Poor Girl Wedding Pitty Party: You're Invited!!!

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No honeymoon.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Only a dozen guests for the ceremony, and 60 for the at-home reception.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Got my dress from Davids Bridal for 267

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Got the flowers for the guys suits from Hobby Lobby and my hairpiece for 7.00

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Making our bouquets and getting the flowers and ribbon from Walmart and Hobby Lobby

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] A baker is doing my cake for 100

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] My photographer is doing unlimited pictures for unlimited time for 200

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] My officiant is doing everything we want for 120

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] My coworker's cousin is DJing for 60 bucks (or if we wanna skip that art we hook up our phone for free)

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] The venue is free due to my husband being the manager at the hotel

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Dont know catering costs yet but we have an appt this Thursday

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] The guys are renting their tuxs and my girls I told them wear any black nice dress and I paid 19 each for their sashes. My daughters flower girl dress was 67 bucks from Davids Bridal( ordered to the color apple)

@Jenny M.: Yep, we came in a few hundred under budget in the end. But that involved a lot of scrimping and doing without on things that weren't critical to us, in order to have the things that were really important.

One of the best weddings I've been to was a budget wedding. I have no idea how much they spent, but it wasn't a lot.

- It was Sunday brunch at a B&B.

- No additional decor except the bride's bouquet.

- A SMALL guest list (I couldn't agree more with Celia)

- A fabulous photographer for the total of about 2 hours (along the line of what 2d said).

It was a great wedding.

It can be done and done well on a limited budget. Celia is right, cutting your guest list is the key. We had about 40 guests including the wedding party. I DIY'd everything i possibly could to have money for catering, photographer and a DJ. My only other big ticket item was a tent since we live in Georgia and last September it was still hot and muggy! All told, I spent about $7k and still managed to have the wedding of my dreams!

With everything you listed, coming in right around $5k depending on your guest list - I was surprised that catering actually ended up being almost more than my DJ and photographer combined!

And you are def not having a pity party but, as @Celia noted, a SMARTY party!

Was going to offer you a bouquet but I see that @The Centerpiece Flowers beat me to it - way to PIF!

Hang in there!

My wedding gown was on sale (saved $500).

Ordered STD magnets from Vistaprint ($50 under budget).

Reception venue was having a promotion, total is $96pp, original pricing was $140pp.

Not hiring a limo service.

Photographer had a promo, all day shooting (10hrs) w/editing and all rights to photos for $1,070.

"Dream' wedding cake I am making myself, only it will be fake with exception of one layer for cutting (saving $1,400), we will be serving the cake the venue offers and using it as our grooms cake.

Flowers are DIY and will be coming from Sam's Club, aunt is a florist and will be making the arrangements.

Favors are DIY, saving 50% of the original cost.

Candy table is DIY, saving 95% of cost.

Centerpieces will be DIY but still undecided.

Not decorating the church.

The non-Saturday wedding will save you $...we've saved on the venue/food for wedding and rehearsal dinner and the band for the wedding. Videographer gave a discount because the ceremony/reception is in the same place and photographer gave us 2012 prices (we booked in 2012 for 2013)...those are my tips so far. We're not on a tight budget, but all savings are good!

We have a bigger budget than we're allowing, because while it is my wedding... its only one day. I could never justify it in my mind to spend such a ridiculous amount on something of this nature, its just not my style.. to keep our low budget we are -

DIY/Oriental Trading/Etsy - For all decor, no flower centerpieces!

Etsy seller Mazziflowers for bouquets - They are paper peonies

Burning our ceremony music to a CD no dj/band

Using family friend's manor home for wedding - $0 venue fee!

Doing a lobster boil / clam bake - Only hiring one caterer who is allowing my dad and BIL to help cook!

Having hotdog/hamburgers for the kids so they don't just poke at a $25 dollar lobster

Strict Dress Budget

I shopped around and found a great photographer at a good price!

DIY for all flower girl, ring barer, guets book ect

Ordering just a small cutting cake and making cupcakes (excited for this!)

Vistaprint for STD and Etsy for Invites - people just throw them away!!!

2x post

DJ-$600

Photo-$600 for 2 people all day with edited cd of pics

Venue with includes ceremony and reception-$6000 for 100 people

CP- about $50

Bouquets made myself flowers from dollar store.

Dress Free One of the WW ladies gave it to me and the alterations are only going to be $60 at the most

Favors about $2. each. I made scented candles.

Rvn. $100

I am under budget by about 3k

Invites and STD from walmart. The stamps cost me more than the invites did.

Just a note; using a friend's house for a wedding is a lovely idea. Make sure you cover all the expenses (cleanup, cutting the lawn before hand) and come across with a really, really nice gift!

