Planning a weddding - Money saving tips?

[bigjase]

So we are getting ready to start planning our wedding, but everything seems so expensive! Our mine concern right now is the reception hall and price of food. Does anyone have any tips on how to find an inexpensive recetipon hall/food options?

 

If it helps, we are planning on getting married in Eau Claire.

[dadofandrew]

Elope.

[craigharmann]

Elope.

Yep....seriously, though, do as much of it as you can. Like with our food at our wedding, we had family put it together the couple days before and that saved us a ton on catering costs. Look to do as much yourself as you can.

[ewizabeff]

Yup, you should elope. this website will inspire you.

[davego]

Eau Claire too...west-side REP-RE-SENT!

 

Do everything in New Auburn...

[owbc]

I'm getting married on August 20. We are trying to keep the total price under $10,000, but it isn't easy. Unfortunately, our wedding is in Milwaukee so I can't recommend specific places. Here's some tips (basically involves doing stuff yourself, as Craig says):

 

-The wedding and reception are in the same place, on a Friday night. We saved over $500 by not scheduling on a Saturday.

-Invite less guests, we have a max of 125 even though there are more people who could potentially be invited.

-You can save by having a buffet instead of plated dinners, although we decided to pay extra for the plated dinners.

-My fiance designed the invitations and we are assembling them. The invitation person is charging us about 1/3 of the usual price.

-Shop around--we tried a few different places for flowers and got quotes that were $150 different for exactly the same thing

-We are not having a DJ and instead are making our own music mix and renting speakers

-We have our own theme and are designing/making all custom decorations. As an example, the table centerpieces are being designed by us, the florist is just providing us with the flowers for us to arrange.

[jwill535]

My wife made all of the invitations, save the dates, decorations, place settings, name cards, programs etc, but then again, my wife if very good craft wise. If you or your wife and craft worthy at all, make all of this stuff. A lot of people get caught up in invitations, but remember that 99% of the people you send them too, look at the date, write it down and throw it away.

 

Weddings from late Oct to March are a ton cheaper, since not a lot of people have weddings then.

 

Dont bother with a videographer. You may watch your wedding video once or twice, but your pictures will be a ton more valuable to you and be looked at more often. If you want the ceremony taped, find a family member you trust to do that.

 

For the meal, dont go fancy. People just want something good to eat. A fancy piece of chicken with horrible sauce and 3 red potato halves isnt a good meal. The best meal I have ever had was at a friends wedding where they had a buffet and my own where we had prime rib, mashed potatoes and corn.

 

Make the beer free(tap only) and let the high ball people fend for themselves. You will go through about 2-3 barrels(we went through 6), depending on the amount of professionals you have attending.

 

Hotel convention rooms work out best, due to the catering usually being in house and out of town guests can stay there. Since you are having the event there, you will most likely get your room for free and reduced rates for you guests.

[hawing]

I'm in the "elope" group too. I think the most likely scenario for the SO and me (someday) is to elope and invite the family to a Brewer game sometime after.

[ewizabeff]

I should probably clarify that we're all not saying elope bc we're anti-marriage. I think a lot of people spend a lot of money on a party that will make other people happy. Just think, you could splurge on a vacation for $5,000 and have a week or weekend you'll always remember, then do a low-key get together with family afterwards....then have some money left for a house or something.

 

Won't work for everyone, but it's what I figure I'll end up doing.

 

If you're committed to a traditional ceremony, save money on dessert by not getting a trumped up wedding cake. I've been to weddings that had donuts instead (awesome!) and a friend is considering cupcakes.

 

If you can find a hotel that will be opening for the first time or remodeling, you can get a deal. A friend got married in St. Louis a few years ago - she booked the hotel when everything was under construction just betting that it would be great - by the time the wedding rolled around the place was beautiful. Or, you can find a location that's free or only has a very very small fee (public park, friend's beautiful land, etc).

