Can I do without?

We cut alot of money when ordering the cake. We did a 4 tier cake with sheet cake that will be in the back. I think total for 200 servings the cost is $295. The baker is also just starting her own business after working as a pastry chef at a well-known local wedding venue so her prices are probably lower to be competitive.

For the rehearsal dinner, we are having a BBQ at my parents house and are hiring a guy we know to grill for us which is going to save us alot of money than going to a fancy restaurant.

I agree with HisMrs in using more candles and lanterns to decorate rather than flowers. If you are doing alot of DIY projects, the dollar store has a ton of wine glasses and vases you can arrange as centerpieces.

LOL - i am not even sure why i am answering this.. i went OVER my budget by $10K, and would not have changed a single thing. our wedding was all about spoiling our guests... and we still get thank yous and comments about it a year later! )

the things that some people say dont matter - were huge for our wedding (programs, favors, cocktail hour, etc)... i think a lot of it depends on the style of wedding you are having and what is important to you.

i really would strongly recommend cocktail hour / heavy hors d'oeuvres if you are going to have people waiting around for over an hour before the first course is served.

be sure to keep a little secret savings set aside... no matter how well you think you have everything in hand -- little expenses seem to come out of the woodwork at the last minute.

Have cash on hand for a few days before the wedding to take care of the little expenses Ashlee mentioned.

In my opinion you should provide food for rehearsal dinner (but not all OOT guests) and reception, but lunch / brunch before the wedding...even OOT guests don't expect you to provide that, that would be on their own...and if you'll have dinner at the reception then food the hour between can be a do without....and I think flip-flops is most definitely a do without.

For our BP and those helping decorate and such we are just going to have snacks and quicky finger foods since we'll be busy and no one will really stop to sit down and actually eat a meal.

My Aunt who I know and love has volunteered to be my DOC. She already does this part-time and loves it.

All flowers will be synthetic and will be made by guess who....my aunt! This works for her because she'll have flowers to re-use for other clients.

No DJ, we're creating the best playlist ever, connecting our iPod to the house sound system and enjoying our evening.

My pastor will be officiating the wedding for FREE

My sister (a self trained cake designer) will be making my cake. Her work is amazing!

Music for the ceremony will be provided courtesy of a mutual friend who plays viola and owes me a favor anyway.

As of today, based on everyone's advise I'm going to forego "save-the-dates".

No Sign in book, but instead we'll do an "Inspiration Box" where people can take a card and write an inspirational message or share advise to place in the box for us to read later.

No programs

No special lighting

No plated dinner, buffet instead

(Just to name a few)

I did my wedding on a SUPER budget. That's why I did everything myself. Take a look at what I did http://happinessiscreating.com/my-wedding/. Maybe you can get some budget friendly ideas.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the tips! I'm going to see what I can work on to cut a few extra corners! I don't want to give up too many things, but at the same time I don't want to feel bad for spending so much! I guess I need to find that perfect middle ground.

Do you actually want a wedding? Just remember, you don't HAVE to have a big wedding. You can wear a dress you love, get your hair and nails done, go to the courthouse, get married, and celebrate with a lovely nice meal out and then a vacation somewhere. Your parents can be there...if you feel like it's not worth the money, don't feel pressured to do it.

@Stacy

I do want a wedding. We did the courthouse thing almost 4 years ago (yupp, already married, it's kinda a secret though) and because of finances and both of us getting deployed overseas at separate times, we just have not been able to have an actual wedding. Finally though we CAN afford it, and we DO have the time together right now to have one.

I did all the research of what I wanted and it came to 16k roughly. So I set a low budget of 10k so that I would cut corners and save money but still get what I want. I'm down to 9.5K right now. I guess I should just be happy with that (FH thinks so) but maybe it is like losing weight... you don't want to stop until you know you've reached your limit. I want to make more cuts! Haha!

