Having a guest list of 30 people.

Getting an inexpensive photographer instead of a hyped over priced one.

Designing/Printing my own invites.

Only doing beer/wine at bar.

Letting the scenery (we were in the mountains) be decorations and only bought very modest centerpieces.

Didn't hire a band or DJ, just had CDs and picked someone to be in charge of it.

Lets see....

Friends did the photos
Friend was the dj
Did my own flowers
Got my decorations for half off from a local craft store
Made my own veil
Purchased my tiara from Claire's
Bought my dress when it went on sale at David's

And so much more!

(And I'm so happy the way everything turned out! And I had lots of compliments on how beautiful everything was!)

got married and had the reception where my husband went to college (alumni discount).

my mom did the flowers because she was a florist, that saved a TON.

invitations; i shopped around for (start early).

wore my mil's wedding dress and had a friend alter it to fit me. i literally accepted my mil's offer to wear her dress, sight-unseen. i didn't care really about the dress, i and didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. as it turned out it's probably something i would have picked.

my wedding shoes came from payless shoes. they were (i think $30) and for one day's worth of wearing i thought that was enough. they were cute, and i don't think anyone saw them under the dress anyway.

We were all about saving money at our wedding!

I kept my flowers very simple. I didn't see the point in spending a ton of money on something that was going to die. I think I spent $200 on flowers.

We also kept our cake really simple - we basically only had the top tier, for us, then we served individual cakes for each of our guests. This saved us a ton of money because we didn't have a cake-cutting fee (which is SO stupid and no one should EVER pay it).

I also made all the name cards by hand, it took some time but was ultimately cheaper.

We ordered our wedding invitations online - also a lot cheaper.

And we donated money instead of doing wedding favors - you can spend the same amount of money you would on a favor...and avoid shipping costs, etc. Plus who really saves wedding favors anyway unless it's something really useful?

High five to all the frugal ladies!

I wanted to add that, like Rachel, I did not regret cutting costs on any of those things. I would have done nothing differently.

No flowers for us! I hit ebay and bought some fabric, ribbons and mini fake flowers to make my own decorations.

A friend DJed for us, and even gave us a copy of the mix he made for us for that evening.

Had the photographer there only for the photo session (before the ceremony) and the ceremony. Set up a laptop where friends could upload the photos they took at the reception, along with my own camera set up as a photobooth against a piece of fabric I bought as a backdrop.

After finding the style of dress I liked in the store, shopped around online and bought one that was EXACTLY what I wanted for $300! Paid a friend's mom to hem and take it in a bit for $50!

Had the ceremony and reception at the same place, so only one fee. Plus reception site was free with a minimum of 60 guests for dinner

That's not to say we went completely cheap, we just sat down beforehand and made a list of what was important for us to spend money on (like our rings, food, booze for guest during cocktail/dinner etc.).

- We hired a planner for the whole process. I know a lot of you are thinking, isn't that an extra cost? But she helped us save a ton of money. She has negotiated lower rates with certain vendors she typically partners with, and that helped a lot. (We did heavy research on this first!!)
- Having candles as the main decor pieces instead of flowers. It's more eco-friendly, and we'll be reselling any candleholders once the wedding's done.
- DIY save the dates and RSVP cards -- we made our own postcards online for way less money than having them printed up with the invites.
- We're working with a large corporate photography company...and hired one of their apprentices at a negotiated rate (and his portfolio was great!)
- My mama's my makeup artist...etc.

There are lots of little tweaks you can make! It never hurts to ask about a deal or see if you can prepare some small piece of the wedding yourself (the programs, the favors, etc). Good luck to any of you planning out there!

hmm...I think just watching for sales and signing up for coupons at our hobby places. Also I didn't buy things like a goofy feather pen, pillow, or other things that seem pointless. We hired a local baker. I made a bunch of things myself. Borrowed jewelry from my grandmother, did my own makeup and my own nails. Also since my husband is a mechanic he would really never wear a band, so he purchased his from Walmart, so we would have one for ceremony purposes. I could have saved more if I would have not splurged on things like my dress and photography, but those are things I wanted so I cut in many other areas. It also helps I guess where I live and how many I invited. We had already had a daughter and her being born was more special than my wedding day, but it was still beautiful and I loved it. That really helped keep things in perspective for me.

