Cheap Weddings - Real Life Wedding Help And Ideas

by Suz
(Cheap Wedding Solutions)

When you are planning your own wedding you want the wedding of your dreams and it is often hard to think about the budget.

You are not alone and you are definately not the first couple to have to plan a cheap wedding.

Below you will find lots of brides and grooms sharing their own cheap wedding ideas to hopefully reassure you that a cheap wedding can still be a dream wedding.

If you have managed to save money on your wedding plans we would love to hear from you, please come and share cheap wedding ideas here!

Suz

$700 hawaiian wedding

by Regina
(east aurora ny)

We decided last minute not to wait another year to get married, so we decided that in 6 weeks, we are doing it.

We chose to do a luau wedding because it's hot and fun. my centerpieces are just tropical dip server plates with a glass vase in the middle with a lei in it....it looks so beautiful and only cost me $3 a piece.

We got so many of our decorations from our local dollar tree because it is luau season, and all I required was a white sun dress and some flip flops. we did pulled pork for our main entree which was only $3 a pound, everyone loved it and it was a FUNTASTIC time.

We had the ceremony at a garden in our local park, and did the reception right there too, had a dj and photographer and honestly I wouldnt trade it for a fancy 10k wedding.

$1200 Wedding In Silver, Teal And White - All the Details And Costs

by sheryl moore
(choctaw,ok,usa)

I am doing a 30 person May teal/white silver wedding on a $1200 budget.

This includes the venue rent, preacher, license,
photographer, rings, caterer, invitations and decorations, most of which are DIY.

I use Dollar General,Family Dollar,Hobby Lobby,Michael's and Dollartree as well as Mixbook.com, Wrapwithus.com, efavormart.com
and partywedding.com.

After comparing several dozen sites,i found these to be the best for the money.

Efavormart has excellent silk flowers in bulk, at great prices and a wonderful,fast service. I highly recommend them for flowers.

I bought 60 white silk iris for my bouquet, 1 corsage, 2 boutonnieres, 6 centerpieces and the leftovers to decorate the cake and swags on the food table,for $27.00. I added 1 bunch of silk baby breath from Hobby Lobby, on sale for $3.00, bringing all that to $30.

I bought 6 fishbowl vases and 12 bags of teal and clear glass gems @ $1 each, to fill the vases to hold the flowers.($18)at Michael's, I picked up 5 rolls of 1 " teal ribbon and 2 rolls of 1/4" teal ribbon for $1.99 each,on sale.($14)
I'll be spending 30 cents each to have 60 balloons filled with helium at a local florist.($18)
Mixbook.com allowed me to design my own invitations,and with their discount codes,i was able to get 25 cards @51 cents.

Our cake will be diabetic friendly, as we have a lot of diabetics attending. We will have a large teal sheet cake with teal double hearts on top, one with the wedding topper and the other with names and date in white icing. Several silk iris will decorate around these.

My tables will all have white tablecloths with teal overlays and a white runner over that.the food and guest book and presents tables will have intertwined teal and white crepe paper swags,with white silk iris incorporated.

We will use metallic silver ribbon from wrapwithus.com...100 yards for 1.99..to tie the balloon clusters..1 teal,3 white and 1 wedding imprinted in silver and white...to silver balloon weights from wrapwithus.com,and place them on a stage as a photo background.

I was going to buy an arch, but with everything else going, decided to check with the florists about renting one. One florist quoted me $75 and she will set it up. I'll have to see if i can better that price.

Since we are both retired,we are doing this on a fixed income.

Best place to look for cheap wedding stuff!

by Catrina Burris
(Escondido, CA USA)

I sit at a computer all day at work. So I have time to so this. But I searched for the word "wedding" on my local area craigslist.com I got my centre pieces (mirror, 10" cylinder vase, 4 votives, blue glass stones and candles) for $40! considering I got 10 sets....THAT'S CHEAP!

I also use BravoBrides.com. A lot of people out there are eloping instead due to the economy and they have brand new stuff they want to get rid of...

Google shopping is also my friend. I sit up at night while my fiance is on the PS3 playing online with his brother and I browse photo after photo and price after price. I got Swarovski crystal monogram cake toppers for $4 each with free shipping!

I love being good at this!

Get everyone involved to save money on your wedding

by Michelle Draveski
(eastpointe MI)

Friend of mine and her hubby to be lost their jobs right before the wedding and things looked grim.

To save on money the wedding party went to the hall after the rehersal dinner and brought all our own decorations and decorated the place complete with a balloon machine, streamers and all the bells and whistles. Table flowers and other flowers were bought in bulk and we made the arraingements all by ourself. She saved about 2 thousand dollars that way and not one person was the wiser.

Hi Michelle

It's great when you can get your friends to help you decorate and the more people the quicker you can create a fantastic display.

Do you have any photos for us to see?

Suz

save on your weddings

by susan varney
(belfast me)

trim your guest list- each person invited adds to your overall cost

Hi Susan
It is nice to have the people that are important to you when you get married but I agree that doesn't mean you have to invite everyone you have ever invited!
Good luck with your wedding plans.
Suz

Planning a wedding for $6K

by Becky
(Worcester, MA, US)

My fiance and I are paying for our wedding all ourselves so finding deals all the while trying to be unique and creative is our top motivation. Our wedding is over a year away but I'm already trolling the web nightly to look for deals and signing up for blogs, contests etc. We immediately kept our guest list small 50-60 max and opted not to have a bridal party. Our reception site has a chapel on the property and is 5 minutes from where we live so we are saving on a limo and possibly saving on gas for our guests - the furthest of which is 40 minutes away (and as they said on the news recently 'no relief on gas prices until about 2010'). One great thing about our reception place is that they have no additional service fee (the avg. in our area is 18% on top of our state tax).

One big way I am trying to save money is avoiding fresh flowers. Our wedding is going to have the whole sage and brown rustic feel so I'm going to be incorporating twigs/branches, silk flowers and river stones into the center piece. Most of which I can get on my parents property if need be. I also found out that that my local dollar store has a 'bulk' website http://www.dollartreedirect.com which will be handy as well. For my bouquet I was totally inspired by a huge Stargazer lily bouquet from Martha Stewart weddings. At home I already had some silk stargazer lilies and for the heck of it I picked up a $2 bouquet holder for silk flowers. I trimmed up the silk lilies with wire cutters and I was really surprised how great it turned out. I might buy a few more to fill it out which will probably cost me an extra $5 - all totaled a bouquet for $7!

For my dress...I'm not a big pouffy dress person or into the idea of shuffling around in something for half a day. My calves are one of my best features so I decided on tea length and casual. I just happen to come across a dress I really loved at an online store which is also a retail store at some malls and they had a small bridal line. The dress was on clearence and had the exact neck line and casual'ness I was looking for. I also looked around for an online coupon code and found one that worked for 20% off. I got the dress for $110 and had it in my hands 3 days later. After the wedding I will take the dress to have it dyed black for formal parties.

For our favors we are donating to the ASPCA. To go along with that I will buy a couple of containers of sugar cookie dough online and a paw print cookie cutter. My future MIL has already volunteered to take on this project a few days before the wedding.

Photographer, food and DJ are taking the majority of our budget but so far we are on track.

**************************************************

Wow Becky sounds like you are on track to have the wedding of your dreams and at a great price!

Love all the details - the centerpieces and the favors sound fantastic.

Thank you for sharing your ideas, it will help other brides save money too.

Suz

The Perfect Wedding

by Carol Priddy
(Tukwila, WA USA)

The perfect wedding does not need any kind of party, it's two people very much in love facing one another and declaring each others love until their dying day. And that doesn't cost one penny.

Making a cheap wedding

by Janet Warren
(Williamston,NC usa)

I personally go to consignment shops for wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses.There you can also find wedding accessories...I make my own food and flowers with fake ones that look real. Theres many ways you can save money just by doing things yourself.... have fun!

Hi Janet

It's amazing the things you can find in consignment shops and the prices are fantastic, with a bit of love they can be trully unique.

Thanks for your cheap wedding ideas

Suz

All About My Cheap But Beautiful Wedding

by Kasie Crisman
(Stephens City, Va, Usa)

Our wedding is going to be held at my fiance's parents' beautiful home, the whole wedding ceremony reception so we don't have to rent a place.

My great aunt is catering.

My dad's girlfriend is buying and doing all the flowers.

This is going to be the best day ever. I'm so excited. I signed up on TheKnot.com and did all my planning and now I'm signing up for help - like contests to win as much stuff as I can that means less money comes out of everyone's pocket.

So I'm looking everywhere for bridesmaids dresses for under $50 cause thats the limit and my dress well I am looking for white strapless so it will be tight from the breast line to my waist and then puffing out at the legs I just want the perfect dress. My colors might be Green and Bright Yellow but I'm not on them for real, can't make up my mind........

Cheap Do It Yourself Wedding Ideas

by Elizabeth
(Louisburg,NC,USA)

1. Craft stores and Walmart now have do it yourself wedding invitations on the shelf.You print them up yourself and them come out very nice,and we know some invitations cost over 100.00.

2.There are alot of cute wedding favors you can do yourself..take a plastic spoon that matches your wedding colors put herseys hugs and kisses on the spoon wrap it with matching tulle,tie it with a bow.using your printer make little tags that say "Hugs and Kisses from the Mr. & Mrs"

3. Personalized CD's that you've made.

4. Home made chocolate that you have used molds for,they could match you theme,hearts,shells,shamrocks,crosses,etc

5.candles with labels on them that you print off your printer.wrap them in tulle tie with a bow.

6.take spoon and dip them in flavored chocolates for their coffees.

7.dip small pretzels in chocolate and put them in small boxes with your names and date.

8.Buffet style dinners that you and your friends have cooked will save you sooo much money!!!

9.Buy the alcohol yourself and paying a bartender instead of having an open bar will save you thousands.Most halls will allow you to do this.

I have had a beautiful wedding for under 5,000.00 unfortunately I am a widow but I am planning my wedding again and I will have another beautiful wedding with everything I want cutting corners,doing everything I can do myself.

Our DIY Beach Wedding

by Amanda Parham
(Hermosa Beach, CA, USA)

My fiance and I are on an extremely limited budget for our wedding -- so we're doing pretty much EVERYTHING we can ourselves. We are having our ceremony on a public beach - so that we save money on the location, and the ceremony in a hotel ballroom. Because of this, it's ALL about the details.