We're cutting by:

only inviting 60-70

DIY DJ

No wedding party

will be DIY center pieces

having a recently graduated graphic design friend design invites then we will be using VP

honeymoon motorcycle trip to the west, because that's what we would do.... and gas on the bike, cheap motels, and historical/natural landmarks are so much better than expensive flights & the like

hopefully using a friend for photography...

that's all I can think of right now

Our wedding will have around 50 guests. Not huge, but not TOO small either. So far we've spent a grand total of $877, with another $250 expected to spend

-Our venue is a local park on a gorgeous lake in a neighboring town, we rented the gazebo and picnic pavillion for $150 for all day, and we'll get $50 back if everything is left in good shape

-Made the invitations myself and sent them out via email

-My wedding dress was $35 on clearance at TJMaxx (I didn't want a white or formal dress)

-My sister is playing the part of officiant (she's not ordained, but it wont be legal anyway so we don't care)

-The same sister is a professional photographer who is bringing a few of her photog buddies (at the price of food and being taken to a drag show that night) so pictures are covered

-Caterer is a friend of a friend who is trying to get her business off the ground and is doing everything for next to nothing

-All decor and jewelry is being DIYed

-Hair/MUA is a friend who's giving us a deal

DIY decorations (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and whatever places FH visits online)

Vistaprint Invitations (thanks to the VP goddesses of WW)

FH is doing the cake himself

2 Photographers that are family

My officiant is a dear friend and isn't charging a thing, but we're hooking he and his wife up with some goodies!

I'm in the entertainment business so the DJ is a guest, but working lol

We did spend on our venue for our reception, but we moved it from Saturday to Sunday to save money. The cost to rent the country club on Saturday night was $2800; Sunday $1400.

It does also help that I'm an only child and my mom bought the dress!

Oh...and DUH...no wedding party

We won't be renting a limo either...I would honestly rather rent a limo on the honeymoon for the 2 of us to ride around in for a couple hours rather than rent a stretch for our wedding party to ride for 15 minutes. There's a 4-hour minimum on those things, so we would be looking at $1000, for 15 minutes! UGH!

I found the perfect Laura Ashley DIY invitations at a closeout store. Including postage...I will spend $0.58 on each invitation. This allowed me to get the STDs I really wanted from MagnetStreet.com (these were a priority to me, because people put them on their fridge and stare at them for 6 months).

I may not be a bride on a teeny tiny budget, but I am still being relatively frugal. The things we knew we could not scrimp on: my gown, FH's uniform, the STDs, the reception food, and photography.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Dress was already paid for and I'm making some of the accessories that's going with it. So I have "extra" for jewelry (if I don't raid my collection before hand) and boots.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Cake and Punch reception because wedding's at 2pm. So little snacks and in theme chocolates and the like. We got Star Wars (hint hint) Ice molds to do little sandwiches and homemade reese's.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Family Friend brother person is making the cake.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] A much closer friend is doing our photos.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] A close friend is letting us use her backyard for the wedding and reception. She's even helping us out with decoration ideas and food.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] 100-120 will be invited, but I'm only expecting about 50-100 to show up.

(cont..)

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] All invites are via facebook and phone calls with a wedding website link to follow. Yeah it's cool to have pretty invites but this seems better because of any possible changes, the guests

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Cd Player/Ipod. No DJ unless my Cousin can do it!

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No Flowers!

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Decorations are all DIY. As soon as we figure out exactly what it is we're doing and sticking to it. Thinking vases filled with action figures and the different planets in the Star Wars universe.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Rings are going to come from CustomTungsten on etsy.com and facebook.com. The price quote: $75 for two rings.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Honeymoon is at a later date! Star Wars Celebration 2014!

Yes it's frustrating but with support and lots of brainstorming, you can pull this off! We're finding ways and we're broke!

We don't have much planned yet, but-

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] bought my dress already for $68 plus shipping.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] alcohol will be DIY- kegs of beer and bottles of local wine

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] FH already owns his suit

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] ceremony and reception will either be at a cousin's house or the local church picnic grounds

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] officiant is another cousin. She's getting ordained on-line.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Instead of a limo, the wedding party will be traveling in an RV (my parents').

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No purchased flowers. We're growing some to be used for bouquets, or will use local wildflowers.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No photographer. We have some pretty good amateur photogs on both sides.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] decorations will be minimal and DIY, which is my style, anyway.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] I'm making the wedding cake (or possibly cupcakes).

con't.

Catering will be the majority of our budget. I have a big family so even with just close family (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and cousins' children- all of whom I'm close to) we'll have over 100 people. Originally I was planning to handle the food myself, but I don't think I can with that many people. Our current plan is a pig roast, which we can do for under $20/pp.

Edited to add:

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]Oh, and no DJ either. We're just going to play music from our personal collection.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] I'm hoping my friend will act as MOC. She's very outgoing and loves to party (a problem in some situations, but perfect in this one!).

We booked a pkg in Vegas which is a fraction of what we'd pay to have a wedding at home.

We're maximizing credit card and hotel rewards and frequent flyer miles for the travel expenses.

FH is getting a JVL ring.

Used Groupons or Living Social deals with Vistaprint for invites.

Once in Vegas, we're going to Sam's to buy alcohol and stuff and just having people back to our suite after the ceremony rather than booking a restaurant or something like that.

The wedding pkg includes a photographer for the ceremony, so a friend's husband, who has a really good eye and has taken wedding photos before, is going to do a little photo shoot with us on Fremont Street afterwards.

We're not having a wedding party.