Just because we have the money, doesn't mean I want to spend it. I don't want to give things up either... Maybe just a rough patch in the planning process?

Limo totally un-necessary. We took bp members cars from church to reception.

programs. They can meet everyone later, and they know what's going on.

Favors, they are just that a "favor" which usually isn't appreciated anyways

expensive guestbook and pen

veil you can probably borrow from a friend/family member or make

flower centerpieces, there are many more cheap alternatives, we did apple baskets

bouquets, we made our own from fresh flowers from the grocery store th day before total cost for 5 about $75 instead of about $75 each.

weddign cake, your caterer probably offers dessert anyway

Great ideas WasSoon2BMrsSmith!

I think I will have my family make the dessert to cut costs and I haven't bought my guest book yet so I will make sure not to go crazy on that. And maybe instead of programs that will take me forever to make (even though they would be free with my left over supplies) I will just make Cocktail menus.

I am making my programs myself (already made them in photoshop) and luckily I already had some shimmery 5"x5" cardstock to print them on (left over from when I was going to create invites on my own). I have about 60 pieces of cardstock, so there won't be a program for every single guest, but I know that people throw them away anyways or don't even take one so if I am like 20 short that is fine. I really wanted some real flowers somewhere (all bouquets are silk flowers), so I did some research and found that fresh flowers are pretty affordable from COSTCO. I am ordering some carnations and babies breath and it will be enough to decorate the ceremony and reception for just around $160. We are also just having a cash bar because we can't afford to pay for everyone's alcohol. Our venue allows us to bring our own food so we are having dinner catered by an italian restaurant and then we will put out our own cracker and cheese trays and some extra desserts.

I am not having flowers. My bridesmaids will hold clutches. I will make a fake flower bouquet just for the toss (my 2 sons are walking me so I cant hold flowers walking down the aisle). I will not do favors (I've thrown away every one I've ever gotten). Part of my centerpieces will be Picture frames (table numbers) which I bought at good will a buck each and they are beautiful. I bought a beautiful chalkboard at Marshall's for 20 bucks and will write the program on there. Menu will be printed out on pretty paper and put into a frame that will be seen when guests sign the guest book. I'm making my own card box and garter. I will be doing my own hair and makeup. My bridesmaids and I will have a baking party for the desert table. I chose to do a desert table because the venue charges 2 bucks a slice to cut and serve. That's insane if you have 100 guest then you will pay 200 on top of what you pay for your cake. A desert table forces the guest to get up and get what they would like.

I told my FH he has a choice between a basic cheesecake or a funny groomsman cake. I'm willing to splurge a little since we are doing a 2-3 tier smaller cake for cutting, and cupcakes for the rest. There are several inexpensive cake decoraters in the area. But the man LOVES cheesecake so he's got a hard decision to make .

I'm making fans out of cardstock as both favors/programs. Since our wedding is in the middle of the summer, I don't want anyone to faint!

My FH's best man will be cooking the meat. I have a really good friend who I'mm going to ask about catering the rest. There are a few others who are inexpensive I'll ask if she can't do it. The meal will be buffet-style.

Because our focus (and actually the true "theme" to the wedding) is a celebration with our family and friends, at this point I'm saying No to assigned tables/seating. I've never been to a wedding with assigned seating. The one time I didn't know many people, it was a plated dinner where cont.

The focus of the reception was the food. I actually made new friends thanks to this set up! Considering how the flow is supposed to go with our reception, people won't be sitting long after eating.

BM dresses will be under $100, shoes under $30. The men are to wear black shoes/boots and Wranglers.

FH's ring will be under $100.

Overall I'm cutting wherever possible, buying as much as I can on Ebay and classifieds.

I feel the same way!

We are saving in these areas....

Officiant (Brother of the groom is doing it)

No Favors

DIY Programs, Escort Cards, Menus, Welcome Packets (VistaPrint is my Plan B)

Simple Centerpieces (white, local in-season flowers)