-Small wedding (60-ish people)
-Small wedding party
-Lunch wedding, with only champagne and no other alcohol (be careful - this one only works if it's appropriate for your guest list!)
-DIY invites, programs, place cards, etc.
-Only considered vendors who were in my price range (didn't even tempt myself with the expensive guys)
-Booked the photographer early and secured the pricing at that time, a year later her price almost doubled
-Was honest with my florist about my budget, and she was nice enough to work with me on it

The best part was that all the guests commented about the style and feeling of the wedding, rather than my fear of "wow, she really did go cheap". Even my friends, who could have been critical about not having a full bar, actually really enjoyed the champagne.

i don't care what anyone says, i don't plan on having a cheap wedding. it's one of the most imporant days of a womans life..next to having kids, and a few other things..(feel free to add if you can think of anything else..only if you agree with me!) i don't see anything wrong with going cheap on a wedding..by the way all of you who said that people commented on how "lovely" the wedding was and how they did not seem to notice how cheap it was..THEY NOTICED!! people will be nice to your face if you have not figured that out already!! i'm sure they had a few workds later on about how it was so plain!! WOW, OFF MY SOAP BOX! but if you liked your simple little weddings, that's great. me, i'm having a wedding..with such simple weddings you people got, you should have just went to the justice of the peace!! WOW!

40 guests

We went to a Bridal Expo where I think brides got in free. It was where I found my wedding dress and ideas are always free.

Looked around for inexpensive places to do flowers, cake, photography, etc. There were a few bumps with using these places but nothing huge that did anything to the day.

Our parents got us some gifts for the wedding like champagne flutes, THE champagne, and a limo to our surprise.

We had a family only rehearsal dinner with our parents and siblings.

We took a road trip up North for our honeymoon

We had it very simple with decorations. Just rose petals and candles. For the signing table we had photos from home of us as kids.

We were going to make favors but instead we gave what we budgeted to the people and animals that were in Hurricane Katrina and printed little notes telling our guests.

We saved and paid things off as soon as we could. We had a year and three months to plan and search so my number one tip is give yourself time!

i know we're in a tough eco times, but come on!! come on, espically you who wore the borrowed wedding dress..every bride should have her own dress!! i had a friend who borrowed a friends dress for her wedding..AWFUL!! these weddings described above sound horrible, cheap, and plain!

When is your wedding, green?

Jeez, greenapples. Do you care how obnoxious and judgmental you sound?

I couldn't agree with you more Whiplash. And don't forget shallow.

I just can't wait to see her photos! It sounds like she's going to do it up real big.

^ I think it's very fortunate for these lovely ladies that you weren't invited to their weddings. If having an extravagant wedding is important to you, and you can afford it, that's wonderful, but an expensive wedding isn't for everyone. Some of us have other priorities.

Just to clarify, though I think this goes without saying, my comment was directed towards greenapples.

What's wrong with trying to save money on your wedding? It's just one day, for crying out loud. You SHOULD be focusing most of your attention on building your RELATIONSHIP so you have something that lasts long after your $10,000 Vera Wang dress and thalinopsis orchids die. Not everyone can afford a luxury wedding and what's more, some people just have other priorities. My husband and I wanted to save on the wedding so we'd have a reasonable amount of money for our house down payment.

"borrowed wedding dress" thats me! thanks for the laugh. but my mil actually gave me the dress. guess she figured she didn't need it anymore!

and where is the dress now? under the bed in the guest room, all boxed up. the $100 i paid to have it sealed still seems to high, and that was 12 years ago.

oh, and what made the wedding special was that i was marrying the man i loved if it had been up to me, we would have gone to the court house, (would have been just as married). but my husband and mom insisted on the ceremony, etc.

Greenapple I kind of agree with you if you’re going to go totally cheap and tacky then just save your money and go to the justice of the peace.
However, not everyone wants or can afford a BIG expensive wedding you can save and still have a great wedding. Saving does not equal cheap. And can I tell you that I've been to a lot of weddings expensive and not so expensive and after the wedding is over two days later I don't remember what the hall looked like or what the food tasted like because it's just not that important. Also most of the time the people who have these big expensive wedding trying to impress guest 9 out of 10 end up in divorce. We spend 10K on our wedding and we had the works limo, big cake, new dress, a hall, a church, pictures . . . however we did everything ourselves with the help of friends/family. I made my invitations, made my veil, my cousin DJ, my mom and her friend (who both do event planning) did decorations, cake and flowers and our wedding was not tacky or cheap.

