What do you HAVE to do for a wedding? And what about Afterwards?

You must provide your guests with a meal if your reception is at mealtime. You and your family can cook it all yourselves - there's no reason to hire catering if you don't want to - and the reception can be anywhere that's safe and comfortable for your guests. Your backyard, the church basement, anywhere is fine as long as your guests are treated like guests and are comfortable and safe. (If you have elderly or disabled guests, it also has to be accessible.)

If you can't afford a full meal, it's perfectly okay to have your reception in early to mid-afternoon (so not at mealtime) and serve just wedding cake and punch. This is perfectly acceptable.

In neither case do you need to serve alcohol unless you want to.

My suggestion is to have a noon wedding ceremony, either in a registry office or in your local church, and have a small cake-and-punch reception either at someone's home or in the church basement from 1:30 to 4:30. We do this all the time at our church and the cost for everything but the license (which we don't supply - that's the government's job) can be less than $300, including a modest sheet cake.

Rarely if ever does any guest complain about a cake-and-punch reception no matter how modest, but potlucks: boy, do we hear complaints about those! People *hate hate hate* wedding potlucks, and although they may never come out and say it directly to the happy couple, they will loudly complain about it to everyone else they know. This is because wedding receptions in our culture come with an iron-clad expectation that the bride and groom (or their immediate families by proxy) will provide all the refreshments - every single bit of them. I can count off the fingers of one hand the potluck weddings that haven't been marred by people grievously insulted and hurt by the bride and groom's "bad manners". So I'd avoid a potluck if I were you.

I just went to a wedding recently that was very intimate and very budget. The couple had about 80 guests, and I doubt they spent more than $5,000 (if that).

They rented a campsite, that had a beautiful lake and mountain backdrop. Some of the guests decided to camp onsite, and other people stayed at nearby hotels.

You need to get a marriage certificate. Once you have this, you are legally married. A minister/officiant is just for show (but validates the marriage in the eyes of God). With that being said, if you are not religious, maybe a close friend can get a certificate so they can legally marry you. I think you can get one online, but then they can marry you for free, and you don't have to pay for a minister or justice of the peace.

As far as having a wedding party, the less bridesmaid and groomsmen you have, the less cost it will be. Of course, they will pay for their own dresses and tuxes, but you have to give them corsages and buitonnaires, and usually it is a nice gesture to give them a small gift, for their help with the wedding.

For the ceremony, these are the basics that you need:

• Wedding Dress

• Bridesmaid Dresses

• Tuxes for groom and groomsmen

• rings for you and your hubby

• an officiant

It's not necessary to have a ring bearer and flower girl, but if you want them, you need a pillow and basket full of petals. You can buy a cheap pillow from anywhere, and you can sew your own fabric on top of it.

For the reception, you can cook your own food. You do not need to do a catered affair. If you are close to your guests and do not think they would mind contributing food, you can ask them to bring potluck. Or, you can say that in lieu of wedding gifts, you would like everyone to bring a dish of some sort, if you think people would scoff at the idea. If you don't want to ask them to bring anything, then you can cook your own appetizers and food, and make it buffet style.

For music, you can hire a DJ, or put together a great mix of music and rent some speakers.

For the reception, you really just need the following:

• Tables and place settings for people to sit and eat

• Buffet station if you are cooking your own food or catering

• Music - either a DJ or Ipod

• Wedding Cake (you can buy a basic cake, and layer and decorate it yourself, but in this case i would recommend actually getting a cake)

You can probably do your own floral arrangements. You can get creative with centerpieces, since flowers are expensive. There is no reason why you can't forego flowers, and do beautiful candle/stone centerpieces. You can go to ikea and buy lots of white plates and silverware, which is pretty cheap.You can rent a tent if you are doing it outdoors, and they usually provide tables and chairs. You need linens as well.

Finally, the other thing I would say you need is a photographer. If you can't afford a professional, you can get someone who has a good camera and takes consistently decent photos to take the pics.

Of course, this is an extremely budget way to proceed, and covers the absolute basics, but this is how the last wedding I went to was, and it was actually really fun.

Good luck!

Honestly, what most people do is, they always do 1/3rd more, or twice as much as they need to, so that way, nothing gets forgotten or left out. For example, invite twice or 1/3rd amount of people that really matter or need to be there, (because believe me, not all of them will show up),...you don't HAVE to have a gift registry or anything really official like that, instead make it vague, and have people THINK that they need to bring gifts, but don't make it "official," you have to kind of make it sound like it's a not-so-big, BIG deal.

Meaning, make it sound inviting enough and invite many people, but also make it feel relaxing and like a fun day as well for everyone, not just like this official by-the-book, event where people will get nervous and think twice about coming, especially the lesser-acquaintance types.

Well, I honestly don't want to get into ALL the details as I'm sure you already know enough about the insurance, housing, renting and all of that which you've mentioned, all of that goes into play but just remember to NOT...really now, NOT go 500% overboard on the technicalities and complicate it for yourself AND the guests.

When I say do twice as much or 1/3rd as much, I meant, as in making a big fuss over it, bragging, inviting people, the apparel for yourself, the food...things which are inviting and brighten the atmosphere. When it comes to the technicalities, simplify it, and remember,

more of that and more money put into it doesn't necessarily mean better or that it will be remembered more down the road.

