1. reception at your house or parents house
2. DIY on everything and anything
3. Have your wedding off season
4. Order a cake just huge enough for you and your hubby, and have the guests be able to eat a homemade cupcakes or sheet cake. that will cut your cost for the cake down aton
5. have a small guest list
6. make everything more casual. the more elegant, the more expensive is the way it usualy goes.
7. Consider a night othe rthan sunday. even thursday can cut costs.
8. stay in the season when choosing flowers and foods
9. choose large blooms for your flowers, rather than many small ones. choosing just one or two large flowers, such as peonies, orchids or even sunflowers will cut your costs.
10. take ceremony flowers to the reception site.
11. Do a mingle reception, you will save money on seating and be able to have just snacks and a bar rather than a sit down meal
12. rather than a bar, serve wine in passed glasses.
13. question the dj to cut back on special effects, like lighting.
14. hire students from local universities who are in photography to do your wedding pictures. or even hire a local student band.
15. see if stationers will give youa discount for ordering all your stationary from them. i.e. thnak you cards, invitations, place cards, etc.
16. by a top of the line bridemaids dress- in white. while it may not look as extravagant as a bridal gown, you can probably find one for under 500 dollars.

PWPOnline.com has a lot of fantastic wedding decorations and wedding favors that can help you save money on your reception

Plus, their blog also has a lot of fantastic wedding plotting suggestions!

A few other fantastic ways to save money would be to have the wedding in a backyard or at a family member’s home, trimming your guest list, buying flowers wholesale, using an iPod instead of a DJ, and printing your invitations yourself.

Hope this helps!

There are a few things:

a) Get your family to help you with your decorations
b) Make your own invitations
c) You don’t need to have a multi layered cake but rather you can have a simple single cake.
d) and importantly liaise with your suppliers as they would sooner supply you with a cheaper version of what they want to supply you for the day than lose the business all together.

1. negotiate prices with your vendors. no vendor price is set in stone.
2. decorate with items other than flowers … reckon candles and items you can get at michael’s like river rocks, glass jars, etc. or use potted plants as decor.
3. make your own invitations – michael’s has packages that you print on your computer – they have all the accessories like the liner paper, envelopes, etc. but you save a TON of $$ my printing them yourself.
4. question your reception location if you can bring your own liquor instead of buying it from them – if you can buy your liquor from costco or sam’s club.

Proably the largest expenses are around entertaining your guests. If you want 300 people for a sit-down dinner, that’s just going to cost a ton of money even if you cut corners other places.

The largest money saving decisions we made was not to serve a meal. We had a 2pm wedding and had a buffet table with heavy appetizers (cheese tray, fruit tray, stuffed mushrooms, chicken satay, etc.) and only had 100 guests. Our total wedding was less than $8,000.

Just look at sample wedding budgets and look at the huge ticket items and choose if that’s vital to you. If dancing isn’t vital, skip the DJ and plug an ipod into a speaker. If drinking doesn’t matter, skip it.

Excellent luck and congrats!

the BEST way to save money for anything is NOT 2 spend yer earnings. u can have yer folks open u a new savings acct & u can earn $$$ thru odd jobs & allowance (IF u get 1.) not all families can do this, b/c x-tra $$$ nowadays is so rare that many families just don’t make enough $$$ 2 support allowance. in fact, most ppl now r saving ALL they can 4 their own futures, knowing that down the road, they themselves will someday NEED their savings. if my family struggled $$$, i just wouldn’t place any such burden on them 2 give me $$$ they just don’t have. i’d go seek odd jobs & do all i can 2 earn my own living if i needed $$$ that terrible.
u may want 2 save yer $$$ anyway, b/c u may someday want 2 attend college. if u face certainty that some $$$ must come out of yer own pocket, then u’ll appreci8 the fact that u saved earlier. college is expensive, & so r the books, once u factor in the car, ins., & gas needed 2 go 2-from class (IF u mush go very far). if u can get fin. aid, then let the govt buy that laptop 4 u. if u can’t get enough aid now, u can save yer refunds off that grant. refunds come during refund wk.
i’d just wait 4 the laptop. technology changes & the longer u wait, the BETTER those laptops get.

get a huge empty water jug. Throw all your change and $1s in. You will ahve a excellent chunk in a small amount of time

have money transered directly monthyly or weekly from your accoutn to a savings

skip certain spedings like morening coffee and place that money aside

Do your flowers yourself. It’s very simple to go to a farmer’s market and pick out flowers, tie ribbon around the stems, and voila. Saves SO MUCH MONEY. Have a trusted friend or family member do your hair and make-up. Have a “stock the bar” party where your invites bring a bottle of wine for you and a bottle to share at the party, then use the wine at the rehearsal dinner. SHOP eBay for center pieces (so many brides just want a Small money back, so you can find things that look fantastic and cost way less on there!). My mother was very smart with our wedding and we saved THOUSANDS of dollars. We are considering writing a book! It’s unbelievably simple.

How DIY handy are you and have you set a budget yet? Do tou have a theme? Decorate the church with candles, greenery, and bows This is not even terrible expensive if done by florist. U add potted plants from discount stores at side of aisle every few pews. You could try make your own bouquets, afloral.com has excellent videos on how to. You can buy flowers in bulk at, americanfloraldistributors.com, growersbox.com,globalrose.com, rosesource.com. delivered to your door. First two offer “bridal box” offers. Use seal and send invites, annsbridalbargains.com this saves on postage and printing. Use finger food buffet and get trays from local grocery/deli make some of the reception foods yourself. You make coffee/punch. Use paper or polycarbonate plates webrestaurant.com has fantastic selection and case pricing. Sheets for table cloths( always usable later) or table rolls, and predone skirting for buffet table, again webrestaurant.com. Check out and order orientaltrading.com for wedding catalog. Get a wilton wedding cake catalog wilton.com. Make your own cake (not that hard! Really!!) Stumpsprom.com for bulk fabrics and decor thoughts( their bulk fabrics could also help with tables). Weighted Helium Balloons,tea lights on mirrors for reception centerpieces, or go to dollar stores for container thoughts. Hope this starts you thinking. Ebay for gown/veil and accessories..

everytime you spend over your limit you have to give me 100 dollars.