Green, what I've actually found is that a lot of people who spend a great deal of money on their weddings and seem to have no boundries with money is that they end up being very "cookie-cutter". When you pay more attention to what you are spending you really focus on aspects of your style that are most important to you. This isn't always the case, but just in my experience.

Anyways, we saved money by:

-Finding a reception venue where we could bring in our own alcohol, and having a friend who owns a bar get it for us at cost. (this was HUGE- saved us in the thousands)

-Spending a little more on a fabulous church that is so beautiful that we aren't decorating with flowers, etc. for the ceremony.

-Invitations from an Etsy seller, which saved hundreds of dollars.

-No favors

wow don't call me tacky just because I grew up crafty and did my research so I was able to do stuff myself, and get the best prices I could afford, people still comment on my wedding and how beautiful it was, I wasn't trying to impress anyone I just wanted something pretty to look at and that's what I got. I wanted to have a ceremony in a church it meant something to me and my family, I did not want a courthouse thing! As I stated above, we already had a family going, I'm going to school, we had other priorities, it is just one day!

My husband and I had an unbelievable wedding at night with 80 guests, in a garden, with an amazing catered meal. My dress was a whopping $300 (my husband picked it out), I ordered 500 roses for $250 online and bought vases at Garden Ridge, my husband's tux was a free rental, and we designed our wedding invitations ourselves (since we are graphic designers) and they were later featured in an international design compitition! All of this cost a total of $16,000 - including our 7 night honeymoon in Paris!

Are you kidding me?! What is wrong with saving some money, the only thing the guests actually notice/care about is the cake and maybe the booze. When I get married, I would LOVE if somebody gave me a dress and I didn't have to pay hundreds to THOUSANDS of dollars on something you only wear for one day. Its only for the pictures anyway! All the rude people making snarky comments on here are ridiculous.

HA, all your weddings sound so "cute". Really they do..I'm just guessing here, but a destination wedding just was not in the cards for some of you guys:( to bad. But hey look on the bright side, hopefully no one remembers!!

i'm still in the process of planning my wedding, but here's where we've been able to save so far:

-book an offbeat location. we've rented a 300+ year-old working farm near where we live in nyc, and the barn (a furnished event space) was both the cheapest and most interesting space we looked at. opting for a location other than a catering hall is letting us piece together all of the components, which is letting us pick and choose what we want to save and splurge on.

-use a caterer that allows you to provide your own alcohol (and doesn't charge you a corkage fee!). this will allow us to offer a full bar with better liquor than we could otherwise afford to serve.

-look online for a wedding gown. i found my brand new designer gown for $250 on a private luxury goods sale site, for less than 20% of the retail price. it was returnable within 30 days, so all i risked was the $10 shipping (but, as it turns out, it's perfect).

-get flowers from a grocery store/flower market, and think about potted flowers. i noticed huge potted orchids at our grocery store's florist for $15 apiece, and i like the idea of using those as centerpieces. it's greener than using cut flowers, and i like the idea that people can take the plants home and care for them (and we can do the same, and have another reminder of our wedding day in our home).

-get your creative friends involved. my best friend bakes and designs martha-worthy cupcakes, so when he offered to make some for our wedding, i took him up on his offer.

-hit up etsy.com for veils, accessories, etc. you can find so many amazing pieces on etsy for a fraction of what those things would cost in a bridal shop (plus, your money helps support an artist).

-decide what's important to you and prioritize accordingly. it sounds obvious, but when i'm budgeting, i find it helpful to ask myself, "am i doing/buying this because i want to, or because i feel like i'm expected to?"

Shame on you greenapples! My guess is your not even engaged or married and have never even had to seriousley consider what kind of wedding you would have. Yes, these weddings do sound "cute" and personal and sweet and fun and memorable in the best possible way. Spending a fortune on a party is what sounds pathetic to me. Maybe you should remember that the MARRIAGE is the important part NOT the wedding!

i got married overseas, so it was cheaper, but still had close to 1000 guests.

wow, just wow greenapples! i think youre going overboard withthe snarkiness! if you want a super expensive wedding and can afford it without regretting it later then hats off to you! but you dont have a right by saying that other people cant find ways to cut costs and still have a perfectly lovely wedding. and i agree with the above poster, its the marriage that matters, not the wedding! for me, as long as the couple was happy, who cares what the guests think? and this post was designed to help brides to be in cutting wedding costs! please take your haughtiness somewhere else!

