Wedding on a budget?

Question

I am trying to keep this as low as possible on a budget. I live in PA in the Pittsburgh region. My fiance makes about $1,000 a paycheck and I make only $400 a paycheck but usually no lower than $350 on my pay. We dont have alot of money at all and i been researching that as years pass, weddings get more and more expensive. We been together going on 3 years. We are both volunteer firefighters so we may get into that theme a little. We want to get married in a church and his church is free since he is a member and i am not. Instead of a limo or a car we are doing some firefighter theme which is like a tradition for firefighters to drive the fire trucks to from the church to reception. I want to find a cheap dress like about 100-150 dollars and really like the ones that lace up the back. We are looking at maybe 75 people tops because we dont want to have a large wedding. There is a place nearby that is decent and very breathtaking. It has free parking and they do all the decor....

Additional Details

... and they will set it up and tear it down as well. They have packages that range from 23-35 dollars a person and pends on the ages as well. Do the bridesmaids pay for their own dresses and i just get them a gift and do i pay for the flower girls and ring boys clothes too??? This is our first time doing this so its new to us. If we did this reception at this place it would average about 2,000 dollars. Now at our firehall, we have a large hall that is 50 dollars to rent and is open to whenever and has a bar. The bad thing vs the other idea is we do all decor, clean up , and food ourselves and cater. We are trying to keep it simple and not go past 3,000 dollars anyone help i need alot of info.

k my max budget is 5,000 dollars. when should i send invitations? I still need to reserve a date in may and finishing up my guest lists.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Even though you are having a straight wedding, there are some great tips on planning your wedding inexpensively, as well as finding your dress you wanted and how to plan under $5,000 here.

http://www.gayweddinggear.com/ideas/wedding_on_a_budget.html

Here is for the wedding dress as well as the tux:

http://www.gayweddinggear.com/ideas/cheap_wedding_dresses.html

Answer 2

price out both the options and see what looks better for you both. you may save a lot of money having things catered and do your own decorating, but may want to save on the hassle. its really up to you. call a few caterers and see what they would charge, price out decorations, bartenders, waitstaff..etc.

Answer 3

i'm marrying a firefighter too. we are using their hall at the station too.
getting married at battery park in old new castle ($5).
riding the firetruck too. oh yeah we have been together for 3 years too. lol
our wedding will cost under 3k

for our decorations-
for the cake and food tables i'm just adding a little tulle to the tables. swag style. with ribbon wrapped loosly to add color.
if you email me i can send you pics of how i am decorating the snack table

my dad is making 12" wooden letters that say "i do"- they will either stand or lay (haven't decided yet) they will be on the cake table. either painted or stained.

for the head table (the long tables not round) i am swagging tulle with christmas lights in it. i am putting large pillar candles and some gerbera daisys where the points of tulle meet the top of the table (does that make sense lol)

the centerpieces will be the tall pillar vases (left over from someone elses reception) - i'll get some flowers from the local shop rite (grocery store) and make my own -
i found someone on ebay who makes votives in any scent and color i want. ($8.75 a dozen)
i'm putting about 6 on each table.
tableware will be plastic and heavy duty paper plates.
ours will be a glorified beef n beer really lol
no shame in our game

his family is cooking the food for us. we only have to pay for our cake and the open bar.

if we had to diy our food i would say do chicken breasts parmasean style. or cordon blue.
pasta with a red or cream choice
a few sides and salad with a couple choices of dressing
cheese and pepperoni trays.
veggie trays
fruit trays
try looking around at the local grocery stores for a cake instead of going to a bakery.
i love the cakes from shop rite, super yummy and super moist. only $1.75 a serving and you can pretty much design your own.


oh my dress is coming from a great consignment shop that i have used in the past to purchase formal ware. they have hundreds of dresses starting at $40 - yes $40!!! from uber formal to not so formal.

oh yeah i posted and searched on craigslist and found 2 photographers that will shoot 6 hrs for $250.

Source(s):

me the super thrifty bride to be!!!

Answer 4

Why not get married privately, and have a reception at one of the places you are looking into?

You could ask family and friends to bring food in lieu of gifts.
(I'd bring a gift anyway in this situation).

Do you know of any talented bakers? Ask them to help out making a wedding cake. My mom made mine and it was great.

