Economic Wedding Ideas

17 responses so far ↓

• 1 monito™ / sixxx // Dec 23, 2008 at 6:42 pm

  It really depends on your income. If you can afford that, then go for it.

• 2 sway_ii // Dec 25, 2008 at 12:54 pm

  i think weddings are over-rated, it should be the marraige people should be concerned about, not a freaking ceremony. Remember you will have to pay the bills in the end, its up to you what you decide to spend, dont worry about how much you think you should have to spend for anyone else.

• 3 pinkdenial // Dec 26, 2008 at 11:43 am

  My wedding budget was $12,000 for 150 guests and a honeymoon. You can do it, you just might have to get a little creative about planning and making things yourself.

• 4 kja63 // Dec 26, 2008 at 7:19 pm

  Assuming this will be your first wedding, there’s the church, the flowers, the hall, the meal, the cake, the band, the dress, and a million other details. $15,000 is not unreasonable, but don’t be surprised if it’s more.

• 5 Molly M // Dec 28, 2008 at 4:33 pm

  It depends on where you live and what kind of wedding/reception you envision. North of say, Boston, some of the venues alone for a reception start at over $5000.00 for the night….and then depending on appetizers and the meal you choose, reception can cost around $40 to $50 per person (head) ($6000.00 to $7500.00) and that is before you factor in alcohol. If the catering package doesn’t include a cake, then you will need to find someone who can make one for you but be sure to find out if the reception site charges extra for the “cutting and plating” of the cake. Flowers, tux and gown will add to the cost. Don’t forget alterations for your dress, hair accessories and shoes, a photographer and also a d.j. or band for the night will also add to your overall cost. Again, depending where you live, the rates will vary….most run at least $500/hour for a d.j. to much more for live music and the price will go up if you keep them past midnight.

  Claret is a beautiful, deep, rich red wine color. I almost went with it for my bridesmaid gowns as well. But I found it harder to match flowers to the deep color unless you want a lot of cream or white or deep red/russet colored flowers…

  You can do a wedding for that number of people at your target budget, it just means being creative and looking for bargains to cut down on some of the cost or making the centerpieces and bouquets yourself etc. Try checking out or because there are Q & A forums there where you can talk to brides in the midst of planning or who have planned and pulled off a wedding on a small budget and get ideas and recommendations etc.

• 6 Kitikat // Dec 30, 2008 at 12:45 am

  you can go as fancy as you wish or as simple as you wish, it kinda depends on how much you can afford. If I may make a suggestion, there are ways to “cut costs”.
  1- for the photographer, to save costs have a friend who has a good camera, and knows how to use it to take your photos. My friend did this and it saved her a lot of money and her photos turned our awesome, with most people you pay them and they don’t really care what the pics look like since they already have their money ( on offense to any photographers that may answer- but I’ve seen many people get shitty professional pics and they are stuck with them).
  2- another way to cut costs for the reception- find friends or family that will make that their gift to you, there are places where you can get party platters for a lot cheaper then going through a service.
  3- buy a not as fancy dress for cheaper then buy your own “pretties” and either sew them on yourself or again find someone to do it.

  There are ways to have low cost weddings, my wedding cost $500 for the whole thing.

  Bat as I said before you can go as fancy or plain as you want it’s your special day, you make it what you want it to be.

  Congrats on getting married!

• 7 welches_grape_jelly // Dec 31, 2008 at 11:01 am

  First of all, congratulations!
  Now take a deep breath and exhale. Planning a wedding should be fun. For a wedding budget, you need to figure out how much money is available. Add up what you, your fiance, your parents, his parents, or whoever is going to contribute to the wedding. If you have $5,000, and he has $5,000 and parents have $5,000, then $15,000 is fine. Don’t go into debt just for one day.
  The average cost of a wedding in the US is $27,000. That’s more than some people make in a year. That is for a professionally planned wedding with all the trimmings. You can have a perfect wedding any kind of budget.

  To figure out how much you should spend, try this:

  You have to register, but it’s free. It’s a great site overall to help with planning, budget, guest lists, gowns, and anything else you need to know.
  Also try this for money saving tips on how to get your dream wedding ffor less:

  Try
  for some great inexpensive designer gowns for less than retail.

  Claret would be perfect as one of your colors for a fall wedding. Maybe add a lighter color so it’s not so dark for flowers and accessories. Maybe cream and claret flowers for bouquets and centerpieces.

  Good Luck and Have Fun!