It's great to save on weddings if you can/want to/need to. It seems like all of you ladies came up with some creative and interesting ideas. However, I also want to express that, in my eyes, it's also OK to spend a lot of money on your wedding if you can afford it and you want to! The sentiments looking down on those who do choose to spend a lot are just are judgmental as the sentiments looking down on those who saved. Spending a lot doesn't mean that your wedding will be impersonal or that your marriage won't last; to suggest it does is silly. I'm not married, but I've been helping my sister plan and she has cut a few costs (e.g. she sent her Save the Date Magnets with her Christmas cards). However, her wedding is going to be pretty large and somewhat expensive. She and her fiancee are a little older and more established; they can easily afford it. So, having a big, expensive wedding isn't always a bad thing!

(And greenapples, destination weddings can be a lot less expensive than non-destination weddings, FYI.)

Sorry to stray from the intent of the post.

For people who want to save, I've known of people who did a Friday night wedding or a Sunday afternoon wedding instead of the traditional Saturday wedding; they saved A TON.

Oh, also, one of the small cost-cutting measures my sister took is coordinating with the couple getting married in the church after her on flowers. Both couples wanted white flowers and have similar tastes, so they are able to split the cost of the ceremony flowers. Obviously it wouldn't work for everyone; but it worked out well for her.

IF you need/want to save money, it's all about prioritizing. We splurged on amazing food and a great band, and saved on my J Crew wedding dress on clearance and an amateur photographer.

Wow greenapples you are just nasty and i am sure no one actually would want to be married to you so you don't have to worry about the expense.

I loved my wedding and had a lot of fun and only spent a few thousand dollars. My wedding dress was only $99 and was absolutely beautiful, it was worn once in a bridal show and would have cost $1,000 but since it was worn even though for only a few minutes during a show it was on sale. The bridal shop even had it dry cleaned.

Like some one else mentioned, it is just one day and the marriage is what counts. I would rather have saved the money to put towards buying a house.

- Tried on a bunch of dresses and had an idea of the style I liked. Then I shopped on Craigslist and eBay for a similar style. Ended up scoring a brand new dress for less than $100 because no one was bidding against me! I found that many brides would buy a dress and then find another one they liked and ended up having 2 brand new dresses. Remember this: It's the bride who makes the dress, not the dress who makes the bride. Do you think the groom really cares what you're wearing??? He can't take his eyes off YOU, not your dress.
- Hired a young guy as our photographer (who worked for a big shot photographer). Although he was young, he had the skills we were looking for and was so eager to please us and did a wonderful job!
- Printed my own invitations, but I used vellum paper instead of the one included.
- Bought the favor kit and made my own favors.
- Made our own CD and rented the audio system from the hotel.
- Family members did our flowers.
- Had ceremony and reception at the same venue, so no additional site fee.
- Kept it small and intimate! Greenapples has this idea of her wedding being big, elaborate, and leaving her in debt. But many of our guests said they loved how it was intimate. In fact, my cousin is now planning an intimate one as well!

We cut back on a number of things and did a lot of it ourselves. However, we didn't skimp on the food and our guests were treated to filet mignon and an open bar. But because of the small size and our resourcefulness, we were able to keep it way under our budget and still enjoy it and have beautiful pictures.

I think the best way to cut costs is to trim the guest list. With fewer guests, you can afford to feed them better, which to me should always be priority #1. The worst two weddings I went to were where the bride and groom cheaped out and didn't have a cocktail hour, so we starved because dinner couldn't start until they finished taking pictures. And these were both very religious weddings so the ceremonies were looooong. Whatever else you do, don't cheap out on food, it's the one thing guests remember!

I had it at my house!

Oh, also wanted to add this. Check out Craigslist for used or left over items from other people's weddings. Someone may have bought a bunch of vases for their centerpieces but no longer needs them. Does it matter if the vases have been used? If they have 20 vases, they are probably looking for someone to take them all at once and would offer a significant discount!

Me and my dad had a conversation at the last family wedding we attended and he simply said "I hope you don't ever get married in church, that will save you a lot of money."

Catholic church weddings usually have an "agape" afterwards, then there's the "actual" wedding party. Which means two buffets, etc.

