I'm worried my wedding will be super tacky...

I think all of it is fine! We have paid for others honeymoons, I thought it was a cool idea. It is your big day! Do it how you want!

I have been to many fire hall and VFW weddings. They are not tacky at all. If your friends and family truly love you they will happy for you regardless. Fire hall weddings are some of the best weddings I have every attended!

Do what you want to do, it's your wedding! Don't put so much into thinking about people, that tell you this and that, are tacky. Unless someone volunteers to pay for everything they think is tacky! All that matters is that you and your fh, have a great time!
This really can be a great wedding for you both, while keeping it within your budget! So sad that others think they can put their opinion that is other than yours! Everything will work out! Don't Worry, Be Happy!!

None of this really sounds "tacky" to me. Halloween can sometimes feel too costume-y, but when done well they are absolutely gorgeous. Which I think is the same with any theme, really.

Dollar dances only feel odd/money grabby when it is not a part of your culture, but in some cultures it's actually considered rude not to have one. I know in PA, specifically PA dutch territory, it is extremely common. I've been to a wedding where the grandfather was downright sulky because he brought money for the dollar dance, and he never got to "pay" to dance with the bride.

My Wedding is costing Us, under $5000.00. Do what you guys want to do and never mind what everybody else thinks.

Anyone who tells you your wedding is tacky shouldn't even be invited to your wedding, straight up. How dare they comment on the wedding, when the biggest thing here is your union with your loved one? And if they are so shallow as to hone in on where your venue will be or what food will be served, they don't really care about you. They are superficial. If anyone told me that they didn't like my reception venue (which is in a banquet hall... furthermore this is the first time I've ever heard of a banquet being tacky) I would make sure they would not get an invitation. That is so rude, whoever is saying that to you. You and your honey should have your wedding and serve whatever food you on. Trust me girl, I'm on a budget too and have thousands of dollars in student loan. Been there, done that. I know, how you're feeling. You'll have some people putting in their two cents, but they are not in your relationship, and they don't have access to your wallet. Do what you want to do. Do what you can afford. And THAT'S when you'll be happiest. You can't satisfy everyone.

It is your wedding. If you did not want to do honeymoon found you can just wait a few years to go on honeymoon. You do not have to gave it at a super formal place.

Hi! I'm in pgh too and none of this sounds "tacky" it may be untraditional, which is awesome! Who wants to go to a wedding that is cookie cutter and exactly like the last one they went to?

You enjoy and try not to stress. Once you and your FH make a decision, cross it off the list and don't think twice about it!

The only thing I probably wouldn't do is a honeymoon fund, and simply just don't do a registry and people will give money. I think some guests can be sensitive to that as they want to support you and your beginnings, and not necessarily a vacation.

I can relate to your issues, but let me state you've come to the right place, also let me recommend offbeatbride.com Once you see some of those weddings you'll realize, none of your ideas are tacky, there pretty normal.

Also, from me personally I don't believe any of your ideas are tacky. Reading them actually makes me feel better that I'm not going totally off the wall with mine and my FH ideas.

I never wanted to get married, but when I was little I said if I did it would be a Halloween party. When we were brainstorming, my FH randomly stated, why not a Halloween party? My mouth basically dropped. I was like really?! So that's an idea, but it's not high on our list right now, actually nothing is really.

I've been planning for three weeks so not really long, but I can say as many things as we'd like to stick to our guns on, everything is flexible at this point, which makes it difficult and stressful. I'd love to know exactly what I want and just do it. There's some brides on her that have such beautiful offbeat weddings planned, I'm totally envious that there creative side is flowing. I'm creative yet when it comes to my own wedding my brain is totally blanking.

So remember, nothing is tacky, this is your and your FH wedding. You do what you want, where and when you want it. If you decide to do a Halloween wedding at a cemetery and someone says they won't show up, it's there loss.

Good luck!

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Agreed. I have tons of student loans debt I'll probably won't even get paid off before I'm dead. My budget is only $5k, were trying to save for a house so we don't want to go into any debt either. Do what you want, it doesn't matter what everyone else wants. It's your wedding, have fun with it!

