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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,678,989 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLN
NO, it is what it is. Check my comments on the thread about a fellow looking for school admin job. You can apologize, later.
OK, so you didn't take a potshot at him. Congratulations. You frequently do as I described, though.
My experience in the 1970s was that I knew one girl whose wedding had all of the bells & whistles. Everyone who I knew who attended (including me & my family) thought that it was over the top & tacky. At that, the wedding was in a Presbyterian church & the church hall.
Growing up in the '50s & '60s, most of us had parents who were Depression kids. The frugality of the time stuck with them. My mother always said that the South & the Midwest were hit worst.
The OP is asking for advice to have a modest wedding that is within his budget.
My husband and I had a very elegant, but budget friendly wedding. We had about 200 people show up and only spent about $5K (not including the rings). We got several comments from people that it was the nicest the had been to in a long time!
Some of the things that we did to keep expenses down were:
1) We planned our wedding ourselves. In 5 months at that! It doesn't take a genius to put a wedding together. There are so many resources online.
2) Rented the sanctuary and multi-purpose room at my church. Only spent $200-$250
3) I designed our invitations and programs as I'm a graphic designer. My mom, my husband and I made them as my mom is an scrapbook fanatic!
4) Maid of honor and Bridesmaid wore simple black dresses, bought at Macy's on clearance for about $50 each. Every woman can use a black dress!
5) My dress was bought at a store at Concord Mills mall for about $300 (I think alterations were included, if not it was pretty cheap).
6) Put candles, tea lights, etc on tables at the reception instead of flowers. We bought these half price at Hobby Lobby when they were on sale. Others, along with lanterns and glass votives were bought at Ikea.
7) We used friends with skills and talents to help us with our wedding. This included a caterer, piano player, an 8 yr old child that knew how to play the chello/violin. Several friends used their talents as a wedding gift to us.
8) We set up tables, put up decorations, etc the day before our wedding.
9) We did not serve alcohol at the reception. Huge money saver!
10) We planned our wedding for 2:00 in the afternoon, so people did not expect a huge, sit down meal. We did end up with a very nice spread, candy table and chocolate fountain (borrowed from a family member).
11) Instead of spending money on favors (a useless trinket that nobody really wants), we gave out candy and a nice picture of us from our engagement session.
My husband and I had a very elegant, but budget friendly wedding. We had about 200 people show up and only spent about $5K (not including the rings). We got several comments from people that it was the nicest the had been to in a long time!
Some of the things that we did to keep expenses down were:
1) We planned our wedding ourselves. In 5 months at that! It doesn't take a genius to put a wedding together. There are so many resources online.
2) Rented the sanctuary and multi-purpose room at my church. Only spent $200-$250
3) I designed our invitations and programs as I'm a graphic designer. My mom, my husband and I made them as my mom is an scrapbook fanatic!
4) Maid of honor and Bridesmaid wore simple black dresses, bought at Macy's on clearance for about $50 each. Every woman can use a black dress!
5) My dress was bought at a store at Concord Mills mall for about $300 (I think alterations were included, if not it was pretty cheap).
6) Put candles, tea lights, etc on tables at the reception instead of flowers. We bought these half price at Hobby Lobby when they were on sale. Others, along with lanterns and glass votives were bought at Ikea.
7) We used friends with skills and talents to help us with our wedding. This included a caterer, piano player, an 8 yr old child that knew how to play the chello/violin. Several friends used their talents as a wedding gift to us.
8) We set up tables, put up decorations, etc the day before our wedding.
9) We did not serve alcohol at the reception. Huge money saver!
10) We planned our wedding for 2:00 in the afternoon, so people did not expect a huge, sit down meal. We did end up with a very nice spread, candy table and chocolate fountain (borrowed from a family member).
11) Instead of spending money on favors (a useless trinket that nobody really wants), we gave out candy and a nice picture of us from our engagement session.
We did many of the same things, with a budget of $5000 including rings. We only had 85 people, had a daytime wedding (1130), lunch reception, and no alcohol. Several people in my family still compliment our wedding, nine years later, on how it was the best they ever attended.
I think limiting guests, choosing non-traditional times, like morning/lunch, and doing many of the things yourself can allow you to have a beautiful wedding on a budget.
My husband and I had a very elegant, but budget friendly wedding. We had about 200 people show up and only spent about $5K (not including the rings). We got several comments from people that it was the nicest the had been to in a long time!
Some of the things that we did to keep expenses down were:
1) We planned our wedding ourselves. In 5 months at that! It doesn't take a genius to put a wedding together. There are so many resources online.
2) Rented the sanctuary and multi-purpose room at my church. Only spent $200-$250
3) I designed our invitations and programs as I'm a graphic designer. My mom, my husband and I made them as my mom is an scrapbook fanatic!
4) Maid of honor and Bridesmaid wore simple black dresses, bought at Macy's on clearance for about $50 each. Every woman can use a black dress!
5) My dress was bought at a store at Concord Mills mall for about $300 (I think alterations were included, if not it was pretty cheap).
6) Put candles, tea lights, etc on tables at the reception instead of flowers. We bought these half price at Hobby Lobby when they were on sale. Others, along with lanterns and glass votives were bfought at Ikea.
7) We used friends with skills and talents to help us with our wedding. This included a caterer, piano player, an 8 yr old child that knew how to play the chello/violin. Several friends used their talents as a wedding gift to us.
8) We set up tables, put up decorations, etc the day before our wedding.
9) We did not serve alcohol at the reception. Huge money saver!
10) We planned our wedding for 2:00 in the afternoon, so people did not expect a huge, sit down meal. We did end up with a very nice spread, candy table and chocolate fountain (borrowed from a family member).
11) Instead of spending money on favors (a useless trinket that nobody really wants), we gave out candy and a nice picture of us from our engagement session.
I really like this idea. Too bad my church doesn't have a hall big enough to accommodate 200 people.
Just an update, me and my fiance believe we'll settle on the Charles Mack Center in Mooresville. Now just to get around the catering. If you know of any caterers in the range of $15-30pp range let me know.
Just an update, me and my fiance believe we'll settle on the Charles Mack Center in Mooresville. Now just to get around the catering. If you know of any caterers in the range of $15-30pp range let me know.
We had our reception there and we were very happy. Make sure you walk through the space closer to time and understand what all the lighting options are/sound system/etc...it can get a little complicated. We got some great shots at night walking up and down Main Street too.
We used a caterer out of Hickory which was a family friend. Let me ask my MIL...my SIL had her reception there too.
Do you have a cake person? I have someone that does all of our stuff and she's in Mooresville. She brought us 9 4 inch cakes to sample. It was heaven. She does flowers too and is very reasonable....well as reasonable as anything wedding can be.
I had a friend that got the flowers for her wedding thru a vendor at the farmer's market at a very affordable price.
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