I've actually known many people who said that they saved the most money but simply getting married "only" at civil registry office and then having a nice party with great food afterwards. No need for big flower arrangements, only one menu served to the guests.
Of course, if you're religious this probably doesn't apply but since I am not, I intend on doing it that way.

It just seems unreasonable to spend so much money on "tradition" instead of focusing what you're actually doing: Getting married because you want to, and throwing a party for your relatives and friends because they want to

One great money-saving tip I heard was instead of sashing all your chairs, just sash the back row and side chairs. I thought that was pretty clever!

1. Get a caterer that lets you buy your own booze. Go to a good liquor store that will let you return unopened items.

1.Buy your your flowers in bulk from an online wholesaler and have your bridesmaids make their own bouquets (and yours). Three flowers, same color family, different textures (I did red roses, alstromerias, and carnations). Wrap with a pretty ribbon and trim. It's easy. Extras go in vases. Voila. Save $1200.
3. Order everything you can online. Don't get caught up in an overpriced bridal store.

Better yet, elope. Let your friends and family throw a party for you if they want. That's what my friend did, and though we we had a fabulous wedding on the cheap-ish, I think a fling in Paris would have been nicer and a smart financial decision. Don't let the industry fool you. Weddings should not cost a significant portion of your annual income. If your parents are paying, ask them for a down payment instead. Then, see Casa.

I'm in the long process of planning my wedding, and I am trying very hard to save money. I bought my dress at encorebridal.com, which had a dress that I adored, and it was %75 off the original price.

I'm also holding my ceremony and reception at the same place, so I don't have to spend unnecessary money on two locations and transportation between the them.

For the reception, I couldn't compromise on the full open bar, but we are doing "heavy hors d'oeuvre" stations rather than a sit-down meal. That also allows for fewer tables and elaborate centerpieces.

I had a small group and had my reception near the church.

I was reading all the great ideas to save money on my upcoming wedding, thank you!! To "greenapples"... you should change that name to goldigger, i feel bad for your husband (or fiancee or whatever). If you have nothing useful to contribute, then you should be looking on another section of this site and stop harrassing these lovely ladies. They all have useful ideas for a classy wedding that allows them to be able to afford a nice house afterwards instead of having a huge to-do that no one except the in laws and bride and groom will probably remember anyways and then have to live in a mediocre house since there's no money left after your big show-off wedding. YOU are the one who's tacky.

my SIL worked at the reception location, so she was able to negotiate a better deal for a nicer room with a balcony. Plus I held my wedding on a Tuesday. I wanted to get married on June 21st and did not want to wait till that fell on a Saturday. Everyone was there anyways(they requested off work and whatnot, I figured if they wanted to be there they would make it happen. They had pleanty of advanced notice, and I was right) The fact that I has it on an off day also contributed to the lower cost of services all around.
I also got all my hair accys from Clair's. I got a dress that was last years style, at a very small bridal shop and it only cost 300$. I went to my normal hairdresser for hair/makeup.
I got a discount on my wedding ring for computer work that I did for the jewelry shop.
I made my own centerpieces out of mirror tiles from home depot, with a 1$ heart shaped bowl from walmart, with floating candles and those round stones, and fake rose petals scattered around it. I made my own favors, sparkley soaps in little organza bags, was easy and fun to make.
I did use the money I saved for other things that were not cheap and I didnt really want to scrimp on. I did hire a DJ, but they were the best in town and played exactly what I wanted. I also paid for an extra photojournalistic photographer, but I did not get books and all that, I got 2 DVD's with all the photos on them (and they did not say PROOF all over them). I have since been able to use these photos to give people gifts like digital frames with my wedding pics on them.

We wanted a specific location, but it's wedding menu was way to expensive! After talking to the location more, we learned that they offered a banquet menu where you can pick individual items instead of the set items they had. We reduced our price by nearly 50%!

Hi,
My husband's family is huge, and we wanted to invite as many as we could afford, so we had our wedding on the Sunday before Columbus day (a day when the courts were closed so all our lawyer friends could take off). We saved $15 a person, got discounts on flowers, dj, limo, and photography. My wedding was not cheap but we never would have been able to afford to invite all 38 aunts and uncles and 75 cousins (just the upper age tiers) unless we thought outside the box! Get creative- it's not cheap it's practical and fun!