Our theme is beach bliss -- so we are making our own "message in a bottle" invitations. We're using small plastic bottles with cork closures ($12.50 for 24 bottles at www.sks-bottle.com), beach sand and miniature shells we collected from our favorite beach (free) and raffia ribbon to tie at the top ($2.95 per spool at ww.papermart.com). We're then printing our own invitations on parchment paper (a box of 500 sheets costs $20-30), and tea-staining them ourselves. We're then going to singe the edges for a worn look and enclose them in the bottles. We're also going to print our own bottle labels to complete the look and make it even more personal.

On top of this, we're making starfish boutonnieres for our groomsmen, starfish wrist corsages for the bridesmaids, a mini sandbox with cocktail umbrella escort cards (affixing stickers with guest names to cocktail umbrellas), sand dollar favors for our guests (hand-painting our names and wedding date on sand dollars for each guest) and tying starfish to raffia ribbon for elegant beach-inspired aisle runner. We're also printing our own program fans out of colored cardstock and tying them with ribbon. We're then tying the colorful program fans to the ceremony chairs to add just another hint of color.

For our reception decor, we're also making our own elegant centerpieces using Manzanita branches, faux pearl strands, freeze dried orchids, seashells and hanging tealight candles. For the hanging tealight holders we're recycling jelly jars, painting them our wedding colors and suspending them from the manzanita trees with wire. We'll put the manzanita "trees" into inexpensive vases with beach glass. Each elegant centerpiece will cost approximately $25 saving a TON off a floral display.

We're also going to break apart a forklift pallet and use the wood to make hand-painted beach signs directing our guests to the ceremony, as well as others that say cute little messages like "Happily Ever After."

Just because our wedding has to be on the cheap and chipper -- doesn't mean it also can't be cute and classy!

My Cheap Wedding

by Beth Moran
(Dover, Delaware)

I am planning and paying for my wedding all on mine own. I have been looking online for dresses and found the one that I love. I happened to stop by a local bridal store and my dress was in stock and on sale! The dress was orginally priced for $2000 and marked down to $500 with an addtional 20% because they were having a sale on instock items only. I decided to try the dress on and it fitted, except in length. So I made a $200 deposit and then made payments on the rest for a total of $400. I now have my dream dress in my closet.
For the ceremony and reception I decided to have it at a local country club. Surprisingly, they were cheaper then almost everywhere I looked. They do not charge for the room rental and I get to use 5 different rooms. They also provide all the linens, tables, chairs, etc. I only have to pay for my food, set-up, and tip. I opted to have my lunch buffet served by 2pm so I save about $10/person on food. They are also allowing me to make payments. I am having my ceremony and reception for $1200 total.
For the decorations I have been clipping 50% off of one item coupons from AC Moore's and Michael's Craft Store and have been purchasing the larger priced items. For the flower girl baskets I bought white Easter baskets that were 75% off since the holiday had just passed.
I plan on having a candy buffet at the reception and purchased nice tin buckets for $1/each and plan on spray painting them and adding a stencil design to match my colors.
Instead of dishing out a large amount of money for a DJ, i am using my brother's computer and iPod and preparing a playlist.
I am also saving ALOT of money on a photographer by using a college student. She is only charging me $100 and would like to use some of my photos in her portfolio.
The honeymoon is what i am spending the most on and since I am planning early I am able to save a load by booking now and making payments. We are going to an All Inlcusive at Sandal's in Jamacia for $900/person.

Don't Tell Anyone!

by jeff clough
(swampscott, ma. usa)

don't tell anyone!

Hi Jeff
That took me a second or two to get - very funny and you are so right! Elope to get married will save you a fortune.
Friends of ours did just that a couple of weeks ago and sent out a 'Just Married Card' when they were off on their honeymoon. We are all looking forward to the party when they get back!
Good luck not telling anyone yourself!
Suz

Funny friendly easy wedding :-)

by Karim Livotti
(Udine, Italy)

Because we're Italian, a perfect wedding's just with parents and a couple of friends, having a pizza at Luigi's place (pizza here's loved by ALL, and it's really really cheap... much more than Mc Donald's meals!), with the music of a friends' rock band and dressed with the 60's wedding dresses of our family... is there something happier and cheaper? Now we just need the rings... :-)

Hi Karim
I think you have your cheap wedding planned to perfection, sounds like you will have a fun day! Good luck with the competition.

Suz

Do you have married friends?

by Stephanie
(San Francisco, CA)

Because I do! And they all have basements full of tealight candles, rolls of ribbon, glass vases, leftover fabric, candy buffet jars and twinkle lights. Some of these basic items are EASILY reusable in ways that will look completely different from your friends' weddings. Did they have twinkle lights wrapped around trees? Use them to create a canopy over your outdoor ceremony? Did they put tealights on the tables? Use them to line walkways. So ask your pals if you can buy some of their leftover wedding supplies. Chances are, they'll give them to you just to free up the basement space.
Our wedding has to be budget friendly but living in San Francisco (and wanting to have a wedding in the area we have built our life) makes that difficult. We're watching our budget in any way we can. If we could win a ring for him, that would make things that much easier.
We should win because we're resourceful and fun...and we laugh our way through everything.

Hi Stephanie

Thanks for sharing your cheap wedding idea, friends and family are a great resource for free wedding stuff. Also, love the photo - reminds me of when I persuaded my husband to dress up as the tin man from Wizard of Oz, will have to dig out the photo!
Good luck with winning your free wedding ring.
Suz

Cheap but Elegant

by Karen Bay
(North hollywood, ca, USA)

I've been planning my wedding for less than a year and as we all know every little that you save adds up to a lot. Although i like a good deal, I don't want my friends and family to see it the day of the wedding. I want to be able to smile in silence when i walk into my reception knowing how little my wedding cost but how elegant it all looks :) Since I've been planning my wedding every store i walk into, or every ad I see, I look for something unique, beautiful, and cheap that i could add to my wedding reception. In November the biggest sale of the year, i found my beautiful center pieces. These are regular home center pieces that hold flowers and tealights! The retail price is $25, with the sale 50% off for 12.50, and i had a coupon for the store before 11 am on Thanksgiving 40% off your entire purchase! for these vases i paid $7.5! so now i can go to a wholesale flower store near my work, and purchase long stem roses, and tealights can sometimes be bought 6 for a $1, unscented is usually good since i don't know if any of my guest might have sensitive noses! Moral of the story, keep your eyes open for sales, coupons and clearance isles, especially at the craft stores, which is where i found my gift/candy boxes that come with a gold sticker and a ribbon. i bought 4 boxes with 50 little boxes in each. $5 each on Clearance! all i need is the candy!

Hi Karen
I love all of your ideas, you are a fantastic wedding money saver and the centerpieces look stunning!
Good luck with all of your plans!
Suz

Need A Cheap Wedding For 200 People For Less Than $2000

by eva
(oswego,il)

Need a cheap wedding for 200 people for less than $2,000!

Hi Eva

200 people for $2000 is a big ask, as that works out at $10 each.

If your budget needs to include invitations, flowers, photographer, cake and your dress then you will need to get as much help as possible. You could have an afternoon cake and Champagne reception and look at holding it at a free venue.

Free wedding venues could be your local park, beach, friend or family's garden. You may be able to persuade a local restaurant to give you their venue for the afternoon if you can guarantee that you would be out by the evening, this way they get the extra revenue when they are closed normally. If you are looking for a bigger reception then you will need to be very clever with the food that you serve. Have a look at these cheap wedding reception menu ideas.

You could also have a picnic theme, a barbecue, or even a pot luck buffet where everyone brings their signature dish.

One wedding we went to had a menu of soup and bread, with a choice of yummy desserts. The soups were all amazing, great flavors and unusual combinations. The bread was from a local baker and would have been a meal by itself. It shows that you don't have to have huge amounts of money to feed your guests.

If you want entertainment then put together a collection of your favorite tracks on your mp3 and have those connected to some big speakers. Or if you have talented friends and family ask if they would be able to play as their wedding gift to you.

There are always ways to have a great wedding on not much money.

Try and get as much help as possible, make your reception informal and fun, and enjoy planning a truly great wedding.

Best wishes

Suz

Love the talents of others

by Ronda
(Zionsville, IN USA)

It was important for us to keep the wedding focus on the reason for the event--the marriage and commitment between two people. We sincerely wanted to have as many of the friends and family in our lives involved in the special day, but why wait until that day? We began considering the talents of our various friends and family and decided we could have a unique wedding with many of our loved ones taking key roles (not to mention adding the benefit of money savings). We soon realized that the groom has an actor friend that could pull off DJ for a night, a sister who is a musician for the ceremony music, the bride has a college friend that teaches floral design so why not have her do the flowers, the bride's mother has taken cake decorating classes, and the bride herself enjoys crafts so we made the invitations and programs ourselves. I think the thing I'm looking forward to most on that day besides marrying the man of my dreams is being able to see the efforts and love of our friends and family surround us during the ceremony and reception. Many people say the details don't matter, but at our wedding they will be some of the most special and important.

How to Plan on a Budget!

by Angela Saleeby
(Greenville, SC)

ONLINE! My best find yet has been my Veil. It was tagged $180 at the bridal shop where I ordered my dress. I simply do not have $180 in the budget for a veil...so I began looking online. Ebay, Classified Ads, Craig's List, and all of a sudden I found it! Same brand, same veil...gorgeous! Worn once (Obviously...haha) - in perfect condition for $35!

Unfortunately, when I went to pick it up...she was re-hanging it for me (I was standing right there) and it fell out and ripped at the bottom. She gave it to me for free. I was so sad, but took it to a seamstress to see if it could be fixed...well, it could.

For a grand total of $15 I have a veil that is in perfect condition!!!

A total saving of...$165!!!

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Hi Angela

That kind of saving is fantastic, $165 woo hoo!

Let us know if you find any more bargains!

Suz

Dollar Store Finds For Cheap Wedding Stuff

by destiny doucette
(portland,maine)

Me and my fiance do not make alot of money, who does these days? So we have a store in our area called the dollar tree, everything is a dollar so we are planning an ocean theme. We are in Maine so it's fitting, we are going to buy tealights sand rocks and seashells so it's really inexpensive and we can do wedding favors from there as well. For a small or even big wedding it is definately a bargin and decent quality stuff for cheap.
My parents did their whole wedding stuff for about $350-400 for all decorations and wedding favors so a very good deal. They also made their invitatons also a good way to save money if you don't mind spending the time and effort.

Dessert Wedding Reception for 150 people for under $1000!

by Stacie M.
(Orange County, CA)

Our venue was free because it was in a home.
We chose 7:30 PM so we could get away with dessert-only.
Our invitation invited guests to a "dessert reception" (we don't say "dessert only" or "just" desserts - we didn't want to be apologetic).
Invitations were from vista print - online.

