Tips for a cheap but chic wedding
Posted on June 19th, 2007 – 8:44 AMBy Kara McGuire
One of my colleagues recently stopped me in the hall to ask about a rumour he’d heard about my wedding. He wanted to know if I was really buying everything for the wedding on eBay. I had to laugh, because it’s actually not too far from the truth. Except I prefer Craigslist and Freecycle.
We want
71 Responses to "Tips for a cheap but chic wedding"
I was married just 6 weeks ago and planned a wedding on a budget myself. I have to say we did ok spending 1/3 - 1/4 of what most sites say is the average for the wedding. Our biggest savings came from using the same location for the wedding and reception and providing our our own beverages, though we had to hire a bar tender, along with keeping it small. Amy Steil’s suggestions are right on. Another tip we used was to hire an art student to do the photography rather than a pro. She did great work at 1/4 the price.
I was glad that we did not need to sell our blood to pay for the wedding (no kidding my best friends did this for 3 months to earn extra money). Good luck to those in the process.
Skip the DJ and use an iPod. No inane commentary, and it’s all music you actually want to dance to.
When I got married in 2005, my husband and I spent about $5000 on our wedding in Duluth. We picked July 3 (a Sunday) for the cheap-factor with the added bonus that no one had to work the next day, so guests still partied it up. Because of the Sunday date and our personal connections, we got a 50% discount on the reception hall (a nice hotel), photos (my husband’s high school science teacher was our photographer), and the limo. Ceremony was in a park ($40), and flowers were purchased at Sam’s Club (very cheap and surprisingly nice). My mom and her friends made the bouquets, centerpieces, and corsages. Outside the Twin Cities, prices drop dramatically: our food was $12 a plate, unheard of down here.
A tip: talk to people who’ve gotten married recently (or their parents) and see if they have anything they can lend you. That’s how we got 25 vases for our centerpieces.
Another recommendation: PASS IT ON! After my wedding, I gave away the topiary centerpieces, cake knife, and other no-longer-needed items for free on Craig’s list. I got some major appreciation from another bride, and I also got to clear out the basement. Good kharma never hurts, right?
I,m not married yet but my brother spend at least USD15,000 on his wedding.
Kelsey, I
I’ve learned that a sure-fire method of getting a fast and powerful response from a woman, ANY woman, is to ask her the simple question: “What do you think of a woman why buys her wedding dress at The Goodwill Store?”
“…hire a DJ” …and put live musicians out of work. How about planning the wedding yourself, and hiring a live band instead of a wedding planner? Your guests will remember how much fun they had because you hired a live band a LOT longer than they will remember the color of the tablecloths.
Nice work on planning your wedding.
I bought my dress on Craigslist. It was a sample from a high-end boutique (retailed for $3800, but I purchased it for under $400. Still had the tags on it:)
We are working with a budget of under 10,000. However, my goal is to avoid having my guests pay for anything at our party. We’ll supply cocktails-we figure its a party that WE are throwing, why should someone have to pay to eat there? To save money, we’re using a student to do our flowers, our babysitter to do our photography, etc.
There are lots of ways to save money, but we’re hoping it won’t be at our guests’ expense.
I bought my dress from a Houston Wedding Shop on Ebay for $180. The dress currently retails for $1,200. It is gorgeous w/ hundreds of Swarovski Crystals trimming the dress. It was used in a runway show. It had a very small make-up spot; I called a local cleaner and they spot-cleaned it for free. When I’m done with it in 4 months, I plan on donating it.
I ended up selling a lot of my wedding stuff on Ebay. I had lighted ivy swags with tulle for the head tables, cake knife, and other table decorations, and it all sold right away. After spending all that money, it was good to get some back.
Make your veil or borrow one from a friend. The materials in my veil were under $10. Compare to $200 that the bridal shop wanted. There are even books out there about different veil styles so head to the library…
My mom rented her dress, and had no regrets. She had the pictures after all. Is this even an option anymore?
I think being budget and environmentally friendly is great, but I think it is still important to give your guests something - a nice meal, some free champagne, etc. for coming to celebrate with you. A little of the budget should be used to make this a nice occasion for the people who come.
My veil I managed to make for $0.50 from a remnant at a discount fabric store, and I rented a vintage headpiece. Great cost savings there.
How about tap water and bread for the reception…
Great pics to guide you. Loved the Mason Jar lights- a great idea for any deck.
Looks to be beautiful. The thrift shops of Northern MN are even cheaper than in Minneapolis. Send out your parents and their friends to help find you stuff- but arm them with pictures (and desired quantities!) so they know how close what you want needs to be. Ebay is a great resource for the things that normally cost a fortune but shouldn’t. It’s still cheaper even after paying shipping.
Many a designer gown has been donatated to Goodwill or re-sold on Ebay. No point in paying retail for something worn less than 8 hours and has been cleaned.
Speaking as someone married many years, I will suggest that one detail you take special care of is photography. Many of our friends express regret that they don’t have pictures that reflect the spirit and fun of the day. My pictures are still gorgeous and they still make me happy when I look at them.
Regarding the walleye, the MN fishing regulations say that each person can only posess 6 walleye at any time, including those in cold storage. I don’t see how two people with fishing licences are going to feed 150 people without breaking these laws. The regulations are online at http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/fishing/fishing2007.pdf
I applaud your low cost wedding but not at the price of the public natural resources.
Heidi,
I’m familiar with MN fishing regulations. Surely, we’ll have to purchase some walleye from a local business. But between my family members and several friends and neighbors, six walleye each will be a lot. Not to mention that a large percentage of our guests are vegetarian, so the fish won’t be for everyone. My fiancee’s dad is a forester with the DNR, so obviously we’ll be within regulations.
hydrocodon
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re; the goodwill dress
so I am getting married sept’13′08 back home in canada and since all my girls are way WAY out in the sticks I said I would buy the dresses for them , so we chose the color and I got each of their sizes , and since I wont be wearing a gown (ha ha good luck ) I opted to let my daughter wear it for me . now before you ask I aint marrying daddy warbucks or rolling in green myself , I simply am scowering the thrift stores , craigslist and ebay as well as freecycle for whatever I can get my hands on , since my wedding is outdoors its tulle on everything that doesnt move!!! I got a great deal on a goodwill dress , it had red wine all down the front and a super dirty hem but the shape of it was lovely , so being crafty I looked at the tag and noticed it was poly , I haggled the price down and when I got home I tossed it into the washer with oxyclean and bleach on gentle turned inside out then hung it to dry and ironed it inside out and what do you know !!!! the dress came out as fresh and beautiful as new
I give the thrifty goodwill bride two thumbs up for saving 100$+ on drycleaning
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