Inexpensive wedding ideas?

Dress - Davids Bridal--as low as $99
Tux - Rental for as low as $50
Cake - Walmart or Publix--as low as $60
Misc. items--Oriental Trading.com

Oh boy do i know the feeling of a wedding on a budget! First off, CONGRATS on getting engaged! Now then down to business lol. For wedding dresses, go to bridal stores and and try to buy off the racks, i got a beautiful hand beaded gown off the rack for 60% off. Don't let the bridal boutiques intimidate you, you can find great deals at little independent places and better help than shopping at a place like David's bridal. As for the tux, my hubby went with a suit from burlington coat factory. When it was all said and done it was cheaper for him to buy a suit than it was to rent a tux AND he gets to wear it more than once. Cake and photography, look for something local, check out craigslist and ask for friends opinions. And to save tons of money on a banquet hall or location, try to book your wedding on a Friday or Sunday. We saved 50% just by moving our ceremony from a Saturday night to a Friday night.

I agree with tkrall...back yard wedding. Or some places (like where I live) have some beautiful local places that you can book for free or super cheap for an outdoor wedding. In 2004 my husband & I renewed our vows on our 25th anniversary using a nice gazebo along the river. Then have the reception at a park or someone's home. I also thrift shop a lot and I have seen some absolutely perfect STUNNING wedding dresses at thrift stores. I saw one recently that was so beautiful I was tempted to buy it and save it for my granddaughter! And they aren't always used (although really who would know or care). Sometimes they are donated by stores. Also, call on family/friends to help with food and decorating for the reception.

I know what you're going through... My wedding is over budget in nearly every category. I found a lot of really reasonably priced things on etsy.com

Etsy is a community of artists, so everything is handmade. All the people I worked with personalized things (such as guest book, cake topper, and the fascinator I bought to go with my veil), right down to colors and putting our names on the items. Most of the vendors are willing to work within your budget to help make something totally unique that you'll love. You should defnitely check it out!

My hubby and I went on the VRBO website, where people who own cabins rent them out when they are not using them. We rented a large cabin (cabin my hiney, it's three times the size of my 4-bedroom home!!) on a great lake and got married there. We had a fall wedding, so we used pumpkins for centerpieces and had people over the night before the wedding to carve them, which was a lot of fun and super cheap. We also used gold spraypaint on some of the pumpkins and leaves to make it feel a lil' richer. We also just bought a cheap-o arbor and covered it with the fall leaves for decoration and we stood under it when we said our vows. I've had so many people tell me it's the best wedding they've been to, and we ended up getting more $$ in wedding gifts than we spent.

Oh, and congrats on your engagement, what an exciting time!!!! Don't sweat the small stuff.

Don't go with David's Bridal! I cannot stress that enough! They screwed me beyond belief! No money back (it's in the fine print) ....check them out on the BBB.Org (I haven't, but I am sure they are loaded with complaints as I have browsed the web and seen other very similar complaints). They ordered the wrong bridesmaids dresses, one of which came literally as if someone took a box cutter to it. They refused to replace it. We were out the money and had to order another one, on our dime. It's in the fine print. I put money down on a dress, they never ordered it. Then that dress they were supposed to order and never DID, went out of stock... they refused to reimburse and they would only credit that to a new dress... they wouldn't refund. Oh the horror. I spent less money at a little boutique.

SOOOO, CONGRATS on getting engaged, I didn't mean to blow that aside You can make your own unity candles, plan candles with ribbon of your choice (then add decorate pins, jewels, etc). Very inexpensive. Lots of cheap easy things to do for favors, but depends on the theme, colors, what time of year, how big the reception, etc... The one thing you want to spend money on, unless you know someone, is a photographer...that is something you don't ever want to regret not doing "right"...since that will last forever

Beach weddings are cheap, no decorations, no shoes, less formal clothing, lots of fun!

Or, do what i did, and have a back yard wedding (or at a park if you/family/friends don't have a good yard). We were on a budget too. We called in favors from friends and family, and accepted help with wedding/honeymoon instead of gifts. My mom did our flowers, very simple. I made all our party favors cheaply myself (craft stores, bulk candy, etc.). Find a friends who's got a nice camera, or is interested in photography semi-professionally and have them take your pics. We set up outdoor speakers and made a playlist of our music and just blasted it for the reception, but i asked a family memeber and a friend who played instruments to play for the ceremony. See if you have a friend who likes to bake and ask for a cake at cost or as your wedding gift. Just decorate it simply with a few fresh flowers. Have it be a pot luck wedding, and just set up tables for the food! Do it in the arfternoon so it's a lunch afair; no lighting needed, and less formal so people can stroll around so you won't need to rent tables and chairs. Go to a second hand store or the salvation army and buy cutlery and glasses, or suggest that people bring their own picnic paraphanalia. Use nice paper plates and napkins in your wedding colors. As long as you are surrounded by family and friends, and get to share your love for your partner, you will have a GREAT wedding!!!