We decided on a sunflower theme and got 100 wholesale sunflowers for $1 a stem plus a little filler and 40 billy balls (so U$140 total).

We used mason jars and baby food tiny "meat" jars for candles and flowers and sparklers - everything (we had walmart raffia & ribbon tied around)

Several friends brought cookies & bars cut into tiny, bite-sizes plus min-cupcakes in chocolate & vanilla.
We had an all-yellow candy bar. I ordered the candy online from 2 different bulk places that let you buy by color.

I had to accumulate glass jars, vases, apothecaries, in all shapes & sizes (saveoncrafts.com and home goods and walmart).

We bought fabric to make table cloths (didn't even hem them - just cut) and cover the candy bar area ($160 - we could' have done it for cheaper if we had been willing to settle for other fabric) and tulle.

We already had white Christmas lights on hand (free) and borrowed Chinese paper lanterns which we just hung from the light strands.

I bought sparklers online for $45... theses were on outdoor tables in a mason jar.

We bought wood for less than $2 per plank (I think it was cedar for fences) and painted all our signage in black paint then cut to size. I also bought some small chalkboards (saveoncrafts.com)

We DID have some fruit (for those trying to be healthy or dieting) and cheese (for those who came hungry and needed sustenance). The cheese was a BIG hit... more of it was probably eaten than the sugary treats.

A friend took the awesome photos.

We didn't serve alcohol... we served regular & decaf coffee along with sweet tea, water, and lemonade.

We had a "wishes" area with photos strung up on jute rope and clipped on with clothes pins... guests could write advice, tips, wisdom to the new couple and clip it up to line with the pictures. We got a lot of photos with the white border developed at Costco ($50). We used photos everywhere as decorations.

It was beautiful and LOW cost. We were all very happy with how it turned out

Great Dollar Store Wedding Finds!

by Gayle Jean
(Youngstown Ohio)

I am a broke bride and have purchased alot of great items from the dollar tree store. They are the same things you can buy at the wedding stores as well as major department stores just not the same cost.

I brought things such as thank you cards, wedding bubbles, favor rings, place cards ect... Even the cutest decorations!

They are just as beautiful as the items I was going to by at Hallmark without the big price tag! Some may think this sounds tacky yet to a broke bride it is a life saver! Some may even say they would never buy wedding items from a dollar store, I say don't knock it till you have tried it, not all of us can afford a platinum wedding and for those of us who can't we have to make do where we can, besides more expensive does not equal better quality in all cases.

Good Luck and God Bless to all my fellow Brides!

The art of making your wedding LOOK like a million bucks!

by Morgana
(Australia!)

I am not married yet, but my partner and I definitely want to do it for less, as we have a new little bub to care for, and a nice'n'huge mortgage to consider.

I just KNOW we are not alone in these circumstances!

So here are some of my ideas for 'doing things on the cheap' and still having them look like you spent your life savings and got a second mortgage. LOL

If you are lucky enough to possess the skill of sewing, why not try your hand at making your own dress? I am making mine, and the bridesmaids, and I've even been asked to make the bridesmaids dresses for a friends wedding. If you're not a sewer, how about a friend? Or alternatively, a freelance seamstress? There's a woman who lives around the corner from me who whipped up a ball dress just like the store's for a girl I knew (back in high school), the dress retailed at AUD$750, she made it for $150 fee, and my friend spent $200 on fabric, so for a little under half price, a replica dress, in the perfect size!

If you are making the dress yourself, and want diamentes or crystals, DONT buy them at a bridal store, they are a fraction of the cost at a craft/bead shop, and they do discounts on large amounts. An even cheaper place to buy bulk gems is online, make sure you read the description properly though! If it says genuine swarovski crystals, buy! If it says dicromatic beads, don't buy! Unless your planning a psycadelic theme that is! If your unsure what name means what, go in to a store and check them out in the light, you'll love the way the swarovski or lead crystals reflect against any colour perfectly, and catch the light like diamonds!

A wedding cake can be a spectacular thing! Think of that classic white frosting, the kind that seems to have no knife marks, no pocks, no smudges, and looks absolutely expensive$$$! Well, that frosting is called Fondant, and it's simple to make! First though, you'll need a base, pick your favourite cake, not as squishy as sponge, but something like chocolate will do nicely. Bake up a few cakes (depending on what shape your after)(tiers? Bake more!) and don't stress that you don't have cake baking tins in varying sizes, use a large rectangular one and cut out the circle size your after! Here's a trick my daddy taught me, once the cake is cooked and cooled, cut the top (the bit that's risen in cooking) straight off and flip, this leaves you with a nice firm flat surface to work with. After you've got your design organized, go on the Internet, and search 'how to make fondant' on YouTube, my favourite is the marshmellow kind, it's easy and has a great flavour and colour! Speaking of colour, want a pastal pink cake with cherry blossoms all over it? Sounds extravagant, but believe me, it's so so simple. Add food colouring and knead it into your fondant untill you get the desired colour, then roll it out to approximately .5cm thickness and place it over the cake(s), using a blunt and smooth object, smooth down your fondant, leaving an impecible looking cake behind, pop any air bubbles with a pin and smooth down again. Oh I almost forgot!don't forget to put an 'adhesive' layer between cake and fondant,butter cream works well. Next step, decorating! And if your a party-planner at heart like me, this Is all amazing fun! Using the fondant, colour it to the required colours, then use cookie cutters, or a scalple and cut out the desired shapes, and stick them on. This is great because the whole cake, decorations and all, are edible. My description might not be the best, but rest assured, you can find detailed instructions on sites such as YouTube.

Table decorations, let's start with centre pieces! As their name commands, they will be in the centre of everyone's view, and hence either good or bad pieces of conversation. The trick is not to have them too overpowering. You just feel left out if you can't see the people on the other side of the table. Whenever I'm decorating, I like to pick a pallet of no more then 3 colours. Also remember to buy bulk, your making these for 10/20/30 tables! And make the wedding party's table piece bigger then all others. A neat idea I've seen is fish bowls or vases filled with blue-dyed water (or any colour I guess!) with stones at the bottom, and novelty light up ice cubes dropped inside. They don't look like ice cubes, they just look like the bowl is glowing! It's great! But more for a nautical themed wedding. If you don't think you could possibly make a centre piece to save your life, how about taking a single craft lesson on the ins and outs of a centre piece. They do exist! And the $30 you spend on the class will save you hundreds down the track!

Making your own invites, place cards and menu's. I am lucky enough to own alot of crafting tools, such as provo crafts cricut and cuttlebug, these mean I can cut and emboss with the flick of a switch, they even have a wedding cartridge! These machines allow me to cut out envelopes, invites, writing, or emboss details, detailing, and design. But I realise not everyone has these tools, how about a friend? If the answers still no, you could do it all by hand, it'll just take longer. Recently I made invites for a medical themed party, with the help of the cricut, I had little people dressed as doctors, nurses, surgeons and patients doing their thing in the invites, with a "bandage" RSVP card, all made out of card. But beware! The cricut may have CUT 120 tiny shoes out for me, but I still had to stick them all on!! Basically these things are easy to make, they just require patience, a steady hand and some design flare.

Tables, chairs, table clothes etc can be hired from a party planning shop, cut out the middle man (wedding planner) and organize them yourself! They're pretty inexpenaive too, something like 50c a table cloth.

I've always loved the idea of by-passing the band/dj dilemma and just doing it for free by plugging in your iPod, with set lists made beforehand.

If your thinking of a night wedding, try lighting walkways with candles, there's something magical about a garden scene light with hundreds of tea light candles. An inexpenaive and effective way of stopping the wind from blowing them outis by putting them in brown paper bags half filled with sand, and believe me, this does not look tacky at all, they appear like magical lanterns guiding the way, and hide the flicker. (some people detest a candles flicker) I also like solar powered fairy lights for out door night time weddings/reception, they automatically come on at dusk, and require no power point (great for garden/park do's!)

I know there's heaps more, but I'm tuckered out at the moment and need some sleep!

Another thought to consider is getting alot done in Bali for instance, you could get 20 table runners made up, in your chosen fabric and colours for a total of $1 ,

Ok! That's enough for now! :)

And remember, a wedding is not about how much you spend, it's about the union of you and your kindred spirit, your twin soul, your love, your life. Who cares if you spend $500 and elope? Or get hitched in vegas? As long as it is fullfilling to you both, nothing else matters.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

Happy marrying!!

The Best Way To Save Money..

by Courtney
(Detroit, MI)

People put alot into getting married from the dresses to the ceremony and honeymoon. Well there's websites where you can get free stuff; you just have to ask. You can also get hitched at the justice of the peace for less than a hundred and fifty dollars. This will save some cash for the honeymoon where you can get a nice hotel for a couple of nights.

Budget Wedding Package in Napa for only $299

by Roxanna Advincula
(Sacramento)

The best kept secret in the wedding industry is being put together unnoticed by a little ministry in Napa. There is a small non-denominational church in Napa (actually it is in Calistoga,California 94515). Which is famous for the Calistoga bottled water, wineries, mud baths and SPAS!

It's called Calistoga Christian Center Church. The Pastor (he's a lot like Robin Williams in the movie "Licensed to Wed"). Pastor Tomas and his wife, heard so many times from couples on a budget THEY COULD NOT AFFORD A NAPA WEDDING. He and his wife decided to create a wedding package of their own. They call it the Best,Budget Napa Wedding Package EVER!

What makes this so incredible,is that all proceeds go to the church children's ministry, NOT THE OFFICIANT. The church congregation is 99.9% poor grape pickers and are not part of any large denominational ministry. The church purchases Christmas Toys, English lessons tutors, Food and Backpacks with school supplies with the proceeds of the ceremonies. You can see photos at the ministry's website at CalistogaChristianCenter.org.

Last year, weddings made possible to donate:
375 BACK PACKS FILLED WITH SCHOOL SUPPLIES
176 PAIRS OF SHOES, 75 WARM COATS,700 CHRISTMAS TOYS

BUDGET NAPA WEDDING PACKAGE includes:
1. Intimate Mountaintop Wedding Ceremony overlooking the scenic Napa Valley or Gazebo Ceremony (see photo)
2. Custom Wedding Vows (Couple keeps)
3. Marriage Ceremony (Non-Denominational)
4. Two wedding photos ? (emailed)
5. Sign and file wedding license.
6. Ceremonial toast (non alcoholic cider)
7. Church certificate of marriage
8. Tax-deductible receipt
9. Honorable mentions at the four yearly events for the children.
Abrigos for Amigos, Soles for Souls, Free Backpack for Kids Day, and Fiesta Christmas. All this for a requested $299 Donation.

