How did you save money on your wedding day?

Tops ways we saved money for our wedding day:

-only immediate family was present at the ceremony (we had no bridal party though) and afterwords we went to a nice restaurant for a sit down meal with them. We did not have a plated meal at our reception and I think this is fine as long as you don't have the wedding at a time when people are expecting to be fed a meal

-this one is not for everyone, I fell in love with a vintage dress that my mil's sister altered for me to wear for photos and the ceremony and then I bought a cute cocktail dress for the reception we are a pretty laid back couple and I wanted to be able to dance more, both dresses only set me back around 250, used my regular stylist for my hair and my sil did my make up

-I did not go crazy with shoes since with a long gown noone saw them anyways and I just wore a cute pair of flats I already owned to my reception so I could dance the night away, (already broken in and no blisters)

-DH wore a suit instead of a tux

-We didn't worry about fancy transportation, we decorated family vehicles

-Had a bbq instead of a rehearsal dinner

-our reception was for everyone, we had around 100 people also, our centerpieces were edible so they kind of doubled as favors

-instead of favors we made a donation to two charities because we each had one that meant a lot to us, also prior we had spread the word donations to those charities would be prefered to gifts

-we recruited our friends to help us decorate the venue, tulle and white lights, black, white and silver balloons and hints of red

-flowers were a mixture of my homegrown and grocery store boquets, they were a lot cheaper then a florist)

-we found a venue that let us bring in your own alcohol (this helped cost alot!) we had kegs of beer, wine, champagne, punch, a couple kinds of coolers and a choice of non alcholic for both sober drivers and to make spritzers, if a venue does not let you do this the best choice seems to be to limit guests down to a basic beer/wine/cooler bar otherwise the price seems to be quite high

-friends took care of the music for us, and the photography my mom is a photographer by hobby and a couple of our friends studied photography professionally, also something really cute is getting disposable cameras and letting guests capture the night (sil did this for us), students are great because they are not as expensive but can often work out just as well as a pro photographer

-We used flowers to top our cake

these are some tips that really helped me with my budget I hope some of them are helpful to you, good luck and congratulations on your wedding!

I just don't see how you are going to be able to do that. I am having a wedding about the same size as yours. The alcohol for that many people alone is estimated to be about $1500 before the 19% gratuity and service fees. The cheapest non buffet option is $35/plate, again before taxes and gratuity. So, we are going with the buffet $19.95/person. If you want to save money, consider hiring a local art student to take your wedding pics. Order flowers in bulk from Sam's Club or Costco and do the flowers yourself. Consider having the wedding on a Sunday or Friday as those are cheaper rental dates. I'd also think about getting married from January to March (not big wedding season) when you can likely get a nice venue for half price. I'd think about doing wine and beer only instead of hard alcohol. Skip the DJ and go with an IPOD hooked to a speaker system. Look for a used dress on craigslist or ebay and have it altered at a dry cleaner who's worked on wedding dresses. Hope that helps!

I just don't see how you are going to be able to do that. I am having a wedding about the same size as yours. The alcohol for that many people alone is estimated to be about $1500 before the 19% gratuity and service fees. The cheapest non buffet option is $35/plate, again before taxes and gratuity. So, we are going with the buffet $19.95/person.

If you want to save money, consider hiring a local art student to take your wedding pics. Order flowers in bulk from Sam's Club or Costco and do the flowers yourself. Consider having the wedding on a Sunday or Friday as those are cheaper rental dates. I'd also think about getting married from January to March (not big wedding season) when you can likely get a nice venue for half price. I'd think about doing wine and beer only instead of hard alcohol. Skip the DJ and go with an IPOD hooked to a speaker system. Look for a used dress on craigslist or ebay and have it altered at a dry cleaner who's worked on wedding dresses. Hope that helps!

1. The end of the year sale on your wedding dress

2. go with silk flowers instead of fresh

3. use the flowers that you decorate the church with at the reception

just have someone transport them over and set them up.