Girl.... I am speaking to myself as well when I say this. If you listen to every single person who has an opinion and treat it as if it were your own, it will not be or feel like your wedding day. We are having our wedding just under 10k and in all honesty if I could have the wedding in a backyard tomorrow, I would. NOT to say that I am not so excited for my wedding and it will be absolutely stunning, literally my dream wedding. But what isn't so dreamy is expenses that add up veryy quickly on credit card statements. So in my opinion, have the day of you and your fiance's DREAMS, on your own budget that you feel comfortable with, and ditch the Martha Stewart wedding magazines. Embrace the tackiness!!! My fiance is going to be wearing a green suit because that is our personality and we love being different. So embrace it! I would choose Mexican any day over bland chicken and pasta...just saying.

Somebody, Im from the northeast and have never heard of,, no less seen, a dollar dance. What is it?!!!

Honeymoon registries are great!! Don't let them talk you out of it!

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Hey! Budget twins! haha We may have creeped over $5k with some of the little extras, but we're trying to stay in the ball park! I'm keeping all the receipts to see what it actually ends up being.

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LoweryForLife,

I think we may be going over a bit, as well, just estimates for now, but I have a feeling...

To plan a wedding is no easy task, to plan it on a $5k budget or lower, is that much harder. I've got my dress $222, officiant (free), DJ (free), Bartender (free), Hair/make-up/nails (free), and by the end of the week we plan on having our ceremony/reception venue booked and date confirmed. Goal is $800 for venue. Depending what we choose, we should be good for that estimate. I'm taking a break from wedding planning after that until after the holidays, my brain needs to calm down, ha!

I'll be keeping a tight track on what we spend, as well. We can compare notes afterwards Good luck!

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Yeah now that I total it up, we went over when we bought my dress. Got a GREAT deal at $500, but then the alterations were $300...so we'll say $800. Venue is $2,000 and photographer is $1,500 (that was my big splurge). "Catering" (we're ordering pizza!! haha) is $500. That leaves $200 and I KNOW we've spent a little more than that on the little things.

Free? DJ, hair/make up, officiant

But it helps to START with a mindset of $5,000 cause it keeps costs down!!

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LoweryForLife,

$500 is still a great deal on a dress. My plan was $99, but the dress I wanted to try one wasn't at shop, and then when I tried on others I found a $1,500 on sale for $99 at Davids Bridal, but they didn't have my size and it just wasn't worth the alterations, then I found the one I actually bought got it for $222 was super excited. And the only thing that has to be altered is the hem at the bottom cause I'm so short, a friend and I are doing it myself, thankfully she's an amazing seamstress. FH was still happy with $222 so we're good.

Catering pizza sounds great. Are you going to order in, have it delivered and than have it set-up on some tables for everyone to grab? I've been considering something similar but my mind keeps worrying about food staying hot.

Yes, a low-cost mindset defiantly helps. I could get my headpiece and cupcakes free too but I'm trying to ask very little of any of my immediate family. I really want them to be rested, and healthy ready to party at the reception. Not freaking out or stressing like I will about things being perfect, ha!

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We're getting it from Mellow Mushroom and they actually have a catering service! We just pay $500 and we get enough pizzas and then a server to stand there and pass it out.

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LoweryForLife,

Mellow Mushroom, we don't have those in Wisconsin, but I remember seeing those when we vacationed in TN around the Severville area. It's on our list to go try. Were in love with a place nearby that, it's called Big Daddy's Pizzeria. There pizza and dough daddies are melt in your mouth amazing!

We've been to TN vacationing twice now, we really love it. Don't even mind the drive from WI that much.

Instead of a big honeymoon fund, maybe you could register for specific experiences on your honeymoon? My friend had a honeymoon registry, but instead of just sending money, you could buy the couple a special experience or upgrade on their trip. There were things like a bottle of champagne, a horseback tour of a vineyard, dinner for two. It was fun to go through their registry and see all the fun things they could do on the honeymoon and it didn't feel like they were just asking for cash.