Just remember, these make the guests a bit uptight and nervous too especially if they think they "have" to bring 1000 gifts and dress great and what not, they'll feel like they're attending their own wedding too.

First and foremost you have to remember that it is YOUR wedding! You can keep it as small & intimate as you would like & by that I mean you can have only one person stand up for you & your fiance (that's what most people do), you can invite only the closest family &/or friends, you can get beautiful, unique worn-only-once gowns (check consignments or sometimes even local bridal shops will have them too), when I got married I made the bouquets, corsages, etc...myself (you can use either fresh or faux flowers) check youtube how-to-dos, the library or local craft stores for easy ideas~depending on the time of year you can get deals on different types of real flowers.

I am not sure about the potluck but a simple buffet might be an option, if you have a large family ask them to pitch in & cook some of it with you~good bonding time with your future family too! Remember when cooking or planning food, etc...not everyone invited will come~they say plan for 1/2.

If you or a family member have a printer try printing your own invitations, card stock is not that expensive (experiment on cheap paper 1st & check out different fonts~some are very elegant).

By all means sign up for a gift registry, it's expensive to buy all that you will need to furnish your home on your own~yes, you may get some stuff you don't need or want but that's ok~exchange what you can & if you can't donate it to someone who can! Make sure you send out thank yous to all who help, attend & send gifts~again you could make those yourself.

As far as housing, try to live within your means money issues crop up in a new marriage (even if you've lived together for years~marriage changes that for some reason) & yes, get insurance even if you're only renting!

Good luck! T

Don't forget guest favors. Even in a small random wedding its important to let your guests know you are thankful they came and spent this wonderful day with you...

Invitations are only respectful. If you dont send them out, then you are pretty much saying anyone can come, even if that is not the case. If you do not send them out, you can not get angry if a bunch of random people show up that you dont even know very well, just to get a free meal and party favor

Pot luck receptions are totally fine, especially if it is a small mostly family wedding. Make sure it is assigned who is bringing what thought, or you will end up with many hungry guests and not enough food. Also make sure to distribute out who brings deserts, appetizers, main course, salads, drinks, and any other category that is important to you. Maybe even snack/finger food type items since it will be informal.

You do not have to have a gift registry but it is wise to. If you dont, you will end up getting five blenders, 6 irons, and 17 toasters. You will also end up getting something you dont need over something that you do. This lets guests know what you need and what you dont. There is also a honeymoon registry where people can pay for most of your honeymoon in place of gifts, but older and more traditional people think it is tacky so be careful with that one.

It is your wedding so do it your way. If you only want your immediate family than only invite them.

Make sure you get your name change stuff going for your license, credit cards, social security, passport, etc.

wedding licence

a place to live of course

and have a plan for your financial stuff. Financial problems are the number one reason for divorce so make sure you both know what is going where...

Good luck

I tried to cover as much as I could in as little space as I could so you wouldnt have to read a huge long comment. I hope this helped..

If you get a second (Even Though I know your busy planning an amazing wedding) ANswer My Question...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoA2g...

Good luck

You MUST have an invitation.

You can ask your guests to bring potluck.

You don't have to have a gift registry, but then people won't know what to give you. You'll have to remember what you asked everyone to get you. It's much easier if the task is left to a store.

You don't need to invite anyone - on the other hand, you will learn in life that you can never go wrong by doing the right thing.. meaning why create lifelong problems that can be solved in a 4-5 hour event.

You will have to get copies of your marriage certificate and bring it to social security, your insurance, your workplace, etc for proper processing.

Invitations are a must! homemade is easy if you have a computer and a printer.

Pot luck is not so good, you can enlist peoples help to make a dinner for everyone but asking guests to bring food is just not good hostess behavior.

Gift registries are optional, but if you want to get things that coordinate and that you actually like, make a registry.

It is ok not to invite if you dont plan to have any guests at all.

Go to theknot.com to see what needs doing for this wedding of yours

Well...you obviously need a dress =P

jokes aside, here's an idea for you.

I am going to a wedding in February. for the gift registry, the invitation said that the guests could put money towards the honeymoon. they had the travel companys name and everything. just an idea

i find this really interesting. I have to plan a mock wedding for floral Design class. And the teacher talk about the marriage license. I don't know what that is but you might want to go check what it is.

I am so happy that i have to plan this mock wedding in my high school year so i won't have to worry much later.

However yes you need to send invitations out. They don't have to be all fancy they can be as simple as you wish. Many time people register at target for the gifts. You just have to register at target and choose what you want people to buy. Then with the invitations u seen them a little card that target gives you leting your guesst know that you have register at target to buy the gifts. Is really simple. Good luck.

Don't stress about it just go step by step. congratulations for your wedding.

you will need a legal marriage certificate.

you have to invite people somehow.

potluck is ok

you don't have to have a gift registry

you have to have a place, but it can be someone'shouse or yard

you need a person who is legally authorized to perform marriages

ceremony and reception can be at the same place.

flowers?

cake?

photographs of the event?

there are jillions of wedding guides online and in books