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

I'm doing my own flowers, I purchased vases for the centerpieces and chair sashes. I plan on selling the vases, sashes and anything else I buy that isn't personalized :-)

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Grandmother and Aunt split on my gown, veils and flower girl dress

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Grandmother and Grandfather gifted us our alcohol

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Invitations are DIY for 1.12 each with postage

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] STD's were DIY magnets and embossed cards for $12

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Ceremony and reception are being held at my parents home

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Officiant rents out tables, chairs and tents and as a family friend offered us a substantial money saving deal.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] DIY paper bouquets

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] DIY for all decorations

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Buying plastic plates that look like china vs renting

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Bridesmaid's dresses I found on clearance, regular $120 for $10 each

Save the Dates were sent via email.

I'm a graphic artist, so I made our own invitations thru Zazzle

Dress is off the rack...and on clearance.

DIY Reception flowers/centerpieces

Reception is at a local restaurant on the water that has a band everynight; i.e. food, venue, and DJ are all wrapped into one (low) bill.

No tuxes...FH, BM, and ushers all wearing linen shirts and khakis (ceremony is on the beach)

Officiant is a good friend.

Cake maker is my cousin (her gift to us is the cake)

FMIL is making our table runners to match our wedding.

Photographer is a close friend of FH ($250 for the whole night!)

My sis is going to video.

I'm a wanna-be makeup artist, so I'll do my own makeup...and hair too.

Other than that...we just kept it small (55 ppl at last count), did away with costly traditions that weren't important to us (like limos, a separate bouquet to toss [I'm not tossing], professional videographer, etc), and went with a *casual* theme.

ETA - Budget = $5000 (including honeymoon)

Our budget is a mere 1250, not including honeymoon or wedding dress. We plan on having diy decorations, invitations, rsvps, and anything else we can think of. Close friends are doing many of our tasks and our venue is owned by FH's family.

Wowsers, Zoey!

It sounds like you're all doing a great job keeping things under control!

Back!

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Save the Dates via E-mail

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Designing and then uploading and printing invitations via VP

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Getting married outside in a public park

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] FMIL purchasing cupcake tower

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Creating my own centerpieces

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Bought Dress online, mother made skirt

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] FH bought his own suite that can be worn other times

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Bought table runners on sale

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] FH's cousin is photographer

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] DOC is a friend

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Officiant is FFIL

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Music is handled by my brother

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] BM will do makeup

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Parents are giving $$$ for whatever we want, probably will use for move and honeymoon

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Although we are having 200 guests, our price per guest whether we do a taco bar or waffle bar will be under $6 per person

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Bought plastic plates, cups, forks,etc instead

Continued...

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Rings were bought for cheap on sale although they are still gold

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Mom made cake topper

Overall, including honeymoon and rings, we will probably spend about $6K. Also, I include what the FMIL and mother have bought in my budget, so what i have personally spent is less.

So far we are still coming under our budget I love it! our budget was 5K.

For our ceremony/Reception site- we rented the community hall, in my parents neighborhood, only $250 deposit which is refundable.

my family has been friends with the owner of big florist company, so I got really nice hook up from them, only having bridal bouqets & rose pedal aisle.

Our photographer, is a close friend, so I got a great deal from her. $350 for all day photography

Our dj found on WW was $350 for 5 hours

One of my customers has his own bakery, we are getting a 3 tierd cake for $60

& My dads friend owns a limo company, & as a gift he will be taking care of the transportation.

& we found a very resonable cater, the menu is basic 1 entree, Chicken marsala, ceasar salad, green beans, & roasted red potatos. for 75 people total cost of $642

& My father purchased my wedding dress for me so that really helped my budget, I went in with $1000 budget for my dress, and he told my consulant. (cont)

That there was no budget for the dress.

& Im making all of the center peices & decorations.

& Our Offciant is my FH grandma.

& Our invites where done by a friend, she charged me $30 for 100 invites.

& if it wasnt for knowing the people I know, we would be wayyy over budget, but I took whatever help was offered, since FH & I are paying for everything our selfs.

Now we have money for 4night stay at walt disney (FH has never been to disney and I want to take him, I really just want the Mickey & Minnie Bride & groom hats lol )& 1week cruise to the caribbean

@Celia, my guest list is 200 and 150 of those are family...mom is eldest of 6, dad is eldest of 3, MGma is mid of 8, PGma is mid of 5, MGpa is mid of 10, PGpa is mid of 12

-DIYing decorations

-Cousin in making our cakes

-My mom is a hair dresser so she's doing all hair for the wedding

-MoH is doing makeup

-Uncle is a florist (discounted flowers)

-Uncle is cutting wood slabs for center pieces

-Collecting Wine bottles from friends and family for center pieces

-Buying a lot of decorations in bulk (that has helped a ton!)

-Used Christmas money for my dress

-Venue is giving us 2 days before wedding to set up

-Aunt is being DoC

-DIY favors

-DIY wedding invites

-Weekend honeymoon close to home

-1 MoH, 1 BM, 1 RB, 1 FG - that's it!

-No champagne toast, & not very much wine (I can't drink it, FH hates it)

-Family Friend is trying to get rid of all her wedding decoration stuff so she's giving it to us

We saved by having FH working for a wedding services company (LOL). Big discounts on DJ, photo and video.