The pastor wants everyone to know that: COUPLES MUST OBTAIN WEDDING LICENSE FROM ANY CALIFORNIA COUNTY CLERK: He strictly limits packages to only 7 "Budget Packages per month: You can contact him directly, Senior Pastor Tom Burgos (916) 834-1496 or Email him:Myweddingpastor@comcast.net or see the website at Www.CalistogaChristianCenter.org

A $50 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your date, sent to:
Calistoga Christian Center Church
P.O. Box 402 Calistoga, California 94515
Please include date of wedding
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO: CALISTOGA CHRISTIAN CENTER CHURCH...NOT THE OFFICIANT!

SPREAD THE WORD!

Roxanna

Craigslist For Wedding Bargains

by Pamela Wisneski
(Houston, TX USA)

I have used craigslist.com to find people who are working from their homes trying to live the deal. My makeup artist, hair stylist, and wedding cake lady all came from the search engine. I was able to find people who are talented and respectable yet cannot charge the going rate since they are not yet established. Great way to save money!!

Pamela

Do It All On Your Own For Your Cheap Wedding

by roslyn elaine villalpando
(yuba city, california, united states)

This summer I am getting married and my love and I will only be spending 500 dollars. We will be making all of the following:
Wedding dress
Wedding Cake
Reception and Wedding decorations
Center pieces
brides maid dress
everything we are making or using our own.
The only purchase being made are the tuxs and fabric.
I suggest to everyone to do a do it yourself wedding. It is going to be my dream perfect wedding!


The picture upload will be the flowers from my grandmothers garden that will be placed as cente piece parts and will be placed on our wedding cake.

Barter For Your Wedding

by sandy
(USA)

Times are tough- and you may trade babysitting for someone making a cake, or you can work at a rental shop and rent a wedding dress- or do some blogging and advertising of putting flyers on cars for business. If its tight times for you consider what services you can trade for use of a friends backyard, etc.

Hi Sandy

This is a great way to have lots of helpers on your wedding day and you have the bonus of being able to help your friends too!

Suz

Our Military Wedding

by Lyndsay
(Ontario)

My soon to be husband and I met 2 years ago. We were happy and in love until he was moved 4500kms away from me and was posted to a navy ship which spends 75% of the year on the water in south america. Needless to say the strain on our relationship was great and the distance pulled us apart. We broke up after a year of trying to make it work but with minimal contact and no way to visit each other it was too much for us to bare.

11 months after breaking up we were reunited while he was back in Ontario on training. We spent a whirlwind month together and fell despitatly in love again. This time nothing will stop us from being together as we now know that we are meant to be together.

It is very difficult to love someone who in in the Canadian Forces, and it takes a strong relationship to grow and sustain all the difficult and lonely nights.

We plan to marry on Dec 17th of this year (2011). There will be 2 of his friends in uniform for witnesses, my husband to be in his dress uniform, and we are requesting to be married on the back of his ship that has caused us so much heartbreak in the past, as a sign of a newer and stronger life together in which no distance or career path will stand in our way ever again.

We do not have alot of money, I am a 3rd year university student in Ontario, and mother of a beautiful 7 year old daughter, we have decided to have a simple justice of the peace marriage, with wedding bands only, seeing as we are unable to afford the engagement ring.

All we want is to be married and live together in BC in 8 months when I plan to move from Ontario to BC to be with him.

We both believe that we were always meant to be.

Lyndsay and Jesse

Simplicity is Perfect

by Indah
(Surabaya, Indonesia)

Hi, my name is Indah, 25 years from Indonesia. I and my couple will married in next year, in October.
We don't have any enough money to have a big wedding party, so we plan to have a simple party to celebrate our wedding day.

My plan is we will married and held a holy matrimony in church, near my home. For favor, we will made by ourselves. The guests are from our families and friends. We will held a small party in the building next the church. For wedding ring, we will use a simple white wedding band. and for photography, we will ask our friends (that interested in photography) to take all of our photos.

For the choir, we will also ask our friends that usually singing in the church.

we hope this simplicity for our wedding day, will be perfect for our life and love.

Ask Friends and Family To Help With Your Cheap Wedding Plans

by Diana
(Kyle, TX, USA)

I am a stay at home mom, so it is very hard to plan a wedding on only one income. Being hispanic our culture is so family oriented, that when you tell them you are getting married everybody pitches in to help. We get sponsors (godparents) for pretty much everything. We have sponsors who are paying for the church, hall, cake, decor of church/hall, wedding favors, music, gold medalions,toasting glasses, bible/rosary, unity candle. Pretty much everything for a Hispanic wedding we get sponsors for. We are paying for the food and beverages and our rings. So we might end up paying about 5,ooo. out of our pocket, maybe less. But that is what we will have, incase something comes up. Which can occur in the case of sponsors, but you just need something to fall back on. Usually there help takes the place of gifts, but they always give you something anyway. Well hope this helps.


xoxoxoxox
Diana

My Miracle

by Tameeka Luces
(Trinidad, WI)

After having been prisoner to a very emotionally unsatifying reltaionship of 3 1/2 years, I was rescued by True, Pure friendship and counsel by my present fiance Kurt. Kurt became my friend at one of the most trying and frustrating season in my life. He prayed with me, talked with me, made me laugh, when i almost forgot what it felt like to smile. He helped me see the light and blessings of the Days. He allowed me to understand and appreciate myself and what being in love and being loved was and is. We dated for one year before he proposed to me and said "I was the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh". He expressed that I completed him. I had never felt so overwhelmed with Joy and honour in my entire life. I know that what we share and what we have is only becuase of the Goodness of God and his precious wonderful union of two people wanting the same thing in life. He is and will always be my MIRACLE.

Total Wedding Costs For Under $ 688

by Tammy Wehner
(Fairfield, California USA)

My wedding...yell I can actually say it was beautiful for what I paid!

Wedding took place in my backyard so that was free! So if you want a wedding cheap see if a friend has a good size back yard for the reception and for saying the vowels. We had the wedding in the evening.

Wedding invitations was a photo of me and my husband printed off my computer and put onto nice paper for $20 AND WE DID EVITE AS WELL AS IT IS FREE!!!!

Wedding Card/ Wish Box I went to the post office and got one of the boxes and wrapped it up in paper and cut a whole in the top. (FREE)

Borrow tables, chairs, silverware and table cloths from friends and family that match theme color of the wedding. (FREE)

Bought ribbon at Michael for the chair $20

Maid of Honor made me signs for wedding and reception for FREE

Best Man did the sign for the car for FREE

Table number sitting and names, I used my printer that made designs for free and folded them in half. (FREE)

Dance floor was FREE it was on the patio surrounded by lights and candles!

We took a 3 photo's of us and placed in a frame matting from the Walmart for $15 and had everyone sign the matting. (FREE)

Went to the dollar store got some small candles to go into votive $12. We also got 8 strands of green ivory for $8 making total $20

Flower girl basket for a $1
Balloon's and String for $10 filled.

We bought touches made with bamboo which was $24 for 12 piece at Walmart. I used some for my Aisle walk and others around tables and dance floor.

We order from Oriental Trading Company:

Personalized Clear Champagne Flutes $14.99 25 Piece(s)time 2 making it $30.00 for guest to keep.

Personalized “Two Hearts One Love” Wedding Votive Holders
$11.99 Per Dozen times 2 making it $24 as these were our wedding favors.

Personalized Calla Lily Knife And Cake Server Set
$17.99 1 Set(s)

Wedding Cake Topper
$7.99 Each

Elite Collection Celebration Canopy $39.99

Wedding Bells 12 for $8.99 to decorate around the Elite Collection.

__________

Clothing Expense was easy.

Flower girl I had her where a sundress she had (FREE)
Flower Petals; Use real roses from my friend garden.(FREE)

Ring Boy was my son, so I had him where black shorts and white collar polo dress shirt (FREE)

Groomsmen I had them wear black shorts, dress collar shirt and vests with sandals or dress shoes. (FREE) Most men in my party had this, so if not the thrift store will have for under $8 dollars.

Bridesmaid and Maid of Honor: Both went to Kohl's and found sundresses that match in style but two different colors to wedding theme. Costing me $40 total as they already had shoes to match.

Groom: He wore his black shorts, white dress shirt and black vest with sandals. Costing me $20

Bride: Dress was $99 from David Bridal and wore my mother's necklace and earrings at wedding.

Wore my white sandals. (FREE)

Wore my hair in ponytail and wore my tiara I had from my aunt's wedding. (FREE)

Put fresh flowers from friends yard in my hair along with all the bridesmaid, maid of honor and flower girl.(FREE)

_____
Non-Dom Pastor marry us from my friend church for small donation of $50

Photographer we had a friend take for us for $50 and then downloaded it to my computer for FREE

Music was free download the music had it play on a sound box.(FREE)

Mic we got at a thrift store for $20 hooked it into sound box.

Bartender (FREE) that was friend who does it for a living. Bar cost me $120

We used lots of white Christmas lights to decorate the yard.(FREE)


Cake got at Raley's for $65 feeding 150 people

Here is the best part! FOOD!!!

I had every family member chip in and bring a dish as part of my wedding gift! So we had lots of chicken, salads, fish, steak, veggies, lumpia and deserts.

Self serve!


THANK YOU NOTES WERE FREE AS I DID THIS ONLINE TOO!!!

This is what I could afford as I was single mom and had no money to have a wedding, but I sure did good for what I had!

Hi Tammy
You sure did good! Thanks for the wedding cost breakdown, that will really help other brides when they are trying to decide what they need to budget for.
Congratulations!
Suz

The trick for a cheap wedding is

by Alex
(Collierville)

The trick is to do it yourself. If there is a thing you could be doing instead of someone else doing it for you, DO IT!!! It saves money and you get to spend quality time with your partner to be!

The Old Fashion Way - Cheap Wedding Idea

by Milissa Reeves
(Norman, OK, US)

We are wanting a wedding based on the old days. Where the men wear the full gear as in cowboy hats, 3 to 4 piece suits and the females wearing the saloon dresses and the bride wearing a similar dress. Wanting it near a creek bed or lake shore. Nothing fancy to others but to us awesome like a 1940's to 1950's wedding.