Why weren't you my wedding planner several years ago?!

We had a fairly inexpensive wedding as well, and I've picked up other ideas along the way. It all depends on where you are willing to compromise!

I've seen people make their own invitations (MUCH cheaper than having them printed)

Clothing...I actually rented my wedding dress. I had no reason to think I'd hang on to it for years or that anyone else would wear it and I just didn't see the point in spending that much money on a dress for one day! For the men, you can rent tuxes or just have them wear nice suits. I was fortunate enough to have someone who made my bridesmaids dresses and just wanted to be reimbursed for cost (about $25/dress) and my bridesmaids wore whatever they wanted for shoes. I've also been in weddings where the bride just specified a dress color and let everyone pick out their own dress.

Location... we got married at the church I attended at the time, and that was free. I've also been to weddings in chapels or in public parks or botanical gardens (LOVE that idea!).

You can have photographer friends do pictures as a wedding present to them (my advice if you do that: make sure they are a really good photographer and get some pictures that aren't just snapshots! I didn't have a friend do my wedding pics but they were NOT GOOD and I so wish I'd splurged on a different photographer!). Same for videoing (we just had a family member who had a video camera video ours)

For food.... I guess it all depends on what others and what you want. Here in the South it is not uncommon to just have some hor d'oeuvres or even just wedding cake. But people also go all out. And I've been to at least one potluck reception. Personally, we paid for a wedding cake and family and friends made the rest (or we bought things like a fruit tray).

For music... we just had a CD player and a friend to get everything playing at the right time.


Congratulations! Don't stress out over the wedding!

Beach weddings are cheap, no decorations, no shoes, less formal clothing, lots of fun!

Or, do what i did, and have a back yard wedding (or at a park if you/family/friends don't have a good yard). We were on a budget too. We called in favors from friends and family, and accepted help with wedding/honeymoon instead of gifts. My mom did our flowers, very simple. I made all our party favors cheaply myself (craft stores, bulk candy, etc.). Find a friends who's got a nice camera, or is interested in photography semi-professionally and have them take your pics. We set up outdoor speakers and made a playlist of our music and just blasted it for the reception, but i asked a family memeber and a friend who played instruments to play for the ceremony. See if you have a friend who likes to bake and ask for a cake at cost or as your wedding gift. Just decorate it simply with a few fresh flowers. Have it be a pot luck wedding, and just set up tables for the food! Do it in the arfternoon so it's a lunch afair; no lighting needed, and less formal so people can stroll around so you won't need to rent tables and chairs. Go to a second hand store or the salvation army and buy cutlery and glasses, or suggest that people bring their own picnic paraphanalia. Use nice paper plates and napkins in your wedding colors. As long as you are surrounded by family and friends, and get to share your love for your partner, you will have a GREAT wedding!!!

I recently attended a wedding in a park on the Huron River. It was a small gathering - maybe 25. Food was pot luck with the bride's family providing some basics (groom's family was not in attendance). They rented tables and chairs. Dress was casual, the atmosphere was informal and everyone had a wonderful time. Friends pitched in to make it all work, but at the same time it was the MOST guest friendly wedding I've been to in some time.

My wife and I got married at the courthouse, went to lunch with our parents, and held a very informal buffet reception.

My bottom line: Your wedding is your day. You make the rules. If you want tradition, find a way to incorporate tradition. If you want a meaningful event on a budget, work with friends and family to pull together something that will be meaningful for you and your fiance. (maybe calorie friendly food :bigsmile:).

Congratulations!! My husband & I have been married 2 years, and I definatly learned to save money, and the biggest wedding cost slasher for us was EBAY!! I kid you not, I got my tiara & veil from e-bay, and they were very similar to the one I tried on in the bridal store. Were they real swarovski crystals? Meh, probably not. Did anyone know the difference? probably not. and for my veil and tiara combined, it was about $20.00.

I also got my bridesmaids gifts from e-bay, beautiful pink crystal pendants.

Try it! and congrats again!! :flowerforyou:


edited to say we also did a potluck that both families and we received so many complements on the meal, there was a little for everything - cabbage rolls, homemade perogies, ham, turkey, pasta...it was awesome! Also, we did homemade wine on the tables. Saved a few hundred bucks there!