We are making our own centerpieces using donated wine and liquor bottles that we painted silver for the colors and wholesale silk flowers bought on line

Alternative metals in the rings saves us a fortune.

Bridal fashions-I really didn't need the expensive veil and headpieces when the ones I found (on sale) at Hobby Lobby look just as good (I'm not thinking that any child of mine will ever want to wear them) and cost me about 10% of the cost.

I don't need the expensive bridal slip from a wedding store (I don't want something poofy, just something to keep my dress from slipping between my legs when I walk) so I can just buy a long slip at a regular store.

Control top panty hose instead of Spanx. Not as expensive and I wear them any time that I wear a skirt for work anyway (I know, I'm part of a dieing breed-I still wear pantyhose).

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Bought my dress from David’s Bridal for less than $300.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No rehearsal dinner, since everyone in the party is close family. We just having a dinner at home.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Made my own vintage signs and decorations.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Very small bridal party (4 ppl)

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Photographer total $500

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No videographer

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] We have small amount of guests.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No open bar, we are having beer and wine

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No special car rental; we used our car.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] No save the dates.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Cheap dIY favors

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Inexpensive engagement and wedding rings.

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Honeymoon is a gift from groom’s sister.

@Mrs K - I wear pantyhose, tights, etc. to work too lol. I'm like the only one though, especially during the summer!

My cake isn't expensive either (even though I don't bake). I didn't get it at a fancy bakery. the local grocery store makes gorgeous cakes and it cost a lot less than buying one from one of the local bakeries that usually do the cakes. It will be slightly off white so that my dress doesn't look dirty in photos (suggested by the baker. I'm taking some of the fabric taken off from shortening my dress to the bakery so that can match the color). Three tiers, plus groom's cake, three flavors with fillings, gum paste daises cascading down the side, $360. Equivalent at one of the local bakeries-$950.

Dress, similar to one that I fell in love with but not the same, and on sale.

Soooooo... I got really really lucky, and at a bridal expo my name was drawn out of 800 brides to do a cake dive...11 ppl were in it, and I found the ring in the obnoxiously huge cake, thus winning a lot of awesome stuff for my wedding (most of the stuff I won I would of had to skip out on/not due, so I got REALLY lucky)

Kind of a fluke, but super great!!!

Wow everyone is doing such a great job at saving! I'm trying to the best we can to save, although it certainly doesn't feel like it sometimes. Our guest list is 150 and that is all family.

I am making our centerpieces and some decor (still needed to hire a decorator though for table backdrop and chair covers/sashes) and the centerpieces come in at about $8 a piece (better than the 80$ from the deocrator!)

I made 3 chalkboard signs for $4 a piece.

Our invites were on clearance at Micheals for 20$ a box (set of 30) bought the last 3 boxes and I am having a friend print them for me (she has a laser printer which is way better on ink).

My dress was a major splurge but my mom payed for it. I was going to buy the jewelrry from the bridal store but I'm gonna see what i can find for cheaper or wear something I already have.

Have not met with our florist yet but I would love to keep it under $350 if possible. I might look into the BM's carrying something other than bouquets.

I'm a horrible DIY person...yes, I admit it, I'm a perfectionist and all my DIY items do not come out as nice as I'd like, BUT I have a huge family who are DIY savvy

We do have a large wedding because of my large family and FH's huge network of friends and clients, so our budget increased by a bit more than we expected. But we are still cutting costs in a few things:

Best friend is a florist, so she's gifing us the labor of all the flower arrangements; we're only paying for the materials.

Cousins are great DIY girls so they're doing the favors and guestbook table.

That's as far as we go on savings lol

Everyone has such great ways to cut cost.

Our budget is 7k, but I'm trying to stay around 5,500.

Here's my ways of saving:

Our pastor officiating Free

Venue- Free Using our pastor's yard.(It is gorgeous)

DOC/Decorator- Free Pastor's Wife

Flowers- 500 buying at hobby lobby and couple of family members are making the arrangements

Catering- 1,000 Our Parents and family

My Dress- 175 off the rack at a local formal and bridal shop

Alterations- FH's Grandma

Reception- Bar-B-Q so no formal place settings are required

Musician_ GF to FH's cousin and she also works with my sis.

BM's will be carrying one long stem Calla Lily instead of a whole bouquet.

*Everyone will be receiving gifts for their services, but still a lot cheaper than paying retail prices.

Edit: Guest list is around 200

I am planning a wedding for 70 peeps on $1600 ordering fake calla lillies and peacock feathers online venue already paid for it was $200. Wedding bands to be purchased from groupon. Maid of honor is a photographer I told her she cant take more than 5 pics of us because she should enjoy the wedding (i told her no pics she insisted on a few) I am having everyone take pics and send them to wedpics app instead of paying for photographer. Food will be taco bar. Invites willbe gotten with a groupon. Making sheet cakes for cake. Friend is getting ordained to officiate. Other friend is making decorations. Music to be downloaded played from phone plugged into speakers. Bridesmaids wearing whatever dress they want as long as its purple groomsmen will be in teal. I think no matter what it will be special!