StaceyinLA Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) Soooo, oldest dd is finally planning a wedding after 3 1/2 years of dating her boyfriend! It looks like we are aiming for October 20th. His house is on a 5-acre, mostly wooded piece of property, and they plan to have the wedding and reception there. Her boss has access to tents, tables, chairs, etc., and will be able to get a lot of our decorative items at wholesale. She also does flowers and has offered to do her flowers (dd wants lavender, baby's breath, and some other really earthy greenery). Her boss' sister-in-law makes cakes, and her mother-in-law is a seamstress who owns a specialty fabric shop. She will make dd's dress, and possibly the bridesmaid dresses (not sure what this will cost). There are 3 bridesmaids (two of which are my other daughters so I'll definitely be paying for those). Dd has a home school grad friend who does photography for weddings only? She will do the wedding photos. My nephew will video. Another nephew will man the music playlist. We are cooking some items ahead, and we will get some trays from Whole Foods. Dd doesnt want "typical" wedding food. We will serve nice wines and beer, along with maybe a few types of mixed drinks. Dd has all kinds of cutesy ideas. Can we pull this off for 5 grand? What are some things you have done to cut costs? Edited May 30, 2012 by StaceyinLA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabella Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Congats to you all! I haven't time for much, but wanted to let you know that Pinterest is a goldmine for budget wedding tips and ideas. Some of them are so beautiful. Your ideas so far sound great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I'm just throwing this out there... I see scads of wedding dresses every time I go to the thrift store. In fact, I know I donated my own gown years ago. If she can find a gown she likes at a thrift store, that will likely save a lot over having it made. And for the bridesmaid dresses, if she can find an off the rack dress for them, that can be a lot cheaper, too. I love the idea of having the attendants wear a dress that they will actually be able to use again in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Elope? JK :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We did our entire wedding for less than $5000 and we had to pay for everything, so with all that help you guys are getting you could easily have an amazing wedding for $5000. You sound like you have it almost all covered! I second Pinterest. My boys were just in a friends wedding and it was BEAUTIFUL and low cost and all Pinterest ideas. She used a lot of mason jars. I think whats cool now is that not everything has to be all matchy and so you can do different centerpieces that go together but aren't the same. Simple and elegant is pretty easy to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) First of all, CONGRATULATIONS TO YOUR DD! :party: I think you can pull it off on your budget. My only advice is to keep things as simple as you can. Don't do anything that will take a lot of preparation on the day of the wedding -- and that includes a lot of fancy flower arrangements and decorations, etc., or you and your dd will be nervous wrecks if everything isn't perfect. The guests won't mind if things aren't elaborate, because if you do it right, simple equals elegant. The other main thing is to be prepared for torrential rain and high winds. Hopefully, you'll get a gorgeous day, but pretend you won't. Also plan things on the basis that you will hurt your foot or feel sick that day. Again, hopefully you won't have any problems at all, but you want to be sure you can delegate the tasks to your dh or another friend or family member, if necessary. (Another reason to avoid incredibly complex decorations and last-minute cooking.) Assume that everything you do on the day of the wedding will take at least twice as long as it normally would.) Do not count on friends and family to follow through on their promises to help you, or to provide goods or services, unless you know for a fact that you can always count on them. Always have back-up plans for things like photos and videos, and if you have friends and family to take care of those things, be sure to look at their previous work to make sure the quality is up to par, because cheaper isn't better if you don't love the results. If you have any doubt as to whether or not things like the cake will actually be there when you need it, order it from a reliable bakery. You don't want last-minute problems with things like the cake, the photographer/videographer, or the music. One of our clients owns an event-planning business, and she is always frazzled on the day of an event, as well as a few days prior to it, because there are a million details to take care of. You and your dd don't want to be in that situation. You want to be know that everything is under control and that all of the things you need to do are manageable. Focus on the reason for the celebration, which is two people getting married, and let the reception be easy to organize and manage, so you can all have fun. I'm not trying to sound pessimistic, because I think you can do this, but I do want you to think carefully about the details, and to be very realistic about how long things take to do and how much money you're "saving" if inexpensive or free options don't work out at the last minute. Edited May 30, 2012 by Catwoman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Yes, if you don't get hung up on trying to fulfill someone else's idea of the perfect wedding, you can easily do it for under $5000. I second going to a thrift store for the dress. There's always a wide variety of options. A friend of mine got hers at a thrift store, had a family member alter it and therefore ended up spending more on the veil ($20, IIRC) than the dress! And she looked gorgeous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) She used a lot of mason jars. Congratulations to your DD! Not to be hokey-diculous or anything :tongue_smilie:, but when I read this I thought about how if he has 5 acres, she can have a garden and can things. If you use Mason jars to decorate, she can turn around and use them to can as well. The flowers she wants to go with would look beautiful in them. I wonder what other frugal wedding ideas could work out like this? Hmmm... OK, I would be tempted to go vintage if your DD is into that. The tablescapes for the food and wine could be vintage quilts and embroidered linens. Edited May 30, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 The thing is though, the dress she wants is very plain and simple, and I don't think it'll be costly to have made. And she was just going to modify hers a bit and shorten it for the bridesmaids (in a different color of course). But shes open. She just likes old-fashioned/vintage things and shabby chic type stuff. The groomsmen are wearing slacks with a button-up and suspenders. Her fiancé will wear slacks, a button-up and vest. It looks very good - kinda "The Notebook-ish" iykwim... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 One thing I have seen done that I always thought was a neat idea is to have a picture of the bride and groom with a wide mat around it set up on an easel so that people could sign it and leave messages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 One wedding I went to had beautiful big pearlized helium balloon bouquets for reception decorations - white and purple to match her wedding colors. They had them arranged so beautifully around the tables with curling ribbon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 If you do it between lunch and dinner that will cut down food costs, or after dinner with it made clear that there are light snacks only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 From their wedding pictures, this one seems like it was gorgeous, yet done on a budget. I live the simple-ness of it. Seems like there might be some ideas here for a backyard wedding. http://www.lydiajane.com/2010/09/mr-and-mrs-murphy-forksville-pa.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 My cousin had a wonderful wedding that hardly cost anything. They got married in her friend's back yard. It was a HUGE meadow and they had set up blankets for the guests. My kids LOVED this wedding as they caught snakes after the ceremony with their cousins. (ACK!) The reception was at a little country church. They decorated mostly with lights. They roasted a pig and had a tent set up outside. Everyone brought a dish to pass. They hired bartenders too. There was dancing in the basement of the church, but mostly people stayed outside and watched the kids play. My cousin dressed in a simple green dress that she can wear again. It was lovely!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 And for the bridesmaid dresses, if she can find an off the rack dress for them, that can be a lot cheaper, too. I love the idea of having the attendants wear a dress that they will actually be able to use again in the future. Off the rack, definitely... and with a shade/color suggestion, but each can find their own style. I love the mismatched thing going around, and wish we'd thought of it. Two of my bridesmaids (well, bridesmatrons, but whatever) were pregnant, and I wish I'd been able to accomodate them more easily. I also love the simple wedding gowns offered by JCrew or Ann Taylor. Part of what draws me to them is that they might even conceivably be worn after the wedding, unlike my own pouffy skirt. ;) Back in ye olden days, a bride was expected to wear her wedding gown when out and about for the first year or so. Not every occasion, but certainly the gowns were more than single-use items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 My mom sent me this one the other day. The bride is the daughter of Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.777672196862.2151409.34102011&type=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 I think dd will get a ton of good ideas from those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.