Get friends to help out with the decorations. I bet with you and your fiance being volunteer firefighters, that your co-workers would be happy to help out.

With the two of you on such a budget, it would be great to have the extra money go to your happy future together.

Congratulations and Good luck!

Answer 5

I love theme weddings.

Invitations: make them yourself. what you can do is find a kids red engine birthday card. Then get some card red card stock and trace the little fire engine. Then decorate the outside of the card like a fire truck with white dye cut ladders and black wheels. you can find this at any scrap book shop. Then some really fancy paper, and print up your details. you can get some scrap book adhesive, and paste the information on the inside using one square of adhesive.. Be sure to get an envelope maker. they are really cheap, and you can make some great envelopes that will fit the invitations.

Flowers: Get flowers that are in season. you can choose 2-3 flowers. Find some green adhesive tape (usually in the floral section of wal-mart or any craft section, and wrap the ends of the flowers yourself. All your paying for is the cost of the flowers and some tape.

Decorations; you can get all of the cuttlery, cups, napkins, plates, bowls, table covers at the dollar store. For decorations: My friend got some candles at the dollar tree. Some iridescent marbles, and put them in the bottom of a small bowl. The used decorative shades of ribbon (that she got on sale), and tied a small bow and glued it to the bowl. it was really cute, and cost less then $2.00 to make.

As far as your bridal party they pay for their own dresses. the parents of the children in the party pay for the children's attire as well.

wedding attire; you can get a dress at davids bridal that laces up the back for about $99.00. What you can also do is buy a white corset, and a long white skirt.

Food: Since you have to clean up. Then my suggestion is to either make the food yourself or go to a popular restaurant, and have them make the food. you set it up. Going buffet style saves alot of $$. Don't serve alcohol. That also adds up. Instead you can serve soda, water, juice and get some bottles of sparkling apple juice for toasts. IF I can share this. A really really really close friend of the family got married a couple of years ago. She had an open bar. one of her guests got extremely intoxicated and drove drunk and hit another person. The other person was lucky that she only got scrapes and bruises. The drunk guest didn't feel a thing. When it was all said and done. The person who was hit sued the driver of the vehicle and my family friend.. and WON! They held her responsible, because it was a private event, and there was NO one telling the drunk guest youve had enough. Just thought i might mention that to you as well.

i hope this helps.

Answer 6

Hi and congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding!

I take it by your statement of wanting to keep it under $3,000 that that includes everything? Well....this IS doable...but you will really need to be frugal and possibly may need to "tweak" your ideas a little.

Here is a rundown of my ideas/prices, etc.

~ Yes, the church will be free (I work as a secretary at a church and we do not charge members either).....however, you will still need to give an honorarium to the pastor. Usually this is about $100...so figure that amount into your budget.

~ Also....will you be having an organist or any solists? If you are utitilizing the church organist, his/her fee is probably about $100 also. Call the church to find out the organists fee and the pastor's fee.

~ Don't forget your marriage license! All states have different rates. Google in "marriage license laws in ____ " (fill in your state) and you will get information on costs. Figure about $50.

~ Now....what about the following:
~ Groom's tux/suit - $100-$150
~ Your dress: I'm not sure if you will be able to find the kind you like with the lace up back in your price range. However, check out these sites:
http://www.target.com/b/ref=sc_fe_l_1_16…
http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X5.aspx?Dep…

Both Target (yes, Target!) and JCPenney has gowns in your price range. Also check out Ebay if you want. Another idea is a second hand store or thrift store in your area. One more idea....don't be afraid to go into a bridal store. Many gowns are discounted and you can buy "off the rack."

~ What about shoes and accessories for you? So...figure for the gown, shoes and accessories $200 (total).

~ Yes, the bridesmaids pay for their own gowns/dresses as well as the groomsmen pay for their own tux. The flower girl and ring bearer....usually the parents pay for their outfits.

~ Invitations: Get a "boxed set" of invitations from Michael's, Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, or Office Max. You get 50 in a package and then you print them on your home computer. The price for 1 box (which is all you will need) is $25-$30. Don't forget the stamps too! Total cost for invites and stamps = $46 (approx.)

