you know, I'm using Arrowhead Lodge too). That could be a possibility if you know of someone who would be up for it and would do it for a reasonable cost. My quote about the caterer I'm using was a little off too...we are having a cocktail hour with hor d'oeuvres, so that bumps the price per person up a couple of bucks. For stations (pasta, meat carving, salad, ethnic) it would be $13.95 per person...and who knows, might be able to negotiate a little cheaper since it's off season? He catered my mom's highschool reunion at the Arrowhead, which is how we got his name. Like I said in my PM to you, I'll let you know how it goes, but he was the best deal we found. We are renting the linens from him: 77.50 for white linens and orange cloth napkins. Let me know if you want his info!
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| rachgirl82 | 39 |
| pengoala | 33 |
| kate02121 | 12 |
| ndreighton | 11 |
| Sunfire | 11 |
| couawilou | 10 |
| Indecisivebride2012 | 10 |
| louiseW | 10 |
| MilksMom | 9 |
| Lyndzo | 9 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| rubyroad10 | 2 |
| 2PeasinaPod | 1 |
| MissBoPeep | 1 |
| PinkMagnolia | 1 |
| couawilou | 1 |
| ohmybears48 | 1 |
| ProfessorGirl | 1 |
| Sunfire | 1 |
| WillyNilly | 1 |
| Rivendeler | 1 |
Hi!! this is my first time posting here... just found this site yesterday... so far I am loving it.... Are there any 2nd time brides out there? This will be the second marriage for both of us, so we didn't want anything crazy.. I refuse to spend that kind of cash on 4 hours again.... so we have been trying to stick to a TINY budget.... we set our date (1/19/08) last month.. that gave me only 4 moths to plan the whole thing for (heres my budget goal... don't laugh) under $1000 ... who thinks it's possible?? LOL I'm hoping it is... so far so good.. I have my ceremony/reception site all set, I have my DJ, bought my dress, invites...done... just have to print & mail... bought part of the centerpeices, have the perfect idea for favors and have started planning out the fun stuff like music... Instead of showers my sister is planning a jack & jill "stock the bar" party to help witht he cost of alcohol .... the wedding will be smallish.. around 70 people.... so far i have only gone thru $400 of my budget.... If anyone has some great money saving tips or ideas they would like to share , I would LOVE to hear them.....