Hi Milissa
That sounds fun! And the wedding photos will be great too! Keeping the reception authentic you could have more of a pot luck buffet, where everyone brings their favorite dish to the celerations. This way you would save even more money!
Good luck with all your plans
Suz

Celebrating New Life and New Year With A Cheap Winter Wedding

by Gina Turner
(Stokesdale, NC)

My fiance and I are getting married on New Year's Eve this year - 2009. This is a special date to us anyway because we went on our first official date on New Year's Eve in 2006. That date was to a special New Year's Eve comedy show by a local comedian we both loved named Chris Wiles at our local coliseum. This became a tradition we have done now for the past 3 years.

I was laid off from my job back in November 2008 and my fiance is a self-employed title searcher for mortgages so his business has come to a standstill in this recession. We are struggling just to survive but decided that this was the perfect time to make it official and get married because we realize love is the most important thing we have and if we have each other, we can endure anything.

By getting married on New Year's Eve, the church will already be decorated with ponsettias, etc. so no expense there. My husband to be is either going to rent a tux or wear a nice suit and I plan to get my dress at a consignment shop or at one of those $99 sales at David's Bridal. We are having a very small private ceremony at our church with only around 20 people plus us and the minisiter.

Afterwards, we plan to go to that same comedy show with our closest friends and family. After the show, there is always a champagne toast at midnight and then a buffet and dancing - all included in the price of admission (which if I remember correctly is only around $40-50 per person). Everyone that comes with us is paying their own way. This way we don't have to hire a caterer, pay for deocrations, buy a cake, pay for a DJ photographer or anything! And the best part is there is no clean up either!!

What could be a better way to start off a new year than to start our new life together and not spend the rest of our lives paying for it.

Way to save on your wedding ring..FOR WOMEN

by Dana
(London, ON, Canada)

If you buy the diamond(s) separately from the ring, and then have a ring made it can cost you a lot less. Look at antique jewelery stores, pawn shops, online sites. You will also have a one of kind ring just for you. Also sometimes you can get deals on pink diamonds if you are looking for something different.

My wedding under $800

by apple matters
(allentown,pa)

I have not seen anyone do a break down like this so here you are.

My wedding is coming out to about $700 everything included.

I rented the hall on a weekday in the summer at night $175 .

My cake is from Walmart for $88 with filling and decor.

Flower girl's dresses and baskets (walmart) baskets were $3 each and the dresses I got this fabric that looks like a dress already and sewed down the side and done. 3 dresses $14

Bridesmaids deb on sale $10 but they paid for their dresses.

For the men walmart and thrift shop- got white shirt black pant and black and color vest at the thrift store when they had a sale day (wednesday there) about $10 in total. The jacket was from walmart $60 but they look nice without the jacket. So we just did jacket for the groom and best man only the others just the vest and the guys paid for there own things.

Flowers all from the dollar store or ac more when I see them on sale -

Centerpiece was about 1.50-2.00 a table
got glass at thrift store a set 28 for a $1.00
flowers -dollar tree $1.00
river stones -dollar tree $1.00
tea light candles $1.00
rose petals dollar tree$1.00 -- food coloring 1.00
old sliver charger 18 for a $1.00 thrift store


I use the glass like a vase filled it with stones and 3 flowers from the dollar store-- placed it on a charger with rose petals and 3 tea light candles done.

Party favors about 70 cent each
dinner mint $1.00
tissue paper $1.00
thank you tags 25 for $1.oo
sliver pen 2 for a 1.00
fill a small tissue paper square with 3 to 4 mint twist of tie with ribbon and put in bag
write your names and date on the back of the thank you tag

You can also get ribbon made for a good price on ebay

Music using my lap top -- a lot of people have mp3's use them -- my hall comes with built in sound system and mic

food --

fried ravioli believe it or not dollar store to
pig in a blanket dollar tree
fruit platter $5
veggie platter$8 use the extra charger as platter trays
nachos $4
shrimp$10 price rite

pasta dinner
lasagna about $10 to trays
chicken Alfredo $8
penne pasta and turkey sausage $5
and 2 other plain pasta $15
and 4 sauce a make ur own dish type thing
salad premade price rite 2bags for $5
dressing different types
garlic bread again dollar store cut at a angle and buttered very cute

Use forks bent to stand with decorated paper to lable everything -- but you can use frames

Use walmart punch

Got the buffet sever also in the thrift store 8 for $10
Bouquets I made dollar store flowers
Aisle runner I made for $8 with our names
Veil made $4 with matching detail to my dress and tiara
Tiara walmart sale $5
Dress deb sale $20
Pew bows 12 $6 dollar tree
Xmas lights used on dance floor
Made a big square in the middle with it tape down to the floor then roses petal to cover the wires great effect
I use frames from dollar tree 6 for a dollar to make table numbers
Invitations free on line and just printed

Tied balloons to poles on a main street with an arrow sign so people can find the place easier

Wine was about $4 on sale I wait for sales always- verdi -- I use frozen strawberries for color and a nice tip to keep wine cold

I did do cans of beer but I had the bar tender pour them in cups before seving

Got local teen to help seve -- They poured the wine right before everyone was let in the hall and we were getting married at the gazebo outside

A friend to bar tend-- I premade the drinks and only severed 5 different types of drinks all she had to do was pour in cups and done

and my hubby's friend to run the mic -- music from the lap top

Chair cover I used table cloth roll cut only size to fit and cover the back of chair-- use ribbon or what you like to tie around chair and done it sounds cheap but the looks amazing when done right -- and the best thing is it only the back is covered- the seat part of the chair will be the same. It's just for look so play around and see what you like best

Everything was covered with roses petals and candle light -- balloons help too

I hope i did not leave anything out

Good luck to all

************************************************

Wow! Thank you for sharing, love all the details and the clever ways you have spent your wedding budget. It would be great to see some photos if you have any.
Suz

Planning a DIY wedding without losing the elegance!

by courtney

I am having to plan a wedding with a lot of diy (do it yourself) projects.

One great idea is doing your own flowers and renting flowers from different companies. I found a local flower garden who rents everything from potted pansies to magnolia trees fro $2 to $8 each to decorate our ceremony area and make it look like a beautiful $10,000.00 ceremony location.

Another good tip is to change your wedding date from May to April or from September to October in order to recieve discounted prices on locations and catering.

August Wedding For Under $500!

by B.Morgan
(Newport, Arkansas)

Me and my fiance are to marry August 1,2011. I have been previously married. He has never been married. We both have children. Altogether we have four children, two boys and two girls.

We decided we want an outside wedding. His family has a get-away-home on a lake. It's perfect for place. We are having sunflowers as our theme. My mother is making my bouquet out of sunflowers and daisies.

We are having our girls as the flower girls. They have adorable summer dresses to wear. Handmade by my grandmother. Our boys are ring bearers.

Our cake is a simple 2 layer white cake with sunflowers and blue ribbon, made by my sister.

My fiance and boys are wearing black dress pants and light blue button up shirts. My dress is a light blue spaghetti strap summer dress.

We decided we are having cake along with watermelon for dessert and grilling hotdogs and hamburgers. Our guests will be able to spend the day fishing with us. This came about because me and my fiance reconnected on facebook after he commented on my post stating how badly I wanted watermelon, sand between my toes, fishing pole in one hand, and someone to bait my line for me. He replied with lets go. Didn't get to so now we are planning it with our wedding day.

Altogether we have spent $349 on our big day. We have everything ready except charcoal, buns, watermelon and our rings. We saved alot by having family help with making dresses and bouquets and our cake. The money was spent on material for dresses, shoes for all 6 of us, the boys pants,shirts,and ties. My dress which was $60, and hamburger meat and hotdogs. We have 40 guests and we can't wait.

How To Get Married For Almost Nothing!

by John Pratt
(washington d.c.)

My wife and I got maried by the justice of the peace on a trip that was given to me. I bought season tickets to the washington mystics before i met my wife to beand I won a trip to the all star game.

I asked my lady friend if she wanted to go. We are crazy about each other and don't have to spend a penny to have fun, we just like to be together.

On the train ride to the game I proposed to her and she accepted. I suggested we get married before the game and she said okay.

After the game we had a nice dinner, gambled a little, and then had our own little party. We went home a couple of days later. After the trip we went back to our jobs but got married almost free.

cheap everything!!!!

by summer
(west jordan ut)

To find cheap stuff online is totally the way to go for your wedding dress go to google type in discount wedding dresses or cheap wedding dresses tons of links pop up and I have found the dress I'm getting for 150.00 same goes with anything else type what you want in the little search bar and there you go.

Also amazon or ebay are good places to go to find flower girl dresses wedding dresses,shoes,and accessories.

About the wedding venu find a friend or a grandparent with a pretty backyard it will cost you almost nothing or nothing that saves you 2000-3000 right there.

A University, Do-It-Yourself Wedding

by Jillian
(Pullman, Washington, USA)

Josh and I met while in university - he was an undergrad, I was a master's student - and our engagement and graduations were basically a simultaneous event.

Having graduated into a terrible economy and unemployed at the moment, we are planning on a very tight budget. It might seem like an oxymoron, but I am trying to plan something that will be classy at the same time it is cheap. So our theme, in keeping with how we met and where we live, is books.

We will probably be getting married in the same university town where we met, and we both have a ton of old books at our disposal. I am planning on book centerpieces, bouquets made of paper flowers (folded by myself, of course)and homemade invitations featuring recycled paper. Re-using paper is not only a green idea, but will save us a ton of money on floral centerpieces, too.

************************************************

Hi Jillian

The flowers look so pretty and the added beauty is they will last for ages.

Good luck with your plans, you can have a cheap and classy wedding - the best ones always are! I could be slightly biased! ;o)

Suz

Renew Your Wedding Vows For $99 in NAPA, Cal.

by Roxanna Advincula
(Sacramento)

The most significant ceremony for Christian couples is the renewal of the holy wedding vows. There is a small non-denominational christian church in Napa (actually it is in Calistoga,California 94515). Which is famous for the Calistoga bottled water, wineries, mud baths and SPAS!

It's called Calistoga Christian Center Church. Every Sunday at 11am-1 P.M the church offers Christians ( Catholic,ND, Baptist) married couples with proof of marriage required, the opportunity to renew their Christian Vows for a simple donation of $99.

The Pastor (he's a lot like Robin Williams in the movie "Licensed to Wed"). Pastor Tomas and his wife decided to create an affordable vow renewal package for Christians. They call it the Best Christian Vow Renewal Package in Napa-$99 donation.

What makes this so incredible,is that all proceeds go to the church children's ministry, NOT THE PASTOR!. The church congregation is 99.9% poor grape pickers and are not part of any large denominational ministry. The church purchases Christmas Toys, English lessons tutors, Food and Backpacks with school supplies with the proceeds of the ceremonies. You can see photos at the ministry's website at CalistogaChristianCenter.org.

