<p>My D got engaged last night and we are all thrilled! Needless to say, we’ve started looking at venues. It’s pricey, and we’d like to have the reception there, but the money is not limitless. Where can we cut expenses on are the entire wedding cost?</p>
<p>My daughter is getting married in June.
I believe they are getting married at the courthouse.
Havent decided on a venue for the party yet.</p>
<p>Have they set a date for the wedding yet?</p>
<h1>1: Invite fewer guests.</h1>
<p>Courthouse wedding, immediate family only dinner or luncheon after.</p>
<p>Courthouse. </p>
<p>It’s not uncommon to cut costs by marrying in the courthouse and postponing the reception and ceremony for a later date. </p>
<p>If that’s not your forte:
-Number of guests
Downsizing the party can in turn lower the overall costs in terms of room sizes needed, gifts, and food.
-Flowers/Decorations
Skipping out on the grandiose flower arrangements and center pieces can save you a nice chunk of change. Swapping fresh flowers for a style where fake flowers aren’t noticeable or distinguishable can help. Or going for flowers that are in season, plentiful, and fairly affordable.
-Food
It can’t hurt to check local restaurants and catering businesses for deals along with asking any family members if they’re able to help in with the cooking. Additionally, appetizers and deserts can be an easy place to save money.
-Venue
Swapping out a pricey venue for a more affordable option. Rather than the chapel on the corner of fifth ave, opt for a rooftop venue of a venue. Thinking out of the box helps. Chapels, rooftops, hotels, beach, forest, backyard, museum, etc.</p>
<p>Our son is getting married this year, so we’ve been thinking of weddings a lot lately too. I respectfully disagree with the folks who suggest reducing the cots by reducing the guest list. To me, the guests are what a wedding is about. Changing the invitation list because of costs is putting the party before family and friends. To cut down on costs, look at creative venues. Museums and other similar places have surprisingly lower costs to rent out than you might think. A lot cheaper than most ritzy wedding-specific venues. Get a DJ instead of a live band. Offer beer and wine instead of hard liquor. Shop for all the vendors such as photographers - their prices differ a lot.And as someone else mentioned, the flowers can be simple and still elegant. No marriage lasted longer because the flowers were expensive. Also if you are a practicing member of a church, you can have the ceremony at the church, then rent the main hall at the church for very little money. Congratulations, and best wishes to the couple!</p>
<p>This is really going to come down to individual tastes. We’re having a long engagement (got engaged in August, married in June of 15) so that we can do a lot of things ourselves and not have to pay for them. For example, we’re doing all the centerpieces and whatnot by hand. It amazed me at how expensive those were.<br>
This is how my super-cheap wedding is going along:
Marriage: Beach (officiated by my grandmother so no need for church fees and whatnot)<br>
Reception: Public park (small fee to rent out the coverings but that’s doable)
Dresses: Wedding dress- resale shop, I think the bridesmaids dresses are going to be rentals (brought up by several of my bridesmaids as possibilities)
I have friends for hair, make-up, etc. Calling on friends for help is a great way to cut down on costs if you can swing it.
Limit the guest list. As painful as it is, people will understand.
Shop around for everything else. </p>
<p>Best of luck and congrats to the happy couple! 
</p>
<p>The cost of the venue can be so expensive and is very dependent on your part of the country you are in. Our D got married 2 years ago and we kept a very tight budget and still had 130 people:</p>
<h1>my D bought her dress thru J Crew and used her 15% teacher’s discount. She sold it after the wedding at her cost. She figured no one else in the family would ever wear it and it would just sit in a closet.</h1>
<h1>we found a venue where we could do the ceremony and reception with almost no restrictions at a great price. It was at a historic site nearby and even included docents who took people thru the historic site on request.</h1>
<h1>I bought the tablecloths new on e-bay for less than the rental price and then sold them after.</h1>
<h1>we kept the flowers for tables very simple- canning jars wrapped with rafia filled w/ sunflowers bought in bulk from Costco.</h1>
<h1>my D found pictures of bouquets made from succulents. We grew our own succulents and I made all of the bouquets and boutineers.</h1>
<h1>we did not serve alcohol but that may not work for some.</h1>
<h1>I made all of the bridesmaid dresses</h1>
<h1>we only bought a very small cake for cutting and made 200 cupcakes to serve(really went all out on the cupcakes- gourmet). My sister made hundreds of cookies. It was a big hit.</h1>
<h1>my D and her husband love a local BarBQ place. They provided dinner at a very low price. We made some extra salads for the vegetarians.</h1>
<h1>we did splurge on a photo booth but I was able to get the price down to almost half of the original quoted. That was well worth it</h1>
<h1>my D and her H knew a guy who was just starting off as a photographer after graduating. He gave us a really good deal and did a great job.</h1>
<p>We are pretty casual and our D wanted a fun “party” with no stress. It was great but may not work if you wanted something more formal. </p>
<p>I agree with the size of guest list.
