Abigail: Thanks for sharing! :)Emilita: That's so ...

2008-11-11T15:54:46.240Z

Abigail: Thanks for sharing! :)

Emilita: That's so exciting about all your friends getting married! I'm interested to hear if they've stumbled upon any other great money-saving ideas for their wedding parties. At least when you're ready to get engaged, you'll have a ton of money-saving tips from all of us to refer to! :P You make a very valid point I should have included at the end of my post: Wedding planning is exciting, but it's just ONE day. The *marriage* is what people should be more excited about!

I love the tips. Now I just need to get engaged......

2008-11-11T00:51:23.772Z

I love the tips. Now I just need to get engaged...(but am in no hurry!).

My first set of good friends are getting married this winter. They're working (worked? not exactly sure how the progress is) on planning a cost-effective wedding, since they're both right out of undergrad and paying for much of the wedding themselves. Keep in mind, she's in graduate school while he's looking for full time employment in their new town, which is several hours by plane from where both their families live and from where their college friends live. So there's not much expendable income going on.

It's a financial undertaking I can hardly imagine dealing with right now, personally. By the time I tie the knot I'd like to be on relatively stable financial footing, enough that I can save up for even an affordable wedding without dipping into other, more pressing funds. (Oh, and be emotionally prepared to get married too ;)...)

It's definitely the right decision for my friends though. And I think they've really got their priorities straight: sure, the wedding is exciting for them, but they're more just looking forward to being married.

I'm going to pass your post along to them.

As a new bride, I can say a lot of what it takes t...

2008-11-08T20:09:08.398Z

As a new bride, I can say a lot of what it takes to save money on weddings is time.

Both my now-husband and I agreed a long engagement was good, both because we had a very short courtship and because neither of us wanted to spend too much on the wedding.

We still spent where it counted, but we were able to save a lot just through research.

I went to a bridal show (got two for one tickets online for my mom and I -- also available in the Entertainment Book -- and the groom gets in free) to get ideas for what shapes of dresses looked good. I intended to then do the eBay thing: you take your measurements, they custom make you a dress.

However, through no fault of my own, I found *the* dress and it was 50% off making it $500 -- more than I wanted to spend, ideally, but still a pretty fab deal. And that was in the first month of a 20 month engagement!

The Breast Cancer Society gets donations from brides (it's where I plan on donating my dress for a nice little write-off) so its dresses are cheaper than stores -- and you're doing a good thing. (But, no, it's not a write-off in any way to buy a dress from them.)

We got a free venue, thereby saving a ton, because his parents live in a community with a clubhouse. It even had a little kitchen. It was perfect!

But when it looked like they might have to move elsewhere, I got online and found some really lovely sites through the city's Parks dept. One was on a beach: big, industrial warehouse-y look inside, but some pictures showed that stringing some lights actually really made it lovely. It would have been around $750 (including deposit) for four hours or an extra $250 deposit if we'd wanted alcohol.

Frankly, even though Tim and I enjoy a drink and our friends certainly do, we were quite happy his parents' place didn't allow alcohol. Saved us a ton. I would really consider going without.

I know it sounds a little cheap, but frankly it's just not that necessary and it adds tremendous expense. Even without bartenders, you have to get insurance which is a minimum of $100, plus all the actual alcohol. Unless you're having a very small wedding (under 40 people) it's going to be a major drain.

We had Martinelli's for the toast (found it at Grocery Outlet for $1 a bottle) and everyone left happy.

As for centerpieces, we sort of put those off until the last minute. Almost literally, because it was the day before the wedding and I realized I'd never decided.

I had thought about floating small candles in bowls but then we realized how many small children might come. So that was nixed.

And my cousin was doing the flowers for us so we didn't coordinate with a florist to do centerpieces.

Since our colors were white/silver and royal blue, I had gotten a whole bunch of vases at thrift stores. One of the bridesmaids just stuffed some tulle into the vases, with a bit flowing out, and it looked stunning: kind of milky inside the vase and very minimalist overall.

Everyone who has seen the pictures remarked on the flowers -- which were from a grocery store. My cousin had some florist experience, so all I did was find some pictures of medium-sized bouquets I liked and then we went to see what the store with the largest selection had. In all, the flowers cost under $100 ($89, I think).

I got a great deal on Kmart tablecloths -- white cotton, very simple, $3 each on Black Friday. I think they're normally $5 each so still a great deal. And these were banquet-table sized.

I got some cotton napkins off CL which my MIL starched and ironed for us.

I got some lovely serving platters at estate sales for about $1-2 each.

Then I just went to a site and looked up how much food to provide for people. We had cut-up fruit (thanks mom & cousin & aunt), veggies, dip, cold cuts, cheeses, crackers, rolls and condiments so people could make sandwiches.

And since we're not terribly religious, we ordained my aunt on the internet for free. That alone saved around $100.

Comments on Brunette on a Budget: Plan a wedding on a budget (Part 2)

Abigail: Thanks for sharing! :)Emilita: That's so ...

I love the tips. Now I just need to get engaged......

As a new bride, I can say a lot of what it takes t...