Last year, vow renewal & weddings made possible to donate:
375 BACK PACKS FILLED WITH SCHOOL SUPPLIES
176 PAIRS OF SHOES, 75 WARM COATS,700 CHRISTMAS TOYS

CHRISTIAN VOW RENEWAL PACKAGE includes:
1. Intimate Mountaintop Wedding Ceremony overlooking the scenic Napa Valley or Gazebo Ceremony (see photo)
2. Custom Wedding Vows (Couple keeps)
3. Vow Renewal Ceremony (Non-Denominational)
4. Two photos (emailed)
5. Ceremonial toast (non alcoholic cider)
6. Church certificate of Vow Renewal
7.Donation receipt
8. Honorable mentions at the four yearly events for the children.
Abrigos for Amigos, Soles for Souls, Free Backpack for Kids Day, and Fiesta Christmas. All this for a requested $99 Donation.

The pastor wants everyone to know that: COUPLES MUST BE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH (Catholic, ND, Baptist, JW, Mormon): He strictly limits ceremonies on Sunday to 4 packages . You can contact him directly, Senior Pastor Tom Burgos (916) 834-1496 or Email him:Myweddingpastor@comcast.net or see the website at Www.CalistogaChristianCenter.org

A $25 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your date, sent to:
Calistoga Christian Center Church
P.O. Box 402 Calistoga, California 94515
Please include date of ceremony

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO: CALISTOGA CHRISTIAN CENTER CHURCH...NOT THE PASTOR!

SPREAD THE WORD!

Roxanna

Cheap n cheerful wedding not cheap and nasty

by georgina
(newtownards)

I'm getting married next June and unfortunately I am on a very limited budget.

I've tried cutting costs by approaching 1 or 2 companies and asking them to provide something towards my wedding in exchange for advertising ie notes on the back of invitations,order of services or by completing on line testimonials after.
So far I've only sent a couple of emails but have already had 1 positive response from a local company who have offered me free wedding invitations and the use of decorated bay trees for my reception,this is certain to make my day a bit more special,as i couldn't possibly afforded these extras myself.

I'm a very firm believer that it doesn't matter how expensive my dress is or how nice my reception costs it wont make a marriage. I have 3 young children and couldn't possibly justify getting myself in to a lot of debt for one day. It's about what my marriage means that's important the rest is just minor detail.

Of course all girls dream of a nice day but again its about the meaning not the extravagance.

And if I don't end up having a cake or a professional photographer my day will still mean just the same to me.

If you could pass me on any ideas tho id be over the moon.

Thanks Georgina newlands x

Recession Proof Wedding For $500

by Lynn
(Dayton, OH, USA)

My fiance and I have been putting off our wedding for 2 years due to lack of finances. The stress of planning a wedding is enough to drive anyone insane before the big day. We have a 6 year old son who was recently diagnosed with autism and his therapy expenses will start adding up and that will just be another reason why we should put it off so we are just going low budget. We are getting married in October 2010 and are having a black and white themed wedding. Since it's close to Halloween I figured I could get many decorations on sale. I just graduated from culinary school and my husband is a chef so we are going to be really crazy and do as much of the food as possible the week of the wedding. We have some foodie friends that are willing to help out on the day of to take off the pressure. Since we know them well there won't be the stress of worrying if everything is getting done. I am planning to wear a black and white dress which should cost less than a traditional dress. We are doing the invitations ourselves as well. I am volunteering to clean a hall after other events in exchange they are going to waive the rental fee for us. All that's left is the rings and the cake. We are trying to keep the cost under $500 total but not to exceed $700.

Magistrate is always the cheapest way to go

by Kristin Richmond
(Canonsburg, PA)

I know me and my husband just applied the license which was like 30 or 40.00. Then we made an appointment with the local magistrate and they charged like $30 but my grandma paid and gave him a tip. We went to Applebees afterwards and she paid for that too. My rings came from my great-grandmother and his ring cost like $40 so in all we only actually spent maybe $80.00. I dont know if this is the kind of story you we're looking for but that's how we did it. Oh yeah I got my dress from Target it cost like $70.00, so $150 total. And he lost his band under my grandma's porch over a year ago so he doesn't even have a ring to wear so it would be great if we won!!

Hi Kristin
It sounds like your wedding was perfect, it shows you don't have to spend a fortune to get married and live happily ever after.
Suz

Wedding For Less Than £500

by helen doherty
(newcastle upon tyne)

My hubby and me spent less than £500 all together on our wedding because we had nothing at the time but we had the best day ever. Our invites and napkins were ordered through a Xmas catologue, We married in a registry office, approached a local college and asked if a photography student would like to make some money by taking our photos, Our rings were secondhand and inherited. My now brother in law drove me in his old black jag, we gave the guests a disposable camera each and got some brill pictures back, Our reception was at my sisters home and the food catered by the chef from the nursery I worked in at the time. Our flowers were homegrown and handpicked and my dress was a prom dress from a high street store, my shoes borrowed from a friend, my hubbys suit was from a supermarket brand. We didn't have a honeymoon away but instead shut ourselves away together for long days with no phones or visitors and started trying for our family. The wedding had nothing to do with how much money we had to spend, we desperately wanted to be together and we were happy and beautiful and everyone who we love was there and we all talk about how much fun it was. I think we would have done it differently if our circumstances were different but no amount of money could have made us more happy or proud than we were and still are together. To top things off, our son was born on our first anniversary the following year and we must be mad because we now have two beautiful children
I only have 2 regrets, one is that I have a tatoo which is visible on a few lovely photos and the other is that although my ring is beautiful and makes me feel very happy, I'll always know that the first time it was ever bought was for someone else but even if I won a new ring of my own, I doubt I could ever take off the one I have, I would need to wear it on a chain as I always feel that the person who wore it before was very content in her life. Thank you, Regards, Helen Doherty

Hi Helen
Thank you for sharing your wedding story, it sounds like your day was perfect.
Suz

Cheap Wedding Flowers

by laura jones
(gloucs)

Use flowers from your own garden you'd be suprised how easy it is to arrange good flower arrangements for the reception and to make bouquets. Libraries have good books on them if you need ideas.

Hi Laura

I agree, it's always good to have a look at what you have already when you are planning your wedding.

Suz

Engagement Photos and Save-The-Dates

by Danielle Long
(Greenville, SC, USA)

First of all... I was looking around for someone to take some engagement photos and found someone at my school who had to do a class project. She was willing to fulfill her class requirements by taking our pictures and charged us nothing for them! So looking around at a college nearby for students is a cheap way to get photos.

Also, I found this AWESOME deal with Vistaprint.com for 100 free postcards - you only pay shipping.

So I started looking around for someone to design some save-the-dates for me, hopefully at a minimal cost. My sister suggested I try out this program called Gimp. It is a free program for Mac and Windows. I didn't have any experience with graphic design or art before designing - it was very easy to figure out!

Long story short... I was able to design my own save-the-dates with a FREE program using a picture I had taken for FREE and got them printed for FREE! I only spent a little time and some money for shipping!

Turn wedding reception pictures into a game

At each reception table have a camera labeled with the table number. Have a note to let guests know you need their help.

The game is to have guests take pictures for you to judge in certain categories such as: Best group shot (of everyone in the table), Best action shot, etc.

When the guests leave they leave the disposable in a box or at the guest table. On the back of each guest place card there will be a site guests can go view the winner pictures out.

This works good for me because I have a wedding website for me and my fiance. It will also save us to pay the photographer for staying through the ceremony and through the reception. Plus these will be personal photos and more candid.

************************************************

I like this idea as you won't get the usual disposable camera shots of the table and it keeps everyone involved. You could also ask your guests to upload their photos they take of the day on their own cameras. This way you will get a great mixture of pictures.

When we were married we asked for a copy of everyone's pictures and have some great shots of all of our guests.

Good luck with the rest of your wedding plans!

Rheumatoid Wedding

by Iraima
(Rancho Cucamonga, CA)

I have been with my Fiance for over 2 years now and I came down with Rheumatoid Arthritis a little over one year ago shortly after we became engaged and I can no longer work with all of the pain. The doctor bills have now added up and out wedding funds continue to deplete.

Now, we have to have a cheap wedding which is fine with us because my health is important so we are now getting married at my Sister's Mother-in-Law's backyard. Instead of buying my dress for 1200.00 I am getting it made for the price of 650.00, We are going to a discount fabric store to purchase cheap fabric to use as tablecloths, my church is letting us borrow the chairs and tables at no cost, my brother in law is going to marry us instead of having to pay for a minister, and our family friend is going to do our photography, and my sister offered to pay for my photography. This is how we are going to be able to have a wedding.

One last money saving tip: for our honeymoon we are going to use our all-inclusive timeshare as our destination.

Where To Find Your Cheap Wedding DJ

by Zachary Mondres
(centreville, va, usa)

Instead of going out and getting yourself a live band or DJ. why not use what we have today to our
advantage, an ipod. Everyone has an ipod and even if you don't have one yourself you can probably find a friend that has one. Get all the songs you want and put them on your ipod, then pick a friend of yours that is usually the life of the party and ask them if they want to be the dj,
instead of having some dude stand there half the time just playing songs, have your friend do it
when its needed, not only will it save you a lot of cash, but that friend will feel like he is part of your wedding and will probably have a blast doing it, it also makes the games played and stuff like that more enjoyable as the man on the mic is someone you know.

You can also probably find speakers to rent if the place doesn't have them. Now you have a personal dj, a cheaper/free dj, and all the music you will want to have at your wedding there. THE DO IT YOURSELF DJ

Double Duty - Triple Duty

by Holly
(Pembroke, Ontario, Canada)

I created floral balls out of styrofoam balls and silk flowers from the dollar store. They doubled as both pew decor and centerpieces. Plus I was able to reuse them at a friends wedding. My event was black, white & green. For the pew decor I used dress lining to create a fabric drape that wrapped around the top of the pew and pooled on the floor. The dress lining only cost $2 per metre. I simply inserted wire to attach the floral ball and removed them later to place on the tables.

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Hi Holly

Love the idea of having wedding decorations that double up as wedding centerpieces. Plus you were able to help out a friend which is great.

Thank you for sending the photo, they look lovely.