If you have a ton of friends and family who want to be there, invite them, but scale back.
My D has been trying to cut costs on catering and I want to suggest having barbecue & beer.
Her southern fiancé is a grilling fiend, but Portland must have something that is worth serving at a party.
Also cupcakes for the cake.</p>
<p>This diy site that I frequent had their wedding in their backyard - they had a lot of money saving ideas <a href=“Our $4000 Backyard Wedding | Young House Love”>http://www.younghouselove.com/wedding-album/</a></p>
<p>We were married in the Washington Park arboretum ( late morning) and had our reception at the church.
( didn’t want to press our luck with the weather in mid June in Seattle)
We had sandwiches from a deli, but Id consider Costco.</p>
<p>Pick a 3-day weekend, if you have lots of out-of-town guests. It helps them travel and not have to rush home in time for Monday morning work. Book a hotel block for them with discount prices (although they pay for their lodgings, of course).
This won’t save you money, but guests might appreciate it. </p>
<p>Instead of an evening party, have the wedding ceremony at noon, followed by lunch not dinner. </p>
<p>If your faith traditions allow for it, have a Sunday noon wedding, or go for the Monday of a 3-day-weekend. Venues will sometimes offer a discount if your wedding is earlier in the day, so they can book a second evening wedding right after yours.</p>
<p>Serve wine, not hard liquor. If that limitation is unthinkable to your family, consider a cash bar that closes after an hour or so. Talk to the caterer to see if you can provide your own wine by the case, that they uncork.</p>
<p>Go for an elegant catered served buffet rather than a sit-down plated meal. Big difference in catering costs there. Make your table seating arrangements with namecards, just call up 2 tables at a time to the buffet. That way, there are no long lines of people standing in line, and they visit at tables until called up.</p>
<p>Your D can explore with the groom whether his family is willing to forego a rehearsal dinner, and instead cover some more specific expenses on the actual wedding day. </p>
<p>Look around your community for gently used wedding dresses, if your D doesn’t mind that. If she can get her head around that, she’ll soon discover that the thousand(s) saved with that decision can be used for other parts of her wedding. </p>
<p>Decide what really matters to you and your D. Don’t feel you “must” do anything beyond the ceremony and some hospitality. For example, if she doesn’t want bridesmaids, skip all that, or just have one Maid and Matron of Honor.</p>
<p>If you belong to place of worship, or join one now, you have a built-in venue at the church or synagogue social hall. Decorate it and be happy – it’s tax deductible, too. Find a caterer who will work there, after looking over their kitchen of course.</p>
<p>Invite whom you want, from family and friends – but no “plus-ones.” The dates at a wedding really balloon your expenses. After two years, most of those “plus-ones” won’t even be remembered by name when you look at pictures. </p>
<p>Hire a caterer to plate food that you buy from restaurants and grocery stores (the caterer staff can pick up, too). We did this for an event and saved so much money while getting our favorite foods from favorite places.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is really important. Please don’t do things because you feel you must or you’re “supposed” to. Do what is best for the couple. </p>
<p>Throwing a party at a church is tax deductible?</p>
<p>Wedding will not be until June 2015, so we have plenty of time. Groom’s dad is a minister, so church expense, etc. is not an issue. Our #1 expense will be the venue and the food/liquor. I don’t want to comprise on that, so am looking at other ways to save money (to put toward the reception). D is very low maintenance–thinks flowers, favors are all kind of silly! </p>
<p>What extras are you thinking about having then that you’re looking to save money on?
The venue & food/liquor are going to eat up the majority of the cost. </p>
<p>Can she have a friend do hair & make-up (if she even wants those)? That’s pretty common nowadays and can save literally hundreds of dollars. </p>
<p>It doesnt really save anything if it wasnt budgeted for in the first place.
I did my hair & makeup in the car on the way to Seattle!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can say that about literally almost everything that’s been listed thus far. </p>
<p>Venues are cheaper if you take a slightly off time (eg, Friday evening wedding & reception may be cheaper than Saturday). Also, skip the favors for guests you get at a lot of weddings, I don’t think the guests really care (like you said, kind of silly unless you can really afford it). Go with inexpensive centerpieces. Do it yourself invitations, that is pretty easy with computers today. Regarding flowers, go with what is seasonal vs. something fancy you saw in a magazine. I have never minded going to a reception with a buffet style meal, which is usually cheaper. You can save money on the cake by having a cake that is fancy for looks that isn’t too big, then having sheet cake for the actual cake served. Don’t have an open bar – maybe choose a few wines the couple like and serve those, plus a couple of choices of beer, and then some non-alcoholic drinks. Plus you don’t have to keep the bar open for the whole reception. At a family wedding I went to recently, the father of the groom and his brother acted as bartenders (pouring the wine) and had a great time. But it was a small wedding.</p>