~ OK...that brings us up to the reception. I really don't think you are going to be able to have the type of reception you want given your budget. As you can see from the above, there are other "essentials" (i.e., minister's fee, invites, stamps, tux, etc.) that you need to figure into your budget.

~ A couple of ideas:
(1) Does the church you are getting married at have a fellowship hall? Most do and they are usually very nice. And, again, there should be no charge if your finace is a member. That would be one option.

(2) The second option would be to have it at the firehall, but, again, that won't be very nice.

What I would suggest would be to NOT try to have a meal. Your venue does sound nice, however, even at $25 per person x 75 people = $1875. Then....what about beverages? Usually, beverages are not included in the price given for the meal. Then....is there tax and gratuity on top of that prices. Usually there is. Call to find out. Most charge tax plus about 18% gratuity....so that would bring your reception (food only) cost to about $2300 (depending on what your state tax is...ours is 6%). Then, of course, there would be the beverage total. Even if you don't have any alcohol, they usually charge for soda and coffee.

~ What I would suggest would be to have an early afternoon wedding...say 2 p.m. and then have a "dessert reception" following. Serve cake (of course)....but also a variety of brownies and "bars" ....like lemon bars, cheesecake bars, raspberry bars, maybe some cookies.....punch and coffee. Also, have a nice fruit tray and some assorted cheeses and crackers as not everyone likes sweets! This could be a really nice reception if you do the presentation right. You could also have a chocolate fountain if you want and a "coffee bar." Arrange all the desserts on a nice table.

~ If the church does have a fellowship hall, then they will probably have plates, silverware, and maybe even tablecloths that you can use. All you will need to purchase would be some colored "wedding" napkins. If you do not have it at the church and instead at the firehall, you will need to also purchase plates, cups, napkins, etc. So figure in those costs.

I really think the church fellowship hall (if one is available) would be the best "bang for your buck" so to speak.

~ OK....what about flowers? Even a simple bouquet will be about $30 (maybe more depending on where you live).
Do you have any family and/or friends who can arrange flowers? I love this simple bouquet....it's about 2/3 down and is titled "pink roses to carry"
http://www.atkinsfarms.com/wedfloalbum.h…

You can do this so easily! Buy roses from Walmart ($10/dozen)...cut off the thorns, add some greens, and wrap with a silk ribbon!

You also need to figure in a small bouquet for your bridesmaids and boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen. What about corsages for the mothers and grandmothers? And boutonnierers for the dads and grandfathers?

OK...now, I would definitely hire a professional photographer. Look around...perhaps you can get one for a few hours only. Don't leave this to amateurs unless you know their work! This is one area that I don't encourage you to scrimp on.

Rehearsal dinner? Possibly just do pizza.

~ Don't forget that you need to buy gifts for the bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl and ring bearer.

~ Centerpieces for the tables? A couple of roses in a vase?You can buy a vase from a dollar store or second hand store. Depending on what "colors" you want, buy some roses and place on a pretty colored paper "doily" (available on the net and ebay in a variety of colors)....or, if you have a Dollar Tree store by you, purchase a small mirror and put the vase on a mirror.

Don't do favors or table cameras....that is a waste of money!

~ Extra touches: You may think...well, a dessert reception will be boring...what to do?
(1) Do have some music playing using an ipod.
(2) An idea would be to get a dvd made of the two of you. Many places do this. You get a number of pictures of you and your fiance from infancy to present day. Take it to someone and they make a dvd out of it with music playing in the background. Then....show this at your reception! I have been to a couple of receptions where they did this and everyone liked it.

If you don't want to spend the money to get a dvd made...simple arrange many pictures of you and your fiance on a board or table for everyone to look at.

~ Firefighter "theme"....I think this could be cute, but I would keep it to a minimum. You do want your wedding to be elegant and like a "wedding" ....not a kids party. Here is a link with many firefighter items:
http://www.askginka.com/themes/firefight…

I like the idea of a firefighter cake top maybe and some other items.

Sorry this is so long, but I'm trying to help you have a nice wedding within your $3,000 budget. I think it can be done, but you really need to set up a spreadsheet and see where all your money is going.

If you plan everything out on a spreadsheet and depending on what you decide...maybe you will even have a little left over to go to a nice hotel for a few nights for a honeymoon!

Good luck!