[LouisEly]

I'll second on skip the videographer and even photographer - you know which friends take good pictures, so buy a digital SLR camera if your friend doesn't have one or if you don't know someone else who has one that you can borrow (they run about $500-600 on Amazon) and tell that friend that their wedding gift to you is to take pictures for the day. Have your friend take as many pictures as possible. That's all the photographer does anyway - just take a bunch of pictures with a digital SLR camera and have you pick the best ones. Develop the good ones, and have a craft store frame the ones you want.

 

The DSLRs are expensive, but it's a lot less than a photographer and you get to keep a very good camera. Or you can turn around and sell the camera on eBay. The last wedding I went to I was an usher and I took along my old 5MP Sony camera and they said that I took better pictures than the photographer.

 

As for reception hall, I'll second booking in October or November and even make another recommendation - the day after Thanksgiving. Fridays are a lot cheaper than Saturdays, and since most families get together on Thanksgiving anyway your families should be there. Kind of a 2-for-1; they get Thanksgiving and a wedding all in one trip if they're from out of town.

 

Edit - I'll second skipping the cake. If you really want one go for it, but I've seen a tower of Twinkies, Ho-Ho's, and Ding-Dong's go over real well. Or have a family member do a cake for the wedding party and guests get a big cupcake (they have good ones at Costco).

[NeedMoreFans]

We had a real cheap wedding, but we had ours at the UW Memorial Union, and it is very inexpensive to rent space there for Union members. Still, costs could have soared, but we kept them down. Here are a few tips...

 

1) Flowers are expensive. Cut back on them as much as you can.

2) Go with "cheap" beer (Miller Lite)

3) Invitations are just pieces of paper. Your fiance may care how they look, but most people who get them really won't care how much you spent on them.

4) Get something cheap for favors. We gave each guest only one Lindor truffle. No one cared.

5) a. Ask a lot of questions to potential photographers. Do you get the proofs? Do you get the pictures after a year?

b. Don't buy a wedding album from your photographer. If you get a CD of all your pictures, make your own album. You can get them for under $100 (vs. $1000 from the photographers

6) Don't get a limo or other transportation for your wedding party.

7) Be aware of all of the extra charges your reception hall will have, and determine what ones you think are necessary and which are not. Is it worth an extra $0.50/guest for a second salad dressing choice?

8) Sometimes, getting sheet cakes can be cheaper than a fancy wedding cake.

9) No open bar. We did free beer and soda, cash everything else (please, do free beer and soda, though).

[logan82]

Get married on a beach in Florida. Seriously. We got married for under a grand. Unless it is a big deal to have a huge wedding you will save yourselves a lot of money and headaches. Remember the wedding is about you and your future wife, not your great aunt Margaret.

[endaround]

My brother is currently planning a wedding that isn't too extravagant (a full open bar for the night is the main thing) and its going to cost between $25K-30K when all is done. Really elope and then have a potluck when you get back.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

You want to save some real money? Then don't get married!!! In jest though... We had a friend do our invitations. It saved a bunch of money. Most people can do their own from their PC.

[Menace II Sobriety]

This won't work for you but it was one of the best times I ever had at a wedding reception. One of my old roommate's eloped and had a reception at the Hinterland near downtown (http://www.hinterlandbeer...html). For what they wanted it was a perfect venue they covered all wine and micro's, had a dessert bar, sampling station, cake. appetizers, chocolate fountain. Instead of having a sitdown dinner they had a lot of grazing stations and rented a "Jack Johnson" type to play live music.

 

It was a great time for all of us because it was so care free and without restrictions. As soon as we showed up we were greeted by the couple given a drink and told to just enjoy the evening. There was none of the normal wedding stress.

[And That]

Just got married about a month and a half ago. We had about 100 guests and altogether, spent under $9K. We did that by:

 

-Doing all the invitations/decorations/anything we could make ourselves.

-Going cheap on flowers, and we did some of the arranging ourselves.

-Getting married on a Monday, in late December. The mansion we rented was just happy to have the business... anything they made was like a bonus to them. Getting married in winter, especially on a weekday, will save a lot of money. And visit lots of reception sites. Someone will need the business and make you a deal.

