I am engaged!

[kitkatz]

I can talk about an inexpensive wedding.  Mine was just about free, except for paying the preacher.  We had a ceremony on the top of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  It was just my parents, my sister, the preacher and us.  It was beautiful spot on a fall day in November.  I remember the beer can in one of the statues hands on the monument.  We laughed at it and ignored it.  It was beautiful place.We stood in front of  the replica civil war cannons. Our decorations were what mother nature had for us and a beautiful view of the city through the trees.  I will try to find pictures of it if you all would like to see us!

[Sara]

Yes, please post pics. 

[goofynina]

Angie,  your wedding can be as simple yet as beautiful as YOU make it,  as long as love is in the air there is no need for elaboration.   Good luck to you both... 

[jbeany]

Just remember - it's your wedding and the only thing you HAVE to do is say "I do".  All the bells and whistles are not necessary.  Hubby and I had about 275 people, and still didn't spend very much.  We used resources from family and friends, and did without a lot of fancy things.  It was kind of funny - one of hubby's cousins got married 3 weeks before we did, with the giant blowout with a dozen bridesmaids, the huge catered dinner at the massive hall, a live band, and the $5000 dress - but our wedding is the one everyone still talks about as being the best party.  We planned it so the guests were our main priority, and made sure everyone had fun.

Joe Paul is right about the dollar store - a very good place for decorations.  Don't forget after-Xmas sales for twinkle lights.  We skipped the endless little bags of favors - just sprinkled a handful of hershey kisses on the tables and added a bit of curling ribbon draped around the candles (which were already on the restaurant tables).

Make your own invites - you can do amazing things on the computer with vellum and fancy paper.  Skip the RSVP's and the small fortune in stamps - do a buffet or BBQ and figure on 80% of the guests showing up. 

If you want the big, poufy wedding dress - check consignment and thrift stores.  My best friend got hers for $25 and it didn't even need to be altered to fit her.  I bought an ivory evening gown for $150 at Penny's.

Skip the cake - or have only a tiny one to cut for pics and serve the guests cupcakes or brownies.  You can make them yourself ahead of time and freeze them.

Artificial flowers look just like real ones in the pics.  You can make all the bouquets yourself for a fraction of the price of real ones.

DJ's are cheaper than bands.  An MP3 cd player is cheaper yet.  You can make up a music CD with 150-200 songs on it, and find a friend to press play.  I'm sure someone you know has a decent set of speakers you can borrow.

It's supposed to be fun, not expensive!

[angieskidney]

Joe Paul is right about the dollar store - a very good place for decorations.  Don't forget after-Xmas sales for twinkle lights.  We skipped the endless little bags of favors - just sprinkled a handful of hershey kisses on the tables and added a bit of curling ribbon draped around the candles (which were already on the restaurant tables).

Make your own invites - you can do amazing things on the computer with vellum and fancy paper.  Skip the RSVP's and the small fortune in stamps - do a buffet or BBQ and figure on 80% of the guests showing up. 

I love your advice and welcome more!! I love this! Thank you!! I want more advice for a cheap wedding  here! MORE MORE MORE!! 

Jeff just bought me a new printer so I can actually print out the invites! 

If you want the big, poufy wedding dress - check consignment and thrift stores.  My best friend got hers for $25 and it didn't even need to be altered to fit her.  I bought an ivory evening gown for $150 at Penny's.

That is exactly what I have already been thinking!  

[sandman]

They can't throw the rice - it's the only thing we can all eat!

lol


I just got back from a wedding and was depressed because Jeff had to head back home early. Then I saw all the elaborate things this wedding had and it got me so depressed because it just reminded me of all the things Jeff and I will never be able to afford. Then my cousin said that Jeff and I should not bother with a hall but have a summer time BBQ! I thought hey that would save money!

Anyway, I am now back from vacation and will be posting a lot again since Jeff is on his way home hours ago and I just got back from the wedding now. I was sad Jeff didn't get to dance even ONE dance with me .. but what can you do? Unless someone wanted to give Jeff $200 - $300 for the extra day car rental .. there was no way he could stay.

But ya, what other ideas can anyone come up with for a cheap wedding still done in a Church? Any cheap ideas for the reception?  I like the BBQ idea!

$200- $300 for an extra day car rental? I can rent a BMW for $59 a day, an average small car I can rent for $29 a day. Why was it so much?

I went through National car rental and picked up one of their last minute specials.  Was any mid size SUV for $179 a week, unlimited mileage.  I priced it all out to be $475 for the two week trip ( 14 days ) plus had the optional late day for an extra $35.  But since the contract was a last minute special, anytime past the contracted due date nullifies the special deal and it goes to full price which would be $290 a week, plus the extra time, also at full price.  I know, real p*cking stupid!    I wish they would have told me that in the begining, before I signed the agreement.

Anyway, I brought the car back today and I had just filled it up the night before when I got into town.  They ask you to fill the tank on return which I felt was fair enough.  So the gas gauge was just a hair below the full line when I returned it and they were going to charge me even more to fill the tank?  I brought the car back clean, on time and full of gas and they were going to hit me up for another $100!     What more do they want?  So now it's up to $615 for a rental that was only suppose to be $475.  Well, I just exploded and demanded to see the manager at that point.