Suz

Best Proposal

by sarah campbell
(Charlottetown, PEI. Canada)

Paul had taken me ( Sarah ) out to his father's place for dinner last Sunday evening. He made a point to invite both of my parents along for dinner. I thought it was just a nice gesture and we were all going to get to enjoy a meal together, however what I got was much more then ever expected. Paul had previously asked my parents for my hand in marriage and had his family in on the whole event as well. As we were enjoying the evening out of the deck Paul mentioned he wanted to play guitar. This is a normal event so I didn't think anything of it. He got out his guitar and started to play a song I didn't recognize. Within seconds I realized he has written the song for me and was playing in front of both of our families. I still had NO idea that this was going to be his engagment ( although all the family members present were well aware). My father had the video camera out and all parents were taking pictures. I thought everyone was just proud to hear Paul play such a nice song, until the very last line of the song when he said " You are my soulmate and be my wife". I looked at my mother who was smiling and knew the entire time what was going to happen. As I turned back confused and unsure to Paul he was down on one knee in front of me asking me to marry him. I was in complete and total shock for about 10 minutes before I realized the entire event. Of coarse I said yes with every emotion and word possible and couldn't have been happier for the way he choose to do this. With both of our families there and somehow managed to pull it all off without me having any idea what was going on. The entire event/night is captured on video which I can also submit if you like. The song is absolutely beautiful and unique. I am one extremely lucky women to have such a thoughtful, talented and family oriented man as my future husband. I couldn't possible be happier.

Sarah
Thank you for sharing your beautiful proposal, it sounds like the two of you are going to have lots of fun planning your wedding!
Congratulations
Suz

Money Saving On Photos For Your Wedding

by Rachel Richardson
(United Kingdom)

Place disposable cameras on all the reception tables. Some picures which aren't staged are the best!

Borrow and Help For Your Cheap Wedding

by Shawna Marie Smith
(Auburn, NY, 13021)

Being that my fiance and I are paying for our wedding ourselves, we are on a strict budget, which means we're kinda going cheap, but not too cheap. And one way that were saving alot of money is a friend from work is making our flower bouquets and centerpieces, by just buying the flowers from Tops, which is going to save us a huge amount of money, and also my fiance's sister just got married last year, so were usung some of her things that she used like the flower girl baskets, votives and vases. So my cheap ideas are to save money using things from people and get any help that you can.

Cheap Wedding Honeymoon!

by Rachael
(Ohio)

I went and did the Pink Preview pots and pans demo and got a Free (Yes no strings, cause we did not buy anything!) 2 night 3 day all inclusive honeymoon. There are a couple places they list that you can select. I ended up being able to score Sandals Montego Bay for 65% off the reg price. So our 7.5k room is really just $2,200.00 for 7 nights and eight days. The flight was not bad either. I was worried we would not be able to go on a honeymoon with our total Honeymoon included budget of 6k. Well I was able to manage that and score a sweet honeymoon. If you count the free one we got (you can too) we have two honeymoons. We will be going to Mexico next March to use the free 2 night and 3 day stay. Thought I would share the Sandals thing. It has always been my dream to go there and we were able to! Plus you only need like 200-400 down then make payments. We both got a second job and were able to pay it off fairly quick.

My other Cheap ideas are that I have people that know people that were married within the last couple years. You will not believe how much stuff these ladies have left over. I got my invitations for free they are that handmade pressed flower paper too. Not totally a Winery theme but I changed the theme to be Winery and Natural theme. Like another lady said on here, make sure your friends know you are getting married. So many people want to help and or have connections. Use them, they would not offer them if they did not want to help you out! Do not feel bad.

Have I Got An Idea

by B. Spoon
(GP, Oregon)

Ya, Know how ya stress over how much the wedding cake is gonna put you back? There's a way around that. For your guests serve a tier of cupcakes. The Bride & Groom can then have their own private cake just for them. Isn't that the best Idea!

Look for "Lower Price Guarantee" designations

Many companies offer lower price guarantee designations -- if you just ask. For example, I was looking to purchase weding favors off of one particular website that was the same price as on another website. I asked the first vendor if she would lower her price because the same product was available elsewhere, and she came back at 30% off. It was the perfect solution all around because I got my favors at a discounted rate and she made a sale.

Reply
Brilliant negotiating! It is always worth comparing prices to make sure you are getting the best price possible.

Good luck with the rest of your wedding plans.

Suz

Home Grown Cheap Wedding Flowers

by Jash Lardie
(Traverse City, MI. )

For beautiful inexpensive wedding flowers, grow your own. My brother just got married 3 days ago (Saturday, July 18th). We used flowers that were grown right in our own yard. Different flowers come up at different times. So, if you are planning an early spring wedding, find and grow flowers in your yard that bloom in the spring. Iris's are one early blooming flower, but they are more of a late spring bloomer, yet sure are a pretty flower. I think even sunflowers would be a nice flower to decorate with if you are having a later summer/early fall wedding. But after all, I am a man and flowers are not really my thing. Though I must admit, the flowers did add an extra special touch at my brother's wedding though. Maybe I am getting in touch with my feminine side! Sincerely, Jash E. Lardie

Thanks Jash! All flowers are beautiful and great for weddings, this is a great way to save money on your wedding flowers.

The Bride

by Dalia
(Ontario, Canada)

Our first kiss sealed the deal...and that was in high school over 11 years ago. Yes we are high school sweethearts who have wanted to tie the knot for a long time. But I truly knew that my fiance was the one for me during a one year friendship we built when I was 16 years old, before we started dating when I was 17. He was so patient and so loyal. He stood by me even though he had to wait and watch me date someone he knew wasn't the one for me. Well it paid off because we've been inseperable as a couple ever since. There were long periods where we were separated by long distances as we persued secondary education degrees and as he played university basketball, but we never gave up...the love was too strong. And I love him even more today:-)

The distance appart was extreemly hard to adjust to. We missed each other dearly but still kept in touch EVERYDAY. We wanted to get married the whole time but never had the support and encouragement of our families at such a young age, plus we also knew we had responsibilities to be able to build up our lives (in trying to trust and respect the advice of our parents and elders), but we really just wanted to be together.

I believe we were DESTINED to be together, we've travelled a long road to get here and would not hesitated to travel that extra mile to say I do. We just want to get married once and for all and continue to move forward as husband and wife. Through all of our trials, we recognize God has blessed us with each other and winning this would simply add to this blessing.

Thank you for this opportunity and God Bless.

Wedding Photography For Less!

by Niki
(Fort Atkinson,WI)

We are having a hard time keeping costs down for our wedding but are finding MANY ways to think outside of the box.

Our most recent money saver was easier than I thought it would be. We put an ad online looking for beginning photographers, explained what we were trying to do and asked for some work from all who applied. What we found was alot of very talented people looking to get a start on their hobby or career and were willing to do our whole wedding for little money. We even had a couple offer to do it for free! We found somone who is just INCREDIBLE and can't wait to have her photograph our wedding!

Affordable Wedding Photography, Food & More!

by jenn coffill
(franklin, pa, usa)

I've learned the best thing to do when wedding planning is research. Both online and interpersonally. By putting the word out at my church that we were getting married and looking for a cool ride, I landed us a FREE 69 dart that perfectly matches our wedding colors for the day. By putting an ad on craigslist, I found MANY affordable and professional photographers willing to offer discounted rates. By talking to friends & family who'd recently got married, I found out they still had decorations and such to borrow. My future husband's family is italian, and my family is quite skilled at cooking, so some key family members are going to unite forces and cook for the reception for FREE. My advice is to never be afraid to ask. You'll never know what you'll find! And Google should always be a regular stop. I've learned so much!

Great Saving Idea For Cheap Wedding Linen And Cutlery

I've been planning my wedding for about a month now and I have been shocked at how much things cost. I am working with a very teeny budget but still want a beautiful wedding so I've been looking for ways to save on the must-haves such as linens and flatware.

Then I made my discovery!

Buy them! I know it sounds ridiculous but this is what I found out: There are websites that offer restaurant-quality linens for half as much as you can rent them. Also, go on flatware quests. I went to a housewares store and found a beautiful vintage rose pattern that was on clearance. Single forks from a rental company cost $.40 to $.50. I was able to buy 4 for $.75. That's less than half as much!

We are planning to use our bargain discoveries at the wedding and then put them on ebay so other discount-seeking brides can reap the benefits. I hope this helps somebody!

Free Wedding Stuff With Craigslist!

by Tina Pau
(Hermosa Beach, CA, USA)

We have had fabulous success by asking on Craigslist for what we need. Couples who have just gotten married are happy to share some of their wedding decorations with us that they have just bought and used at their wedding. They are happy to see items go to good use instead of having to store them, only never to be used again. We just had someone donate 200 green chair ties to us from their reception. Our wedding color is now green and that is fine with us!

Hi Tina

Thanks for sharing this great idea and also how nice to hear of brides and grooms helping each other, perfect!

For those of you who haven't heard of Craigslist it is an online freeads, as well as free wedding stuff you can also get cheap wedding dresses, decorations and also new wedding companies who are looking to build their business.

Let us know what else you find!

Suz x

Cheap Lights At Your Reception

by Clinton Walker
(Kent)

We are going to use Fishing stick glows that is used for night fishing that you place at the end of your fishing rode.

The cost £1 for 2 glowers and last 8 hours, just put two in your vase on the tables and it will give you a fantastic effect and glow at your tables.

Colour availible in blue, green, yellow and red, availible at any Tackle shop.

Help a starving student and save on your cheap wedding!

by Jen
(Phoenix, AZ)

From the photographer, caterer, servers, cake baker, dj, hair, makeup... there's always someone that's just starting out. They're looking to gain valuable experience and build their book of business. Chances are they are far more willing to negotiate fabulous prices as well. It's a win-win situation for all, and there's no better deal than that! Contact your local vocational schools or scour craigslist to find struggling students looking for work.

A sunset wedding

by miranda campbell
(Prineville, OR)

In order to save money and yet preserve the romantic elements that are so important we are going to have a sunset wedding. With the waves going out, the sun disappearing and giving everything a romantic glow. In my minds eye I am seeing a slight breeze blowing around and making the torches crackle. My best friend will be performing the ceremony. After the sun sets we will light a bonfire for the reception and have the family gather around and do our dance to the song "Pistol" by Dustin Kensrue. Non-romantic title, AMAZING song.

Cheap Vintage Wedding Car Idea

by Amanda
(Ontario, Canada)

After getting engaged in April, my soon to be husband and I knew that we wanted something different. A few of our friends had gotten married in the late few months and it was always the same old thing. We decided to have a vintage wedding. There is something about the past that has always seemed so romantic to me. The great thing about this was that we got to spend the next several months scouring antique stores for items that would make our day special. When I came across a camera from 1913, I had the great idea of having our grandparent's wedding pictures displayed on a table with the camera as part of the decor. The girls found their dresses at a vintage store and they looked fabulous. I have a vintage inspired dress and have decided to make the flower girl's dress out of the left over material from my dress. Our best idea that cost us absolutely nothing was putting an advert on a online website for someone interested in letting us borrow their vintage car for some pictures in exchange for our photographer taking some professional pictures of the car.