-Making our own music mixes and using our reception site's in-house music system. For the wedding dance (we didn't have a dance floor except for our first dance), we just brought in our Bose Wave radio and that busted out our jam loud enough to fill the room and then some.

-No booze, though with how little we ended up spending on food (see next point), we could have had beer. If you need a lot of alcohol to have fun at a wedding, that's fine, but it's going to cost you.

-Buffet. We found the biggest single cost driver would be food. We limited ourselves to 100 guests (and my wife has about that many cousins), but even then, a sit-down dinner would have been a budget buster. We arranged what was basically an appetizer buffet with the caterer and once again, it was a Monday in late December - they were happy for the business. If you can, find a reception site that either has a flexible and cost-conscious in-house caterer, or find a site that allows you to bring in your own caterer, and shop around for exactly what you want.

-Instead of cake, we got about 17 pies from Baker's Square. Cost under $200 bucks, and who doesn't love pie?

 

In the age of social media, just having guests take photos makes sense. We opted to hire pros, and spent about 20% of the total price tag on them. We were happy to do that - we didn't want people to feel obligated to take photos, we wanted them to have fun. Turns out, people did take some photos and we're still getting them. There were also some tech-savvy invitees who took videos for us. My wife spent a little over $1000 on her dress, including alterations. That might be a sticking point about keeping the overall price down, but she was fully aware that we could spend the money better on say, buying a house (which we did last year) or investing. And that's why I love her.

[logan82]

who doesn't love pie?

 

Me, off topic but just saying, I think pie sucks.

[JumpinMacFlash]

I just got married three and a half months ago. Looking back on it, eloping would have been much cheaper and I don't think either one of us would have minded. That being said, it was a great day and a lot of fun. One of the best parts of it was both of us were intent on keeping it cheap.

 

-Keep invitations simple. You're only getting once piece of paper back, why make it fancy?

-My wife bought her dress on sale and she still loved it.

-I had a friend of mine take photos. He was a professional, but gave us a big discount.

-Two words: Fake Flowers. Seriously, my wife and I put together her bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets ourselves and they cost us a total of about $20. Hobby stores have a nice assortment. Some thought the idea was cheap, but no one noticed.

-Definitely try to get the buffet option, but make sure your place offers it. Our hall only offer plated dinners, but we didn't have any other choice in the area.

-Keep your wedding party small.

-Don't have a formal gift opening, they take a long time, and they're really awkward to sit through.

-Cheap thank yous. People will care more what you write.

 

We did all of these things and we came in under $8,000. That being said, that would help toward a down-payment on a house.

 

Eloping...think about it...

[davego]

Cupcakes seem to be common ground.

[Invader3K]

Get people you know to do stuff for you. We had our wedding at my wife's family's home church, and one of their neighbors was the organist, so that was basically free. We had her uncle who is a professional photographer take our pictures, and he gave those to us for free as a wedding gift. We had the reception at the local KC hall, and I don't remember the exact cost, but it was pretty affordable. The DJ we had was just starting his business, and I think only cost like $500 for the night. The iPod idea is pretty viable nowadays, too.

 

Sorry if that is not so helpful...I do think it's kind of silly to overspend on a wedding. A lot of that money would be better spent on a down payment on a house, IMHO (like JumpinMacFlash said).

 

I do recommend that if you do the traditional reception, keep the food options relatively simple. I would say to try and leave out some food during the entire reception (even if it's just cheese and crackers or something), and free tap beer is always a plus. At my sister's wedding, they took the food away shortly after the wedding party got there (which I was part of), and I was starving by the end of the night. At our own wedding, we had free open bar all night, but that was sort of a surprise present from my dad. As far as cake, we had the local bakery just make a fancy "top piece", and then bought several sheet cakes. Pretty affordable.

 

I would also second not doing a formal gift opening. We did one, and I could tell by that point most people just wanted to get heading home, the day after the reception. It's kind of silly to sit there opening cards and thanking people, when most would rather just get a thank you card in the mail, I'd think.