4. Have a family member take the photos and get someone with a video camera to video the wedding.

5.have the bride maids buy their own dresses

6. have the grooms men pay for their tuxes

7. Have a family member make all the food. ( you will have to have a

buffet your budget isn't enough for a formal dinner) You could just have finger foods. Example cut fruit, cheeses, dips,cut meats. Take fancy loaves of bread pile them up in the middle of the serving table and put spreads, fruits, cheeses, meats on trays between the loaves. This is what caters do.

8. Have one small cake made with cake top and the others sheet cakes. You can have a friend or family make this for you. Or have the florist make the small cake and have someone make the sheets.

9. Have a signature drink. This is a drink not to expensive but tasty.

10. Make your own invitations

I made my invites... it was a pain in the butt, but it was cheap! I also hired a florist who is retired and works out of her house. She grew most of the flowers herself! And they were perfect! Buffets can be nice, if done well. A sit down with decent food will cost at least 3000 for 100 people! Find a caterer or facility for the reception who has their own tables and chairs, rather than rent from another company. Find a family member with talent for pictures and video. Another family member for the cake. Find the things that are the most important to you to spend more money on, and skimp on the rest. Want good music but don't care about how much you spend on your dress? Hire a decent DJ, and go to David's Bridal's $99 sale for your dress. For alcohol, you can do wine and champagne only, and a cash bar. Or do an all cash bar. Or give everyone over 21 one free drink ticket and they have to pay for the rest. Centerpieces- buy some cheap candles and vases filled with something cheap (depends on your colors)- a friend's wedding was sage green, and she used split peas from the grocery store. She spread them on the table with a simple little bowl filled with water with like 3 roses floating. So pretty!

There are a lot of ways to have a gorgeous, inexpensive wedding! Be creative; go to Michael's or read some books for other ideas.

Good luck!

I don't think you will be able to have alochol with a total budget of $3000. You could, however, have someone host it at their house then you can get the food,drink and decorate. You could do finger foods, cake and your drinks.

Or,you could invite less people???

The alcohol at my wedding is costing $2300. I am not having an open bar but having champagne and 2 signature drinks: mimosas and raspberry kir royals. It is a champagne brunch so no open bar for us sionce it is an afternoon thing. The open bar is $35 per person for 3 hours, though.

Good luck, some of the other brides have great suggestions.

hi there here are a few ways you can save on your wedding

first off everything you can do by hand will be cheaper then if you have someone else to do it here are some tips. use fake flowers in the center peices. and the only real ones are your boquet and the grooms boutinerre you can even have fake ones as the brides maids boquet. for the food how about if you make it or have someone each bring something that resembels your favortie food like for example if your fiancee likes mac and cheese you could do that. for the music have someone do it on a really loud cd player you can save money that way well take care sincerley ashley

my wedding money saving plans

1. mediate family and one best friend each for the sit down meal (40 persons)

2. only flowers will be the bouquets and will be placed on tables during dinner to add to decorations

3. cup cake cake instead of 3 tear wedding cake, cup cakes will be handed out at evening do

4. visiting bridal fairs and picking up bargin deal or entering all sorts of competitions

5. decorations mainly consist of candles, glass bowels and floating candles

6. opening post office account with high interest and saving £2 coins (when i reach £100 I bank it)

7. buy wedding dress in a place were I can get a good deal e.g. money off bridesmaid dresses etc

8. getting musical friends to provide music for free (will give gift anyway)

we got married by th county clerk then we had a big cookout at one of his friends house we even had a bonfire. people brought what ever alcohol they wanted and we also bought some to... you can do a nice outdoor wedding at a park or the beach.

Do your own invitations and other stationary, as well as centerpieces and favors. You can do those things very, very well and very, very cheap on your own. If you're creative and pay close attention to details, no one will know it was a DIY project. They'll think you paid someone.