HELP! My fiance and I got engaged last month and have set our wedding date for June 19, 2004. We know it's 18 months away, but we're already worrying about how to pay for it! We both have large families (together I think we have a total of 100 family members), so we can't really make the wedding small. My parents don't have any money to contribute, he and I are both in school (college) right now, and have next to no savings. I feel disappointed that I may not get married the way I always dreamed I would (church wedding, nice reception, etc.) Please help me make my dreams come true! Email suggestions THANK YOU!!
Don't worry about the wedding yet! I'm sure I can help you come up with some good ideas and you will be able to cut costs, and still have a really beautiful wedding, just as you have always dreamed of. Please feel free to email me at Kimber0613@aol.com. I am always available and willing to help!
Hi Anne:
There is a lot of different books that you can go and look at for low budget weddings. Since you both have a very large family, see if someone would like to make your cake for your gift. Flowers are really easy too. There are books to show you how to make bouquets. Silk ones could be made up and placed in plastic ahead of time. Corsages, and bouts the same way. For pew bows, check your local craft stores, and you can get ribbon fairly cheap. Buy a little at a time.
You have plenty of time, so enjoy the quiet. If you need any more help, feel free to contact me. I can give you some other ideas, since that is what I do for a living....Sue Coffer
Hi, I too am in the same situation as you. My wedding is in june2004 and my guest list has ballooned to about 250. I am also a college student. There are several websites to help with do it yourself decorations, invitations, and frugal alternatives for pretty much all your wedding wants and needs. I have even found cheap, elegant wedding dresses, and bridesmaid gowns. Here are some sites I found helpful. BrideSave.com, Michaels.com, Superweddings.com, and saveoncrafts.com. It wil take some time, but all you have to do is take your time to research. The internet has tons of inexpensive ideas. P.s don't get discouraged I'm sure you will find a way to make your wedding beautiful/
If you are looking for low cost bridemaids dresses, check out Chadwicks. It is a mail order catalog with inexpensive clothing. They also have an internet site. Payless Shoe store has great shoes, for a great price. As for flowers, AC Moore will do floral arrangements for free. You would just need to supply the materials. As for decorations, candles can create a very romantic, elegant setting, relatively inexpensively. You can buy bags of tea light candles at craft stores. You can also purchase votives. For your cake, you might want to consider putting several decorated cakes on individual stands of varying heights (sometimes these can be rented from party stores), this can be beautiful for half the cost of your typical wedding cake. You can also rent mailboxes, bird cages and wishing wells, to place your wedding cards in at the reception, from party stores. Remember that the most important thing about the day is that you are marrying the person you love most in the world. Good luck and have fun planning!
We ran out of money before the centerpeices so we saved all the glass jars we normally throw out- mayo, pickle ect. Ran them through the dishwasher and etched (using kit from craftstore) our monogram on both sides of each jar. Water and few floating candles in each jar and we were done. Add food coloring to the water if you want to match a color. They also make inexpensive vases. And since the sizes are all different they make nice groupings.
Personally, I hit the yard sales for centerpieces. I had an idea of what I wanted (rose bowls and floating candles). I got most of the rose bowls for .50 each at yard sales, a big bag of artificial flowers for $5 at another one. You have lots of time...use it wisely to find (and make!) your bargains.
Our wedding is now three weeks away! *yeek* Best of luck!
First of all, do you know anyone in your family that can cook for a large amount of people and have organized events with large amounts of people? If you do, enlist them to help with catering, and have a simple meal. My aunt is in charge of that, and has enlisted other family members from both sides to prepare a part of the meal that will be served, and make sure they enlist friends you may not know due to the fact that you will still want your family members to enjoy in your day.
Also, the cake, I have a friend of the family that in lieu of a gift, she's making the cake for me and my fiancee', and she has worked as a cake maker/decorator so she knows what she is doing.
Also, decorations, ACMoore, or any craft store can become your best friend. You can find great ideas for decorations at inexpensive prices, or even dollar stores have nice things for a cheap cost.
Another suggestion is finding someone who may be a member of an ELK's lodge, or any other fraternal organization, they may be able to get you a discount on the hall or even work it out so you have it for free
