I am so thankful to have found this site. My fiance and I are planning to get married in July. We are buying a home so we don't have a large budget for our wedding and we don't want to ask our parents to foot the bill. Therefore, we are working with a budget of around $4000. We are only using cash, no credit cards, no loans. We realize that we are going to have something small, probably somewhere between 25-30 guests. One idea we have thought about is having the ceremony at my fiance's mother's home, but we keep reading that it can be very expensive to rent chairs, tables, etc. We would like to have the following at our wedding: caterer, wine and beer, music, flowers, photographer, and videographer. We live in the DC metro area. Are we kidding ourselves? We have thought about the idea of a destination wedding or limiting the ceremony to our parents and brothers and sisters. We want something special, but something we can afford. Any creative ideas would be so helpful. The option of waiting is not possible, because like I said, we are buying a home and we don't want to live together before we get married. Thanks!
(This post was
edited by TWQadmin on Apr 6, 2007, 9:58 AM)
Nancy Tucker
PRESIDENT - WEDDINGS BEAUTIFUL
Dec 31, 2004, 11:14 AM
Post #2 of 6
(16671 views)
Re: [deeboyd22] Help! Any ideas for a small wedding on a small budget?
[In reply to]
Hello there,
What you are proposing is possible but there are very few locations more expensive for wedding services than DC. First thing right off the bat is that you can do a home wedding for 25-30 guests without the worry of paying for tents and extras for a huge crowd. Chairs will run about $3 each...have an hors d' oeuvres buffet with the cocktail format with only limited seating.
You will have to be very specific with vendors when contacting them for their service. Let them know your budgetary limitations and ask them what or if they can do anything for you.
Your primary expense will be your food and alcohol and with an at home wedding, you'll have control over that and can search for the best prices.
Beware, your photographer can eat up your budget...most photographers are $3,000 to $10,000 in the DC area. Limit the time you need coverage to bring the price down. Also consider, just having the photographer shoot the event and turn over film and raw video to you.
There are many things you can do to stay within your budget but be sure to use one of the budget calculators to determine how much to allow for each resource. Nancy Tucker President of Weddings Beautiful US http://www.weddingsbeautiful.com
liajbridal
Jan 23, 2005, 1:06 PM
Post #3 of 6
(16428 views)
Re: [deeboyd22] Help! Any ideas for a small wedding on a small budget?
[In reply to]
I have a few ideas on saving money on your wedding. I recently remarried and my fiancee and I were in the same situation. I was asked to do other weddings as a result. A few of the things we did:
We used silk flowers instead of real flowers- cost me less than $150;
Had the wedding and reception at the same place- the catering manager let us have the wedding there for free (30 min. ceremony) and we had a reception brunch on a Saturday and cut hard liquor out of the reception budget (we only had mimosa, soda). The quality of the reception did not suffer- we had waitstaff, etc.
Since we only had 30 guests, we put disposable cameras on every table; the pics came out great;
Instead of hiring a DJ, my maid of honor "burned" some jazz music onto a couple of CDs. We used a boom box to that was hidden under the cake table. No one knew!
Provided our own wedding cake. From buying my wedding gown to the reception, we spent just under $4,000.
I hope this helps.
(This post was
edited by TWQadmin on Jan 23, 2005, 1:08 PM)
Mallyn22
BRIDE
Jan 25, 2005, 11:08 AM
Post #4 of 6
(16370 views)
Re: [deeboyd22] Help! Any ideas for a small wedding on a small budget?
[In reply to]
My fiancee and I are trying to have a 4K wedding too. One of the options we were considering was having a photojournalist shoot the ceremony. They'll be candid shots, and most pjs can be contracted for $150 for a days work. Fellow Bride
beca050605
Feb 10, 2005, 11:17 PM
Post #5 of 6
(16108 views)
Re: [Mallyn22] Help! Any ideas for a small wedding on a small budget?
[In reply to]
my soon to be mother in law came up with an clever idea for wedding pictures. instead of hiring a photographer, we will place a disposable camera on every table and ask that they be dropped off into a wedding box at the exit, this way we can develop our pictures and choose which ones we want, trust me, it saves and not only that, but, you'll end up getting a variety of pictures, since ofcourse, you cant be everywhere at the same time and it'll give you the chance to capture many precious moments....
-beca
TWQadmin
FORUM EXPERT
/ Moderator
Feb 11, 2005, 9:00 AM
Post #6 of 6
(16101 views)
Re: [beca050605] Help! Any ideas for a small wedding on a small budget?
[In reply to]
Great idea but please consider that disposable cameras do not take the best photographs. Remember who will be taking the pictures you'll be looking at for years to come - your guests - not professionals. Consider the fact that your guests may be drinking too. I have seen guests take the cameras home with them and forget to return them too.
Be careful when purchasing disposable wedding cameras to make sure they are new, not refurbished.
Ideas for a small wedding on a small budget