After a long, heated arguement, the manager cut the bill back down to $470, total cost.  Needless to say, I will not be using National ever again.

[jbeany]

I love your advice and welcome more!! I love this! Thank you!! I want more advice for a cheap wedding  here! MORE MORE MORE!!

Are you sure?  How much more?   
I've helped plan a lot of frugal festivities - I'm both practical and pretty crafty, so my friends call me a lot for bright ideas for doing things cheaply.

Best to start with a date and location ASAP - around here, churches are booked in the summer sometimes a year in advance.  You might want to start thinking about where to hold the BBQ.  If you want to reserve an eating area in state park in MI, you need quite a bit of lead time for that as well.  Most of the ones around here will cordon off a pavilion for you if you make a reservation soon enough.  Better yet is a back yard of a willing relative who has really nice landscaping.  Tent rentals are a lot cheaper than halls. 

You said on another thread that you were just at a beautiful wedding, and you were feeling depressed that you couldn't afford the same.  Don't think about it like that.  Pick out the two or three things that you were most impressed with, and budget around them for your own wedding.  Don't try to impress the guests with tons of over the top things - you're inviting the people who really care about you, and they won't care if the wedding was pricey or not.  Trust me, as long as the food is good, they won't care if it wasn't expensive.

Pick your theme and colors early, and you can start shopping for things to go with them all thru the year at all the sales.  Also consider what connections you've got thru family and friends.  I had a built in wedding hall - my dad owns a restaurant.  One of my friends married a man with his own farm.  They planned a fall wedding and planted hundreds of decorative gourds, squash, sunflowers and pumpkins in the spring so all their decorations were free, except for the time spent weeding.  Do you or Jeff collect anything that could be used as a theme, so you could cut down on the cost of decorating?

And every time someone close says "Can I help with something?", say "Yes!" and let them!

[Sara]

Angie, The Knot (www.theknot.com) used to have a big message board, and there are all sort of ideas there.  Just be warned that a lot of women there are into the over the top, mortage the house type of expensive wedding.  But if you can get past that, there are good cheap ideas.  The boards are probably there still.  Joe and I are looking at throwing a reception type party this coming fall if/when we can get our marriage done in the church - have to get his annulment finished first though.  Right now I'm thinking a sort of Mexican/Filipino fiesta type party.  Both types of food are pretty cheap to make, plus I think it will be fun, which is the main point of it all. 

[angieskidney]

Even though I come from a very Europeon family I think Jeff and I would most likely have an Italian dinner .. but I really like the BBQ idea my cousin gave me as well. It is true Jeff and I haven't really talked about colours or theme as we are concentrating on one thing at a time first (his Visa).

Thanks for your ideas and I will check out that site! I also think I am gonna start looking in dollar stores with things in mind

[Sluff]

I had friends that got married in Ontario..he was born there she was from Arizona US and for whatever problems they had with her visa it was easier for him to move here so now they live in Arizona.

[Sara]

Italian dinner would be fun too, and pretty easy I think.   

[angieskidney]

I had friends that got married in Ontario..he was born there she was from Arizona US and for whatever problems they had with her visa it was easier for him to move here so now they live in Arizona.

Really? Wow .... but the whole reason for him moving here is that neither of us have any Private Insurance and we have NO money to even help us out before Medicaid would kick in and I am too young to be accepted for Medicare

[Sara]

Angie, here you get Medicare before you reach retirement age when you are on dialysis.  I don't know how that would be affected by you moving here from Canada though.

[Epoman]

I had friends that got married in Ontario..he was born there she was from Arizona US and for whatever problems they had with her visa it was easier for him to move here so now they live in Arizona.

Really? Wow .... but the whole reason for him moving here is that neither of us have any Private Insurance and we have NO money to even help us out before Medicaid would kick in and I am too young to be accepted for Medicare

It is not based on your age, I got Medicare when I was 21.

[Fox_nc]

ESRD is one of the only exceptions to the 65 yr age requirement.  You can check out the details on their website. http://www.medicare.gov/  Good luck you guys!  And trust me, you don't need an expensive wedding day to have a wonderful marriage, so don't worry about it.

[angieskidney]

ESRD is one of the only exceptions to the 65 yr age requirement.  You can check out the details on their website. http://www.medicare.gov/  Good luck you guys!  And trust me, you don't need an expensive wedding day to have a wonderful marriage, so don't worry about it.

THis is good to know Becuase Jeff is planning on moving here and then we will get health care (either Medicare or Medicaid) but I always thought it was like ODSP here in my city. I thought as long as you qualify you don't pay a damn thing. And meds are covered and there is just a co-pay of $2 per medication.

Where as everyone in my Province gets OHIP and even Jeff would after 6 months which covers all doctor visits for any reason and any hospital stays up to a semi-private room.

[sandman]

It's good to know that I could get free medical services after I lived in Canada for over 6 months.  Not really a big selling point for me though because I frequent the doctors offices so rarely. 

[angieskidney]

It's good to know that I could get free medical services after I lived in Canada for over 6 months.  Not really a big selling point for me though because I frequent the doctors offices so rarely. 

You get me too