How did you save money on your wedding?

Like everyone else, lots of DIY. This includes centerpeices, decor, invitations, STD's, programs, etc. We're doing it all.

My aunt is very into photography and has all the special equipment as well as a great eye.. she's doing our photography for free.

Same aunt also happens to have worked as a floral designer, so we are buying the flowers in bulk at wholesale and she's assembling the bouquets, bouts, etc.

Instead of a swanky reception with a fancy dinner, we opted for something more our style.. a texas/country casual feel. So for food we're having a fully catered BBQ buffet for 9.25 per person. That includes their delivery, setup, people there to manage the buffet, cleanup, takedown, 2 meats, 3 sides, water and tea. With 180-200 guests, the food is our biggest chunk of money.

For the venue, we reserved a historic chapel ($300) and a big casual reception hall that has more of a dancehall feel to it ($1000) rather than a country club or specialized wedding venue that tries to sell you a "package". As a downside, we ARE having to decorate/setup everything ourselves, but with organization and careful time management - my specialties - I don't think it's going to be a big deal.

Instead of cake we're doing cupcakes. Our HR girl here at work does cakes a side job, and she is doing 300 cupcakes PLUS the grooms cake for just $300.

The DJ we're using is a family friend, he's driving from 2 hours away and only charging us $300 for the whole evening.

We're using the same officiant that married FI's mom and stepdad, he's a "good ol' boy" and only asks that we feed him afterward.

Other friends of ours own a limo company, so we're getting a massive discount.

My mom is making our ring billow, basket, garter, ribbon, pew bows, etc. She's a quilter and is very crafty, so we're able to get nice fabric (silk dupioni) and have nice custom items without spending $$$.

I got the cutest headband/tiara from Hobby Lobby for $8. I picked up shoes for the ceremony on clearance for $10, and boots for the reception on ebay (new with tags!) for $25.

We're big into watching for sales.. I picked up a lot of decor for 75% off, and if I need something from Hobby Lobby I wait til it's 50% or I have a coupon. If it's online, we watch for free shipping offers or coupon codes.  

Gosh I sound cheap lol

No videographer

Negociate with photographer for DVD slideshow for free

DIY invitations

DIY favors

Cut the guest list

Cut the flowers

Dress from davids bridal

DIY decorations

No outside DOC (venue is kinda a DOC)

Shopping around for best prices

having a small and private party (75-80 guests max)

DIY invites

DIY save the dates

DIY flowers

shopping around for great prices

sunday reception (it really wasnt by choice but it worked out for the best, we're saving tons $)

i got my dress at a sample sale and paid 1/2 price of retail. (still cost a lot so i dont think this really counts)

linens bought downtown (super cheap)

clearance bridesmaid dresses

• I bought my center peices from the 2nd hand store for about .50 to 1.00 each
• DIY I DO letters
• DIY Jumping the broom
• DIY bathroom basket
• DIY flower ball
• Bought my dress on EBAY for $120.00
• Found my shoes on clearance for $29.99
• Found a girl to make my jewerly on esty for $55.00, when it would of cost $400.00
• Family member will DJ for free
  
• Family gets 50% off of venue
• Hunted for the most reasonable price linen
• Bought step daughter dresses form Macys on sale for $15.00
• Bought my brooches for my cake at MAcys $15.00
• Bougth Diamond confetti on EBAY $8.00
  
• Bought favors On EBAY 100 for $130.00
  
• Bought signature frame from Hobby Lobby %50 off $15.00
  
• Will by chargers from another bride $100.00 for 100
  
• Sissy will do make up for free
• Sissy will do photography for free
• Family will cook buffet dinner
• Bought all candles from Hobby Lobby %50 off Package of 12 $3.00
  
• Bought card holder 50% off $5.00
• Will use disposbale china
• Total cost for wedding $4,300.00 (for 80 to 100 guest)
  

FI is a graphic designer! WOO HOO!

-He designed our invites, STDs, map, RSVP card, candy table sign, table numbers, programs, tears of joy packets, etc.

-Using "real touch" flowers instead of real and DIY

-Using "linen like" table clothes instead of renting for $10 ea.

-No centerpieces

-No catering

-No videographer

-FI's boss is doing our photography for FREE, we found a 2nd photog on craigslist for FREE

-Candy buffet instead of individual favors

-DIY reception decor

-Venue is $400, the one in our hometown was $2500 so we opted to go 15 mins out of the way

-Bought FG dress on ebay for $13

-Hobby Lobby, Hobby Lobby, Hobby Lobby! haha

Wow these are great tips and advice! Please keep them coming!

Here's another one from my friend Marissa, who works with high-profile wedding invitation designers to bring you all the gorgeous wedding website templates...

Marissa found her dream dress, and then called around to multiple bridal shops to negotiate the price (much like negotiating when buying a car). She ended up saving hundreds of dollars off her gown!

Great post!

I went to Michaels so many times with the 40% off coupon.  When I got my favor boxes, I went 3 days in a row.

I asked friends if they knew anyone who could give me discounts - I got my shoes from a bridal salon for 50% off retail.

We budgeted 7 or 8 glasses per person but our caterer said we needed more.  We saved a few hundred $ by planning on using clear plastic cups (not dixie) at the end of the night in case we ran out of glassware.  Glasses were $1+ each - the plastic cups were like $.20 each.

I DIY'd part of my invitations and did online RSVPs. 

I didn't do an inner envelope.

We had a small wedding guestlist but I think the biggest money saver was my mom and her friends doing ALL the decor and flower arrangements.  Made each centerpiece, each bouquet, all the hanging votives, draped fabric, sewed all the table linens...

We did our own favors, I made the tags and bought the cookies from Costco...it's all about presentation, Im tellin ya!

Another huge saver for me was that at the time my mom owned a bridal store so I was able to get my BM dresses at cost, BM shoes at cost, etc.

We did a lot of bargain hunting, flea market perusing and bought in bulk when we could (e.g., candles and moss)

Other things that helped to save money were booking our DJ early, he waived his travel fee, finding someone that was just starting their business to do our invites, menus, etc. all she charged were for materials. 

It's worth it to search and search and search some more!

we took advantage of a package that our venue offers with a partner business that includes catering, cake, open bar, DJ, flowers, photographer, videographer, limo, invitations, tuxedo rental - basically everything. and for all this, we're paying what most places here in nyc would charge just for the venue! we opted not to do the invitations through the package tho, because i wanted to design them myself, but that part of the budget can be allocated to something else like upgrading flowers. this really saved us a lot of time too because we didn't have to search for all of our vendors.

other than that, i'm borrowing a lot of things from friends who got married last year! 

We are saving $ thanks to family help

1. Photos- my dad and uncle are doing photos. My dad is a photographer and my uncle will cover all the shots my dad has to be in.

2. Flowers- my bro worked at a flower shop for 2 years and is going to design all of our bouquets. Plus, I bought all of our centerpiece supplies (ie: vases, candles) in downtown LA for a bargin. Instead of rose petals on table and down the aisle, I am going to use potpourri from the $.99 store (I'm buying it a month prior and letting it sit out to lose the scent and picking out the wood chips)

3. Dress alterations- Im going to wear 3.5 inch heels so I can avoid the $100 + alteration from the bridal salon.

4. Music- Having a singer perform a few songs (an elvis impersonator! it is in vegas) and then having a dj the rest of the night (rather than a band)