[jwaltz]

A few of my friends sent most of their invitations via e-mail. Saved them a little bit on invitations and postage. Nobody seemed to mind. In the e-mail they explained they were sending invitations out this way to save money. Everybody seemed to understand and liked the idea. As far as thank you's go, just make them yourself.

[brewers4eric]

I can still remember cutting the check for the caterer for our wedding. What threw me the most, however, was the opportunity cost of all the time that we put into planning the wedding and reception. Especially considering that we honeymooned in Jamaica and there was a staff person at our resort that could plan a wedding and reception for you with a one hour interview.

 

I wouldn't change much about our wedding and the memories that I hold from it. If we had to do it over, my wife and I have both figured that hopping on a plane and getting married at a resort would be the way to go for us. Some of you will probably remember the Brewers promoted Chris Saenz for a one game stint against the Cardinals in 2004. I can remember seeing the highlights on ESPN at the resort and wondering who he was.

[Teatoe993]

I'm getting hitched in July and the fiancé and I are trying to have a poor wedding too. We're having the ceremony at a park two block from my house and having the party at a pavilion in the park as well. It was less than $200 to rent it all out and the city will even set up the chairs for the wedding of 130 guests. We're both non-religious so we asked our neighbor to marry us. It's less than $50 to become ordained. A friend who plays piano for a living will play some music for the ceremony. I hate tuxes and would rather wear my suit. The fiancé's parents unexpectedly cut us a nice check for the wedding so I decided to splurge a few hundred on a brand new suit. The bride's dress will be about the same. The groomsmen will just wear their own suits and the bridesmaids will wear their own dresses. For photography, I have an acquaintance who does it professionally who will do my wedding at a huge discount. I hate watching myself on video so we're skipping the videographer. Not sure what we're doing for flowers and invitations yet.

 

For the party, my father offered to pay for food and drinks. We're gonna have broasted chicken and mashed potatoes catered in from a local mom and pop restaurant. We'll probably make up a couple other dishes for the vegans. For desert we'll get some pies. I've been stocking up for the last month or so on soda and beverages. We'll probably have a keg or two of beer and some bottles of hard stuff. I might hire an acquaintance to make drinks or I might just let the guests make their own. When the booze runs out, it runs out. Music will be provided by my stereo and iPod playlist. Sam's club is a great place for food, booze, plates, table settings, etc.

 

Come evening, I arranged for some bands of my choice to be booked to play at my favorite music venue. That way, the venue will be in charge of paying the bands. Come 10:00, whoever is left at the party will head over to the venue to finish the night with some live music.

 

I'm hoping that there will be a decent of money left over that the sweetie and I can take a nice honeymoon. Hopefully Europe.

 

Weddings don't have to be expensive at all. It's the wedding industry that profits. There are many books and websites out there that help you plan a wedding on the cheap. No one is going to remember, much less care about some stupid gold embossed napkins with your name on it, or an engraved cake cutter. What you'll remember is the quality time you'll be sharing with your new wife and the people who you care about. Nothing else matters.

[hawing]

For the wedding dance (we didn't have a dance floor except for our first dance), we just brought in our Bose Wave radio and that busted out our jam loud enough to fill the room and then some.

So, what jam did you bust for your wedding dance?

Also, just to make logan feel less alone, I am not that much into pie.

[jjfanec]

So we are getting ready to start planning our wedding, but everything seems so expensive! Our mine concern right now is the reception hall and price of food. Does anyone have any tips on how to find an inexpensive recetipon hall/food options?

 

If it helps, we are planning on getting married in Eau Claire.

I got married in EC. Here on some tips. Look at St. Mary's Community Center. It is in Altoona. Much cheaper than most. Buffet style food. Non-profit so no tax and tip is what you decide and not included like everywhere else.

 

Find a template for your invites and print them off at a copy place in town. We used Digicopy. They might have even had the template. The invites with the tear off part are a little cheaper.

 

Depending how big a deal pictures are that can be a huge cost saver. We had a friend who is a really good photographer do it. Got great pictures, paid a fraction of the cost. We did have a friend who is a dj who gave us like a $200 deal

 

We had 300 people at our wedding and spent well under the norm.