• 8 rose t // Jan 3, 2009 at 5:26 pm

  it depends on your financial situation and the type of wedding you want to have. I would say that is reasonable for a very nice formal sitdown dinner wedding, but for an outdoor weddiing or a simple wedding you are gonna have plenty of money to play with. Good luck!!

• 9 beautiful623 // Jan 5, 2009 at 4:52 am

  15,000 all depends on where and what options you chose. Where you want your honeymoon, if right away (vs 6 mos out) and decorations and your dress.
  I am getting married in june and planned on a 10,000 budget, well even after a really nice reception facility for reasonably priced ($50/person incl. open bar) the dj, the photographer, the church (mine is 1000!) and the dress… we’re already up to $14,000… that’s not including videographer (we’re not having one) a florist, a limo, or honeymoon. Our wedding is 125 people. There just isn’t really any cheaper way to do it without going smaller…. even back yard weddings are expensive after all the tent, utensil and dance floor rentals, etc.
  Be creative and cut corners wherever possible that won’t make your day look cheasy. Things like a limo and videographer are nice, but not necessary. If you’re not really religious try looking into a justice of the peace (approx 200) to marry you at your reception facility if they allow it.
  Happy planning!

• 10 paisleyrachel // Jan 5, 2009 at 10:40 am

  That’s a down payment on a house or a reasonable car!

  Start small, and set aside funds as they are available. Things snowball as time goes on. You can have a wonderful wedding for much less unless you are out to impress people- and people who want to be impressed by a wedding aren’t worth your trouble anyway!

  Claret will be gorgeous, but you may want to consider wearing an ivory or gold gown with ivory floral for the girls.

• 11 FaZizzle // Jan 7, 2009 at 6:54 am

  First off, you need to dicuss this all with your fiance and both your families as well.

  $15,000 is more than enough. You could make it between $8000 and $10000. Research all of your vendors, and look into consignment stores for your dress. You don’t have to get a $3000 to look beautiful. My sister-in-law purchased a $2000 for $300. All it too was an alternation here and there.

  Once again, discuss it with your family and fiance. Look at your bridesmaids–will they look good in claret?

  Base it off what you like, not what we like.

• 12 Ouros // Jan 8, 2009 at 7:59 pm

  I think anything more than one dollar is a complete waste. Love is free.

• 13 Lysa // Jan 12, 2009 at 4:09 am

  Unless you are paying for all the dresses & the tux rentals thats a very high wedding budget.
  the cake at the most will be $2.50 a slice
  the D.J will be about $1000
  photographer approx. will be $1200
  cater at the most $12.00 a person
  your hall will prob be about $1000
  flowers will prob be around $500

  although I’m a wedding photographer & the price I gave you is what I charge but I work with all of them & thats on the average of what they charge

• 14 miaRules // Jan 14, 2009 at 9:07 pm

  Only you and your fiance know what is reasonable for you two. Personally I think if you have to go into major debt for just one day you are coo coo

• 15 Angel sent from heaven // Jan 16, 2009 at 6:35 pm

  No you’re not crazy if you have $15,000 as you’re budget then that’s just fine.I think you can invite 150 people to you’re wedding on $15,000. to answer the rest of you’re question Scarlet is a wonderful wedding color to have in an October wedding.Along with the color burnt orange.best of luck

• 16 churchmusicgirl // Jan 16, 2009 at 11:08 pm

  You would think that $15K would be enough for a wedding, but depending on what you want, you might come up short. Creating a budget and sticking to it is a great idea. I was helping a friend plan a wedding on a budget once and the book “Bridal Bargains” was a HUGE help.

• 17 brunchbuddy // Jan 16, 2009 at 11:57 pm

  CAUTION! I just read where someone suggested that you get a “friend” to do your photography. If your expectations are very low, then go right ahead. I could tell you as many stories about crying brides disappointed over their wedding images as you have time for …. wedding photography is very specialized and difficult, if done right. Friends sometimes don’t show up…. Uncle Fred gets drunk …. you get lots of pix of kneecaps taken by little kids with disposable cameras. Does your “friend” have 3 or 4 professional caliber cameras in case there is technical difficulty? Does he know what to do if his flash stops working in a dark situation? Does he know by heart, which group photographs most people want and how to keep people “rounded up” for those photographs? I could go on and on….. Think of it this way: when it’s all over, what’s left?? The photographs. Get the best you can afford. Just be sure to check references, past clients, and professional organizations to verify his professionalism. No, it’s not true that professionals “don’t care” after they have the money …. if the photos aren’t good, they can’t count on referrals for further business. If you’d like any more advice (I’m semi-retired after shooting weddings for 20 years) don’t be afraid to email me …..

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