A vintage wedding saved us money because many of the decor items we found in our grandparent's basements. The old saying "one person's trash is anther person's treasure" really has been true for planning this wedding. I also feel good about reusing what has already be made as part of my environmental efforts.

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Hi Amanda

Love the vintage car idea - that is fantastic! And the best bit is that everyone is happy, brilliant.

Love the vintage look and having your grandparents photographs will make the day even more special.

Good luck with the rest of your plans.

Suz

Comparison Shopping

by Roxanna rivard
(Alton IL USA)

It is a bit time consuming, but once you get a general idea of what you want - look everywhere, check everything and be sure to keep track of where you have been and things you have seen that you want to look at again. I found lights I was looking for ranging in price from 57.99 to 12.50 online. If at all possible check the manufacturer's website. I have found a lot of times you can get it cheaper from the source. Also another tip is to buy in bulk whenever possible. You can always resell them later on ebay. I wound up putting together 200 dollar a piece centerpieces for 19 bucks a table, and resold them for 50 bucks a piece.

Cheap Barn Wedding

by Jennifer Cross
(Stockton, CA)

Probably the cheapest idea I've had was deciding to forgo the beautiful hotel with the chandeliers and have our reception in a barn. Our wedding is set for October 24th, and the idea of carving out small holes in tiny white pumpkins for tea lights just thrills me to no end. I mean, it’s not your conventional reception, and it will be interesting because we’ll actually be married in a church at 2pm, what a contrast. But we live in the Central Valley in California, and this is what it’s all about..this is how our local economy thrives!!

Hi Jennifer

I like your barn and imagine that the space you have is huge, make sure you get as many friends to help as you can to get your pumpkins carved!

Good luck with the rest of your plans

Suz

2nd marriage on the cheap

For my second marriage and my husband's third (!) we wanted a nice ceremony and a "party" but knew we didn't want to spend much.

My dress was from Macy's and is a "cocktail" dress in turquois. I will be able to wear this again for a party or nice dinner or dinner on the cruise we will be going on in June.

Our daughters (16 and 10) were attendants. I found dresses online. One was white with a black print and one was black with a white print. On sale for less than $20 apiece. They did not match but went together beautifully. These are wearable again as they were not really dressy.

The flowers were small. The girls carried 2 (the 16 year old) and 1 (the 10 year old) ribbon wrapped gerbera daisys. My bouquet was gerbera daisys, carnations, button mums and roses all in bright, hot colors. Mine was small only about 9 inches across but was only $45. FOr the reception, I bought potted geraniums ($8.00 apiece) and then got to take some home to plant and gave some to friends to take home.

I work in a high school and asked our photography teacher if he knew a student that could do my pictures. He recommended a girl that had graduated and was working for a studio. For $200 she came for 2 hours, gave us the CD of the 250 pictures and gave us 20 retouched prints!

One more thing - I ordered my wedding band (My engagement ring was my grandmother's 10th anniversary diamond ring) from platinumovernight.com. I got a 2mm platinum band for $160!! We had a jeweler notch out the band to fit my engagement ring. He was surprised at the very good quality of the wedding band at that price.

I made my own invitations using microsoft publisher and plain wedding invitation ($15 for 100 at Michaels).

We spent $2000 dollars and that includes my wedding band, all dresses and a new suit for my husband!

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All brilliant ideas and it sounds like you had a lovely wedding without it costing you a fortune. Thank you for sharing!

Free Wedding Stuff - Craigslist it up!!!

by Ammi Hayes
(Wichita, KS USA)

My fiance and I are going to have 2 weddings...one here and one in his home country, Mexico. So to afford this I've been posting on craigslist in the "wanted" section just odds and ends that I need for the wedding. Fake flowers, vases, candles, etc. I have gotten tons of stuff from people who just didn't need all that stuff after their wedding...and I got it FREE!!!!

Hi Ammi

That is so nice to hear other folks helping you out on your wedding.

For those of you looking for the wanted section you will find it at the bottom of the 'For Sale' section.

Good luck with all of your plans

Suz

Your wedding flowers and invites should not cost you an arm and a leg!!!

by Amber Pazzanita
(Valdosta, GA, USA)

When it came time to start planning for my wedding, I had to cram a lot because I waited for my husband to get back from Iraq, so he would feel special by being involved with everything. We started looking on thousands of websites for invitations, and bouquets for our wedding party and me. I could not find anything that was in our price range at all. My husband and I took a trip to Wal-Mart and found a bunch of packs of invitations on sale for $10.00 so we bought 3 packs, and printed them off our computer using our printer (that saved us over 200-300 dollars). We also made a trip to Pac-a-tans (a fabric store that has everything) and found flowers that matched my wedding and ribbon, and I made my own flowers for my wedding. YES it took a lot of time but it only cost 150.00 for everything, and they turned out amazing. It’s also a great bonding experience with the girls in the wedding.

Waiting For The Big Wedding

by Kimberly
(Waterbury Ct)

We are already Married. I didn't have the wedding dress or the church like I wanted so in three years we are getting re married the whole thing; the dress, the church, the tux, all of it.

It will be 15 yrs when we get remarried. I am making my cake, my food, my flowers, my favors, to save money for my big day.

Hi Kimberley
It's lovely that you can celebrate your 15th wedding anniversary in such style! It shows that you don't have to have a big wedding to have a happy marriage, which for all the brides here is nice to hear.

Good luck with all of your plans,

Suz

Wholesale For Your Cheap Wedding Stuff

by Krystal
(Dover, DE)

My husband gave me $2500 to renew our vows since we never had a real wedding. I have only used $1500 and in that is including the dress, shoes, tux, decor for the reception, invitations, our childrens outfits. I have found many wholesale websites by simply searching online for wholesale wedding supplies, saves tons of money.

Search Engine Queen Cheap Wedding Ideas

by Catrina Burris
(Escondido, CA)

I sit at a computer all day and I have found the best deals are on craigslist.com and bravobride.com. They both offer new or used items from others and are a BIG savings. You can also find photography and DJ's that are available for barter. So if you have a skill that can be traded....they may be free! I LOVE these sites and go on them daily so I can catch the best deals. You should try it!

Wedding flowers can be cheap and convenient

by Corrine Landry
(Raleigh, NC USA)

My fiance always buys flowers (for any occassion) from our local grocery store.

Harris Teeter makes beautiful arrangements, and picking up the arrangements couldn't have been more convenient. Since I shop there all the time, you can pick them up on your way. Using a local florist can sometimes be costly and out of the way, why not get beautiful flowers (that are just as nice) from a chain store?

Cool Carnations For Cheap Wedding Flowers

by Bobbie M.
(Oklahoma City Ok USA)

My best and cheapest wedding tip would be to re-think your floral arraignments. Carnations for example are extremely cheap and when bunched together in large numbers make the most beautiful bouquets! You don't have to just use carnations either! There are plenty of other cheap flowers that just get overlooked because they are not the typical wedding flower. Use you imagination and go wild!

Cheap Photos For Your Wedding

by Ashley
( Ontario Canada)

Don't want to spend a lot of money on a photographer but dont want to run around doing it yourself?
I have 2 options for you to save money and still get the best memories a camera can buy.
1) Purchase a whole bunch of disposable cameras. Place them on each table for as many people are at each table, or for each couple that attend the reception. Have a Box ready at the doorway, so that when the camera is full the guests drop it in the box and you get tons of pictures from every point of view.

2) Who doesn't have a digital Camera these days right? And who doesn't bring theirs to a wedding right? Well. If you have a laptop and a few family members or friends with laptops, set them up somehere in the hall with Digital Camera Cords. (or tell each guest if they bring a camera to bring their cord) At the end of the night, or their stay, get the guests to upload them onto the computer. That way they have the pictures, and so do you.

The Singing Bride and Groom

by Brianna Walker
(FortSmith AR)

The best way that I know of to get some cash if you don't have much is to use whatever you do have (talents)for example me and my fiancee have used our sing abilities to raise a little extra money for whenever we do plan to wed.The local venues and wherever there is a crowd is always a good way to get money raised .Ive also used you tube to help but we haven't had much luck using it ..My best suggestions are to save ,come up with creative ways to earn, and use what you got !

Engaged On Valentines Day

by Lorin Denice Welsh
(Hampton Va)

Our parents were in the Air Force in the 8o's which lead us both to be stationed in the Phillippines. He had a crush on me that I never knew about.I left in 86. Fast forward to March of 2009. Im a escalations agent for At&t. .For a few days he sees me and winks at me. We start talking and realize we had a friend in common. Then he called me by my maiden name .So I said who are you and he said Eduardo Soler. I almost fell out of my chair. I knew him. We started taking breaks together,then seeing each other after working and very quickly fell in love. He proposed on Valentines.

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That is a lovely sweet story, thank you for sharing it with us.

Suz

Halloween Wedding

by Paula Snyder
(New Castle, DE, USA)

With the expense of wanting a wedding and also wanting to have our Halloween Parties we decided that why not do it together...it cuts down on our costs and we get to enjoy both events all in one night. Plus we are doing a lot of DIY to cut cost and going to dollar stores and outlets to buy items....including making our own invitations.

Garage Sale Wedding Queen

by Whitney
(Broken Arrow, OK)

I will be graduating nursing school right around the time my fiance and I are getting married. With school tuition, books, and living expenses, putting aside money for a wedding is TOUGH! My cheap wedding idea and advice is garage sales! You always hear that every garage sale has a hidden treasure, and when you're looking for wedding items, it is so true! So far I have found decorations, candles, a cake-topper, and even my wedding dress for around $350! Check out your local newsletters or Craigslist for garage sale ads while it is still warm outside!

The Broke Bride

by Angel
(Kelowna BC Canada)

My husband to be and I have now delayed our wedding 2yrs in a row due to financial circumstances. It seemed everytime we would get 2 steps ahead we would fall 20 behind. That was when we both gave up hopes of the big beautiful wedding we wanted and realized that we should face reality.

Well it turns out that reality is better than dreams sometimes anyways!!!

We have decided to host our wedding ceremony at my best friends house, then have the reception the following day camping. Our reception is doing what we love doing the absolute most, being out doors camping and quadding. We will still get the simple things that we want just a more relaxed and enjoyable way!!